Emily has 2 American Girl dolls. First she got Emily (of course!). Last Christmas, she got Molly.

Emily has a swimsuit. Molly does not.

We’re going to a pool party this evening. Both dolls want to attend the party as well, but alas, no swimsuit for Molly! Tragedy!

Enter mom, a half-hour, some scrap fabric, some velcro, a piece of ribbon, and whatever thread happens to already be in the sewing machine. It’s like a Project Runway challenge for the 18-inch set.

Molly now has proper pool party attire.

My wrist has been acting up again. This time it’s from moving the furniture and everything we own in & out of all of the rooms of the house. Why? Because we had the whole thing painted! It’s no longer all the same color in here. And the walls are clean again.

So, I’ve been babying my wrist this week. It’s starting to feel better finally. The large lump on my tendon has gone down.

I get fidgety at night while watching TV. It’s just not right to sit here with nothing in my hands! What did I do before I learned to knit? I can’t even remember. Did I just sit here and stare at the TV and not do anything else productive? Surely not. Maybe I did crossword puzzles or something.

I have a sock-in-progress, started before the wrist began acting up again. I’m itching to pick it up again.

I will also need to start another baby blanket, but I think I will wait until they find out if it’s a boy or a girl.

And I have a wedding shawl to plan for!

I will have to use this resting time to search for shawl patterns.

And blogging. I need to get back into the swing of blogging. If there won’t be much in the way of knitting updates, there will definitely be garden updates!

How about some Moderne Baby Blanket?

This blanket is for my nephew-to-be. He’s due 5/13, but he’s being given an early release sometime Wednesday (or maybe Thursday, depending on how long he takes!). His big brother got the Alphabet Blanket. Dad is a big Bengals fan. I thought about trying to do a tiger stripe blanket, but I didn’t have enough black yarn. And that would also involve intarsia. So a log cabin fit the bill. I didn’t do the whole blanket, but it’s perfectly baby-sized and square.

Details:
Started: March 7; Finished: May 1, 2010
Pattern: Moderne Baby Blanket, from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease; Licorice (1 skein), Orangeade (about 1.5 skeins), Vanilla (about 1.5 skeins)
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, US7

I finished my Ripple Afghan tonight, with time to spare. Gold medal for me!

Better than 2008′s DNF results.

Details:
Started: July 15, 2008; Finished: February 28, 2010
Pattern: Easy Ripple Afghan
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease; assorted colors
Needles: Susan Bates crochet hook, size 8/H

Between Day 4 and Day 10, I crocheted another 17 colors.

The afghan was square at this point. And big enough to be functional. So I figure by the end of the Olympics I should have a blanket big enough to be called “finished.”

Here’s my progress as of Day 4.

I’ve crocheted 8 more colors.

I thought I’d take a “before” photo of my Ripple Blanket before I started the UFOlympics tonight.

I doubt I’ll “Finish” the blanket during the Olympics. I don’t even know at this point what “finished” will be. Whenever I think the blanket is long enough to be functional! But who knows, maybe I’ll crochet faster than I think I can.

I love this yarn. I have a couple of tops that are red & black, and I’ve never had a pair of handknit socks to match them.

Now I do!

The yarn had a lot more orange in it than I initially thought, but it’s still perfect (and thus it also matches anything orangey I may wear too!)

I really like the Patons Kroy sock yarn too. It’s soft and strong, and the colors are nice & vibrant. And it’s available in big-box stores, so it’s easy to obtain. Which I think I will be doing…my mom really liked this yarn too, and wants a pair of her own – but I only have 1 full skein left and some small bits of leftovers. Not enough for a full pair of socks for her (especially since I’ve been informed she wants the legs long!). So I will probably pick up another skein someday.

Details:
Started: November 3, 2009; Finished: January 15, 2010
Pattern: My own basic sock
Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks Stripes, 55615 Bronzed Berry Stripes
Needles: Brittany DPNs: size US 1

Through the end of February, I will donate 50% of the proceeds from my 2 sock patterns, Bevel and Crosshatch, to Doctors Without Borders/MSF for aid for the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Both patterns are available for purchase through Ravelry.

Visit the links above or over in the left sidebar to purchase.