Crossroads

This was a quick test for Elena of Anadiomena Designs.

Pattern : Crossroads Hat by Elena Nodel

Yarn: Colour Adventures Sweet Merino DK in Aegean Sea and Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton Colour 125.

My Rav Project Page

A sweet little hat that is perfect for using up all those scraps in your stash.

The whole hat uses approx 50 grams of yarn.

 Stripes are addictive by themselves but seeing that slip stitch pattern emerge really had we wanting to keep knitting until it was finished.

 A great unisex pattern to whip up for a gift.

I gave T a couple of colour options and of course she chose blue. It paired up very nicely with some grey left overs I had kicking around.

Little T is just getting over a bad bout of pneumonia and actually her first time being sick other than a runny nose. It was quite a shock for all of us when we found out she was so ill, at first we suspected the flu but when she wasn’t getting any better we knew something was up.

Its so nice to see her smiling face in these pictures and know that she is back to the fun loving little girl we are used to seeing.

Definitely a deserving recipient of one of Mama’s hand knit hugs!

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny today for Yarn Along.

Knitting – I started a test for Elena of Anadiomena Designs. This one is similar to her Wild Vanilla pattern that I knit in the summer but this time with a fun kangaroo pocket that I think T will really love. T is finding most wool itchy at the moment, especially  Berroco Ultra Alpaca, hopefully she will grow out of this, but for now I’m going with Berroco Comfort and hope that it keeps the itchiness at bay. T chose the colour, it was the closest thing she could find to Robin’s Egg Blue, everything is about birds right now. I’ll tell you more about the birds another time.

Reading – T and I have been reading lots of Fancy Nancy. I love these books so much such a delight to read. Nancy has a big vocabulary which is great for my little book worm, she has a wonderful imagination and is filled with creativity. I highly recommend Nancy for your little book worms.

Reading or knitting anything fun today?

Tiny Dancer

Growing up dance was my passion, I took class twice a week and attended many festivals and competitions. From the moment I woke up my feet were tapping and I danced anywhere and everywhere. I spent many hours in our living room practicing routines or making up my own to music.

Of course when T arrived and was a girl it was my hope that I might have passed on a little bit of my passion to her and that she would enjoy it as much as I did.

I enrolled T in dance in September and kept my fingers crossed on the way to her first class that it might be something that she liked. If it wasn’t something she enjoyed that would be fine we would find something else that she loved but I had to at least try and see.

I took T to that first dance class and sat at the edge of the room watching. *parents were allowed to stay for the first week only* The music came on and the children started to follow the teachers movements. Some of the children were crying and running over to their parents and some just surveyed the scene but T…… she was hands on hips, bending her knees, shuffling like a pro *I did teach her a few things before hand to see if there was interest*

I didn’t have my camera with me that day,unlike the rest of the parents but I will forever remember that huge smile and her enthusiasm for what she was doing.

After the class I got into the car and cried like a baby. I was so proud of my tiny dancer, she did amazing. I then called my Mum from the car, she wasn’t sure what had happened when she answered the phone to me crying. I then told her how well she did and that I was so happy that she liked it. You see my Mum was with me at every competition I ever attended, made my costumes, watched me practice and danced with me through every step of every routine. She knew exactly what it was like.

There isn’t really a dance dress code at her dance school and while there are an abundance of pink tutu’s, pink, pink and more pink. I just wanted something different for T.

She has been wearing her Artichaut cardigan over her black leotard for the past few months and it is super cute. I’m thinking of making another cropped cardi in the same style for her I just haven’t figured it all out yet.  I did however promise to make her some striped leg warmers.

These are knit with less than one ball of Knit Picks Felici in the Rainbow colourway and improvised the pattern. I knit them on 2.75mm DPN’s but I think I could have gone down to 2.5mm’s and had a bit of a tighter fit. They do stretch quite a bit when worn.

I whipped these up in a few days and she was able to wear them to her last dance class before the christmas break.

Hopefully there will be many pairs of knit legwarmers in this Tiny Dancer’s future.

Addiesma Designs

You all know I have my favourite designers and I tend to frequent their patterns a lot because I love the way their patterns are written, the style of the knits and wanting to have one in my wardrobe as well.

Sara Gresbach, known as Addiesma Designs has been on my radar for quite some time now. This sweet mama of two learned to knit from her mum, grammyjoan, who tests many of her designs along the way and I’d venture a guess that she is Sara’s biggest cheerleader.

 Sara first caught my eye when she released a pattern called Spectacle Lake.

I snapped the pattern up right away knowing full well that this sweater was destined to be knit for T but I wanted to wait until she was a bit older and would fit into it for longer than two seconds or I would end up knitting the same sweater every other month! Such a beautiful spring/summery sweater that will be on the needles before too long. There is also an adult version which I bought as well *shown below* because mama will be getting this one in 2013 too.

Sara’s two, beyond adorable kids, model her children’s designs and each time she posts a new pattern I squeal because her patterns paired with those two faces just couldn’t be any cuter!

Sara is currently running a fun giveaway on her blog. Check out this post for a chance to win one of Sara’s beautiful patterns.

 You can bet there will be some Addiesma Designs gracing my needles in 2013.

You can find Sara’s designs on her website, ravelry, etsy, and craftsy, go check them out!

(All pictures are copyright Sara Gresbach and used with permission)

For Good

I finished the For Good Hat for T but things didn’t quite go as planned.

Once I finished the ribbing I realized this hat was NOT going to fit over T’s head.

Apparently I was sleeping when I cast on the smallest size knowing full well that her head is almost the same size as mine!

Instead of ripping out and knitting it in a bigger size T and I decided that the hat would be perfect for her favourite doll Cricket. I continued on and in no time it was done. T helped me choose a button to finish it off.

Rav page for Crickets hat.

T is quite tickled at the thought of Cricket having her own winter hat.I’m sure these two will have lots of adventures in the snow this winter.

If you haven’t heard of or recognize Cricket she is a doll from the 80′s and this particular one was mine. She has a tape player in her back and her mouth and eyes move when she talks, much like Teddy Ruxpin.

T has really taken to Cricket, when she first started playing with it, Cricket was actually bigger than her.It was funny watching her trying to drag her around the house. Now they are more like besties.

Once Cricket had her hat, T and I searched through my stash to find something for her hat.

T chose a lovely blue skein from my stash. *everything is blue with her right now*

This is a special skein of Fleece Artist’s Knit East yarn that I received in my registration bag at Knit East last year. The colourway is Safe Harbour and is more beautiful knit up than the skein would suggest.

This one is a much better fit and actually fit’s me too so I might be able to borrow it here and there when she’s not using it.

This may look like a normal beanie but the construction is actually very different. You knit the brim then cast off most of the stitches before picking them up again creating that great horizontal stitch all the way around the brim.

The stitch pattern is easy to memorize and definitely pops in a mostly solid colourway.

Rav page for T’s version

I think I just may need my own For Good hat but I’ve got a few things that need finished up before then.

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along this week.

I’m currently reading The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern along with folks in The PlayfulDay Podcast Group on Ravelry. I didn’t read the synapses before I dove into this one, much like with The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Le Cirque des Rêves, is only open at night. A circus that arrives without warning, one day its there the next day it isn’t. The black and white tents contain the most amazing sights and experiences that keep people coming back again and again.

Behind the great acts of the circus two magician’s are competing in a dual. The magicians  have been trained since childhood for this event but could never imagine that it is a dual to the death….

The atmosphere of the circus is amazing and keeps me listening but I can’t say the story line behind the circus is all that interesting. It skips about so much that you don’t really get to know the characters as much as I would have liked.I do however think the circus will make a great movie .

I have two knits currently on the go with this audio book.

I cast on for a hat for T. The pattern is the For Good Hat by Megan Williams. 

Megan is one of the faces behind the Stockinette Zombies Podcast. The pattern was designed in remembrance of her sister, who tragically died in 2007 from pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lungs), that the family believe were caused by the birth control she was taking.

All proceeds of this pattern will be donated FOR GOOD, to the National
Women’s Health Network in Melissa’s name. The NWHN is a woman’s health
advocacy organization seeking to “protect women from health risks caused by
unsafe drugs, devices and medical treatments”, in addition to addressing many
other health issues that face women today like health care coverage.

If you would like to purchase the pattern you can do so here or make a donation to the For Good cause here.

Megan is also hosting a For Good KAL on the Stockinette Zombies Group if you’d like to join in.

I’m also testing a pattern for my good friend Sarah.

This is mitten #1 of my pair of Ardour Mittens.

This beautiful stranded mitten pattern is working up quickly. I love how the pattern differs from the front to the back yet still works so well together.

I’ll be adding a lace lining to these mittens as per the pattern. It will be my first time knitting liners and I don’t think it will be my last.

I’m almost finished with The Night Circus… do you have an recommendations for my next audiobook? I’m got some  big projects coming up that are going to require a new book.

Happy Halloween

This year when I asked T what she would like to be for Halloween she immediately said

A Pumpkin!

Ok I thought a pumpkin will be easy…. until she said “I want you to knit me a pumpkin!”

ummmmm really???

At first I really was going to knit her a pumpkin costume but when we walked into music class and saw THE perfect pumpkin in her size for sale she forgot all about the knit one.

I did however make her a little pumkin top to go with it.

A simple little fascinator attached to a headband that worked perfectly.

I used Cabin Fever Northern Wool in the Pumpkin Colourway and a bit of extra cascade 220 held doubled I had left over from Woodstove Season. I whipped this up in about 20 minutes!

Of course there is no show without Punch…. eerrr Molly!

She has been in every Halloween photo so far so why should this one be any different.

Poor Molly wasn’t too interested in pictures this time…. it was around the time that daddy comes home from work and she was listening very carefully for truck. I see I will have to time my photo shoots around home time from now on!

 Now if you’ll excuse us we’re off to take this little pumpkin trick or treating!

Stormont Kid/Baby

As I said in the previous post, Stormont will be available in kids sizes too.

Here is a look at the  6 – 18mths size.

I knit this one up in Valley Yarns Northampton in light grey complete with pom pom!

The perfect cabled  topper to keep your little ones warm this winter.

 For those a bit older, the 18mth- 4yrs size,

knit with Paton’s Classic Wool in Paprika.

This really is a pattern that suits the whole family!

Testing is going well and Stormont’s release is coming right up!

Oaked

I just finished an amazingly cute hat for T and had to share.

This little number was a test knit for Alicia Plummer.

An adorable slouchy that ranges from baby all the way up to adult and only took a day to knit.

It features 3 sets of oak leaves around the body of the hat and a great twisted rib that really makes it pop.

It’s knit with dk weight yarn and I chose Berroco Vintage DK  in a beautiful red to go with her winter coat.

I won’t have to worry about it getting dirty because I can just through it in the washer… you would not believe how dirty this girl gets!

I’m glad that the hat quest is taken care of for this year. I always seem to have trouble finding exactly what I want…and choosing from pink, pink or pink in stores REALLY drives me mad!

Ok Fall… We’re ready for you!

Calendula

A while ago I did a test for Alicia Plummer.

It was this adorable little dress called Calendula and I knew immediately that I wanted to knit it.

Last year I knit T a super sweet cardigan called Korrigan in a beautiful purple. It was Ultra Alpaca Light  colour 4283, a lovely heathered purple that I knew I must use again.

T grew out of Korrigan much too quickly for my liking so I decided to use that same yarn to knit her a Calendula.

Calendula is an A line dress, knit bottom up with the sweetest texture up the side.

Three simple flowers climb the side of the dress and make this a stunning number for any little girl.

As usual I am more likely to knit something if it will last through more than one season.

Calendula is no exception.

My Calendula project page

T will definitely be sporting this with tights or even a long sleeved tee underneath when she starts *gulp* preschool in the Fall.