Hot off the needles

With the snow and advancing pregnancy, I haven't spent a lot of time outside or otherwise living life in the fast lane. What I have been doing is knitting.

Pattern:Zip-up-the-back hoodie (ravelry link to pattern)
Yarn: Valley Yarns Superwash in green and yellow
Model: Baby Ryan -- I-minions baby that Gramma Caela made for him. This baby wears a 0-3 sleeper -- he's just not as thick as a regular baby.
Notes: This is for Baby O. I was inspired to find this sweater after my doctor mentioned that someone knit one for her oldest when he was a baby, All of her kids used it and it was very useful because you could put it on the kid while in the car seat.

This would be a quick knit, if I decided to do it the simple way. Instead of just one color or simple stripes, I decided the sleeves should be one color and the body a different one. I think at one point I had five or six balls of yarn attached to this sweater. It was a mess to keep straight, but the finished project was worth it.

The zipper took a bit to find one that would work and I sewed it in by hand. Not quite as speedy as doing it with the machine, but worked just as well.



Pattern: Saartjes-bootees (ravelry link) for Baby O
Yarn: Valley Yarns Superwash in green and yellow. This was some of the leftover from the zip up the back hoodie I made for the baby earlier. The little fish buttons were the only ones I could find at Hobby Lobby in Sioux Falls, SD, that weren't obviously boy or girl buttons and yet still geared for kids.

Notes: They knit up quickly. I'm not sure when they'll fit the baby, but at some point in the first few months they will likely fit.

If I were to make this again, and I probably would. I would extend the number of stitches that you cast on to make the straps (trust me it will make sense when you look at the pattern) and then make a buttonhole with a YO and a K2tog in one of the middle rows.


Pattern: Basic Socks, no real pattern
Yarn: Wool Ease worsted -- a wool/acrylic blend and that means they are machine washable.
Notes: These were for I-minion. He had been requesting red sleeping socks for a long time. They are just a basic ribbed sock. They didn't take long to knit up, and he likes to wear them and slide around the house.


Pattern: The Squidge Cloth
Yarn: Sugar N' Cream Solids and Ombres -- two skeins. Although I had to snag some left over purple cotton to finish the one.
Notes: E-minion is a big girl. To celebrate that I made for her two washcloths, and towels with velcro so she could wrap them around herself and make them stay up, and found two pink hair wraps to soak up the water after bath time.



There are other things on the needles and have not photographed. They include a sweater that still needs one short sleeve, a pair of top secret socks , a stole and The Shawl of Doom. I finished a pair of socks that I started in the summer, but neglected to photograph them before I sent them home with Gramma Caela.

Is winter over yet?

It's been a long winter here on my Mount Olympus. We've gotten smacked by major snow storms every two weeks for at least the last six weeks -- that means we've had a lot of snow, and blowing snow. It also means that if and when the sun shines it's blinding.

Most of these images were taken Christmas Day -- when one of the biggest snow storms hit. It prompted the cancellation of all Christmas services at area churches for four days. We really needed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to save Christmas. But, I hear he was too busy helping Santa.

Since these photos were taken we've had additional snow, freezing rain. It's like a glacier out there and the piles are just taller.

E-minion climbing into the snow pack from the driveway -- it was about as tall as she is.


The barn. Our last snow storm, on Jan.25, nearly the entire roof on the south side of the barn fell because of the weight of the snow and 55 mph winds we had.

And finally, Ms. Jasmine swimming her way through the yard. The freezing rain created a nice crust on the snow so she can run and jump all on top of the snow that's about 2 1/2 feet deep. It also means that she doesn't have to stay in the areas where J has plowed out.