Sage Blooms and Winter Blooms: A Tale of Two Knits

Wow!  How has it been a year???  A summer of fun in the sun, followed by months of fun in the rain and snow, and here we all are, during the crazy time that is 2020.

Once upon a time, back in November, Erica Sufka offered a test knit for her pattern, Winter Blooms Mini, and I signed right up, knowing I had other things to knit and sew, aha!!!  But it worked out, as it's one of my daughter's favorite sweaters!  Camden loves her cabled sweater, and honestly, the pattern was a relatively quick knit, whipped up in Hazel Knits Lively DK in the colorway Blueberry.  You can likely see the line where I changed colors, as I apparently chose NOT to alternate.  I have no idea how I fell into doing that, as it was back in November of 2019.  At the time, Camden was 9.75 years old, and I knit the size 8, as I figured the chest size would better suit her, and it did!

Fast forward to last month, when Erica announced she was starting a test knit for Sage Blooms, a cardigan version of the same cable pattern - yay!!!  Again, I knew I should be doing other things, but it was so pretty, and Camden was totally in the market for a new cardigan, for real!!  In this case, the pattern runs down the back, and it has a nice band around the sweater, no buttons added!  The version I knit up is a bit on the long side, aha; I'd temporarily forgotten Camden is somewhat short, and it's one of those cables where you have two different stopping point choices.  I went with the full chart repeat, rather than halfway down, when I should have done the reverse.  Because of this, I ended up knitting the sleeves long.  But... I sadly thought I'd knit the armscye long enough, and I didn't.  For this reason, the sweater might not fit as long as I'd like it to fit her.

Sad days.

But!  On a happy note, Camden picked the colorway, Glacier, on Quince and Co. Osprey.  I purchased the yarn from Twisted, a local yarn store I am sad to see closing (though I think they will continue the on-line shop).  I'm not a pale blue kind of lady, but it's her thing, and it's so lovely!  I loved the yarn a lot, but something to keep in mind with this aran-weight yarn is that it's a dense aran weight, so, at the gauge, it bothered my hands on the needles I needed to use.  I love the fabric, but whew.... my wrist and hand hurts, thinking about it, aha!

Legit - you need BOTH patterns!!!  Why???  You need them because you get to work with two different yarn weights and enjoy the pattern twice!!!  Erica includes number counts, which I always love, and the chart is an easy one!!  And I promise that if you have a kid/grandchild in your life, along with too much yarn in your stash, then these are the patterns for you!

The Combination Meant to Be: Oliver and S 2 + 2 Skirt and Music Class Blouse

I realize I kick it WAY old school with Camden's outfit choices.... patterns that came out years ago that I sew up over and over.  But a cute, classy look???  I can't help myself!  I'd like to move Camden up into a classy, trendy look, but those patterns don't quite exist - at least, not the things I see in my head, LOL.

I sewed up the 2 + 2 Skirt and Blouse by Oliver and S twice before... six years ago :O  WHAT?!!  Why have I waited SO LONG??  Camden was clearly SO SMALL, LOL.  But I was somehow confused by the direction of the button loop and remember thinking I put it on wrong.  Also, looking back at the photos, I'm all, WHY did I contrasting thread on that skirt?!  And why did I use contrasting bias tape on that shirt???  The little things, LOL.  I was pleased with my wee bit of embroidery and hand-stitching, though - and still am.  

Overall, though, I don't like that blouse, so, when I made it this time, I knew I wanted to use the Music Class Blouse, which is my favorite blouse pattern!!  I feel it's a better fit for the skirt, too.

Both patterns sewed up easily, and I made sure all was well with the button loop, and I made sure to add two wee snaps in the placket.  This outfit was meant to be one of Camden's birthday outfits, and she wore it to school last week.  I also managed to grab the photos quickly before heading off to school that morning, aha!  It also happily looks super cute with her Mini Rock Rose sweater - yay!

I am pretty bummed I waited so long to sew this skirt up again.  I need to quickly whip out at least one more before she is really out of the size 8.  Before that, though, there are so many other things to sew!

Days in the life!!!

This and the one below are the rough draft for a paper she had to write about a challenge she faced

Birthday dinner night on March 20!

A Rose is a Rose is a Mini Rock Rose Cardigan

This cardigan is SUCH gloriousness!!!  Sounds ridiculous, but it's true!  I love it so much!  I have wanted to make this pattern for a long time, and when I found out Nadja of Schneckenstrick Designs was hosting a KAL, I decided to begin!  I dug into stash yarn and used yarn that was originally planned for ME.

(I shall take this time to announce that I pretty much can't see myself knitting too many garments for ME out of superwash yarns, so, I guess it IS helpful I have a few sweater quantities on hand to pull from for Camden or Tiberius, but it's also a bit sad.  I just know my future self doesn't want to get frustrated with sweater growth, etc., so, I plan to mostly knit non-superwash when it comes to me.)

The pattern is called the Mini Rock Rose, and there is an adult version, which would be so fun, too!  You can knit any of her patterns, I believe, and I have no idea when the KAL ends, so, just go ahead and join!

I feel like I was on gauge - or super close, but I knit a size 6/8, and it definitely came out close-fitting, so, I hope against hope that it'll fit well through spring.  I used Hazel Knits - the Lively DK base in the Cabbage Rose colorway, which was a great yarn choice!

The pattern was great - super clear and easy.  I was relieve, LOL, upon reaching the bottom ribbing, as I was dying from so many bobbles, though bobbles ARE simple, and the pattern repeat wasn't complicated or anything.  And I did follow the instructions and knit an i-cord bind-off, so, that took a while.  I probably, as usual, made the sweater slightly longer, because I knit a longer ribbed section on the hem and sleeves.  I love the finished size at the moment.

After blocking, I almost went with a floral button, but the button was slightly too large, and though gorgeous, it detracted from the loveliness of the sweater.

Camden wore this ALL day at school yesterday, as she was wearing her strappy Seashore Sundress, so, she wanted to keep warmer.  That makes me pretty happy!!!

And some fun days!  We went to a Mini Maker Faire, and the kids enjoyed rock climbing, blacksmithing and screen printing!

Christmas in July on her 4th day of school!

Day 3 of school in her Modkid Claudia!