Jib Jib Jasper

Let me introduce you to our new puppy, Jib Jib Jasper. Well, fairly new. We got him on Halloween and next week he will be 5 months old! He is a Japanese Chin, which is a toy breed. In this picture, he is wearing the dinosaur sweater that I originally knit for his father, who belongs to my mom. He has just about outgrown it now so I guess it's time to knit him something new...

Macaroni and Tv, Please

My current mindless knitting project is a garter stitch blanket. I am working it in strips of 13" blocks, in this really bright orange and white. I plan to work 5 blocks per strip with a total of either 5 or 7 strips. I used Caron simply soft and size 10 1/2 needles for a slightly loose gauge. This blanket is so easy I can pick it up anytime, anywhere and knit, knit, knit!

My son named this the Macaroni Blanket. "Oh, because of the color", I said. He said, "No, because the stitches look like macaroni." I guess the garter stitch bumps DO look a little like macaroni elbows...

Fishing for Hats

Here is my first finished project for 2009! I actually finished the knitting a couple of weeks ago but it took me that long to weave in the ends and add the eyes to this fabulous Fish Hat! I fell in love with this pattern from knitty.com as soon as I saw it and of course my son wanted me to knit him one right away. Well, I aim to please. He is always complaining of itchy knits so I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease for this one. I went a little crazy with random stripes but I like how it came out. If I were to change one thing about the pattern, I would knit a complete row of MC (For the body) before working the wrap and turn rows - to make it less conspicuous. We did a LIVE version with crocheted eyes. Here are some photos of my son wearing it around the house...

I love this pattern and I'm even contemplating making one for myself.

I did attempt to make a fair-aisle hat for myself but it is now hibernating, waiting to be frogged. I was making a pentagon shaped hat from the book I mentioned in a previous post, "45 Fine and Fanciful Hats" but it was coming out too small... I was using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease for this one as well. So, I could either try to find a bulky cotton blend yarn to use or go up a needle size and add a pattern repeat. But if I did that, it wouldn't be a pentagon, would it?!