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!

Deva Sweaters and the Throes of Labor

So...I may or may NOT be in the throes of labor.  Just putting that out there - if this post sounds wack, you'll know why ;)  It's crazy to think that, after FOUR years, I am doing this again!!!  :O  (Meanwhile, the child NOT inside my body is shouting herself some Katy Perry to fall asleep....)

So you all know, I've prepped lasagna sauce, minus the meat (well, who knew this baby would start working its way out TODAY???....I hope it thaws rather quickly overnight!), and I've vacuumed and wiped down the fridge and counters and floors.  We should be good to go tomorrow if this baby pops!  And seeing as how this baby was so kind to hold out while I sewed up through the final buttons today, I should be kind enough to put away all sewing materials and get this house whipped into shape, right?!!

And here is the last thing I had the chance to knit el bebe.  Basic hat (which is likely too big for a newborn, of course) and a pair of longies on Mosaic Moon Woodland Friends.

Anyway, digressions aside.... I love Camden's Deva sweater by Elena Nodel!  Of course, right???  It IS tricky, I always find, to get good pictures of knits - especially a knit with lace work.  I wanted to sneak in pictures fast today - just in case a baby arrived this week...and good thing I did so!  (It's now a matter of somehow sneaking in pictures of two other outfits tomorrow, if I'm not writhing in pain, LOL!)  So, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice, but it's pretty cute - and super bright!

I used Colour Adventures Dia Merino DK (I think that's the base I used!) in Fresh Leaves.  I had a hard time meeting gauge, and I wanted to do a size 4.  I believe I cast on for a size 3 and still ended up knitting larger than a size 4...so, I did the length, I think, of a size 5.  You'll have to forgive my vagueness.  I was quite stressed about not meeting gauge, and that's what is happening with a Saffron I'm knitting right now, so, I will soon do an experiment to see if Karbonz needles help me knit at a tighter gauge.

It was actually warm enough - almost 60 degrees, aha! - to go without a coat for a short time today, mostly indoors, of course.  The only top I've found that I like underneath this sweater vest is a camisole.  We tried to find a long-sleeved white tee, but Old Navy has clearly moved onto summer gear.  Also, I love my little girl reading books at a wee table :)

And a couple more pictures, because you need them!

Staring the day out brrr chilly!

Ending the day with fun times, as it's a bit warmer

A Knitting FOOL - Or, Time's 'a Runnin' OUT

Listening to a little Schubert and Beethoven while Camden bathes - figuring I should whip up a wee blog post about what I HAVE, indeed, been working on.  It's been radio silent on my blog, as I've been knitting furiously these past several weeks.  And doing wee, teeny blog posts on each item would be silly, to say the least, so, I took a few pictures yesterday - nothing fancy, and clearly NO action shots, but it's what we have ;)

Incidentally, I was basically forced to knit so much, as my machines were up in Portland, receiving a yearly service.  While I have a back-up machine at home, I can't do any projects (well, almost none) without my serger.  Lack of awesome weather put a stop to me picking up my machines a couple weeks ago, though I WAS able to crank out ONE project, as it was fully lined - a gift for Camden's friend in Vancouver.  I do not have any action shots of the friend in it at this point, but gosh - I sure wish Camden had a red coat!!!  :O  I've used the DMK Stylish Kid's Coat once before, and it's a super easy pattern, things going together quite well.  I did size up to 4, with a length of 5.  It's not supposed to be snug, by any means, but a size 4 is quite roomy on camden.  I did use a 1/2" seam allowance for the sleeve/side seams; otherwise, the pattern used a 3/8" SA.  As you can see below, I also used decorative stitching for underneath the collar - adding the girl's initials.  A fancier move would have been to whip out the embroidery module, but I was lacking time.

Getting back on topic....I have knit a million (well, CLOSE) pairs of socks, hats, longies and a sweater!

I am awesome in that I used my Socks That Rock by Blue Moon Fiber arts in tie-dye yarn to make four pairs of socks and two hats!  Back when Camden was a baby, I knit her a toddler-sized sock, but my gauge has changed since then, and I wasn't able to replicate the sock, so, I took it out and re-did it, along with making the match - finally ;)  And she LOVES to wear them allll the time!  I did have trouble with pooling on this size at the gauge asked for, so, I added stitches, which made them too wide around her leg/ankle, which is a bummer.  I should have decreased sooner - before heading into the heel flap, but such is life.  I used the Children's Easy Lightweight Sock Pattern.  I have the paper pattern, but it can be found HERE on Ravelry.

As for the baby socks I have knit up - I've simply used the Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet sock pattern for alllll of them - one pair, including one tie-dye hat, is a gift, and my wee baby gets the same set, so, as you can SEE, I'm alllll done with tie-dye yarn.  For realz.  The hat to match the tie-dye socks is the Twist pattern by Melissa Goodale.  I also have the paper version, along with the sister pattern, the Sprout hat.  I love the pattern, but after knitting two of those in fingering weight yarn, I'm sort of worn out, aha!

White/green pair knit using remnants from my stash - green pair is Madelinetosh (!!!)

For the longies, I used the tried-and-true Evie Pants pattern by Marilyn Porter.  It's what I used with Camden back in the day, though I hadn't knitted tiny longies for her .....tiny things definitely go faster ;)  I've done two pairs so far.  The green pair is Mosaic Moon, Salmon (of??) Wisdom and the blue pair is Maclir, also by Mosaic Moon.  The Salmon colorway was left-overs from a sweater Camden has, and the Maclir was a purchase from a mom on Ravelry.  I did make a hat to match the Maclir pair - the Otis pattern (FREE, people!!!).  I do recognize it's larger, aha!  Poor baby may swim in it, unless he/she pops out with gigantor head.  One never knows.  Anyhow, I DO have one more pair to knit up, when I receive yarn purchased from another mom.

The two hats are just the Blue Sky Baby's First Hat pattern - the green with Blue Sky Bulky and the red hat with Mirasol Sulka yarn - allll yarn from my stash, so another score!  Clearly, the red hat is meant for months down the road, so, I hope the timing will be right for the fit, and I DO hope the green hat will fit right away, though it IS quite bulky (so, will it be COZY???).  This pattern is honestly an easy fall-back pattern.  I like the ribbing and garter brim - super simple and EASY to modify from baby through adult.

Lastly, I used the Puerperium Cardigan pattern by Kelly Brooker (also FREE in the newborn size!).  I mostly did it because it was free.  The pattern itself is simple, easy to follow, etc.  I'm not in LOVE with the yarn choice, but I was being GOOD (read: poor!) and using yarn from my stash.  It's Blue Sky Alpaca Melange, which is fuzzy and such.  It'll work, but I do wish I'd had enough DK yardage in another colorway/yarn.  The part I AM excited about is the buttons!!!!!  Aren't they most beautiful???   They're Tessa Ann Designs, the Organic set - which I chose because it was rather gender neutral and fit with the yarn color/design of the sweater.  I die at their cuteness.  This is clearly the baby's first sweater, and the baby will also get to wear Camden's first sweater.

As for knitting in general, I hope to finish a sweater vest for Camden by tomorrow night, which will be her last for quite some time.  As for sewing, I hope to sew a TON from Friday through Wednesday, when Matt is out of town on a ski trip!!!  Those'll all be projects for Camden, so, we'll see what I can get through  :O