Bootilicious

I've been on a booty making kick lately. Wait till you see how many baby bootees I have made in the past few months. There's a good reason for it of course. A friend of mine had a baby and usually that's reason enough to make a pair of booties.  But my friends baby got sick, real sick. And I thank God that she is well and healthy and thriving today. But she did lose a foot. She is too small for a prosthetic but her mom likes to put bootees on her. So she asked me to knit some for her. How could I say no? 

 

 This is the most recent pair that I finished. The pattern is from The Yarn Harlot. I love them. I love the look of garter stitch in variegated yarn. The yarn is socks that rock by blue moon fibre arts.  It is so vibrant and beautiful. And I just love those little pom-poms.

 This pair is also garter stitch. This time in a worsted weight yarn from Rhichard Devrieze that is speckled. Speckled yarns are all the rage right now.  The pattern is from The knitted slipper book by Katie Starzman (which is an absolute joy by the way). There are so many great patterns in this book!! I knit another one from this book too. 

 

 

These little slippers are knit and then felted down. They also come from Katie Starzman's book. I love the needle felted flowers. My daughter gave me some textured paint to use on slipper bottoms along time ago. This is the first time I've ever used it and I love it. Reagan tried these out and they definitely make for a no skid surface. They aren't sized for a baby of course. These were for the baby's older sister. There was no way I could gift a bunch of baby booties and not have something for the older sibling. That's just not how I roll. 

 

Now these mock shoes are to die for!! I love love love them. Whenever I talk about them my voice automatically switches into babyspeak and it's several octaves higher than it should be. I can't help myself. Amy says there's an actual name on this phenomenon. People do this all over the world. It's been studied extensively by linguists. Good to know i'm not the only crazy person out there. I thought they couldn't get any cuter and then I sewed the Daisy button on. Swoon!!! The pattern is by Bekka Knits and it's called Baby Merry-Janes. 

 

These also have the potential to make my voice go several octaves higher. Just look at those tassels. The pattern is from a Norwegian designer named Heidi Pettersen. It's called Lillebrors vintersko. I knit them using Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn. This yarn is super wash and it's a wool/cotton blend.

 

These aren't quite finished yet. There is no pattern for them. I'm making the pattern up as I go along. I love the way the bootie looks.  I'm sure when there's two of them they will look even better. I'm crazy about the picot edge. It's so much fun to knit. I'm worried they may be a little small for my friends baby. But that's ok because I'm gonna need some test knitted when I decide to publish this pattern. A larger size will fit the bill. 

Baby Wall

My favourite blogger, the yarn harlot has often written about how when she knits for babies that she feels a responsibility to finish the knitting in a timely fashion because it seems as though the babes somehow delay their arrival until the knitting is finished. 

So with that in mind I started knitting these super sweet overalls. They were a little fiddly but oh, so worth it. They are knit using Julie Asselin's superwash DK weight yarn called Leizu. A great yarn for babies in my opinion. 

The pattern is from Judith Durants book One Skein Wonder - Baby  I own all of books in this series(I think) and I highly recommend them. This pattern took a little more than one Skein of the Leizu but thats ok. I've got some left over that I can do a hat or some booties for baby Wall. 

This little guy is going to be the first baby of my fellow pharmacist Melissa. They  have been waiting for him for a long time.  I didn't want to delay his arrival at all if there was anything to this knitting myth and really cracked down hard on the knitting and got it done in a reasonable time. 

Just look at those little butt pockets!!

L

She is currently 10 days overdue and it's totally not my fault. The knitting is done!! 

 
 

25 years ago....

My daughter was born 25 years ago today. I remember it like it was yesterday. It's hard to describe how fast the past 25 years have gone. I still kind of mourne her childhood but on the other hand I couldn't be happier in how she turned out. Sure, I made mistakes along the way and there are some things that I would do differently but I wouldn't change a single hair on her head. She amazes me everyday with her strength and her spunk. She takes shit from no one and that makes me so proud. She is very happy with her life and really - that's all a mom could ask for. 

Here we are some 20 years ago. I love this girl so much that it makes my heart hurt. 

And speaking of babies being born in February (how's that for a segue?) a coworker at the pharmacy is due any day now. I hosted the baby shower at my house. She had such a great turnout. There were about 25 to 30 ladies here! Of course I knitted something for the baby. 

This is a Quynn Hat by designer Woolly Wormhead. I've knit this little hat before. It's fast and it's cute. 

And this little vest is called Milo and it's by Georgie Hallam. I've knit this before too. It's so cute and quick to knit. That seems to be my criteria for baby knits. The yarn is from that mitten club that I was in. Blueberry pie fibers out of Ontario. The dyer specializes in self striping yarns and I especially like her worsted weight yarns. The yarn was meant to be mittens but baby knits are just as cute. Plus the yarn has the added benefit of being machine washable. 

I'm not sure what happened.

The summer has really gotten away from me. Now, I can start to make all kinds of excuses - like, we are in the middle of building a house. This is true and it has no doubt kept me busy, but I've still been crafting.

I can also say that I went on vacation. Also true, but I still crafted. And I shopped!!! Yes, I went to just about every decent yarn shop in Montreal that was close to the metro. And I went there on my own! This may not mean much to some, but it does to me - a middle aged woman from a very rural part of Canada. You get it - I'm not a big city kinda gal. Its amazing what the proper motivator would have you do. And this photo? Its only from one store.

I could also say that I've been very busy at work. I've had one pharmacy student this summer, I hired two other students and one of them got into pharmacy school and the second is studying to be a dietician. But still, I crafted. In fact I made my students hats. This one, I'm particularly fond of (the hat and the student). Its made from the yarn that I made out of the punis in the last blog post (shamefully back in July). The hat was made in a mystery KAL put off by one of my favorite designers - Lee Meridith. It was a great KAL and I fully intended to blog about how unique it was and how much fun I had, but then things got away from me. Like I said, I'm not sure what happened.

I could even make the outrageous claim that I've been busy since my step daughter was pregnant and expecting a baby. Well, look what we got!!!!

Yes, a beautiful little boy. For those who are keeping track, this is number 4! His name is Reagan and we couldn't be more delighted with him. In fact, I've been crafting for him too.

So all in all, its been a busy summer with lots of things happening in our lives. But through it all, I've been knitting, crocheting and spinning. I think that its such an integral part of who I am that no matter how busy things get, I will continue to make things. Now, will I continue to document them?? That is the question.

Randomness

Well hello blog. Its been a while. I'm sticking to my story and blaming it on Instagram. I still knit, I still craft, I still take pictures of it all and I still want to share it with the online community. Like I've said before, it seems Instagram is filling that need. I don't even put my projects up on Ravelry with any regularity any more. Shhhhhhhh! I know, CRAZY!!

My whole desire to blog came about years ago as a way of documenting swap packages that I had made and received on Craftster. I can't tell you the last time I went on Craftster. I can't tell you the last time I was involved in a swap. Then the blogging more or less became a desire to document my crafting - a journal if you will. I keep telling the girls that when I'm gone (a long time from now hopefully) and the things that I've made for them are used up and worn out then at least they will always have this record to look back on. My digital footprint left for all my ancestors to see what an enterprising person their great great granny was. I still feel that way, and I still resolve to keep blogging even if I only have 9 followers.

So in that vein, here is what I've been up to the past month.

I knit a headband. The pattern is from Mel Clark's book Knitting Everyday Finery and I love it! This promises to be my most utilized knitwear to date. I wear it a lot because my hair is in a mess a lot. Its alpaca and silk and so far not too hot (mind you, we had snow yesterday, so everything is relative)



I blocked some finished projects. The stripey socks you'll recognize. The others are a cute little baby vest destined for some baby girl. The pattern is Milo and so versatile. Totally worth the few bucks that it cost. I love the little heart cable and I'll definitely be making this little pattern again. The orange beret is called "Meret". I did this as a KAL with some of the ladies on Instagram. Its made from my handspun. Its rather large on me but would likely fit my larger headed offspring no problem. I will likely gift this to her at some point.



I bought yarn! And OHMYGOD!!! Its all Socks that Rock. It is so beautiful!! All I want to do it look at it. Now thats wrong I know. I feel like buying a shadow box and framing them. I'm not sure what I'll make but right now I'm just enjoying the gorgeous colours. I think I may have fell down a rabbit hole when I joined that socks that rock club. I don't really want to knit with any other yarn. This could become dangerous.



I fixed a miss crossed cable on my Hope Springs Eternal socks from my Socks that Rock Club. I thought I could live with it, but 10 rows later it was still bugging me. I dropped those 6 or so stitches back and fixed it all - no problem. Pretty pleased with myself there.



And I finished spinning this beautiful yarn. This was spun from Rolags that I purchased from Blue Mountain Handcrafts on etsy. My first time spinning rolags and I really liked it.



Well thats my randomness for today. Hope all is well in your crafting world!

Apparently Its Spring

I'm having a hard time believing it myself. When I look outside and see that the yard is still covered in snow and I see snow in the forecast, I have a hard time believing that the calendar is correct.

I do realize that I live Labrador and that I shouldn't be surprised by the weather, but each year, I'm a little surprised by how long it lasts. People are still going out on skidoo!!

But there are reminders of spring or at least some signs of it. For example, my latest shipment from the Socks that Rock yarn club!



Isn't it pretty? Its called 'Hope Springs Eternal' and to be honest these spring colours are just what the doctor ordered. They will be socks of course, and most likely the socks that came with the club. They are very pretty and feature a picot cuff which charms me to no end.

I've also been doing some more baby knitting. Again, for a girl! This pattern is called "Milo" and is a clever little vest that allows you to use different cable details on the front. I've chosen hearts. Pretty sweet!



I have one finished object to share with you all. Its a 'For Good' hat by Megan Williams of the Stockinette Zombies podcast. I love the hat, and I love the buttons - a very good match I think.





The buttons are from etsy seller "Woodenheartbuttons" out of London, Ontario. She wrote me the sweetest note telling me her family is from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Small world!

Sweet Things

It seems to me that certain types of babies are born in batches. I don't know if its something in the water or what it is, but there is a phenomenon afoot. For the past 5 years it seems we have had an abundance of boy babies being born. Any coworker who had a baby - turned out to be a boy! Young friends - all boys. Family members - all boys. We have 3 grandbaby boys to prove it!! But lately, I've been noticing a shift. It started with Lisa (a coworker) in January. She had a little girl. I was so happy to knit for her!! Its been forever that I knit anything for a baby girl.

Next up was a young friend of Kev's. They too had a girl. Kev requested something special for this young couple so I set to work knitting. Now, this baby is also the great granddaughter of my local LYS owner! I had to knit something special!!

So I set to work. I picked out a special yarn. Its a club yarn no less - supposedly destined for a different project, but this is superwash (which is important for new moms) and the colour was outstandingly gorgeous (which is important for impressing your local lys owner) The yarn is by called Andrea May by Studio June on etsy. It was a club colourway from Ann Hanson's Fall into Full Colour Club. Ann's pattern for this shipment was lovely, but I could envision this baby sweater so clearly. It just spoke to me.

The pattern I chose is Cascade from the emagazine Petite Purls The reason I chose this pattern is in no small part due to Jasmine of the Knitmore Girls podcast fame. She has been knitting her daughter this little sweater and talking about it on her podcast. She has also been posting pics on Instagram I've been smitten.

Now, to push this little sweater into even more awesomeness, I sewed a grosgrain ribbon into the button band. The Knitmores have been big advocates of this. It makes the garment more special and it has the benefit of preventing the button band from stretching out and pulling out of shape.











It is a special little sweater and I couldn't be more pleased. If you are interested in sewing a grosgrain ribbon into your cardigans, I highly recommend checking out the Knitmore girls video tutorial! I am certain that you will learn something!

Next up - booties. My coworker Jody is having a baby....and yes, its a girl. There is something in the water, I tell ya!

A New Beginning

Its the New Year already. I swear time seems to speed up the older that I get. I had every intention of posting a list of fiber resolutions of sorts, but I just couldn't get around to it. I don't know what it is, but ever since the fire, I seem to have lost my knitting ambitions. I guess its because the majority of my stash is stored in the shed (still not washed) about 5 miles from where we are currently living. And the place that we are living is so small that its really hard to organize the stash. So, there will be no fiber resolutions for me. I honestly think it will take until I'm back in the new house for me to feel the same way about knitting and my stash.

Now, that didn't stop me from acquiring new yarn...no. See this stuff? Its Veronique Avery's yarn. I bought this in Montreal!!

Amy has moved there and is taking some phycology courses from Concordia. I'm really happy for her, because she was getting pretty miserable living in a small town after being a city girl for the duration of her first degree. But, I miss my girl!!

This darling little cardigan was my New Year's Eve cast on. Its for a coworkers baby who showed up a few weeks early

It needs buttons yet, but I plan on picking some up today. The pattern is from Hannah Fettig's newly released booklet called Mabel's Closet. This little book is so sweet and the patterns are completely charming. I've also knit a little striped beret from the booklet to go with the cardigan, but haven't taken any real photos yet.

I knit the cardigan out of Quince and Company's Chickadee. Its my first time using this yarn, and I must say, I really liked it. The yarn is reasonably priced, though by the time duty was charged, I'm not sure that it was that reasonable. I did like the yarn. It was very soft and almost doughy. I also have a sweaters worth for myself. I haven't knit myself a sweater in a lightweight yarn before, so we'll see how that pans out. Seeing as I still have an aran weight sweater languishing on the needles I won't be holding m breath. Lol.

Well, happy knitting and happy New Year!

Aaju has arrived

For the past two weeks Kev and I have been playing host to a couple of our friends from the small northern community of Makkovik. They are here waiting the birth of their daughter -Aaju (it means big brother/sister in Greenland dialect of Inuktutut) Well, she arrived on Thursday night, in the middle of a big snowstorm. She is as pretty as can be.

You may recall that I spun up some yarn a while ago - especially for her. I thought about her while I spun the yarn. Mindful spinning if you will. I put good thoughts into that yarn. As I spun, I hoped that she would lead a good life, that she would be healthy, happy, safe and warm.

And then I knit up the stuff. No pattern for the sweater - all out of my head. I'm so happy with the little cardigan. It has a little welt knit right in which I'm using as a drawstring casing. I just love those little pompoms.

And here is the little hat. I've knit this before and each time I do, I find it completely charming. I love knitting the little short rows. I think it highlights the fractal spun handspun very nicely. The pattern is Aviatrix and its free. So, go - and knit one for a baby you love today!

Pink Cardi gone to waste?

Here is the cute little pink cardigan that I just finished. I think it is perfect in so many ways. The shade of dusty pink, the nice contrasting chocolate brown, the sweet little peter pan collar (why is it called that?) and I even managed to find the perfect little buttons in my huge button stash, and its knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK which is also superwash. The pattern was also designed by Debbie Bliss, queen of the baby knits.

But......sadly, this cardigan will not be worn. Nat had another boy! Now don't get me wrong, I'm super happy about that, as he was born healthy and Nat had a quick, relatively stress free delivery. But alas, he is a boy and his dad will not permit him to wear this cardigan.

The good news is, Nat said, I'm not giving you back that cardigan (like I would take it back?) I'm still planning another pregnancy. Joy of joys!!! Hopefully the cardigan won't be out of style by then. But I don't think so. Its a classic design. The pattern was originally published in Vogue Knitting 2007, four years ago. I wanted to knit it ever since I first saw it. There is a boy version too, but I still think that even knit in a masculine colour, this little cardigan is totally feminine.

This post is for you, Cathy!

Last night my friend Cathy reminded my that its been May 22nd since I did my last blog post. She's been wondering if I've given up blogging - or worse...knitting. Not so, I assured her. I've just been doing a lot of baby knitting and not really finishing off things. I like to show finished items here on my blog, though I'm sure I could show some 'in progress' shots every now and again.

So, without further adieu, here is what I've been up to since May 22.

Baby item #1. A little boy vest. Nat is due any day now. Not sure of the sex of the baby. This is quite masculine. I've knit a pink cardi too (more on that in a later post Cathy, sorry)

Here is some yarn that I just finished plying. Its been spun since...forever. They were two very mismatched singles just sitting on the bobbins. In preparation for next months 'Tour de Fleece' I wanted my bobbins clear. Also, I'm going on a SPINNING RETREAT'!!!!! I'm so excited about that. I cannot wait. Its the first weekend in July. Its taking place in a small community on the west coast of Newfoundland. The spots available for the retreat filled up really quickly. The instructor will also be teaching some yoga and natural dying in addition to the spinning. I'm very stoked to be going. I was going to drive, but have opted to fly instead. I'm not sure how I'm going to get my wheel out there.

And here the beginning of a new shawl I'm working on. Can you guess who the designer is? Yup...its Stephen West. Its called Transatlantic and I love it. I'm knitting this from yarn from a recent etsy purchase. I love it. The colours are so vibrant and saturated and bright...retina searing even. Lol.

And lastly, here is a picture of some yarn that I recently spun and plied. Again, an etsy purchase. I love the combination of yellow and grey together.

Its button time

These are the sleeves of my little cardi.  I didn't like the way it was turning out - see the one on the right.  I hadn't counted on my gauge for garter stitch being so different in the round, versus flat.  The second sleeve cuff (on the left) I knit flat and seamed it shut.  I liked it much better.  So I frogged the first cuff and knit it flat as well.  The whole thing is now finished.  Pretty cute eh?

Well, except its missing button.  I'm still not 100% sure who I'll be giving this to.  Maybe Heather's baby - who will be a boy.  Or maybe a former coworker - who will be having a girl.  I really like these green buttons.  What do you think?

I think they would be perfect for either a boy or girl.  I'm still debating doing a little embroider or needle felting too.  In anycase, I'm super happy with it.  I'm also in love with this yarn.  I bought this yarn with the intentions of finally making a sweater for Kev.  Its 50% acrylic/50% wool, so I thought it would be warm enough, but also easy care.  But I love the colour and I love the way it knits up.   Great stitch definition and just so nice to knit with.  I'm thinking about making myself a Lady Kina.  This sweater looks so much like me.  Its so wearable.  And I'm thinking that the acrylic might make it cool enough to make this garment a nice transitional cover up.  And then I can use a nice yellow/green button too.

Self Striping Yarn - My True Love

The yarn is Zauberball Crazy and it is just that.  There is no repeating of any colours.  If you knit socks from this yarn, they would definitely be fraternal twins as there is no way to make the colours line up.  Up close, the yarn is like a barber poled handspun.  I love the result.  I would have kept crocheting but I ran out of the contrasting black yarn.  It took two skeins of Knitpicks Palette.  

I have countless other images that I wanted to put up as well, but I chose these.  I love the close ups.  This is from a free pattern that can be gotten here.

In other news, I cast on for a baby sweater four days ago, and finished it.  I used Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn.  Its a blend of wool and cotton and is supposed to be easy care.  I really enjoyed the yarn.  This sweater is for Heather's new baby, not yet born, and it had to be easy care.  No care would be great, but I'll settle for easy care.  I bought this yarn from A Good Yarn.  Its a new yarn shop that opened up in St John's.   While I've never been there in person, I can attest to the great customer service.  I hope to visit it real soon.

Still loving the Crochet

I finished the little dress, which turned out to be adorable.  I donated to the Girl Guides fundraiser silent auction.  I know the lady that bought it, so I will be secretly watching her child this summer to see if she wears it.  This was such a cute design, and the designer couldn't be sweeter.  She contacted me on Ravelry to let me know that she liked my rendition of her design.  I did use a heavier gauged yarn than recommended and consequently ended up with a size to fit a 2 year old even though I crocheted the smallest size.


And here is my progress on the rhubard scarf.  What a great pairing of stitch pattern and yarn!  I'm loving the result, though I'm getting a little tired of scarves.  I just finished knitting Summit from the most recent issue of Knitty.   I modified mine to make a more narrow version because I didn't have enough of the yarn to make a full sized version.  I used Knitpick's Stroll kettle dyed in the auburn colourway.  Overall, I'm happy with this as it resulted in a nice spring scarf.  Blocking was tricky though!