Wow! Has it really been almost 2 years??

Unbelievable! How can someone neglect a blog for 2 WHOLE YEARS???

Well, if it can be done, leave it to me to do it.

So, I wonder if I can commit to blogging once a week? Shall we see if I can keep it up?
Maybe I should start out by showing off some of my fo's.. Let's see how far I've come in my quest to become a "Fearless Knitter":

First we have the "finished" Grub Afghan.. which still needs about 1000 ends woven in and the edging, but she won't sleep without it (the ends are pretty short so not a choking hazard)
Next is a sock I knit for the Grub. It was part of some test knitting for the Chrissy Gardiner book Toe-Up!. In my, very humble, opinion this is the greatest book on toe-up sock knitting I have ever seen. The worksheets alone (and instructions that go along with them) make it invaluable for the toe-up set.
Then there's a hat I whipped out for a friend's birthday. It's this (rav link) pattern, knit in some hand-dyed 50/50 wool/silk dyed by another friend. Other than socks, this was my very first lace project! (I know this picture sucks, but, for some reason, it's the only one I took!)

My latest lace project was this (rav link again) shawlette/scarf knit from some hand-dyed Cascade 220 I won in a drawing at my LYS. This was my first knit lace shawl.. and I loved it so much I'm going back for more!

And this is my newest project. It's going to be the Grub's birthday sweater. She saw it in my latest Creative Knitting mag and just had to have it. I really don't like drop sleeves though, and the "heart lace" panel is really just a bunch of "v's" so, I'm changing things up a bit. I'm working it as a top-down raglan cardi in Cascade 220 (because that's the yarn she picked). I will be inserting a similar lace heart panel (still trying to decide which one..have any suggestions?) and knitting the ruffle with my handspun, and probably sewing it on since it's knit bottom up. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

I've also snuck some stranded colorwork in, but can't seem to find the pics. And I've crocheted a doily or two from vintage/antique patterns. Maybe I will find those pics and post them next time. For now I have a little Grub who wants my attention. :)

Mosaic Meme

Mosaic Meme, originally uploaded by MamaKnits2Much.

Mosaic Meme

Found this on Good Coffee, Puppies, and Knitting. Looked like fun so I thought I'd try it out. Btw... be sure to check out Jennifer's blog. When you stop by don't forget to enter her anniversary contest.

What to do:

A. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
B. Using only the first page, pick an image.
C. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Becky
2. What is your favorite food? Broccoli
3. What high school did you go to? Kimberly High School
4. What is your favorite color? Green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Johnny Depp
6. Favorite drink? Dr Pepper
7. Dream vacation? Angkor Wat, Cambodia
8. Favorite dessert? Anything with wild huckleberries baked in
9. What you want to be when you grow up? A Mom
10. What do you love most in life? Husband and kids
11. One word to describe you. pushover
12. Your Raverly name. MamaKnits2Much*
*had to separate the words

Update coming soon and I'm on Ravelry!

Life has been kind of hectic lately, but I promise to update on my knitting soon! I've done a lot since I last posted...

I finally broke down and signed up for a Ravelry invite, and as of tonight I am on. :) My Ravelry ID is my new blog name... MamaKnits2Much. Be sure to say hi!

And just for the heck of it here's before and after pics of the kids' new haircuts:
Before:
And after:
I kinda miss Monkey's hair. He's got the hair I always wanted to have and it's really hard for me to get it cut off, especially since he likes it better long. He still says he doesn't like his haircut. Grub, on the other hand, is loving her haircut. She still tells anyone and everyone that "Sandy trimmed and cut my hair for me!"

Not Quite Fearless Yet..

I have this idea that if I am truly fearless in my knitting then I will become some sort of "Super Knitter" and everyone will love me and all my senseless hand knitted gifts. And I will be wise beyond my years... and my kids will behave... Unrealistic I know, but I'm gonna make the attempt anyway. Maybe it will be good for my self-esteem to be able to look at a pattern and KNOW that "I can do that!" To further my ambitions I have taken on two new skills this past week:
(pic here)
Knitting on dpn's. I don't think I've done to bad. One Wrist Warmer down and one half done, but put on hold while I finish the Grub Afghan. (9 days left to finish it.. can it be done??) The first Wrist Warmer has several mistakes, but I'm doing better on the second.

And speaking of the Grub Afghan:
(Pic here)
My other new skill is knitting backwards. It makes things go so much faster to not have to turn at the end of every row... I couldn't figure out how to knit backwards continental style, so I had to learn to throw at the same time, so I guess I've actually learned three new skills in the past few days! Woohoo for me!! :)

I'm that much closer to being fearless.. I still have to conquer color work (stripes are no problem, intarsia and fair isle scare the bejeezus out of me...) and sweaters.. Makes my heart race and my palms sweat just thinking of it....

More Yarn!!

I found more yarn for the Grub Afghan!! And the color matches the original yarn better. I'm totally pumped... and now I've got to get busy. Her birthday is on the 17th and the afghan is less than one quarter done... guess what I'm working on non-stop for the next few days.....

Warning: Cute Baby Pics Ahead....

I made the cutest little beanie for my nephew before he was born. It took two months for his little pin-head to fit into it, but he wore it home from the hospital anyway. Last week my sister's family went on a trip and lost that hat in an airport during a layover. I was so upset.. and so was my sis. So when she raved about the yarn I am using to make the Monkey afghan I sat down and whipped out this for little I-man:
It was a little short so I added another inch of ribbing (which also made it fit a little more snuggly, cause he really does have a pin-head) and came up with this:
And here's some more pics of I-man in his hat.. just cause I think he's the cutest thing since mine were babies.....

I think the hat turned out pretty good. And I-man seems to like it. =)

Dye lots ARE important....

Ok, so I had this great idea for afghans for my kids. I saw a mitered square pattern in Creative Knitting that I loved. (It's very similar to this one: Mitered Squares Afghan) So I sat down and worked some samples and came up with an adaptation that worked well for me and started making the blankets. I was using a varigated yarn and figured I didn't need to worry about dye lots...... yeah right!


If you look really closely you can tell the top "squares" are a lot brighter than the rest. I hope I can find some more yarn that matches the more faded color better. Then I can toss in the brighter yarn here and there and it won't be so noticible.

By the way.. that's the Grub. This blanket is supposed to be done before the 17th of this month... her birthday. I hope I can find more yarn......

And here's the begining of the version I worked up for the Monkey (I have until the end of September to finish his....)

Both are being done in Bernat Softee Chunky. Grub's is in 40120 Country Ombre and Monkey's is in 40012 Nature's Way.