Website up!

After a few months of knitting, a lot of set backs, and waiting for the website to be opened Baby Bottom Blues is live! :) The website is hosted by Hyenacart.com which is a site that offers "earth-, child-, and family-friendly items." It is a great site and I am hoping to sell lots of longies, skirties, soakers etc. There are 4 fabulous knitters who are selling on the website- Brenda, Jessie, Karen and myself! Our first items are up for sale and we will be adding more this week. So please stop by and buy, buy, buy, buy! haha :)

The website is BabyBottomBlues we also have a Facebook group and I'll probably get a twitter up and running soon. :)

I hope you "like" our page and I am hoping that this becomes a way for my to continue doing what I love (knitting) and maybe making some money while doing it.

And just an update --- as someone who wasn't going to do any Christmas knitting this year -- well lets just say I am and it is another year of probably not getting it all done till New Years!

A sweater in 33 days!

First off this blob is my finished sweater blocking. :) I finished it last Thursday. I have to say that picking up the stitches all the way around and casting them off took a LONG time! But it was worth it. It really looks finished and after all the CRAZINESS it fits! I tried it on at work pre block and the photo below is my in my LOVELY work shirt in the basement. But its warm and it fits and it makes me happy. I will do a post after its blocked with how much yarn I used and all the changes I made to the pattern. (And they are many!)

I have been busily knitting a skirty with soaker which I finished on Thursday. (I also finished a pair of socks that I had been working on for MONTHS! Thursday was a great day for my knitting life!)

I used a whole skein of Cascade 220 (dyed by Jen) and about 1/2 a skein of the orange Cascade 220 for the skirty/soaker.

I had never done a skirty before and I found that I really didn't like it. Although since I am going to be running a business making these things I need to get over that! It isn't that they are hard it is mostly that they are boring. I bought the license for the EviePants All in One . Which means I can make skirties, shorties, capris, soakers and longies using her pattern and sell them. (Money is GOOD!) It is a great pattern I really like how she had the short rows set up (to make room for the diaper) and it really doesn't take long to make a pair.

These blue ones are not for sale. My friend Bernadette's sister is having a baby and I was invited to the shower. So I am making these pants (which need blocked) a sweater and some bibs and burp cloths. I'm hoping thats enough because I'm poor and can't buy a car sear and I don't have the time to knit anything else. I added a cable down the leg on this one. I love cables by the way. I think everything should have cables. I think they are really easy and add a lovely Irish look! (Have I mention my love for all things Irish before?!)

I used VERY little of the gray 220 for the trip and just over 1/2 of a skein of 220 Hand Paints from Cascade for the pants themselves.

I made this bid on Saturday for my friend Brenda. She is having a little girl in January and I need gifts for her to! (Have I mentioned my slight fear of crying babies. They make me nervous!) Anyway the bib has a cable up the side and around the bib. I used Sugar and Cream and it is a purple yellow and cream color! (Which are the colors of String Thing Shop the store Brenda owns!)

I've been so busy knitting I haven't posted!

Hello fellow bloggers! As I said in the title I have been a busy little knitter! And guess what it is totally paying off! My sweater WORKED. I have pretty much rewritten the pattern using the actual pattern as more of a template! I finished both of the sleeves in about a week. I had to use the smallest size the pattern called for. Even though I did the smallest size they are still a little large! Which with my gigantic arms is a miracle. I have never in my life owned something that was to big in the arms. But I've tried it on for all my knitting friends and they say the arms look fine. So I have a feeling that I'm just not used to having room in the sleeves. :)

I took a break for about 5 days on the sweater while the second sleeve blocked and made a super cute pair of longies. My friend Brenda, myself and a few others are going to be selling longies, soakers, shorties and skirties to the clothing diapering community via Hyena Cart. So I wanted to make a second pair of the longies and get some practice. The yarn I used was hand dyed my the wonderful Jen or The Purl of Knitting .

I learned how to seam a sleeve into a sweater for the first time! There was some youtube.com watching involved! So thank you to all the knitters out there in cyber land who put videos up! You are the best! :) It took forever to sew the sleeves in and than sew them closed. I think learning the mattress stitch on my navy blue sweater MIGHT not have been my best idea. The hole for the sleeve was bigger then the sleeve by about 1/2 an inch. So I stitched the hole closed. Better a little big then a little small!

The great thing about adding a few inches to the top of the sweater (which was less stitches and a little more interesting) was that I didn't have to knit as far on the bottom! The sweater falls about mid pocket on my jeans. I thought if I went any longer it would be to long. I used a size 10 needle to cast off because my cast off is generally very tight!

All I have left to do is finish the cable edging up to the neck. Then I have to pick up a million and a half stitches for the edge. The pattern only calls for 5 rows of ribbing on the edge. I however am fairly certain that I will be using at least 2 inches. I want to make sure that this sweater CLOSES! :)

My knitting/blogger friend Julie has offered to help my resize a pattern for "my" size. The problem is the sweaters that are calling to me call for a semi bulky yarn to a bulky. And the GOLDEN rule of knitting for the fat girl is NEVER EVER use bulky yarn. :( But I have visions of myself in a bulky cabled sweater on a snowy day. :( Stupid knitting rules. Here is the sweater I love!

Also welcome fall! I finally get to pull my knitted socks out again! :) These are my Cookie A. monkeys. I don't think I've worn them at all yet! I heart the fall!

"But why is the rum gone?!"

I've been working on this sweater for 8 days now and I am FINALLY beginning to have some faith that it is going to work! I finished the back and the two front sections.

The sweater isn't looking so great in this photo (although how great is the shade I used as a white background?!) So I decided to block the sweater before I continued. I want to try it on again and I think if it's been blocked it'll be easier to sew the sleeves on.

I had some camera issues tonight. For some reason the shots were grainy and shaky! I think that lighting issues and my own ineptness were serious factors!
The cable is hard to see unless you are on top of the sweater. But I like it. And really thats all that matters -- right!?

Next up -- two sleeves. I'm like 6 inches into the first one! It's all stockinette so it is BORING! However I like boring -- it makes watching movies easier!

I do have one concern! Which is that the arm holes are WAY WAY to big for the sleeves. But I have a plan. I'm just hoping I don't need it -- mostly because I don't know if I could explain it in here!

These men helped me get through the back of the sweater yesterday! I leave you with them! :)

Ripped.

Suzie has been frogged! The dark color of the Berroco, the cables, and the Alpaca simply didn't mix. It look my 30 minutes to cast on 287 stitches and I did the first 20ish rows and just didn't think it was coming out nicely. So I did a swatch of just the cable (thinking maybe I was doing something wrong.) However there was no salvaging my poor Suzie! So she went to the frog pond. The photo below is a picture of her when she came off the needles and before she was ripped out.

So the next question was ..... WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW! I was away from a computer, my needles and only had the book "More Big Girl Knits"! So I went through the book frantically and found "Cable Love". Which is a pattern I've lusted after for awhile. The cables are MUCH less complicated and I figured since the band is what you do first it didn't really matter if it didn't look great because who cares about ripping out 22 stitches. I mean I just ripped out 20 rows of 287. 22 doesn't impress me anymore! :)

After doing the first 120 rows (of the 578 for the band) I really like it so far. The color is still dark but I think once its blocked it'll look great. And I've learned dark color = boringish sweater. But I'm happier. I don't know if it will be done in time for my Birthday. But I would be very excited if it was!

So here is a new sweater that I hope not to rip out. And that I hope to complete sooner rather than later!

A post almost purely devoted to knitting! :)

Hello Bloggers,

I'm in the midst of a ton of projects, it is rather overwhelming, as I am generally someone who only likes to have a few projects on her needles at a time. I guess it isn't the amount of projects it is the amount of things that I want to get done. And I feel like I don't have to the time to do them. Which is silly I knit at least 2 hours a day. And more when I have the time. I don't know I guess I'm feeling out of sorts with my whole life and I'm trying to blame it on my knitting.

I'm currently working on:

1)a present for a readers birthday

2)the knit along at Wednesday night sit and knit at String Thing Shop (photo below)

3) Aeolian which hasn't been touched in two weeks. Even though I'm so close to being done I can taste it.

4)socks for my uncle. I literally have like 4 rounds of the toe left and I ran out of yarn. So I have to wind the second skein. Which I am to lazy to do I guess.

I made these stitch markers for a woman who goes to String Thing Shop. She likes larger ones so these will fit up to a size 11 needle. They are a little blurry, sorry!

This beautiful green Lana D'oro from Cascade is going to become this . It is for one of my best friends moms. She was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor last week. I love them both so I thought this would be something small I could do.

LONGIES! :) I will eventually be selling these lovely little pants on Hyena cart. Its a future business and I was testing the pattern to see if I wanted to buy the rights. I'm thinking yes! (Awesomeness is a business that involves me knitting!) :)

This is Fizzi which is a knit along at String Thing Shop. I'm using Zauberball. I'm not sure how I feel about the yarn. It has some places where it is kinda thin, and than it gets really thick. Anyway, I was about 9 rows into the next section (i.e. the lace) when I figured I had screwed the whole thing up and I started ripping. The girls were all shocked and gasping when Barb took it from me and picked up 250 stitches for me! I love love love her and feel like I should give her a gift for being so awesome! The shawl is now back on track and will be for my best friend Megan.

Speaking of Christmas I made a decision last week. I'm not Christmas knitting this year. That being said I'm sure that there will be a few things that I'll do for people. But mostly NO CHRISTMAS knitting. I love my friends desperately but I've got to knit for myself once in awhile! :) So I hope they forgive me, but it is a lot trying to get it all done for December 25th. So birthdays are going to be the time for knitting for my friends!

Speaking of friends here are some of my favorites! We went out for Hibachi last night to celebrate my friend Tara's birthday! They are the best and I don't know what I would do with out (from left to right) Jill , Brenda (owner of String Thing Shop), Bernadette, Suzi, Tara, Guenevere, and myself.

I would like to point out that Jill and Bernadette are the only two who managed to look half way normal in this photo. However I think it is the best shot of the night! :)

18th Century Reenacting

I finally had a weekend off! (last weekend) and I got to go to a reenactment! Which is like my favorite hobby ... except for knitting! Luckily this weekend I got to sit at a craft tent and meld my two favorite things!

The event was "The Escape from Wyoming." I'm not going to go into the history of my unit or the Battle however lets just say it wasn't a smashing win for the home team. However in the end Cornwallis surrendered and the United State was born! Go USA! :) I took more pictures than I have at any event in years and I'm posting them just for all of you! :)

The event took place on a farm in NEPA and the view of the battle field with the mountain in the distance was EXCELLENT! I wish I could have done it justice!

This is my friend Linda's sutlery. She sells homemade soaps, teas, oils and jewelry. Here stuff is awesome and very much helps in making sure I don't stink to badly.
My friend Dave is the best carpenter I have EVER met! I love that he can work with 19th century tools and make beautiful things. This weekend he made a table and a candle box. I am jealous I can't even cut fabric straight!
Of course some of the guys had to stop and talk shop.

Me knitting! And of course I have sun glasses on. I hate being in the sun! They help a little bit! You are looking at the knee sock that i started got like 6 inches completed on and promptly ripped out! :(
My friends Donna and Kim. Donna is carding wool and Kim is spinning. Can we talk about how jealous I am!? I want a wheel so badly!
At the events my unit hosts my friend Donna has gotten in the habit of having a ladies tea while the boys are out making noise with there guns. Here is how that looked! :) Donna invented the tea sandwiches I made at the Pride and Prejudice tea and we had them again here. They are ALWAYS a big hit!

My little brother and my Daddy looking a little over heated but def. having a good time!
Garrett getting a face of black war paint. He is truly frightening when he goes out as an indian. You would never know he was the sweet kid who has been protecting me since he was 3.

This is a photo of the British camp. I really liked how it looked. We were up the hill from them, and after the battle the boys came and hung there regimentals over there tents and for some reason I really enjoy how it looked! :)

Thats all I've got for today. My family has been in for a week for a family reunion and I haven't had the time to knit. And now I'm working at my friends yarn store this weekend and the air conditioning is broken. And I have a terrible time making my yarn work when my hands are sweating!