teeny little pants

I hadn't even blogged about starting this project and it's already done. A playgroup mommy friend of mine gave me three 50g skeins of Bio-Natur wool in Donkey a week and a half ago. I started knitting a swatch (always, always knit a swatch first - or two or three if you need to change needle sizes) and found the wool to be quite scratchy, though it feels durable, yet very light-worsted weight. Knowing nothing about wool, really, as I'm new to knitting, I did some research online and couldn't find out much about this particular wool. I had read, though, that Nature Wool (which is in my stash) knits up quite nicely when doubled. Since the Bio-Natur and Nature Wool felt the same thickness, I decided to pair them up and knit a teeny pair of pants for the baby who will be born in need of some pants.

The Nature Wool is the same I used for the size S Curly Purly soaker. The Bio-Natur wool is the grey. At first I didn't really like the color combo but since working on it a little at a time for about a week, it's grown on me. The aqua makes the grey seem metallic. I knit the entire pants with the magic loop method using some loooong cables with the Denise needles.

I've also got a baby cardigan on the cables but I'm losing momentum with it because the yarn is seven-or-eight year old Red Heart and that yarn just feels like straw after working with wool. Maybe I'll finish it just to get my cables back. Right now, they're holding stitches in the sleeves... Or I might use scrap yarn to get those cables back.

My mom took me to my local (well, semi local, it's a drive) yarn shop and beefed up my beginner stash. What to knit next?

shorties, done

Washed, lanolized, blocked, and drying.

for my boys

It's the first day of 2007 and here's what I have started knitting but not yet finished. On the left are some soakers for Lowell and the right are some shorts for James. So the shorts are only my 4th project ever, but I knit a gauge swatch and was spot on, so I decided to go ahead and try it, even though the fit matters and the gauge affects the fit and I'm still a noob.

Here's the downlow: LTK's Picky Pants Pattern, size Toddler (or XL)

Schaefer Esperanza in colorway Snoopy's Crayons

At first, I wasn't digging the top few inches with the blue and red lining up but the legs are turning out the same way so it doesn't bother me as much anymore. They look like they're gonna be huge on James, but when I hold all his pants against them, they're the same measurements. I'm predicting that I won't have enough yarn to make pants, so I'm going to settle on shorts, but I won't bind off until I know for sure, which is making me thankful for having an interchangeable set of needles where I can just connect a cable end-to-end and use the cable as a stitch holder. Besides, wool pants in Texas? Yeah, not the best combination, I agree. This has been a pretty easy project so far, though I am new to all of it. I'm glad to finally have knit short rows without huge holes at each end.

And the size small curly purly soakers I knit up over Christmas are still waiting for leg finishing. I haven't decided whether to do a roll cuff or a ribbed cuff. These are knit with Nature Wool Araucania, color aqua, doubled up (knit 2 strands from 2 skeins at the same time). I am thinking I will be using much more of the Nature Wool because it's both soft and affordable. The one skein of Schaefer was over $35!

Here's one more pic... James in his soakers. They fit amazingly well, though I wish I had used a better quality yarn. Yes, that's the dinosaur I crocheted for him. Yes, still missing eyes and a ferocious mouth. (And draped over the back of the recliner is the crocheted lap blanket I finally gave up on finishing after six years of procrastinating.)