I have been wanting to make this sweater for my daughter since I first started knitting several years ago. I had initially purchased the baby/toddler pattern, but just never got around to making it. I think I was a little nervous about this project at the time because, after all, I was a newbie and the idea of following a chart to knit was a bit foreign to me. Recently, as I was cleaning out my knitting cabinet, I came across an old zip-lock bag filled with patterns and once again I was smitten with Camille. I had to purchase the kid sized version from Quince and Company and three skeins of Osprey in Carrie's Yellow. I just love this sweater so much. It was so much easier to knit than I ever could have imagined years ago when I was first starting out. Quince and Co. sells this pattern for adults as well. Hmm, let me finish that Barn Sweater first. Ha!
knitting
a sweater for the birthday boy
My baby turns five next week. Five! I can't believe how quickly time seems to be flying by - much too fast for my liking. A few weeks ago I started this sweater for him as a birthday handmade from mama. I was a little nervous about it as this is about the fourth time I've started knitting this sweater and given up. I'm relatively new to knitting (I've only been doing it for a couple of years) and every new project seems to present a new set of skills to master. With this sweater it was the dreaded short rows. I know, I know! Some of you experienced knitters might be thinking "come on, piece of cake", but this really was a little intimidating for me. I kept ending up with holes from the yarn overs (perfectionists don't do well with little holes in their knitting) and wrapping is just too complicated for my taste. After frogging the entire yoke this last time I almost gave up again until I realized my yarn overs were a little too excessive - I think I was going around the needle twice without realizing it. Yes, I figured out! No holes = happy perfectionist! It was easy knitting from there and here you have it, the Fisherman's Pullover by Veera Valimaki with yarn from Quince and Company Puffin in Peacock. Of course, I had to give it to him early. It barely made it off the needles before it was going over his head. It is so warm and soft and already feels broken in. I hope he loves it as much as his mama does.
in progress
:: this gorgeous bundle of fabric just arrived and boy, do I have plans for it. A smock for me, a dress for my girl, a spring/summer table runner - I'm looking foward to digging in after some furious knitting projects are finished ::
:: I cast on for the Honey Cowl many, many months ago and have only knit about two and half inches! I've been so busy with a certain little one's birthday sweater that I just haven't had the time. Soon, so soon ::
:: this lucsious yarn! I love it and it's been a dream to work with - after I adjusted my tension a little ::
:: the little one's sweater, along with Harry Potter. Can you believe I'm just now starting to read the books?! ::
:: painting, painting, painting! We are finally making this house our own. I'm a firm believer that a good can of paint is all you need to make a house your home ::
What are you working on right now?
four days, two hats
Over the summer I was going to knit. I was going to knit furiously all of our essentials (hats, scarves, cowls, mittens, sweaters) so I could enjoy slow knitting by the fire all fall and winter. It was going to be splendid. It really was, but at heart I'm not a prolific knitter - I'm a prolific procrastinator. There's always tomorrow has always been my mantra and besides, who wants to hold wool in their hands when its 100 degrees outside? Hmm? So, it was two weeks ago when the cold fall weather finally caught up with me that I discovered that both of my children had outgrown last years knits and needed new hats. Now yes, I know I could just go buy a few, but where's the fun in that. So for the boy, I just made a basic winter hat. I have enough hat knitting experience to know how many stitches to cast on and when to start decreasing, but you can easily find basic hat patterns on Ravelry. The yarn is Malabrigo Rios, but I forget the colorway. It's 100% wool, but is soft and not at all itchy - perfect for my boy who is very oversensitive to that kind of thing. The girl's hat is in a pattern I've been dreaming of knitting for a few years now, but just never had the time to start. It's the pointy elf hat from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The yarn is by Cascade and is a heavy Peruvian wool, but my daughter doesn't seem to mind as long as it's "pink!" I love how it turned out so much that I'm thinking this could be one of my go-to Christmas gifts this year - that's if I can keep from procrastinating! Four days, two hats, two happy children, and one very pleased mama - yes!
a new toy for mama
This Mother's Day I received a swift and a ball winder from my husband and children. I wound almost 700 yards in less than five minutes. Best. Gift. Ever! As a bonus, turns out I have a ball winding pro as my assistant. Little mister is quite proud of his handy work.
I hope all of you had a lovely Mother's Day!
wool & sheep festival
Over the weekend, with two sick children in tow, we managed to make it to the Wool & Sheep Festival. I've been wanting to go since last year when I first heard about it from a sweet 4-H kid at the State Fair. We walked around, watched a few shearing and spinning demonstrations (I really want to learn how to spin), drank lemonade, and I managed (in between crying fits) to purchase a few gorgeous skeins of yarn. Not the day I had planned, but we managed to pull it off even if only for just an hour or two.
lorenzo's sweater
This long awaited sweater for my son has finally (finally!) been completed and it was nothing short of a labor of love. I started it way back in September and since then it's been frogged twice down to the first few rows. In frustration, I put it down in October and didn't touch it for a month. It's not a particularly hard pattern to knit, but it involves paying attention to rows and counts. Since undivided attention is something that I can rarely provide to anything or anyone other than my children these days, the knitting of this sweater was relegated to an hour or so of evening handwork a couple of nights a week. I love the way it turned out and it looks great on my guy. I'm so relieved it's finished and so glad to see my son finally wearing his very own mama-made sweater.
If you'd like to try your hand at this particular knit, it's called the Kinsale by Terri Kruse. You can find it on Ravelry for only a few dollars. I used Malabrigo Rios yarn in the colorway Azures and the three little buttons came from a local yarn shop.
Enjoy and happy knitting!
in threes
Late last week I finished this sweater for my daughter. The pattern can be found on Ravelry and is called In Threes by Kelly Herdrich. It's such a beautiful and easy pattern, perfect for knitters of all skill levels. I particularly like the detail at the bottom of sweater that mimics the three garter rows on the yoke. The yarn is Lark from Quince & Co. in Honey. I highly recommend their wool for knitting children's garments as it is soft and not at all itchy - something my children absolutely cannot handle. I finished it with three gorgeous vintage-y buttons that I found in one of my local yarn shops. I love how the blue buttons stand out against deep honey color of the yarn. My daughter loves it too as you can see (she keeps asking me to put it on for her). Sweet girl, that baby of mine - and stylish too!
Now, on to the next project. Happy knitting!
Tell me friends, what are you knitting right now?
knitting for fall
I'm a little overwhelmed right now. I have so much beautiful yarn, so many interesting knitting projects to begin, and very little time to do it all. Fall is quickly approaching and I've chosen a few very ambitious projects. As usual, I will be knitting the essentials for my children with a few special items thrown in (ahh, that mustard colored yarn). Then there is that sweater for me! The beautiful Annabel Cardigan available at Quince & Co. What I thought was going to be an easy, breezy project (it's a simple garter stitch knit from the top down) is turning out to be a bit of a burden. I'm a bit of a slow knitter which means this project is going to take me forever. Row after row after row of garter stitch. Ack! I had such high hopes that I would finish all of the projects by fall, but I'm starting to think that it's just not going to happen. Wish me luck! Miss Annabel (and a few other of my overly ambitious choices) may need to wait until I can finish up the basics for fall. I'll keep you posted. Until then, happy knitting!
in progress
:: A sweater for my niece that I've been working on for way too long. It's coming birthday girl, I promise.
:: A knitting bag in this gorgeous cotton voile fabric from Anna Maria Horner. No more knitting projects getting tangled at the bottom of my diaper bag.
:: All those other knitting and crochet projects that have been sitting in my basket. Next up, the beautiful Annabel sweater from Quince & Company - my first major knitting project that I am making for myself!
:: The boy has finally started drawing something other than lines and shapes. See those two circles with a squiggly line above it? That's a car! A pretty good one if you ask this proud mama!
:: I finally nailed down some fabric that I want to use to make my first quilt! Ack! I've been dreaming about making a quilt for my son's soon-to-be big boy bed. I wanted to do something nature inspired, but I couldn't find anything that was realistic enough (most are either cartoon-y or just plain tacky). Then, over at SouleMama I spotted a lovely fabric that gave me some inspiration. Goodness, I can always rely on that woman for inspiration! The four nature prints are from the Holly Bimba's Golly Bard Woodland Collection (it can be found at Spoonflower). The other two lovely prints are for a dress for my daughter, but more on that to come!
:: And finally, we have progress on the tricycle! Half the time he scoots along by his feet, the other half he is actually using the pedals - Hallelujah!
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