A Few Wee Things

Yarn speaks to me.  No really, it does -- some of you know exactly what I am talking about.  It will tell me what it wants to become or who it will belong to later...  Sometimes though, it's the other way around and it's a pattern that says, "You will knit me NOW, I don't care if you have 40 other projects on the needles" or "You will knit me, just not yet."  It's even more beneficial for me when the pattern tells me what yarn it wants me to use. 

I have wanted to make the Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) for years.  I can't explain why exactly, I just always knew I would knit it.  A few years back now, I knew that a niece would be joining us and decided then and there that I would knit it for her and that the yarn I would use would "find me".  Knowing I had a little time, I stowed that in the back of my mind and went about my knitting.  Then my friend, Krysten, dyed up 2 colorways on a Mixed BFL/Silk fiber - Spring Thaw and Winter Cower.  I knew instantly that I needed to ply those together for my BSJ.  This was back in March 2011.  Got the yarn spun and carefully stored and finally CO for my BSJ.  I thought I had enough yarn, hell, I had 8oz worth of it, but no.  I had a little under 8 rows left when I ran out of yarn.  Pissed.  Krysten was gracious enough to dye me up 2 more braids and I got those spun up but it had been a while since I had spun the first skeins and every Spinner knows that you don't always spin at the same thickness - just like your gauge isn't always the same - so the new handspun, though very similar in color, was half the weight of the original but I didn't let that stop me; I just held it double :)  Can you tell?

I can't really either.  Wool and Summer doesn't always mix well so I made a large version of the BSJ which is probably why I ran out of yarn there at the end but with any luck, she can get a few years out of it when worn as a jacket.   

I also made her a little Oriental Lily, but modified that for length and ruffles and short sleeves. 

And there has to be socks.  A PAIR of socks actually :)  No single socks here!

My SIL has had enough of being pregnant so hopefully the new niece will have a nice easy entry into the world sooner than later! 

I am still working on my slew of single socks and will be able to show pictures of a different completed pair in about a week - Jen has to send out the patten first.  I also finished up 2 other projects this past weekend.  Well, finished one and started/finished the second.  I'll have pics of the first project when I get it sent out but the other is a Holiday project so it will have to wait for a while.  That's right, I have a few embellishments and a project for the Holidays completed already.  I have a couple larger projects to finish this year so I need to bang out some smaller ones when I can!