Last Friday was a snow day at Chez Casa de Brewgal so I decided to stay home with the little brewers. Having been in New York, I hadn't seen them in a couple of days and wanted to spend some time with them. Let me tell you, these kids are busy.

We made overalls and a hat for the M&M doll I brought back from The M&M Store in New York. Total time = 30 minutes, not including the time spent finding the yarn in the Stash of Doom.


I did not take process photos, but this is the basic technique I used. The whole set is worked in single crochet. For the suit, I started with a chain that fit around the body of the doll. Join into a circle. Work the circle in rows until it is nearly the length you want (it will look like a wrist warmer at this point).

I put the piece on the doll and continued to work just the back portion, back and forth until it came up above the doll's arms. Then I chained 9 from one edge, over the doll's arm and attached it to the front of the piece. Work across the front for one row, chain 9 and attach to the back of the piece. I single crocheted one more row all around, going across the back, down the chain, across the front, up the second chain and bound off.

I also made a skirt for LB#1. Her own design.

I edged the split in contrasting bias tape.

There was just enough fabric left over for a super cool headband for LB#2.

I took the strikke project out of cold storage and brought it along with me to New York. Here we see the sleeve in process.

Amtrak is great for catching up on Cast On podcasts but not so great for knitting. Too much swaying back and forth.

This is the view from my window at the Marriott Marquis.

The constant flickering of the Times Square Nasdaq sign is like lightning at night.

Then there were oddities. I don't know if this photo is clear enough to see the details, but there are cars down there on the roof of that building. This fascinated me. First, how did they get up there? Second, they were packed in so tightly I did not see how they could get down. Ah, the mysteries of city living.

On the way back I sat with the Director of Development from the Kogod School of Business at American University. After chatting for a while, I joked that work cut into my knitting time. She said, me too! We both pulled out our projects (her- a baby blanket, me- the strikke sleeve) and KIP'd away. We talked about yarn stores, examined each other's fibers, and discussed patterns and techniques. I just love how knitting and crocheting can form such a common bond among strangers.

Reality hits home

Not my home, but my neighborhood.

The house with this sign appears to be empty. It's not in the best location, being located right on the corner of two busy streets. I wonder what happened to the family that was living there. Where did they go?

The talk usually starts with, "Did you see the foreclosure sign on blah, blah, blah?" "Oh yeah, I saw that one. I wonder if there are any more around?"

Then the conversation fades as we look down anxiously at our feet.

I'm heading to New York City for a conference. I'm debating whether or not I should try to see a show. It would be Wednesday night, at the end of a long day and after presenting in the morning. I'm waffling because I'll probably be exhausted.

The little brewers have promised to be good while I am gone.

Do over

I've been working on another version of the moderne baby blanket, this time in earth tones. It's been put away for a few weeks while I worked on other projects. I took it out again today and I was completely underwhelmed.

The colors don't work well together, the gauge is uneven, it just looks...amaturish. So I decided to unmake it. Time lapse photography below.

Going...

Going...

and...

Gone.

I decided to add a baby hat to the baby blanket. I love making hats. They work up so fast!

The design is worked in tapestry crochet method. The pattern was inspired by Carol Ventura's Diamond Silk Scarf


I ended up with 67 stitches around. I always fit my patterns to the stitches, not the other way around. The pattern is in groups of 7, which is not equally divisible by 67. When this happens, I leave a few blanks at the beginning and end of the round. That way if I miscount or join wrong, the difference is not so noticable. Here you can see the back join seam.
It's hard to tell in these photos, but the yarns match those in the blanket. So cute I may hurl!

Finis!

I found out last Thursday that the Mom of one of LB#1's variety show partners is expecting a baby. She is due in late April. Did I realize this on my own? Of course not. I didn't know until I got a baby shower invitation in the mail. How clueless am I? I love hearing babies are on the way. New project time!

I decided to make a crochet baby afghan using the Snazzy Bath Rug pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting in shades of blue.

Notice how I am perfectly willing to drop everything to work on an emergency project. Poor Strikke-along hasn't seen the light of day in months.

Here we see an action shot of Brewgal's hands, working away. Note the favorable product placement in the background. Oops! Label is upside down. I need a product placement wrangler.



Partially finished.

Aaannd...done! I still need to weave the ends in.

Close-up beauty shot.
I followed the proportions set out in the original pattern, but not the exact sizing. I wanted the center square to be larger. It is crib size, which is fine for a quick and dirty work up. I may add a little hat in the same color scheme to accompany the blankie.

Odessa at sunset

Here is my Odessa hat using Nashua Wooly Stripes Fiesta. It is not too big as I had feared, although it is quite roomy. We've had a patch of unseasonably warm weather the last few days, so I have been unable to try it out. I hope it's warm. I want to wear it when I go back to Ireland in April.

Brewguy was supposed to be back from Oregon this evening. Unfortunately, due to a snowstorm in Pasco, he missed his connecting flight. As a result, he won't arrive until after midnight. He is currently stuck in Denver, watching the SuperBowl in the airport's Belgian Bar. He sent me a cell phone photo of the Dubbel he was drinking while I was trying to wrangle two kids, dinner and muffin baking. Bastard.

The Odessa Sunset hat is finished. I'll try to get a photo of it up tomorrow. I've also just found out that the mother of one of little brewer #1's variety show comrades is expecting in April/May, so I started another log cabin baby blanket. For this one, I'm using the Snazzy Bath Rug pattern from Maxon Dixon Knitting in shades of blue.