Fall Already!

I'm trying to give myself a bit of a kick start here for some more regular posts by writing a brief summary of the past three months:

August 2009 marked the sixth birthday of my oldest daughter and her first day of kindergarten. She did fine; I was in tears.

In September, my younger daughter turned four. Both August and September were filled with parties with friends and families. I attended Knitter's Day Out, taking a course on working on gauge and blocking. I learned a lot and became a believer in doing a gauge swatch. I bought a fun kit for a "Something Sheepy" hat, some sock yarn and a bag of felted balls. I'm hoping that my daughters will enjoy stringing the colorful felted balls to make necklaces. Since KDO, I've finished the sweater and socks in my July 31 post and I'm 90% finished with my "Something Sheepy" hat.

We had a great time in Hillsgrove in early October. My Dad owns a hunting cabin there with a bunch of other guys - nothing fancy. We spent the days walking to the general store, going on short hikes and playing games. It was a wonderful way to welcome fall. Also, in early October, T learned to ride her two-wheeler bike!

Knitter's Day Out

Today I signed up for Knitter's Day Out (KDO). I've been there twice before. It's a great opportunity to spend the day with others who share my passion for knitting and to take some classes at a very reasonable price.

Now look at the photo. See the lady in pink? I was sitting to her left.

SSK from KDO

It has been a long time since I put any sort of bumper sticker on my car, but I got one of these magnets at the Y2Knit booth:

Post-KDO

At KDO (Knitter's Day Out), I learned how to knit on buttons using the same technique that Judy Pascale uses with beads. I don't foresee making any beaded projects, but maybe one of my daughters will want something beaded sometime. Or maybe I could use the technique to put buttons on a cardigan? For practice we made a child's hat:

You can't see the buttons too well in the photo, but they are there and they are not sewn on! Another cool thing about this hat is that I forgot to bring yarn to class (duh) so... I ran to the swap table, pulled out some yarn odds and ends and put them together - I love the result!

I also found some old pattern books on the swap table:

I plan to make a collage of photos from these books for a page in my knitting journal.

Knitter's Day Out

Today I'm headed to Knitter's Day Out for knitting classes, vendor's market and the all day company of knitters from all walks of life. Can't wait!

Caps For Kids

My latest completed project is this small hat for Caps For Kids

yarn: artful yarns candy, bubble gum

needles: US2 dpns

pattern: combination of patterns I found online, I like the handle