Celtic Cast On

I’ve been waiting patiently for Kate’s Manu design to be released as I’m head over heels in love with it. Unfortunately Kate recently had a stroke and is currently hard at work in physio. A few days ago though Kate posted on her blog that thanks to the help from her test knitters Manu was indeed ready to purchase! HAPPY DAY!!

I LOVE the colour Kate chose for her version but I just can’t bring myself to buy yarn when I have something in my stash that would work. I’m going to be using Rowan Felted Tweed that I’ve had for quite some time, I’ve had many patterns in mind for it but this one wins hands down.

My only problem…… I might already have a cardi on the needles…..

 

I started The Minimalist Cardigan just before T arrived. I got everything done save the sleeves when she arrived and boy are those sleeves taking their tole. I’m knitting them magic loop so I don’t have to seam the double  moss stitch and they are taking FOREVER!! Not to mention they are boooooring! I cannot however justify starting another cardi when I have one soooo close to the finish line. I actually wanted to  finish it for the Ravelympics but the thought of it bored me to tears.

 Now that Manu is out its given me the shove I’ve needed to get it done and dusted so I can move on to bigger and better things. I’m going to need all the shoves I can get for this!

Pattern: Basic Knit Sock Monkey by Patons

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool in light grey mix, aran, bright red.

Needles: 3.75mm dpns

Start Date: Feb 12th 2010

Finish Date: Feb 24th 2010

Very cute pattern and easy to knit but a little boring. After knitting two tube legs the thoughts of knitting 3 more for arms and a tail was anything but appealing.  He turned very well a little bit shorter than Tadpole but not by much.

 

T gave him the once over with the official taste test, deeming him ready for action.

Moose commented well what if T wants a whole family of monkey’s??? ughhhhh then I’ll be knitting sock monkey’s for the rest of my days!!! Hopefully that won’t be for a few years yet though!

Its day 4 of the Ravelympics and everyone that is participating is well on their way to obtaining a gold medal. I knew I wanted to participate this year but there was no way knitting a sweater would be an obtainable goal for me to meet with Tadpole in the picture.

I him’d and ha’ed over what project to cast on for, I really wanted to start an Ishbel but lace knitting isn’t something I can stop mid row when Tad wakes up from a nap and I really just didn`t want to have to deal with lace  for my Olympic knit. I wondered if I wouldn’t be better to finish up some WIP’s  but that really didn`t seem very exciting, I needed something fresh that I would enjoy knitting. In the end I decided to go with a little bit of fun AND  a WIP.

I`ll be knitting the basic sock monkey I blogged about last fall. Since Tad came along knit toys have been calling out to me at every turn, I want to make them all right now but I know I must pace myself, she has many years of toy playing ahead of her. 

I`m making good strides being almost halfway through the body of the monkey. This little guy doesn`t look so little beside T, by the look of his legs he`s going to be the same size as her.

Just in case the sock monkey went incredibly fast I added my mojo socks that I started back in December as a WIP.

 Somewhere along the way I lost my momentum with them and they`ve been sitting in their bag ever since. I know once I pick them back up they`ll be finished in no time, those colours alone are enough to keep me going.

What are your goals for the  Ravelympic??

 

This post is long over due! We all know my excuse soo lets just get right to the good stuff.

This package was sent from Denise. I swear she can read minds because it was on my list of things to knit for Tadpole. I didn’t have the yarn on hand to make it with so it was bumped to the bottom of the list.

It was only a few days later that the little hat arrived on my doorstep. This hat has plenty of stretch and rolled up brim that it should still fit by fall. I love it, thanks Denise!

The next package actually arrived the morning I had Tad. Moose brought the package to the hospital for me to open.

These super cute socks were knit by Hanna and have a very cool story behind them.

Hanna tells me,

A woman was travelling in a train with her 2-month-old baby during the
war in 1939. Their journey was cut off as the railroad had been
damaged in bombings. A retired crafts teacher was travelling in the
same train and she felt sorry for the baby who had no warm socks. She
unravelled her own hand knit sweater and knit a pair of socks for the
baby. Later on, the baby’s mother knit several pairs of socks using
the original socks as a model and also taught her daughter to knit
them. Now the pattern is very popular in Finland and ofter referred to
as the “train socks”.
Hanna also sent this really cute onesie! It is unlike any that I have seen over here, it wraps around like a kimono and has snaps on either side.

Thank you for your wonderful gifts Hanna!

The cutest little rectangular box arrived in my mailbox not too long ago housing these:

The sweetest little pair of mini knee socks from Kathy.  She adapted Kristen`s Mystery Sock pattern to fit Tad  in one of my favourite shades of green at the moment. These are so adorable I almost can`t stand it! 

While she has been wearing them regularly there is still quite a bit of room to grow into yet.  Thanks Kathy they are perfect!

Lastly I must tell you about a package I received from my Twinny Kelli. This package came in the summer wayyyy before the shower even started.

Kelli knit a gorgeous blanket out of alpaca for T. It is super duper warm and gets rave reviews when its out and about with Tad. The first thing I get asked is did I make it…………errrrrr yyyyyeaaa….. no no I didn`t make it, a friend did! As much as I would like to claim it as my own knit I simply can`t. I was soooo excited when I opened the card that said there was an alpaca blanket in the box. I immediately started rooting in search for the blanket, I was not disappointed. An alpaca blanket was more than enough but Kelli filled the box with some cute twisted stitch socks, a bib and yarn! Talk about spoiled. Thank you Kelli for your amazing package.

That my friends wraps up the package posts. Thank you sooo much to everyone that took the time to make something for our little Tadpole, she has been truely spoiled by you all.

 

The little Tadster is 2 months old. She’s actually one day shy of 9 weeks in this picture I took today.

We are seeing soo many changes in her already.

~ She now weighs 15 pounds although you would never know by looking at her.

~She is talking up a storm, mostly to her ABC canvas above her change table and after her morning feed.

~Yesterday she started to discover things with her mouth, she enjoys licking her hands.

~We’ve been enjoying the great outdoors with lots of snowshoeing adventures.

~She loves snowshoeing, hates the balaclava! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ First christmas present from Nanny and Granda was a hit, caterpillar is her favourite toy to date.

~ Currently hates tummy time, hoping this changes soon!

~ Not a huge fan of bath time yet, its hit or miss.

~ Slept 7 hrs two nights in a row at 7 weeks

AND getting cuter by the minute!!

I swear if she gets any cuter I may just have to eat her!!

Being a mum is the most amazing experience, nothing else matters but this little lady.

Her Daddy agrees!

We love u Tad!

Knitting is sporadic to say the least at the moment, some day’s I just don’t have the energy and others its making the decision between knitting a few rows or working out…… working out is winning as I try to get back into shape.

I did however have a few free minutes yesterday after a big snowshoe trek with the family to knit a few rows.

I’m knitting along with the KrisKnits January KAL.

This is the first cloth in a monthly mystery dishcloth KAL. We receive a few rows here and there throughout the month and by months end have a completed cloth. I have a MOUND of dishcloth cotton in my stash and although a lot of it is variegated I’m going to try to make it work somehow and get 12 dishcloths out of it by the end of the KAL. There may also be a few variegated cloths knit up too as we go along. A few cloths tied up with a ribbon should be a nice Christmas gift for next year don’t you think?

I was able to complete clue 1 and 2 yesterday while Tad had a nap and I think I’ve figured out what it will be…

I should be able to finish the clues this month in between reading Shine Little Penguin and singing Five Little Ducks

Wish me luck!

A Tad update and the last of the packages are up next!

 

 

We have knitting!!!

Tadpole is getting into somewhat of a routine…. enough so that I can pull a project and knit a few rows ahh bliss.

I cast on for the Mojo socks by Donyale Grant

I love how these knit up in a solid colourway but I’m running low on solid sock yarns so in order to use up the stash I chose Claudia’s Handpainted in Plumilicious. They are not turning out to bad, no pooling and the pattern seems to show through quite nicely.

This is the first toe up pattern I have attempted and I think I like it. The pattern uses the Magic cast on, which is demonstrated here by Cat Bordhi, love her teaching method. The cast on was so easy and will definitely be my go to cast on for toe ups. I also love how you can try it on as you go and boy did that foot ever knit up fast. I’m wondering how the gusset and heel are going to be knit but if all goes well I think I’ll be investing in a couple of sets of circulars for this method of sock knitting.

I’ll be knitting these socks one at a time because each sock has its own pattern. This should keep it interesting and hopefully avoid SSS.

Some people have been wondering how Boss and Moolee are handling the new arrival…

Think its safe to say they are getting along swimmingly!

 To say the past 3 weeks have been a blur would be an understatement. Somehow I’m managing  to stay afloat with only a few hours sleep a day…

but this little beauty is definitely worth it all.

She’s already posing for the camera… a knitwear model in the making!

Thank you to all who took the time to comment on Tad’s arrival, I had no idea there were so many lurkers, so nice to hear from you all. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to get back to my knitting but right now Miss T rules the roost.

 

Tadpole has arrived!!

In the form of a little girl, the image of her daddy!

Trinity Hannah

Born Nov 12th 2009

Weighing 1/4 oz shy of 8 pounds

I’m a Tad busy at the moment but I’ll hopefully get more pictures up some time soon.