I am Groot!

This weekend, my sweet little baby turns 14!  That’s years!  Human years!  I have no idea how this happened.  It seems like just last week he was burping down my back.  (He was such a little angel baby!)

Anyway, yeah, I’m not sure how he got to be 14, but he is.  In addition to the birthday coming up this weekend, he got his braces off earlier this week!  That was the end of Stage 2 (they do two stages of orthodontia now, the first around age 7-9 and the second around 12 or so, once the kid has all their teeth), so assuming he wears his retainers, he shouldn’t have to go through that again.  He’s got a week of nothing in his mouth while they make his retainers - and he’s really celebrating this week!

Obviously, for one of his birthday gifts I wanted to make him something and I decided that a Baby Groot was just what he needed.  I didn’t have a spare pot, so I weighted the bottom with some washers and some sort of metal thing I found in Mickael’s tool box (I checked first, he didn’t know what it was either, but it was heavy).  I wanted Baby Groot to stand up!  I mostly stuck to the pattern, except the arms - I couldn’t get it to work to crochet such a tiny tube.  I think it has something to do with the way I hold the hook and my work - I think I hold it more like a knitter than a crocheter.  After a couple of attempts, I grabbed some double points and knit I-cord for the arms.  Then I crocheted the fingers off of the live stitches at the ends of the I-cords.  I have no idea how I did it.  I kind of made it up as I went along, but it worked, and Groot is kind of bumpy and texture-y anyway, so I’m not too worried about it.  The only other change I made was to only add one leaf.  The pattern has several and they’re really cute, but after making the one, I thought it looked SO.  SUPER.  CUTE.  I just stopped.  If Caleb wants more leaves I’ll add them, but it’s his choice.

Here’s a link to my project page if you’re curious for more details.  If you’re thinking you might want a Baby Groot of your own (or you want to make one for someone else), he worked up pretty quickly.  I spent an afternoon and evening working on him and that included digging around for something to weight him with and trying to find pipe cleaners (I never did, I used floral wire instead).

I can’t wait to give Caleb his very own Baby Groot!

Progress

 

I worked on the body of my cardigan this weekend.  After I tried it on, I decided to start the ribbing early to give it some shape, but then as I was knitting ribbing, I realized that I wasn’t sure how much yarn I’d need for the sleeves.  So, I put the body on holders and switched to the first sleeve.  This means there are two balls of yarn hanging off my sweater right now.  That kind of drives me nuts, but now the sleeve is long enough that I can just twist the sleeve as I knit and not have to rearrange the entire sweater, so it’s not as bad as it was.

Theoretically, I have enough yarn for this sweater, but I might want to make it a little longer than the pattern calls for.  Once I have the sleeves knitted, I can use everything that’s left for the body.

Since I’m only knitting on this cardigan and my Skye Boat Shawl, in an effort to finish them by the end of the year, and also because it’s just a busy time of year around here, I’m going to only blog when I’ve got real news/progress to share over the next few weeks.  I don’t figure you care to see an inch added here or there anyway.  I’ll just pop in periodically, a couple of times a week!

Buttons

 

I’ve gotten a little bit more of the body knitted on my cardigan, but the big news is that yesterday I played in the button stash and picked buttons!  I looked at several different buttons but this is the one that I liked the most.  I was actually surprised because I thought I would like a simpler button, since the cardigan is pretty simple.  When I looked at the buttons on the cardigan though, the simpler one just wasn’t quite right.

Here’s a shot of where I’m at right now.  I hope to get a lot done on it this weekend, but I’ve really got to finish getting the ornaments on the tree too!  I hope you all have a great weekend!

Finished!

I didn’t realize I was as close to being finished on my Mira’s Cowl as I was yesterday.  I was able to get it finished last night and Logan was happy to wear it (unblocked) this morning.  It will be longer when I block it and it should be less bouncy too.

The pattern is Mira’s Cowl, and this is the longer version, worked until I ran out of yarn.  The yarn is Mrs. Crosby Hat Box which was our camp yarn from Camp Loopy 2014.  I got the Forest Hideaway color.  I might need to overdye it with a pale blue because the greens are very yellow (all three of the camp yarn choices were warm colors this past year) and I’m not sure if I can wear it.  I’ll be playing with it later when the sun comes up.  I can wear wasabi green and lime green, but this is leaning pretty far into the pond scum greens with some other greens mixed in.  I’m planning on keeping it for myself, even if I have to tip it a little towards the blue side of green because I don’t have a green cowl.

Shawl-ing Merrily Along

 

I’ve gotten more done on my Skye Boat Shawl.  You can actually see the stitch pattern now.  I have to say that not only is this a great pattern that’s simple enough to work in front of the TV, but it’s extremely satisfying to watch it grow so quickly - worsted weight yarn!

As we’re approaching the end of the year, I find myself focusing on finishing up the projects I have going and trying to organize myself for the new year.  On the knitting front, I’d like to get this shawl finished, the Romy cardigan I blogged yesterday finished, and the green cowl I started last week finished.  I think those are pretty realistic goals for the next few weeks.  On the Organizing-the-PinkLemon front (that sound you heard was my entire family laughing) I ran across Bullet Journaling on one of my Internet rambles and I actually think it might work with the way my brain and life work.  At any given time, I have a big list, a little list, and several post-it notes sitting next to me, all on different topics.  I’m going to give this a try and see if I can organize the house, homeschooling, knitting, and all the various things that go through my head throughout the day.  I’ve been keeping the grocery list, the calendar, and notes on whatever sock I’m currently knitting (I’m not right now) on my iPhone, and that’s worked out really well.  The other things I’m trying to keep track of don’t really belong on the phone (in my mind) or I need them right in front of me so I don’t forget.  I’ll give this a try and report back next year and let you know how it’s working.

Cardigan Progress

 

I’ve gotten a lot done on my Romy cardigan.  When I picked it up to knit on it, I had to sort through the instructions and the knitting to figure out where I was.  This was even though I had left a little blue arrow in KnitCompanion telling me where I was.  (There’s kind of a lot going on at once in the yoke section where you start the sleeves.)  I realized that I needed to leave little notes for myself as well as the blue arrow thing.  Now that I’m past the sleeve divide I just knit, so I don’t need a bunch of notes or the blue arrow, just a row counter to keep track of buttonhole placement.  It should be smooth sailing until the hem for the body, and even the sleeves should be pretty easy.  I am going to change to a longer cable on my needles so I can try it on as I knit.  I’m also going to play with buttons and see what fits the buttonholes.  It’s always fun to play in the button stash!

Happily Ever After

 

I finished my Fairy Tale socks over the weekend!  They ended up being exact identical twins which makes me very happy.  All the details are here on my Ravelry project page.  I love the way this yarn (Biscotte & Cie Felix Self Striping) feels and the way it knits up.  I need to add some more to my stash because I don’t have any more of it - right now.

I also did another little project this weekend - I wrapped a pair of earbuds.  I had seen these on the Internets and while there is the benefit of making them less likely to tangle, it also gave me a chance to add some color and make them not white.  I used a variegated embroidery floss and I followed these directions.  You could just as easily make them solid colored or work in stripes.  I’m going to do a pair for Caleb and put them in his Christmas stocking as a little surprise.

One Last New Thing

 

Every year at Camp Loopy if you complete all three challenges, you get a skein of yarn.  It’s a special skein of yarn, just for Camp Loopy people.  This past summer the camp yarn was Mrs. Crosby Hat Box, a sport weight Merino/Silk/Cashmere blend.  I picked the Forest Hideaway color which is various greens.

When the yarn came I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to use it for, but then Loopy Academy started and one of the cowl pattern ideas being tossed around was the Mira’s Cowl.  I thought this would be perfect for my camp yarn.  Now that I’m finished with my Loopy Academy projects for the semester, I cast on for my cowl.  The pattern is a ribbed pattern of various widths so it’s reversible (always nice with something like a cowl that flips around).  I’m working the longer size and I plan to knit until I run out of yarn.  Once I got the stitch pattern established, the knitting has become super easy.  I just knit the knits and purl the purls!

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I’m going to be working on my new projects!

Another New Project

 

Sometimes it feels like I finish one project at a time, and start one new project for each finished one.  Other times I finish a bunch of projects at once and then I cast on a bunch of new projects.  This is one of those “other” times, so counting the cardigan I showed you yesterday, I’ve started three new projects in the last week.

The second project is a shawl.  A big, cuddly, worsted weight shawl.  I’ve started the Skye Boat Shawl in some yarn that’s been in my stash for years: Elann Peruvian Uros Aran in a pale blue green.  I think I bought it for another shawl, but then didn’t like the way it looked.  I only had 700 yards, so I couldn’t really use it for a sweater, so it has just sat in my stash, marinating until I found the right project.  I think this is the right project.

The shawl is knit sideways, from point to point, beginning with the corrugated edging, then working into the lace.  I’ve just barely started the lace section, but I’m liking it so far.

I’ll show you my third project tomorrow!

Something New

 

I’ve started a new cardigan, and instead of the light, fingering weight cardigan I was going to knit, I’ve started a heavier, worsted weight one instead.  I can knit the fingering weight one later.  This is the Romy cardigan and this will be the first time I’ve knit contiguous sleeves.  I think it’s basically a way to knit from the top down and you start the fronts back and sleeves all in a single piece (kind of like a raglan, top down cardigan), but instead of raglan sleeves, you knit set in sleeves instead.  I think.  I’ll let you know when I get farther along.  I’ve just barely started the sleeves.

I’m working this in some Peace Fleece worsted that I used in a previous sweater that I frogged because it was way too big and unflattering.  I can’t remember the name of the color, but it might have been violet something.  I haven’t picked out buttons yet, but just eyeballing the size of the buttonholes, I think I’ve got several options upstairs in the button stash.

On a non sweater related topic, yesterday I looked at the Christmas tree and saw this:

I’m still getting lights on it, so I haven’t started with ornaments yet, but when I last left it, the tree skirt was laying smooth and flat.  Someone decided to make a nest under it and take a nap.  Of course he got goosed by a cold Golden Retriever nose, but he still hung out under the tree skirt for a good part of yesterday afternoon.  Silly cat!

More Sock

 

I’ve made some headway on my second Fairy Tale sock.  This is a great mindless, TV project, just round and round and round.  It’s small enough Max will sometimes sit in my lap while I knit it.  (Max does not tolerate being touched by knitting as I work on it.  Ramius was never bothered by it and would just occasionally twitch an ear at me.  They are very different cats.)  I think if I seriously knit on it one or two evenings more, I can get it finished.  Then I can wear the socks.  Maybe with other socks, and fuzzy running tights, and jeans, and a turtleneck and a sweater or two, and…

It got cold here again.  Can you tell?

Finished!

 

I feel like I’ve been finishing a lot of projects lately!  Over the weekend I finished my Hitchhiking in a Kingdom of Isolation scarf.  This was knit in The Loopy Ewe’s Anniversary yarn from this year:  Dream in Color Smooshy With Cashmere in Let It Go.  It was a great little project, that also got to go to Disney World with me this fall.  Every time I look at it, it triggers memories of our vacation.

I also took, and knitted on, my Fairy Tale socks, but I’m still knitting on those.  I’ll show you those, and a couple of new projects later this week!

I can’t believe it’s December already!