That's More Like It!

Well, with Emily's help, I've completed the newborn Emily mitts. I'm so pleased with how they turned out. Emily and Lisa were surprised at the edging, which I thought was exactly according to the pattern's instruction to wiggle the I-cord "in and out of every other rib".

Just another example of me not reading a pattern correctly. Fortunately, Emily liked it, and the others thought it was cute. Sometimes it works, and (as the below blog entry exhibits) sometimes it doesn't.

The Koigu was the key, and Wendy helped me pick out the colors. Wendy is quite funny. She picks yarn, buttons, and patterns that are anything but standard, and I'm what she describes as "too matchy-matchy". I'm a cliche in my color choices, and Wendy is trying to help me think outside the box. I do think about the colors before I purchase, but I usually still end up with matchy-matchy options. I am working on it though, Wendy!

I'm working on a matching hat, which is cast on at the right of the small picture above. Lisa Myers' pattern called "James Dean Hat". The baby is due Sunday, so I better get busy. It's the last piece of my gift package for the baby. Then, I'm hoping to start something fun for myself, and keep working on my nephew who is due in May.

This Can't be Right!

I finished what is supposed to be the first of a pair of Emily Mitts - the newborn version. However, I can't imagine a newborn with this tiny of hands. I've seen Emily, Lisa, and Robin's mitts, and I think they all made the 6-month version, so naturally they were larger. But nevertheless, this seems so much smaller. I think my gauge was right: 8 stitches & 12 rows to the inch. What do you think? Do you have a newborn whose hand you can take a picture of next to a quarter? In the meantime, I'm going to cast on the 6-month version. If nothing else, I can use this mitt as a thimble.

Crochet - Back with a Vengance

I happened to be over at Rosie's today "turning in" my final project for Lisa M. for use in her upcoming project. I dreamily flipped through patterns, longing for the day that the baby blanket finally notes "Finished" with a smiley face on my Ravelry page. Courtney, master of all things fiber and created with fiber, happened to be in the store. I mentioned that when she had time, I'd like to schedule a private session with her - a remedial crochet course. Her reply, "What are you doing from 6-8 tonight?" Note, it was 5 when she asked. Rosie's was having a Beginner Crochet course (which I of course informed her that was still too hard for me), and that only one person had signed up. The 1 person, plus a Rosie's employee were going to be there, and she invited me.

Yay! Everyone has had a favorite teacher in their life. For me, Courtney is that teacher. Since I've already been through Beginner Crochet and, in Courtney's words, "flunked", I'll pick a project other than those I've already tried and failed from that class. I'll go ahead with the basic "face cloth" (aka washcloth) that is the first project. Then, I'm going to work on one of the adorable stuffed animals that I have queued in Ravelry.

...but I'm still working on the baby blanket too. There are 90 days until that kiddo enters the world, and he's going to be cold. It's up to Auntie to keep him warm, so that's top priority.

Since We Last Spoke

I have been working on a list of projects with time deadlines lately, and haven't wanted to take a break to blog, lest I lose my momentum. Last week, I finished a small project for Lisa Myers, owner of Rosie's Yarn Cellar in five days. Below is a picture of a portion of this project. I loved the color combination. This week, I'm knitting the opposite color combination of the same pattern.

I started these Emily's baby mitts yesterday, and as all my projects go, I started over and over until I was casting on for the third time a few hours later. This picture is after my first cast on, not my last. This is for the same baby as the sweater and hat.

Even on the above project of Lisa's, I had to re-start after casting on the 192 stitches and completing several inches of the project. This happened at least 4 times. I started the reverse color version of this project yesterday, and I just shed the first inch. It's just the first re-start.

This repetitive behavior makes my one-week goals even more challenging. I learned this behavior from my father who says, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing a thousand times." He says this after several hours of starting over and over, and the number really doesn't seem that far off. I think it's now become a family tradition. We don't give up, we just don't ever succeed quickly.