It's Wonderful

Let's talk about my favorite pattern for kids' sweaters. As you might guess from its name, it's pretty Wonderful! 

Through the years, I've completed 14 Wonderful Wallaby sweaters for grandkids and other kids, and I started number fifteen just last week! 

This pattern is a classic hoodie, and super simple, though it does have a couple of places where the knitting gets tight. Still, I can't help loving the simplicity of a seamless sweater that is easy for kids to wear...and also easy to put on and take off "all by themselves!"

Quick to knit, I've added custom touches to many Wallabies, and looking back through them (and the kiddos wearing them)  makes me so happy! 

The one I'm currently knitting makes me the happiest right now, and it will have many of my favorite custom touches...such as an actual placket (the pattern calls for just a simple split at the neck opening)... 

...pictures and details in duplicate stitch or intarsia, to make each hoodie special...

...and sleeves provosionally cast on so I can knit them down to the same length as the body. (Bonus: sleeves knit top down are easily lengthened later by ripping back cuffs and adding rows!)

Wallabies are certainly wonderful for the flexibility they offer the knitter, and I will keep knitting them as long as I know kids who love hoodies! 

So many things in life are wonderful, just like the Wallaby...and so many things are not. Let's focus on the wonderful when we can. That's my plan, at any rate. I hope you'll join me. 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

PS-not compensated by Paradise Fibers at all...I just really LOVE this pattern! 

This. This is why I knit.

Remember these sweaters?

Check this out:

This. This right here. This is why I knit. 

Thank you for loving my knits (and me) as much as I love you and your little ones!

I knit to occupy my hands, especially when I am fretful, which I am a lot these days. 

I knit to occupy my mind, to distract myself from worry and monotony and apathy on the hard days. 

I knit to celebrate joyous occasions, like weddings, new babies and happy children.

I knit to care for the little ones in my life...sweaters to warm them to the core, toys to stimulate creative play and stuffies to comfort.

I knit because I like to create, and because stitches are often easier than words. 

I knit for you, because I care for you.

I knit so I don't kill people. It sounds crazy, but all of my regular readers know that crazy is part of who I am. People are people, wherever you go, and knitting keeps me out of jail. 

What do you do with your crazy? 

If your answer is knitting, I hope that you will Knit in Good Health this week!

Striped Wallaby

Sometimes you just need a couple stripes. Nothing too complicated, no lace or cables, but not too simple either. Don't make me think too hard, please. Just change colors every 4 rows, and there you go...a happy little Wallaby is starting to emerge.

What's coming off your needles today? Whatever it is, thanks for taking a moment to stop by.

Knit in Good Health!

Wall-la! Wallaby!

Finally finished is the Wonderful Wilhelmina Wallaby!

Why Whilhelmina? Well, I'm not sure...the designer gave every size of the sweater its own "W" name, and this is the size 6, and the size 6 is Wilhelmina, and now I am the QUEEN of the run-on sentence! I might also be the Princess of the Wallaby, because this

is the FIFTH Wallaby I've finished since I started knitting sweaters! Check that out...the number 5 holds over for another Saturday...lol! Oh! You know what else? I started Christmas socks, pair 6...

...and a pair of fair-aisle mitts!

I have been a busy knitter, even in these dog days of summer-fall! I'm certainly glad that it has started to cool off a bit today, and I'm looking forward to finally using my oven a bit more. I really miss that home-baked smell of just about anything in the oven on a crisp day. (And then, without warning, a quick pic of Peanut, all ready for her first day of preschool this past week...she loved it!)

Totally distracted now...I hear that happens to Grammas! I hope that your week and the start of your school year (if that applies) have been good, and that your knitting and crafting have been productive! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health, friends!

Sometimes I'm the Windshield

Sometimes I'm the windshield, nearly finishing a Wallaby and bragging about it all over my blog. You know, like last Wednesday.

Sometimes I'm the bug, and I don't touch the thing again all week long, so it still looks just like this:

Sooooo close! Oh, well. It's too hot for a Wallaby right now anyway. In the meantime, here's a shot of pair 5, sock #2...

So, I am still knitting. :) Just not finishing that sweater so much this week...lol! It's like that sometimes, ya know? I know ya do!!!

Thanks for stopping by anyway! I hope that you are still Knitting in Good Health (and keeping cool)!

Wonderful, Wordless, Wallaby Wednesday...

Thanks for stopping by to see the progress in my newest pink hoodie!

Knit in Good Health!

OMGosh! I LOVE These Socks!

What does a knitter do after she has finished the third pair of Christmas socks on August 2nd? 

Well, if she's Pretty, she casts on a fourth pair!

And she knits, and she knits, and she knits some more, until she realizes that she LOVES THIS PATTERN! And she LOVES THIS OMG HEEL! (The heel is part of the sock pattern, so you don't have to buy both...but if the lines don't "speak" to you, you can get the heel separately...and it is a GREAT heel!)

Thank you, Megan Williams, for sharing your brilliance with the rest of us! This is far from my last pair of Christmas socks, and it won't be my last pair of Blurred Lines either! In my mind, I see this pattern in sweaters, in hats, in mittens...just everywhere!

So, what does a knitter do when she realizes that she is totally IN LOVE WITH a sock pattern and it's heel? Well, if she's Pretty, she casts on a sweater! Because who doesn't love a Wonderful Wallaby, right? lol!

What patterns are you loving these days? Whatever they are, thanks for taking a break from your latest project to stop by today! Now, get back to it, and Knit in Good Health! :)

Not exactly "Wordless Wednesday"!

But pretty sparse on the words to be sure! Short on time, but check out the brother and sister sweaters that are now finished! Yay!

Wonderful Wallbies bouncing all over the place! Yay!

Knit in Good Health!

Another One Flies the Coop. . .

And another one's gone,
And another one's gone,
Another one flies the coop!

Hey!, It's gonna get to you,
Now you have an Empty Nest...

So, I knew they were movin' on out, one at a time, and I have bloggged about this before. I guess I did not think about them leaving in stages like this...it's a new level of out with each piece they take from my home, that used to be their home...sigh!

These are pictures of the latest load of Army Boy's things to leave our family's house. I am excited for the, "newlyweds" as they prepare to set up housekeeping on their own (finally, once said boy returns from the Scary Place)...and I am excited to have some reclaimed closet space, but I am also a little sad, like there are nerve endings in the "apron strings." You moms out there get what I am sayin', right? But, in the grand scheme of things, it is as it should be. ;-) And Wifey-Poo will be taking their stuff to the other state soon, and he will be "home," where his heart and his wife are, soon after that. And they will continue to build their lives together - Yay!

In Knitting Knews this week, I have finished Who?, the hat for our friend at the Coffee Shop, and I like how it turned out! I will wash it, and sew some little buttons on just one of the owls before presenting the gift, do you think he will like it? BTW, my model was my Dear Husband. However, said husband agreed to the photo shoot only on the condition that his face not show up anywhere online! lol! So here is the hat, sans Hubby!
The big project I am working on is Wallaby 2, for the sister in the brother-sister pair I mentioned in the last few posts! This one, being a mere size 4, is going MUCH more quickly than the size 8 in gray! It's a lot more fun in pink, though, so I am a little sad that it is going so fast.
Oh, well, when it is done, I can go back to my Cardigan!

Meanwhile, back in the shop, LOOK what I ordered from CatChic on Etsy! Aren't these the most adorable, tiny pieces of cutlery that you have ever seen? They are about 3/4" long, and there are even tiny spaces between the tines of the forks! Originally, I thought they might have just been stamped metal, and prepared myself that they would not look as good in person, but looky here! They look darn good. . .and I have a creative plan for including them in some holiday-themed knitting jewelry! Stay tuned to Pretty Knitty Jewelry to find out what they become!!!

Well, I guess that's about it for this post...except for patting myself on the back for posting on time this time! I mean, I try to post on Wednesday and Saturday, and today is Wednesday! Yay!

Oh, one more thing before I go...I haven't heard anything about what you all might like to win in a Pretty Knitty Contest. So, I will come up with something on my own, and the 6-month Bloggiversary Contest will begin later this month! In the meantime, my friend Dawn is running a CONTEST over on her blog. . .check out Dawn and her neat designs here!

Knit in Good Health!

G'Day, Mate!

Hopping in with no lack of pictures in my pouch today! There has been much knitting and much craziness since last I blogged! I am really loving the Wonderful Wallaby once again! This is still the first one, and I am plugging along, loving the knitting, but getting tired of the grey! But, even in the absence of bright colors, I am having some dump-truck fun, apparently! Yay! I am currently working on the second sleeve so I can finish the body of this thing, then on to the hood!
Here is the other reason I am tiring of the grey! It is my Cardigan in fingering-weight yarn. . .it is coming along, but going slow, as you might expect for a project in such a fine gauge. . .overall, I am loving it, and I cannot wait until I can wear it. . .this will be one of my favorites, I am sure! At least with this one, I get the pink-and-yellow peekaboo every 10th row! Yay!

And here is the bigger picture. . .back finished, first front started! Hey! Check out that cool jewelry on the knitting! haha!

Here's some more Jewelry to check out! I made some more hand-knit bracelets!

One with pink teardrops and green "leaves,"

. . .and one with beads of pink in many shapes and sizes!

Eventually, I will have bracelets like these for sale in the shop (along with their cousins that are already there), but these were for some friends that I spent the day shopping with today! (Sorry, no people pics. . .why did I not bring my camera?) Hi, Girls! It was fun! remember, make the "T" into an "I to remove the toggle clasp!

Now for some PrettyKnitty News. . .

You may know that my hours at my "regular job" were cut back a few months ago, giving me an extra day off each week (Wednesday). I found out recently that today is my last Wednesday off. Now, that's partly a good thing (more paycheck = more yarn and supplies), and partly a bad thing (more hours = less time for blogging and other fun stuff). I have been pretty good about blogging twice a week, and I will try my best to keep it up, but the mid-week update may be a little more sporadic from here on out. If that does indeed come to pass, I will compensate by making my "Saturday Evening Post" even funnier than it already is. . .

crickets

OK. . .well, it will be funnier to me. . .

crickets

Anyhow, yeah. . .

Knit in Good Health!