Celtic Cast On

Can you believe my baby is 4 months old already??

So much has happened between two to four months I don’t even know were to start…

Lets see:

• She enjoys  bathtime now and is learning how to splash
• Tummy time is no longer a battle, she enjoys leaning on her forearms to look at the dogs

• The jumperoo is one of her daily activities that she LOVES, she can’t wait to 

 jump and squeal.

• She is able to grasp and hold toys and especially enjoys chomping on them.
• Books excite her, which in turn excites me.

• She loves being outside, watching the dogs chase each other, walking around the yard, a true country girl.
• She is also a people watcher, I swear if we set her on a bench at the mall she’d be content for hrs just watching everyone.
• Newest game is making zerberting noises at everyone and everything.

At only 4 months old she really is beyond herself, most people we meet can’t believe she’s only 4 months, she’s so aware of her surroundings and everything in it. She’s certainly taking the world by storm.

Excited to see what the next few months bring!

P.S. She got her first bathing suit this week , we’re going swimming really soon!

Pattern:  Super Natural Stripes by Fawn Pea

Yarn: Cotton Ease in Lake, Lime and Stone

Needles: 3.75mm and 4.5mm

Start Date: August 28th 2009

Finish Date: September 13th 2009

I love how this little cardi turned out, a simple design that produces awesome results.

The Cotton Ease was great to work with, I bought these three colours, Lake, Lime and Stone, with something striped in mind, I just didn’t know what I’d knit until I saw the Super Natural Stripes pattern. I wanted to knit something that either a boy or girl could wear and this pattern seemed to be very versatile.

Not only is it a great gender neutral cardi but the pattern is soo easily adapted, you could change the stripes to garter stitch, do only one stripe of colour, plain with no stripes, add some lacey stitches to the top, the choices are endless.

This would make a great baby shower gift that you can customize in colour and pattern for different babies, a perfect go to pattern.  There is a cute ridged hat that Danielle designed to go with the cardi that I decided not to knit right now. There are several other items I wanted to knock off in this last month so I went without the hat  but it is very sweet and would make a cute set.

I knit the 0-6 mth size but it should fit within the first month or so if not right away.

The perfect little cardi for winter.

Its a lazy day here on The Ridge.

The remnant’s of Hurrican Danny is descending upon us today bringing  a ton of rain. I figured I’d make use of this lovely rainy day and start a new project. This is Super Natural Stripes by Fawn Pea. I figured with my cotton ease colour choices this would suit a girl or boy and with sizing up to 4 years I can definitely see many variations of this one happening in the years to come.

Pattern: Penelope by Danger Crafts

Yarn: Cascade 220 wool and Patons Classic Merino

Needles: 5.5mm circs

Start Date: May 22nd 2009

Finish Date: August 26th 2009

As soon as I saw Grace’s version of Penelope I knew I had to knit one for Tadpole.  I could just picture Penelope being trailed from one place to the next in a little chubby hand, chewed on, hugged, and loved for a very long time.

I cast on right away but this monster just wanted to be difficult. I ran out of the contrast yarn not long into the pattern and couldn’t find any more Classic Merino in the mustard ANYWHERE. I was rather disappointed and wasn’t really excited about having to knit everything all over again and try to choose a different colour. Once I’ve set my sights on a colour combo is hard to steer me away from it so Penelope languished  in my knitting basket for quite some time hoping for some mustard yarn to magically appear.

It wasn’t until we went to the States on our little over nighter that I happened upon an abundance of Classic Merino in none other than MUSTARD!! I squealed with delight in the store and grabbed the ball I needed, I’m regretting not taking a ball or two more but what can you do.

Penelope was back in action once again….. until I ran out of my main yarn…. DOH! I had used the leftovers from my 2830 sweater and thought I’d have more than enough but I knit her double stranded so you wouldn’t be able to see the stuffing and ended up running out. Heidicame to the rescue this time and gave me a skein of the same yarn from her bag knitting stash, what a sweetie! I hope she’ll have enough with what I had leftover  to knit one of her designs with.

FINALLY Penelope came together nicely in spite of all the yarn issues I had.

I was a little scared, this being my first knit toy, that when it came time to stuff and sew together it just wouldn’t look right. Would the seams be too visible, could I get the ears to sit right, would it look lumpy??? Luckily my perfectionst ways shone through and I was able to figure out what worked best for me and looked right on Penelope.

I ordered a sampler pack of safety eyes from Etsy seller 6060 and used the second largest size which I think are perfect. I bought felt from the local craft store and used Aleene’s stretchible glue to attach it. I will probably look for a thicker felt next time as this one’s a bit too see through for my liking.

I’m very pleased with the end result, you can definitely expect more knitted toys around these parts.

I just hope Tadpole loves this little monster as much as I do!!