Sheep Shots

The knitting on the tiny denimy sweater was finished early this morning and all that I still needed to do was 1) select buttons, 2) install the crocheted button holes and sew the buttons on, and 3) wash and block (yes, even cotton!) before packing it up to await an appropriate moment for giving.

The decision on the buttons was about the hardest part (isn't it always?) First, I needed to pull out some possible choices. Then, I needed to decide: 1 button? 3 buttons? buttons the whole way down?

Some of the cutest ones, I had only 1s and 2s (penguins, doggies) others, I had lots (hearts, strawberries). I let the Other Half make the choice (1), accomplished 2 and half of 3. When the sweater comes out of the dryer, I'll take a final picture so you can see what he chose.





Next question was: Is there enough for another? (Two coworkers, two sweaters.)

I threw the completed sweater onto the handy Ekco. It weighs 4 ounces (give or take--this scale is less than accurate).

Okay, the rest of the yarn is still on a cardboard cone.

Wind it off onto the ball winder, throw away the cone. (no, I do not need it for another craft, and neither do you!)






Throw it on the scale.

Et voila!

Nearly 6 ounces of yarn left. So coworker #2 (the one whose baby's gender is undisclosed as yet) will also get a little denimy sweater.

Then, I get to go through the whole button ordeal again.







Tammy has a little Dulaan thing going. She's challenged all Dulaan knitters to post pictures of what they've finished.

I participated in the last round (and won a neat prize!) so I'm here, just flashing the pictures since I can't remember which ones were entered previously.

Everything in these two piles has been posted here before, but I find it cool to see them all in the same place at once. Way cool!

There are 8 sweaters, ranging in size from infant to about a size 8(?) or so.




And there are 14 hats. Some are Tammy's pattern, others came from my own devious mind (cast on 80, or 70, or 60, knit around until you are going blind, decrease, draw up fasten off), still others are from actual pattern books.

There are also 18 pairs of commercially knit socks, and a couple more hats and a pair of mittens contributed by friends.

I'll be packing up and mailing as soon as I find a box.

Then, I need to get started on my fair entries.


Movie Reviews: We saw 3 over the past 2 weekends.

The Pursuit of Happyness has so much food for thought and is so freakin' intense that I am glad we were at home and not in a theater. I had to get up and walk away several times. That intense! Remember the ship sinking scene in Titanic and how it went on and on and on? Yep, just like that! Don't watch it alone.

If you are inclined even in the slightest toward paranoia, The Good Shepherd will reinforce everything you think you fear about Skull and Bones and oh, my, they really are out to get us. It's well-made and darkly scary. Good adult movie. Not for kids.



I was prepared to fall in love with Happy Feet. I did not. This one could have been an early Disney where Bambi's mother gets shot, the evil stepmother turns into a witch and poisons Snow White, you know the drill. Themes that are seriously not for little kids. Okay, maybe I'm a bit squeamish, but I don't think so. There's a strong environmental message and a lot of scary sh*t in this one!

Fresh from the dryer! A good hot wash and a trip through the dryer tightened the knitting up nicely and evened out the stitches.

I know that there's a touch of "knit snobbery" at play when I say I always block the things I give away, but darn it, they look so much better!

And in this case, better to get the shrinkage over with before New Mom throws this into the washer and dryer herself.

Yep, it shrank (as it was supposed to) about 10% in length. Having made this same stuff into a sweater for myself, I knew what to expect.

Note: The scalloped edge is a design feature that takes some getting used to.

And the buttons? Here's what the Other Half picked: All of them!

Seven little shank buttons, each with a different kid-themed picture. From the top: lion, dolly, Scottie, Cat and the Fiddle, dinosaur, doggie wearing a hat, sailboat.

They are from a Pound of Buttons pack from The Button Drawer.

Lest my readers think that I am terminally cheap, I have also bought full-price buttons from this source. But the Pound bags are lots of fun.

Labels: baby things, Dulaan