Haloween Pictures and a Knitting Update

Halloween was a really fun night.  We met up at my Mom’s house so we could get a photo of all of the kids together.  Carter is the fox down in the lower right corner.  This year he didn’t cry through the pictures like he did last year.  He was so afraid of everyone in a mask or costume last year, that I have picture after picture of him crying.

This year he did fine with that – He even smiled for a picture with Willie (his cousin Bella).  He didn’t even cry taking candy from some of the homeowners dressed as scary characters.  He just ran from house to house with a big smile on his face.   As a parent, it was fun to watch.

Max got dressed up too.  He was a penguin – which happened to be the only thing Target had in his size.

Carter is still talking about it – though mostly he is asking to “hold” his Halloween pail – also known as picking out a treat.  I wish I had gotten more pictures, but it got dark before I got any more.  I will still a fun night and I hope I can remember all the things I didn’t capture with the camera.

 

Now the knitting update –

I really don’t feel like I get much knitting done anymore, but I actually have a few projects to share – a couple today and a couple for another day.  Before Max arrived, I probably got to knit a couple of hours every evening after Carter went to bed.  I liked to stay up late and knit – and knitting is a great way to relax after a long day.  Now I am tired by 10 or 11 and evening is usually Max’s fussy time, so I am lucky to sneak in 30 minutes a day now.  It makes for slow going when knitting is such time-consuming hobby, but I still love it.  Many of you are so kind to comment on how much I get done – even if I don’t feel like I do.  I appreciate the encouragement!

Let’s start with a little hat I made for Max.  I have always loved the aviator style hats, so when I saw this one with the cables, I knew I had to make it.

The pattern is called Dayton by Julie Taylor.  You can find the pattern by clicking here.  The yarn is Berroco Comfort, which is what I usually use for kids hats.  It’s soft, comfortable, holds up pretty well and comes in lots of colors.

You will have to excuse my iPhone photos.  It isn’t practical to have my Nikon sitting around all the time now – not with a 2-year-old in the house.

You can find my Ravelry link here.

Would you like to know how Max feels about the hat?

He’s not really a big fan of hats.  Can you tell?

 

I also finished a project for myself.  The pattern is called Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier.

I have been wanting to make some summer/fall sweaters in linen, so I wouldn’t be so hot (my favorite fiber is wool, so that is what I usually use).  The yarn is Sparrow by Quince and Co.  I had read it was the softest linen around.  It is the softest linen that I have knit with – though I have only knit with a few kinds.

The pattern cleverly uses increases to create flow and an interesting design element.  I would have had the project done much sooner, but half way through I realized that I had 4 increases (the holes you see in the photo below) on the right side of the front, and 6 on the other.  The pattern calls for 6, but I didn’t want it quite as full as the original pattern.  I think that is why I screwed up the first time – as I intended to do 4 on both sides.  You can view the original pattern here.

The pattern also uses short rows – as you can see on the side view below.  This makes the cardigan longer in the back and also adds a little more design detail.  Honestly, I don’t think my short rows look very good.  I think if I had used wool yarn, this would have looked better.  Linen is thinner and isn’t as forgiving as a thicker yarn, when doing short rows.  I would like to make this pattern again using wool and see if it looks better.  My personal opinion is that linen works much better in lace work, which I will show in my next knitting post.

 

The back has the yarn-over details as well.

All in all, it was a fun project.  You can find more details on my project here.

Thanks for stopping by!