To start off the year I would like to share what I am working on.
Baby sweaters!
I am working on two baby projects. One for my sister who is pregnant with number 5! She is getting an Antler Cardigan by Tin Can Knits as well as an already finished Antler Hat. I am inverting the colors of the hat and the sweater.
The second is for a couple in my church. It is their first baby and the baby shower was unexpectedly moved up by 2 weeks! AHH! She is getting a Barley Light Hat (again by Tin Can Knits. If you have never heard of them, check them out! They have a lot of classic patterns in sizes ranging from baby to very big ;). She is also getting a Beyond Puerperium sweater in 0-3 month size.
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| Octopus from the Octo Project for Preemie babies |
Both are also going to get an Octopus made from the OctoProject pattern.
The project in Portugal is called Polvo de Amor (Octopus of Love). I have been trying to promote this project in the two schools where I teach. (Also one of my goals for 2018.) These octopus are designed to help premature babies survive. The tentacles, by imitating the umbilical cord, give them a sense of security and help to prevent removal of the various tubes attached to them. The project here in Portugal gives them to babies in the Neo-Natal units in 10 different hospitals.
Birthday Presents
My coworker's middle child, Lib, has a birthday in January. She asked for a sweater. As she is an avid reader, I asked her what her favorite book was. She replied with a few, but one of them was the Book Thief. I had recently seen the movie of the same title and so was familiar with the story line. I went looking for some patterns and found nothing. Bummer! Then I searched for photos of the characters looking for a sweater style that would fit Lib's style. I came up with a photo of Max in a shawl collared grey sweater. Since she had asked for either grey or blue, this fit. I showed her some different pics of shawl collared sweaters and she picked the style she liked. Then away I went and designed the Max Sweater! We will see how it turns out. I had to put that aside for the baby sweater due in 10 days!
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| About half of Max's Sweater |
The other birthday present I am working on is for a young man in our youth group. He asked for a pair of wool socks. I think that he will appreciate them so I said, "Maybe." After some thought, I cast on a pair of Blueberry Waffles socks in a black tonal yarn. Good thing these are easy to do by feel! I have noticed lately that black yarn and I are having problems. Namely, my eyes "ain't as good as they used to be!"
Goals
Some of my knitting goals for this year:
- Knit Sweaters for my sister's children (It has been a while since they received sweaters from me)
- Knit/Crochet at least one blanket for the Mount of Olives Camp
- Participate in the Ravelenics in February - I want to knit a sweater for myself, but that may change
- Knit up some of the sweater quantities I have in my stash (I recently purged my closet of many of my commercial pullovers, I would like to replace them with handknit pullovers. Not my normal mode as I prefer to knit cardigans).
Knitting and Learning
In the last couple of years, I have learned that some things have to give when you have too much on your plate! Hopefully, I can pick them up again now that I have less on my plate. Until next time!
