Outfitted Well

Someone is going to be a well-dressed baby in a few months. The only problem is that she's not born yet.

Wee Li'l Knits

I've been doing a lot of baby knitting lately. I didn't know how to knit when my own children were babies, so it has been fun making little things for a change.

One friend's baby received booties from me when she was born, but has now outgrown them. Apparently she won't keep regular socks on, so my friend asked me to knit some larger booties. The mary janes are knit out of Schaefer Anne, double-stranded (sorry, no links today - don't have time right now!):
These are knit out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, double-stranded:
This same friend asked if I would also be willing to knit a baby sweater, so I obliged. This is knit with KnitPicks Swish:
There's one more that I'm dying to share, but don't want to post it here until I give it to its intended recipient!

Now I'm not quite sure what to knit. Suggestions?

February in September

Today I realized that my children aren't the best when it comes to photographing handknits. This should not come as a surprise to me since they are 4 and 6, but one tries to remain hopeful.

This is the February Lady Sweater, which is the adult version of Elizabeth Zimmerman's classic baby sweater. (Not the most flattering angle in this pic, but again - I think I was lucky to actually have my body in the shot at all, considering the photographers.) It is an excellent pattern and I could see myself knitting this again. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which I have had in my stash for well over a year now and has been started as a few different sweaters and then ripped out. Much to my surprise, I quite like how the Ultra Alpaca knit up in this pattern. I had pretty much convinced myself that it wasn't going to be hefty enough, but I have been proven wrong.

Now if only the temperature would cool down enough to be able to wear my new sweater.

Distracted

I've really been lax about blogging this week. Mostly because I've been engrossed in three things: starting school again with Natalie, watching the Olympics and knitting on my Olympics project. "Olympics project?" you might ask. Yes. I'm sure whatever cool factor I had with some of you may now have been obliterated - but I'm ok with that.

Just prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics, a rather spectacular knit blogger known as the Yarn Harlot organized the 2006 Knitting Olympics, where she challenged anyone who wanted to participate to select a project to knit during the Olympics. You could not begin until Opening Ceremonies started and the goal was to finish by the end of Closing Ceremonies. Thousands (yes, you read that correctly) of knitters participated, including myself.

For the 2008 Summer Olympics, the lovely folks at Ravelry decided to head up another knitty Olympic challenge. Same rules apply. I have chosen to knit a short-sleeved sweater - Rusted Root. So far, so good. I already had the yarn in my stash, so I am pleased to put it to good use. This sweater is knit from the top down and I am now finished with the sleeves and just barely into the body.
It should be smooth sailing from here on out. Besides, once Michael Phelps quits distracting me from my knitting, it should go much faster.

Two Random Things

First up, we have a picture of a sweater I purchased in Ireland many years ago. 100% wool, very cabley and very heavy. I wore it a LOT back in the day, when I lived in the Midwest and winters were really cold and actually had snow. Now I live in the MidSouth, where winters get cold, but it's a relative thing and there's rarely snow, so I haven't actually worn this sweater in years. I did give it a good wash this week, though, and am interested in hearing some opinions...I can't bring myself to give the sweater away because I'm too sentimental. However, I don't know that I'll ever wear it since it's so bulky. Should I reconsider giving it away? Or should I attempt to unravel it and repurpose the yarn? What would you do?

Second, I decided to take a picture of my sock yarn stash yesterday. It's not a great picture since I had to take it indoors with the flash, but here it is, in all its glory:
There's enough for 20 pairs of regular socks, 1 pair of worsted weight socks and 1 pair of knee-highs. I must look at this picture anytime I'm tempted to go online and order more sock yarn. If you'd like to know what anything is specifically, feel free to ask in the comments.