Kusudama

Wow. I haven't posted since February! I haven't actually had a lot of time to devote to knitting. I've been taking classes and so my normal knitting time has turned into homework time. Boo!

This is a small peak of a project I did for Sunstone West. I folded every page of the book of Mormon into kusudama flowers. I'm not done with the presentation of it and I didn't actually display it at Sunstone West because I felt way out of my league. But hey.. sneak peak!

I'm also knitting a belt right now. I'm not actually into belts, but they are popular at them moment, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. I also started knitting a scarf to use up some yarn. And I think I might start some baby sweaters and hats for a monthly baby shower for less advantaged Oakland women.

Also, I've just been busy.

Ballet Shrug

Pattern: Child's Ballet Shrug in Bunny Hop
Yarn: Wool in the Woods Helix in Limelight

I finished this last week. I don't look good in lime green, so I knew I couldn't knit something for myself with this yarn. And since kids look good in almost anything, I decided to make something for Margaret. The yarn is cotton and I've never used cotton for garments- only dishcloths- so that's new to me. But I like it. My gauge was loose enough for it to hang well.

This pattern was really great. It doesn't tell you how to sew it together at the end, but it's not hard to figure out.I did a size between the 6 and 8 because I wanted to use up all my yarn and guess what? Only something like 15 yards left! Perfect. She can grow into it.

Close up of stitches

The color in my living room is a bit washed out. Oh well.

Dalek Dress

Pattern: Mummy's Little Dalek Jumper
Yarn: Red Heart Soft

Yes, I know it's acrylic, but a baby will be spitting up in it. I used size 6 and 8 needles instead of 5 and 7 in the pattern and they extra room made the fabric lighter and I like that. So often acrylic gets hot and sticky- I don't think this dress will have that problem.

Lace Chevron Earwarmer

Pattern: Lace Chevron Earwarmer
Yarn: Berroco Trilogy in Braemer Brown

After that sweater vest, I had a skein of that ugly yarn left. Not wanting to look at that yarn in my stash forever, and knowing that if I thrifted it, it would never get any use, I decided to knit up something small and quick. And now I have an earwarmer headband.

Little heart buttons!

I wonder if this will fit under my bike helmet for keeping my ears warm this winter...

Ugly Vest!

Pattern: Sleeveless tank
Yarn: Berroco Trilogy in Braemer Brown

A long time ago I bought this yarn. I don't know why I bought it. It's not particularly attractive. Well, other colorways were, but not this one. I bought it just the same. And I thought I'd make fishnets out of them. WTH was I thinking?

So I frogged those last year and decided that I needed to use it up. There's a secret about kids' clothes: almost anything looks cute on a kid. So I knew I had to doom my children to this yarn.

Found a pattern and here it is.

I made size 4T, and was ready to use up all my yarn, since I had the exact yardage for it. But I suppose I must use less yarn than other people and I only used 3 of the 4 skeins.

And for some reason Margaret loves it. Who knew?

I finished this last Monday. This was the knitting project I was working on in early labor Saturday. Oh, I had a baby last weekend, if you hadn't heard.

Birthday Socks!

Pattern: Globe Trotter Socks
Yarn: Mountain Colors Crazyfoot in Moose Creek

I started these a couple of months ago, but with the holidays, they went on the back burner. They were my travel knitting, which meant most of the knitting was done at church.

They are for McKay and I finished them last night- in time for his birthday today! We picked out the yarn together last year- he wanted "manly" colors and the red in these will match the burgundy pinstripe in his three piece suit. Perfect!

Rainbow Chain

Pattern: Jelly Rings
Yarn: Red Heart on hand

I queued this a long time ago. I'm not sure why. But I made it. I suppose it can be a teething toy, but the kids are currently  using it as an open-ended imagination toy. It's been a necklace and a leash already today.