Something New!

I learned something new today!!
I've been putting off working on Wild Thing's sweater vest because the thought of the Three Needle Bind Off was a little daunting.  Ha ha!  I didn't learn that I put stuff off... I learned that the three needle bind off is super simple!
Ha!  Once again it was me putting my knitting on a pedestal!  (Yes CS... insert whatever noun you like there!)  I do this kind of stuff all the time.  I think too much about it, I worry about it and think I can't.  Cables?  Um... yeah... did that with those as well!
Three needle bind off is just that.  A bind off using more needles than usual! That was the scary part!  You just use 3 needles instead of 2!  It's a way of grafting stuff together without Kitchener stitching and it's really pretty cool!  The seam is practically invisible. IF you make sure all of your stitches are going the same way when you bind them off! Sigh.... don't ask how I know this. Just don't.
It starts out a lot like grafting using the kitchener stitch. You have 2 sets of live stitches (the ends of WT's sweater vest!) and you put them onto needles. *I used DPN's because I didn't have to move from my chair to go get them!*  Face the needles and the stitches the same way and then bind off using a third needle.  See?  3 needles to bind off.  Duh.  What's so hard about that?!   Absolutely NOTHING!

The left side is bound off... the right side is waiting!  Just need to slip the front 7 stitches onto a needle, slip the back stitches onto another. Grab a third needle and...

knit one from the front needle and one from the back AT THE SAME TIME!

Now I have 2 stitches on the right needle....

Just do a regular ol' bind off stitch now!  Slip the first stitch over the second ..

AND DO IT AGAIN!!  All the way to the end!

This is what it looks like on the inside!

And this is what it looks like on the outside!

Doing the left side (as you are looking at my picture!) took less than 5 minutes! So... 5 minutes for the other side and then all I have to do is pick up stitches along the neck edge and each arm opening!  Then a few rows of ribbing and this little baby should be all ready for Wild Thing and his birthday in October!

A Vest for Wild Thing

My little buddy 'Wild Thing' turns 4 at the end of October. Why I felt I needed to start a birthday present for him now.... I'll never probably know, but start it I did!
I actually cast on the bottom edge last week (Wednesday at Royal Knitting!) and made it almost all the way up to the armpits. This is where I realized that I had not only made a size too large for this kid but somehow I had ended up with enough stitches that made it huge! I don't think it would have ever fit this kid!   Wow. I have no idea what I did, but seriously I think I was in the neighborhood of making a size 10 ~ for a much larger animal!  I was shooting for a  boy animal size 4! 
I love how I find out things when I knit. How to do stuff, how to make stuff work, how to NOT do something and well... just  loads of interesting things become apparent when I knit! Yeah, so most of the things I realize are from mistakes, but.... learning from mistakes is a good thing! Right?
This is what I've learned from this little sweater vest!   Frogging! Frogging is so much easier if I use my ball winder! It goes so much faster if I just pay attention to what the heck I'm doing, but sigh! The ball winder to frog the vest was really kind of fun!!

Starting over on this little vest was a really good idea so after ball winder/frogging I started over on Sunday and now that  today is Thursday,  I'm almost done!!  I just have to do a 3 needle bind off at the top of the shoulders (another new thing for me!) and then pick up stitches along the arm holes and neck edging and then complete a ribbed edge!  Woot!!  I even got a little adventerous and deviated from the pattern (who? Me? Never would have thought that now would ya?!) and added a little stripe on the front! The V neck with a ribbed edge will come from the top to the top white stripe. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but there are 2 top straps on each end of that gold stitch holder. They run in a v point down to the stripey section! I don't normally stray off the pattern path but in this case, the pattern is super simple and I wanted to have a little bit of Wild Thing's sister's dress in here! Just because I'm sure their Mom would totally smirk at the 'matchy matchy' thing!!
* Miss Butter's dress was made from the same yarn - Berroco Remix
Here are the pattern particulars:
www.knittingpureandsimple.com
#256 Simple Vest
#266 Little Girls Sundress
Berroco Remix - 100% recycled fibers and WASHABLE!!

Rippin' It

Don't you just hate it when you are happily knitting away and then all of a sudden... (insert ominous music) darn it all!  A mistake!  *Insert Pirate expletive*   Grrr.
 I hate when that happens.  Because it means that I either have to chuck it all and start over (shh sometimes I start with another ball of yarn) or just start ripping out my knitting.   Rip it, rip it, rip it!
Have I ever told you how much I hate rippin' it?  Yeah.  I do.  Almost as much as I hate socks.  LOL
IF it's just one or two stitches that I've dropped somewhere along the way, that's no big deal.  I'm a whiz at picking those babies up.  I just grab a crochet hook, stick it into the dropped stitches and wait until I get back around to where they are.  I then just 'hook' them back up all the way to the top.  Wa-la!  No big deal.  BUT if it's a bigger problem than that... I just have to rip it.  Grrr.
I've been working on a little vest for my 3 year old buddy 'Wild Thing'.  It's really cute (LINK) and 'WT' is really cute so I figured it was going to be one of those no brainer, easy peasy projects.  Um... yeah... that's what I get for thinkin'!  I'm making it for his birthday (not until October) so I planned on making a bigger size for him than what he is wearing right now.  *Insert sighing and eye rolling here please*
What I didn't plan on was that the size I was making would magically make itself 2 sizes bigger than what I had circled on the pattern.  I did count!  I DID!  I double checked myself all the way through until I got up to the point where I needed to divide and bind off for the arm pits........ what?!  That's where I discovered that I obviously either counted wrong, or just cast on way too many stitches in the first place.  I tried decreasing but.... still.... this vest might have fit 'WT' when he was much (much) older.  So... what's left?  What else can I try now?
Yippee.
Let's rip.
Whoop.   Not.
So I start ripping out my work, *yes you may insert pirate expletives here*.   I'm ripping away and Big comes up and says.... "Hey!  Why don't you use your ball winder to wind that up?"   What?!
A guy (and a non knitting guy at that!) suggests a really helpful and why this never occurred to me until right now... idea.   Okay, okay... it didn't occur to me UNTIL after he suggested it.   DUH!! USE YOUR BALL WINDER to rip stuff out.

So that's just what I'm doing.  Wow.  It really isn't bad, this ripping out stuff... with a ball winder!!
It makes perfect sense and it really does work.  Why it never occurred to me before I will never know, but from now on.... this is exactly what I'm going to do when I rip it!!
Now the only thing I have to do is NEVER (ever) let Big know that I hadn't thought to use the ball winder for this before.  Shh.

Sighing Socks

 I don't think I've picked up a ball of yarn except to move it for the last few days.  What?!  Really.
I'm having some serious yarn withdrawals and it ain't from lack of yarn!!  I have a ton!! 
Can you say distracted? Um yeah..  You try paying attention to anything when your hubs has been gone for several months and then sends you an email that says he's not in "Kansas" anymore. Seriously.  My lack of focus is totally his fault!
I did manage to clean, clean, clean!!  My way of handling stress I guess!  I cleaned out everything! Washed everything I could think of and then went and looked at my yarn!  Time to start a new project! Time to organize!  LOL.  That's what usually happens with any kind of stress around here!  Things get cleaned and organized!
The time I spent with my yarn was very productive..... mostly for my new alley buddy!  I went through my yarn, sorted it out by type (yeah.. can you say OCD?) and then sorted out some stuff I'm never going to use.  I did sell some (not much) and gave away some more (GASP!) but... still not much knitting happening here!
In the process of cleaning out....
I found some socks that I made for Big a couple of years ago (3?) and I actually felt a twinge of inspiration!  Aha~!  That's what I need to do!  Make him some new socks!  *I didn't throw the holey ones out though and now I'm really glad I didn't!!
I did try and make new socks for Big,  but... I used a pattern I found that said easy... I got almost done with the first sock and then thought.  What?!  Make another one?  I don't even like this one!!  The gauge is all off  (yep. One more reason to knit a gauge swatch grr) and it might have fit a much (MUCH) larger person.  I then tried the 2 at a time from the toe up process.   Really?  Wow.  Too confusing. 
There are a bunch of books out there for making socks, but I really think the two at a time idea might work for me!  I mean seriously, have you met me? The attention span of a gnat!  Why in the heck would I knit socks when they are so cheap to buy in the first place and if I did decide to make some... pretty sure my attention span wouldn't allow me to make the second sock!
I've been just muddling around about socks for a few weeks now.  BUT now that BIG IS HOME!!  Now that Big is home I really need to put in more of an effort!
Guess what he did first thing this morning (not THAT geez!!)  HE PUT ON HIS OLD RAGGEDY SOCKS!!  Seriously.  I can't believe he remembered where he put them for one thing, but to go for those old yucky things first thing on his first morning home?!  I guess I should feel all warm and fuzzy that my hubby obviously loves the socks I made for him!! I do!! It's just really funny!
While he was  be-bopping around making coffee he starts complaining that his toes and his heels are cold so I look down at his feet and Ha Ha!  He has on the socks I made for him that are now so worn thin that they are barely even socks!

He's making some serious noises about needing new socks... he's sitting on the couch and sighing (loudly) and then reaches down and pulls the - or trys to pull the fabric over the cold heel and then tucks it around the cold toe.... he's making me laugh! He then looks over and asks how the knitting is going. What have I made lately... those kinds of comments. See what I mean? Seriously? Since when does Big ask about what projects I've got going on?  AND with all the sighing going on and tucking in of sock fabric around cold toesies... Really? I'm thinking he's hinting that either his toes really are cold (lol) or he wants some new socks! 
So maybe that's my lightening bolt of inspiration! Sighing socks! Hmm... I wonder if I can figure out how to make him stop off at the yarn store today... obviously I will need him to pick out the sock yarn for his socks! Right?!  Obviously.

Fabric For Maddie

Okay guys! I'm spending way too much time on the computer and not enough time actually making stuff! My Pinterest boards are filling up, my idea bin is overflowing but I'm still not makin' nothin!
So... what do I do?
I start going through my fabric and trying to 'purge'! I can't possibly need all that I have and if we make a huge move next year... no way I can take it all!  Super sad I know..... BUT...  some of this stuff has to go. 
It's just that it is so hard to donate it to a charity organization around here, knowing that it will sit in a dusty store............. oh wait.................how about.............
I was online (yet again) and I found this
                                              http://blog.craftsy.com/2012/03/meet-maddie/

Quilted Hugs from Maddie
PO Box 2461
Cleveland, TN 37320-2461

http://blog.craftsy.com/2012/03/meet-maddie/

Meet Maddie. She’s a very exception eight year old little girl.  I love kids... that belong to other people.... and I don't even know this kid, but I'm in love!!  Most eight year old kids that I know can't even finish a project but Maddie is not only finishing her projects......... she's giving them away!!  She makes quilts for the sole project of donating them to people in need.  Wow huh? 

So... back to that fabric I was having a hard time sorting through.... now that I have a real purpose in mind for each and every piece in that box....

look out Maddie... here it comes sweetie!

I feel so much better about helping someone out when it truly will be of a benefit.  If an eight year old is making quilts for people just because... well... I can certainly send her some fabric!!
**Just click on the link to the Craftsy Blog for more info about Maddie. I've added her address above her picture too... hint hint!!
**

New Socks

I was digging around in the closet, trying to purge a few things (he he he! What Big doesn't know won't hurt him right?) and I found these.   The first (and only) pair of socks I made for Big!   I made these socks for him almost 3 years ago..... guess he loved them huh?  See the heels & toes.... yep those are holes.  B I G holes.  I don't even think darning would save these poor ol' socks....

Big wore these all the time, but  I'm not quite sure how I managed to not notice that his toes and his heels were sticking out.  Maybe I was just happy that he obviously loved them because I made them and was able to ignore the white heels & toes?   Beats me... but I don't think there is any saving these.

See that big hole?   Both socks are in rough shape so I guess it's time for new socks. 

Did I tell you how much I don't like to make socks? Yeah.... that whole pair thing gets me every stinkin' time!

Anyway... seeing how much he obviously loved these socks I decided to make another pair (ugh.. that means 2 doesn't it) for Big!  Our anniversary is in 2 weeks so I'm trying to get them done before that... and hopefully he will be back by then to wear these!!  So happy anniversary and warm toes to Big!! Let's hope I get them done... yes! I said T H E M!

Sock #1!!  Heel flap and heel are done... getting ready to turn the heel and start on the instep!  I was worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn so I made them super short! Bootee socks?!!  I've had this yarn in my stash for who knows how long!! It's a worsted weight, washable - probably acrylic something or other!  The pattern is from www.knittingpureandsimple.com

Eye of Partridge Heel - slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch on right side rows and then slip 1st stitch and purl across on wrong side rows. Supposed to make it so it wears a little better! Hope so!! These should wear at least as long as the other pair... the worsted weight is heavier than the sock yarn for one thing!!

I CAN Crochet!

can crochet! I really can!! See??? I didn't think about taking pictures of the process... so you'll just have to believe me that I did crochet this all by myself! ALL By Myself!! *I tend to crochet better IF I don't have a pattern to follow and I just make it up as I go... and felting it?!! What a life saver!! LOL This way nobody can ever tell that my half double crotchet's might actually be doubles, or triples... or ...

Boy Wonder needed a case for his tuner and guitar picks!! So I picked up an H hook and some Lion Brand Wool and went to town!

Now it just needs a button hole & of course a button!

Who says you can't felt in a front loader? LOL ! You just have to be careful when you open the door!

I crocheted this using some leftover wool (I think I crocheted & felted a Nook holder for Big) and an H crochet hook. I just made a simple little purse like thing that was about 2 times bigger than the tuner. I did half-double crochets into the initial chain and just kept going around and around in sort of a tube. Or at least I think I made half doubles... When I thought I had enough of a pocket made, I just went back and forth on one of the sides to make the flap. Threw the whole thing into the washer on sanitize (super mega hot!) and let it go for a little while! I kept pausing the washer so I could check on it and when I thought it had shrunk enough, I pulled it out!!

I think it's great and Boy is pretty happy with it too. He's planning on spending some time with the bucket o' buttons later on today to find just the right one!