Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Secret Pal!

I got my package from my Secret Pal! I am a little late in posting about it, I got it about a week ago! I still can't post from my computer with pictures and I am lazy about getting down into the basement to post.

So, here is a picture of everything that was in the package:
Here's a list:
* 3 colors Wool of the Andes by Knit Picks
* 2 colors of Plymouth Encore
* Trekking XXL sock yarn
* 2 colors of Plymouth Dreambaby in beautiful blues
* Paytons metallic yarn in purple
* Knit Picks shine
* Beautiful and soft hand knit face cloth
* Beautiful handmade stick markers in a cute tin
* 2 tape measures (which is perfect because I am always misplacing mine!)
* A journal
* The hedgehog pattern I really, really wanted!
* A great sock pattern.
* A baby hat and sock pattern
* A book of sticky labels
* 2 wonderful smelling bath gels
* Baby bee balm (which is great for the baby and me!)
* metallic roving
* A very cute decorated yarn jar with froggies and three kids representing my own three monkeys
* Tin of cinnamon mints
* Disk with a collection of patterns
* Cute note cards with a knitting motif

Phew! I'm out of breath! I think I remembered everything in there! It was a great gift from my secret pal Tina!

She has some great pictures up on her bloc that really show off the face cloth that she knit and also of the yarn jar she decorated.

Thank you so much, Tina! You made it worth the wait for that package! It was all I could think about for the whole week! Even now I just want to go on and on about all the great stuff in that box! I can't wait to get started on my hedgehog pattern. I have some wool yarn that I think will felt up for it, but I have to do a test swatch first. I also think that I am going to try dyeing it first with some collate because it is just a boring beige. I'll see how it felts first and then decide.

Okay, I feel better now. I have been kicking myself in the rear all week to post this because I really wanted to give Tina all the credit she deserved for that! She was a wonderful secret pal and really made my experince in this great!

Now, I have to get my last package done and off to my secret pal!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Gauge!

I am finaly able to post some pics! So here are some pics of my current knitting.

Here is a gauge (!) swatch I did to start my son's sweater. I was going to use the Pea Pod Baby Set from Interweave Knits. It had some great detailing in the bottom ribbing and along the bottom band, but the cabling was beyond me. I have never done cables before and I just didn't understand the directions. So.... I switched over to a simple seed stitch Guernsey pattern. Much better.






I have also been knitting away on some preemie hats. I sent off five sets to The Preemie Project. These are two of my favorites.

This is a ruffled watermelon hat and bootie set I did with Caron Simply Soft. I got the idea for the hat while in my LYS. Basically, I cast on twice the number of stitches that I needed for the hat, knit in the seed stitch for about 6 rows, and then K2tog all the way around to make the ruffle. Then I just knit the hat as normal. It came out very sweet and will fit a 3-5 lb preemie.

This is one that I made with Lion Brand Microspun. There are spiraling rows of purl stitiches in the body of the hat. This one came out very soft! It will also fit a 3-5 lb baby.

Oh, one more thing I have accomplished since the last time I posted, I actually got my Secret Pal package mailed off! I didn't take any pics of the stuff, but after everything is all done and the SP's are revealed, I will link over to my pal who posted some pics on her blog.

I have to get back to work now. Taking a time out to blog and if DH comes in here and sees I'm not working, he's not going to watch those monkeys anymore!