it's still not cold enough for a coat!

The November Ruffle is finished! I wove in the ends this morning and gave it a bit of steam before wearing it all day. Every girl should have a wrap like this; warm, soft, and comfortable while being pretty and elegant at the same time.



Sorry about the self-portrait. I cropped out the basket of clean laundry in the background.

Yesterday, I made a lining for my seed stitch purse.



When choosing the fabric, I had a couple of more subdued options picked, but then I thought, "If I get THIS, I will smile every time I open my purse!" It not only had sheep, cows, and pigs, but they are all wearing patchwork quilts! Too cute!

Still to do: sew the lining into the purse, find and attach a button, and finish sewing on the leather handle.

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!"

knitting report

I had a good knitting day today, even though I frogged a bit. I actually got to work on some things, and I have progress to show. This is the November Ruffle wrap. I decided that the ruffle was not going to be full enough, so I ripped it back a few rows to increase for more ruffley-ness. I got this pic while it was off of the needles:



I got it back on the needles, then increased the ribbing 150%. Now I just need to knit about 4 more inches. It should be lovely!

Not wanting to work on the wrap at knit night, I decided to start this.



My little one needs some handknit toys for Christmas, and Elijah will be something soft and squishy to chew on. I think I'll add a rattle too. Fun!

awesome Aussie

We got two new yarns from Oasis Yarns at the shop! This is Aussie Wool:



It is a chunky super-soft Australian wool. I have already knit a swatch with it for my Fall 2008 Knitscene submissions. I love working with it. It is also great for chunky ribbed scarves, like the ones I have made held with two strands of mohair. So soft and cuddly!

This is Aussie Sock:



I haven't knit with this yet, but I am really looking forward to it. There are solid and handpainted variegated colors, and one hank should make a pair of socks. Audrey especially likes the purple/pink combination. The pictures really don't do the colors justice. You'll just have to come check them out for yourself!

chocolate and peanut butter

We had a wonderful day here at our cabin in the woods. Our little family bunkered down after church and had a nice cozy day with the fire blazing in the woodstove. All of Audrey's grandparents and her Uncle Alec came to visit. I got some knitting done on the ruffle wrap:



I am almost finished with the main rectangle and ready to start the ruffle edge. It's quick to knit for such a large project. I haven't drowned yet in the sea of stockinette!

I also baked some tasty peanut butter cookies. You can tell they were VERY tasty, since this little guy is the only one left! I doubt he will last 'til morning.



Okay, I ate it already.

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?

November Ruffle

This is the project I started a couple of days ago. It is a rectangular wrap with a ruffle on three sides. I am holding two yarns together. The brown is Cascade 220 wool, and the grey-brown marled is Peruvian Tweed alpaca. The combination, on size 10 needles, is making a soft, warm fabric, and it feels great to knit. I hope it feels this great to wear!



For those of you paying attention to my "blog every day in November" attempt, you will notice that I missed yesterday. I did have a good reason though! My computer wouldn't upload pictures, so I had to wait for Blogger folks to fix the tech stuff. Now it works! Yippee!