Happy Wednesday!

I had a very fussy baby today who needed to be held.  Thankfully I had a great book to keep me happy while I rocked her, so I spent my day reading most of Three Bags Full by Leonie Swan.  This is our shop's book club selection for the August meeting, so if you pick up a copy be sure to join our discussion!  Any wool lover will get a kick out of the sheep detectives.  

Big sister is modeling the Sweetheart Pullover from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas.  This book is a great resource for baby and toddler projects.  The patterns are very well written and a joy to follow.  I'll post a clearer picture someday, but she just happend to be wearing it when I posed them together!

Audrey's Easter

Happy Easter!  I'm back to the blog!  

Here are a few pics of the outfit I made Audrey for Easter.  

The dress is a homemade pattern, with a stretch cotton I picked up at the Sewing and Quilt Expo, Vogue Fabrics booth.  Cute butterflies, princess seams, and a gored skirt for flare.

The sweater/shrug is knit with Plymouth Jeannee, a soft summery cotton/acrylic blend.  The pattern is the "orange bolero" from Rebecca Babies and Kids #8, the larger of the two sizes.

The sunglasses are from Grammy's Easter basket, and the attitude is all Audrey.  

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday!

Little Pumpkin

A quick update on the little pumpkin. Audrey is 18 months old this week! Time flies! And more good news - she will be a big sister in June!

Her pumpkin hat is fibertrends pattern CH-14, Patrick's Pumpkins. The green is Cascade 220 Superwash #801, and the orange is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK #18014. A fun knit!

She is wearing a sweater that I knit before she was born. It is a Yankee Knitter pattern, done in Encore Colorspun Worsted.

Welcome hat for Baby C.

Pete's cousin and his wife are expecting a new baby boy this month.  New babies and showers mean baby knitting!  

I made this hat for the shower with Plymouth Jean-nee, a nice soft blend of cotton and acrylic.  It comes in some great colors.  I chose the lightest and darkest blue for a one-row stripe spiral.  The technique is really cool, but confusing until you do it.  (Even when I knit it, I didn't quite get it, but it worked!)  You can see the tutorial from Grumperina that inspired it here.  

"Thanks for letting me model, Mom!" 

 

Pete didn't want to be on the blog, so I tried to crop out his grumpy morning face as much as I could.  Sorry you're still there honey!

Baby Elf

You may have noticed, if you peruse the sidebar, that I have not posted a single one of my "recently finished projects."  I'll try to correct that quickly.

I made this hat for Audrey a couple of weeks ago at Thursday Knit Night.  It took me an hour, plus a bit of time the next morning to replace a roll-brim with ribbing.  There never was and never will be a pattern.  I just worked an i-cord for the top, increased until it seemed a good size, knit straight for a bit, and did the brim.  Tada!

I think she likes it, as she's been wearing it every day since!  The yarn is Twister Space from Universal.  A nice knit!  More FO's to come . . .

sweet treats

"Do you like my new leggings?"

I made these for Audrey this morning.  I felted an old sweater in the machine, and cut these little legwarmers from the sleeves.  The sweater was wool, angora, and 10% nylon, but still felted well.  They came out so cute and soft!  Now I just need to decide what to make with the rest of the sweater.  Toys?  Tea cozy?  Baby hat?

I've been knitting too.  I finished this first Neopolitan Sock a couple of weeks ago.  It is knit with solid brown and variegated pink Aussie Sock.  (ravelry)

I knit one round plus one stitch for each stripe, making the jog swirl around the sock.  I finished with a star toe shaping, which I think came out a bit short.  I'll do something different when I finish the second one, then rip the first and reknit.  Any suggestions besides the plain old "flat toe with kitchener"?

Christmas knitting

I did do a bit of knitting for Christmas this year.  This is a felt tote that I made for my wonderful mother-in-law:

The yarn is Rowan Scottish Tweed Chunky,  with various wools for the needle felting, and Grayson E. leather handles.  I love how adding the handles and a little bit of embellishment can finish it off.  

The matching Christmas hats were meant for father and daughter, but I knew even while I was knitting that Pete wouldn't really wear his.  That explains why I got to model it here!  The yarn is Cascade 220 wool, solid red and cream, and one of the Handpaints for the green.  The colorwork is just a simple slip-stitch pattern.  I think they came out quite cute!  Audrey never did get a pom-pom, but I will add one for next year.  It should still fit her with a mild elastic adjustment.  

old knits for new people

I made this sweater before I was even pregnant with Audrey, in anticipation of the family I might have someday.



It is the child's placket pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I knit it with Noro Silver Thaw- a self-striping blend of wool, angora, and nylon. This is a great pattern, especially because the sizing goes from newborn up to 8-10 years. It is so cuddly and cute on my little one, I may need to keep making them as she grows!



Audrey says, "Mom, aren't you so proud of how I can sit up all by myself now? I'm such a big girl! Still a but wobbly, but I'm getting it!"

Audrey's first sweater from Mom

Yarn: Cleckheaton Cocoon, bright pink, three balls
Pattern: Cleckheaton baby book for Cocoon,
ribbed side-to-side cardigan, size 9 months
Needles: size 2 metal straights

I finally finished Audrey's Cocoon sweater! It has been seamed for awhile now, and I washed and blocked it a few days ago. This yarn is so soft! I sewed the button on this morning, and she wore it for the first time today. There is definitely some room to grow, which is better than the opposite. Do I have the best model, or what?