...and all through the house, were sweaters and mittens not even yet blogged! The sweaters were draped on the children with care, awaiting their pic for their mama's blog fare ;0)
The sweaters were winged from this custom-fit pattern with Bershire Bulky in oatmeal and red-ern. The letters were charted with this neat knitter's paper, using big fonts that mama picked hoping they'd flatter. And then for the cuffs, hem, neckline and border: a 2 by 2 rib and a stockinette curler.
The boys loved their sweaters and mama did too, though they got very pilly as Julian ran through the pews. There'll be mittens and more in my next post for sure, but for now how about pics from Christmas of yore ;0)
"Happy two weeks post Christmas and to all a good night!"
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.
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.
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!
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)
