Wednesday, January 28, 2009

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...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

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...

Monday, January 19, 2009

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?!