Last Year's Dresses

My girls got some wear this week out of last year's Christmas dresses. I am thinking about knitting another Principessa Dress out of the beautiful yarn from Family Pendragon. It is so nice that the pattern is a dress the first year and a tunic sweater the next... It really helps you get a lot of use out of you handknits!


No, we didn't brush our hair this morning....


Miss Fancy-Pants Clare


Miss Forced-Smile Helen

and, one happy mama :)

Except for a little finishing...

Helen helped model her friend's Kinsale sweater. She really hammed it up.



I have a few more ends to sew in, and a few buttons to sew on, but for the most part this project is done!



Did I mention that I love it? I am a little sad to give it away...



I am a little late to the Malabrigo fan wagon, but seriously people, Malabrigo Rios is awesome. I can't wait to knit with it again.... and I am going to get to soon because I have a whole skein left over! The size 4T called for 3 skeins, but somehow I only used 2 (I even rotated skeins!)... hmm. I already know what I am going to make with the leftovers and it is a secret, so don't ask :)



Kinsale Sweater size 4T... modeled on my 5T 3 year old. love it.

A Birthday Deadline

With my 30th birthday just a few short weeks away, I am making plans to do what I love best - spend time with my family (it's my mother's birthday too) and shop for yarn!

I will be yarn shopping with my mother at the Madtosh store and hopefully picking out two skeins of Madelinetosh Prairie to make a Simplicity Cardigan for myself. But in the mean time I am hurriedly trying to complete my Citron Shawl in hopes that I will be able to wear it on our yarn shopping outing - as yarn shopping requires the extra finesse of wearing your hand knits with pride.



In order to make this happen I have to knit 3 to 4 rows everyday leaving me about three days to get it washed and blocked. So far I am doing good, except this morning I noticed a pretty obvious mistake a few rows back... I think I am going to have to fix that tonight after the kiddos are in bed - hopefully it won't set me back too far :(  That is what I get for trying to knit lace weight with two kids climbing all over my lap!

Knit a Monster!

Meet Pumpkin Patch (or Pumpkin Puke as I like to call her)! Knit up for the Knitabulls podcast October KAL out of all stashed really old acrylic yarn and already serving as a friend and chew toy to my kiddos.



Just lounging around. Pattern is the free "Gotta Love Me Monster" on Ravelry.


It is funny how your perspective changes over the course of many years knitting. This little monster felt like she was on my needles FOREVER, but in reality she only took about 20 days of on again off again knitting to complete. That would have been SUPER SPEEDY for me just a few short years ago.

After this little hiatus from sweaters, it is back to the sweater list for me!

Random Wednesday: A Book!

I have always loved Tomie dePaula books, and Charlie Needs a Cloak is definitely no exception!

If I had it my way, every children's book would include adorable sheep in one way or another.

This is not a "knitting" book, but it does walk you through the process of shearing, cleaning, spinning, and weaving wool into fabric.

My favorite is the washing - what cute little sheep bubbles! This is a lovely book to add to your collection. I am certainly glad I stumbled across it :)

The Allure of Hand Quilting

Recently my mother completed a beautiful quilt for my newest nephew. This reminded me of the equally gorgeous gift she gave to my first daughter, Helen. For years I have been meaning to hand stitch around the lovely floral appliques on the quilt, but just now I am pulling it out to work on.



Why is hand quilting so alluring to me? Well, mainly because it is slow and quiet. I have never really enjoyed sewing with a machine - which is why I knit so much! I feel secluded from my family when machine sewing, and it is loud no matter how "quiet" the machine claims to be. You also have to sit at a table facing the machine - not sitting in a comfy chair watching your children play or chatting with friends.

However, I do love working with fabrics... so I have always wanted to do a little hand quilting. How perfect that my mother is able to make these beautiful applique quilts that I can embellish at my own speed - slow.



Do you like to sew by hand?

Holiday Decorating for the Rest of Us!

I often have visions of the gorgeous homemade seasonal decorations that I lovingly handmake for our home. Then reality strikes and desire, time, money, and talent do not align quite properly for those visions to become reality.

That's when you get creative (and go to Wal-Mart!).

Ta-da! Almost instant Halloween window decor:



Daytime


Nighttime


$0.97 Halloween Stickers
1 sheet each orange and purple construction paper
scissors and scotch-tape

plus the kids helped! now go decorate!