Knit 1, Crochet 2

I have a good excuse

I know, I know. But it truly has all been worth it. The last few months were a flurry of getting ready activity for the sweetest little thing.



Sophia Gabrielle
Born April 23, 2008
2:14 p.m.
6 pounds, 9.2 ounces
20 inches

Welcome to the world, Princess Sophia. We hope you have a happy life filled with love.

And this picture sums up the day perfectly.

Posted by Heather at 1:11 PM 6 comments

Let the sewing begin!

Not only is there knitting and crocheting been going on here at the Casa, but there has been some behind the scenes sewing as well.

When the Princess was a little Princess, I made lots of sundresses for her. And let's not forget all the Halloween costumes I made, too. I knew there was going to be a lot more sewing in the future for the baby Princess. So, with Sarah's enabling advice, I bought a new-to-me serger.



Isn't she just beautiful? $150 for a beautifully kept Bernina serger that retailed back in the day for around $800 or so. She needed a bit of cleanup and some oil, but is running like new. Like the cat in the background? We have to let him sleep there or he will drive us nuts with trying to be close.

Sarah was kind enough to have the Princess and I over on Saturday morning for some lessons. You know, so I wouldn't serge my fingers together. We made this fabulous bag. Ok, Sarah made it and I watched.



And Sarah shoved all kinds of fabric goodies in my bag without me looking. The blue polka dots are for a little bag to hold my sock knitting. Now I have to remember how to sew it up.



I've really missed her since she defected moved to Scottsdale and it was so nice to finally spend some time together.

Armed with her great lessons and a bit of confidence, I finally finished this little dress that was taking forever on my regular machine. The finishing of hems when you have only a sewing machine is a real PIA and makes everything take 2 - 3 times as long. Not good when you are trying to whip out several outfits on my limited time. The little diaper cover took 15 minutes to cut, sew and finish. And that was including the elastic.



Not too bad, huh? Yes, there are pins where the button holes should be. I just bought an attachement for my machine and I'm trying to get the guts to do it. I've had my sewing machine for 16 years and never did buttonholes! My plan is to find fabric on sale (or in your friend's stash - heh!) and make up several sets of these on the cheap. Plus, it's fun! The Princess really loves these and is so excited about me making all the baby clothes. I have fabric for 5 variations of this outfit, then we are moving onto fall/winter clothes. She is dying for me to make this cheetah print vest for the baby that she saw in a pattern book. She is in Florida this week and doesn't know I'll be making it while she is gone.

Back to the baby apparel factory for me!

Posted by Heather at 5:05 PM 5 comments

It will be my Smooshy!

Ok, I mangled a line from one of my all-time favorite movies. But still, I love me the Smooshy. I think the mailman was playing with my Smooshy, because even though Erin at Eat.Sleep.Knit shipped on Saturday, I didn't get it until Thursday! And it was shipped Priority Mail! I've always sworn it takes forever for things to get here in hell Arizona. We went out to dinner and I grabbed it from the mailbox to stroke feel how soft it was in the car. Soooo soft and the color so deep and gorgeous. I was in love.

It quickly became...



And on Friday night I finally picked a pattern and started knitting. The yarn is truly lovely to work with and I love the color more every time I pick it up. These are for me! Imagine that, hmm? I can't wait to wear them. Speaking of which. Those of you that knit socks and wear them, how do you show them off? What shoes do you wear them with? I'm looking for new clogs, but I have trouble with ones that have too high an arch. **ETA - Helps if I include the picture, hmm?



Of course, no blog post of mine would be complete without some baby knitting. I finally figured out what I had to do about not getting gauge on Anouk and started knitting yesterday (In the recommended yarn and colors. I NEVER do that! I'm a little over pink right now.) while it rained all day (a rare occurrence here in Arizona) and we watched movies. However, I'm not so sure I figured it all out right. It looks small and I was hoping it would fit the baby when she is 6 months old. The bottom is 12" across. My math is telling me that it should be 12.25 for the small. What do you think?



I finished the Baby Bell Bottoms.



You can see that they are not all pink. Because I ran out of yarn. Even though there were 2 knots in each skein, I still wouldn't have had enough. So, if you plan on making these, make sure to order an extra skein. Unless you like a contrasting waistband, of course. :)

Yarn: Knitpicks Shine, Blush
Needles: Knitpicks Options (I LOVE these needles), size 6
Time to knit: A few evenings (with plenty of interruptions)

Also note that as you are knitting the top, what you think is the back is actually the front. Keep that in mind when you find yet another d&*m knot in the yarn. I loved the yarn, but that just pisses me off. I plan on knitting another pair in purple, just the 6 months size. I have 3 skeins of yarn, which should be plenty.

Thank you for your get well wishes! I'm doing better, I just wish that I could get rid of the cough.

I've also been sewing, but that's for another post. Meanwhile, I think I want a serger.

Back to the baby knitting factory!

**Special thanks to my personal photographer, Brian. Love ya, babe.**

Posted by Heather at 3:33 PM 4 comments

More baby knits

See what I bought myself with my Christmas bonus? Brian is out of his swift job, but I don't think he minds.

I pulled out my 2 gorgeous skeins of Claudia Hand Painted Yarn in the Plumicious colorway and started winding.



Excuse the crappy picture, but umm...doesn't something look off? Yea, one skein is 40 grams, the other is 70. I'm just going to knit toe up until I run out of the smaller skein and then wind off 15 grams of the other. You know me, I like to use up every inch of handpainted goodiness. These are destined to be Monkey Socks with a mod for toe up that I found somewhere in blogland.

Finally finished blanket number two for the granddaughter (god, that stil freaks me out).



Yarn - Encore, 6 skeins
Pattern - Sheila's Laprobe
Hook - Size H
Time to crochet - Too damn long

I finished over 2/3 of this while the Princess was in the hospital for 2 days with an acute stomach virus that had all of us very worried. She is all better now, but I think I aged 5 more years in 3 days.

Also knit while she was in the hospital (Very easy to knit there, you know. She sleeps and doesn't want me to leave her side, so I knit and crocheted for HOURS. I don't recommend it, however, as a way to finish off projects.) are 2 baby bibs in Sugar 'n Cream. These are no brainers. Perfect for 4am knitting and you can't fall asleep in the chair.



This might be my favorite baby project so far.



Alison's Baby Bell Bottoms. Very well written pattern, soft yarn and a quick knit. I have yarn for a purple pair in a 6 month size, too.

Now, back to bed with me. Because I don't have enough going on without somehow coming down with pneumonia and having a lovely reaction to the meds. Yea.

Posted by Heather at 4:27 PM 3 comments

Hanging my head in shame

I couldn't help it! Look at this, would you?



Knitters around blogland have been extolling the virtues of Dream in Color Smooshy. I began to covet the Smooshy. Spending hours and hours looking at all the color combinations, dreaming of how soft the yarn would be in my hands as I knit it, how soft the sock would be on my tired feet. I resisted. I made a vow!!

I caved.

But...but...look at it!! Look at the depth of the color, the richness of that buttery yellow. You can feel the smooshiness through the picture. It was calling to me, dammit! "Heather, please buy me. Please take me home and pet me and spread the smooshy love."

So, I placed an order through a new online shop that I just really have come to adore - Eat, Sleep, Knit. Isn't that the best name for a yarn shop? I so hope she ships my yarn today. Because, you know, I only have enough for 17 pairs of socks.

Stop laughing. You know you covet my smoooshy.

Posted by Heather at 12:09 PM 3 comments