Owen is getting so big! + FO

My nephew, Owen, is getting so big.  I can't get over it!

I had a chance to babysit him in August and he was just adorable!

The dog, Dakota, was on clean up duty of Cheerios.

Owen loves to get kisses from the dog.

Owen had an ear infection so he wasn't feeling well later, but he liked to snuggle and watch baby einsteins.

My sister had some great photos for when he was 11 months in September!

I love this next one, I think he's adorable when he's crying.

There were also some great photos from August for when he was 10 months.

See the blanket? huh huh huh?  :-)  I love that blanket!

I can't believe he's going to be 1 year old in 6 days!  For his birthday, Aunt Sam made him a jacket.

You remember the Owen Hoodie I showed you last WIP Wednesday.  I finished it!

Putting in the zipper was fiddly, but actually not that bad.  I'd do it again.

Details:
Pattern: R&R Hoodie
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in color Autumn Red
Needles:  US 4 - 3.5mm and US 5 - 3.75mm
Time: 2.5 months (I stopped working on it to make Baby Boy Stripes)
Ravelry:  R&R Hoodie for Owen

As soon as I can, I'll post a photo of Owen wearing his hoodie.  My sister actually just sent me a photo of Owen wearing the sweater I made him for his baptism.

He should be able to wear it all winter because it is still a little big on him!

Sam <3



WIP Wednesday

I'm working on the same three projects as last week (Hoodie, Dad's blanket, Royal Jazz).  In the last week though, I've only made progress on two.

I've been very excited to work on my first sweater, English Garden Hoodie (Everything Nice Hoodie pattern).  I finally got beyond the pockets!  It was so exciting to join the pockets to the rest of the fabric.

Now I just have to work about 5 more inches in pattern before I have to pause for the sleeves!

I've started the second quadrant for my dad's blanket and I'm already on the 6th square.

I'm trying to stay on a schedule of about a 1/2 a square a day.  We'll see how that goes...

I'm still considering my Royal Jazz a current WIP, but I didn't touch it this past week.  It is easy TV knitting though, so we'll see how it goes for this week.

I've linked up with Tami's Amis.

What are you working on?

Sam :-D

WIP Wednesday

Currently I have 3 projects that I'm working on consistently.

My Dad's Blanket has been on the needles for quite some time.  Recently I made a lot of progress.  I've even put myself on a schedule.  I have one quadrant finished (yes quadrant).

I needed to block it because my gauge has changed in the past 2 years.  I've apparently become a much looser knitter as I've gained experience.

I have just over two squares done on the next quadrant.

The next project I have been working on is called Royal Jazz.  It is the pattern Shawl That Jazz.  I'm using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted in color Royal.

The yarn is just amazing.  It is so pretty!!  I'll be using two skeins for this pattern.  I wound one of them while I was in Maryland for Maryland Sheep & Wool (where I purchased the yarn).

The ball was as big as my head!!  This pattern is very easy.  In fact it is my TV knitting.  It is just garter back and forth.  I know the finished product will be totally worth it!

The color is most true in the yarn picture.  The colors are very bold and bright.  I love them.  In the last picture you can see my third project peeking in at the top of the photo.

It is my first sweater!!!  I'm calling it my English Garden Hoodie and the pattern is Everything Nice Hoodie.  I've had this yarn in my stash for a while. 

The yarn is Araucania Tocanao Multy in color English Garden (426).  I think this yarn is now discontinued.

This is a bottom up sweater.  I've almost got to the point where I can join the pocket fronts with the rest of the sweater.

I'm really excited about this sweater.  I really think this is something I would wear a lot.

I've linked up with Tami's Amis.

What are you working on?

Sam :-)

Another Unexpected Hiatus

I didn't mean to have another hiatus.  I really didn't mean to.  I just checked and my last post was in September!  Again my dad is the one that has been hounding me to update here.  He likes to see it.  He claims I have "readers."  I give him a look and say, "really?......really?"

I guess the best I can do is try to go in order.

The last you saw our new puppy, Jimmy, he was really little.  Here's both of the pups in their bicycle baskets in August.

Jimmy was still very little in September and just being so cute.

Both my boys are adorable. (October)

Look how big Jimmy is now!  At times I think he is bigger than Toby.  Most people can't tell them apart anymore.

Anyhow, back to my timeline.  I'm in a group on Ravelry.com called The Chittery Chattery Swappery Swappers Group.  Essentially a ton of nice women (a few guys) who love to swap.  I decided to take part in a partner swap.  As soon as I got the name of the person I was sending a package to, MissMatheMagic, I looked at her questionnaire and I zeroed in on the words "fingerless mitts."  I immediately cast on Podster Gloves.  Once I had the cuffs done, I was reading through posts and I suddenly realized she lives in Arizona!  She didn't need the mitten portion of the Podsters.

So I finished these mitts sitting in the hospital, while my sister was giving birth to my nephew.

They turned out a little big, but you'll see in a second that it actually worked out.  The yarn used was Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce in color Forest Green.  I used less than half of the skein.

I then wanted to cast on a pair that were a little bit more girly.  I posted a question in the swap group of which yarn to use, so MissMatheMagic picked out the yarn for her mitts without her knowing they were for her.  The result was a set of Zig Zag Lace Fingerless Mitts in Dream in Color Smooshy in color Raspberry Blaze.

Genevieve (MissMatheMagic), loved what I sent her.  The Podster mitts ended up fitting her husband perfectly.

She loved and told me she uses her zig zag mitts.

If you noticed above, I said that I finished the podsters while my sister was giving birth.  My nephew, Owen, was born October 9th.  

They used my blanket for the hospital photos!!

He is just so stinking cute!  Here he is with my dad, who is an elated first time grandfather, and a certified baby hog.

In November, Dave wasn't feeling well and he ended up back in the hospital.  We found out that his cancer had returned and it was aggressive.  I worked on a shawl while sitting in hospital rooms that was for a coworker of my dad.  She was going through breast cancer treatment.  I thought maybe a shawl hug might make her smile.

I made The Lonely Winter Tree Shawl using Berroco Vintage™ Chunky in the color Mochi.  I love how it came out and I really enjoyed this pattern.

While he was in the hospital, Dave decided he didn't want to wait any longer.  He proposed!

We went down to the family waiting area.  I knew something was up because he was acting strange.  Amazingly, this is the view from that particular waiting room.

I know what you are thinking....SHOW THE RING ALREADY!  Here is a photo from right after.  You can see the wheels of his IV pole in the photo.

Here's a photo I took a few days later.  I was trying to show how sparkly it really is.

The center stone is a blue diamond.  I didn't even know diamonds could come in blue.  I love it and it is very ME.  After he asked and we got back to his room, his mom was just sitting there with a grin.  She flew up from Florida to be with us throughout the week.  We heard a lot of scary information and I'm so glad she was there.  She actually had to sneak into my and Dave's room at the house to get the ring and bring it to the hospital.  She said it made her so nervous!  By the time Dave proposed, he had been in the hospital for over a week.  All of his nurses were coming in asking to see the ring.  The doctors knew about it.  The whole floor knew before me!  Everyone on that floor was amazing.  We couldn't have asked for better teams to help us through all the information they were telling us.

My friend Dianne made a hat for Dave.  He wore it to his first new chemo treatment.

Dave's family came to stay with us for most of December.  This is what I got to come home to.  Puppies not in their crates.

This is the first Christmas in our new house.  We got a tree that was almost 8 feet tall!

I made mitten ornaments for my and family members trees.

I took both puppies to see Santa, same place I took Toby last year.

My sister had some family photos taken for the holidays.  Owen was just too cute!  This time they used my navy Pine Forest Blanket that I made him.

My sister is so unbelievably photogenic, its not even funny.  Look at the hat they had on Owen!  Both hats!

I can't get over him, too cute!

Later in December, right before Christmas, it was decided that they were going to do surgery for Dave's cancer.  He wasn't handling the chemo treatments well at all.  They were sending him to the hospital.  So on January 3rd he had his 3rd cancer surgery.  This one was the biggest yet.  It was an almost 12 hr surgery.  He was in the hospital for 2 weeks.  He has 48 staples.  The nurse counted when she removed them.  My comment for 2 more for an even 50 was met with the stink eye and a "very funny."

Throughout that hospital stay, I worked on a scarf for my mom.  It is the pattern Shallows using Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in color Electric Mauve.  I used every last bit of that skein.

Owen's baptism was two Sundays ago.  I am his Godmother.  He was adorable in his white suit.

I finished a sweater that I started in November and gave that to him then.  The pattern is Greyson and I used Berroco Vintage™ DK in the very descriptive colors of 2117 (green) and 2105 (khaki).

Dave is back on the hospital.  He essentially got really dehydrated.  During this current stay, I made a had for myself.  It is the Wurm pattern.  I used two colors of Dutch Girl Yarns.  I had to make some changes since I was using worsted weight yarn instead of sport.  The photos were taken in Dave's hospital room and my hair had been in a pony tail all day, so sorry for the icky photos.

I love my hat.  I've been wearing it for 3 days straight it seems.

And that ladies and gentlemen is what I would call an up to date blog.  Do you hear that dad?  It's up to date!  I had to write a book, but its up to date!

I'll leave you with a photo of Owen that my sister sent me a couple of days ago.

SO STINKIN' CUTE!  

I'm going to try and at least post on Wednesdays and Fridays.  We'll see how it goes!

Sam <3