Fiber Whiz Kid!

The Fiber Whiz Kid Strikes Again!!

Lil' Pea is a wonder. She has wanted to spin for some time. Like a good mother, I said No. But, I have finally relented. Just days before her 5th birthday we sat down and had a little spinning lesson.Here she is learning to treadle. She is really quite good at it. She can treadle all day. The hard part comes when she has to have her hands even with the orifice & her feet on the treadles.

Here she is sitting on a small chair with a phone book on top so she can reach the treadles & the orifice. She is spinning, I am helping a lot. There were lots of breaks & I would fix them & she would go on. Here are the results of our spinning. I can't quite say this was all spun by a 4 yr old, but a whole lot of it was. Pretty cool, eh?

She also has a Groovy Girl scarf she knitted for sale to raise money for her ballet recital costume. Nothing like motivated children.

The Newest Arrival!!

There is NOTHING more divine than seeing your own creation be placed on a newborn infant. My new nephew Sam was born yesterday and got to wear his new hat right away. aww, soo cute! He has mittens to match, but they haven't let his arms out of the swaddling yet.

The hat is mostly Andean Silk & Brushed Angora for a truly soft hat. And yes, that is a flower sprouting from the top. I will post more pics of the set later, when I get them off the camera. I have to laugh b/c I keep doing this to my sister--making difficult to wear, but adorably cute children's clothing. Colorwork doesn't have a ton of stretch. lol The same sister's kid got the ballet slipper socks that are impossible for a 4yr old to tie on. Some people buy each other's kids really loud noisemaker toys to drive the parents crazy. I just knit things kids can barely wear. I think the mittens will only stay on if the baby is holding his arms straight up in the air. hee hee!

Christmas Knitting Results

Christmas came & went in a flurry of knitting. I thought I wouldn't have any last minute knitting because I started so early this year. But, I also didn't work on my knitting projects very often that early because, "I have tons of time..."
The boy LOVES his hockey sweater. He informed me that it was more Edmonton Oilers colors than Mustang Hockey colors (his team) but he still liked it. I told him I had planned that. Actually the yarn was stash yarn...but it did seem to fit his personality. I did not finish the hood & pocket on the front and am working diligently to finish that ASAP. He really wants to wear it! As far as first time knitting him clothing other than hats & socks it was a winner!

The Man's sweater Durrow was a bit trickier. I decided to give him the body for Christmas and the sleeves for his birthday in April. This was mainly for my own sanity. This is way too big of a project to not know if it will fit. The goal is a slightly fitted sexy man sweater. So far I think that this will fit the bill nicely. I found it quite humorous that he had no idea I was working on a sweater for him even though many a night I sat in bed next to him, knitting on his sweater. I never lied about it--when he asked what I was knitting on I said, "Oh, another one of my many projects." And he was quite content. Now that he knows about it, he is concerned the sleeves will be too feminine. Egads!! I told him he doesn't have a vote. The superman tshirt was my present to him also. It was supposed to be tight, I will be washing it in hot very soon. (Can you see the trend? Goal: get rock hard muscle man out of baggy shirts into tight ones.)

I saved my favorite project for last...



Ballet slippersocks for my delightful ballerina niece's birthday. She was born Christmas day, 4yrs ago!! I actually finished them in time to send them across the country on time for Christmas. A First! I wanted to make a pair for my little one as well...that will have to be a birthday present. I love these socks. Just love them. Nuff said.

All in all, a delightful knitting season. If I ignore the socks for my sister that did NOT get done on time and I had started them last May. Arg. I am totally embarrased.

Christmas Project Revealed

Here is the front piece of the sweater I am knitting for my son. Now, I realize that the color combo is just a titch on the bright, obnoxious side. It is for a 6 yr old boy. And it is knit completely from my stash. I bought the bright blue wool/cotton blend yarn specifically for the boy a couple years ago at Cordova's finest, The Net Loft. Somehow I knew that obnoxious and blue would be perfect for him.

I am using 3 different yarns. The bright blue Schachenmayr Nomatta Habanera is a 70% wool, 30% cotton yarn. I found it in the ultra clearance bin at The Net Loft. I only have 4+ balls of the blue, hence the creative sidepanels. The brown Angora Soft by Knit One, Crochet Two is a WEBS ultra clearance as well. Only 4-5 balls of the brown in a 45% nylon, 40%viscose & 15% Angora. (I am not sure what I was thinking when I ordered the yarn. Nylon & Viscose??? It must have been the $2/ball and Angora that turned my head. Will I never learn?) I will use brown for the hood & pocket if there is enough. The orange is the good ol' standby Galway 100% wool. Strangly, they all come out to a very similar gauge, so far. I did do a gauge sample. Didn't want to many suprises as I am making up the color changes as yarn remains.

So far the sweater is going very fast. On the back I am knitting in his hockey number 77 in the bright orange. The sleeves will be striped depending on how much yarn I have left of each color. Knowing that I would barely have enough yarn for the entire sweater heavily influenced my decision to make stripes everywhere. Hopefully, no one will be able to tell when I run out of one color before the sweater done.

Now, it is back to the reality that Halloween is not until Friday and my children are already hyped up on candy from the school carnival. By the way, why did no one tell me school carnivals are a mother's worst nightmare? Oh yeah, I knew, but I was swayed out of my stoicism by those big, cute, blue eyes owned & used against me by my son. He just consumed a gummy rat. Arg.

Girly Stuff

Today was a momentous day. Today LP (Lil' Pea) my wonderful 4 yr old daughter started Ballet. Actually Pre-Ballet. She has been doing ballet with a dvd at home for a week or so and was SO excited to start the real thing. Her only complaint after class was that "there were no boys to pick us up." Obviously, my brainwashing technique of bringing home videos of famous ballets for her to watch has paid off.

What does this have to do with fiber you ask? Well, I have the sudden urge to knit ballet stuff. Knitted tutu's are flying through my head. What would be the perfect yarn? Rowan Kidsilk Haze--OF COURSE!! Knitted leg warmers--Aren't they all the rage anyways? About time I realized they are different than the 80's ones (I think). What about a matching set of Kidsilk haze tutu & leg warmers? Quick, someone hide my needles!

A quick search of Ravelry shows no knitted tutus. So far my favorite ballet slippers are these from knitty.com. Apparently, any top that is sits above the waist and wraps around your torso is a 'ballet top'. Since I had no idea this was true, I see my ballet fashion knowledge is starting up a steep learning curve.

Speaking of a learning curve. This web thing is strainin' my noggin'! I have tried to imbed a link...let's see if it works. If I have figured this out right, you should be able to click on the word "these" in the previous paragraph and get taken to the knitty site. Let me know if it totally doesn't work.

Knit On!