wool wool wool

Back so soon?!

Why yes, i am!






I finished spinning a sheep's worth of wool! YEA!
I did this for my OWL in the HPKCHC... I'm so glad i decided to do it too!







I decided I wanted to dye it with Wilton cake dye. I did a test dye of three different colors. Juniper, Leaf Green and Brown. I came to the conclusion that i would use Juniper with a dash of leaf green to liven it up a bit.





Juniper








Leaf Green









Brown




Last night i just couldn't wait and and so started my dying experience.... Now i have 16 skeins of this yarn (2,065 yards) and wanted to have it all the same. So what does one do... puts it all into one dye bath. Right?!!

EEEEHHH Wrong!

I shoved it all in to a 22 qt pot and couldn't even stir it around at all. Bad idea. Well it was all in and i just went with it hoping that it would work out.





It didn't:
















Today i decided that I would dye it again in smaller batches. So I did and it helped... but i think i might dye it again. I'm not sure.











I keep going from I love it to i hate it. Very strong feelings i know, but maybe i just need to get use to it. I guess I'll see how i feel about it in the morning.





















There are a few skeins of yarn that have a really dark spot or two on them...(you can see it in the picture below)I do have a few extra yards(about 500) so hopefully i won't have to use them. Or maybe it will just add to the oh-so-cool hand dyed look... one can hope:)
















Oh have i mentioned that I'm going to knit the Central Park Hoodie out of this yarn?! Well i am!


Here is some pics of Truban, cause i know you all want to see little baby cuteness:)














He was laying on me and i snapped a few pictures so i can remember how cute and tiny he is... I know they grow all to fast. I love the little scowl on his face...

Truban Alexander

Here he is, Truban Alexander!















He was born on July 6th at 8:18am. Weighing in at 7lb 10oz, and 21" long.

















We came up with his name from our grandpas. Truban was after my grandpa it was his last name and Alexander was Joe's grandpa.
















He is a sweetie and we are all smitten with him! All 3 kids love him to pieces and want to hold him all the time. Gabe loves having a little brother and can't wait until he is bigger to do boy things with him ;)

















I've been around, mostly on Ravelry... and if you want to see what I've been knitting lately check out my project page! The main thing I've been doing lately is spinning (the fiber i cleaned last summer) yarn to make a sweater out of. I'm almost done spinning it then I'll dye it. I'm excited about it!

I would say that I'll be back in a few days to post some more but the truth is that i'll be back when I'm back. Life is crazy and as much as I want to blog, really i do, i can't, right now be as consistent as i would like to be.... Maybe someday... Until then i hope your happy with me the way i am:)

Lion Pacifier Clip

Lion
Pacifier Clip


By Jessica Gutoski
www.naturallyknitty.blogspot.com

ravelryID NaturallyKnitty





CO 6sts, Join to knit in the round
K1 rnd
* K1 M1 * (12 sts)
K1 rnd
* K2 M1 * (18sts)
K1 rnd
* K3 M1 * (24 sts)
K6 rnds
* K2 K2tog * (18sts)
K1 rnd
* K1 K2tog * (12 sts)
K1 rnd
* K2 M1 * (18sts)
K16 rnds



At this point you need to take a break in knitting. Use
a piece of yarn to weave through the sts at the neck,
go around twice and tighten
slightly, to form the head
from the body.
Weave in any ends. Stuff
head and body with fiber fill.

* K1 K2tog * (12 sts)
K1 rnd
* K2tog * (6 sts)
K1 rnd
* K2tog * (3 sts)

Put all the sts on one needle and work an I-cord for 5 inches.

Kf&b of each sts (6 sts)
K 3 rows (garter stitch)
K2tog, K2, K2tog (4 sts)
K6 rows
BO all sts



Break yarn leaving a 10 inch. Put the garter
stitch tab through hole in the pacifier holder
and sew down. Make
sure to secure it firmly








Cut 4 pieces of yarn about 24 inches long. Fold in half. Using a darning needle pull
each one half way through at the 4 points where the legs will go.
Cut the loop end and braid each leg. Tie a knot, on each leg, making sure it is tight,
about 1 ½ inch away from the body. Take the two front legs and pull through the
clip tying them each in a knot. Trim excess yarn from legs.










Cut up 24 pieces of yarn for the mane. About 10 inches long. Using a needle or a
crochet hook pull though a st and tie in a knot. Go all the way around the head.
Trim it to a nice length.








Add some of the mane color to the tail end. Add a face
and there you have it!

I "heart" blocking!

Blocking is wonderful... i just love it!

Don't know what blocking is... You can find a cool article here from knitty.com! Basically you get a piece of fabric wet (or steam it, or spritz it with water) and pin it out to the shape you want it to be, then wait for it to dry.

It turned this wonky piece of fabric into a blanket!

















I'm really happy with how it turned out. Though the blanket itself is bigger than i expected it to be. I think the pattern said the small version would be a 38inch square mine turned out to be about a 42 inch square.
















Only one complaint about the pattern, the yarn requirement was way off... It called for 4 balls of each color. To be safe i bought 5 of each and ended up going back and getting an extra ball in each color and i still ran out of the cream, i think i was 3 rounds short, but you can't really tell. So 12 balls total... that's a lot of yarn.

You can see more of my details here on Ravelry...


Project stats:

Start Date: March 5th
End Date: March 25th
Yarn:Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Falk
Pattern: OpArt
Needles:US #7s... (4 circulars)
Recipient: the baby in my belly

Today was somewhat nice out and we went out to play for a bit. Chloe loves swinging and went for the better part of a half an hour.

Leah was running around and just having fun.





















Gabe and Joe were playing baseball. I can't wait for spring to really be here. When we can wear not a coat but a t-shirt or I'll even go for wearing only sweatshirts... I can feel it, spring is coming i just need to have a little patients and endure the cold for a bit longer.

organized or insane

It all started out because i was looking for my US#8 needles. "Where could they be" I thought to my self... I didn't have any WIP's that i knew of that they would be on.... and so the search began.


I started by going upstairs to my more organized yarn stash... i went through every basket, bag and bin, but they were no where. I did however locate my US#10 1/2's that are on a project I hadn't seen in over a year... I wrote that down and put it in my new knitpicks needle case so i wouldn't have this same problem with them... (I just got the needle case, and love that each needle has a zippered home!)
















Any who, That led to the search downstairs... my "corner". Well really there is an over sized chair and all around it is bags upon bags of yarn and projects waiting to be knit. Or leftovers from projects that had already been knit. I tend to just throw the yarn over there rather than put it away upstairs and forget about it. Its not pretty. Oh and my wheel lives under it all too.








Well i pulled everything out and noticed that it took up a good part of my living room. I decided that i needed to organize this mass of fiber... So i got to work. We had a shelf that had no use because it was recently replaced with our storage system from IKEA.































Note the new and improved toy/computer room! Thanks IKEA I love you! I still have a few things to do, like sew up some curtains for the closet, because we took the door off for easy access but i still want it to look nice, but all in all its a lot better. Everything has a place!









This is what I came up with. Not too bad. That big pile of stuff on the floor fit on the shelf. I re-packaged some things so i can see things clearly. I should have taken a before pic of my corner... but believe me it was atrocious. I don't think it looks too cluttered, and i worked with what i had. I'm happy. A job well done. On a side note my day was spent in my pj's because i didn't want to loose my focus by showering and getting dressed. I get sidetracked easily.
















OK so i did all that and went through all of my knitting bags, all of my yarn to find my #8's... and did I!? NO They are gone, just gone and I'm mad. I need them because I'm going to start a new project in a day or two and i just can't find them. I don't think i lent them to anyone, and the last time i used them was in September when i made Chloe her Weasley sweater (thanks ravelry for helping me locate the last time i used them). I think I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some new ones. Just wait... with my luck i will buy them and a week later they will show up, somewhere ridiculous.

Ultimate Blog Party 09!

It is here and I want to party too! (you can too just click on the button)



For those of you who don't know me I'm Jessica.

(This picture was taken by Gabe... Don't mind my weird face. I thought a belly shot was in need here on the blog (24wks). Plus the mom's zip-up hoody that i knit in action... I love this sweater, I wear it a lot!)






















I have 3 kids and one on the way, due in July. I love to knit and that is what you will find me doing when the kids are in bed. I also spin a bit and i love all crafty things.

(Here is my crew, checking out the new growth... finally the snow has melted!)

















I have met some good friends through my blog, and have found some wonderful ones that i keep on bloglines. I could use some new additions, some new friends to add onto the old. So look around and leave me a comment!



Ok so I'm suposed to say what prizes i'd like if i win.... Prizes are always a good thing!


# 58 – Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

# USC 58 — Handmade Retro Apron of your choice!

# 45 – Ultra Chic Diaper Bag with matching Diaper Pocket!

# 106 — Melissa & Doug Role Play Dress Up Costume (prize value $50)

# 19 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores

# 21 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores

go and check out the prizes you could win... on the party prize page!

Socks!

I finished my socks for March. These served three purposes, 1~ march SAM KAL socks, 2~ DADA homework for HPKCHC and 3~ practice pattern and gauge for SockWars!




















I love them, they fit extremely well and i love the color! Allena dyed them using Wilton's cake dyes(i think) and gifted it to me a while ago! I'm glad i finally used it.
















Project Stats:
(see more on my page on Ravelry too)

Start Date: March 5th
End Date: March 10th
Pattern: Flying Arrows Socks
Needles: US#1 Addi Turbo
Method: 2 socks at a time on 2 circulars, top down
Yarn: Wool from Allena
Recipient: Me!


There was a bit of pooling that i didn't care for but it happens to the best of them;)



















The actual color of the socks aren't quite captured in any of these pictures. The purple is a bit darker, it is so hard to get the true color on film, or should i say digital.

All in all a good knit and great socks in the end! I think these pulled me out of my non-sock knitting mood i was in after Christmas. YEA!!!

a few things

Is it really March?! Wow. I've been putting this off and off for so long now that I just need to blog already. I feel like i never have enough time to blog what I rally want to blog about. Or at least not enough time to go into depth. So I'm not going into depth, just listing off what I've accomplished in the past few weeks.





1. I can sew! hehe I pulled out my sewing machine (that my GMIL gave me) and sewed a fitted cloth diaper. Its called Rita's Rump Pocket or RRP. It was pretty easy to sew, but was my first experience with sewing elastic... I think for my first attempt it turned out well. Too bad Chloe wants nothing to do with cloth diapers... well she let me take some pictures.... but that is it.














2. Our taxes came in and we have spent some money....




~ paid off our 2nd mortgage


~ bought a grill


~ bought some luggage


~ invested in shelving from IKEA!!! (pictures to come)
our office/toy room thanks us for that;)


~ purchased some math curriculum (math-u-see)


~ I'm sure there is more but that is just a few of the things we were able to do, it feels good to be able to spend some money on things we've needed/wanted for a while now. I love tax season!




3. Chloe turned 2, on Feb 5th!

















4. We are semi-potty training her

5. I finished my little bro's Christmas present (late not early)

















6. I've knit some wool soakers

~the pink and purple one is the WHW plain wrap.

















~the maroon and pink one is longies from ButtKnits.





















7. I'm going (if i am approved, need to get on that) to get licenced from ButtKnits so i can sell these...

8. We had our 20wk ultra sound, everything looked good. We are not finding out the gender. Oh and I'm feeling the baby move... Love that feeling!

9. I am participating in the fun over at Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup other wise known as HPKCHC.

10. I made these hats for HPKCHC herbology class.
















as always you can see more info on my projects on my Ravelry page!