A Fun Afternoon

Due to extreme laziness on my part I have not sewed buttons on my Grace which took me months to knit and months to block. However, I finally got around to weaving in the ends and decided since I usually don't button my sweaters anyway this was not going to stop me from wearing it.

 

The next problem...photographing myself.

I don't have a tripod doohickey and photographing a whole sweater always poses a

So this afternoon harbored a great experiment to solve this problem.

I enlisted my lovely, genius, amazing five (AND A HALF, as she is always quick to point out) year old bebe to take pictures of her mama wearing the Grace cardigan.

The results:  

 "Hi Mama! What are you looking at, by the way? You need to look at me."

 

"Okay."

"Where are the buttons mama?"

"Oh, I forgot to put them on."

"It would look better with buttons."

"Yeeeeeees....."

"Okay Mama, I don't like looking at your back".

Not sure what she meant. 

Being a top model is tiring.

"Make a silly face mama!" 

\

I love my new-ish sweater!

The Heritage sock yarn is easy to knit with and makes for a super soft and cozy sweater.

For such a light knit it's very warm, and the color is vibrant and makes me happy.

I love the lace, the tiny garter detail, and I loved knitting it.

Knitting a sock yarn sweater is a serious time investment,

 but this sure was a fun way to celebrate finishing it!

My little buddy photographer! On the go!

simple

The Simple Collection is a learn-to-knit series of *free* patterns by Tin Can Knits. Made up of 8 patterns utilizing garter, rib and stockinette stitches, these patterns are simple and beautiful, wide-ranging and fun to knit for beginners and not-so-beginners (like me). 

This is the "Barley" hat from the collection.

I knit it to be less slouchy as I'm finding I prefer my hats to be.

garter, stockinette, 1x1 rib. 

Yarn: Plymouth DK merino superwash. Squish!

Also from the Simple Collection, this good-lookin' pullover: 

Flax pullovers for the whole family!

(photo from the tincanknits website)

I'm finally knitting D a sweater! It's only taken me ten years to cast on! ha!

I love the garter panels on the sleeves and the simple shape. Just right for D.

It's also the perfect project to knit for the Big Bang Theory KAL,

going on right now in the luvinthemommyhood group on Ravelry. 

here's my "WIP Wednesday" progress shot. 

The Knitter and the Dr. Scientist. I love our little nerdy family.

Finally, Aidez

I cast on this sweater as part of the Aidez KAL hosted by celticcaston, 

but I just got majorly distracted by, well, life I guess. 

I'm glad my mojo finally decided to grace me with its presence again because it's finally done.

i.love.this.sweater.

I knit mine in Malabrigo Worsted, colorway Vaa.

It's difficult to capture the color properly, but I like to think of it as a sea monster colorway. 

My seaming was quite wonkified, esp. in the neck area. 

But hey, no one is coming at me with a magnifying glass or anything.

Super helpful Helpful seaming tutorial by Kelly of celticcaston

Pretty front panel. 

I'm such a dork but i love how the ktbl (knit through the back loop) stitches really set off the cables.

The sweater was knit with zero ease for me and as you can see the sleeves are a bit long. However, this adds yet another cozy element to the sweater.

I never want to take it off.

If I had a fireplace, this would be the sweater to curl up in, read my book, and drink the mommy juice. ha.

Check out all the lovely Aidez that were knit up as part of the KAL here. And thank you Kelly for hosting, even though I'm months late in saying so!

Classic Raglan Pullover

It is finished. My Classic Raglan Pullover, pattern by Jane Richmond. Made as a part of the Classic Raglan Pullover KAL hosted by the Canadian Living's Craft Blog. Thanks ladies for the encouragement and inspirations. KAL's are a great way to stay motivated.

my project page for Classic Raglan Pullover

The yarn is Cascade 220 heathers, colorway deep deep burgundy. I can't say enough how much I love this yarn, the color choices are amazing and so reasonably priced for such a high-quality yarn. I want a Classic Raglan in every colorway! 

I did experience some sleeve-itis when it hit 70 degrees last week and the last thing I wanted to be doing was knitting. However I powered through and I'm so glad I did, as the last few days have snapped back to appropriate early spring weather. My new sweater is the perfect thing to be wearing!

Next time (there will definitely be a next time) I'll make it a bit longer and make the size 32. This one is very comfortable to wear but it's a bit big.

Noelle's reaction (while it was blocking): I hope it dries soon so I can touch it. It is SOOOO byoootiful...

I see her future, and it's a yarny one, folks. I love this girl. 

Little Friend

Here is my progress on the Twiggy Cardigan so far:

I've gotten past the sleeve separation and am working on it here and there. 

In more exciting news, I made a new friend:

Isn't he cute? His name is Burton the Button. He has 7 identical brothers and sisters who will make their happy home on the Twiggy Cardigan. That is, as long as I can find coordinating buttons for the neck. Time to get creative!

I found these buttons on Etsy in the shop Lillian Olive. The photos and descriptions are great and the service did not disappoint! Not only did I get my buttons but I got them super fast and they arrived in cute packaging, safe and sound, with a little free gift.

cuteness overload, no?

Highly recommend this shop, she has both vintage and new buttons in stock, so you can surely find what you're looking for project-wise.

Happy Tuesday!