Scatterbrained

Yes, that is me lately. 80 thousand things going on, both in life and in knitting (I consider these seperate worlds, by the way), and I find myself unable to focus on one thing for long. It's frustrating. I got halfway through the sleeves of the itty bitty size 3 needles sweater for me and set it aside because it was becoming just an absolute chore to pick it up. That began my couple of days obsession with fingerless gloves. I banged out my first pair with no trouble at all, with a lace panel on the top too even! Got started on my second pair with some Silky Wool that I got 40% off at an LYS that is or now has gone, out of business. Got one glove made and set it aside last night to play with a skein of Noro Sekku that I also picked up at the going out of business sale. Got some rounds crocheted on a doily. My end table is now overflowing with WIP's. I don't like that. Personal matters have been overwhelming though. My oldest son finally got himself in some real trouble a couple weeks ago after going in the wrong direction for a few months. My days are now being crowded with court dates and lawyer meetings, community service, school admissions and job searches. He seems to finally have woken up and seen where he was heading (it's amazing how a couple days in a real live grown up jail will do that for you!), and is making a real attempt at turning his life around. It's all exhausting. I thank God for the knitting, it allows me some down time to relax, but even that has been effected by my just total feeling of restlessness lately. It's also been VERY warm here, perhaps some cold weather will help me settle in more. I need to make a pair of fingerless gloves for my mother in law and some socks for Marcus, both for Christmas. Also ordered the last 5 skeins to compete my Lizard's Ridge Afghan and don't even know WHEN I'm going to fit that in....Ok, I must go try and settle this child down for his nap or give up the idea entirely. He's been in there singing and dancing in his crib for an hour and 26 minutes with no sleep in sight. How long can a full moon last anyways?

Ideas, Projects, Ideas, Projects and a Great Rainy Day!

Well I haven't written lately, my apologies, but  I sure have been busy. Both with knit and non-knit related things. I'm big on always trying to move forward or else you start to slip back and there's nothing good about that. So I am always trying to improve upon something, pretty much every day. Be it myself, my home, a way of doing something, ect... and I've been doing a lot of that lately, which is good. =)

On the knit front, I discovered the other day that the Wake County NC library(s) have gone COMPLETELY online. You can now do everything that you could do at the library, in the comfort of your home. You can check your account, renew your books and most importantly, for me anyways, search through and request hundreds of knitting titles while your son comfortably naps in the next room. Yay! I went a little nuts. Request, request, REQUEST! Yesterday, I happily picked up my first batch of 'holds'. It included, but not limited to, New England Knits, a scarf book, a bag book, 2 at a time toe up sock book (this REALLY got some ideas flowing!!) and a few others. Oh, Stitch and Bitch Superstar Knitting and a Suss Design book. This morning I was supposed to go running for the first time in a week. (My mornings have been SO busy!) And  I got up and it was pouring. Consistantly. It never does that in North Carolina. We get spotty showers here and there at best and are ALWAYS in a drought. I remember being in my new apartment for 6 months a realizing that we had yet to have an actual rainy day. Well today we do. So I happily got myself a cup of coffee and started in with the new book collection. Demarcus joined me. He likes my knitting books as they usually have something in them he finds interesting like babies or toy props. He sat right there with me looking at them and pointing out the things he knew, working on his words. =) What a GREAT way to spend a morning!!

I also have discovered SweaterBabe.com in my absence from blogging. What a great site and I am beyond envious of her talent. If I can just get through Christmas with the boys, I will be ordering a LOT of patterns from her!

We also have this great thing here in Wake County called FreeCycle which is pretty much where you go to get rid of something you no longer need or want but it's still perfectly good (or mostly). I have given and gotten SO many things from this! (I'm lucky that in Wake County there are 10,000 members, which makes for a lot of giving!). I've gotten everything from sofas and loveseats, kitchen tables, TV's, a king sized pillow top bed set (inluding the bed), you get the idea. This is over about 4 years worth of time. It is hit or miss, something when you REALLY need something you will not see anyone posting one up, but with patience, just about everything becomes available eventually! Well the reason I am writing about this and how it is knit related, is I FINALLY got a printer! When Marcus and I split up the beginning of this year, I left him the printer when I moved because though it was a house purchase, he had purchased it, so it just didn't seem right to try and take it. So I didn't. That ment I have been printing everything at the library since April and at 50 cents for a colored sheet and 25 cents for a black and white, lets just say I haven't been doing a whole lot of printing. Well now my 'printables' folder in my email, which is just smack FULL of knitting patterns to be printed....... can finally start being printed. In color, no less! =)

Some projects rolling around in my mind right now that I need to get to soon are the Lotus Bag from Stitch and Bitch Superstar Knitting, especially since when I went on KnitPicks I found that the yarn averaged $2 a ball and you only need 4 balls to make this great bag. Also fingerless gloves. I need some. SweaterBabe has a great pair of cabled and a pair of lace ones at only around $3 a pattern, but sadly, I do not even have that on the pre-paid credit card right now so I went in search of a fabulous free one. I found it at Elann in their free pattern section. Also, I've got socks on the brain. A million of them to try. For me, for Demarcus and even for Marcus, who has his faults but faithfully wears his hand knit socks pretty much every day he is not working. =)


Ok, well that is enough rambling for today. I need to finish pulling myself together and perhaps start to tackle that closet that I could fit so much more in if it were just organized! (Progression, Progression, Progression!!)

And Moving Forward....Kinda =)

Ok, I apologize for the lack of updates, I've been a little discouraged these days. For one, I started this blog with some ideas in mind. One was that I love to knit and show off what I've done but I'm not big on Ravelry because as I've stated, I tend to get lost beyond the point of return. Also, I was looking to connect and get feedback from other knitters, that hasn't really happened yet but I realize I am still early in this. Another one was money. I had heard that you can make money blogging and thought hey, why not? I'm a disabled single mother of three and I certainly struggle to get all the bills paid each month. If I can make a few bucks writing about something I love and sharing patterns I've written, well, why not? And I was. Only a little bit, but hey, it wasn't costing me anything to share and type. (This was from the Google Ads offered here on Blogger). I was up to twenty something bucks. At a hundred, they would cut me a check and I was pretty excited about that even though it wouldn't be for awhile. Then I went to check my account and saw that it had been disabled. No explanation. Invalid click activity. I don't even know what this is really but I know I read their policy when I signed up and I hadn't done anything it said I wasn't supposed to do. So I filled out their appeal form and sent it. I read their rules about the appeal and it said you had no other recourse if your appeal was denied, that was it. I really couldn't imagine mine would be, I thought it had to be some mistake and filled out the form. I received an email a few days later saying that my account would NOT be reinstated. No further explanation. Nothing else I can do. I am barred, FOR LIFE, from Googles Adsense and I have no idea why. And they took back my lousy twenty something dollars too. So you see, I've been a little discouraged.

Also, at the same time, I was attempting for the 5th time, my first lace project. I love lace. It doesn't love me. I get so far and boom, mistake that I don't even begin to know how to fix. I guess I just have bad concentration. I'm determined to overcome it, though I guess not right now. I tried the Kid Silk Haze wrap like 4 times, each time having to rip it out and start over. Sometimes after just a couple of rows, sometimes after I'd correctly done 5 inches. I then tried it with the Patons Lace yarn, thinking maybe I was just having trouble because the Kid Silk Haze is so fine. Yes, that was absolutely the problem I decided after correctly knitting 6 inches with the Patons Lace. Then boom, wrong stitch count again. Nope, it's not the yarn. It is most positively, definitely, me. So for the sake of my moral, I had to put it aside AGAIN!

So now I am back to work on the size 3 needle sweater for me that I have been working on for a couple of months off and on. The needle size is so small and it's so tedious, I make a piece of the sweater and then set it aside, do something else and then go back to it. It, I so completely hope, should be fabulous upon completion. It is the Draped Cardigan from Debbie Bliss' Spring/Summer 2010 issue. There is a picture of it here.

I still need to get someone to take a picture of me in the last sweater I finished, right before Google disabled my ads and I lost my knitting mojo with the lace. Perhaps tomorrow, Marcus is off. I'm unsure the fate of this blog right, to be honest, but I think for now I will keep plugging away. Taking it down is a forever decision, so I will wait until I'm not so down to decide. If anyone has any input, please, feel free to comment!

Another Finished Sweater....

This time for me! I finally finished the Paton's Devine sweater I spoke of in an earlier post. With the 3/4 length sleeves. I just couldn't bear even the thought of trying to rip out this fuzzy fuzzy yarn (you all know how fuzzy fuzzy yarn snags and gets stuck when trying to un-knit it!), along with the fact that I had already woven in the ends and sewn up the seam (the only seeming to this sweater is under the arms, it's a top down pattern). So, the 3/4 sleeves are growing on me. Hey, it's good to try new things, right? I should have a pic of it up tomorrow, today it's just me and Demarcus (age 2) and he's good at a lot of things, but picture taking isn't one of them. =)

So I am undecided if I am going to pull out a half done project from the closet, or start a new one. I got the yarn for a great lace shawl project from AC Moore for $3. And it only uses the one $3 skein too. The pattern is free along with a photo on the Paton's site here. It should be an interesting project...I love the IDEA of knitting lace. The actual doing is um, sketchy. I tend to lose my place. Even with no distractions, my mind tends to distract itself. I don't think I've mentioned yet in this blog that I am hearing impaired. Well, that doesn't really explain much, I have a cochlear implant. Which means I am completely and totally deaf when not wearing my device. Which actually comes in handy in regards to knitting. (And parenting). I can just shut off everybody and everything when  I want to. I think this is natures way of compensating me for the annoyance of always going 'Whaaaat?' to everybody. But it comes in damn handy when trying to count while knitting. But still, the lace. Eh, it doesn't always work out so well. Add into it that I'm new to lace and aren't comfortable just ripping out a few rows and picking up there and it's a melt down waiting to happen. But I'm no quitter, so still I try. I have a really cute wrap to make out of Rowans Kid Silk Haze that I spent $30 on the 2 lousy balls of yarn for a lifetime ago. I've started it 3 times only to mess it up after completing 10 inches or so and have to rip it out. I WILL finish it eventually!

I also have this great top I wear all the time that I really want to try knitting up but that'll be hard budget wise, having to swatch and such. But I'll get there eventually, it would be a great piece knitted. I also have some skirt idea's kicking around in my head too. But for now, pics of the newest sweater should be up tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

The Free 'Baby Gap' Sweater Pattern

 I call this my 'Baby Gap Sweater', because it was inspired by an absolutely adorable sweater at Baby Gap. However, I am a single mom of 3 boys, some weeks I don't even have a Walmart budget. Baby Gap is out of the question. I had some Bernat Organic Cotton at home that I had picked up on clearance in a tan and off white that would be perfect and so I set out to make my son a 'Baby Gap Sweater'. The Bernat has since been discontinued but any cotton that will knit up to gauge will do. You could also try a wool or wool blend that knits to gauge, thought the drape and hang of the garmet will differ somewhat. I would recommend trying the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece Seconds from Coveted Yarn as it is only $4.00 a ball and $5.00 shipping to anywhere in the US. My next one of these will be of a monotone nature, which I thought of while looking at the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece Seconds, which is why I am recommending it. =)

 Size: Fits AROUND 18 months (I hate this age guess, just use the finished chest measurement, it's SO much more accurate!). Finished chest measurement of 28 inches.

MATERIALS:
3 (50 gr) skeins cotton in off white
3 (50 gr) skeins cotton in tan
Size 6 Needles or size needed to get gauge
Stitch holders
Set of 4 Double Pointed Needles (DPN's) in size 6 or size needed for gauge (used for 3 needle bind off).
Your choice of zipper or buttons for closure.


GAUGE:
17 stitches = 4" in stockinette stitch

NOTE:
As it becomes tiresome to both write and read all the color changes, I am simply going to note here to change colors every 8 rows. Very shortly after starting this pattern, you will be able to tell by eye when you need to change.


BACK:
Starting with tan, cast on 68 stitches.
Knit for 1". (garter stitch)
Work in stockinette stitch (knitting on the right side, purling on the wrong side) until piece measures 13" from beginning, ending with a ws row. Don't forget your color changes every 8 rows!

K 18 stitches and place on a holder for right shoulder, k next 32 stitches and place on a holder for back neck, k remaining stitches and place on a holder for left shoulder.

RIGHT FRONT:
Cast on 38 stitches, again starting with the tan yarn. Work 1" in garter stitch, then switch to stockinette stitch BUT keep the last 6 stitches in garter stitch for the edging. Again, don't forget to keep up your striping pattern. Continue as established until piece measures 11 1/2" from cast on, end with a ws row.

Shape Neck:
Next Row (RS): Work to last 6 sts, place last 6 sts on a holder. (these are later used for you hood edging)
Next Row: Bind off 8 stitches (neck edge), work to end.
Continue to bind off from neck edge 6 sts once more. (18 sts).
Work even until piece measures same length as back. Place remaining 18 sts on holder for later finishing.

LEFT FRONT:
Work same as right front, reversing all shaping and remembering to work the FIRST 6 stitches of every row in garter stitch for the edging instead of the last 6 stitches.

SEW SHOULDER SEAMS:
With wrong sides facing eachother and front of sweater facing you, place stitches of back and front right shoulders on two parallel DPN's. With a 3rd DPN, knit first stitch fron front needle together with first stitch from back needle, *knit next stitch from front and back needles together, sl first stitch over second stitch to bind off. Repeat from * until all stitches are bound off. Then repeat entire sequence to bind off the left shoulder seam. (this leaves still the 32 live stitches you have remaining on a holder that will be used for the hood).

SLEEVES:
Mark for sleeves 5 1/2" down from shoulder seams on front and back. With right side facing, pick up and knit 60 stitches between markers. Work in stockinette stitch with color changes for 10 rows, then decrease 1 stitch on each end on next row, then every 4th row, 8 times. Then every 2nd row 1 time. (40 stitches).
Work even until leave measures 8 1/2", end with a right side row. Work garter stitch for 1" then bind off.

Repeat for second sleeve.

HOOD:
Pick up and knit 14 stitches from top of left front, knit the 32 stitches for the back neck that you placed on a holder, pick up and knit 14 stitches from right front. (60 stitches). You will now be working back and forth for the hood.

Work 4 rows even in stockinette stitch, ending with a right side row.

Next Row: purl
Next Row (increase row): knit 14 stitches, knit into front and back of next stitch (inc), knit 16 stitches, inc, knit 16, inc, knit remaining 14 stitches.
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Increase Row
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Increase Row

Continue even in stockinette stitch until hood measures 9". Fold hood in half and use the same 3 needle bind off to sew up the top that you used to sew up the shoulder seams.

HOOD EDGING:
Take the 6 stitches that you placed on a holder for finishing earlier and put them on a needle. Make a garter strip (knit every row back and forth on the 6 stitches), making sure to continue with your color changes every 8 rows. Do this until the strip is the same length as the hood around and then attach to the 6 live stitches on the other side or simply bind off those other live stitches and whipstitch that little seam when you whipstitch your hood edging to your hood.

FINISHING:
Sew underarm seams and close the sleeves up. Attach buttons or a zipper as desired. (I used a zipper but it was a PAIN to put in!!)

This pattern is copyright 2010, please do not reproduce without written permission from me. I do not care if you sell your finished sweaters or not, this is a part of the copyright that has always been a peeve of mine. If you make this, please send me a pic! And if you have any problems or notice any errors in the pattern, please let me know!

NOTE: Correction made on 12/18/10 regarding the number of stitches used in the hood edging. Please reprint or correct your pattern if you printed it before this date. The older version states an incorrect number of 18 stitches used for the hood edging when it, in fact, should read 6. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you to Maureen for emailing me about it!

A Good Day!

Well yesterday I FINALLY got those sleeves finished and spent a couple hours seeming Demarcus' green sweater up. Today I finished weaving in those pesky ends and talked the Ex into bringing me to get the buttons (it's so much more fun when you bring people!). After MUCH discussion in the button aisle of Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, I went with simple because there's so much to the yarn....

 Cute huh? Again, this is the 'Classic Baby Cardi' from Debbie Bliss' Spring/Summer 2010 issue and knit up using a sock yarn from Jo-Ann Fabrics called Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Garden Yarn in Grass. I LOVE that issue, I have made the cabled tank, a navy one of these 'Classic Baby Cardi's' and am in the process of making the 'Draped Cardigan'. Coincidentally, I just picked up her Fall/Winter issue today. I like some of the stuff in it, but not nearly as much as that Spring/Summer issue! Marcus (the Ex and Demarcus' Dad), already said today that he wanted a sweater like this. He doesn't even wear sweaters! (He would be the recipient of the infamous Marvin, as well). Well low and behold when I picked up the Debbie Bliss Magazine Fall/Winter issue today, there is an EXACT replica of this sweater, but man sized. Oy.

On another note, since I finished Demarcus' sweater today, I also pulled out that sweater I mentioned last time that just needs the sleeves finished. I was disappointed to see that it's going to be more involved than I thought as one sleeve I already completed and wove in the ends. It also uses live stitches that were on a holder too, so it's not as easy to rip them out and re-do the sleeve as if they were just picked up or knit seperately. I was looking though and I'm now undecided about whether or not to make them longer....realizing what a pain it will be to fix has kind of made me wonder if perhaps they don't look so bad after all........... =)

Stalled on the Sleeves....

I apologize for the lack of updates, it seems as though everything is getting in the way of my knitting this week. Including me. I've been busy with house stuff, kid stuff, computer stuff, errand stuff and just plain old wasting time stuff. I made good progress last week on Demarcus' little green striped sweater, was pretty excited to make the sleeves at the same time. Not complicated at all, just something I hadn't done before. But then I got stalled. It's not that I haven't been working on them, I have. But I get 4 rows done and remember something else I should be doing and stop. Also lurking in my head is the sweater I put aside in the 'spring', which is a season that doesn't really exist down here. We seem to go from cool winter (which only averages about 40 degrees anyways), to 90 + degrees in a week. It's a great fluffy sweater made from the brown of Patons Devine but I just couldn't stand to have it on my lap working on it when it got 90 + degrees. So I need to pull that out of my closet. It's all done except the sleeves, I didn't like the length the pattern stated and was going to make them longer. The sweater was so full and fluffy (the pattern wasn't written for Patons Devine yarn, I substituted), it just looked dumb with three quarter sleeves. That is also my first sweater knit from the top down and I absolutely LOVED it! I will now make every sweater I can like that, it FLEW by! I also need to collect I think 5 more skeins of Noro Kureyon  to complete my Lizards Ridge afghan that is going to be just GORGEOUS! I've also decided to line the afghan with a black flannel sheet since the Kureyon is absolutely fabulous drenched color but not so soft or great against the skin. I think this will work great, but we will see. Ok, I must stop stalling now and get back to work on those sleeves...........

Today's Word of The Day is..... Crochet!

Yes, in a knitting blog. =)

You see, before I started to knit, I crocheted. A lot. For a long while. But as seems to happen, and I don't know why, once  I started to knit, I never really went back to crocheting. With one exception. Graph afghans. I love them. And nobody I know, especially my family, complains when I make them one. One of my major pride and joys would be 'Marvin'. This afghan took SO long to make that my family would call or text and say, what are you doing? And I would simply say 'Marvin'. There's a good story here....

My ex, being born and raised here, is a huge North Carolina Tar Heels fan. So when we first got together, I thought it would be neat to make him a Tar Heels afghan. I had come across a free graph online. I made the mistake of telling him. (I didn't know yet, that complicating EVERYTHING was simply a Marcus trait, or I'm sure I would have kept my mouth shut!). 'Well,' he says, 'Can you put Marvin the Martian on it? I always loved him.' Me, 'You want a Marvin the Martian afghan? At 29 years old?'. 'No, can you put Marvin the Martian AND the Tar Heels?'. Oy. Make a long story short, I ended up paying a woman $3 to graph Marvin for me. I then had to print him out and with a razor blade, square by square, cut him out and physically paste him onto the North Carolina afghan. (This is where the obsessiveness of MY personality comes out!). It is done in 'Tunisian Crochet' with each square of the graph being one stitch. This is the ultimate example that anything that can be graphed, can be knit or crocheted. It is big. Probably would fit a queen size bed easy. It took me 2 years to make this afghan. No, not straight, I would get IMMENSELY sick of it and put it aside at times. My ex brought it to work when it was done, to show off and told them it took me 3 months. WHAT? Well, he reasoned, if I didn't eat, sleep or do anything else but work on it, it probably would have only taken me 3 months. The man can rationalize anything! So without further introduction......... meet Marvin =)

It's A New Day!

Ok, well FINALLY the rain eased up and I was able to get Demarcus outside for a little modeling of Mom's stuff! (This weekend has been insanely busy so far, I'm hoping the worst is over!) I'm currently making him a sweater out of a great shaded sock yarn I bought at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts. (Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Garden Yarn in Grass, to be exact). This here is the yarn....

I don't know about your monitor/computer, but mine isn't doing it justice, it's a real pretty shaded yarn. But see, I already made Demarcus a sweater using this pattern. I LOVE this pattern, I'm very upset that he is already the largest size because that means I'll have to be doing some editing to the pattern soon to make it bigger for him. I hate doing that. I like to just be able to follow a pattern as written unless I WANT to make a change, not because I HAVE to make a change. Anyways, the pattern is from Debbie Bliss' magazine, the Spring/Summer 2010 issue. The "Classic Baby Cardigan" made out of Eco Baby. Here is Demarcus this afternoon modeling his Eco-Baby sweater....

Came out great, huh? The one I'm making now out of the striped yarn should come out great too, probably look very different though, even though it's the same pattern. Seems so easy, take a pic of the boy in the sweater. HA! You try getting a 2 year old to stay still long enough to get a pic that isn't a blur! =)

BUT, while I had him out there and in the modeling mood, I threw on this other sweater I made him using plain ol' Lion Brand Yarn Cotton Ease. I chose this yarn because last winter I made him a blanket out of it, a Log Cabin that I'm sure I will post a pic of at some point, and it just came out great. And best of all, it washes and dries great. Looks better after being washed and dried than it did in the first place! I got this pattern out of a book called, "Little Badger Knits", but I had to edit the pattern SO much to fit Demarcus, I'm tempted to post it up as a free one here. I will behave though and read up on the copyrights before posting, don't want to get in trouble my first few days at this! It came out great so it was worth all the extra effort.

One of the best things about this sweater too, is it only took 3 balls of yarn that I got for half price @ AC Moore....making the total cost of the sweater under $10! Can't beat that! Ok, it is late and I am tired....that's enough sharing for tonight....Goodnight! =)

My Favorite Things

This is today's blogging theme =)

So here we go, these are in no particular order, I don't have THAT much time and I'm quite indecisive.

Coveted Yarn is a GREAT place to get yarn on the web. Not only do they very regularly have sales BUT if you are a fan on Facebook then they take REQUESTS FOR SALES! Yes, for yarn! Have you ever heard of such a thing? I hadn't, but it's beautiful. And if you are a die hard yarnie and bargain shopper, like myself, you can click the little button under the pic on their page after you become a fan, the 'subscribe SMS' button, and your cell phone will beep every time Robert says 'Anyone have a sale request for today?'. And you can be the first to shout right back that sweater yarn you've been eying. Life is good.

Now I haven't met a knitter/crocheter/yarnie yet who isn't aware of Ravelry so I of course have to mention them... they have a severe downfall to me though and that is that they are just TOO interesting! I get lost, totally and completely consumed. Before long I realize that I have been gazing fondly and adoringly at other people's afghans for so long, well, I could have created my own. That said though, it has many perks. Want to know what that neat looking skein of yarn will look like all worked up? Well just type it in the Ravelry search box and there ya go. Want different ideas or variations on how to put together your 'Lizard's Ridge' Afghan? Again, type it in the search box and there ya go. Just like that. Just try not to get lost and use all your knitting time on Ravelry. =)

Now, there's also Knit Picks and Elann both of who I have not ordered from but I WILL, just as soon as my budget allows. I have a friend who swears by Knit Picks and I've gotten a couple of sets of their 40" circulars for magic loop and they are my absolute favorite by far! I keep eying their kits though, that are SO reasonable. They've eliminated the problem of having to spend $80 on a hat because you need 8 different colors (that's the reason you want it in the first place is because it's so colorful!), by making kits that include a gazillion colors for like $18 for a hat. Elann has a GREAT selection of free patterns, unique from what you usually find for free patterns online, in my opinion anyways. And they also have uber cheap yarn, that I haven't, but WILL try! (Especially in the emails that I get for signing up!)


Ok, that is all off the top of my head, especially since I lost power (we are getting remnants of tropical storms here in North Carolina, just wind and rain, but enough to knock the power out for an hour or so), during that last bit and had to re-write. I want to show off the sweater I am making Demarcus right now, but need to take a picture of him in the one I already worked up. The rain is making that difficult. :-(


Till next time!

Free Basic Toddler Sock Knitting Pattern

This pattern will fit a child with a 6" foot as written. To modify to a smaller or larger foot, simply change the body of the foot. Example: To fit a child with a 6 1/2" foot, simply knit the body of the foot until it measures 5" instead of 4 1/2".

Using size 3 needles, cast on 36 stitches.

Divide either in half if you are using magic loop method (I love this method!) or onto 3 needles if you are using the traditional method.

Cuff
Work K1, P1 ribbing for 1 1/2".

Continue in stockinette stitch until entire cuff measures 4 1/2".

Heel
Divide for heal if using the traditional method, so that you have 18 stitches on each needle. Working back and forth on HALF the stitches, work stockinette stitch until heel flap measures 1 1/2".

Turn heel as follows:

Row 1: (ws) P10, P2tog, P1, turn.
Row 2: sl 1, K4, ssk, K1, turn.
Row 3: sl 1, P5, P2tog, P1, turn.
Row 4: sl 1, K6, ssk, K1, turn.

Continue in as established until you have 10 stitches on this needle.

Gusset:
Pick up 11 stitches along side of heel flap, then knit across the 18 stitches on the instep. Pick up 11 stitches on the other side of the heel flap and knit the stitches left after turning the heel.

Rearrange stitches so they are either back on 3 needles for the traditional method or the instep stitches on one needle and the heel and gusset stitches on the other needle for magic loop method.

You now need to ssk the 2nd and 3rd stitches of the gusset (the 11 stitches you picked up along the side) and K2tog the 2nd and 3rd stitches from the end of your gusset. (the other 11 stitches you picked up). Meaning you will do a K2tog then knit your last stitch. This makes up your decrease round.

Work one round decreasing as above, then one round just knit until you are back down to a total number of 36 stitches.


Foot:
Knit until foot measures 4 1/2".

Toe:
The tow is worked much like the gusset, however, you are going to decrease 4 stitches every decreasing round instead of two above. You do this as follows: decrease in the same manner as above only you will do it for the instep stitches as well. So if you are using the magic loop method, you will decrease like above on BOTH needles instead of one. If using the traditional method then you will decrease the instep stitches as above and then do your ssk on the next needle and K2tog on the 3rd needle.

Work one round decreasing as above and then one round knit until you have 20 stitches remaining. Divide those stitches onto 2 needles if they aren't already and then graft together.

The sample sock above was made using Araucania  Ranco.

It's A Learning Process....

Both knitting and blogging....I think I may have figured out the pics here....

This is my 'Mini Mitered Square' afghan, from 'Mason Dixon Knitting'. (Absolutely LOVE that book!) Let's see what else we can show....

And this is Demarcus in his little intarsia hat, that just came out so great. I found this pattern at a LYS, I believe it's from Blue Girl Knits. The great thing about it though, is the pattern came in very small for babies and small children, and also for adults! (Though I had to purchase the adult one seperately and it uses different yarn). So Demarcus and his Dad, Marcus, got matching hats....

Cute huh? Ok, that's enough for now. Tomorrow I will update with some stuff that I am actually currently working on, and hopefully post up the pattern for Demarcus' socks I am working on... Goodbye all! =)

Introduction =)

Hello, I'm Tonya. I knit. A lot. Ask anyone who knows me. I have 3 boys, ages 17, 12 and 2. I love to share the things I am working on, have finished and patterns I tend to work up along the way. So I guess you could say the whole idea of this blog is ideas, inspiration and patterns. This is going to be my place to share and it's inevitable with 3 kids that some family will end up in here too. I mean, it's not like I have anything else going on in my life. (Yes, that was so very sarcastic). I have never done a blog before. So you will have to bear with me as I learn while doing this. Feel free to offer any comments and suggestions as I try and make BlogSpot here, my new best friend. Perhaps I should just jump in with the knitting since I am WAY more comfortable with that than this whole introduction thingy...

I am one who always has a BUNCH of projects going on at once, but who does actually finish them! Right now I have going:

1.)  A half finished pair of socks for my two year old. (He just turned 2 on Friday!)
2.)  A shaded boucile afghan
3.)  A sweater for said 2 year old. (Demarcus)
4.)  NUMEROUS socks for myself!
5.)  A 'Lizards Ridge' Afghan with Noro's Kureyon.
6.)  A great sweater for me made from Ester Bitan Handyes on itsy bitsy size 3 needles.
7.) Something with Noro's Silk Garden. I've been collecting it for some sort of afghan.
And more, that's just off the top of my head!

I plan on having lots of pictures.... just as soon as I figure out how. :-)