Siggi showed me that they actually were correct when he got out of bed with a bad dream last night.

The mittens are Chicky Feet Mittens from Flying Geese and Partridge Feet. I used Brown Sheep Superwash sport yarn.

Móa was missing seeing pictures of him, so here’s a shot we managed to take of him. Toddler photography is harder than animal photography.

The pattern is Yankee Knitter Mock Cable Sweater. I actually used this pattern to make a cardigan for my oldest. The yarn is from Farmhouse Yarns and was something we bought when I was pregnant with him.

Let’s see if 2012 helps finish any UFOs. I almost had a finished (new) project on January 1, but then I realised that I had knit two left (or is it right) mittens, so now I have two more mittens to knit to call that done.

I’ll try to update the post later with more pictures, since it is hard to catch a toddler in action. I am happy that I finished this one in time for it to fit well (and it’s a good thing, since he seems to grow out of things mid-season, so we need clothes).

The pattern is called svona stór and it is from Prjónablaðið Björk 2. There are lots of really fun designs that I want to make in that magazine, but I’d better finish some things first. Next up is to finish some slippers for my mother’s birthday, and figure out what to do about my stuck projects.

I also made a quick tiger finger puppet for the baby (“pattern” from Knitty):

Then he needed mittens, so I made these ones (also from Hlýjar Hendur):

He started acting like mittens were puppets, so I thought I should make some with faces. I think of these as sheep with floppy ears, but Ingi says they look more like dogs. (Pattern my own design):

These are my first FO of 2011, and also use up stash yarn (leftover from Siggi’s socks, which was also leftover from a sweater I made for my oldest a LONG time ago).

My absolutely favourite new knitting book is Northern Knits: Designs Inspired by the Knitting Traditions of Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Shetland Isles. I want to knit almost everything in this book. There are shawls, sweaters, hats, mittens, socks, and a bag. Everything is beautiful.

Another book that I took out but was less of a hit was Knits Men Want: The 10 Rules Every Woman Should Know Before Knitting for a Man. I thought some of the sweaters were nice, but Ingi did not agree. The only thing in there he liked was a hat. It was a fun read, though.

The Joy of Sox is another great addition to the wealth of sock books that are out there. I would buy this for my knitters’ group Christmas swap if I hadn’t already bought something awesome. If no one buys it this year, I think I will have to get it next year. A lot of fun looking patterns, including thigh high socks. I don’t think I have the endurance to knit thigh high socks (how long does that take?) but it looks like a really fun project anyway.

The other book that I would love to be on my Christmas list is Complete Feltmaking: Easy Techniques and 25 Great Projects. Although I have done a few felting projects (needle felted snowman, knitted and felted things, and hand felted pincushions), I don’t consider myself a felting expert by any stretch. This takes all of the different felting techniques and describes them, with detailed pictures, as well as providing a few sample projects for each technique. It is a great reference book to have.

I also have a new favourite graphic designer: Sandra Isaksson. I love the look of her designs, especially a lot of the stuff on the ISAK website.

Then I knit these up pretty quickly earlier in October (although I didn’t make it to do a Socktober post):

Now Siggi has nice warm feet, although he doesn’t like to leave his socks on when he is inside. He got to show the colourful ones off at Rhinebeck, along with the lopapeysa that his aunt made for him.

So I figured I would write a post about the projects that I am stuck on.

Project #1 – Baby Sweater for Siggi
I had bought this yarn for a baby project before he was born, but it just didn’t work with the project I was trying. I decided on the Mock Cable Sweater, because it has a little texture but not too much with the heathered yarn. I knit the back and then when I was dividing for the front, I discovered that I had cast on too few stitches. So do I keep going with the front smaller than the back, or rip out the whole front and start all over again? Too frustrating for words!

Project #2 – Mittens for a gift
These mittens were intended for a gift for one of two people. I seem to be cursed with making mittens that are too small for people – maybe it’s because I have small hands. The pattern is from Hlýjar Hendur. I bought the actual yarn it called for (Kambgarn) and checked my gauge and it looked all right (although the gauge in the book is kind of odd, it is based on a gauge swatch knit in the round and it is not a square, it’s a rectangle, so maybe I misunderstood and measured incorrectly). However, after getting to the place in the mittens where I am, it seems as though they might not fit another person whose hands are not as small as mine. (I tested them on myself). So I am trying to decide if I just go ahead and finish them for myself, or check the recipient’s hand size and see if they could work anyway, or just rip everything out and start over again.

All in all, it’s a very frustrating knitting experience. To make up for it, I am working on a different sweater for Siggi from Prjónablaðið Björk, which will be very cute but I am just starting with the sleeves (easy to not mess up). I have another sweater that I began for him, but it is in a large size and he won’t need it until next year. Maybe that one will make an appearance here soon.

I took an old favorite sweater that had some holes in it and turned the sleeves into a “shorties” diaper cover.

I also made a large sandwich taker for my hubby to take his sandwiches to work. The lining is nylon and the outer is cotton quilting fabric. It has a flap that folds down and velcros (I used Aplix) shut. I made it extra large because sometimes he uses homemade bread.

Maybe I can get some more sewing projects finished soon. I have some finished knitting to photograph one of these days too, but right now I have a sick baby to tend to.

He loves wearing it, and it keeps him warm in the wind.

I decided to make Tomten a vest because it was so cute as a vest (and I was running out of the leftover yarn). I knit it too short, so I picked up along the bottom and knit down to make it longer. There’s an advantage of garter stitch! (I seem to be on quite the garter stitch kick lately).

Big brother snapped the pictures with his new digital camera, although it is very hard to catch an active crawler (except maybe when he is sleeping).