Gotta love him!

Now that the cooler weather is FINALLY here, we have to dress a little warmer. Hayden refuses to wear a jacket but is okay with a sweater. The return of McTavish!

What a great son - he cheerfully wears Mommy's creations!

In other knitting news, I FINALLY finished the garter stitch scarf I started on our trip to Lake Placid.

Yes, I started a simple garter stitch scarf in July and didn't finish it in October.

(Like my shirt, at least what you can see of it? It's the naked mudflap girl knitting! Awesome, huh?) It turned out pretty, but not like Jared's. Why not? Just cast on 17 stitches on size 11 needles and do garter stitch until you run out of 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon. Must be like how your cottage cheese and tomato sandwiches aren't quite as good as the ones Mama made for you.

I am knitting away on Mike's vest, but that'll be put on hold this weekend for a pair of socks for Hayden. I bought 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces in the Bee Stripe colorway because I thought they'd make the perfect accessory as he and Mike go to Vanderbilt basketball games this season. Mike and I are leaving for Las Vegas on Saturday, so I figured socks would be a better plane choice than the front of a man's sweater. Hopefully pictures of both of these items will be coming soon.

FO: Juliet

Pattern: Zephyr's Juliet
Size: small
Yarn: Lang Yarns Eve, 5+ skeins (I think)
Needles: Denise interchangeables size 9
Discussion: I love it!!! This was my first Zephyr pattern, and I'm very happy. Like I said in an earlier post, this yarn was in my stash. The gauge is a bit smaller than the pattern called for, so I went with the small (I would've gone with the extra-small otherwise) and it turned out great. I've been wearing it all day. My thought was to wear it without buttons until I got a chance to go to the store for buttons, but the more I wear it, the more I like it without buttons. Unless someone has a strong pro-button argument, I'll leave it this way.

I was a little worried about the "poofiness" that other knitters have complained about, but I'm fine with the poof. In fact, I think the poof is quite cute and a bit girly, if I say so myself.

I said "I think" about the use of a little over 5 skeins because I didn't really keep track. I just kept going stash-diving for another skein when I needed it. I don't remember how many skeins of this yarn I bought originally and I don't really know how much I have left (my yarn closet is in TOTAL disarray right now, to the point of major embarrassment), so I'm guesstimating 5+.

Next up: to finish the Noro Kureyon garter stitch scarf started back in July (you didn't know a garter stitch scarf done on size 11 needles could take this long, huh?) and the vest in progress for DH. The back is basically done, thanks to our latest Disneyworld trip, and the seed stitch bottom border for the front has been started. I really want to dive into another Zephyr pattern (Tree Jacket for sure, and maybe Wicked with some Frog Tree Alpaca Sport that was a birthday gift back in September), but I'm promising myself that I'll finish the vest first. It's FINALLY cooling off here in Nashvegas, so maybe it'll be done at the perfect time.

Not that I really have time for this...

...but I thought I'd share pictures of my latest FOs, plus 1 WIP.

Pattern: Knitty's Clapotis
Yarn: Blue Heron Yarns beaded wool, Winterwood colorway, 2 1/2 skeins
Needles: Denise interchangeables size 7


(Yikes! What a hole in the back of my hair!)

Discussion: Yes, I'm very late to the party. My LYS is trying to show its clientel that they're Internet-savvy, so they want to have shop models of popular Internet projects. Since most of my sentences while in the shop start with, "There's this pattern on the Internet..." (much like American Pie's "One time in band camp...", except I've never stuck anything knitting-related into my vajayjay), I was an easy target. They provided the yarn (hence the use of yarn that's $26/skein), I knitted the Clap, and there you go. I think after it's hanging in the shop for a while I'll get it back, but I'm not sure. I might make another one for a gift, but this time I'll use smooth yarn. The beaded texture, while really pretty, doesn't show off the stitch definition very much.


Pattern: Mason Dixon Knitting's Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 2 skeins
Needles: Denise interchangeables, size 6
Discussion: I had just enough of this yarn left over from the Modern Log Cabin Blanket for this sweater, I had a pretty bad back spasm on Friday that left me sitting on the couch most of the weekend, and I've been invited to a baby shower this Sunday. How perfect! This pattern is a)very easy and b)true to its name - heartbreakingly cute. I found myself looking at other colors of Cotton Classic today for more baby kimonos. I don't have any other pregnant friends, so I don't need to make another one, but it's so damn cute!


This is the garter stitch portion of my Juliet. (And my boobs look fabulous! Yippee for tight tees and pushup bras!) The sleeve stitches are on holders because I thought of adding sleeves, but the more I try it on this tight long-sleeve tee, the more I like the cap sleeve look. And I LOVE the color. I'm not a girly-girl by any means, but this pink is adorable. I'm getting a slightly smaller gauge (man, Hayden is standing next to me, singing a song from Sleeping Beauty - if you could only hear him!) than the pattern calls for, but I'm cool with it. I've read that Zephyr patterns tend to run on the big side, so instead of going down a size like most bloggers have, I stayed with the small and am hoping that it'll turn out okay. I think it will. I'm about to start the lace section, and I'm a little worried. I was reading Craftster tonight, and some people went down a needle size to eliminate some of the poofiness. I didn't find the pattern to look poofy at all, so I don't really know what to do. If I stay on my 9s, will it balloon out right below my boobs? If I go down (wow - going down twice in one paragraph - DH could only be so lucky!) to 8s, will it look too flat? I think what I'm going to do is take my other WIP, DH's sweater vest, with me to Disneyworld and save Juliet until I get home on Monday. Or if I can get enough done tonight, I may have enough time to knit some before we leave tomorrow so I can see what I like. Off I go to pack! Tomorrow's it's off to Florida until Monday!

No pictures for you!

I have been knitting up a storm lately, so I have a couple of FOs to show you and 1 WIP. Unfortunately, the batteries in our camera decided to die, so I have to wait until Walgreens opens up. These are the pictures you're missing out on right now:

Finished my Clap. (Why I put the link, I don't know. EVERYONE is familiar with the Clap by now.) Really pretty.

Started a baby sweater on Thursday, finished it last night. So damn cute it makes you want to puke.

I'm over halfway finished with the back of a sweater vest for Mike. Looking good. Really like my yarn choice.

I just bought the Zephyr girls' Juliet pattern and am getting ready to swatch for it. I have some pale pink Lang Yarns Eve in my stash that I think will work perfectly. I wasn't impressed with this cardi at first, but it grew on me. Also, I think the idea of making a really quick knit for me is enticing; I have done so many projects lately for others that I'm feeling a little neglected. Wouldn't it be nice if I could get it done before we leave for Disneyworld on Wednesday evening? I don't know if the weather's going to be cool enough for a little cardi like this, but I'd be willing to pack it just in case. I may be able to do it. My back is totally messed up right now, I think due to a hilly bike ride right before my Chains class (scroll halfway down the page and click on the guy standing on a box, holding a bar) last Thursday night , so I haven't moved from my couch very much since yesterday morning.