Good News, Bad News

So as you may have noticed (if you're still reading my blog that is), I have been on a long hiatus. This is because Hubbie and I are expecting our first child! There was a long knitting absence, then a big move to a new house, and finally the dreaded wait to find out what sex our child would be. Once we found out we're having a girl, my knitting bug kicked back in. Over the past 4 days, I've knit booties and a sweater.
Also, in the meantime, I'm knitting a vest for my boss' newborn son.
You may be wondering, what does this big, exciting revelation mean to the Nature Knitter blog? Well, we've started a fetus blog that will turn into a baby blog, and this blog will no longer be filled with my life in addition to my knitting. For the time being, my knitting will still be on this site, but it may be replaced entirely with Ravelry (user name: natureknitter).

Summertime in the City

Now that the sun is back out, hubbie and I are determined to enjoy our summer in the city. Last year I feel like we worked all the time, so hopefully this year will feel differently (although we will still be working a lot). To kick off the season, we finally bought a BBQ. Against our wishes, we broke down and went to Wal Mart to buy this great barbecue. Hubbie loves grilling as much as possible (at once!).


We're hosting a lunch later this month, and my amazing parents just gave us their old patio furniture. Hopefully in the next two weeks I will have enough energy and motivation to sand and paint the table and chairs and will show off before and after photos when I'm done!

Speaking of my parents, yes, the socks were for my dad. His birthday was a few days ago, and along with father's day, I thought these socks would be the perfect gift! He wanted a sweater, but is too picky, so I told him that until he is old and frail and wears sweater-vests, these socks will have to do.


To further celebrate summer, hubbie and I made it to a baseball game last night. Hubbie is a huge fan (even though our team stinks). See his "rally cap" below for fan proof!

We just reserved a campsite for the 4th of July, so hopefully we'll be out enjoying more sun soon!

Motivated Monday

Number of buttons sewn on to new sweaters today: 9

Number of lacy sweaters blocked today: 2

Number of officially finished objects to wear or gift today: 2

February Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Knit for baby neice (due in May!)
Yarn: handspun by me!
Henley Perfected from Interweave Knits Winter 2007
Knit for self!
Yarn: Handspun by me!

Okay, so you might have noticed that I haven't blogged in a while. Actually, I haven't done much in a while. For the past two weeks I've been feeling lame and groggy and not doing much of anything. Since my weeks start on Monday, I decided to start this week with the motivation I've been lacking. I cleaned my house (including the bathroom which I've been putting off for an embarrassingly long time). I cleaned my cube at work (which is amazing because I collect junk in my cube for work and it was getting way overwhelming). I went running. I did the dinner dishes RIGHT after dinner. I'm telling you... my week is looking up!

So, now that I'm done with my sweater (and yes, by the way, I spun the yarn for both of these FOs today), you might be wondering, "What amazing thing will she knit next?" Well, I bought yarn to knit some socks for my dad while I was at the yarn store buying buttons. He's been asking for a sweater, but I've never seen him wear sweaters in the past 10 years, so I'm thinking socks might be a safer bet (I have seen him wear socks).

I'm also planning on knitting a sweater for myself! I saw the preview of the Summer Interweave Knits and fell in love with the Apres Surf sweater (coincidentally by the same designer (ravelry link) who came up with the pattern for the Henley Perfected that I just finished). My mom-in-law bought me a gift certificate to her local yarn store, so I've been emailing them to get the Rowan Cashcotton 4 ply in the "Pretty" shade... The pattern is for sale May 13, so hopefully I'll have the sweater knit up by mid-July!

More Baby Goodness

So in addition to the cat, I've also been knitting some other delicious baby items for my unborn niece. There are, of course, baby booties (that match Kate the Cat):

And I'm still working on a sweater (February Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann, in yarn spun by me!):

In more selfish knitting, I've come to a halt on my sleeves for the Henley Perfected. I ran out of yarn. I am spinning away and hope to be back knitting it next week.

Hubbie and I are going over to hang out with his parents this weekend for few days, so I'm hoping I can sneak in some spinning time while no one is looking... it's a good think my spinning wheel is so portable! Oh, also, my sweet mother is buying me another bobbin, so I should hopefully start making 3 ply yarn soon!

Look for mini-vacation pictures next week! I'm also in the middle of picking my next project, so look for that update as well!

Kate the Boyish Cat

I've been secretly knitting Kate the cat from Knitty for my neice. My sister-in-law (on hubbie's side) is due in 7 weeks, so I have to cram in all of my knitting now! I have the perfect sweater pattern picked out, but I am patiently (or not-so much) waiting for the book to arrive at the library. It's "in transit" according to the library website, but I don't think the sweater will be ready for the baby shower on Saturday...

Tribal Sweater: Finally Finished!

Yes, that's right! After 9 months, I've finally finished hubbie's sweater! I didn't make any major modifications to the pattern, other than leaving off the sleeve pattern so that I could knit the sleeves in the round (I think that shaved off at least two months).

He's happy (and warm, despite the freaky Pacific Northwest weather)!

Finished Floves

In honor of the color explosion from Tuesday's post, I give you slightly more explosion (in less colors, but more fun!). This is my second pair of Endpaper Mitts, and definitely not my last!

A Few New FOs

After some prodding, I finally upgraded the look of the blog. I was reluctant since I put a lot of time into the old template, but I really like the new options that blogger has, so I'm totally happy. What do you think?

In my knitting life, I've finished my last bus knitting project, complete with blocking (although some say it's silly to block socks, I thought they looked weird until after I blocked them). I'm still not 100% sure who I am going to give them to, but I think I have a pretty good idea.
I also started a net shopping bag yesterday which is already finished. I didn't realize it would be so fast! I think I might make a few more so that we can have a stash of bags at home and in the car (usually our stash is in one place or the other, and it's never in the right place at the right time).

Hubbie's sweater is still going strong. Actually, I haven't worked on it in a while, since I cast on the front and, a few inches into it, realized that I had been following the directions for the wrong size.

Gone Fishin'

After looking through hundreds (okay, maybe just dozens) of buttons for the baby cardi, I settled on the fish seen below. I know this isn't the easiest for buttoning, but they are smooth glass (like they were just washed up on the beach in this shape and color), so hopefully that will help!

Anxious to start my next project, the yarn arrived for hubbie's Tribal sweater (from Knitting with Balls) the other day.

Hubbie is excited to have a new sweater, and I have yet to knit him a sweater I feel truly proud of. First there was the monkey sweater (no pictures exist... I'm too embarrassed). The sleeves reach his knees. Next was the druid sweater. The last was the most successful, but I'm not happy with the yolk or color of the sweater. I'm hoping this will be the piece de resistance! The color is nice, the yarn is decent (and only $6 per skien at Hello Knitty!), and the pattern looks good. I started it in the car yesterday, but after about 10 rows, it looks gigantic! I'm going to check my gauge today and think about starting over.

Current Projects

As promised, here is a glimpse into my world as of today.

I finished the cable and rib socks from the sock exchange. They aren't a mirror image, and I had a really hard time (mainly because I am apparently not good at paying attention to detail), but they came out all right.

I also finished sewing a skirt today. I took a class this afternoon entitled "Copy Your Favorite Garment". I had a dress that I love, but it's the skirt-section that makes it so wonderful. With the help of the instructor, I created a pattern for the skirt and picked out some Tencel fabric. I came home and sewed up a muslin copy, followed by the completion of the actual skirt. I always feel semi-naked in items I sew, since they are poorly finished, so I hope this skirt is different!

I've been working on some baby stuff for various babies (in addition to some socks for convenient bus knitting). Here is a sneak peak at one of the baby projects (no, I will not tell you who it's for... there are several baby possibilities...).

Life Away From Knitting

After finishing my beautiful sweater, I've been struggling to find more knitting inspiration. Maybe I knit the sweater too quickly and felt nothing could compare.

While taking a few weeks off from knitting, and therefore blogging, I found other things to do (shocking, I know). The highlight was when my grandma came to visit and take me to the opera. Don Giovanni was amazing and I only wish that I could convince hubbie to take me to future fancy cultural events.
I did get him to take me to a play recently, but it was the worst play ever!

I finally picked up some stash yarn and started knitting after being inspired by Hip Knit Hats and their wrap cast on hat idea! I loved the top down hat and am looking forward to knitting more.
I've also begun knitting a random baby blanket for no one. When I'm done, I can add it to my other random baby stuff: raglan handknit sweater (from the fall, which still hasn't been sewn together completely), onesie, and burp clothes. It's a little feminine, so I'll need to wait for a little girl to be born (most of the rest of my baby stash is masculine, so at least I'm evening it out).

Seahawk Hangover

While poor hubbie was busy crying over his Seahawk loss and drowning his sorrow at his favorite pub, I was busy knitting.

I finished the Central Park Hoodie in record time! I started over New Year's weekend, and today, it's ready to wear!

It is beautiful and I'm calling it my pièce de résistance.
I spent a lot of time making sure everything was perfect: I picked up exactly 2 stitches for every three rows on the button band.

Button band (look closely to see dragonfly button)

I was very careful when picking up stitches for the hood and used kitchener instead of binding off.

Kitchener stitch (look closely across the middle)

I used the perfect mattress stitch when possible and carefully seamed the rest.

Under arm (mattress stitch, with the sleeve set in)

It's wonderful and it fits great. Sorry for all the gratuitous seam shots. I'm just so proud!