The Baby FO Parade!

I am due with a second baby girl in December, and I have been hard at working making some little items for her!  She is a little sheep, so I had to make her a sheep hat.  I made two, as I participated in a swap and sent the second one over to England to another little baby sheep.  This is such a cute pattern, and I cannot wait to see it on our little girl.

She also had to have her own Baby Surprise Jacket, and this skein of Blue Moon Sherbert had been hoarded for just such a purpose.  In my mind, this is great baby colours, nice and bright.  I was going to make a more traditional sweet baby cap with the leftovers, but Mr. J commented on how much he loved Fia in her Stella Pixie Cap, so I made one of those instead.  I ran out of yarn for the button band, but a leftover ball of Blue moon in baby blue complimented the Sherbert colour nicely.  The countdown is on for when Baby 2 will make her appearance, she is welcome anytime after Dec 1!

Knitting Group KAL – Starshower!

My local knitting group was talked into doing a KAL by me, as I really wanted to knit Starshower.  It is the pattern of the spring and summer, and all the cool kids are making it!  I’m not ever going to be cool, but it doesn’t stop me from trying!  I talked M into trying it out, and together we talked a whole bunch of other people in to joining in.  It turned out to be a challenging pattern, especially for those newer to knitting!  New skills included the garter tab cast on, short rows with wraps, lace knitting, keeping track of all those increases, and knitting in the round among other items.  I made mine out of purple Spring Harvest Farms mohair, which is very, very warm, but didn’t have enough yardage to complete the last two rounds.  None the less it is long enough to cover my shoulders and chest, which means it is extra warm!  I am thinking about making this again with a thinner yarn of which I have more yardage, but I haven’t done a final decision on what to use as of yet.  I know some of my friends struggled with this pattern, but I also saw them grow as knitters and learn so many things they thought were beyond them.  I had a lot of fun.  We haven’t drawn prizes yet, but will soon!  We are also busy coming up with plans for another knit along which should start January 1 ish.  For our knit along participants had to start a Starshower, post one picture of it, but not finish it to qualify.

The Completion of the Canada KAL

The Canada KAL finished up in September, but I still have three projects that I haven’t talked about yet!  My Newfoundland project was a headband named Sherwink.  This is named after a location in Newfoundland, but the designer is not from there, nor is the yarn.  A little bit of a stretch, but the judges said okay for this collection of patterns, whew.  I had seen this headband before, and had even lucked out in getting it for free when it was available for a short time.  I used some leftover Pashmina, and I enjoy the result.

My Yukon/Northwest Territories/ Nunavut project was a hat from the talented designer Michelle Krause.  She has a lot of great patterns to choose from.  I had purchased this Noro long in the spring, and it made a really great squishy hat.  I have already given this hat away as a present, which is a tiny bit sad, as it was a nice hat.  But also a great present for an old friend.  The important thing to note about a designer from the north is that they know a thing or two about knitting warm hats.  The double layered deep brim on this hat, plus the close gauge and thick yarn ensure this will be warm indeed.

And for my finale project, my Flue by Ewe socks!  Canadian yarn, Canadian (Calgary) designer, Canadian feet, Canadian designed shoes.  These socks have two tiny cables up the side, and a really awesome colourway.  I love how they are not striped, but have little tiny almost stripes.  If you get a chance to look at Two Birds Knitting Co. yarn, or better yet a chance to buy it, snap it up!  The base is very good, tightly spun yarn with a decent amount of nylon, and the colourways are incredible.  I do love my new Fluevogs I got in Winnipeg, they are comfy and very cute.

All in all, a great KAL and thank-you to the Calgary store The Loop for hosting this.  We learned a lot about great Canadian Designers and yarn.  I even won two prizes as the contest went on!  They are having another knit along next year centered around trying new techniques, which sounds like fun.  Instead of having to participate every month you can choose which months to join in, and still be eligible for prize draws.