It’s February.

All I want to do is sit and knit.  I’m not sure if it is the actual act of knitting that I want, or the finished product.  Because, it is really cool to have a whole sweater that I made with just one long piece of string.  I think it’s the magic of taking that ball of yarn, and one stitch at a time, one row at a time turning into something lovely and real and useful.

So, yeah, all I want to do these days is sit and knit.

So, that present Hunter was opening was this little sweater.  I used Knit Picks Swish dk yarn.  Hunter sat on my lap as I ordered it and I let him pick his favorite color.  It’s pretty bright!

The pattern is the Child’s Placket Neck Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  I made a 2-4 year old size with a bit bigger gauge than called for so that is would fit for a while.  A lot of Ravelers said it seemed a bit small made as written. I think it fits just right.

I also took him on a trip to the Fancy Tiger to pick out a button.  He fell in love with the little wooden panda.  The bonus is that it makes him want to wear his sweater all the time!

His other favorite gift of the day was this “crocagator” from Barry’s sister and family.  It RROARS a lot– and made me realize that in my reluctance to add to our collection of stuffed animals he has never gotten one of his very own.  He really loves it.

I love the finished product of knitting- and watching the magic unfold one stitch, one row at a time.

And I love when my handmade gifts are well received.  I wish I had taken pictures of my mom while she was here.  She wore her Christmas sweater constantly!

Geesh, is it really this far into the new year all ready?  I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of things here after my Christmas break.  We did have a good time with Barry parents in town.  Christmas letters did not get mailed, neighbor treats did not get done, but such is life during a busy time of year.  I’m hoping our friends and family will be pleasantly surprised to get Valentines this year.

So, I decided to focus on making handmade gifts for our parents this year, rather than the kids.  I started in November with a sweater for my mom, then moved on to hats for my dad and Barry’s parents.

The sweater was my third Shalom.  (See the first two here and here.)  This time with sleeves!  I had really wanted my blue one to have sleeves, but miscalculated the amount of yarn I needed.  Truth be told, the thick wool it is knit with would be SO hot if it did have sleeves that it is fine just how it is.  I do wear it a lot.

It turned out really cute and I hope not too itchy.  My mom is super wool sensitive like I am.  I tried Knit Picks Swish Chunky superwash merino.  It was really nice to work with and I love the color.  I think it is soft enough too, as long as you have a long sleeve shirt underneath.

I know I need to broaden my sweater repertoire, but this is such a simple sweater to knit and fits cute on just about everyone.  Top down knitting is marvelous because you can try it on as you go.  I just really, really love this pattern.  Maybe I’ll move on to another top down cardigan this year.  I’m really dreaming of making a really soft brown one of these that I could wear every day.  What do you think?  Is it different enough?

So, on the left there is the hat I knit for my mother in-law and on the right is the one for my dad. (Find these patterns at knitty here and here.)

I had to keep starting my mother in-law’s hat over.  Either the baby would get a hold of it, or I would lose count on the lace pattern and really mess it up.  I knit it at least 4 times– I probably could have knit another sweater with all the time it took– but it turned out cute in the end, I think.  It’s obviously knit from the same yarn as my mom’s sweater and I love the color.

The one for my dad is my first ever foray into cables.  It was quick and fun and much easier to keep track of than the lacy leaves of the other hat.  It is knit with the softest yarn I have ever, ever used– malabrigo baby merino.  He modeled it for me during our Christmas day skype chat, so I know it fits.

I knit another hat for my father in-law and only have one photo of it.

I don’t know if it will ever really get used.  I should have taken into account the fact that he uses hats just to keep the top of his head warm and not his ears and made it a bit shorter.  Hopefully knowing that he was one of the few recipients of my hand made love will be gift enough.  It’s made from the same yarn as my blue sweater– soft and warm.

So, there you have it.  My first post of the new year about the old year.  Just wait ’til you see the handmade gifts Brenna and Jonah (and I, of course) made each other.  They’re awesome.

So, nearly a year ago I made my first Shalom.  It was (well, is) super cute, but oh, so itchy.  Last Christmas I invested my Christmas money in some Malabrigo chunky Azul Profundo yarn at the good ol’ Fancy Tiger and got to work on a new one.  I worked a little here and there, and now, since the weather has finally dropped below 70 degrees, I decided it was time to weave in my yarn ends and add some buttons so I could wear it.

It’s soft!  Not itchy!  Hooray!  It is a little on the baggy side because of the chunkier yarn, but really comfy.  I’ve worn it 4 out of the 7 days since I finished it.

I do kinda wish it had sleeves, but I miscalculated the amount of yarn I’d need and ended up with just half a ball.  As the weather cools off, though, I may take a chance at ordering some more yarn (the Fancy Tiger was all out of this color last time I checked) and add some if the dye lot looks similar enough.  Even half sleeves would be cute.  I think 3/4 would be the ideal length– long enough to be warm without the need to roll up for messy jobs.  Believe it or not, my days are pretty full of messy jobs.

We’ll see.  It’s pretty good how it is.

Now, you know that driving to Idaho means a lot of knitting for me.  I didn’t get a chance to get my act together for the drive TO Boise, but while I was there I searched Ravelry, settled on a pattern, and got to work.  I finished it right before we left on our llama trip and finally got to wear it yesterday.

The pattern is called St. James by Tonya Wagner, which is generously free.

I’ve decided that I’m all about simple knitting.  When I started knitting I jumped into crazy patterns full of complicated color work and tiny needles.  I still have a half finish Dale of Norway baby sweater I started for my now 9 year old nephew.  Maybe it’ll end up being for a grandchild?  Anyway, I like one color, bigger needles kind of projects.  And after my last road trip sweater, I’ve decided I need to do non-itchy simple knitting.

So, I made a form fitting t-shirt sweater in luxurious Cascade Pima Silk and I love how it turned out.

Simple and pretty and comfy enough to wear everyday.

I love what I can get accomplished on a long car ride.  We had a road trip all the way to New Hampshire planned and I have been scheming about all the knitting I could get done then– it’s 4 times and long as driving to Boise.  That could be 2 whole sweaters, or several kid’s hats, a stash of hand knit washcloths for the kitchen, some Christmas gifts, but now that we’re down the the wire Barry can’t be gone from work for 3 weeks and we have to fly.  Can I get any knitting done on a plane with a toddler in my lap?

My little guy turned one a week ago. I don’t even know what to say about it. I love having babies. I love watching them grow… if only it took a little longer to go from a little squeaky lump of perfection to a running ball of chubby energy. *sigh*

He wasn’t sure what to think of the whole celebration. To be honest I think he was a bit scared of the candle. (Nothing like the excitement of this first birthday.)

When I saw the hat that Meg made for Finn a few weeks ago I knew just the handmade gift I wanted to make for Hunter for his birthday.

It’s the Stella Pixie Hat and the pattern is gloriously FREE through ravelry. I knit it up with a strand of Knit Picks kettle dyed sock yarn in Spruce and a strand of Pagewood Farm Chugiak hand dyed sock yarn in the Peaceful colorway. I spent my week of no computer or computer genius to knit it. I stayed up really late. I didn’t do the button neck band, just made about 8 inches of i-cord on both ends of the neckband so I can tie it. I think that makes it easier to make it stay on.

I took my little elf for a walk, but he moves so fast the majority of my pictures turned out like this:

He must scrunch up his nose, squeal in delight and try his darnedest to run every second he’s outside. Unless he finds something to examine.

Then he’ll slow down for maybe a second.

He’s worn it near constantly since his birthday. It must pass the itch test because he doesn’t try to pull it off.

Or maybe he just knows how cute he is.

So stinkin’ cute I can hardly stand it.

Okay, the SweetPod pattern isn’t quite ready.  I guess since I had set the goal of having it ready to sell by the end of this week the universe aligned against me.  We had a wonderful trip to Idaho for Thanksgiving full of food and fun and aunts and uncles and cousins, but we came home with 2 sick babies.  Sick croupy babies= not much sleep or time during the day when I’m not holding someone.

But I will steer you to Raelyn’s blog where she shows off her SweetPod.  It looks perfect!!  Woohoo!

I’m hoping to have it finished soon so I can wrap my brain around things like Christmas.

That said– can I show you what I accomplished while sitting in the car for about 28 hours last week?

My very first big person sized sweater!   I saw Amanda’s sweater a few weeks ago and instantly thought, “That is the sweater I would knit for myself– if I could somehow find the time.”  It’s the Shalom Cardigan by Meghan at Involving the Senses.

When the reality of the length of our Thanksgiving road trip sank in I sneaked in a trip to the yarn store.  I bought some Cascade Ecological wool, which was pretty and super inexpensive.  I tried to find something with a lower itch factor for the same price, but to no avail.  Now I’m kinda wishing I had splurged for some Spud and Chloe outer, which I think my extremely wool sensitive self could handle.  Even with a turlte neck on I’m pretty itchy.

It went really quickly.  We drove from Denver to Boise in one day.  I cast on as soon as the sun came up and by the time we were there I was done with the yoke and a few rows of the body.  I knit a row here and there while we were there and then finished the rest on the drive home.  I love that it is all one piece– no seaming required.

Maybe next time we make that drive I’ll make myself a non-itchy one with sleeves.  And one more button.

Still, I totally love it.