Finished Object: Sideways Sockyarn Baby Sweater

Posted on 09/29/2008 by Andrea | Comments (1)
Filed under : Babies!, Finished Objects

Just a quick post to show off a finished object - the Sideways Sockyarn Baby Sweater. I finished this tonight, but still need to find some buttons. I made the smallest size (well, the second-smallest size -- the smallest size is for a doll) and only made one modification - I simplified the collar.

And yeah, that's my belly in the photo (six months pregnant as of today, in fact!) -- it accidentally snuck its way into the photo. It seems to intrude on lots of things lately.

Posts have been sparse here lately (obviously) because we've had our hands full dealing with Dad's surgery and recovery. I know Mom's gotten some good work done on her Leo sweater. Busy hands keep busy minds out of trouble, I guess!

Halfway done with the sweater AND the baby

Posted on 09/10/2008 by Andrea | Comments (0)
Filed under : Babies!, Knitting

Here's my Sideways Sockyarn Baby Sweater, halfway finished! The baby is about at the halfway point too.

, originally uploaded by AMK.

The other day, I'd just gotten to the part of the pattern that says, "For boys, work the button hole row as detailed below. For girls, the button holes will go on the right side", but I didn't know if I was having a boy or a girl. Well, after an ultrasound yesterday, now I know! The buttonhole goes on the right side....

We're having a GIRL!

The astute among you might notice this baby sweater looks a bit different than it did when I first posted it. I blame it on pregnancy brain, but I got my stitch counts all wrong somehow (still don't know how) so I ended up pulling the entire thing out and starting over with the yarn I dyed a couple of weeks ago.

I'm loving pregnancy right now. Getting used to the idea that we're having a girl... feeling physically good... feeling her kicking like crazy in there. Once I'm done with this sweater, I have lots of ideas for more baby knits. I have patterns ready for a few more gender-neutral sweaters. Now that I know we're having a girl, here are a couple of more girly possibilities that I love:

- Peapod Baby Set (boo hoo... I love this pattern but it looks like Interweave Knits no longer has it available online. I hope they post it on Knitting Daily someday...)
- Helena (from Knitty)

And someday when the Muppet is bigger, I'd love to knit Reid for her.

Not a competition ….

Posted on 08/25/2008 by Barb | Comments (1)
Filed under : Babies!, Knitting, Ravelympics 2008

… and I hope getting your new Bump Sweater makes you feel like you’re the winner even though you had that setback on your project.

Yes, folks, I made it to the finished line in the Ravelympics Sweater Sprint for Team MN. I bound off the last piece of the Bump Sweater on the plane home from New Jersey on Thursday, August 21st, soaked and blocked the pieces Thursday night. By Saturday morning, August 23rd, it was dry and ready for seaming. So, yea for me, I finished the Sweater Sprint!

A great quick project and I hope you love it, Andrea!

Update: Ravelympics

Posted on 08/15/2008 by Barb | Comments (0)
Filed under : Babies!, Dyeing, Knitting, Ravelympics 2008

I have set the Holiday Stocking project aside for now and am just concentrating on the Sweater Sprint – the Bump Sweater project. I have completed the back, and have started the front piece. So I think I’m on track to complete that event on time.

Tomorrow morning Needlework Unlimited is having a Dye Party in their parking lot. Andrea and I have signed up to attend and play around with dying a couple skeins of sock yarn, using all-natural dyes of course (oh, did you know, she's pregnant?). It should be geat fun and I’m really really looking forward to it (dyeing yarn and being a grandma).

On my drive in to work this morning I was thinking about “the sweater project” and “the pregnancy” and “the baby.” Andrea asked me yesterday if I had a sense of whether it’s a boy or a girl and I said I had no sense of it. But on the drive in this morning my mind was filled with girl names and girl things … so I think somewhere deep in me is a sense that this is a girl.

... 50:50 chance I'm right!

First baby knitting project!

Posted on 08/05/2008 by Andrea | Comments (3)
Filed under : Babies!, Knitting

I have to say, it's pretty cool to be knitting something for my baby. Somehow it makes it all feel just a little bit more real to be creating something tangible that I can imagine putting onto a baby - my baby. Kind of mind-blowing, really.

This is my first baby knitting project so far. It's the Sideways Sockyarn Baby Sweater. So far, I'm pretty impressed with how well-written the pattern is. It would be a good pattern for a beginning knitter; it explains things like how to close the gap formed when you join knitting in the round, and why knowing the difference between a M1 increase and a knit-into-front-and-back increase is important. It's the sort of pattern that immediately instills trust that it will not lead you astray. I hope it continues to live up to that glowing review. And it's fun to knit up something that has such an unusual construction.

I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Finished Project: Atticus Baby Sweater

Posted on 07/28/2008 by Andrea | Comments (3)
Filed under : Babies!, Finished Objects, Knitting

My mom and I both went to a baby shower tonight, where we both gave the mom-to-be some knitted items. It's so much fun to give knitted stuff as gifts; I would enjoy knitting even if it weren't for all the oohs and aahs, but they are a bonus.

As I was designing this, I sort of dubbed it the "Atticus" sweater in my head, since that was one of the joke names the future parents came up with for their baby boy. I liked the reaction it got at the shower; one person said she thought it should come with a little set of golf clubs.

Someday I might post the pattern, but it really needs a lot of work. It was something I knitted on the fly, and my notes are terrible. It will need at least one or two test-knits before the pattern will make any sense to anyone other than me.

A little bit about how I made this: I used Trekking Pro Natural (wool and bamboo), a lovely sock yarn to work with. I'm infinitely happier with picking up stitches than I am with seaming, so I made this without any seams. And I had lots of fun designing and knitting it. I'm sure I'll be making at least one sweater for my own baby using this basic template and varying the stitch patterns.

Now that I'm done with baby shower knitting, my attention turns to the Ravelympics. I've been "training" (aka, swatching) for Liesl, which I'll be knitting for myself in black Cascade Lana d'Oro (a gorgeous wool/alpaca blend). I'm excited for this pattern because it looks like it'll be a good layering sweater throughout my pregnancy. And after that? I've got a queue of baby knits a mile long.

Finished Something!

Posted on 07/28/2008 by Barb | Comments (0)
Filed under : Babies!, Knitting

Today I get to give the preggy-mom the baby blanket I’ve been knitting. I hope she likes it! (I always get just a little nervous about it when I knit a gift for someone.)

I’m also giving her some Mama Bee products from Burt’s Bees: Mama Bee's Belly Butter and Mama Bee's Leg and Foot Creme

Because let's face it ... it's really mom that's earned the gift here!

So... very... tired

Posted on 06/25/2008 by Andrea | Comments (4)
Filed under : Babies!

I always thought I'd knit like crazy during pregnancy (I mean, what better excuse to knit??) but the reality is that I've been far too tired to knit. I have to get a baby sweater done by the end of July for a baby shower I'm going to and I haven't even started it. Yikes. Gotta get on that.

So today I'm at 10 weeks, 2 days. The end of the first trimester is within sight and I'm glimpsing the hope that I'll soon have that energy I hear so much about. The energy that will make it possible for me to knit and set up a nursery and do all those things I'm supposed to (and need to!) get done before I have a baby in my life.

Till then, I'm still just trying to get through each day.

There are moments it's all worth it. Like this morning. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Our little Muppet's heartbeat sounded strong and sure: BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM, racing along at 160 beats per minute. It was pretty amazing.

Our first baby photo

Posted on 06/19/2008 by Andrea | Comments (3)
Filed under : Babies!

This picture is from last week, when we were eight weeks pregnant. I think he/she/it is already pretty cute. But then I'm supremely biased.

The dawning of a new era

Posted on 06/19/2008 by Andrea | Comments (0)
Filed under : Babies!

It's probably good that Mom posted the entry that she posted below. And if you haven't read it yet, you probably should before you continue reading this entry. It's funny.

Anyway, I seem to be running out of interesting way to share my news, so the news has gone unshared here. But Mom is forcing my hand. Well, played, Mom, well played.

Well, perhaps this will give you a hint. Or this.

Yes, a new era begins in the land of Pink Argyle (specifically, on or around January 19, 2009). And I think it's safe to say this new era will include a lot more baby knits.