Sweet Sixteen

Last week I finished Umbilical Cord Hat #16! A few years ago I started making these for friends, coworkers and of course my niece and it has become "my thing" to give to expectant mothers. This latest one was for a coworker and at the baby shower someone commented that people could recognize a baby from our group by their hat.

And here is my niece sporting her auntie hand-knit goodness on the first cold day of the season. It looks like she might need a new set of mittens soon :)

Katherine's Quilt

This is my first year to join in the fun and enter the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy.

I chose the quilt I made for my niece Katherine. It's called "Many Trips around the World" from the book Tradition with a Twist by Blanche Young. I love everything about this quilt. . . the soft colors which remind me of an English garden. . . the simplicity of the pattern. . . and the joy I had in making it for my niece-to-be. At the same time as I was making it my mom was also making a quilt for her so we had a great time comparing notes on where we were in the process.

If you look closely in the picture below you can see that the quilt had not been bound yet because my niece was a month early!

On my next visit 2 months later it was finished.

As Peasy as Pie

Since I've been back from Scotland I've gotten quite a bit done on Peasy:

It's slowly coming along. . . The body is such a slog I made up a chart based on how much I have left so I can tick off rows as I go so I can see that I am making progress. I'm getting 8 rows/inch and decided I wanted about ~14" post sleeve-divide:

I've done more inch since I took this picture on Saturday!

My coworker told me about this blog so late last week I found a recipe for Buttercup Squash on it. It sounded so good that I made one this weekend sort of. I mistakenly read it as Butternut squash so that's what I bought and I cheated and bought pre-made pie crust. It was so yummy I'm planning to make it again soon with the right squash and make the crust from scratch (maybe).

Knitting in Scotland

I didn't get as much knitting done on my trip as I had hoped (isn't that the way it always is) but I did get some work done on Peasy in some beautiful and interesting places:

On the Isle of Skye outside our B&B

In Oban waiting for the ferry to the Isle of Mull

On the train from Ft. William to Mallaig

In the lounge in our B&B in Crianlarich

And wearing my Central Park no-Hoodie on St. Andrew's Golf Course!

F.O Central Park No Hood

If I hadn't had a deadline to finish this sweater there's no way it would have gotten done because seaming it when it was 105 was not fun but it was worth it because now it's done and even better it fits! Scottish Highlands here I come!

Packing, Peasy, and Pickles

Packing:

I leave for Scotland in 2 weeks so this past weekend I began gathering clothes, rain gear, etc!

I know some people can pack in a matter of minutes but I'm not one of those people. I'd end up leaving out something really important like my underwear.

Peasy:

I'd been thinking about what knitting project to take with me (Alexandria and I have had enough adventures already so I thought it might be best to leave her at home) so when I saw LoriNY's Peasy I thought it seemed like a great project to take with me. And a tweed yarn? How perfect!

Given my difficulties in getting projects started correctly I thought I might be a good idea to get it going before I leave. I'm just about to start the lace pattern. The color doesn't show up very well but it's a beautiful blue with flecks of white and black.

Pickles:

This doesn't have anything to do with Scotland. I just felt like making pickles last weekend. I used my mom's Million Dollar Pickle recipe and they turned out great. It was my first time making them or canning anything for that matter so I was a little anxious until my mom pointed out "It's not that hard. You throw everything in together, bring it to a boil then put them in jars". I love how my mom can cut to the chase about a situation.

I let the cucs soak overnight (there is also onion but I forgot to add it until later):

And here they are finished:

Good news and bad news

First the bad:

I had 3.5 inches of Alexandria done but now I have this much. . . .

The pattern near the bands was looking really strange so after much pondering and comparing the chart and instructions, I figured out that when I made a short-cut cheat sheet for the section I was doing I somehow copied the instructions for the section done in the round not flat. Der.

Last night I laid it out flat on my DR table and slowly and painfully ripped out 2 inches (sob!) then stopped 1 row above where I wanted to re-start. The next row I carefully un-knit 217 sts onto smaller needles. By some miracle I ended up with the same # of sts that I started with so I am good to go. . . . yet again. I called to tell my mom (also a knitter) my sad story and how stupid I felt and she said "well patterns are tricky". That made me feel better so thanks Mom :)

Now the good:

Error-free progress has been made on my niece's February Little Lady Sweater!

I'll see her next week so I can do a size check and if she's grown out of it just shoot me now.