In honor of the Olympic Games some members of Ravelry organized the Ravelympics. The idea is to cast on a project during the opening ceremony of the Olympics and be finished with the chosen project(s) before the Games end. I challenged myself to do the Presto Chango, a baby sweater. I’ve never attempted anything of the sort before plus I wanted to use a sport weight yarn instead of the worsted recommended. So I had to swatch and measure and use mathematics to find out how many stitches to cast on and which needles to use. It wasn’t that hard to figure out, but it did took some patience, something I just don’t have when it comes to crafting. Ideally I just print out the pattern and get going. Luckily for me however, this pattern is now flying off the (4mm) needles. I’m about halfway through already and it looks pretty much baby size. So far so good! All I’m worrying about now is if I can find suitable buttons for it on time.

Oh and to everyone takes any interest in crochet or knitting at all and hasn’t done so yet: Go over to Ravelry and sign up for an account! It is really one of the most inspiring places on the web. I spend nearly all my online time there nowadays.

I’m in the process of making my own Gabu army. So far I have two. I’m using a 3.5mm hook instead of the 5.0mm recommended. With crocheting I always run into gauge issues. I wonder if this is a common problem. It keeps me from doing project that need to be a certain size, like clothes. I hardly ever have this problem with knitting.
But anyway, back to the Gabu’s! There is a pattern for a Gabu Nest as well and I really want to make my own Gabu Traffic Light some time soon.

My previously solitary cupcake made a friend! CupcakeNumber2 has the reverse colorscheme of CupcakeNumber1; a white cake with brown frosting. He doesn’t have buttons, because they were so dreadful to sew on since I don’t have a needle that fits through the holes in those tiny buttons comfortably. They are here displayed on a piece of fabric that came with a set of sheets for the baby. We’re absolutely clueless what exactly this fabric is supposed to be used for, as it is smaller than the sheets. We’ve even asked our moms and they had no idea either. I suppose I can always use it for something whimsical, like for lining some knitted item!!

My first afghan square! I have a lot, and I mean A LOT of acrylic in my stash that I have no use for. So I’ve decided to make an afghan. It’s a big project but at the same time a small one. I can knit up a square every once in a while, call it an FO and in the end, I will have a nice big afghan to prove that I can finish a big object. I kind of ruined this square with my iron though, so I’m not sure if I will actually use it for the afghan.

And last but not least: My new earflap hat! I knit this up last week, before I knew that I wouldn’t be working my job again this winter. I wanted to be prepared for the snow and cold and keep my ears warm for once, because I’ve ran into that same problem every year since ‘03. Every year I go out and buy another hat or headband that promisses to keep my ears warm, but they never really seem to do the trick.
Oh well.. at least I won’t have to worry about a cold head and ears while walking the baby.. I didn’t use a pattern for this and just improvised. Same goes for the embroidery. It was my first real go at embellishing a knitted garment with embroidery. I think it looks okay, though a bit primitive. But I will definatly try it again as I had lots of fun doing it.

Craftwise I’ve been quite productive lately and this is a post dedicated to the fruits of my labors of the last month or so. The first finished object is, once again, a scarf. It’s a pattern I tried before, but I never found a yarn/needle-size combination that seemed to please me. I had some Patons SWS in Natural Plum in my stash for ages but it was bespoken to the Danica. But I only recently acquired a pair of 8mm needles. It wasn’t untill I finally gave up on ever completing a half decent Danica that I combined the SWS with these perfectly sized needles. It only took me two skeins (and two days!) to complete My So Called Scarf!

I knit the second project, Sheldon once before, but ended up giving him away. It struck me however that this green turtle would fit perfectly in our nursery which has a green theme. I still had enough anonymous green cotton left after completing the older brother, Stoffel to make a second turtle who is now called Schildje. He’s named after a real life turtle M. once owned. Schildje has a pointier head than Stoffel though, I don’t really know how that came to be. Oh and Schildje has eyes, Stoffel didn’t when I last saw him. Schildje is very lucky to have eyes actually; I almost gave up on them and the whole project after I had place them on his behind by accident and couldn’t get them off. Thankfully doctor M. was willing to lend me a hand there.

Last is this cute Cupcake I completed this morning. A sweet little time killer! I wanted to make more but sewing on the “sprinkles” (actually they’re tiny buttons) took more time than I had hoped, so there’s only one for now.

Just completed: a Tiger Eyes Scarf (pdf). Knitted on 3.5mm with 2 balls of Lana Grossa Cool Wool/Merino 2000 in a hot pink. I’m very pleased with the result eventhough I don’t wear lace scarfs! It will be nice to look at every once in a while!

Here’s my first handknit fo for my little baby boy. It’s the Gooseberry Hat. Because everyone who knit it on Ravelry said it turned out big, I cast on 80 stitches instead of 96 and adjusted the pattern from k12, p12 to k10, p10. I think it’s a nice sized baby hat now. I used about half a skein of my favorite yarn, Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000 in light gray.

I can’t even remember how long it’s been since I’ve finished a pair of handknit socks. It must have been my Jaywalkers some time last year. Since then I’ve knit a handful of singles, but I couldn’t find the patience for another pair. Untill now! A complete pair of no-purl Monkeys, featuring my first attempt at a picot edge. Made from a skein of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox color #1835 Spring Green. I have some yarn left over and am considering to use it for a pair of baby socks.

One pair down, four more to go to complete #018 of my 101 in 1001 list.

The bunny was out of its cage all night. I feel sorry for the poor guy and let him run free whenever I can, knowing that it will be a struggle to get him back in his cage again. Knowing that M. will be frustrated with it. Knowing that the bunny will harrass the cat. Knowing that M. will eventually say something like “He has to go to the farm.” Wtf? Are you kidding me? He went into his cage just fine this morning. It’s not like we’ll give the baby away the moment he or she does something that doesn’t please us. I’m just sorry for the cat, but she knows she can get on the bed with us where the bunny doesn’t come for some peace and quiet.

All is quiet on the knitting front. I haven’t picked up the needles in days. I have two completed socks, though they do not form a pair and I’m half way done with yet another sock that doesn’t match. In the meantime I’m still awaiting my order of Noro Sock Yarn and yesterday I ordered the Knitter’s Almanac which has the cutest baby stuff in it. If all goes well I’ll be about to become a mom in half a year. It’s madness to think about it. Last night I only had to get out once to pee, which to me is a real breakthrough!