After-School Pants....AT School!

The After School pants and top by Oliver and S are pieces I've sewn before, and I love the pattern!  This go-round, I made a couple of weird decisions, one of which is totally uncharacteristic of me...both which I regret.

The pattern itself is great.  I'm not sure if there is any errata, but if so, I don't notice it.  I will say it's tricky trying to remember which side of the shirt is the front/which side is the back, as it's such a minor difference.  For the top, I used a lovely lawn (I think it's lawn, anyway) that I had in stash and which was originally meant for pillow cases, aha!  I think I purchased the pants fabric from fabric.com last year.  Overall, it's a pretty light-weight outfit.

I can already tell it isn't a favorite for Camden, which is, of course, a bummer, but she does generally prefer dresses and skirts right now, anyway.  Personally, my least-favorite parts are where I made the horrible choice to use decorative stitching on the back pockets (that is TOTALLY a #whatwasidrinking move, for real).  That choice wouldn't have been TOO bad, except that I had also chosen to use contrast stitching on the pants, which is generally an okay idea - except that the thread is SO loud, compared to the color of the fabric.  I just am overall not happy with these decisions, and I'm a bit sad.  I should have spent the time to go back and rip it all out, but I sadly did NOT.  I'll just pretend that when she's wearing it, nobody will notice  ;)  Also, I totally accept the judging you are doing right now, aha!

WHY??????

Anyway, the pants are a bit long, clearly, but we'll go with it for now, as they basically work when she is wearing her shoes.  And I DO envy her with her new, soft blouse...but I almost think the fabric would be cuter if it's been on a slightly more fitted style.  Ah, well - the outfit of complaints!

Honestly, people...

You might think the camera caught a bad shot, but this is a weirdo face he makes....

On another note - days in the life...

Best rainbow EVER the other day! 

Just put the tree up last night, and the faeries have attacked!

Down by the Dunes, Where the Big Kids Grow....

Poor little guy.

Well, on so many fronts, he really IS a poor, little guy.  If you saw the picture at the bottom of my last post, this speaks to Tiberius's frame of mind at many points during a day.

Beach weather is chilly!

To say Tiberius hits a few rough patches in a day is an understatement.  Somebody is always wronging him in some way, something is always jumping up and hitting him in the face (footboards, concrete, ends of tables), somebody is always telling him NOT to nap (umm....).  Poor kid needs a mood-booster every now and then.

This sweater took something like FIVE HUNDRED years to knit.

Which is basically like six weeks or something.  Sport weight yarn???  Check.  Small circulars, double check.  F'real.

I hope the Dunes sweater, designed by Justyna Lorkowska (FB page HERE) of Lete's Knits (Ravelry group page HERE), fits the bill.  It is gorgeously green and soft.  I used Skein yarn (FB page HERE), dyed by Kristin ((Also, if you haven't seen Kristen's podcast, Skein Studio, go and watch!  She also has an active Ravelry group.)).  I used Skein Sport in the Highlands colorway, and it really is so cozy-looking on him!

It barely took maybe one and a half skeins - honestly probably close to one and a quarter or so.....which means another situation in which I have all this extra yarn and no idea what to do with it.  I'm horrible about trying to use scraps, but in this case, I might try to squeeze in a pair of sport-weight socks for Tiberius in the Spring.  I absolutely LOVE it, even though it was the death of me on those 16-inch circulars.  I kind of despise working on short circulars, as many people know.  After the cabling, I finally tried whipping out some of the bottom ribbing on two longer circulars, which was okay - not sure if it sped me up or not, though, LOL.

The best I could get, of course

Anyway, the pattern is awesome, and though I DID, naturally, have a question, Zara, one of the moderators in the Ravelry group, helped me, and she mentioned Justyna may be changing some wording on some patterns, which could help others.  Otherwise, the pattern is straight-forward and simple enough to do while sitting around at the library for story time or in the car, waiting for your child to finish class ;)  As always, I lengthened the sweater by an inch, perhaps - and the sleeves by maybe half an inch...so, we'll see how my planning works out in the long run.  After a day of wear, I worry that I should have gone longer, aha!

As for family photos during Thanksgiving break.....

When the mood hits....EVERY day....

Uncle Ben found a new game to play!

An Abate! Gotta Stay Warm!

Brrrr!!!  Days are getting chilly here.  Camden needed a warm sweater to fight the cold, as her Paint Me a Sweater is short-sleeved, and her Penny Lane IS warm, but a girl doesn't always want a turtle-neck, right???

In comes the Abate sweater, designed by Alicia Plummer (FB page HERE and blog HERE) of the Plum Dandi Ravelry group.  (There does happen to be two adult versions, called Ease...and Bulky Ease.  As for the yarn....oh, the YARN!!!  A big thanks goes to Jenny Porter, the dyer behind MarigoldJen yarns (FB page HERE, ravelry group HERE and shop HERE).  She dyed this yarn at my request, and it's just so lovely.  She called it Up North because I had told her I wanted it in grays, blues and greens to signify that Camden was born on the West side of the Cascade Mountains.  It's the second time I've worked with her yarn, and I have several skeins in my stash because it's all SO GORGEOUS.  Also, duh - she is awesomely sweet and helpful - and quick to respond to Etsy messages!

I've knit one or two of her patterns before, and this one was well-written.  It's clearly mostly stockinette, and you can see on the pattern page that it's meant to have a bit more ease, but I did make it slimmer-fitting; I just can't remember now if that was with intention or not.  I DO know I did make the forearm/wrist area slimmer-fitting, and I think I'd not do that next time.  I love the fit, but I think it'd be nicer for Camden if I hadn't decreased another few stitches.  Also, I will admit to pure laziness:  I should have done a sewn bind-off on the hem and sleeves, and I did NOT :O  And....I should have.  Ugh, but oh well.  I tried to bind off loosely, but that sewn bind-off would have reall helped out for cuff turn-ups and such.  Not a huge biggie, but I should have followed the directions, LOL.

It's a lovely, soft merino sweater, and Camden does find it cozy!  I was a bit silly and made the drawstring too short (btw, THIRD attempt making it...even THEN still too short).  Next time, I'll make sure to do another four inches in length.

I'm super excited about this sweater, too, because I planned for it in a colorway that would work for Tiberius.  I know there'll come a day when I'm moving even slower with knitting than I already do, and I'll be glad I planned ahead.  I do hope, though, that this sweater fits Camden through Fall of 2016 ;)  I did make it longer for that reason.

And of course, some fun shots from recently!

All the knits!  And remember this Bryce Canyon shawl??

Awww, drawing practice

LOL, a Santa!

Art smocks for Jeanine over at Stitch Art

Just another day of Community School

Skillzzzz with Lego

That Apple-Picking Dress!

Um....LOL!

I did it again - whipped up another favorite!  This is thankfully a favorite for both Camden and myself ;)  The Apple Picking Dress by Oliver and S really is SUCH a great project - cute and quick, and options for skirt pieces and sleeves.

Also wearing that Make Mine Strawberry from this past Spring (too small now, btw! :O )

These faces....

You can see a couple past incarnations HERE, but essentially, I got nothin'.  LOL.  I seriously love the dress and would make a million if I didn't have a million OTHER patterns I also wanted to sew.  (Speaking of, as of today, I haven't sewn in a month, I swear.  I NEED sewing time!)

I also super adore the buttons, which I think I picked up at Bolt during the fabric sale back in October.  Bolt is still one of my favorite local - as in, used to be local to me - fabric stores, right along with Modern Domestic.

The day I took the photos, we were in Portland to see Elephant and Piggie (AWESOME books, for REAL!) on stage, and it was such a fun show for Camden and her friends!  I was so happy for them, and they had a lovely time.

That is her nervous face!!!  Saying "hi" to a squirrel!

I always picture these three as mini high-schoolers! 

At our favorite restaurant!!!  Swiss Hibiscus

A full-on DATE with me included pottery-painting!

Lastly, some crazy photos from recent weeks:

She tried BMX riding and LOVED it!

He LOVES this wheel barrow - SURELY!