Cozy Cooper

A quick little knit for my nephew's new Shitzhu puppy "Cooper". He is only 6 weeks old, and weighs less than 2 lbs. - so we figured he needed a sweater for all the trips outside for potty traing;) plus, nothing is cuter than a puppy in a sweater! Pattern is "Dog Sweater for Small Dogs" by Brian Herzog, and is a pretty easy pattern to follow. I added the checkerboard pattern around the bottom, and also put a dog motif on the back (just for whimsy!). It turned out cute and just barely fits him ... so I am going to make another sweater for him, but will try a different pattern. More on that when I am done!
This sweater was knit with Patons Classic Wool, in a variety of scrap colours I had in my stash. I used 3.75 mm needles.  It should be cozy, warm and protect him a bit from the damp when they are outside for walks.

Thinking ahead

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Yep ... Easter is on it's way, and I can't believe that I might actually get my Easter cards in time this year! Shutterfly has/had a special deal on for 10 free cards ... so I figured it was a sign to get cards done up :) I have 15 coming and will enclose the Easter portraits we had done of MonkeyPants at Walmart yesterday. The special is only good until the end of today (promocode is SPRINGTHING)... so hurry up and order :) Be forwarned though ... the shipping to Canada is a bit steep @ $15.99 (but if the cards are free, it is a pretty sweet deal! They are usually $2.49 each + Shipping). So ... if you get one of these in the mail - act surprized! I am not sure why, but I love the idea of a lifetime of momories captured at Easter every year - until he refuses to slip on the bunny ears ;) Easter is usually only a month or a month and a half from MonkeyPants' birthday, so Easter pictures are also an annual "almost birthday" ritual. (this one was taken at home this morning, and I call it "A view from the Potty").

Happy Valentine's Day

Have a rockin' Valentine's Day!

Wow! It was challenging to get Mr. Monkeypants to cooperate for these pictures - getting him to actually look at the camera is not an easy task ... he is going through an I hate cameras stage, and I have to take about 50 pictures to get one decent shot any time I want a picture

Last year, he was much easier (and since I didn't post his Valentine card last year, I can post it now ... this is a tradition I am hoping I can continue for a while, until he fully, outright refuses to pose!)

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Sock it to me!

I am calling these Turning Over a New Leaf - they represnt a new way of thinking for me. They are a colourway I would not pick for myself, they have the garter stitch short row technique, which I rarely ever use, and garter stitch toes, which is also a really uncommon thing for me … so I am exploring lots of new areas with these socks :) The yarns was a Christmas gift from my husband, with a note written on the yarn label - "Socks for Heddy - some assembley required". I really like them a lot, although when iIunwrapped the yarn, I thought "What the heck is he thinking? Yuck!" LOL! Don't tell him I said that! It knit up into beautifulk socks, and they may well be my favorite socks ever! They are my first "started and finished in 2013" socks (and hopefully, soon, I will have the second pair of "some assembly required" socks finished from the other ball of sock yarn that Tom gave me for Christmas - I have had 2 or three pairs of my favorite socks wear out recently, and need to get several apirs knit for me, so I am back to my normal number of pairs). Details: 2 x 2 ribbed cuff, sock is 3 x 1 rib, with a garter stitch short row heel ( and a garterstitch toe). Very cheery colour way (Austermann Duet - Dahlia Fairisle) although it is not one I would have bought for myself - I tend to go for very bright, "obviously" loud colourways, and this one is far more subtle than I would choose for me. I am really liking it a lot though and am glad Tom is more broad thinking re: colours than I am. I have more to show, and will blog again in a day or two.

Snuggly and warm

I really thought I'd knit more for him than I do ... but really, I haven't had much inclination to knit for Mr. Monkeypants. I was busy with Christmas knitting, and trying to be sure that people who usually receive socks had socks under the tree, so this past year, knit next to nothing for my boy. Then it got cold ... and I got some momma guilt when I realized my little man did not have a scarf or cowl to keep the winter winds from blowing down the back of his neck ... and I went stash diving, then hit Ravellry looking for a suitable pattern for a scarf or cowl for a 2 year old boy. Wee Sophisticate by Molly Bell fit the bill to a T - with a minor modification. I added some ribbing on either end of the cables, just to keep them from twisitng and looking like ruffles at the end of the scarf.

He loves it, and grabs it every time he leaves the house. Really warms the cockles of a knitting momma's heart! I have to knit for Mr. Monkeypants more often, he loves hats, scarves, and mimi's (aka mittens) ... once I get some socks finished!

Knits of the New Year

There is nothing like bringing the New Year in with a BANG ... and this year was, well, interesting to say the least! Tom and I spent our New Year's eve as we did last year, snuggled up at home with our wee fellow. The main difference was this year, we were experienced parents! Last New Year's eve was our first overnighter with Mr. Monkeypants ... so exciting (yet a bit sleepless for all of us!). This year, we were all much more used to our rituals, to each other, and we were much more rested to greet the New Year! Mind you ... both years, we did not make it to midnight to ring it in! Ah well, traditions can change! My in-laws came to supper, and brought lobsters! Also, as we've learned with being parents, most exciting times are usually marked by upset or illness - Monkey (since we are all friends here, I will drop the formality), developed a terrible rash on his face and nether regions - almost like a scald, on Jan. 30, so we were trying to get that under control, and he was a bit under the weather for the meal. He has since bounced back, and is fine as kind :) On the knitting front, this was the BANG that greeted 2013 ...

I finished this pair on January 1, 2013 - they are plain old vanilla's with an EOP heel. Yarn is Ketzer On Your Toes (Sunrise colourway) that I got for a steal at Little Knits (10 balls in assorted colourways for $36.00 -- Start the car! Start the car!). They are a ladies size 7-ish, and will go in the bag for birthdays, Christmas, etc. - lucky for me, my MIL, my step mom and my mom all wear the same size, so I can make decisions as to who gets what once I have a number of pairs knit :) I will have more knitting news later!

a voice from beyond ...

** I found this finished post in my blog archives ... not sure what happened that prevented me from hitting "publish", but better late than never! Well -- where to start! It has been a long time since I posted, but I have not been idle! New baby keeps a new momma busy :) Loving every minute I have been spending with Mr. monkeypants ... and there aren't enough hours in the day to work, play and blog (sorry that the blogging fell to the wayside!). I am going to try to get back to it - today is a flying by post - quick and dirty. A few years ago, I knit the Mochimochi vest - and am happy to say, my picture of it is now a featured photo on the pattern page It is the only photo on the page that is not by the yarn company :) ... pretty cool. Shoot! Gotta fly,

Harvey the Halloween Monster

Last year, before Mr. Monkeypants came to live with us, I was a bit upset that we woul

d not be together for Halloween, and knit him an owl that I sent to him along with some Halloween themed things. In my mind, that was the start of a tradition, so - as Halloween drew close this year, I felt that he "needed" another knitted toy for Halloween. Tom had bought me the Rebecca Danger book of knitted monsters for Christmas last year, so I could make toys for our boy ... so Toma nd I went through it looking for a cute monster to surprize him with. This is based on this pattern, and my Ravelry notes on the project are here. Pretty pleased with how he turned out ... and the boy has him in his crib every night, so I think the response was good:)

Merry Christmas from us to you!

Warm Fuzzies

A lot of the things I have knit for myself and others have stories associated with them, and memories caught up in the stitches ... I remember what significant events (or insignificant ones)were going on in my life when I was knitting something (I have socks that I knit when I as at concerts, baby gifts for friends knit while riding a train, hats knit while sitting in the woods watching my husband cut our winter firewood ... most things I knit, I can remember what was happening in my life while they were being created. And I like to wear the things I have made, and think about what I was doing when they were made).

So ... as I mentioned in my previous post, over CXhristmas holidays, we had a major life changing event happen, something we had been waiting for over a decade to happen ... and I wanted to capture some of those memories. When we got the call that we could go and meet Mr. Monkeypants, i was told that we might have to be in Newfoundland where he lived for a month or more ... so my thoughts were of course what should I take to knit. Every evening I worked on my "Momma Socks", a very simple vanilla sock pattern (which, with all the excitement, exhaustion and changes taking place in all of our lives, was the most complex pattern i could handle!). These socks were started the day we arrived, Dec. 26 and finished a day or so after we returned home on Jan. 9. Thankfully, all went well and we were all able to return to our home together as a family after just 2 weeks.
In the interest of being fair, I wanted T to have something tangible to remember the early days of parenthood as well (you know, because men are sooo into that sort of thing ... LOL!) so I cast on a pair of Daddy Socks as soon as I finished my socks. The yarn had been carefully packed with my knitting and had made the trip to Newfoundland, but because we came home, his socks weren't begun until we were safe and sound in our own house. The Daddy Socks took a bit longer to knit ... cast on a day or so after finishing the Momma's , and finished last night (Feb. 7).


I had visions of having our socks being photographed with Mr. Monkeypants serving as Vanna White, but as those of you who have children know, things do not always go according to plan ... luckily, our oldest cooperated, and you have the lovely photo above. Below are excerpts from the would be photo shoot ...