More Babies

Two stars made for my nieces, one crocheted, one knit

My coworker's fiance is pregnant and I just recently received an invitation to the baby shower. It seems I cannot escape the babies, no matter how hard I try (I'll admit, not trying very hard.) The shower is only two weeks away and I decided to make a toy as my gift. I figured I'll be able to finish it in time. Hopefully those won't be famous last words.

I made this pattern for my nieces and, according to my sister-in-law, it was a hit. The pattern is Celestine. The only thing I did differently than the pattern (or plan on doing) is to include bells on the inside while I'm stuffing it. The best one's I've found are cat toys. I can fit about three of them in there and it sounds just like any other child's toy with bells!

Star in progress

My sister-in-law did mention that the girls liked the knitted star better because they could grasp it easier than the crocheted star. She also said that she thinks I could make some serious money on these since there are always mom's on etsy looking for handmade and unique toys for their babies. If only I had all the time in the world to devote to knitting.

I promise you, I'm working on things other than knits for babies. I have a hat started which I haven't felt too motivated to work on for reasons unknown. I'm working on a pair of Malabrigo socks. I have a shawl I started out of Sanguine Gryphon Bugga which is luscious. Not to mention my ongoing spinning project. I'm just so easily sidetracked these days! I've also been hugely sidetracked because Sam bought me the box set of the Game of Thrones series and I haven't wanted to put the books down. It's extremely difficult to get myself motivated to go to work or get up to do anything because I'm in the middle of a chapter I can't stop reading.

If I could wish for anything at all, it would be more time to do the things I love. I sometimes feel like I have too many interests for my own good!

Seeing Double

Just over a year ago, my brother and his wife expanded their family by two and as ecstatic as I was to have twin nieces, I don't think I know what I'm in for in the knitting department. Two pairs of tiny little infant socks is no problem at all. Two little sweaters that only seemed big enough to fit a doll was also a breeze. In fact, it's really not been that big a deal to make double of everything I make for the girls. The problem might come later when they're bigger! Right now I'm just smitten by how tiny every thing is, which may be entirely due to my baby fever. I'm just happy Sam, my boyfriend, hasn't gone running for the hills every time I gush over the babies and the clothes I make them! Pretty much every time one of them does something ridiculously cute I turn to him with those big doe eyes and say "Don't you want one?", or "How is this not killing you with cuteness right now???" and my personal favorite "They're making my uterus hurt, they're so cute!"

My brother and his wife just moved back to the US about a month ago. They had been living in England for the past two years for my sister-in-law's job. The transfer wasn't all it was cracked up to be, not to mention the addition of twin girls with no family around to help raise them brought them back to the States and I couldn't be happier. They now have an instant babysitter and I'll get some baby-raising practice. Sam has never really been around babies so doesn't quite know how to interact with them. I'm hoping time, and exposure might cure that!

I would love to post pictures of the girls, but I'd need permission from their parents first. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it that they are so cute they could sell baby things! Maybe that's just me being a biased aunt, but seriously, these girls are adorable.

Mittens for twins

Recently, my brother and sister-in-law requested mittens with thumbs for them. Up until this point, they've been wearing the thumbless mittens because that's what fit them. The poor girls are getting very frustrated now that they are getting extremely good at grasping things. It never ceases to amaze me how much more coordinated they get each time I see them.

Though I will say, even though these girls are good-natured, I do not wants twins when I finally start having babies of my own. Seeing my brother and his wife be extremely exhausted, it seems to me one baby at a time is a breeze (I'm sure the truth is that one can be just as exhausting.) I realize this is not a choice and as luck would have it there are now two sets of girl twins in the family, how that happened no one really knows. I suppose we'll see if I dodge the bullet, because honestly, how often does lightning strike three times? If I don't, I'm sure I'll find a way to make it work and be just as happy as if they came one at a time.

And the spinning continues...

As promised, here's my latest spinning project. This alpaca/merino blend is to die for. I plan on a bulky weight yarn so that I can make the Owls sweater (ravelry link.) I've made this sweater before out of Cascade EcoWool and I absolutely loved how it fit.

I bought this fiber in Rhinebeck years ago. I can't remember which year since I've been going for the past 6 years or so. I bought two pounds of it, which might be overkill, but I think I planned on making a sweater out of it right from the start!

 If any of you have been following the Yarn Harlot, you'll know she's recently been talking about startitis. For whatever reason, I can absolutely relate. Perhaps it's the feeling of freedom now that the holiday knitting is complete, but I've started about 10 different things, not all of them knitting.

This past year, I taught myself how to make coasters. It's something that I've wanted to try for a long time since there was a decided lack of coasters in my life. Now that I'm 30, there's a certain desire to have nice things and keep the things I have nice. Somehow, a folded up piece of paper just wasn't cutting it in furniture protection area.

I gathered all the supplies and through trial and error, I came up with a product I'm really excited about. I made so may sets of coasters that nearly everyone on my Christmas list got one this year. They were such a hit that I decided I might try to sell some of them. I plan on an etsy shop sometime in the Fall of this year. I wish it could be sooner, but there's one step in the process that requires a well-ventilated area where the temperature is between 70-90 degrees. If you've ever been to Central New York, you know there isn't such a space in January.

There's still plenty to be done with them though. As you can see, I'm busy getting the designs put on.

Back into the Spin

My latest crafty endeavor was some polworth fiber that I decided to spin up. I bought 4 oz of dyed fiber from Into The Whirled while I was at the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck this past year. I dare you to go to their site and not drool over the fibers! The colorway I purchased is called Brandywine and it took all my willpower to hold off on spinning it until after the holiday crafting was finished.

I don't actually have anything in mind for it at the moment. It's heavy worsted or even bulky weight yarn, but it's luscious and beautiful and destined for something warm and soft.

I hadn't spun anything for over a year and this was just the kick-start I needed to get myself back into it. Once I was finished I immediately dove into my fiber stash and found some Merino/Alpaca blend in a nice heather gray color that I bought years ago. I actually have a project in mind for that one. Stay tuned!

A Welcome Is In Order

Welcome to my blog. I warn you, this is not my first blog. My first blog was named Skein Street and still seems to exist on the internet, though it's dusty and neglected. There are posts going as far back as 2004-2008. I felt I needed a fresh start, so here it is.

How about an introduction? My name is Erin. I'm 30, living in Central New York with my boyfriend, Sam, of two and a half years. We live in a cozy apartment with three cats and a dog and I vacuum enough fur off the rugs to make a fifth pet. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Me and Otis, and yes, he really is twice my size.

I've been working as a veterinary assistant for the past three years and it's an exciting, uplifting, depressing, fun, stressful, happy, boring, hectic job.
No two days are the same. I'm actually quite happy about that. I had a job once that was the same everyday. I came to work, waited for the work to arrive at 9:15am, was finished by 10:30am and spent the rest of the day surfing the internet to keep myself from going insane. I don't know if you realize this, but there is an end to the internet and I found it. That's how much time I had on my hands. I'm much happier having a job that keeps me busy, sometimes to a fault, but it's worth it.

My real passion happens outside of work. I'm a knitter. I've been knitting for about 14 years. I spin my own yarn. I've started dabbling in designing patterns. My idea of a perfect day is spending time sitting outside on a warm day in the shade of the sun with a cup of tea, some knitting and a good book. As far as I'm concerned, life doesn't get much sweeter. (Suddenly I get the feeling I'm writing as if I'm introducing myself on a dating site. "What's you're idea of a perfect evening?" Yikes, must re-direct this post)


So here we are, I have time on my hands again to do the things I love to, namely, be creative. I consider blogging a form of creativity and I obviously loved doing it back in the day. Why not start up again? Here's to many more post! I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I enjoy creating it.