Coffeehouse Knitter

I'm a bad blogger

2008-03-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

I am really bad at this blogging thing! I have finished some projects, so I will show them off here, and then post on Ravelry.

These are my version of Baby Legs. I cast on 60 stitches, did k2p2 for 12 rows and then did a diagonal rib pattern. I used Maizy in Miami Nice, a fiber made from corn. It was hard to get pictures of her wearing them because she was crawling too fast!

This picture is of a hat going to a chemo patient. I used Calmer, a yarn I love. The pattern is little shells from the Harmony Guide.

The last post is my first pair of lace socks. These are the Sweetpea pattern from Knitty. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. They make the most beautiful colorways.

In between all these projects I have made about 6 baby hats, a pair of socks for my dad and a pair of Subway Mittens. I really need to do a better job of taking pictures. On the needles I have a pair of socks in Trekking for my husband and tonight I am casting on for a gift for my mom. (Mom, you are probably the only one who reads this, so it will be a secret!)

Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Plumper Pumpkin Patch. This is up off of Cornelius Pass and was so much fun. There were pony rides, a play structure, a hay ride and maze as well as a pumpkin slingshot and cannon. The last two items were so fun! The slingshot is similar to using surgical tubing to throw water balloons. Richard and Bronson got a kick out of trying to hit the car in the field. The three of us are inside a tipi in the first picture.

G Diapers

2007-09-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have added a new button that takes you to the G Diaper website. What are G Diapers you ask? They are an incredible hybrid between disposables and clothe diapers. They have a cloth cover and a pouch insert to use flushible liners. They are so great and I love being able to flush them away. You can also use them with cloth diapers. This company is based in Portland and it is so great to support local business.

In Public

2007-09-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

There has been much talk about knitting in public and bringing awareness of knitting to the public. I proudly knit in public at my son's swim lessons, tennis lessons, taking the MAX or while I am having a break at work. I am curious about why we are so afraid of doing things "in public." Such as breastfeeding. I have a three month old and am not shy about feeding her when we are out and about. Luckily I have not received any weird comments, but why are people freaked out by this? So, let's knit in public, breastfeed in public, scrapbook, dance, or whatever, let people know who you are.

The Stash

2007-08-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

I have made a commitment to knit the stash. I have bits of odds and ends from other projects and yarn for projects I already have in mind. This is not a complete yarn diet though, if I see something I love, it will join the stash. I usually don't buy yarn just for the sake of yarn. Almost always there is a pattern and a project in mind. If I cast on it is no longer stash it is WIP right?

The library is for knitters

2007-08-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

I love our library! It has a great collection of knitting books, and with interlibrary loan it is so handy. There are books I have bought and once I got them home, realized there was only one pattern I would ever knit. This way I can live with the book for a couple of weeks and decide if it is for me. I know this is knitting heresy, but after checking out some of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books, I realized that I don't really care for her writing style. I was about to go out and buy it because everyone told me how wonderful she is. Now that money can go to yarn. I wasn't sure about the hype of Mason-Dixon, and after borrowing that from the library that is now on my buy list. Library for knitting, what a great thing.

Bitten by the sock bug

2007-08-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

I think that I have officially decided to become sock knitter. I have knit one pair, and love to wear them, but after all those double points poking my palm, I wasn't ready to tackle it again. After going to the PDX Knitters meet up last night and seeing lovely socks, I caved. Today it is off to Knitting Bee to find some beautiful yarn. And I thought sock yarn was just good for baby stuff :)

Baby Hat Obsession

2007-08-01T12:50:00.001-07:00

I love to knit baby hats! They are quick, cute and don't use too much yarn. This picture are some hats I made from Itty Bitty Hats. I don't like sewing applique, so I adapted the daisy hat for intarsia.

Twisted and Sublime

2007-07-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

I just went into Twisted in NE Portland, and wow! The store is so beautiful and so are the yarns. They have organized the yarn so well and their selection is so diverse. I fell in love with Sublime, which is the luxury line from Sirdar. The colorways are so beautiful and the baby pattern book is darling. It is too bad that they are so faraway, I would be spending a lot more time there.

Keziah's Baby Shower

2007-07-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is Keziah modeling the Bouton dress I made over a year ago, before she was even a thought. This was taken at her baby shower and the glasses were a gift. I thought it was pretty cute.

Baby Blanket

2007-07-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a blanket made with Rowan All Seasons Cotton. The pattern comes from 100 Aghan Squares. I love all the textures and patterns.

Fourth of July

2007-07-11T12:38:00.001-07:00

We had a great Fourth of July out on the river. My parents took the boat up to Hayden Island for the night and we got to tag along. The weather was so hot! This was Keziah's first outing on the boat and she did really well.

Bronson was also very

brave on the water this week. Richard and I have birthday's within two days of each other, so we often celebrate together. My mom an sister made a lovely birthday brunch on Saturday and the kids were ready to play in the water. My parents live on the river, so there is a nice "swimming pool" off the back deck. Last year Bronson was very timid to get in the water, but this time he was ready to go. He was even "surfing" on the pontoons of the hobie cat. Swimming lessons start next week and I know he will do great!

Finally some sleep!

2007-06-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Keziah is one week old today! For a birthday present she slept well last night. For the past few nights she had been marathon feeding. She ate non stop for hours, which made it impossible for me to sleep. Last night she allowed us to sleep for 3 1/2 hours before waking up. I feel like a normal person and not a zombie anymore. I know it will only get better from here. This picture is of her nursery and some knitted items. Soon she will be sleeping in this beautiful crib.

The birth story

2007-06-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

At long last Keziah Adelaide Revilla has joined the world. I was scheduled to be induced on June 21st, but she had other ideas. On Tuesday night I started having contractions every 7 minutes apart and by 3pm they were 5 minutes. We headed off to the hospital and after being checked and walking around I was only at 3 cm, so they sent me home. We were told to come back in the morning for our scheduled induction

I took a very long bath at home to ease the pain of the contractions which was a big relief. After having dinner we settled in to watch a movie. Throughout the night I would jump up off the couch to breath through a contraction. My husband went to bed and I stayed up knowing that this was going to be a long night. Another bath to deal with the contractions and listening to knitting podcasts was in order. I kept telling myself to make in until 6 am before calling the hospital. By 6 I woke up my husband and told him that we needed to get going pretty soon. We took showers and headed off. I called the hospital to let them know we were on our way. I was told to call them an hour before the scheduled induction to get it ready. I was told they didn't have any beds and that someone would call me back in the afternoon to come in. I said I was coming in because my contractions were on top of each other. I didn't care where I delivered, it was time!

Once we got there they checked me and I was at 8 cm. There was a flurry of activity to get me ready to deliver. I think the nurses thought there wouldn't be enough time to even get me down the hallway. I asked for an epidural because I was exhausted. I was able to get one, but they gave me such a low dose of medicine that I still felt everything. After getting blood drawn and settled in bed I was already at 9cm and feeling like pushing. My water still had not broken. By 7:30 am it was time to push and the doctors thought it would be very quick. Well, Keziah had other plans.

During the 2 hours of pushing she had somehow tilted her head and was coming out forehead first. No matter how much or how long I pushed she was not coming down. I was so exhausted. The doctor told me I had three options: Keep pushing (no thanks!), vacuum extraction (this was risky because of how she was positioned), or a C-Section. Very enthusiastically I opted for the c-section. Once they got me in the O/R she was born just 30 minutes later. It was quite a chore to keep pushing through all the contractions while I was being prepped for surgery.

I am so glad she is finally here! She is an incredible little girl and in my opinion, beautiful. What a great addition to our family.

Dress Pattern

2007-06-20T17:52:00.003-07:00

I had quite a few requests for the dress pattern, and since it is out of print I thought I would post it here.

Hooray for Pitocin!

2007-06-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

I just had a doctor's appointment and I am going to be induced on Thursday! Ideally I would like to have had labor go naturally, but whatever it takes to get Keziah here I am all for it. Once she is here I will post a bunch of pictures.

Grandma's Dress

2007-06-17T20:15:00.001-07:00

It is finally finished! This pattern is one from my grandmother's collection and is over 50 years old. She knit this for me in pink 32 years ago and I wanted to make one for my daughter. The yarn is Louet Gems sock yarn which is a beautiful yarn. Great for baby items since it is machine washable. The lace pattern was pretty easy and it is so nice to have this connection to another knitter in the family

I'm Still Pregnant

2007-06-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

We had to adjust the baby pool dates because we all thought the baby would be coming earlier. My sister had the farthest out date, which was yesterday. I had a doctor's appointment today and am only dilated to 2. This just gives me more time to knit!

Orange Shrug

2007-06-09T10:52:00.001-07:00

This is the latest sweater I finished. It is made out of Rowan DK Cashsoft. The pattern is Sidar. This was a fun and quick knit. The picot edging was the most time consuming part, but I love how it turned out.

Waiting and Waiting

2007-06-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

The time is getting closer to my due date and I am impatient! We have decided on Keziah Adelaide for a name. My husband found her name out of the book of Job and her middle name was my grandmother's.
I was two weeks early with my son, so I anticipated the same thing this time. I guess she has some more growing to do. When I was at the knitting store yesterday buying more yarn (a girl can't have enough), they were kidding me about being optimistic about being able to knit. During my last labor I knitted and it really calmed me. I haven't packed my hospital bag yet, but I have planned what I will be knitting. Hats, hats and more hats. Knitting in the round takes no brain power, and that is what I will need.

Intarsia/Double Knit Sweater

2007-06-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

I started this sweater a long time ago, but since I have a big aversion to sewing I just finally finished it. One of my co-workers is due the same time as I am and I made this for her little boy. I used Jo Sharp cotton yarn. It was on sale at my LYS and I understand why. It is so splitty and not very easy to work with. Cotton yarn is one of my favorite things to work with, so this yarn was a disappointment.

It's A Girl

2007-02-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty bad about posting lately. My store finally opened, so I have been pretty busy with that.

After 3 sonograms, it is official. We are having a little girl! A very active one at that. The job of picking a name has been very difficult. I search name books daily.

On the knitting scene, I have been knitting for others. I finished a darling sweater for my friend Stephanie and pictures will be up soon. I am very excited to start knitting from Itty Bitty Baby Hats. Could they be any cuter?!?!

I will post some more pictures when I finish the sleeves on another cute sweater.

Blue Moon Bambu

2006-11-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

This is my first lace wrap I have finished. It was made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Bambu yarn. The lace pattern is from Vogue Knitting. The yarn was incredibly soft and the hand dying was beautiful. This is for my friend's mother-in-law who has breast cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. After making this I am not sure if I will make any more lace wraps. As nicely as it turned out, it did get tedious at the end.

School Picture

2006-10-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here is my son's cute new preschool picture. He is wearing a sweater I made for him that I am pretty proud of. I used Korall from Laines d'Nord and a pattern from Annie Blatt Baby and Layette. The yarn was on sale and I didn't have enough green, so the hem is in red and the v-neck in off white. This was a great pattern and I would love to do this again.

Duplicate Stitching

2006-10-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

So little sweater I am knitting has duplicate stitching for a cute little star detail in the back. After 2 hours of undoing and redoing it is finally done. For a person who used to love cross stitch you would think this wouldn't be hard, but I am not sure if I will ever attempt that again. There is a reason I knit and not sew. The sweater is done, but is waiting to be pieced together. Hopefully pictures will be up tomorrow.
This is a cute picture of my son at the pumpkin patch this year, still in the hat.