Tricked into a Vest, Via Harry Potter: Thanks, Oh Loops!

This vest!!!!

I have been wanting to knit Tiberius a Benedick and Beatrice vest for MONTHS, y'all.....But tragedy of tragedies:  Tiberius was adamant that he did NOT want a vest.

WHAT????

We all have that kid...the kid who has an opinion.  WHY?  I think a big part of it, honestly, is that he knows things like Batman and Darth Vader and owns clothing from Hannah Andersson that features those characters, as I maybe mentioned in my last post.  Camden wasn't exposed to these sorts of things at such a young age, and I always knew my reasons for that were sound, because, well, case in point.  But he's also quite specific about his outfits, so, he'd likely be this way, no matter what.

As his knitting mother, though, I have an opinion, too, aha!  I insisted he needed a vest, and I knew I had yarn for such a thing:  Oh! Loops yarn!  I purchased the yarn back when Lydia and Sarah were still dyeing together, and I NEEDED the Harry Potter colorway on the merino worsted base.  I'm not sure which lovely lady dyed this colorway, so, you'd want to check with both Oh! Loops and Gracelynn Wool, Sarah's new dyeing shop.  Anyway!

LOVE it!

My friend, Laura, designed this pattern back when Camden was but a wee thing, and a knitting friend had knit up the lovely Mosaic Moon version below for Camden, but I myself had never actually knit the pattern, because there are SO MANY things to knit!  I clearly plan to knit another quite soon, as it is only sized up through a 23-inch chest size, and it used almost all of the one skein of main colorway I had.  AND.  You need to knit her Rhino Romper if you have a baby - OR the Toasty Sleeper!!!  The patterns are crazy easy and super cute!!

Camden was SO LITTLE!!!

But I digress....go knit this pattern!  It's super easy, clearly, and way cute.  It's weird, as I had searched for vests for Camden, because she'll need something larger, and I honestly couldn't find anything that was simple and plain-ish that I liked, so, this totally fits the bill if you are looking for something to feature the yarn, especially those fun single skeins you want to use up!  Laura spells out all the directions nicely, and even the size 4 knits up lickety-split!  I ended up using a size 4 needle on the main body and on the neckband, but I did size down for the armholes and the hem....just for funsies!  I do wish I'd knit the ribbing as long as the pattern said, but I was worried I wouldn't have enough contrasting yarn...why, I don't know.

You can clearly tell my photo quality still isn't great, but this vest was slightly easier to photograph than the last few makes for Tiberius.  I had decent lighting, which helped.  And it happily matches well enough with a pair of Treasure Pocket Pants (Pattern found in the Sewing for Boys book!!!) I made Camden years ago, so, double score!!  Watch the blog for the next wee vest....coming soon!

Well, let's be honest...coming soon-ISH.

An afternoon in the life....

Featuring her Little Honey sweater!

Also featuring the Owlet sweater!!

Swept Away - By the Wind!!! A Shawl

My one phone picture

I was super excited to knit up the Windswept Shawl by Molly Klatt of A Homespun House as soon as I saw the pattern release!  Of course.....the starting of it took a while.  I just couldn't figure out WHAT to do about my yarn choice.  I thought maybe I'd go with some Quince and Co. Chickadee, but I couldn't bring myself to use a solid-colored yarn with no depth - for an entire shawl.  I'm still interested in trying it out, as I know it's a quality yarn and that people love it, but I think I'd use it for a hat for the kids, aha!  I was also interested in trying some Sundara sport weight yarn, but I never happened upon a colorway on sport weight in one of their daily updates (I DID miss out on one stocking that I should have jumped on right away).  I also REALLY wanted to buy some of The Fibre Company's Road to China Light, but I felt badly spending so much money, though the yarn isn't truly badly priced.

Anyway, I FINALLY decided on Rosy Green Wool in the Cheeky Merino Base - in the colorways Rose Garden and Sand, which I purchased from Warm 'n Fuzzy, who has great customer service.  I'd originally planned on doing the whole shawl in Sand, but I couldn't imagine myself wrapped up in that much neutral color, aha!  I was worried, too, about using the red, but Matt said to go with it, so, I did.  I have a few other Rosy Green Wool colorways on two other bases, which I'm excited to try, so, I was glad to use it for something right away!

Thank goodness her dad was making her smile

The pattern went along mostly swimmingly - I did create a problem for myself in the very beginning, as I wasn't sure about whether or not to hold my yarn in the back or front when doing a stitch...and then later, I was confused about a pattern direction.  I went ahead at that time, as I figured I was correct - and it turned out I was, and the pattern instructions were fixed in that spot.  I get so nuts about reading directions and worrying, though I know other people just zoom along, not worrying at all, aha!

The yarn was definitely lovely, though my hands were - and still ARE - feeling the pain of so much purling and yarn-in-front moves, so, that section seemed to take forever.  I flew through the red edging, and though I was worried it'd be too small, the shawl blocked out nicely.  It's definitely deep enough.  I am interested, though, since I mention it, in doing some more crescent-shaped shawls/shallower shawls, as I'm so short and want to see how they fit.  I'm still bummed my Bryce Canyon came out so small back when I knit that - totally should have gone up a needle size on that one, oops.

I have definitely entered into a few KALs with this one, though it's a wonder I finished it, as it took me so long to get started, due to the lack of yarn.  Turns out it took me three weeks to knit, which isn't too bad!

My lovely card from Camden!

First time back in Vancouver in five months...and hard at work!

Somebody thinks she is claiming my shawl

Our first date night in FOREVER

Tender Is the Hat....and Cowl??? Cabernet Time!

This girlie can officially be WARM this winter!!!!  Seriously, isn't it beeee-yoo-tiful???

Can I also say that I'm glad it's DONE???  Aha!  Neither of these projects is lengthy/difficult.  Naturally, though, I made them more difficult - because that's the sort of ship I run.  The first time I made the hat, it turned out too small, because I failed to read the directions and left out the first several rows I was to knit after the ribbing.  Such is life.  This first version will head off to a cousin - naturally!  I didn't want to rip it out, because I figured a finished hat is a good thing - as long as it fits someone and I have enough yarn to complete everything else, which I DID.  Whew.

Gonna get ya'!

I used Colour Adventures (the FB page link), base Dia Merino DK, colorway Tender.  Elena Nodel, as always, dyes up a gorgeous yarn.  And it needs to be known that after blocking this yarn out, it softens up super nicely, not that it's rough to begin with, but you get me??  The patterns, Cabernet Hat (in DK weight) and Cabernet Infinity Scarf (which covers several weights of yarn, though the link says it's DK) are written super well - easy to understand and no issues at all.  Monika Sirna, the pattern writer, includes a tutorial to help peeps out with the cabling, but it's not something an experienced cabler needs to look at.

Always have to do a sad face

With that hat, my gauge was trying to trick me, as usual.  I didn't want to go down a needle size, and I didn't actually do a gauge swatch IN pattern, which the pattern calls for.  I winged it, and I found the right size needle I needed for the ribbing.  I cast on for a small but did the length of the medium.  And naturally, after blocking, it's a bit bigger in the ribbing than I'd like it to be, but thankfully, the hat is a teeeeny bit slouchy, so, she'll grow into it just fine.  And as you can see, the cowl is a great fit, so, I'm pretty happy with the set.

As a bonus, it SMELLS awesome, aha!  I used Eucalan in the grapefruit oil scent...which for some reason, really stands out this time :)

Love this!

And bonus:  I love that I made two hats AND a cowl out of two skeins of yarn!  Yay to me!  One day, when I have TIMETIMETIME on my hands, I will whip up one of these sets for moi.

One day.

It's a Sunshine Day....Everybody's Wearing a Sunnyside!

Let me count the ways, folks.....I LOVE this sweater!  It seems I love all the sweaters I'm knitting the kids!  And there ARE reasons, clearly....I mean, LOOK a the little guy!

(Pause for this brief PSA:  the wind was - I KID YOU NOT - 567 mph today, so, pardon my crazy pictures and excuse the shadows.  This is Tiberius's FIRST official blog post on his own, aha, and while he happily smiles, I am not a baby photographer.)

This is the Sunnyside (FREEFREEFREE pattern) by Tanis Lavalee of Tanis Fiber Arts.  I have some of her yarn for a future sweater for ME, but I have knit nothing else in her yarn, and I'm dying to.  This is my first pattern of hers to knit - and I'm beyond excited to one day knit the Lady Sunnyside that she recently published!

Stealing leaves

Enough about all that nonsense, though - check this thing out!  I knit it with marigoldjen (again, I can't say enough about Jenny's gorgeous colorways!!!  If you haven't checked her shop out yet, PLEASE do!  She is the nicest dyer ever, and she totally works with you if you have any questions/special requests...besides simply dying all that lovely yarn.)

The reason this sweater is great is that you can knit it with ONE skein of fingering weight...at least the two smallest sizes, LOL.  So, I ordered the colorway Anchors Aweigh on the BFL/nylon base - and here is my project page.

Ahahaha!

Tried in the shade, which was silly

Anyway, the pattern is LOVELY - and I like that it's free, but cute...with details!  You can girl or boy it up as you please - cables or a lace edging.  It is something likely best knit in a solid or semi-solid, as I did.  I had no issues, other than knitting TOO far before the sleeve split, LOL (because why NOT?), so, I had to rip out.  Make sure to use stitch markers as needed, in order to keep track of your cables, and you'll be fine.

Also, I HAD to use Tessa Ann buttons...naturally!!!  As always, Steve and Tessa worked with me, as it's so tricky to find just the right type of button for a wee sweater - and for boys!  They offer so many designs, but I wanted to keep it sort of simple, yet fun.  I love these tiny dinosaurs!

Capturing the colorway just inside the doorway

Those dinosaur buttons are HARD to photograph in any sort of light, aha!

Before I added buttons...a few weeks ago!

Not much else to say - I just love it!  And they are both wearing hats (I knit Tiberius's here) knit from the Baby's First Hat pattern by Blue Sky Alpaca (that I always modify into bigger sizes).  Camden also happens to be wearing her Figgy's Sunki dress (the first one I ever made...two years ago - wayyy too big then, LOL), though you can't see it well in today's pictures.  (And while I can find the second Sunki I made camden, I can find no original photos of the one she wore today.  So, I'll a photo for the fun of it!)

Forever ago - June 2012!

And now...in the works will be an Anders sweater, though I need to figure out my gauge issue, as I don't want to go smaller than a size 3 needle, etc.  Also, in sewing news, I do have an Oliver and S Explorer vest to whip up as a gift for someone ;)

Spice Spring Up With a Double Dose of Saffron Sweaters!

Ahh!  See what I did there, with that post title????  I believe we can almost call that alliteration, folks ;)

I'm excited to show you, on such a gorgeous Spring day, not just ONE, but TWO, lovely Saffron sweaters, designed by Elena Nodel (I PROMISE the next sweater I knit is designed by someone else, LOL).  I again chose to invite someone else to knit right along with me, a friend who actually knit Camden her very first Saffron a couple summers ago:

The whole ensemble, including the Modkid Addison dress, was meant for a wedding

The pattern is naturally super easy to read/understand - and doubly so, as it's one of the patterns even I can't trick myself into double-guessing instructions.  I, of course, happen to stress myself out over the stitch pick-up, as it goes alllll the way around the sweater for the ruffle band.  I couldn't stop freaking out over not going down a needle size (you are NOT supposed to, by the way, but I thought maybe I SHOULD, in my case, aha), and did I pick up farrrr to many stitches????  I still have no idea about that one.  Who knows.  I do think, especially after taking photos, that something doesn't seem right about my ruffle band.  It seems loose, but not gathered enough/tight enough, if that makes sense.  So, smaller needle and MORE stitches???  LOL.

Vieve, over at That's What She Crafted, knit another lovely Saffron - this time for HER baby girl.  I love the purple colorway. Vieve used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Blue Violet Tonal (which comes in 220 yard skeins!)  She does still need to add a ribbon to her sweater, she says, but I have to say it's pretty stinkin' cute!

Anyway, I could have easily finished the pattern a couple weeks ago, but the baby is slowing down my knitting.  At least I'll be able to say it's the first sweater I completed literally over his body ;)  (...which makes for sore arms/shoulders, as a side note).  I could have also gone faster, just based on the fact that I had to tear the sweater out...as I was worried, as ALWAYS, that my gauge wasn't right.  I solemnly SWEAR I will do a blocked gauge swatch when I make a sweater for ME, aha!

Can't leave out the Bee skirt!

Used the leaf finish, as on the Silversage sweater by Elena Nodel

I used Colour Adventures (seems I often DO!) in Pirate's Treasure, which is an IT colorway right now, LOL!  I used Sweet Merino DK, which is a more slippery base.  I feel the pictures capture the color well, which is a gold-type color, a lovely rich yellow, almost seeming orange in a way...but NOT.

Below, she featured different "faces" - LOL

Weirdo face

Silly face

Sad face

Surprised face