Baby sock advent calendar

Remember my half-hatched plan to knit 24 toddler socks in December? Well it was a crazy idea. Seriously deluded. Insane. And totally nuts! So naturally I had to give it a go!


And I almost did it too! I knit socks in the morning. I knit socks in the evening. I knit socks at my MIL's during brunch. I knit socks in the bath. I knit socks until 3 in the morning watching old West Wing episodes on DVD (best show eva!) while Stephen and Lolo snored in bed beside me every other night in December. Of course I was asleep on the couch at 9 every night after that, but you do what you have too, right? And in the end...


Drum roll please...I knit 20 socks in December! I knit polka dot socks. I knit cabled socks. I knit striped socks. I did picot edgings and kitchener cast-ons. I did afterthought heels and taught myself short-row heels (though I'm not sure I'm happy with this technique yet). I used bulky yarns and worsted and even DK yarns too (all from the stash!). I stranded and embellished with duplicate stitch embroidery. I improvised a lot and even designed Flakey Baby Socks to round out the set.


But with all the added Christmas planning and events -- shopping, wrapping gifts, cooking, entertaining, trimming the tree, attending parties, knitting Christmas sweaters for the boys, shoveling, meeting kick-ass new neighbours, taking Julian to see The Grands ballet canadiens perform The Nutcracker, and knitting 3 pairs of gift mittens -- I fell a little short of my 24 sock goal. And I don't feel bad about it!


I raided the sock drawer and pulled out the cable twist socks I knit for myself when Lolo was born in March and the matching pair I knit for him and ta-da 24 hand knit socks on the banister on Christmas Eve ;0)


A quick last minute trip to the drugstore to pick up some goodies to fill them with (crayons, baby spoons, cartoon character soap, chocolate, dried fruit, little notepads, a little train set, chocolate straws, sippy cups, candy-canes...every sock-sized sweet thing I could get my hands on for my two little charmers), and we were all ready to fill them after bed on the 24th for the kidlets to discover Christmas morning.

And what fun that was ;0)

The last 5 days...

In the last five days since my last post, I finished knitting this...

Monogrammed Christmas sweaters for the boys (Lolo's is finished too!)
Knit from Valley Yarns Berkshire on US 9s in my own design.
Really cute, really soft, but pilly as all get-out!

And 7 and a half toddler and baby socks for my Martha-inspired baby sock advent calendar (I know there are just 6 below, you'll have to trust me on the other 1.5!) ...

{1} Stripey green toddler socks in Knit Picks Swish in Dublin and Bare
(34 sts, tubular cast on, 6 row stripes, short row heel, round toe)

{2} cabled toddler socks using quietish's pattern with bulky yarn
(Valley Yarns Berkshire) and size 9 needles for 3yr size

{3} basic socks also in Valley Yarns Berkshire and size 9 needles.
Embellished with duplicate embroidered tree.

Trimmed the tree...


Wrapped a garland around the banister to display my baby sock advent calendar in progress...


Distracted a sick toddler (he's all better now thanks to your sound advice, extra cuddles, tandem nursing, steam/humidity, and lots of extra playtime with mommy to keep his mind off how miserable he was feeling) with an art project! I introduced him to pencil crayons (ooh!) and we made little card stock circles to adorn a tiny tree on the kitchen table. Between this and hours of tea party, he managed to forget that he couldn't breath through his nose ;0)


Helped dig us out of what seemed like 12 million feet of snow!

Survived Lolo's first cold (he barely slept for 3 consecutive nights because the poor thing couldn't breath through his nose which meant he couldn't nurse for more than a second at a time)! Got a cold and beat it myself. Went to Stephen's office Christmas party on Friday night. And hunted down DDR Hottest Party for Wii for my honey (what a lucky boy ;0)

Amazing, eh? I can't beleive I got that much done considering and I'm feeling so empowered that I'm thinking I just might be able to knit 3-4 pairs of mittens, 10 socks, and Joseph in the next week all while making 'green' wrapping paper with Julian, wrapping gifts of course, and going out 2 nights in a row on Friday and Saturday nights!

What? It could happen!?

A flakey sock pattern

Socks five and six: check! A cute little pair of simple fair isle baby socks I designed for my little Lolo. I call these flakey baby socks and you can get the pattern free here.

I knit these with leftover stash from my peace baby sweater (Knit Picks Swish Superwas in Aloe and Bare, less than half a ball of each). They fit my new crawler perfectly ;0)

That's right, he's officially on the move since yesterday and I am so happy for him! Now because I've been down that road before, I know that this is going to have a huge impact on my ability to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time while he's awake...but I'm still thrilled because my baby can totally do it and I can tell how excited and proud he is by that twinkle in his eye and I can't help but be totally elated with him. How I heart that little guy ;0)

Here are a few pics of him enjoying his first cookie (Farley cereal cookies - yum!). That was a few weeks ago already, he's now moved on to the Mum-Mum rice cookies which he totally goes gaga for. Literally ;0)

So what's the sock situation you wonder? Well, the flakey's are December 5 and 6. And I did knit a pair of boot socks for Julian on December 7 and 8. But since then...nada! But let's not get crazy, I can totally catch up tomorrow right after I finish sleeves, redo hems and block the boys Christmas sweaters. During naptime! It's not good...but did you happen to catch that the boys Christmas sweaters are almost done! That means I may indeed have a chance in hell of knitting 24 socks, 2 toddler sweaters, 3-4 pairs of mittens and a Joseph by Christmas day!


There's a few wild cards in the mix now though. Lolo's crawling is a huge curve ball. He still pretty much stays in his designated area (LOL!) but having been there before I know it won't be long until he's running a muck and one can't get any productive knitting done with a little one running a muck!

The other wild card this week? My poor little Julian has the sniffles and a congested chest. It's his first cold and he's so confused about it. He cries every time he sneezes because it hurts in his chest and tries to explain through the tears that "it happened again."


I didn't have the heart to tell him it would probably get worse before it gets better and that it would happen again and again for a week! Though I did get a humidifier up in his room and as a special treat, gave him a little porcelain tea set I had bought and stashed for just an occasion such as this.

We got in our fleece jammies, put on some christmas tunes and sat on the floor in his room playing tea party for hours. He loved it and it served as a great distraction. Plus I think the humidifier helped a lot too.

Is there anything else I can do to help? Anyone got a secret remedy? So far, it's just a runny nose and sniffles with some chest action when he breathes in through his mouth or sneezes.

Poor little guy...

On the fifth day of Christmas...

Okay, so technically it's not really the fifth day of Christmas. But it is the fifth day of December and I'm off to a roaring start on my baby sock advent calendar: 5 socks in 5 days! Yay!


Okay, so while I started one a day...none of these were finished on the day it was started. So it's not so much a sock a day. More of a two half-socks a day ;0) But I'm not behind,yet!

Here are the deets...


Brown and white polka dot socks (pattern from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit) knit from Knit Picks Swish DK in 'cinnamon' and 'white' (left overs from Julian's stuffed owl). I knit the pattern as written using the DK yarn and ended up with about a 12 month size - just right for Lolo! December 1 & 2: check!

Next up a pair of stripy picot edge socks for my Jujube knit from leftover Peruvian Highland Wool (to match his mittens). I totally winged this one: 32 sts, worsted weight yarn, 4 stitch deep picot edge, 2 row jogless stripes, and an afterthought heel ;0) December 3rd and 4th: check!

The fancy green one in the top photo is my own design (I'll right it up and share it with you next time) and is today's sock. So fun ;0)

Plus, now that today's sock is done, I can get started on making the boys their Christmas sweaters tonight. Also on my Christmas knit list: Joseph, and 4 pairs of mittens! Though I'm starting to think that I may not make it...but I sure am going to give it and honest try ;0)

And finally, in honour of the 50 feet of snow that has been falling on us these past few days, some pics of Julian making a snow toddler. I could barely keep it together when I saw him get up close and personal in our snow toddler's face and take a bite out of his carrot nose! "Mommy, his nose, it's a snack!" he exclaimed as he ran off with it munching away. Too funny!

Happy knitting everyone!

Can I knit 12 pairs of baby and toddler socks by yesterday?

I mean...realistically speaking? Because I just came across this via Whip up and I must make 24 socks by yesterday!

Martha's version...be still my heart ;0)

It's just 24 socks. Okay, I know I can't make them by yesterday but I think I can knit one a day between now and Christmas and thus counting up to it (besides, Julian is too little to understand the advent calendar thing and if there was a treat in each one I think even he would be unable to resist the urge to pillage through them right away ;0). Come Christmas eve, Stephen and I can fill them for the boys to discover on Christmas morning. It'll be like their mini-stockings!

Plus if I knit them in Jujube and Lolo's sizes they'll each have 6 pairs of festive socks by Christmas. Doesn't that sound really nice? Plus I have the perfect place to hang them ;0)

That's it! I'm going stash diving for all the red, green and cream yarn I can find...

Thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump...look at mommy go...

{2 hrs later, edited to add...}

Turns out my stash is bursting at the seams with just the right stuff for this project. Yay, stash!


And since it was still technically December 1st when I started it...here's the first almost sock in the series! It might be the late hour, or it might be the Timbits, but I am giggling like a schoolgirl at this sight next to me in bed...


Is it not the funniest in-progress sock pic ever! Poor Lolo. If he was a wake, we'd all be in serious trouble. Teehee!

Alright, time to make some zzz's as Julian would say and rest up for another sock tomorrow ;0)

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)

I am slowly going crazy...

...1...2...3...4...5...6...switch. Crazy going, slowly am I, ...6...5...4...3...2...1...switch!

I've been working on a pair of green cable twist socks for my lemon with the leftovers from my own glorious pair (they're my favourite ;0) and taking the opportunity to teach myself some new techniques like the figure 8 cast-on and all manner of short row heels.

The figure 8 cast-on for the toe is brillant and stunning and Hello Yarn's tutorial couldn't be clearer -- plus how cute is her anime top down bonnet for baby showcasing the technique? Sure it's fiddly for the first couple of rows (the technique, not the bonnet) but it's so fun! Fun enough to convert me into a toe-up sock gal except for one small detail: (cue the tragic music) the short row heel!

I tried 7 different toe-up heel options for these babies including one I think I invented. And I hate them all! Turns out, I'm totally a cuff-down heel flap kinda gal ;0)

I tried Wendy's twice wrapped method, the yarnover method, the Japanese short row method, knit and purl encroachement, afterthought heel , Dawn Brocco's star variation and my own final variation of EZ's afterthought heel: the double decrease (slip two together as if to knit, k1, pass 2 slipped stitches over) on either side every other row.

Then I came back to Wendy's method for the second sock but this time following Cosmic Pluto's awesome tutorial and must admit it is the most successful of the short row methods I've tried. Though I think the afterthought heel is more polished looking though less convenient since you have to cut and rejoin the yarn to knit it.

Anywho, back to my going crazy - as if redoing a heel 7 times in one weekend isn't enough to convince you - I totally lost the yarn needed to finish the second sock! I had it in a ziploc bag with the sock in progress and the finished sock when I came back from a doctor's appointment this morning (baby's doing well and has apparently dropped! Yay!) and now I have everything but the 6 yards of yarn I need to finish the cuff of the second one despite having been sitting on the same spot in the couch since I got back!

$5 says dadda comes home from work and says "it's right there!"

In the meantime, I guess I'm off the hook and get to start a new project... I'm thinking a raglan sweater for lolo made from Elann's oh so soft baby cashmere. The stuff is cheap and divine...my favourite combo ;0)

Oh, and in case anyone wants to know how I made my baby cable twist socks: use figure 8 (or your preferred toe-up technique) to cast-on 24 stitches (12 for the top, 12 for the bottom) and increase every other row to 48 stitches. Start the cable twist pattern in K4/P2 ribs as follows on the 24 top of the foot stitches: P1, K4, P2, K4, P2, K4, P2, K4, P1. Work the 24 bottom of the foot stitches in st st until after you turn the heel then establish this pattern on these as well so that it runs all the way around the leg part of the sock. For the left twist, see the instructions in Hello Yarn (can you tell I heart her?) Cable Twist Sock pattern but over 4 stitches instead of the 6 described in the adult pattern. Mine works out to 4 pattern repeats before the heel and 4 pattern repeats up the leg. I used the sewn cast-off to keep the cuff nice and stretchy. Sized to fit a 0-3 month old.

Happy knitting!

Julian says the darnest things!

But first, the knitting:


I started knitting my delivery socks last night. The yarn is a delicious green from Lorna's Laces which was a gift from my knitting pal, Marie-Michele, who remembered how much I had gushed over Grumperina's beauties knit from it. I just love it. It just might be my favourite yarn ever... so soft and subtle and of course the perfect shade of happy green.

I wanted to knit socks to wear when I deliver my son to keep my toesies warm, to focus on while I breathe, and to cherish forever afterward. Since I am due a few days after St-Patrick's day, am Irish and just love love love this yarn it seemed like the perfect choice. Not to mention it dovetails perfectly with Lolly's Green Sock Knitalong (another knitalong I joined because I love the button ;0)

I'm just not sure about the pattern though. I started knitting d-made's Bavarian Rockstar pattern which is replete with twisted-stitch cables, but I'm not sure I love the way it's working out so far. So, I'm thinking of ripping them back and starting either Hedera, Mata Hari or Cable Twist (just like Grumperina's) instead. What do you think? I mean, I have to love them, right? I'm just not sure. I have cold feet I guess. Heehee!

So while I try to make up my mind, I thought I'd share some of Julian's hilarity these past few weeks. He is developing quite a sense of humour and his comedic timing is impeccable. I was putting the clothes in the dryer the other day and Julian was standing on the landing playing with his keys when I heard the little trap door for the central vacuum open. I rushed out of the laundry room to see what he was doing and it looked like I caught him trying to put his keys in the trap door.

Instinctively, I shreiked "Julian! No! Noooooooooooo!" He waived his little finger "no" and turned around to play. So I went back in the laundry room and again heard him open the little door so I ran out of the laundry room again and said, sternly and with the meanest eyes I could muster "Julian, what did mommy say?" to which he responded "No! Nooooooooooo!" in the same tone I had used earlier.

I tried really hard to remain serious, but I was so taken off guard that I just exploded with giddy laughter. Partly because the question was rhetorical and I just expected him to walk away. And partly because he said it with the *exact* tone and concern I had used. I hope to never forget that story. It was just one of those priceless parenting moments.

It's really funny how he associates a certain tone or pitch with different words. I usually refer to my husband as dada. If he still doesn't anwer I say "Stephen?" And if he still doesn't answer, I yell "Steeeeve!" Well Julian can't say "Steve" quietly. He can only say it in a loud burst...I guess he's never heard me say Steve any other way. He sure is a perceptive little guy!

We had another priceless moment tonight. We were all sitting on the living room floor watching Sesame Street before dinner and Julian went over to dada, gave him a great big bear hug and with a wide grin exclaimed "I love" in the sweetest little voice. Well our hearts just melted. And while Stephen and I looked at each other and took it all in, Julian came over to me and said "mommy, I love you." It was the first time. And had he not just told dada he loved, we might have mistaken it for "olive oil". But we know what he meant. And it was wonderful ;0) I don't think my heart could love that sweet little boy any more. It's just full. And warm. And really very happy.

I can't imagine what life with two of them will be like. I don't know how it will be possible to contain so much love. It seems my heart is about to burst as is!

Cheers!