Summer Knitting (and crocheting), Had Me A Blast

Thar Be Pirates!

While blogging has taken a backseat to summer activities, crafting has gone on. The one I'm most proud of is the pirate hat that I made for my son. It's my first fair isle project and I am very happy with the way it turned out.



This quickie cross stitch project was for my "secret sister" at church. I hope it brightened up her spring.

I finally finished my Purple People Eater lapghan. It's going to be stored away until the person that needs it, needs it.

The "In" Hat

The Utopia hat is now finished. After reading Ravelry posts about how it turned out kind of small, I used a needle one size bigger and chunky yarn instead of worsted weight. I still think it came out kind of small. It fits my head and covers my ears but it's very form fitting. I guess that's the "style" these days but I'm not sure I'm an "in style" kind of girl. I've tried many, many times to be "with it" and "stylish" but it just doesn't seem to work out for me. I will wear the hat this winter anyway, stylish or not.

Cables, Crochet & Cuticles

Here are my latest efforts. The crocheted "purple people eater" blanket has been around for awhile. I was working on the "Luca Cabled Baby Blanket" but I hurt my cuticle playing in the dirt and my working yarn lays exactly on the sore spot so I decided it's as good a time as any to finish the crochet blanket. It's made with Bright & Lofty yarn and it is so nice and soft. A pain in the butt to see the stitches but so much fun tactilely (is that a word?).

I read on another knitter's blog about how she knits or crochets items and puts them in a "gift drawer" for whenever the need arises. I've decided that that is a pretty good idea and I plan to make one of my own. These blankets will be the first items in there. I plan on making things that can be gifts and things for charity. It will be a fun way to try out new and different patterns.

Second Verse Same As The First

The Spiderman Afghan for my son's preschool friend has been completed and delivered. Now after that project I am returning to my regularly scheduled programming. Ha! Yeah right. I got it in my head that I need to make a cable baby blanket so that's what I cast on for today. I should have returned to my Utopia hat but it's hard to get in the mood for a hat when spring is springing. It will probably be a good project to work on in the heat of summer when I need a yarn project fix. It's hard to play with yarn when it's so hot but the hat will be small enough that it won't add to the heat too much.

Spider Flower Utopia

Here's the secret present I was working on. I made this blanket for my sister for her birthday. This is the Spiderman blanket pattern but I turned it into a flower. I always thought that the first few rounds of that pattern resembled a flower so I thought I would give it a try. Not too shabby.

Here is my current project. It is a hat called Utopia. It's my first hat made on dpns and my first hat that has cables. I did make a blanket once that had cables so I'm not a cable virgin.

A preschool friend of my son's is having a Spiderman birthday party in April. I thought what better present to bring to a Spiderman party than a Spiderman blanket. Yep, I'm making another one. If you count my Spiderman flower blanket, this will be the 4th time making this pattern. I guess I should know what I'm doing by now, right?

Socktacular!

My first socks (on dpns) are finished! The second sock went much smoother since I knew more of what I was doing than on the first one. They were enjoyable to make and I think there may be more socks on my horizon.

I did finished another project but I'm not going to post about it yet since it is a gift for someone. I don't think this person reads my blog (only Vicki does, HI VICKI!) but I'm not taking any chances.

I'm not sure what I'm going to work on next. I've been checking out all the free patterns on Ravelry and printing out the ones that intrigue me. I currently have 2 blankets in the works and some cross stitch stuff but I think I might be in the mood for something different and challenging.