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!!

North Shore....? And By THAT, I Mean North Shore of Bend...

A couple things about this sweater:  I LOVE how cute it is - and what a great pattern!  But I do NOT like 54/45 wool/cotton blend yarns, methinks.

Again, though - how CUTE!

The pattern is North Shore, by tincanknits, part of their Pacific Knits Collection.  I thought it was the cutest thing when I first discovered it, and I'm glad I knit it up.  It took me a couple weeks, which is great, especially as it's a stranded-work project....LOL - though it IS the 6 month cast-on.

This kid is toooo fast for me to get pictures!

My gauge, as always (broken-record, much??), was too loose, so, I figured casting on for two sizes smaller would make it work out just fine.  I sadly wish I'd cast on for only one size smaller, as it's pretty snug to get on Tiberius.  The head-hole, especially, is a bit tight, and the silly boy likes to get his teeth in the sweater as I'm pulling it off, making matters THAT much easier ;)  I understand the pattern didn't call for the neckhole I did (which seemed wide to me in project page photos), but I had decreased by more stitches than the pattern calls for after the yoke is finished.  I sort of modeled it after the stitch decreases in the Owlet sweater - again, if I'd done a size bigger, I would have been better off.  I believe I might only size down one size for Camden's, but I'll see how it goes.  I'll definitely keep in mind the neckhole, as I think part of the problem is the yarn.

Speaking of, the yarn is Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn, which IS lovely to look at and is plied nicely, etc, etc.  It's an affordable worsted-weight yarn, and the colors are great, and there are more I wish I had...except that I think I won't be using this yarn again after Camden's version of this sweater.  The cotton made my fingertips feel weird, I think - not numb, but SOMEthing???  Anyway, nothing wrong with the yarn itself, but I love the elasticity of wool, though this sweater IS soft and looks lovely on Tiberius.....though I doubt it will fit through November, which is sad, as winter is essentially over here, in terms of bulkier sweaters.  But I'll stuff him in it while I can, LOL!

So....life these days on the homefront!

Taking a break!

Good times at a birthday party

Building Titanic

A little Pilot Butte Action

Helping dad build a new art cabinet/easel

Yay!  Fun new books to be used in conjunction with homeschooling!

Quit gymnastics and started ballet......

Make MINE an Orange Strawberry, Please! A Sweater

For some reason, I feel this is Camden's most prim and proper sweater, yet!  Meet Make Mine Strawberry, designed by Terri Kruse of Ninja8tofu Designs on Ravelry (group link).

Excited about her Little Bunny Foo Foo Doppelganger Set from Gnome Acres!

I love that this has a bit of a classic little-girl cardigan look. Long sleeves, simple, long ribbing, several small, simple buttons.  Minus the fact that it doesn't remind ANYone of a strawberry, LOL, it's pretty cool.

(P.S.....You are forewarned that these photos are all incredibly awesome :O )

But....check THIS out!  I get MAJOR props, if I do say so myself, because I did something I NEVER do!  I upcycled buttons ;)  I had an Anthropologie shirt from a few years ago, but not too long after owning it, Camden accidentally ripped the front pocket - in a way that wouldn't have been easily mended...and said shirt had 9 buttons on it.  ORANGE!  Yay.  I took those suckers off like the thrifty person I am (at least in that moment!).  The yarn IS sport weight, but even at that, the buttons are honestly a bit too small for the button holes.  Fingering weight would worked a bit better for buttons this size, as they do tend to pop out.  Bah, humbug - I'll go with it :)

So!  The yarn!  I purchased this yarn over a year ago, I believe, specifically for this pattern.  I swear I bought it with the size 4 in mind, but I sadly didn't have enough yarn.  I knew this before I even started the button bands, and I checke around on Ravelry for Colour Adventures Dia Sport in Tiger Lily, but apparently, nobody has ever purchased it, aha!  Or many people are like ME and do not enter stash yarn.  Anyway, I messaged Elena, who is AWESOME, and asked about getting another skein, which she was able to do.  So, with that purchase out of the way, I had to work on other things to wait for its arrival, which is the only reason this project took so long (quite okay, as I was able to work on my Homegrown!)

Mom, I can't SEE!

The bright sun!!!

Therein lies the issue, though... :(  I had to add a skein of yarn dyed at a completely different time, and for some reason, I pulled an amateur move and didn't even CONSIDER it.  NOT a big deal, if I'd had three skeins, not all alike, and was able to knit them all at once, alternating and so on.  But I was starting to knit with a skein onto something already existing, obviously.  I did the buttonband and didn't notice it (though I do NOW), then I cast on for the sleeve and happily knit on the the drive to Vancouver a couple weeks  ago.....Only to see, in the bright, bright sun, that it was AWFUL.  Matt and my friend, Elissa, over at Sew Geeky Sachets, tried to convince me otherwise, but YIKES.  Anyway, long story short - I used my brain and realized/HOPED that I had enough left-overs of the original yarn at home and could alternate just the sleeves...which I did.  Whew.  So....freak-out amounted to nothing in the end.  I had even messaged Elena, like a fool - AND looked again on Ravelry, hoping someone had logged a skein of Tiger Lily all of a sudden, LOL.  All for naught.  I'm so dramatic.

Believe it or not, these three photos were my FIRST failed attempt....

Anyway, the pattern is super well-written and lovely, and I'd had one question when I was on the road withOUT the pattern, and Terri got back to me right away.  Naturally, Elena's yarn, as always, is lovely, and I didn't realize at first that I was AGAIN knitting with orange, but in person, Tiger Lily is obviously tonal, as compared to the Madelinetosh I used for Camden's Owlet....but I DO need a break from orange, aha!

Team work!

A proud winner, LOL....everyone IS, after all ;)

Coming in hot! (Photo courtesy of Cat!)

Meeting with the Ice Queen....both Greta and Camden were underwhelmed (photo courtesy of Cat!)

Lastly, speaking of Sew Geeky Sachets, you NEED to go grab you a Dream Pillow!  Camden has one, and NO JOKE, she is dreaming and remembering her dreams really well - better than she ever was.  Effing magic, I tell you, LOL.  Here's an example of one:

Matchy Matchy!? Owlet Sweaters for Two!

Presenting the Owlet Sweater by Kate Davies!

About to be sick???  Aha! 

(FYI - the post below was written MONTHS ago, aha!  I am just now posting this, and I'll try and insert pictures from when I first knit it until more recent times to see if there's a difference in growth!)

I am insanely excited about these sweaters - for a few reasons.  They're clearly super cute.  They were knit out of Madelinetosh, which I love.  Lastly, they fit as well as can be expected, when I'm always lengthening/hoping for the best (as in, I gotta make these sweaters last through the winter!).

The pattern itself, found on Ravelry, of course, is super easy.  You knit in ribbing, then in stockinette, from the bottom to the armpits.  This was my first bottom-up sweater, though it was Karly's third or so. The stockinette portion goes quickly enough, and I actually had Tiberius's sweater done months ago, but I didn't like how long it was, so, I ripped out a portion of it, which meant re-doing the cables, etc....which also meant waiting until late July to get back to the sweater, LOL.

I did fret quite a bit about the sizing on Tiberius's, as it's tricky to plan ahead for length on the torso and arms for a wee baby.  I originally wasn't going to get action shots on him, but as it turns out, the sweater isn't too shabby on him at this point - clearly a bit long and wide around, but it seems porportioned correctly, which makes me happy.  Camden's is just a bit long in the arms and torso, which is what I wanted - for that extra inch or two she could grow by next February.

LOL!!

As I said, the pattern is written well, though I did change things up on the neck ribbing - I'm not used to needing a stretchy bind-off, as I am a top-down sock knitter, and I've only ever done top-down sweaters.  I believe I added extra stitches to the neck ribbing on both sweaters, and I maybe went up a needle size on the last two rows of ribbing, plus the bind-off.  This worked out well, and the neck ribbing on both sweaters sits well, so, I'm happy.  Other than that, the only thing I have to say is that it DID make me a bit crazy to have all that weirdly tight knitting when the sleeves were joined to the body - which I know is normal but still isn't a good time, aha.

For Camden's Owlet, I used Madelinetosh Chunky in Citrus, and for Tiberius's, I used Madelinetosh Vintage in Log Cabin.  Now here is the BONUS:  I knit Camden's with Tiberius in mind - my plan is for this sweater to double as a sweater for him, too, down the road.  I have a few sweaters in mind that I plan to do that with, like the Carabe sweater by Justyna Lorkowska.

A week hike we were on

Also note her Cabernet cowl and hat! 

Just today at the park!  Look at those chompers!

Naturally, some random photos to end the post!