Wordless Wednesday: Sam the Super Hero!

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit the WW HQ!

Okay, not quite "Wordless" today!

I made this superhero cape for Sam and he loves it! I'm so glad he likes it too because it was not entirely fun to knit. My friend Summer gave me the pattern and yarn. She was going to make two of them for her son's but gave up. The red yarn and the yellow yarn were different weights and the red is HEAVY! I thought it would make the cape too heavy to wear, but it turned out really nice. It's very soft and quite warm without being too hot for him.

For some reason, he thinks he has to go shirtless underneath (maybe that's why it's not too hot!) He says it's because Super Heroes don't wear shirts. Who knew? I managed to get some pictures of him in it before he went topless!

Pattern is from Vickie Howell's "New Knits on the Block."

Just Call Me "Auntie Purl"

I've been doing a bit of knitting lately and thought I'd share some of what I've done.

This is a baby sweater I made for a friend. She's due with her fourth child (3rd boy) the end of the month. Last month she had a baby shower at a paint your own pottery place. It was pretty cool. I think I may bring Josh there -- he'd have a blast painting up a plate or something.

Anyway, I got the pattern from a book I have called "Weekend Knitting." It was fun to knit up. The yarn was not so great, it kept splitting -- but it was the color I needed. It knit up quickly too. It's unique because it's knit "sideways" -- instead of knitting from bottom to top, it's knit from side to side.

I'm not really happy with the buttons either, but over all, I think it's cute.



I have another friend who just had a baby. This is a bib I quickly knit up for her. I got this pattern from a knitting community called Ravelry. It's from the blog "String Theory." It was a very easy, quick knit up. I used some stash yarn and it didn't take much.



And the last thing I made is my favorite thing so far. I made a turtle -- from the Sheldon pattern on Knitty.com.


This one is Josh's and he named it "Dribble" after the turtle in Judy Blume's "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing."



This is so cute! And very quick to knit up. Plus it was interesting to knit -- lots to do. The boys love it and of course now I need to knit another one so they each have their own. Right now they're doing a great job of sharing "Dribble."



And after I finish Sam's turtle he wants me to knit him a super hero cape! So I've got a few things on the horizon... and still, nothing in the que for me!

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And on an unrelated note... I'm having a giveaway on the Being Savvy Atlanta site. Five gift boxes of Tree Top Trim are up for grabs.... Head over to enter!

They Say Things Come in 3's.... Right?

Well, if that's the case, we're set for a bit...

I'm sure you all remember our little car issue -- the transmission needing to be replaced?

If you've friended me on Facebook, I'm sure you're aware of our heating issue... if not, let me fill you in.

We've had unseasonably cold weather here in Georgia. Now, for those up North that are accustomed to sub-zero weather... more power to you. Our problem comes in when we get zero degree weather -- or just below freezing -- our heater can't heat the house.

Luckily, we have a fully furnished, comfortable basement that has it's own heating system. This weekend in Atlanta the highs were in the teens and the lows were below zero. Our house -- the main living area -- didn't get above 49 degrees all weekend.

So we moved into the basement. Thankfully, it started to warm up yesterday and we actually could spend time in the main house and sleep in our beds again! But we're expecting a few more cold days this week so I have someone coming out to look at the heater this evening.

And, because when one thing falls apart, so does another and another.... We were getting ready to go to Target this weekend -- just to get out of the house and warm ourselves up -- and the garage door broke. The opener ripped a huge chunk right off the back of the door.

When that happened, Josh said, "Man! It seems like the whole house is falling apart!"

But, even though we've had a string of "issues" come up -- at least all have our health and we had some nice "quality family time" while we were stuck in the basement together.

And I made a hat for Rich to go with his sweater....

Here's Josh modeling it... and looking quite enthused.

Finally Finished!

I started knitting a sweater for Rich way back in July. My goal was to be done by Christmas.

Well, I didn't make it. I Was almost done -- only one arm to go -- and I ran out of yarn. So I changed my goal to be done before the end of this month.

I finished it yesterday.

Here he is modeling it. It's called the "Backbone Sweater" because of the cabling up the back...



The front has a "hand print" knitted in by using the knits and purls...




And the front detail.....



And the back detail....



Even though it took me forever to knit it, I really had fun with this. I found a mistake in the pattern, and since I'm still learning, I didn't know what to do. So, I contacted the designer, both by email and Ravelry (fantastic knitting site) and she emailed me back! She said no one had ever caught the error before so she fixed it for me and is updating the pattern.

I'm making him a hat out of the left over yarn now. Then after that, I think I'll make something for me!

I'm torn between a warm, cozy wrap/poncho -- like the one on this blog. But the time it would take is a bit daunting.... or a and a summery-lacy top like the one on this blog.

Of course the boys both want me to do something for them. So maybe I'll sneak in a hat for the boys.

Lazy Sunday

I have a new knitting project I just finished.

Are these not the cutest? My first ever pair of mittens. And they were so easy, I'm sure all my friends will now be getting mittens for gifts!

Now I need to find a hat pattern to go with them!

I found a really cool knitting website/community called Ravelry. It's just amazing. You can search for patterns and yarns and shops... There is also a feature to keep track of your own supplies (yarn, needles, etc) and projects you 've been working on.

One thing I really like about it is if you have a pattern from a book or magazine, you can search for it and see what other people think of it, or what it turned out like for knitters of varying abilities.

The pattern for the mittens came out of a book I have called "One Skein Wonders." I could go on Ravelry, search for projects from the book and see who had done them, what they turned out like, what kind of yarn they used... it's really cool!

I also discovered, through Ravelry, there is another yarn shop in the town next to mine. I haven't checked it out yet, but I have plans too (once I can afford to buy more yarn)!

Okay, so now time for a Samism:

Sam's latest thing is telling knock-knock jokes. Josh loves them too, but since he's nearly seven, he tells "real" jokes he's read out of a book. Sam makes them up, and they make absolutely no sense.

Here is his favorite.

Sam: Knock Knock

Me: Who's there?

Sam: Angry

Me: Angry who?

Sam: Angry in your tummy!!!!!

The he bursts into fits of laughter.

Josh: I don't get it. That's not a real joke!

This, to me, is just further evidence that boys are weird.

Me being crafty

I'm not the "artist" in our family. My brother and sister are both wonderful artists. They can draw, and write really well. My sister does the most beautiful pottery ever. I have no artistic talent. But that's not entirely true...


I learned to knit when I was an exchange student in Norway. Everyone there knits, at least all the women. When I was in school it was the norm for the girls to be knitting in class and taking notes at the same time.


Anyway, when I was there I learned to knit. I didn't ever really do much -- a few pairs of socks and a sweater or two -- but the sweaters were just basic and I had someone to help me.



After reading one of B's journals last year I was inspired to start it up again. Have a craft or creative outlet other than the blog for me. So, I bought a book called "One Skein Wonders" that I thought would be a good re-introduction to knitting. Small
projects that I can complete quickly.



And it is a great book! The first thing I made was a cell phone carrier that is in the book. It was easy and Josh liked it so I gave it to him. No, he does not have a cell phone!



Then I made the Lotus Purse because I liked the way it looked. Here's a picture of the finished project.


I used Paton's Chunky Shetland Tweed for it and I love the way it looks with this pattern.


And Josh liked it too. But he wanted blue and he wanted a it big enough for his Nintendo DS. And he wanted it blue. And he wanted it to be more "boy."

So, I took the cell phone carrier pattern from the book, made it bigger and used the "knit 1 slip 1" pattern from the Lotus Purse and this is what I came up with (Sam wants one now):

Then I found a Wine Gift Bag pattern on Knitty.com. How fun is that?! For this I used Paton's SWS "Natural Geranium" Wool/Soy blend yarn. I love the way this looks! I have a friend who likes to keep her red wine in the fridge. Strange, I know. I'll be giving her this "wine sweater" with a bottle of wine for her birthday. I think it's just too cute! I will definitely be doing this one again!

And, I found the most amazing yarn/knitting store right in my little town. There is so much yarn and knitting paraphernalia there it's incredible. And they give lessons. Rich wants me to knit him a sweater and I'll probably need help, so I think I'm going to sign up for lessons probably next month or in March.

So this is me being crafty!