Drive by knitting report

So, I am going to give you a knitting update with hopes of a "something else" post a bit latter today. (At bare minimum I hope to get a cooking post up I owe my Uncle. Just in case he, or anyone else for that matter, needs, or wants, Superbowl Sunday snack recipes.)
Anyhows, I have had a couple of wild haired knitting ideas as of late. Ideas like knitting a "Block of the Month" blanket. So I was going to start with December's block, as I have a theme idea. December's block is Advent, January's is Christmas/Epiphany, February's is Lent, etc. I wasn't too worried about starting right on time (especially since this idea didn't even happen until mid-December) as I need time for the idea/motif of the block to come to me. Well, I have the Advent and Christmas/Epiphany one's all planned out in my head, where they still sit. (Yes, along with all those missing blog posts.) When I told the D's about this idea over their winter break, TE said, "So you will end up with twelve squares to sew together?" (That would be the idea.) I think I heard her say something to TY along the lines of "She'll have twelve squares needing sewing together" as they headed up the stairs. Well, OK, sewing knitted things together isn't my first idea of fun, but I can do it. (And no, I won't end up with just visions of blocks dancing in my head.)

 

Here is actual proof to the "I can sew up knitted items" statement. See, if you take a piece of knitted fabric, and do a bit of origami magic and sewing, you end up with a baby sweater.

Particulars include (but not limited to) Pattern: One-Piece Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting (the book, as opposed to the blog, which I am sure mentions it somewhere, at least once or twice.)
Yarn: CottonTots (Much softer than the dishcloth cotton called for in the pattern.)
Where it has gone to live: To the Baby Brother that might need more than just a blue hat.

 

Which segue us right into the next finished knitted item, another baby hat!



A while back I had been chatting with Chan about different types of yarn we like and/or want to try some day. I mentioned that someday I wanted to knit with Fiesta's Baby Boom someday. It just so happened that she had started a project with some and she was just not feeling "the love" for the pattern, so she frogged that and sent me the yarn so I could play with it! Well, it also happens that there is a new Baby Cousin in their family, so I whipped out the six month size baby hat to send back to her. BTW, She had a really awesome post up yesterday titled "A Time to Mourn" that you all really should go read. I can't even think about watching the linked video without getting choked up.
One of my other wild knitting ideas is to finish twelve pairs (at least) of socks in a year.Why? Well, because I have that much (and more) sock yarn, and I love making and wearing hand-knit socks. Fortunately so does Hubband and the D's. These were finished on January second, so they count as pair number one.
Pair number two were started on January 14 and finished on January 18.
Details: Pattern:Thuja, modified to Toe-up. Yarn:
Schoeller + Stahl Big Print. I only had two skeins, which is why they are toe-up and short. (I really wish I had had a third skein of this color!) I have three skeins of another colorway of this yarn, so I will get to have a longer pair! (I also have two skeins of a third colorway, but I think those will be modified Knucks.)

 

Pair number three has been started (night before last), and may be for me, unless one of the daughter units chimes in as wanting it (which might only be one of them, now that I think about it for a few seconds). I have enough of this Noro sock yarn (two full skeins of the same color) to make two pairs, so one for me and one for her is certainly an option! I have a couple more pairs planned already (not all for me), so I will be able to stay entertained.
I have also been working on a hat for Hubband, but it needs some "paying attention to" knitting time, and then it will be back to mindless knitting until it is done. I plan on getting it to that point by Sunday or before, so that hopefully he can wear it soon! A hat is also in the works for DTE, but it is all full of criss-crossing cables, so is a "pay very close attention" project. She picked out stuff for another hat as well (but knows it may be next fall's hat), plus I have a couple of other items in progress. I have also decided to make myself a sweater (it is supposed to be a KAL with some of the ladies at Knit Night), and of course there are blocks to knit.
Oh, and a ton of sewing to do with my awesome new toy! But that is a different story/post!