Month: October 2009

Quick baby socks!

I finished the baby socks yesterday — even with only small random bits of knitting time they zoomed along.

I keep managing to misplace my pattern notes, but found them again long enough to type them up:

Knit in the round on circular needles, using the magic loop method.
Gauge: 5 st per inch.

CO 24 st loosely on #6 needles.
Switch to #5 needles.
Join in the round and knit as k2, p2 rib for 18 rounds.
Arrange stitches for heel flap: first 5 of next round and last 5 of previous round on one needle.
Knit these ten stitches for 8 rows.
Knit across heel flap again, then pick up 4 stitches down the side of heel, knit 14 stitches across top of foot, pick up four stitches up the side of the heel.
Arrange stitches for foot: 12 stitches on top-of-foot needle, 20 stitches on bottom-of-foot needle.
Next four rounds: Switch to stockinette for the bottom-of-foot needle, and decrease on each end of the bottom-of-foot needle.
Each needle has 12 stitches, 24 st total.
Knit a further 15 rounds (or to desired length), ending with the top-of-foot needle.
Next six rounds: switch to stockinette for all stitches, decrease 1 at each end of each needle.
Kitchener off the last 12 sts.

I’m definitely planning to make another pair — quick satisfying knit and warm baby feet are a great combo. Also, we switched from the newborn hug hold in the moby wrap to the hug hold, and now his little feet stick out and get quite chilly, so socks have been essential. The verdict is that these still don’t stay on perfectly (he can definitely get them off with some agitated kicking) but they fit his feet well and seem to stay on better than the too-small store-bought ones. Plus, there’s something satisfying about using up stash AND avoiding paying $3.50 for such a tiny item.

Home Improvements: Windows and Furnace!

We’d been saving up a slew of house projects for after the baby was born and we were both home on leave to let the workmen into the house. Things finally got organized enough to tackle them three weeks ago, and we’ve been appreciating the shiny new results since.

First of all, a new furnace!!

Our old one had recently turned 18 and needed several pricey repairs, so we decided to just replace it with a brand new energy-efficient model (96%, whatever that might mean?) rather than waiting for it to fail when we had an infant in the house.

Then, the next day, new panes for the kitchen window! Two of the five top panes in our big garden window were failed when we moved into the house.

We were actually alright with that until last winter when one of them started filling up with several inches of water every time it rained. Less than ideal.

The window guy recommended replacing all five panes, since he said that otherwise we were likely to see a color difference in the panes and it would only be a matter of time until the other panes leaked. The end result is lovely, and we’re hoping the low-E glass will help moderate the kitchen temperatures in the summer.

H is such a little appreciater of windows, and for all his delight, we were even happier.

New knitting

Either whoever it is that determines the correct size for commercial baby socks has never seen a real baby, or H has particularly long feet, but the baby socks we have are about half the proper length and do not stay on. I have some white aran-weight yarn left over from a sweater, and decided to try to make up some better-fitting socks:

I was all proud of coming up with a heel turn without consulting books or patterns. 🙂 Now we’ll see if I can duplicate it for a second sock since I winged the first one and neglected to take notes.

The aran weight is a bit bulky, but since his feet will be cold until I either complete socks or give in and buy more, it seemed like the larger gauge was expedient. Plus, this speed of project completion is even more satisfying than baby hats! And a great use of stash yarn to boot!

H sitting in my lap and tolerating some knitting time during Monday Night Football:

And a quick tangent: that onesie is one of the ones I embellished during those last weeks of pregnancy. I love the fabric – it’s the last remnant of one of my favourite cottons from the log cabin landscape quilt I made for our bed a few years ago.

Pumpkinhead

In the “tacky but adorable” category, I finished the pumpkin hat for H, just in time for prime pumpkin season. There are several versions of this pattern, but I found a free one on Ravelry that did a particularly nice job with the stem. It looks adorable on.

So seasonal and cute. 🙂 And so satisfying to still be able to finish projects, even if they are small ones knit in worsted gauge.

More bursts of summer

It’s quickly starting to feel like fall, but our rose bushes are continuing to bloom, undaunted. The pink ones set forth a whole cascade of blooms two weeks ago.

They’re hard to see from the house, since they’re at a hidden spot between windows, so I was so happy that we caught them as the blooms all burst.

And then the yellow rose budded and bloomed again.

I’m so glad I didn’t tear out these bushes last summer – they are zero work and such a happy surprise whenever the flowers appear.

Meanwhile, the hydrangeas are still going. The two in the front yard are slowly fading (they started blooming in late June and early July!), but the lace hydrangea in our sideyard is beautifully blooming still. I’ve been cutting flowers from the back face of it to bring into the house – in a bowl they look so pretty, and they last for weeks.

This one’s been on the coffee table in the family room since Kevin’s family visited, and we have another that’s been going strong in the kitchen for over a week. I keep checking, sure that they must be moldering in the water, only to find that they’re still beautiful.

PS: Kevin took all of these photos, plus one of his two-flash photo set up. Neat!