Knittwitt Knitter


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Holiday Happenings

Hello all. With all of the holiday fun, I have been so busy. I finished the steam punk cowl (inspira cowl) and it turned out wonderful! I gave it to my sister for Christmas and she loved it.

The picture with the pattern shows the women wearing the cowl around her shoulder... I am pretty sure that there is no way this cowl would fit over the shoulder unless you increased the number of stitches!
 My sister also started knitting and finished her first project. I am really impressed. I love how it turned out. The colors are just beautiful! She actually gave me the cowl as a present.


 I have started my next project which is knitting two socks at once. A friend showed me a youtube video that really helped explain each step of the sock. After the first inch or so it becomes extremely easy to see how the whole set up works. Plus you do not have to worry about second sock syndrome, which I have!


I am actually about 2 inches farther but I do not have picture yet!
As for future projects, my budget is starting to get tight and I have realized that I can buy pretty good yarn at craft stores such as Michaels and Hobby Lobby for a lot cheaper. I love the yarn store but knitting every project with yarn from a yarn store would be too expensive!
I am going to start a baby blanket soon. The pattern is pretty simple. I do not have a pattern to link to because it is in a book and I am not will to purchase the book. Its simply knitting and perling squares with color changing yarn. I am excited to find some color changing yarn after work tonight to start the project!
As for our holiday, it was absolutely wonderful. We saw family, had great food, and fun together! The first night my father took Paul and I out to eat at Piggy's in La Crosse. Unfortunately, Nolan was acting up and had to stay home with Paul's parents. We had amazing food at Piggy's accompanied by great music.
The following day, Christmas eve, we had a great dinner cooked by my mother-in-law. We saw the rotary lights at Riverside park. Finally, Christmas day we saw my mom, my father and went back and hung out with Paul's parents. We got so many gifts, we were absolutely spoiled. I received many items including a new knitting book, One-Skein wonders. It has some pretty cute projects that I am excited to get started on.

Happy Knitting and Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Well time is officially flying towards the holidays! It seems like in one breathe another day passes. This past weekend one of my closets friends, Suzanne came to visit. It was absolutely wonderful to have her in town. We had so much fun just sitting around watching movies, cooking and relaxing! Here is Suzie with Nolan:


I promised Suzie I would knit her a hat so I made this one pretty quick over the weekend:

Its too big. The pattern (button-tab hat) said you could either do seed stitch or ribbing. The ribbing would have been better fitting. Luckly, the yarn is 100% cotton, so a few minutes in the dryer will fix it.

What else is going on...? Hummm... not much. Busy at work, busy with holiday plans, busy with Nolan. We finally decorated the house and put up stockings:

Well I am off to knit. Have a great weekend. I am going back home for the weekend to see family. Looking forward to seeing everyone and pictures to come. Until next time, keep knitting.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

How much fun it is to knit a cowl....

The past few weekends have been amazing. I started seeing a nutrition specialist. She helped me understand that the reason I have trouble losing weight is because I make myself feel guilty for eating poorly. Pointing out this small fact has completely changed my life. Before, I would eat something completely unhealthy, feel guilty and then eat another unhealthy food. It was this never ending cycle. Now that I see the cycle, I no longer feel horrible if I eat something that is not the best, I simply move on.

Secondly, I have been doing a better job of keeping up with my PT. My arms feel 100% better with the simple exercise the doctor prescribed. I have been knitting like mad. I took my sister-in-law to the knitting store last weekend with me to grab some food. Lakeside fibers is my favorite knitting store in all of Madison. She was so excited and loved the projects they had on display. I offered to make her whatever she wanted and she loved the Inspira Cowl, Steampunk version. She was so excited she decided to try knitting out for herself. Its been so much fun having another friend and family member knit. Plus it has brought us closer together as well.

My family pictures are back. I am so excited to show them off....
Here is one just of Nolan:

Finally here is my favorite:
Pictures were taken by Bryana Alameida Photography. Happy knitting!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving Thanks

What am I thankful for... well where do I start. I am thankful for my family and my friends. The past year has been very stressful with the completion of my graduate degree, the move back home, start of a new job and my husband starting a new job. Without the love of friends and family and their constant support we never would have gotten to where we are. Literally, we have been so lucky.

I first like to state that I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and son. Without them, I would not be happy or complete. Everyday, I strive to be better because of them. I never knew how much I could love until they came into my life. I am very lucky that I have them in my life.

I thank my family for the constant support over the past year (and prior years). I have emailed them many times asking for support and encouragement to get through the last year of graduate school. Every time, they replied, "You can do it" and "Your almost there" without those simple phrases I never would have finished what I started.

I am thankful for my friends, especially the ones who are just as close to me as family. A shout to all of you who are far away, I miss you! I am truly thankful that in my lifetime I was able to meet you and we can remain friends for a very long time.

I am thankful that I have food on the table and a roof over my head. I wake up and have a job to go to and a car to take me there. These simple things are not so easy to come by for everyone. I am thankful that I can have such nice things and live a comfortable life. Many thanks to those who have helped us along the way to get here.

Here is my plea to you. Not everyone is as lucky as you and I. I do believe that every child should have food, clothes and other basic necessities. Well in my opinion they deserve the world but this is a start. This thanksgiving and holiday season please remember the less fortunate. Check out your local food pantry (second harvest food), Good WillSalvation Army or whatever and see what you can do to help. It may not be money, just time or a can food you have lying around in your cupboards. Anything can help. Even donating blood is a way of giving back. You can make a difference.

For those of you who give back, I am thankful for you as well.

Every year my family takes names off of a giving tree and gives a gift to a child. We donate to a local food pantry and try to make a difference. I cannot say I have met person I have helped but I am sure they are thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving

Monday, November 21, 2011

Candy Cane Hat

Wow. Its been a bit since I last posted. I have not done much knitting because I have been so busy.  We went back home recently to see family and catch up. We had dinner with my father and his girlfriend on Saturday night at Piggy's. It was an amazing meal, I have not had a fancy dinner like  that in years. I had a great time catching up with him and hearing about all the new things he is up to. Plus my son really likes his grandpa. It is so important to me that my son has a relationship with is entire family. The following day, Nolan saw his grandma and we brought her lunch. We went through my old toys and it brought back a lot of memories. Plus, it was surreal how much stuff my mom held on to over all of the years. We have a small Tupperware that we keep for Nolan for when he gets bigger. Not much fits in it so whatever makes it in has to be pretty important to keep :) My goal is to make a quilt off all of is important baby clothes for when he has his first baby. HAHA this deadline gives me years to learn how to quilt.

We had family pictures taken this weekend by Bryana Alameida Photography. I am so excited to see how they turn out! Paul and I are not very artistic so it probably is hard on the photographer to get good shots of us. It was also in the mid 30s for a temperature so Nolan was not very happy either. We just need a good one to go on the wall and on our holiday cards. I will post pictures once they are available to me.

As for knitting, I took a break for the scarf and started a hat. I wanted to knit something for my son that was quick and cute. I got the itty bitty hats by Susan Anderson and started the candy cane hat. Here is how it turned out:

Here is a picture taken by Bryana with the hat on:

As you can see, Nolan is not the happiest. I have started another candy cane hat for a gift. The pattern goes really fast and should have it done with in a day or two. Then its back to the scarf. I am excited to start again on the scarf. I start a new skein and we will see how the colors work out. Its always fun to have color changing yarn because you never know how exactly it will turn out. I have decided that eventually I am going to make myself some socks when all of the the holiday gifts are done. (Of course the number of friends I have that are pregnant, I will be knitting baby hats for a while but they go fast and are so cute.) Until next time, keep knitting.

Monday, November 7, 2011

horrendously long scarf... will it ever end?!?!?

Yes I realized today I just finished the 10th set of the pattern. Which is only a 1/3 of the way done!?!?! What a horribly long, annoying, scarf...... Well I guess I should have known that because its a SCARF. I never knew it would be this tedious. Well I am hoping tonight, I can start working on my socks on the side... keep me excited and knitting. With Christmas only weeks away, the scarf may be my only project for Christmas. Sad.... But on the flip side, I really like how it is turning out. I hope the color contrast is okay. I really hope she likes it. With all the blood, sweat and tears.....

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Sweater, scarf, and whats going on....

This past week or so has been pretty relaxing. Unlike our usual schedule recently, we stayed at home all weekend and enjoyed the company of our son. Well mostly... we are trying to get rid of the pacifier. What a pain... we are going with a method where you cut of part of the pacifier until the child no longer wants it. Well my son, at the very least, is pissed. He only uses it at home and not daycare but that has become a bit confusing for him. Therefore, we decided it was time for it to go. But now he gets up during the middle of the night crying for it. We are not big fans of the cry out method, but it might be our last resort.
This past saturday we tried making our own homemade pizzas. My husband absolutely loved it. If our son is willing to eat the pizza we call that a success. Now we are going to try to make it a competition. Every week we will make our own pizzas and see who's turns out the best. It should be interesting and fun.


 I had a physical this week and was prescribed some meds for my arms. The tendonitis is killer when knitting. Now I feel very little to no pain. I will start physical therapy soon as well. Overall, it has really increased the amount of knitting I have done. Well now is the best time to show off what I have done. My son's dino sweater is finally FINISHED!!!



I really like how they turned out. Unfortunately, I had to use Cascade yarn which will felt if I machine was it. I wanted to save some money and use cheaper yarn. In the future, I may make another sweater but it will be made with better yarn. Much better yarn. I did not include the sawtooth edging on the hood either. I just thought it was enough on the sleeves. He got quite a few comments about the sweater but overall I love it.


So what next to knit....?!?! The scarf for my mother-in-law of course. Man, I love how it is turning out but it is pretty annoying to knit. It is the exact same set of rows for 30 repeats.... talk about boring to  knit. When I get bored with a project, I always start another to keep both projects fresh and exciting. Well those darn socks that I have not worked on in FOREVER.... well I picked them back up this weekend. Mostly because a friend of mine Ever-Anna just started and FINISHED really super cute socks for holiday gifts. They are adorable. I really REALLY want to buy the yarn to make cute socks.  So I need to finish the projects I have started.


Another thing came to my attention this weekend, something that I have always tried to avoid is my knitting turn into a job and not a hobby. I feel lately, I put myself into these situations where I want to knit Xmas gifts and then I am struggling to find the time to finish them rather than knitting to relax. I am not sure how to overcome this feeling... but I am thinking it will go away once Xmas is over. I mean it is my own fault for making myself feel like this. I guess I am just nervous about the deadline of Dec 25th that it is now a habit to knit so much a day or it wont be finished. I guess I should have started these projects earlier.

Lastly, I wanted to include a picture from last night; my very own super hero. My son is amazing and the joy of my life. I cannot imagine life without him and do not want too. Enjoy. Happy Knitting.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sweater News

I finished the second sleeve of the sweater. I am very excited to finish the hood and get this project done with. My son has been sick the past few days which makes him get up during the night. In turn, I am exhausted. Last night, I was in bed by 8:30 pm. Now, I am trying to get back to the routine of staying up past 9! But I was able to work on the sweater at the MKG meeting. I was so impressed and very excited that I joined.




My husband made the comment that lately I am super mom. Truthfully, I finally just feel less lazy and want to do my part around the house. Either way, I think he appreciates it and completely noticed my hard work.

Today was my son's first hair cut. It was bittersweet. He needed the hair cut badly! He had a mullet for sure. But he was so darn cute. The first thing my husband said when he saw his new hair cut...He doesnt look like Nolan anymore! I felt the same way but every baby turns into a little boy and nothing will stop it from happening.

Whats on my mind.... I am truly sad by the animals killed in Ohio. The whole situation is depressing. It's sad that some man had these exotic animals in captivity, that the animals were neglected, and then they were set free on a city unprepared to handle them. I do not understand how some human being cannot value the life of an animal. But whats done is done. Nothing will change that. Hopefully, we can learn something from this horrible event.

Lately, my family have been traveling so much. We have not had a relaxed weekend for over 5 weeks. We had such a great time in our travels and visits. Two weddings of some very close friends, hanging out with the family and doing fun new things but it is nice to sit at home and just relax. That is the plan for this weekend. Maybe a movie night? Catch up on some over due cleaning? Or just sit around and play with the little man. Whatever it is... I will find some time to knit :)

Until next time, keep knitting.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Baby hat and mittens

Here is a picture of a baby hat I made for a friend.

This is a free pattern on Ravelry called Bear and Panda Hat and Mitts by Linda Cyr. I found this pattern to look good but kind of a pain to make. I am sure there are plenty of knitters that feel that way about all sorts of patterns. Anyways, its complete. They received it and loved it. I have made the panda version as well and attempted to make the mittens. They look good but I am not a fan of knitting mittens.

I have also started a scarf for my mother-in-law. It is found in the Knit Noro book. I was unable to find the exact yarn as in the pattern for a reasonable price. I found some close to it for a lot cheaper. Here is how it is starting out:

I love the contrast in colors but it may be a bit much. We will see how it turns out as the more colors are introduced. This pattern is very long. It repeats the same thing 14 rows, 28 times! I hope I will have it done in time for Christmas.

As for me, well I had a very busy weekend. We had a wedding back home. It was a lot of fun. Very relaxed and comfortable. Then we took my son to pick apples for the first time. He had so much fun. He was such a good sport! He even picked out a pumpkin.





My car's check engine light came light up on the way back home. Awesome. It seems like money does not grow on trees but if it did, it would make my life and I am sure yours, a whole lot better!

Tonight I am trying something new. Tonight is the local knitters guild meeting. I am going to attend. Ironically it is within walking distance of my place so with the weather being so beautiful I am going to head on over.  My experience with knitting groups has been very different depending on the group. Sometimes, when you knit with others, they seem very (overly) impressed with themselves. Like before, I was at a knitting store and was trying to find buttons for the baby teddy bear hat above. This women there was rude, and said she would have made something different for a gift. For me, I take everything to heart, so this was so upsetting to me. Of course now I am completely over it and think nothing of it. I guess it just caught me by surprise.


Well my lunch is now over. Enjoy and happy knitting.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Dino Sweater

I recently started a project for my son. It is a dinosaur sweater. Its pretty adorable. I found the pattern on Ravelry.com called Steggie by Julia Farwell-Clay. However, my hate for knitting the exact same thing twice kicked in and I cannot get myself to finish the second sleeve. I really want to see the finish product though so hopefully that will be enough to get myself going.

With this project I was able to learn the intarsia way of knitting. Truthfully it is a lot easier than I thought. The only problem is keeping the darn yarn from tangling. But overall it is going well. Below is a picture of the sleeve and then one of the current form of the sweater.





My husband told me dinosaurs were green not brown, but does anyone really know what color they were?? Happy Knitting :)



Yoda Hat

I finished a yoda hat a while ago and I absolutely loved it :) It can be found here. The pattern is really REALLY cute. My son loves his. I actually made one for a friend as well. The pattern is very fast and easy. The second one I made took 2 hours to do.

Here is my son with his Yoda hat on next to a Yoda plush. Turned out pretty good if you ask me! I just need to find a way to incorporate Yoda's white hair....

Monday, September 19, 2011

Introductions are in order

Here goes nothing. The point of this blog is to get out what I am thinking, feeling and knitting at the time. I knit because it is the best stress reliever in the world. About me... well, I am a freshly minted PhD who just moved home and started a new job. I love being closer to family. We use to live 13 hours from home and well... it was exhausting. I felt like I did not even know my own family. Now, I feel truly apart of the family. What else about me.... I have a son. He is my pride and joy. He is the very best part of me. I have been married to my best friend for 4 years now. I am truly lucky to have the family and the life I have. I really have nothing to complain about but... I still complain.

I started knitting in graduate school about 4 years ago. I quit for some time because it was a half ass attempt to teach myself the basics. Plus, while being a graduate student you have very little time to do anything but research. Now, to fill the void of graduate school left behind, I knit. I try to knit everyday and of course that is not always possible. I could go a week without picking up my needles, but I know in the back of my mind, there is always something to knit.


Currently I have 2 projects on needles. I am not a big "stash" or multiple project person. I like to start one (or two) and finish them. Every project I start  has a new technique (or at least I try to find something that does). Basically, I try to learn something every time I pick up my needles. I hate stash yarn. Stash yarn is for a project (that you do not have yet) that you will knit later... well I do not have endless amounts of money and I can not just buy yarn for some use someday. I find a project, get the yarn, purchase the needles, start and finish the project. With that being said, sometimes I just hate a project so much I do not finish it. It is in the forever "stalled" status. Right now, socks, I have one sock knit and I can not get myself to knit the other one. To me its boring to knit two of the exact same thing. ICK.

Throughout the beginning weeks of this blog I will post pictures and share patterns of the previous projects I have finished. I love to share what I have made... along with an opinion of whatever is on my mind at the time. Until next time.