Naughty Nautie?

So, progress continues on the Nautie:



Which appears all well and good. It seemed a bit big towards the end, but I'm sure it will all work out. So I make the head:



Which goes really quickly; really, probably, too quickly.
But I'm all excited, and get ready to sew the head to the body. But, um...does this look weird to you?



Yeah. That's what I thought.

There's no way I can give this to my mother in good conscience. Not with it looking so...fleshy. And uncircumcised.

So, I turned it into a cat toy!



Filled with gorgeous catnip from LadyFace's garden. Back to the drawing board on the Nautie's face.I'm thinking of maybe using the lighter color from the body, but I already had to knit double stranded for the body with that, and with the face coming out too small, I think I'd need to knit quadruple stranded for the face. Can you even do that? Methinks it's time to check the stash for alternatives.

ETA:

CatFaceMan LOVES!!!

Enough said.

I <3 the Internet

Broke in my new credit card the other day with a whopping $12.60. Spent, righteously, at Atrfibers in the city. They have samples! I had no idea! It's like, 2.50 (ish) for a few yards (ish) depending on the yarn. It would cost me more in gas to drive up there & fondle the yarn, but this way, I can have enough to swatch with, and really decide if this is the right yarn for any given project. Super Awesomesauce.
At least, this is how I justified it. My wee samples arrived today:



From left to right: Rush, 15 yds, Color #2, 100% Cotton, 21sx28r=4in on #5; Kanji, 10 yds, Color #7, 97% Bamboo/13% Tussah Silk, 26sx32r=4in on #5; Ginko, 10 yds, Color #2, 97% Bamboo, 13% Tussah Silk, 26sx32r=4in on #5 (yeah, I just realized I bought 2 samples of the same EXACT yarn in to different colors, clearly I was ensorcelled); Ricotta, 6 yds, Color #5, 100% Cotton, 15sx20r=4in on #10.



So pretty (sorry for the less than great pics), go to the website if you don't believe me. I have never been so excited to knit a swatch in my life. Which one will become Baby M's blankie? What about Baby B?

Everyone's Breeding

So, as you may imagine, that puts incredible pressure on me. I mean, how do you know the best yarn to buy for baby projects?

In order of priority:

1. NON-FLAMMABLE.
Obviously, it would pretty much suck-to-the-max to create something for one of your dear friends, only to have it melt onto their child and scar them for life. NOT an option.
2. Machine washable.
No sleep-deprived, sore, emotionally unstable woman I know wants to wash anything by hand. Even when I'm not sore, I don't really want to.
3. Organic/ Sustainably farmed/ Natural
Maybe as high a priority to some as #2 above, but not when you ask said mother at 4 am when the laundry needs to be done.

My tendency is towards a super-wash merino. Natural fibre, awesome, and all the colors I could hope for. The downside is that I'm not sure I am fully educated about the chemical process that makes it "Super-wash" (ie. machine wash & dry able). Do I want my kid's friends (& my friend's kids) all jacked up on some unknown chemical?

An organic cotton seems to be a good idea, but I am concerned about softness. Soft+cuddly+yum-yum factor is HUGE here, I mean, it's a child's first tactile interactions we're talking about, that's important, right? My experience with cotton thus far is limited; what I have worked with I love, but I wouldn't think it ideal for cuddling.

Also, the organic yarns I've seen tend to only come in very muted colors, and I have a feeling that the two new kids on the coast aren't going to be either bashful or quiet. Doesn't seem like a good fit to me. These kids are gonna want some COLOR.

My First Socks

So, this is my show-off of the first socks I made, and also a test. Flickr says I can just post this pic to my blog, easy as pie. testing testing 1...2...?

Bags & Nauties

Got excited about Farmer's Market season, made a new bag to pick up yummy veggies with:



It's the first time I've knit with cotton, and it was a little surprising how little it stretched while working with it. Kinda tricky picking up the stitches after I made the base, but once that was done it moved along pretty quickly. My biggest problem was that it was such a simple pattern repeat, that I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been & had to tink back several times. I also had to add a second ball, and thought it would be a good idea to knit with the two stands together for five stitches. I was concerned about weaving in the ends in open lace, and wasn't sure how it would work out, especially with something that had to support weight. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had doubled up on those stitches, and knit a couple rounds before I realized my mistake. That was a lot of tinking back, but I'm glad I did it.
The color is beautiful, now I just need to find the right ribbon for the straps. I was just going to knit them, but I ran short of yarn after buying two skeins, and actually had to stop a few rows short of the top. I think it looks alright, tho.



Oh, and then I started my second toy, a Nautie from Knitty for Ma:



I'm lagging a little on it, but that's alright. My wrist is a little jacked up, so I'm trying to take it easy.



I was completely convinced that the pattern called for two colors, and a third was some sort of option...So I bought two pretty colors that I think will look nice in my mom's "Hawaii Room," whatever that is. They're totally her:




Then I realized that I need to make the body with two colors, so I pulled some light-cream colored wool out of the stash (yay stash!). It's a much lighter weight, so I'm knitting with it with two stands held together, one from the inside of the ball & one from the outside, so it's a bit tangely, but it's working.
Made some more progress today. It was nice to sit & knit for a bit, as it always is.
Next is baby blankets, lots of babies on my plate, suddenly! Need to secure vital color info on the M's nursery, then, progress...