Didn't get it all done

I only had 6 hats to get done for the holidays & I only managed to get 5 of them done. Well I did get 6 done, but my word did I fail at gauge & it would need someone with a really big head for it to fit. I didn't get 3 of them in the mail in time either.

I did get my mother's best friend's mom's (did you follow that?) old knitting booklets. My mom's best friend doesn't knit she crochets; she's been holding on to these booklets because they are old & are a piece of her mom. She sent them to me because she knew I would love them & enjoy them. It made me really happy. I'll try to get some photos of them, there are some from the 50s & some from the mid-90s.

Oh me, oh my, where do I start?

Been a whole lotta crazy at my house lately as you may have guessed by my absence. There was some knitting done, but not very much. I've mostly been caught up in getting evaluations done for the girl-child through our school district. She's had some behaviors that spoke to me of being outside the common. She had about a billion tests & evaluations & in the end they agreed with my original opinion that she has Autism. She'll be doing some 1-on-1 work with the speech therapist to get some better communication skills & with the occupational therapist to get some more skills for writing & comfort being on swings & stuff. They will also help her work on "reading" people as she's not as good as she could be with that.

On the knitting front I'm still chugging away on my sweater; no pics it's been icky out here & the color photographs so poorly indoors. I did finish a hat I meant to get done back in Oct & the recipient (roommate's sister) adores it & had been harassing me for ages to get it done. It's a Capucine (Rav link too).

My sister passed away in Jan a few years ago. She had worn her earlobes stretched for at least 20 years. I have decided to stretch my lobes to have a visual maker on my body in remembrance of her. I'm up to a 14g-12g. I was up to a 12g, but had taken my plugs out to wear some dangles & when I went to bed I took the dangles out & forgot to put the plugs back in so I dropped a size overnight. I'm hoping they'll go back up to the 12g pretty quick.

Anyhow there's my mega-update.

☺

Blue Sweater Update

Going slow, but it's still going. Sorry the color is so far off.

My winter hat shall be

This one!

The color is a bit off, it's more green that the photo shows. I usually like to use no flash & natural sunlight, but early winter in the midwest doesn't really have good sunny days. The yarn is handspun & is a Merino/Silk blend. It was a treat to knit up & I've had the yarn for over a year & finally decided it was time to knit it. I always have trouble knitting up handspun, I'm worried if I mess it up then I will have wasted the spinners time & skill. I need to get over that attitude since I've still got about 1/3 of this skein left & a whole nother one that I'd love to make something else with.

The Girl

My daughter is 5 & we've known for some time she's a bit different than other kids her age. We've known for years really. I finally decided that it would be best to get an evaluation to see if she's just really quirky or if she's got something more clinical going on. Our state has these early childhood evaluations they do so I chose to start there. They listened to the concerns I had, talked to her old pre-school (who saw the same issues) & are doing a follow-up tomorrow here at the house. They will do a more in depth study of her history & then watch her play & ask her questions.

I have been homeschooling her, but I'm wondering if she need a more rigidly structured program than I can offer. (I am undiagnosed ADD, so it's just about impossible for me to design & stick to a highly structured program.) Her old pre-school called & they had an opening because a child moved. They've worked with her for the last 2 years & are very used to her issues. I am really glad she can go back there again this year. It's 3 days a week for 3 hours. We will still be doing kinder at home so she'll remain on the same grade level if she ever does go "real" school.

What I've been knitting lately

A Who Hat for the roommate, it's made with Stitch & Bitch line of yarn & is the bamboo blend one.

Some Bella Mittens for a dear friend who loves the Twilight crap. I'm running behind on them, but they will be done before the snow falls & that's the important part.

I just finished up this blanket square for a dear sweet woman who lost her husband suddenly. My heart breaks for her & I hope this blanket helps her feel the hugs from all of us knitters in the computer who are thinking of her & sending her love.

I also finished up a hat for my dad's wife & am still chugging along with the blue sweater as well as the red one.

Owl Hats for Everyone!

So I'm kinda on a hat kick again, but this time it's Owl hats. Isn't that the best hat pattern? (Answer: Yes, yes it is.) I made a newborn version using DK weight & it's so cute (not blocked yet, sorry).

I've cast-on another one in the adult size already, I love this hat.

I have been working on the blue sweater for a bit & I am doing a few mods on it; doing M1s instead of YOs for the raglan & no puffy sleeves. Well I was knitting along & had marked up my pattern to change those two things & was blindly knitting. One spot called for 2 rows of purls on the shoulder to help the shoulder sit better with the puffy arm going on. I knit them & then realized they'd look like crap with the flat sleeves so I dropped my stitches & picked them up again across both shoulders & they came out great! I was sure I'd mess up & have to frog the whole thing & start over.

Before:

After: