Bootees!

OMG Saartje's Bootees (Ravelry) are the coolest. Or maybe I just like knitting new things and every new project is the coolest. Either way, they are a lot of fun. Actually, there is more finishing to these than there is knitting. I've only finished one and I need to get buttons (a fun new skill: sewing buttons) but I'm sure they will be done by my next post.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these (and the 100 other pairs I'm likely to knit!). I guess I'll hold on to them for a while and gift them when appropriate.

I'm also really enjoying this Men's Fingerless Gloves (Ravelry) pattern. I finished the first finger last night. These should be done just in time for fall! I think these might be a good holiday gift for my dad and/or my brother.

I've ripped Odessa for now. She is such a simple pattern which can really mean trouble for me. I start watching TV instead of counting and then I'm screwed. At least the beads are still on the yarn so the hardest part is finished. I have more than a month to get it done so I'm sure there wont be any problems that cannot be addressed before then.

Tony has been working on Felted Boxes from Mason-Dixon Knitting. First he did this red and black one (Lamb's Pride Bulky in Red Hot Passion and Onyx).

Then a blue and green (Lamb's Pride Bulky in Blue Boy and Kiwi) box which we will probably leave un-felted.

I really love what he did with the bottom of the box.

In non-knitting news: we bought a wok this week. I made Orange Beef for dinner last night. Mmmmm.

TTFN, Eric

Puppy Power

This is the newest addition to our family. She's a one year old Shih-Poo named Sissy. Her coat is a mess right now but we plan to grow it out and expect that she will be even cuter after a few months of good grooming.

She's barely been here a day and already I've made her a new outfit.

Finished:

In progress:

The pattern is Howl from Stitch 'n Bitch made with Lamb's Pride Bulky in Red Hot Passion and Onyx. I made it a little bigger than her current size so she can grow into it. I figure she'll probably gain a pound or two before winter and she will definitely have more hair by then.

The cat is totally pissed that we have a new addition to the house, but that's life.

Later, Eric

Who needs a dishwasher?

Tony just finished more washclothes.

All together they make a handmade Mother's Day Surprise!

Tony's Jaywalkers

Finally!

The Jaywalkers are done. They are the larger size (84 CO) and on gianormous needles -- US 2.5s. They really are huge but they fit my big ol' man-feet just right. I used Claudia Handpainted 100% merino in Ingrid's Blues. Hizzah!

Glacier Donkey Pirates!

Hat number two is complete! I love the feel of the Cashsoft even if the color names are a little strange (Glacier and Donkey). The sharp contrast between the two colors magnifies the wonkiness of my stitches, but I don’t care.

This particular hat has a problem that my first hat didn’t have. On the first hat, whenever I was carrying a strand across more than five stitches, I wrapped the carried yarn on the 5th stitch. On this hat, I wrapped it in the middle of the skull each time — for no particular reason except that I thought it might change the appearance of the inside of the hat. Apparently, the combined pulling effort of each wrapped stitch causes a split in the middle of my skulls when the hat is stretched. At first I thought it might correct itself in the blocking, but that doesn’t seem to have helped. I’ve considered shrinking it a bit but it’s already a good fit for me and shrinking it might make it too small. Any thoughts on how I might fix it?

Maybe it's just a lesson learned. I've never been one to dwell on a mistake if I learned something from it -- provided no one got hurt in the process. If I can't fix the skulls, I'll just call the crack a design feature!