fleece jumper

I know a fleece dress sounds kind of gross, but it looks so comfy. Deirdre has been telling me about the cute jumpers for kids on-line, so this is my knock-off. I did use a pattern, but I choose fleece because I'm lazy, and I don't like finishing. Then Tucker was stretching the crap out of it, so I put some binding tape around the edges. It doesn't match, but let's be honest, it's a fleece jumper. And he wears it with stripes, almost invariably.

Also, I find that when I watch other kids, life is easier if I drug them both.

Hat Love

For Christmas I got Deirdre some alpaca. I loved it so much I also purchased some for myself. I love this hat. It's super soft. I finished it last night and I've already made 4 people feel it. I love how the colors changed at the right spot to make a weird swirly design.

I have made more ribbed caps than I can remember, at least a dozen. I recently switched patterns from Stich N' Bitch to One-Skein Wonders. The pattern uses a size 7 circular needle, and is very simple. It is what Annie would call playground knitting.

Did you know about this?

Last week at knitting group I was told about Ravelry.com. It's like MySpace for knitting and crocheting. I am on the waiting list now, and I am worried that it may consume my life once I'm admitted. They have groups for all sorts of knitters. My friend Amanda is a member of athiest knitters. They are currently doing a sign of the devil mittens knit along, based upon some hillarious confusion on the born again Christian knitters page (there is a mitten pattern with a pocked for your license and bus pass. Someone on the page thought that it was a flap so that people could expose their RFID implant. This confusion led them to believe that the rapture is upon us). There is also a great pattern finder, you can enter your yarn (weight, amount, etc.) and it will give you a list of patterns that fit it.

Wrist Warmers and Magic Loop

I've been busy this week. Well, snowed in is more like it. On Tuesday I finished the wave wrist warmers I've been working on for Sophie. They are made out of some amazing wool. It appears to be hand spun, as the yarn varries from sport weight to bulky. It really worked with the pattern.

Today at Des Moines Metro Knitters I learned how to knit in magic loop. It was awkward at first, but I think I'm really going to like it when I get it down. Magic loop takes the place of using dpns to knit in the round. You use a circular needle, split the stiches in two, and get to work. This is really nice because you don't get the laddering that you can get with dpns. It also solves some of the tension problems I have between the needles. I think I'm going to start going to knitting group more often. They were really helpful, and it was nice to knit with people that appreciate knitting.

Is scanning a craft?

I have to get up-to-date on my crafting, but have yet to actually upload photos from my brand spankin' new camera. So as a tribute to you, crafty cousins (and sister) that I hold in the highest esteem, I post this photo. After spending about 3 hours scanning Rosenfeld family slides at my mommie's house, I unearthed this stunner from March 1976. Grandma Ellie knit the "bumblebee sweater" - proof that Claire and I have craft genes comin' in on both sides of the family tree. This is sort of like a true craft post of my very own, right?