Interviewing: Shane

Shane is one of the last kids I babysat up until I had EJ.  He even agreed to be my mitten model, once I agreed to pay him with his own pair of mittens.  He is such a sweetheart.  It has been fun and heart-warming to read his comments, typed up for him by his wonderful mother.

How old are you & what grade are you in?
Shane is 5 years old and just started Kindergarten!  (You started watching him when he was 6 months old)

- What is your favorite memory or activity that we did together?
My favorite memory is when Annie would let me make sandwiches for lunch and put all sorts of cool stuff on it like pepperoni!  I also liked it when we would make ice cream and have picnics outside :)

- Did you think I was a nice or mean babysitter when I watched you?  Any particular reason?  Do you still think I'm nice/mean?
Annie was nice!!  She was nice because I really, really liked her (Shane's words exactly!)  Yes, I think you're nice, and I miss you!  (Shane says we need to visit you soon).

- Do you have any advice for me on being a parent?
Shane's advice for you as a parent... Always play!


Parents:
What were your first impressions of me?
My first impressions of you: You were very loving and invested in the kids you took care of.  I first met you when you were watching a girl in Conor's first grade class.  You would walk her into school, give her a hug and tell her you loved her.  She had a hard time separating from you, but you were always patient and calm.

What made you call me back?
I kept calling you back because you are awesome with kids!  You are patient and fun.  You were always trying to think of how I might want you to handle a situation.

Do you have any advice as I embark on my own journey into parenthood?
My advice to you as a parent... Trust your gut.  It may not be the way they say to do it in the parenting books, but it's probably right for you and your family.

You can check out more in this series here.

A Few New Changes

A couple weekends ago, my wonderful husband organized 8 of our friends to come over and paint the second bedroom so we can start to convert it into a nursery.

(please excuse the mess; this was only a couple days after painting)

As a bonus (and because we were ready for a change in the living room), they also painted the living room a cheery yellow.  :)  I love how it looks when the sunlight pours in with its bluer light.  The table lamps are a little warmer in color so I've been on the look out for bluer LED bulbs to swap them out.

So far I have a handful of hand-knitted baby items made up (mittens, socks, hats, one blanket and one sweater) but I feel like a slacker that I don't have more sweaters and more longies made up.

A few of the smaller items I have collected for Baby.

These bibs + washcloths are from BeastiesBabies

Lots of knitted socks + mittens

I also keep thinking I need to make a few outfit pieces (sweater dresses/jumpers and sweater vests).

What item(s) would you most recommend I make a priority to knit before baby is here?  Is there something that you are so happy you made and use all the time or highly recommend now that you have a little wisdom under your belt?  Please let me know!  

Christmas Crafting: Knit Gifts

This year I loved the opportunity to knit a bunch of gifts for the some close family friends. Here are just a few of the knitted gifts they received:

Mittens

He modeled his pair and I made a few pairs for the shop.

Hand Towels

This was a host gift to a very close friend of my husband's. I made this the weekend we stayed with them.

Washcloths

One of many custom orders for co-worker gifts. I always love seeing the colors come together!

Hand Knit Socks

This beautiful variegated blue sock is one of six pairs in progress. These will be a post-Christmas gift.

More Mittens

The latest gift, fresh off my needles are these adorable little mittens for my cousin's daughter.  I made them start to finish on Christmas Eve.

More to come as we celebrate with other family members.  :)

Mittens

Would anyone be interested in seeing mittens (knit or crochet) in the shop? 

Feel free to leave color suggestions and/or style variations in the comment section.

What is everyone else working on?

Finished Mittens

 

Yay!  Finished on time :]

It is definitely a small surprise for me, as I kept having to rip out half my work every couple of days, I wasn't sure if I would have *one* mitten done by the 8th.

And now I have *both* mittens done & ready to be worn a day early!

I took quite a few liberties with the Lithuanian mitten pattern I found in the Ultimate Mittens book I borrowed from the library.  For whatever reason (and most-likely because I was using needles 2 sizes too big) the mittens kept coming out way too large for my hands so I started tweaking with the numbers.

I thought I would include my notes for any others interested in trying this revised pattern.  Please note I DO NOT own this pattern & reserve all rights to the owners of the book.

Lithuanian Mittens, Revised
With size 3, double point needles, CO 39, splitting them 15, 12, 12.

*K2 P1, repeat, for 19 rows.

P around one row.

Begin new pattern: *K2, P1 for 2 rows; P around for 1 row.  Repeat from *

For every row that starts with K2, increase one stitch.  For example: Row 1 - K1 make 1 K1 P1, *K2 P1, repeat from *.
Row 2 - K1 make 1 K2 P1, *K2 P1, repeat from *
Row 3 - P all
Row 4 - 10 repeats Rows 1-3 until there are 8 knit stitches between the P stitches.

Row 11 - 22 *K2 P1 for 2 rows, P one row; repeat from *.  Ending Row 22 with a P row.
There should be 8 Purl rows or the length needed to reach your lowest thumb knuckle.

Slip these 10 stitches (1 P, 8 K, 1 P) onto a stitch holder.

CO 4 stitches on to finished-stitches needle.  Continue working, P1 *K2 P1 & continue in pattern [Row 1 & 2: K2 P1; Row 3: P] until it reaches 7 P rows above the thumb hole or your second finger knuckle.

Decrease every first K row.  SSK, P1 *K2 P1 for 15 stitches.  K2tog P1.  SSK. P1 *K2 P1 for 15 stitches.  K2tog P1.
Continue regular pattern for rows 2 & 3 until there are 16 stitches remaining.  Kitchener stitch the top closed.

Thumb
Slip the holding 10 stitches onto one double point needle.  Pick up 9 stitches around top of thumb hole.

K around for 2 rows, P third row.  Repeat for 6 rows or until length splits knuckle distance.

*Row 7: SSK, K around to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.
Row 8: K row
Row 9: P row
Repeat from * until 11 stitches remain.  Kitchener stitch closed.

Weave in ends & model :]

Complete! And displayed with thumbs in the center, per a Lithuanian quirk.

*My favorite part of the whole process is discovering this new pattern.  Try making a swatch and feeling the little nubby pattern yourself.  Amazingly fun!

Future Projects on My Wish List

Striped Tunic Dress

This [seamless!] pattern is for sale on Etsy!

Speaking of dresses [& my new love of granny-squares]....

... wouldn't this be a cute summer dress?

And the little feminine, hem details in this dress....

Definitely have to try making this hat in my size.

The Piper Cloche on Ravelry

This might be another great way to use up scraps...

Scrap Crochet Shrug

Crocheted cotton collars

Really pretty collar

Hmm... this may be the most feminine I've ever considered looking..... I wonder if Dowton Abbey is having an effect on me....  anyone else caught under this show's spell?

My First Knit-Along

Thanks to a note from Genevieve, I've finally taken the challenge (for me) to join a Knit Along.  The hardest part for me is staying on a schedule when it comes to crafting.  I'm so easily distracted that I hate to promise anything in advance (that is why all my shop items are ready-to-ship, hehe).

So I'm very excited to say that I have *almost* completed this personal challenge of mine.

I've been re-working the pattern I'm following due to my lack of size-1 knitting needles (I'm using my great-grandmother's size-3) and I think I've ripped it out 3 or 4 times now.

.... not including the last 3 of the decrease at the top. .... I can't wait to see how quick I can whip up its pair.... :)

I wish I better understood the protocol when it comes to linking up, but I'll admit I've only seen it on Field Wonderful's blog, so I hope no one minds....

Today (or these last two weeks, rather) I'm knitting along with LuvintheMommyhood in her Warm up to Winter Knit Along.

I can't wait to show off the pair once they are off the needles :]

Is anyone else doing a knit along?

Last Week

Here are the pictures to the mitten-hat-&-scarf set for the little boy from Brazil.  Please ignore the different lighting between pictures.  I was working at different times but I promise they are matching blues as I used the same skein for all pieces.

... the mittens ...

... and the hat, well, I didn't get a picture of that one, yet.  Maybe I can get a picture of him wearing all three things at once another time.

It's All Going so Fast

And then not so much. Let's see:

*I walked to the post office yesterday and got shipping pricing ($3-$5) for the dish clothes & the baby blanket
*Picked up some coffee on the way, hehe

*Sorted through all the pictures taken into their own folders & then down to 5 each. Now I just need to post them... (and write descriptions)

(Today)
*Made 3 banners - 2 for the shop, 1 for the blog but didn't realize I couldn't get rid of the title by Blogger so no new banner for now.

*Developed a "text" logo with Knitted Home's name :) I love it...

*Getting my paperwork/organizing in order (pictures, forms for me to use, etc)

*Figuring out pricing, costs, etc. (not as fun as it sounds, that's for sure)

Other News:
Finished knitting a little scarf for a boy I've been babysitting who just moved here from Brazil (and needs a few things for winter). I'll try to post a picture of it soon. I finished the matching hat (crocheted) last week and the mittens 2 weeks ago (using his hands as a pattern while I watched him).

I wish the details that I'm waiting on would hurry up.