Knitting mojo

It's bad people. Really bad! I've noticed that it's been a little slow around knit blog land lately so perhaps it's not just me. Between chasing around the little guy and the little little guy and the amazing weekend weather we've had lately, there's been little knitting happening around these parts. And it seems that everytime I actually get to sit down to knit something, disaster strikes. My knitting is so not happening. See what I mean?

Here's a little tour of my knitting hall of shame. First up, the really cute ball from Fiona McTeague's knitted toys book. You'll remember that I tried to 'improve' on the pattern by knitting it in intarsia. Well that was a disaster. First off it was a pain to knit and when it was all done the 'joins' were too loose and the stuffing showed through. So I tried to tighten'em up by seaming from the inside. That made a mess on the outside. I cursed. A lot. And threw the whole thing out. I don't want to spend my knitting time trying to fix a project I don't love. Right? (Though looking at the picture now it doesn't look all that bad...perhaps I was too quick to discard it...)

Next up. A knitted monkey (also from Fiona's book). The pattern is simple enough and it is looking cute...except that I ran out of yarn! I knit him up using leftover Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in brown leftover from my Olympic cardigan and didn't have enough yarn for the legs and tail. Not good. I'm not sure I want to go through the trouble of hunting down an extra ball of the stuff (unless of course any of you have an extra part ball of it laying around?) so I think this one is gonna have to remain unstuffed for some time. Plus I sewed his face on crooked and it bugs me. I'll have to fix it but since I don't have the yarn to finish it anyway it's going back in the knitting closet for now.

Next up, lemondrop's cardi. I finished both hoods and joined them together with an applied i-cord (cool, eh?) but after I picked up around the hood and started knitting it as I had planned (again 'improving' on the pattern) things didn't work out and I just can't give it enough attention to figure out where I went wrong. I think I'll just have to follow the pattern afterall...and fast too so that Logan can get to wear it before he outgrows it ;0)

What else? Oh, well there's Stephen's anniversary sweater which still needs a sleeve and a half. And a felted puppet I tried to wing but which was uncomfortable to use so I started ripping it out already. I also cast on for a broadripple sock but it's too big so I'll have to rethink that one too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I seem to have lost my knitting mojo and need a fool proof project soon before I fall deeper into a knitting funk. Perhaps the bunny ear hat from 'Itty bitty hats' will do it for me...

Happy knitting ;0)

Still pregnant!

But not for too much longer! Yay! I saw my Doctor on Thursday and we set a date for an induction this coming Tuesday at 8am. I was so thrilled when she mentioned it. Like a giant cloud was blown away and the sun started to shine! She also mentioned that she thought I'd probably go into labour on my own before then because everything is ripening nicely...but here we are on Sunday afternoon and still nothing so it's nice to have a date ;0)

Stephen and I had a little photo shoot this morning to document just how big Lolo and I look together. I've put on 25 lbs this time around and am feeling pretty huge. I'm looking forward to finding my old self back and, dare I say it, exercise? I've been resting since December 4th and I'm so itching for nice long walks with the kiddos in our cool new stroller. Getting some fresh air. Perspective. And colour...

So while I hurry up and wait for Lolo's birthday, I've been busying myself with knitting. I did get to stop by my LYS to get the yarn for the Phildar reversible cardi last weekend and cast on for it Friday. The yarn is Phildar Coton Microfibre which I'm not finding that spectacular to knit with especially considering the way overinflated price of $8 a ball -- I need 12 balls for this 6 month size sweater! I used a gift certificate though which made the cost more palatable, but still. I think Phildar yarn is a bust and I'll be looking to substitute next time!

I started with the hoods because it's the only part of the cardi I'm planning to knit as per the pattern. The pattern calls for knitting the sleeves, fronts and back separately for both versions of the sweater (it is reversible) and then seaming them all together. I'm thinking (a) that's way too much seaming and (b) won't that be really bulky and uncomfortable? So instead I'm planning on knitting the hoods and picking up at their base for the neck opening and knitting the cardis as seamless top town raglans. I've considered making both versions of the cardi simultaneously using intarsia to connect the stripped inside to the plain outside, but I think an i-cord edge to seam just the button bands and bottoms together may look more polished...I'll test out my theory on the hoods and take it from there.

An finally, because I just couldn't resist the cuteness, here's a picture of Julian fixing his brother's crib with dada's screwdriver. Gotto make sure they're all nice and secure ;0) What a cutie!