A Nautical Theme for a baby ...

Finished and ready for a baby shower.

I tried to use every bit of the yarn up that I could. Not my original plan but I just kept adding to it. So of course there has to be booties.


A hat of course.


And before you ask about the book ... well the guests invited to the shower had been asked to each bring a book since the Mom is a school teacher and believes in reading to children every day. (which I agree with) So we're starting her out with her baby's first books. Of course I looked for something about knitting!!

Yes, there's a sweater ...


With buttons that go with the nautical theme ...


You see, Mom & Dad don't want to know if their baby is a boy or girl until after he/she is born. So they're decorating in Navy blue and Pink whales since they live only a few streets from the ocean. I love pink whales!

Here's the blanket that started it all ...


No you're not seeing things either. There's a little more pink left over to make a toy ...


A pink whale!!

What a fun set it was to knit.


I used Cascade Ultra Pima for the yarn and all the details are on my Ravelry pages if you want to know what patterns I used.



Now I'm on to other things ...

Another shawl anyone??

And the magic has happened ...

my spaghetti knitting has turned into a Summit Summer Wrap.



Here are the pertinent details ...

Name: Summit Summer Wrap

Pattern : Summit by Mandie Harrington

Needle: US 4 - 3.5 mm

Yarn: Lion Brand LB 1878
In my Stash: 2045.0 yards in stash on a Spool skein

How much used? 0.5 skeins = 1022.5 yards (935.0m)

Colorway: natural white

Purchased at: Amazon.com

Started April 14 2011

Completed May 31 2011
Measurement: 29” x 68”

No modifications were made except I did do 17 repeats of the right + left curves instead of 13 sets.

It was worth the long wait of a month and a half. Oh ya, it wasn't difficult but a lot of faithful daily knitting went into it. But from the moment I picked this up from the blocking board I was ...

"In Love".

I am so ready ....

to rest my feet after a busy Memorial Day Weekend.

Believe me, my youngest grand daughter, JD kept me on my feet most of the time.






And of course she was a big help with my garden.

But now I am really ...

ready to put the spaghetti on the blocking board!


Now which shawl should I finish next?

Building Blocks for Baby ...

In Blanket form.

Using Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton. Such light, soft, cool yarn!!

Now that the squares are knit it's time to block. And if I can get this done soon, maybe I'll also get one shawl done for the month of May. The spaghetti I'm knitting comes to mind. But I'm only half way done and it needs to be at least 64" long.

We'll see. Another baby gift to cast on soon also. But I need SOCKS!!!

Just not enough time in a day wouldn't you say?

Did you know about this drawing below?

From AllFreeKnitting:


Enter to win a Ch'i Recycled Silk Ribbon Kimono Jacket Kit
at
http://www.allfreeknitting.com/sweeps/chi-recycled-silk-ribbon-kimono-jacket-kit-s-l

I want all of my friends to enter!

I think I have Spring Fever!

The past couple of weeks I've been working around my own front and back yard cleaning up, planting, mulching and mowing ...







Then I spent Mother's Day Weekend in New Hampshire and did a lot of walking and taking pictures just for "Artistic Inspiration" in the countryside. In a little place this side of Heaven ...

On Mother's Day morning I hated to say goodbye to my favorite daughter & the family.

But we're already looking forward to our next trip up North. Soon, very soon I hope.

So getting back after that wonderfully relaxing down-time with nature, I'm now back to knitting spaghetti ....

And seriously;

Life is Good!!

Spring flowers from my garden ...

are popping up everywhere!!

Close ups are in order ...


(New Pediboo Sock Yarn by Frog Tree Yarns)

Does this mean the StitchingNut is finally restocking her sock drawer?

Question of the day ...

If you keep knitting spaghetti,

will you continue to loose weight?

We'll see!

How many WIPs can be on the needles ...

before I get lost in a sea of string and knitting bags?

Project info

Name: Crocodile Shawl

Pattern : Crocodile Stitch Triangle Shawl by Bonita Patterns

Craft: Crochet

Needle and yarn

Hook: 4.0 mm (G)
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids & Quatro Colors

How much? 1 skeins = 437.0 yards (399.6m)

Colorway: 5639 brown

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball

How much? 2 skeins = 918.0 yards (839.4m)

Colorway: 1874 warm Fall colors

Project info

Name: Pacific Waves on the Atlantic Shawl

Pattern : Pacific Waves Shawl by Danielle Miner

Craft: Knit

Needle and yarn

Needle: US 8 - 5.0 mm
Yarn: Elann Sonata (solid)

How much? 9 skeins = 1035.0 yards (946.4m)

Colorway: 2147 sky blue

Project info

Name: Summer Summit Wrap

Pattern : Summit by Mandie Harrington

Craft: Knit

Needle and yarn

Needle: US 4 - 3.5 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand LB 1878

How much? .5 spool = 1022.5 yards (935.0m)

Colorway: natural white

And that's ONLY the shawls in progress.

Dare I tell you about any more?? Another Day maybe.

Spring Fever ...

It's in the air!

I have finished the Budding Easter Shawl that I taught in a lace knitting class I gave. The same little shawl I've knit a couple of times now.



Here are the shawl facts ...

Shawl #5 (total so far this year: 2011)

Name: Easter Budding Shawl

Pattern: Budding Shawlette by Joyce (YuLian) Yu

Yarn: 1 skein Cascade Heritage sock yarn (I used every bit and ran out 2 rows before finish, so I used a few yards of Heritage solid Pink to finish last row & bind off.) Also used clear crystal beads and ran out of those so finished up with the last row of stems in olive green. But I doubt you would notice without me telling you. Ha.

Yardage used: 1 skein = 437.0 yards (399.6m) plus a few yards more of pink to finish.

Started: March 20, 2011
Finished: April 10, 2011

Finished Size: 60” wide x 29” long

Modifications: none

My Project Page: Stitchingnut’s Budding Easter Shawl

Such a pleasure to get the compliments when I wear it of course ...



And you can hardly tell the edge is in a different yarn can you? Or at least it looks like I did it on purpose. Which I did because I was too lazy to rip back and end with one less pattern repeat.

I'm always trying to stay one step ahead of my knitting flubs! BTW, after taking those pictures I couldn't take the wind and my windblown-fly-away hair anymore. So I went out and got a haircut. A whole new Do!!

Now maybe I can knit outside without my hair getting into my eyes!

It's done and it Fits!

Yahhooooo!! My Drape Neck Summer Top actually fits.



And I'm so happy about that. The projects info is on Ravelry here. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2011.

Now what should I do next? Another sweater or finished one of the many projects I've already started.

Ah yes, I confess I'm itching to "cast-on."