The Etsy Shop is Up!

At long last, I put the owls up for sale on etsy. Check them out here!

Koolhaas Hats

Although John keeps insisting he has plenty of hats now, I made another one for him. This is Koolhaas by Jared Flood (rav link). I made this hat from Rowan Cotton Wool in the color Moonstone. The yarn is slightly thinner than that called for in the pattern, so I cast on an additional 16 stitches for two extra pattern repeats.

After finishing John's hat, I went stash diving and came up with some Rowan Cotton Jeans in the color Hemp. So, I decided I needed a Koolhaas for myself. Of course, I like a turn-up ribbing on all of my hats, so my ribbing is 3.5 inches. I love the color of this yarn, but it's pretty easy to split with your needles.

I've also finished the Horcrux socks by Susan Lawrence (2nd in my Harry Potter Sock Series) and I love them! The yarn is Regia Cotton Color and they are soft and comfy.

Finally, after 53 attempts, I got a photo of my other cat, Louis the shy one, doing her best impression of a lima bean with feet.

Don't be fooled by her docile appearance; she is watching every move of the needles, biding her time (shiny Addi turbos are her favorite)!

Oh - the Cuteness!

I have a sister who just had a baby, and another sister who's due at the end of May. They are having their combined baby shower this weekend, and I finished my gifts in time (yay me!). Of course, I was so excited I ran down to the post office with everything, then realized that I had forgotten to take photos. Luckily, my car was pretty clean, so I spread out the ensembles on the hood and took these photos before I sealed the box. I created quite a stir at our local post office, trying to find the right angle so the glare of the sun would not blind us all. People do love to look at cute baby things.

This set is for my brand new nephew, Mac.

And this set will be for my little niece, whenever she arrives.

The sweaters are the One-Piece Baby Kimono by Christine Shiffman (rav link) from Mason-Dixon Knitting (fabulous book). The hats are the from the pattern I use to make newborn hats to donate to our local hospital. It's a pretty simple pattern - if you need it, just let me know. The little socks were made from the leftover sweater yarn. The yarn is Cascade Cotton Rich DK - very soft in the finished product, but hard on the hands when knitting.

Have You Seen My Hairy Monkeys?

So I made these socks, Monkey by Cookie A. in December and somehow they weren't posted to the blog. I'm not sure how this happened because you all know how I love to show the handmade socks!

The gorgeous yarn is Bearfoot by Mountain Colors. It has some mohair in it, making my socks a little fuzzy. That's why my Monkeys are hairy. I bought this yarn in Bozeman, Montana - it was my souvenir yarn for that vacation. I wish I could remember the name of the shop I visited - it was really nice.

This pattern is terribly popular on the web (8190 projects in Ravelry) and is an easy, fast knit. The finished socks are really cozy!

I can definitely see myself doing another pair of these in the future...

Lots of Little Knits

I've been knitting a LOT - but not taking photos (sorry!). So here's a few things I've finished lately:

This is Bridget by Woolly Wormhead (Ravelry link). It's a lovely chunky alpaca yarn and this hat is warm and very jaunty. I love the feel of the pom poms as they bounce on my head!

I made these Socks of Kindness (Ravelry Link) from Sophie's Toes by Emily Parson. For some reason, I had trouble with this pattern - mostly with counting to eight over and over. I had to go back a lot to fix my errors. Sigh. I love the socks though, now that they're finished.

Next, I tackled Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat in some no-ball-band cashmere yarn. I made the ribbing longer so I could turn up the brim, but otherwise followed the pattern faithfully. I really like this hat, so much so that I had to make mittens to go with it:

These are the Cozy Cabled Mittens by My Life's Work. I've never made a plaited cable like this, and I love the way they look and fit. They're perfect.

Ella Kitzgerald Sez Happy New Year!

Not really. She just wants you to give her some catnip. She had some on Christmas and wonders why she does not have it everyday. (Louis is shy, but I'll try to get a photo of her soon.)

John went to work on the snow, and finally made paths around the house. The wind was so strong this weekend that it blew the door of his bike barn open, so he had to clear the steps to get the door closed again.

Today was a glorious, sunny day, but cold. The snow just sparkles and crunches under our feet when we walk outside. It's lovely.

Happy New year!

Merry Christmas!

John and I had a quiet Christmas at home. We had some snow...

(This is a photo of John's bike barn in back of our house.)

We had cocoa this morning and opened our presents - thanks everyone! Despite the passes being closed for several days in the last week, we received nearly everything on time. I'm sure the rest will arrive tomorrow.

Our Christmas trees were lit all day, just because they are so pretty...

The cats enjoyed playing with the empty boxes and discarded bows. And John wanted to make sure you saw his decorated Wheel.

So Merry Christmas to all of you - we miss you all!