baby, baby, baby

If you don't care for baby items, I recommend skipping this post all together, cos that's all I've got for ya! Apparently I'm in the middle of a baby boom and a ton of friends are going forth and multiplying, myself included :) So I've been knitting, a lot of baby stuff, and it's time to share some of that stuff with you.

First up a little hat and pair of socks for Sharon's newest addition:

Next we have the Baby Surprise Jacket for Kaitlyn's little Cassie:



Aren't those colors so cute together? Who can resist a little brown and pink? Here's something else in a similar color scheme. My coworker, also with child, left to live in Chicago for a few years, naturally she needed a cute ribbed baby sweater for her little one due in October - a sign of my appreciation for her putting up with my daily witterings.



With all this knitting for other people's baby's, I certainly haven't forgotten my own! Last weekend I made 8 burp cloths for the bean (well, I guess more for us). I got the fabric for a bargain from Intercourse, PA (tee hee). I really enjoyed making something really quick and simple, the cloths took no more than a couple of hours to put together - pattern is free from a website called "New Conceptions".



And today I finished the February Sweater (which I mistakenly called the BSJ in my last post - yikes! talk about baby brain).



Not only did I have enough yarn (one skein of STR in Amber) to make the sweater, but also enough to make the matching hat! How cute is that?



Best thing is that I think it will fit....



There are approximately 10 weeks to go before chaos reigns over the Schrodinger household (depending on what the bean decides, of course). I have far too many ideas of what I want to knit, but hoping to at least finish the couple of projects I have on the needles - good knitting and cooling vibes will be appreciated :)

Still ticking away

So it's been a while, with many of lifes distractions keeping me away from the blog. All good stuff though, and the good news is that I get to have a few things to show you. First up, some WIPS.

I started the baby surprise jacket oops, February Baby Sweater [ravelry link] for the bean just before we went away on our babymoon. Yes, it was wonderful, we went to Lancaster, PA - Amish Country, and I strongly recommend the B&B we stayed at for the wonderful hosts and the delicious 3 course breakfasts. Here's a shot of it in progress while away, more is knit now, but I'll save further progress shots until it's finished.

It's being knit with Socks that Rock in Amber - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the one skein will do it...

The sunset blanket is coming along. I have over 20 squares crocheted so far, I've blocked about half of them. The seaming won't be fun, but I can already tell that the end result will be worth it.


I managed to finish some stuff too though, first up is a gift for Amanda and her little one:


These better-than-booties socks [rav again] needed a matching hat, so I made this one up as I went along, I have no idea how I did it, and I'm just hoping that the little thing fits.

The biggest accomplishment this month is the quilt. Yes! I had a goal of making a quilt for the bean, and I DID IT! And I have to admit that I'm really happy with it.



It took some debate, but I finally decided on an orange binding for the edging, with a decorative stitch in yellow, pretty huh?



On the baby front, everything continues to go very well. I feel, surprisingly, healthy and happy - albeit a little tired - and we are told that all is developing well. Mr B and I have been doing some of the usual nesting stuff (decorating, buying and putting together furniture). I have a ton of projects in my head that I want to get done, but I'm being realistic and recognizing my time and energy limitations, one step at a time.

5 Random Things Sunday

1. QUILT
I went over to Veronique's a couple of weekends ago, she had kindly volunteered to show me some quilting skills. V is an amazing teacher and she gave me the inspiration and confidence needed to start making the quilt I wanted to make for the growing bean. And I think it's going really well...

I actually have the backing and batting together now, it's just the fun of quilting it all, maybe this afternoon.

2. PIN CUSHION
I used the practice square (wasn't quite happy with one of the fabrics in the first one) to make a little pin cushion, something very necessary with those funny little quilting pins.



3. RAV GOODIES
A few weeks ago the Spiders had some visitors, Jess and Casey (AKA Mama and Papa Rav), came along with Maya and the very amusing Steve, it was fun spending a few hours with them, although I was sad not to join them for drinks, Jess and Casey made up for it with these adorable gifts.



How cute is that Bob pin? I believe that the pins, stickers and other good stuff will (most likely) be available in a soon-to-be Ravelry store.

4. GREEN SWIFFER
I'm happy to find different ways to do my bit for the environment. So when I saw this ingenious swiffer cover pattern in Sassy's Rav queue yesterday, I immediately grabbed some dish cotton and knit one up last night while watching junk telly.



It's got to beat those crappy throw-away swiffer cloths, and it's reusable! I can't wait to try it out - well, actually I lie about that part, but I hope it works nearly as well as being on my hands and knees with a sponge.

5. CROCHET
I'm a little into crochet now too. I started a blanket this week. It's the Sunset blanket (ravelry), and I think it's going to be adorable in chocolate brown and rosy pink.

Catching up

I just wanted to re-introduce myself to the blog. I'm so behind with blogging and bloglines, oh well, it's a sure sign of a busy life :) Everything is going well, lots going on, and much to show you. I don't want to bore you with a bunch of writing, so I'll catch you up with some photos.

First up, the dress - which I'm finally getting around to show you:

And the shawl, which I completely forgot to take a picture of actually *with* the dress, sorry for the crapola photo, I really struggled with this one:


Pattern: Muir from knitty
yarn: Yarn Place "Gentle" a cashmere, merino mix.
needles: US #6, denises
adaptations: I did one less repeat on the row pattern, making a narrower shawl, since I only had 690 yds. Worked out well for me.

I've knit a bit, and frogged a lot, so all the knitting I have to show today is this sock:


Pattern: It's the Honeybee socks by Stephanie van der Linden. The sock is available (in English as well as German) from a Yahoo German sock Knitting group. You need to join the group to access the pattern (yes, it's all in German, I used Altavista's Babelfish to help with translation, it's not perfect, but it gave me the gist). Once joined, click "Dateien", then the patterns are in the folder "Monatsmuster".
Needles: Knitpicks 32" circs us #1
Yarn: Opal in some yellow (obvious huh?) color
Thoughts/adaptations: I added some extra stitches in the purl part of the pattern and some extra pattern repeats for a longer foot. I'm very worried it won't fit the recipient (despite this being the 3rd sock pattern attempted for them), but I can't do another sock now, I. just. can't. As for the pattern itself, I've really enjoyed knitting it, but it took some time to figure out.

Other stuff: I went to Rhinebeck last weekend with Sharon, Cindy, Colleen and Nancy, we had a blast! I scored a good amount of fiber, a spindle and enough yarn for a sweater/cardigan, sorry about the bland photo.


(click pic for flickr notes on what I bought)

I had planned on buying a new spinning wheel at Rhinebeck, but the prices were the same as online, so I figured I would wait to get one delivered to my home, so my Lendrum Double Treadle arrived this week, and had some fun playing with some of the fiber bought at Little Barn.


It was fun, and so much smoother and quieter than my other wheel, I love it so much, I'm a very happy bunny now.

Just popping in to say hi

Some of may have wondered what my total silence over the weekend actually means. Did I make the dress fit? Was the shawl finished and blocked in time? Well, both were a resounding success - despite my "add darts", "change darts", "remove darts", "remove zipper partway at the top - re-sew", "remove zipper partway at the bottom - resew", "completely remove zipper, re-press, re-sew", I ended up with a dress I was pretty much happy with. Although I did have to make an emergency stop at the drugstore on the way to the wedding for safety pins when Mr B kindly pointed out that I revealed a lot more of myself than I would want to, to anyone stood on my left, and I didn't feel like pulling a Janet Jackson in the church.

My ability to wear a cashmere/merino shawl was somewhat hindered by the 85+ degree weather on Saturday. The wedding itself was beautiful and touching, and the celebration afterwards was an incredible amount of fun (it helps that the groom is a bar owner in his real life). Sadly a picture of the dress in action has not been forthcoming - unless you count the picture of me and a bunch of drunken friends in the back of a limo at some ungodly hour, no. I won't be sharing that. Hopefully I will have a photo this weekend, in daylight.

In the meantime, here is a shawl teaser.

More socks!?

Wedding outfit update: dress is complete, shawl is not. Dress is a little too baggy at the waist/back, it occurred to me to try darts - but maybe I'm crazy, I've already adapted the pattern. I've never followed a pattern before, hell, I've never even sewn a garment before, I'm beginning to realize I'm more and more like my father, who believes that the best way to learn anything is to jump in the deep end first.

However, I do have an FO to show you.



The Esther socks are complete, they are, perhaps, the most beautiful socks I've ever made. However, I don't think I'd do them again, I started them at the end of July, and only just finished them, I could not memorize the chart, and by the time I was finished with them, I was relieved.


On to the stats
Pattern: Esther socks by Stephanie van der Linden. The sock is available (in English as well as German) from a Yahoo German sock Knitting group. You need to join the group to access the pattern (yes, it's all in German, I used Altavista's Babelfish to help with translation, it's not perfect, but it gave me the gist). Once joined, click "Dateien", then the patterns are in the folder "Monatsmuster" - I believe it's the July 2006 pattern.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in 'grapevine'
Needles: knitpicks circs 32" US #1

Right, that's it from me today, the shop is nearly empty, and I have a lot of sewing (AND shawl knitting) to do. Happy Sunday to you all :)

Look what I made

No, it's not knitting, but I'm so in love with our new curtains, I needed to show them off. When I saw the fabric, I knew I just *had* to have it. It really makes me smile. I'm particularly proud of the top hem...


Good news is, I have enough left for a few cubes. If you want to know when the bags will be available in this, and other exciting new fabrics, you can email me to be added to the newsletter list.

In other sewing news, last weekend I went to purl patchwork and bought this fabric.


I blame the ADD Knitter for my new-found love for the "chocqua" combo (or at least giving me a name for it). The fabric is currently in the process of becoming the dress in the picture, I plan to wear it at a wedding in less than 2 weeks. I learned some new things so far in following the pattern, particularly the language difference - the term 'basting' had me particularly confused, until I found a US-UK sewing glossary.

I figured I would also need a shawl as it's a late afternoon wedding. Fortunately I had this beautiful cashmere/merino lace-weight (won from Red Head Skydiver) in the stash that was perfect.


Look how well they go together. I'm currently making the Muir shawl with it. I now have to keep my fingers crossed that both the dress and shawl will come out okay AND in time. I'm about a third into the shawl, I'd've taken a picture for you, but, as you could guess, it's just a blob.

Hope you're all having a beautiful Sunday.

PS: Hi Mum & Dad!!

He loves 'Em!!

Yes indeed, the Post office pulled through, they stopped striking and got Dad's socks to him in time for his birthday yesterday. When I called him and asked if the socks fit he responded "I don't know, I packed them already". The thing is, you see, my parents are about to experience a major life change - they just bought a house in Bad Ischl, Austria, which they will be converting into a place to live (for them) downstairs, and a couple of vacation apartments upstairs (you know, so they can earn money for food and mortgage).

My parents needed to sell their home in the UK in order to buy the Austrian house - they put their house on the market on Wednesday, and accepted an offer on Friday!! So, you can imagine that socks are not foremost in Dad's mind - although he did email me later to let me know that the socks fit, he loves them, and they will be perfect for those cold winter days in the mountains. I still can't believe how beautiful it all looks though.



In knitting news - twisted tweed socks are complete!


I've emailed the pattern to the people who volunteered to test knit (if you didn't get your pattern, check your junk box, or email me schrodinger212 AT gmail DOT com). I'm hoping the pattern will be available, for free, in the next couple of weeks.



I also finished one-skein wonder last weekend, but didn't get a chance to photograph it. It's a bit meh! to me, I'm not enamoured with it, maybe it's the yarn, the bulk of it, the feel, maybe it needs to be slightly bigger...


Yarn: ONLine Linie 44 Ravenna - black (about 3 skeins)
Pattern: One Skein Wonder by Stefanie Japel
Needles: Denises US 5 & US 8



One the sewing front, I did have success with these cute little headbands by Heather Bailey (thank you to gleek for pointing out the pattern).


They really do work, and are a cinch to make - best advice I got was to make many at a go, since they are so easy to do, so I have 3 of them, but I seriously wish I made more now.

Weekly update.

Thank you everyone for your sweet and wonderful comments about the bowling bag, I did have some issues leaving my apartment with my gigantuan head for a few days :) The bag goes to work with me everyday, and it's working out perfectly - and, yes, I am still boasting when I get the chance.

Now on to what's been going on with my crafty life this week. Firstly, I have an FO: Mr. Schrodinger Senior (AKA, Dad) has a pair of socks for his upcoming birthday on 07/07/07. I have to get these in the mail tomorrow and just hope like crazy that they will get there for Saturday, which might be tricky thanks to a Postal strike in the UK.

The socks ain't exactly newsworthy, but they should be perfect for a man who'd want nothing more than "just plain socks".


Pattern: basic top-down, short row heels with 2x2 ribbing for the cuff.
Needles: Knitpicks US #1
Yarn: Regia Stretch Color, color #98
Thoughts and Outcome: well, they're socks. Actually perfect for train rides, 3 hour car rides to Staten Island (don't ask), Spiders, cabs and anywhere else I could pull them out and get a few rounds in. I'm a little concerned the leg might be a little tight for him, we shall have to wait and see.


And here's a nearly FO, my "Twisted Tweed" Socks. Partly nspired by Sandra's Charades and partly by how the RPMs worked on Trekking, I wanted something, spiral and tweed.


So I found this stitch patern and I think it is nearly perfect. I say nearly, because the row gauge is so completely different to that of st st, the foot looks quite bizarre when knitting it. However, after blocking it was a lot less noticeable and (in the true test) the sock fits me perfectly well.


I plan on sharing the pattern with you as soon as I've finished, there will be a toe-up and a top-down version available. Anyone wishing to test knit before then, just drop me a comment and I'll email you the info. I also have to work out where to store the pdf for others to download it - any ideas on this front will be gratefully appreciated.

Now for the jealous-making part. For those of you in tiny spaces, you might want to stop reading now and go to Katy's amusing post on sewing in an NYC apartment.

After 3 months of looking, I finally found it, and my "sewing table" arrived on Friday, Mr B. put it together for me yesterday - and what a star he was, the horrible thing took about 2 hours, thanks to some poorly drilled holes and other 'issues'. However for $82 (including tax and shipping - gotta love Target baby) we couldn't really complain too much, AND it's as solid as a rock and looks pretty cool too.


As you can see, it's not truly a sewing table, just a desk with a sewing machine on it, but it's perect for my needs. The height is adjustible and there's a little drawer for some knick-knacks. Now my craft corner is almost complete.


I say almost, because there is the little issue of this to take care of.


Some shelves, and additional cubes will be added as money permits, but it's certainly looking great to me. Now I have no excuses for not sewing...

Well... except for the small task of changing my online photo storage from fotki (which is a truly great site and I have no problems with it, ever) to flickr. While I still have my reservations about flickr (it just seems more limited compared to fotki), it does look cool, and it works with Ravelry, and that was enough for me to decide to make the switch now that my second year draws to an end with fotki. So, I apologize to those of you who get email updates from flickr, I will be adding a LOT of old photos over the coming days (and months).

Boasting and gloating.

As promised - one bowling bag, tadaaaa!!!!

This bugger took me the best part of a weekend and cost some sore fingers - but it was totally worth it methinks. I made the bag based on a tutorial by qazicat, which I found through the craftster forums.



Her tute was for a much smaller bag from the looks of it, there are no pattern pieces, but I just figured out the size I wanted, and created the side shapes first. The other pieces followed on from there.

I'm exceedingly happy with my bag, it's perfect for work (I made it big enough to hold file folders, as well as pockets for other goodies...



I stayed quiet on the first day out with this bag - the next day I couldn't hold it in anymore, I managed to boast to at leasst 3 different people. The poor spiders got it on Friday AND Saturday - "look what I made". Now here I go again on the blog - I hope that it will be out of my system after this post. I mean, come on, the bag is far from perfect, I'm not overly pleased with the handles - they look a little too 'home-made', know what I mean? And I didn't get a good match with the black panelling at the side. But, it works and it makes me smile.


In knitting news. I finished a pair of Mother & Daughter socks, for a wonderful colleague and her daughter, who are re-loacating to Ireland and will be sorely missed. I'm pretty pleased with how well these socks match each other - this is important for non-knitters, who struggle to appreciate the "unique pairing" of colors us knitters can make.



pattern: basic toe-up (figure 8 cast on) stockinette socks with short-row heels. I found the sock-u-lator II very helpful for figuring out how many stitches to cast on.
needles: Addi turbo 32", US #2 (3mm)
yarn: Lana Grossa Cotton Fantasy, in color #809. and a little bit of Regia cotton surf for the mother socks (left over from the Ampersand Socks) - the cotton fantasy is almost exactly the same as cotton surf. I actually like this yarn a lot - even though it's a cotton blend - and think they will be pretty hard wearing.



I just hope that both mother and daughter love them - oh! and that they fit :)

Happy Father's Day.