Looking Ahead to a Petite Polished

Y'all are in store for a cozy twosome in this post!  Camden gets to show off a new hat AND a new sweater!

For such a lovely sweater, I took so long to write the blog post that the Petite Polished shows wear. I would say it honestly started pilling pretty soon after finishing it, too.  I wanted to hold out on allowing Camden to wear this design by Alicia Plummer, but since I finished it in October and she needed a pull-over, well, that was that.  Originally, I'd wanted to sew her new jeans first for a nice photo combo, but I have yet to get around to sewing those.  Maybe next week, aha.

There was some silliness in knitting this pattern, though the pattern itself was lovely.  Because of my gauge, I added extra yoke rounds, but in doing THAT, I also added extra increases, which wasn't great for the sleeves, and when I started the first sleeve, I realized my mistake and had to rip back and decrease differently.  I wasn't sure that it'd work, considering I couldn't just get rid of the original sleeve stitch count, but it ended up being okay.    I alternated skeins, and while the gauge called for is looser than I like to knit a DK weight yarn, it does look nice.  In saying that, I wonder if it'd be AS pilled as it is if I knit at a tighter gauge.  I knit with Tanis Fiber Arts PureWash DK in the Luna Gray colorway.  I was glad for Camden to have a somewhat neutral-toned sweater, which it is, but she really still needs another pull-over - and a cardigan, while we're at it.  I had been desperate to try the PureWash base for some time (because of its more eco-friendly "super-washing" process, and it is nice to knit with, but I'm not sure I'll knit with it again, unless I do try some time, at a tighter gauge.  Overall, the sweater is quite lovely, and Camden loves to wear it!

As for Camden's hat, this is another moment where I feel cool that I knit with deep stash yarn!!!  The yarn was purchased way back in 2012, and I had paid an Etsy seller to knit a sweater for Camden, because I didn't trust my abilities or something and figured another person would knit it faster, LOL.  Anyway, the remnants have been in my stash every since, some lovely Madelinetosh colorway - I think it was Truly, Madly, Deeply.

A tiny July 2012 Camden!

Looking Ahead, designed by Veera Valimaki, is a simple-enough pattern, thought I botched up the decreases a bit; it was hard to know how to stay in pattern, or I'd get off track.  Either way, it is cute, and I also had a feeling it'd be super cute with a faux fur pom pom, and I was RIGHT!  I am so glad I ordered from Thread Head Knits.  She has tons of choices, and I bought my poms as a bulk order, but keep in mind that some colors can't be ordered in bulk buys.  I was winging it on color choices, but I figured something I ordered would work, and the light pink is so pretty with the hat.

Even here, you can see the pilling.  I really should get a Gleener!

I am pretty happy that I have been working through stash yarns - for the kids or for others.  I am knitting two wee sweaters for twins right now - one down, one to go!  And I have recently knit another pair of mittens each for the kids, both from scrap yarns.

Lastly, so much has happened since the last post, but here are some snippets from some days!!

She worked on this longhouse with her dad.  She presented very well!

Their monsters are afraid of faeries!

But their monsters love to eat!

This and the next shot are the same beach, same five minutes, LOL

A gift her grandma made!!!

Gift for baby cousin Helen!

They are now obsessed with The Lion King!

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

Pacific Northwest Friends - and Two Hats!

My 4 year-old, Camden, is social, to say the least.  The girl loves her a good time, enjoys getting out with her friends, playing dress-up, lounging in a pool, all-around having some laughs and running around like a crazy person.

She has some great friends here in Bend.  We spend a bit of time with one friend in particular, Greta, because she and Camden attend Birding on Mondays and Story Time on Tuesdays - and they've been so lucky to take a couple of free classes at a local farm, which is great!  It also works out that I get on well with Greta's mom, as we have very similar lines of thinking on a few topics.

I believe this was Camden's FIRST birding trip!

A day at the farm

After said day at the farm, LOL

Another farm day

Paying soooo much attention to their birding instructor

Another local friend Camden loves is Elora!  She actually first met Elora when she was perhaps 1 and a half, as I met Elora's mom in an on-line group.  Camden loves to play dress-up with Elora, and they've been able to enjoy berry picking and go trick-or-treating.  And as with Greta's mom, I get along super well with Lisa and love to spend time with her - and she's been so nice since I've moved here to Bend!

Everyone needs a break, right???

Weeeeirdos!

Birthday party!

Dirt times!

A little river visit!

One of her sets of faraway friends includes Ben and George!  They are the boys of a mom I also met on-line way back when I was pregnant with Camden.  She and Ben are mere days apart in age, and our two families have managed to meet up a few times since her family's move from George to Seattle!

Hillside chats

LOL - cupcake time!

Smiles....of a sort!

Zoo times

Omsi!

Another faraway friend, also now in Seattle (transplanted from CA) is Stephen!  He, too, is the same age as Camden, and she has only had the chance to meet up with him once, though we hope to remedy that in a couple months!  Something I love about Camden is that she is easily able to pick up from where she left off with friends she rarely sees!

Hmmmm....LOL!!!

And hand-holding???

Camden also has friends from low places....the valley of Vancouver, LOL!  When I started working on my fitness back in the summer of 2012, I was going to the gym and taking classes, and somehow, the lovely Kim and I started chatting it up.  She has kids she was always checking into the gym daycare - twins the SAME age as Camden, yay! - so, it was clearly meant to be, as we were both stay-at-home-moms, and she is SUCH a great mom and fun to hang out with.  Camden got on well with Lizzie and Jack from the get-go.  Those two are hilarious, and the three of them together???  YIKES!  They get so loud and giggly, and they race about like nobody's business.  I was sad to discover, mere months after settling into a friendship, that we would be moving a few hours south, but we've managed to so far keep the friendship alive.  Camden, Lizzie and Jack still enjoy meeting up when we get up to Vancouver, and most recently, they made THEIR way down to Bend, which was awesome!  I sadly didn't have my camera on a couple of our outings, so, I missed photographic opportunities (and simply had fun, LOL).

Here in Bend, just a week ago!

Ahhh!  They look so YOUNG!  :O

One of their first story times together

Hot chocolate party!

They wear each other OUT

Adventure, LOL

Aww!

Other friends back in Vancouver include Piper, Bennett, Addy and Bella.  They are all older, and these four have always been great about taking care of Camden when she hangs out with them!  It always makes Camden happy when she has older kids with whom to giggle.

How'd they get up there??

Pumpkin patch time - 2012!

Oh, gosh - so long ago!

Lastly, this post DOES include some crafting ;)  Of my holiday knitting, I've so far managed to finish two hats - the Oaked pattern by Alicia Plummer (blog), which is just gorgeous!  I knew as soon as I saw this green Madelinetosh that Lizzie needed to have it (project page)!  I was behaving and pulling from yarn I'd used in my stash, and Jack's hat is an upsized version of the Otis baby hat, which includes fun cables and is knit out of Mosaic Moon's Maclir colorway on Gaia worsted.  Both hat patterns are wonderful/easy to understand.  I experienced some fiddly moments on the Oaked, but I got over it, and it worked out just fine!  I DO wish I'd gone down another needle size on the ribbing on Jack's, so, it'd fit slightly snugger, but whaddya gonna do?

All this to say... Camden has friends all over, and I'm sure I missed some in this post, but she truly enjoys the amigos in her life and values, I think, any time she is able to spend with them!

Stay tuned for the next post on family!