October Fun

Well, October started off wonderfully and that shows no sign of stopping!  The month began with a most awesome weekend celebrating a special one year old's first birthday.  The occasion called for a special knitted gift.

This is one version of the Lovable Toys pattern from Last Minuted Knitted Gifts.  This book has been a great resource.  I didn't get a picture of my lovable little boy with his elephant, but I hear he loves to try and chew on his trunk!  We'll see how long the toy lasts. :)  I'll just make him another one because this was a pretty quick knit.  On top of that, I learned two new techniques while working on it.  This pattern is written to have the body knit in the round with two circular needles.  I was a bit leery of this technique from the git-go, but guess what...I loved it!  I was shocked but I will definitely be knitting in the round with this as my go-to technique.  The only downside I can think of is that I now need two sets of my interchangeable needles.  I figure I'll just add to my set as I need them.

The second addition to my knitting toolbox was the cable cast-on method which is used for the blue hankie that is tied around the elephant's neck.  I'm not quite as enamored with this new skill, but I was glad I figured it out.  I'm terrible with written instructions.  I have to see it and do it to learn it.  My go-to knitting instructor, Staci Perry, has been adding new videos to her website, but she has not gotten to this one yet.  I found a video, but it wasn't done very well and had no sound.  After doing the cast-on twice incorrectly, I almost gave up and started looking for some fabric to substitute for the elephant's handkerchief when it all of a sudden clicked.  I went back to my work and kicked it out pretty quickly once I figured it out.  I did like the results.

The weekend continued excellently and on Sunday my hubby and I became the Godparents to the same special little one year old!  It was indeed a spectacular weekend.

The month will continue to be super busy, but it is all good stuff.  Next weekend we travel to Dallas for a good friend's wedding and the weekend after that will be spent camping and hiking in Palo Duro Canyon with a group of great friends.  All this driving should leave me with a lot of time to knit some Christmas gifts, if my hubby agrees to do most of the driving.  But at this point, I've been knitting warm camping hats for our trip.  I let my hubby pick out his hat pattern and was excited that he selected a fair isle project.  I had just had a lesson on the technique so I was happy to try it out.  It is a simple pattern with only two colors so it was a good place to start.  I should have it completed tonight.  Then I start making a little one year old a warm hat since it will be a bit chilly at night.

Oh, and since I loved the knitting in the round with two circulars trick, I am about to knit two socks at a time using this method in celebration of Socktober fest.  I am already knitting some Christmas socks for my hubby this month, but couldn't resist the Mystery Sock by Kristin Kapur of Through the Loops fame.  I don't expect to actually complete the mystery sock this month, but I've got the yarn and two circular needles ready to go!

Busy, Busy, Busy, but Happy, Happy, Happy!