Goal!!!!

I had cast on for the little cardigan on September first. I made it a goal to finish by the end of the month and I did! I finished the second sleeve, weaved in the last ends, and sewed on the buttons all before midnight last night.

Corinne tried it one this morning and was so thrilled. It looks adorable on her!

Pattern:  Bella Cardigan

Yarn:  Knit Picks Comfy Sport in Planetarium (Blue) and Zinnia (Pink)

Start Date:  September 1, 2013

End Date:  September 30, 2013

Notes: Simple, well-written, lovely pattern. I think I’ll make another of these! I love the little cable twists. I knit the size 6 for Corinne (age 5) and it fits very well. I had to increase the sleeve to approximately 14.5 total inches, but I didn’t make any other modifications.

In the final stretch

I’ve made a lot of progress on Corinne’s little cardigan. I started the first sleeve today. I’m really excited to see how this one looks once it’s all finished. Corinne was excited to try it on when I checked the length. I will say, a size 6 kid’s cardigans sure do take longer than size 6 month!

Are you finishing anything up right now? Please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Link to ravelry page with all the details: Bella Cardigan

Sew Fun!

Corinne’s first day of kindergarten

My little girl started kindergarten this week and I had hoped that would give me more time for crafts. So far, after two days of (half day) kindergarten, I’ve gotten a bit further on the little cardigan I’m knitting for her and I’m hoping to make more progress this weekend. Today, however, needed to be a sewing day.

Some good friends welcomed their new baby girl into the world two weeks ago. Later today we get to meet her and I had wanted to make something special for the baby.

I had pinned a tutorial for a cloud/rainbow toy ages ago and decided it was the perfect gift for the new baby. I had picked out the fabric (soft, silky minky for the cloud, fun geometrics for the rainbow), printed the pattern, and was ready to go for weeks now. But I’ve been dragging my feet because of the embroidery…two little black eyes and a small smile and I was avoiding a project simply because of that! So, today, with a few hours to go before we go see the baby, I buckled down and embroidered, sewed, and stuffed.

I couldn’t be happier with the result. All told it took less than an hour and it uses very little fabric. The technique is all very basic (yay!) so it was a light, fun project. My embroidery skills are very very very rusty, but I’m betting the baby won’t care. 🙂

Is this thing on?

Tap tap tap…hello? Anyone out there still?

So, um, yeah. It’s been over three years (almost four!) since I last posted. What happened?

Life…

my daughter has been busy growing into a lovely, amazing, smarty pants, funny 5 year old.

my hobbies have expanded to include sewing and euro board games.

we have three cats and a puppy, but only one of the cats is original to the year 2010.

we still live in Oregon and I’m starting to feel I can take time again to blog now that my daughter is starting kindergarten….tomorrow!

 

As for knitting…I have been knitting fairly steadily since I last blogged up until about 6 months ago. Then I stopped. I don’t know why. WIPs were draped around the living room. Patterns were still being queued occasionally on Ravelry. A random skein of yarn (or two or three) arrived in my mailbox. Then, a couple nights ago, I started knitting again.

Here’s a little taste of what I’m working on right now:

 

This the Bella cardigan and I’m using KnitPicks Comfy Sport in Planetarium and Zinnia. The pattern is beautifully written and this yarn is fantastically soft and smooth! It’s been the perfect knitting project for while we watch AMC’s The Killing on Netflix.

If you are still out there, please comment and let me know.

Happy New Year!

Life has been full this past year. There were many projects cast on, but few finished. An amazing weekend at Sock Summit with my dear Chicago friends. Cori has gone from being a baby to a toddler and it’s been a joy to be home with her to watch her development. I look forward to what the year ahead will bring.

In 2010 I hope to:
-Finish my numerous works in progress (’09 was a year of day-dreaming and casting-on, ’10 will be a year of productivity and completion)
-Lose weight slowly and mindfully (no fads, simply being aware of what I’m eating and making choices)
-Strengthen my relationship with my amazing husband (having Cori has brought us closer together, but leaves us with so little time to be a couple. Feel free to leave any advice you may have).
-Read a book a week (Before Cori, I easily read 52 books a year. Can it be done with an almost 2-year old in the house? My super duper new Kindle should help!)
-Learn to play the guitar (I’ve always wanted to learn. My mom used to play folk songs for us when we were little and I hope to do the same for C).

Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2010!

(So, will you be saying “two thousand ten” or “twenty-ten”)?

Ta da!

Please say hello to Charlotte’s Web! (Pattern by Maie Landra)

I like it a lot.

I’m thinking it’s too pretty to leave at home so I will wear it out.

I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Stonewash, Peaseblossom, Never on Sunday, Jubilation, & Lenore. More details on my Ravelry project page.

Caught in a Web

For years I had been considering knitting the Charlotte’s Web shawl, but never could commit. Then I saw Turtlegirl76’s at Sock Summit and I (as well as some of the Chicago Group) all suddenly had to knit it.

After just a few days I’m already on the 3rd color. The pattern in the book Knits from a Painter’s Palette is not the easiest to follow, but with a little concentration I figured out what I needed to do. I’m usually a die hard chart knitter, but the chart in the book is frankly one of the hardest to read that I’ve ever seen so I’ve found following the written instructions for the 8 row repeat the best. I’m also using the chart provided by this blogger to keep track of rows and color changes (the excel file is on the right hand column of her blog).

I’m knitting the shawl with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Lightweight. So far the colors I’ve used are Stonewash, Peaseblossom, and Never on Sunday. This project seems to move very quickly for lace as it’s so fun to see what the next set of colors will look like.

Decisions

The rectangle version of the Ulmus shawl has been released and I love it! I want to make the scarf sized one first, but can’t decide between 3 Socks that Rock yarn pairings. Please help!

Sticks + Yarn = Knitting

I know you won’t believe it unless I post pictures. I knit. Even though I haven’t posted much in the past few weeks (months, years) I have actual photographic evidence of knitting.

First up is a sample sweater I’m knitting for Stitchjones aka Sharon. The yarn is her dyepot worsted in black cherry and it is wonderful to knit. The pattern is Ingenue by Wendy Bernard from her Custom Knits book. I hadn’t really looked through the book before and there are a lot of designs I’d like to knit. For more details, check out my ravelry project page.

Next, a lace scarf I haven’t touched for months, but I’m hoping blogging about it gets me moving again. The yarn is absolutely to die for (or knit for). It’s Sunshine Yarns Sunsilk in the color Dew. Me likey mucho. I’m using the Town & Country pattern from the trio of patterns entitled “Elizabeth” by JoLene Treace (available from Knit Picks). It’s a very simple design that shows off the yarn beautifully. It should be gorgeous once it is blocked.

For Cori I am finally knitting the Sweetheart Cardigan by Laura Brown. I’m using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Navy. I was thinking when I planned this project that the big fat sport weight would be a nice break after lots of socks and lace, but nope, to get gauge, I’m knitting this on US 2’s with 7 inches per inch. Oh well, I love small needles and Lorna’s so I can’t really complain. The pattern has had a couple little boo boos so far, but nothing that thwarted me for long. I’m stalled on the lace part right now simply because it isn’t graphed so it’s hard to watch tv while knitting it.

For my final project of this post (I have plenty more in various stages of completion that can wait for another day), my Over the Rainbow socks. These socks are from the first Oz kit from Woolgirl. The pattern is fun and the yarn is amusing (details on my ravelry project page). I just cast on for the second sock during True Blood’s season finale last night (how great was that episode?!?) so I still have a ways to go. Seeing as how we keep having these random 90 degree days here in Oregon, I’m not in a huge rush to put wool on my feet!

I’ve also been sewing a bit, but I’ll save that for later!

Knitters for Knockers

Matt, Cori, and I will be participating in the Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday Sept. 20th walking with the Knitters for Knockers team. We are planning on walking the 5k.

We are walking in memory of my husband’s amazing aunt who lost her fight with breast cancer 4 years ago leaving behind her husband and two small children. We are walking for my mom and my father-in-law who are both survivors. We are walking to raise awareness and fight breast cancer.

If you are at all able to, please consider donating. We appreciate any support,
no matter what size the donation. Please use this link when donating:
http://rfcp.convio.net/goto/McCain

75% of the Oregon and SW Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen funds provide the following services for local women:

Education about breast cancer and early detection
Information and support to breast cancer survivors and their families
Mammograms for the uninsured or underinsured
Transportation and treatment support for survivors

In addition, 25% of their revenue is combined with Komen Affiliates nationwide, making Komen for the Cure® the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world!

I’ve been so busy this past month knitting and sewing, but not taking photos of any of it! My plan is to get pictures and projects all updated over the next few days so expect a blog post about actual knitting by mid-week.

Happy weekend!