Lucille

This is one of my favourite baby knits I've ever made!  It's such a pretty sweater and I love it with the pink buttons.  I was able to give it to two college friends who are expecting their little girl in February.

Pattern: Lucille

Yarn: Knit Picks Pallette in Mist

Ravelry

Christmas Stockings

I had a great time knitting Christmas Stockings this year for Will and Grant and was able to make a few more for friends and family too!

This first stocking is for the 9-month old son of two good friends from Wheaton.  I love how this stocking turned out!  I was thrilled to be able to make this for him.

The second set are for my brother- and sister-in-law.  The goal was something traditional and something fun and funky at the same time.  I had to make them a little shorter than the previous stocking so the toes don't catch on fire when they are hanging on their fireplace mantle.

After making the snowmen out of pom pom's, I was inspired to add a few to our Christmas tree!

Toddler Slippers

One of Grant's cousins asked me to make a pair of slippers for their daughter.  I initially started with the pattern I made for the baby slippers on my Etsy shop but that first pair was a felting failure!  I made these Felted Slippers from French Press Knits a few years ago and love them (so much I've made them for both my mom and sister too), so I decided to try and make a downsized version!

I forgot to take a picture of the soles of the slippers before sending them off in the mail, but I added some fabric similar to this (but bought at JoAnn) to the bottoms to give them some grip.

Pattern: French Press Felted Slippers (modified for tiny feet)

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool (this wool felts VERY well!)

Size: Toddler 9 (about 6")

5 Months!

An Early Christmas Gift

We let Will open one of his Christmas gifts early because, who am I kidding, it is just as exciting for everyone if I put back it in his stocking on Christmas morning.  Plus, I was excited and sure it would be a big hit.

Christmas Gift Wrapping

I LOVE to wrap gifts.  I've always wanted to work someplace where I get to wrap gifts all day long... although I'd probably get bored before my first shift is done.  That, or I'd be covered in paper cuts.

My mom is a bit of a perfectionist (you know it's true, mom) and she taught my sister and I how to wrap.  We give her a hard time for making us fix the gifts we wrapped if the flaps on either end pointed in different directions or pointing away from the seam on the back.  It's something that the three of us will always laugh about and I'll always be grateful for the gift of perfectionism imparted by my mother!  

Unlike my mom though, I have come to use only kraft paper wrapping and gift boxes.  It's simple to have just one roll of wrapping paper and a few spools of beautiful ribbon, and it works for all occasions.

Re-using ribbon from our wedding.

I've had these four spools of ribbon from Costco for the last 5 Holiday's and still haven't run out.  Costco is a great place to buy good quality ribbon in mass quantities, you may just have to buy it in September to get the patterns and colours you like.  Regardless, I think next Christmas it might be time for some new ones!

Gifts under the Christmas tree.

I can't wait for these to be opened and for the stockings to be filled!

Favourite Baby Books

A few weeks ago I found a book for Will and the series has quickly become a mild obsession of mine!  Baby Lit books are fantastic!  The website says that they are a "way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature."  They also have fantastic illustrations, are well designed and have clever touches for the parents that will read it over, and over, and over again!  Will may just have to get the whole set!!

A Christmas Carol

Alice in Wonderland

This is a Christmas gift from his grandpa... pretty sure I can wrap it up and show it to him on Christmas morning and it'll be just as exciting!

We can't wait for Moby Dick to be released!

First Snowfall

A week and a half ago we had the first significant snowfall in Minnesota.  We spent the day indoors playing with our kiddo and it was one of the most relaxing day's we've had in a long time.  Will loved the snow from inside.  He wasn't too thrilled by our brief outing to get the obligatory photo of the baby in the snow which, of course, ended in him throwing up inside his snow suit.  

Snowy Village Cakelets

This is my third attempt this week at making these little cakelets.  The pan is from Williams-Sonoma a few years ago and is one of my favourites.  The first two batches didn't want to come out of the pan and only 4 out of the 12 cakes survived.  I tried again today and they worked!  The trick was giving in and buying Pam for baking (the stuff that has flour in it) because of all the small details.  The recipe is for a spice cake and is delicious.  The recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Williams-Sonoma Snowy Village Cakelet Pan

(The recipe came on the package)

1 1/4 Cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2/3 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of milk

1 egg slightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

8 tablespoons (one stick) of unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  (In our oven, 20 minutes was sufficient so check your cakes often.)

If you don't have a cakelet pan like this one, the recipe would be great as a small round or 8x8 pan.  A little powdered sugar sprinkled on top is enough to sweeten it.  Enjoy!

Frosty 5K

Will was the youngest participant in NWC's Frosty 5K this morning!  We had a blast!