I thought I finished the left front of The Sweater last night.  I did the bind-off.  I asked David to stand up and help me position the back and the left front on him.  It was looking pretty good.  So I’d decided that I was going to knit the sleeve next to fit that side – just to see how it is all going to come together.

Then this morning, I noticed a problem.  The armhole decrease is on the same side as the slight v-neck decrease.  Obviously there will be a problem if the armpit is on the same side as the v-neck.  UGH.  How dumb is that?  I thought that I would be doing those neck decreases on the right side.  NO.  They should have been on the wrong side.  So doing it right, I did it wrong!

This will teach me to pay more attention to my knitting and less to Gold Rush: Alaska!

Time to go rip it back aways.

I’ve made a resolution to knit up as much of the yarn I already own as I can this year.  I am buying a few things, but only for special projects as needed.

I finished blocking the shawlette.  I haven’t tried to take any good pictures of it yet.  I need to do that.  Davey wanted to photograph it, so I let him take a few pictures last night.  The light is not so good, but he had a good time.

So I needed to cast on for another easier project that I can carry around and knit on here and there when I don’t want to settle in with a pattern.

I had bought this sock yarn at my beloved Knit Unto Others in Arkadelphia.   Unfortunately, I didn’t keep the tag.  I think it is Tofutsies, but I am not 100% sure.  I need to be better about keeping track.  Anyway, I cast on for a simple ribbed sock.  Once I started, I couldn’t stop knitting on it.  I don’t know if it was I was so happy to be knitting on my good old double pointed needles again, or – and I think this is more it-  I am fascinated by the self striping.  It’s so fun to watch the socks stripe as I go.  I also really like purple and green together, so that made it even better.  I have had this yarn for 2 years, and I finally gave it a chance

Today Davey started his first Funny Bugs class.  He had a great time.  Miss Heather was there, so life was good.  He walked up to her and gave her the biggest hug.   He tends to be a little bashful, but not with Miss Heather.   He loved his other teachers as well.  He is a forward rolling little guy.

We also learned a valuable lesson today.  If if starts snowing.  Go Home.  Don’t drive from Littleton to Golden.  It’s not a good idea.  Don’t drive west into heavier snow. Especially when you are driving a Toyota which supposedly has front wheel drive but which was sliding all over the place.  Especially when you have spent most of your life living somewhere where there is not much snow.

It was snowing very lightly when we went to Golden to look at a house.  By the time we left the house about 25 minutes later, the snow had really accumulated on the road.  We made it home in one piece but it was slow going.

And now it is bathtime for little Davey!  He came to “Rocky Mountain High” today and had a “picnic” with me while David had a meeting.  Then tumbling.   Now he’s tired and it’s time for bath and books and bed!

Davey and I have been hard at work this morning.   We are blocking a shawlette that I finished last night.  It was my first opportunity to use the blocking squares I got for Christmas.

Davey very much enjoyed helping to put the “puzzle” together.

The shawlette is from a pattern called Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. I felt like I needed a fairly simple mostly stockinette pattern because of the color variation in the yarn.

So here is the shawlette/kerchief post knitting but pre-blocking.  It’s all curled and shrunk up and looks more like the size of a  hankie then a kerchief.

It needed a bath and some blocking!

As I was blocking, Davey took over the camera.  He took quite a few shots.  At some point, he figured out that if you hold down the button, it takes shots over and over and over and over again.  Oh he thought that was fun.  For the safety of the camera, we had to put a stop to that.  So then he returned to single photographs.  I really like some of the pictures he took!

I am thinking he may need to be promoted from assistant.

Now he keeps checking the scarf to see if it is dry yet.  He touches it with a finger and then shows me, “nope, Mommy, not dry yet”.

I’ve been having fun “designing” my own hat.  To say I designed it is a bit of a stretch, because it is basically a stockinette hat with just a small variation.  However, I really like how the lateral braids look, and how they change the look of the basic hat.

Here’s the pattern: Lateral Braid Hat Pattern

I began with a 2×2 rib.  Next I knit one round of lateral braid, two rounds of just knit and then another round of lateral braid.   From that point it’s just knit and decrease.

So I made my first hat with an extra bulky Lion Wool-Ease yarn.  I didn’t like how it knitted up.  For one thing it’s huge.  For another, I don’t like the look of this acrylic/wool blend.  At least not for the hat.  It might be great in a different project.

So this is the prototype, but it is also blech.

Actually, I shouldn’t start with putting up a photo of blech.  I will save blech.

Next I knit in just a bulky yarn.  This is the yarn that I am using for The Sweater.  Lamb’s Pride Bulky.  I actually liked the blech hat a lot more until I knit it with this wool/mohair blend.   And I really like this rich color too.  So this was immediately my favorite.

And of course I got my little assistant Davey to pose as well.

So here’s the blech hat.  I think I even posed in it with a slightly “this is blech” expression.  I have to say though, it is very comfortable and warm.  It’s color is not as rich so I think that causes it to “pale” in comparison to the above hat.

It’s really oversized on my little assistant Davey.

So finally I knitted one that should fit a 1-2 year old.  I really liked this one too, particularly because I used Debbie Bliss cashmerino.  It’s really nice to knit with and knits up so pretty.  I did put it on Davey’s head, but it’s a beanie on him.  I like this photo.  Pretty light.

So I guess that’s a lot of detail and discussion about basically 2 rounds in a hat.  I am going to write this pattern up and put it on my blog.  It’s a nice simple chance to learn how to do lateral braid as well.

I’ve gone kinda nutty with my lateral braid hat.  It’s really a simple hat.  I just started with the basic hat pattern where you cast on stitches in a multiple of 8 – just like I learned from Ms. Claire!

But I am having fun with it.  I made it in really chunky yarn.  This hat turned out a little large.  It is roomy even on my large noggin.  Today I started one in regular bulky.  Next I want to do a child size in a sport weight.  Then if I am still so inspired, I will knit one in a worsted weight.  It’s fun seeing how it looks in different weights of yarn and sizes.  I will put up photos of my various experiments as soon as I finish them.  I need to come up with a name for my hat with the two lateral braids.

I took a couple of pictures of the redone back of The Sweater.  I thought, “wouldn’t it be cute to have Davey pose with it for me?”  It was a one shot deal.  I had one chance and one chance only.  If I did not get it on the first shot, then that would be the end of it.  One shot.

Failure.  Davey was  having no more of it. (I don’t blame him.  Why would he want to stand there with a giant knitted thing on his back?)  Why didn’t I check the light?  It’s terrible in here at night.

David was more cooperative.  And of course, it  took only one shot, as I figured out a better light source + night portrait.  It’s no photographic work of art by any means, but at least I can see at what I am looking. (really?  does that sound better than just sticking at at the end of the sentence?  Preposition positioning is a thorn in my writing side.)

Anyway,  Davey was sporting a new shirt today.  I only mention it because he just loves stripes.  He loves a stripey shirt.  The stripier the better.  (If I have to think about prepositions, then I am going to make up words every once in awhile. Although I just looked up stripey and  stripier and they do exist!)

“Mommy, I love stripes!”

This afternoon, I did the necessary frogging, and now I am back to this.

Using the printer as the backdrop for almost every knitting photo is not my favorite thing, but this is the best place in the apartment to take the pictures.  It’s where I can always get the best light.

I like this photo for several reasons.  I like those pretty little balls of yarn that I made when I ripped out part of the back.  I’d like to look at them a little closer.

If you look at the right side of the photo, you can kind of see the back side of the latest of my Joy of Sox socks.  I am working on them, but they are slowwww going.  The pattern is a 10 row repeat.  It seems like by the time I get one repeat done, the evening is over.  It’s a fun pattern though with cabling, and I am really enjoying the circular needles.

Here’s an even better reason why  I like this picture.  If you look on the left part of the photo, you will see this.

Davey was just about 1 year old here.  We were living out at Mama Pearl’s, and he had just learned to walk.   I love that grin.