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Mr. Poop's Adventures with Swimming

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:57:14 UTC

my first sweater

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:05:31 UTC

In case you can't tell, I've been kind of obsessed with knitting lately. I think at the end of my last pregnancy I spent a lot of time sewing (though most of it was for orders and the shop, none of it was for poor Mr. Poop, terrible mother I am), and this time I've been interested in nothing but knitting. (Well, I'm almost done sewing a blanket for the baby, but I can't bring myself to get the iron out to press the seams. It's too darn hot.) Anyway, if you're sick of all the knitting posts, sorry...but I'm predicting many more in the future.

A few weeks ago Craft Magazine posted this pattern on their website and I think I let out a noise that sounded something like, "Squwaaaaaaaaa!" I have a sweater that's fairly similar to this sweater, but it's in black, and I wear it all the time. The idea of having a similar sweater in a different color excited me more than it really should have. So I decided it was time to go ahead and make my first sweater.

Most of the collar of the sweater.

I've been knitting for about seven years, but I mostly stick to smaller items. I get bored with larger things. Up until now the largest thing I've ever knitted was a pillow cover for my sister, and while it turned out lovely, I have yet to finish the other ones that I planned to make for the shop because I got bored. (A lovely magenta pillow cover has been sitting on my size 10.5 needles for three years. Seriously.) But this sweater. I NEED THIS SWEATER. And then Craft decided to do a knit-along for it, and I figured that watching other people's progress would be good inspiration for me, and that I could ask them questions as I go if my sweater turns out all wonky. (The pattern creator has already answered a question from someone! I find this quite exciting.) So I bit the bullet, ordered my yarn from KnitPicks, and cast on.

I suspect this will be slow-going, as I still have other projects that I need to work on, and since I'll be birthin' a baby sometime in the next few weeks I should probably, you know, brush up on labor techniques and stuff. And then I'll have to do the whole "taking care of a new baby" thing after she's born, and that can be a little time consuming. But I'll keep plugging away at this and posting my progress as I go.

I suspect it gets harder once you move on from the collar.

I'm kind of afraid.

Meathead

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:08:40 UTC

It is the complete wrong season for this hat. I'm not sure there's ever a right season for this hat in San Diego, but if there is, I promise you summer is not it. It's been in the 90s and super humid...so of course, I thought, "Hey, I'll make that hat that uses bulky wool!" This is the Meathead Hat.

Miranda made one of these for her daughter awhile ago and I admired it every time we saw her wear it last winter. I kept meaning to ask her for the pattern, then I failed, then it was too hot for me to even think about putting hats on Mr. Poop.

Meathead from the side.

But then, while I was knitting the cupcake hat for the baby, Mr. Poop asked if it was for him. "No, it's for the baby," I said. "Sometimes when I knit I'll make things for you, and sometimes I'll make things for the baby, and sometimes I'll make things for Mommy or even someone else."

Aerial meathead view.

He thought about this for a moment, then said, "Okay. Maybe sometime Mommy make Will a hat. Maybe an orange one? Okay. Mommy make Will an orange hat." How could I say no to that? So I made a Meathead. I had several colors of the Lamb's Pride Bulky that the hat calls for, so I let him pick one out. I completely expected him to go for orange, since he'd mentioned his orange hat a few times since we initally talked about it, but he decided on red.

Meathead from the back.

It took me about an hour to knit and another half hour to sew up and add on the buttons, and I used yarn from my stash, so even if he only wears it a few times before he outgrows it, or even if he decides that he does indeed want that orange hat we talked about, I don't feel like it was a waste of time. And come on. How cute is this?

Mr. Poop seems to like it.

Pattern: Meathead Hat, from Knitalong by Larissa Golden Brown and Martin John Brown.
Needles: Size 15 straight
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky, in Spice, from my stash! (It's always exciting to use stash yarn. It's like, hey! Free hat!) (Yes, I know I paid for the yarn at some point. But that was like, three years ago.) (Oh who am I kidding. It was more like 5 years ago.)

Notes: I truly thought that holding two strands of bulky yarn and knitting them on giant needles was going to produce something monstrous and weird, and that surely I was reading the pattern incorrectly. I was not, and it turned out fine. Also - you could knit this in the round if you have the proper needles. I would have preferred to do this (as I hate finishing), but I already had size 15 straight needles and I'm cheap, so I just sewed up the back. I think the sizes on the pattern run a little small - Mr. Poop is 2 and has an average-sized head for a 2-year-old, and the child size is snug on him. (I do have a fairly tight gauge when I knit, but even if you don't, I doubt you'll get the child size on a kid much older than 3 or 4).

The pattern includes adult sizes. I kind of want to make myself one, though I'm wondering if the adult large will be big enough for my average-sized adult head. (At least I think it's average-sized.) (Please don't tell me I have a pinhead or a giant head. When the eye doctor told me I had "freakishly small eyes" it messed with my self-esteem, as I had spent 26 years of my life up until that day thinking that my eyes were totally normal.)

Cupcakes for Baby

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:25:54 UTC

I was going to start knitting a teddy bear for the baby, but after how much fun Mr. Poop had helping make his penguin, I've decided to hold off a little on making her a toy until she can remember it or help a little. So instead I decided to make her a hat and some mittens. (This is the hat I showed the beginnings of here.) I finished these a little while ago but I was a bit lazy about taking pictures.

Just as it is no surprise that I made a penguin for Mr. Poop's first handcrafted item from Mom, it should be no surprise that the baby's first handmade thing is a cupcake. Or rather, cupcakes.

We may be heading up to Seattle again for Christmas so I made these in the 3-6 month size, as she might actually get some use out of them when we go there (probably not so much in San Diego). I like them so much though I'll probably attempt to start putting the hat on her pretty much as soon as she's born though. The pink cake part is ribbed, maybe it'll stay on when her head is smaller.

Mr. Poop allowed Dino to model for us.

Or maybe she'll have a big noggin like her dad. (No seriously. Dr. Pants has a big head. I mean, it looks awesome on him, but he has to special order hats. It probably has to be bigger than the average head to contain his massive brain.)

Pattern: Cupcake Baby Set from Itty-Bitty Nursery, by Susan B. Anderson (who I keep mistakenly calling Susan B. Anthony)
Needles: Size 7 DPN, size G crochet hook
Yarn: Pink - Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK in Pixie; White - Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK in Snowman; Dark Pink - Kona Bay Cotton in Magenta. I bought the Cashsoft in Pixie; the Snowman was from Mr. Poop's penguin and the Kona Bay was from my stash.

Notes: The pattern also includes instructions for a scarf. The scarf is super cute, with little cherry pom poms, but I passed. The idea of wrapping a piece of fabric around a little baby's neck just seemed kind of...I don't know...dumb.

Also: The edging where the pink meets the white is done in crochet, which I have never done before. There were some basic instructions in the back of the book, but they weren't super useful. I'm a visual learner anyway, so I found a few videos online and watched them so I could see what exactly I needed to do and that helped me understand the basics. It took some experimenting for me to figure out exactly how I was supposed to attach the crochet edging to the existing knit pieces. But I persisted, and I am pleased. I had issues crocheting the cherry ball for the top - I got it roundish, but I couldn't ever get it just right and I was ready to move on to another project, so I made a knit swirly cherry thing instead. I like it just as well.

Also also: While I was teaching myself how to crochet I got rather frustrated a few times. "Crocheting is stupid." "Ugh, what kind of jerk would mix knitting and crocheting together anyway?" "STOP TELLING ME WHAT YARN IS VIDEO LADY, JUST TELL ME HOW TO CROCHET." Dr. Pants pointed out that I displayed the same kind of...anger...while I was teaching myself to knit. By this measure I will be obsessed with crochet pattern books within six months.

12 on the 12th - July

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:25:58 UTC

1. Dr. Pants has been home brewing. A few months ago he planted some hops on our deck to support his new hobby.
2. I've been kind of obsessed with these sorts of books lately.
3. And also got a couple used books today to add to the pile. My old copy of Stitch N Bitch was lost by a friend, and Mr. Poop is SO excited about all the new stuffed animal possibilities in Itty-Bitty Toys.
4. Mr. Poop gets ready for a nap in his new big boy bed.
5. Meanwhile, I spent naptime cutting birds.
6. And being pleased with myself for painting my own toenails over my 36-week-pregnant belly.
7. And thinking about how delicious this heirloom tomato will be when it is ripe.
8. After naptime we rearranged furniture in the kids' room, because that's another good thing to do when you're 36 weeks pregnant.
9. Mid-rearranging. Don't worry, the top bunk is only for stuffed animals right now. It will be moved away from the blinds by the time Mr. Poop can get up there. (The ladder is currently facing the wall and is unusable.)
10. Hugs for Gracie.
11. I made the mousie. I'll post more about him later.
12. The other dahlia plant started blossoming! These ones look like the ones I had in my wedding bouquet.

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