Sweater for Tori is Finished

I just finished Tori's sweater.  I had finished a big portion of the sweater before I decided to take out a bunch of it and do it over.  I was trying to make it a little wider than Rhonda's, so I decided to make the collar just four stitches wider.  Big mistake.  It just did not look right.  I meant to just take it out back to the collar, but when I was trying to cut the yarn that was where I had sewed the inside of the collar down to the neck edge, I accidentally cut the front stitching on the neck.  I had to take the whole thing apart, back to where I broke off from the circular needle to straight needles at the end of the first sleeve, so I could do the front and back yokes.  Anyway, I'm happy to say that that was my only big mistake.  I was able to complete the rest of the sweater without any major problems. 

I hope it will be long enough.  It is only two rounds shorter than Rhonda's and Tori is shorter.

Now, I need to knit four more pairs of socks for Rhonda's family.  Two are for ladies and two are for men.  It will take a little while, so I better get right on it.  Here I go.

Kim's Socks

Another pair of socks completed for Kim.  Now that these are finished, I will get onto the new projects of another sweater for Rhonda to give to her daughter for Christmas and four pairs of socks for her family.  I have a lot to get done before Christmas.  I am finding that it takes about ten hours to complete a pair of socks and the sweater will take about thirty hours.  I really will be busy trying to get everything done in time, but I know I will do it.

These are self-striping socks, but I had to work with the yarn a bit to try to get them to look matched.  I thought this pattern would look better if they did match.  I know the front sock looks smaller, but it isn't. It just was not stretched out.

Let's Cover That Little Bottom With Pretty

Kim said she was ready to put Annie into cloth diapers.  She wanted some more since Ezra's were pretty worn out, and besides they were for a boy.  I went shopping for some nice soft flannel to make the diapers out of, but got carried away at all the wonderful prints.  I had to finally just tell myself that enough was enough.  I like to line the diapers with water proof material, but I am getting low on it and the colors I do have weren't that great for diapers.  Kim said that was okay because she puts a cover over them either way, with or without the liner. I was able to get two packages of water proof material that was cut the right size for making diapers.  The store only had two packages, so I took both.  I was happy that the ones they had were girly print, since that is what I needed.  I've run out of material, so I could only make twenty-two diapers, instead of the twenty-four that I was trying to get.  I think this will be enough so she doesn't have to wash every couple of days.

This is actually eight diapers.  There are two of each print.  The elephant prints have orange inside, the frog prints have green inside, the cupcake prints have pink inside, and the camouflage have purple inside.

These are the six diapers that have waterproof lining.  What you see is the waterproof material.  I lined the insides with soft pink or cream colored flannel so they will be soft on little Annie's bottom. 

I ran out of solid flannel, so these are all the same on inside and out, except for the one on the bottom left.  That material was not as soft and it had sparkles on it.  I didn't think that would be too kind to Annie, so I lined it with white flannel.

I now need to get back to Kim's other pair of socks.  I finished another scarf like the one I made before for the same lady.  She wants to give it to her daughter for Christmas.  She also wants another sweater like hers, but of a different color.  I need to wait until I hear from her about what color and the measurements before I start that.  I did get the other sweater finished with both sleeves the same color.  I will not show it again, since I already showed it with the mis-colored sleeves.  It looks the same, except now the sleeves match.  I also did not post a picture of the scarf because it looks just like the other one. This same lady now says she wants me to make socks, too.  She wants (I hope just four pairs and not eight); for her husband, son, daughter, and herself. She didn't say if they were for Christmas, but if they are, I am going to be one very busy lady trying to fill her order.  She pays well, so I want to keep her happy.

Oh, The Sorrow of it All!

I recently received an order for a scarf that needed to be crocheted, and I showed that in an earlier blog.  Along with the scarf order, was one for a sweater that was crocheted and needed to be converted to knitting.  I got on it right away after finishing the scarf, but after having finished the whole sweater up to the last arm, I realized it was going to be much too big for the petite little lady that ordered it.  I took out the body of the sweater and re-used the yarn to start a new sweater.  I finished the first arm, across the front and back of the yoke, and the collar out of that yarn and another ball of yarn I had.  I bought another ball of yarn to do the last sleeve, since I did not want to take out any more of the first sweater.  I bought the same yarn, from the same store, and even from the same bin.  I did not check dye lots.  In artificial light, everything looked just fine. Things were looking pretty good after a few take outs and do overs.  I went to bed last night, thinking I was finished with the sweater. I went to take a picture of the sweater this morning, and much to my dismay, the sleeve that I had finished just last night with a different ball of yarn was a different color.  It looked awful.  Well, I was sad all day, but did not want to do anything until I was sure the sweater would fit.  I was going to be seeing the lady tonight, so I took it as it was to have her try it on and to see if she was happy with it.  She was thrilled.  It fit her perfectly.  She likes it so much that she wants me to make one for her daughter in a different color.  She also loved the scarf and wants me to make one exactly like it for her daughter, also.  She said that when her daughter got home from college for Christmas, that she would want one, so she plans to have me make the scarf to give to her as a present.  She also said she would like for me to make some socks.  I guess I will be busy for awhile.  I took a picture of her wearing the sweater with the two tones, so I will not show it again when it is finished once again.

This is Rhonda in her sweater with the two toned sleeves.

Rhonda with the sweater and the scarf.

During my day of frustration because of the sweater, I couldn't let time go by without starting a new project.  I have a few to go.  I need to make diapers for my little Annie, another pair of socks for Kim, and I just got a request today to make some Bible character toys for my grandson, Joey, who is really in to hearing Bible stories right now.  I need to make David and Goliath, Danial and the lions, and one more that is slipping my memory right now.  I decided to start on the diapers first.  I cut out sixteen and started to sew them.  I finished three.  They go quickly, so it shouldn't take too long to finish them.  Of course, now I need to get that sweater done over since she plans to pay me on Sunday.  I also want to do the other scarf right away, since I have the yarn for it.  She wants it to be exactly the same as hers.  She said the sweater will be a different color, but she didn't say what, so I cannot start it yet. I told Joey he had to wait before I could get to his toys. There is just so much I can do at one time.