Easter Sweater

This is a long overdue post that I had forgotten about until I just found the photos on my camera!

We spent Easter here in the dorm and Grant's dad made the trip out from California to see us.  Will had a lot of fun spending time with his Gramps and we enjoyed celebrating Easter with friends from church.  It was Will's first Easter complete with egg dyeing (that Gordon and I did most of), an Easter basket and of course, a new knit Easter sweater!

Easter egg dyeing

Will's Easter basket had eggs filled with puffs and jelly beans, the letters spell his name (I have plans to make the whole alphabet as fridge magnets, but didn't have strong enough magnets) and stuffed bunny that I had made a few weeks earlier.  Will's Nai Nai also sent him Grant's old Beatrix Potter books which were some of my favourites as a kid.

(Basket, Basket Liner, Bunny)

I fiished Will's Easter sweater over Spring Break and I love how it turned out.  It fit well but with a lot of room to grow.  It's a little slouchier than I had imagined, but still love it nonetheless.

The pointed hood is definitely my favourite part.  That, and the hand dyed yarn I chose.

Pattern: Wee Austin Hoodie (Pattern is also available in adult sizes: Austin Hoodie)

Yarn: Madelintosh Tosh Merino Light in Betty Draper's Blues

Size: 9 months

The only thing I am planning to change is the buttons.  They are little trucks and I really like them, but they're a little heavy for such a lightweight sweater.  I'll just have to make something else to put them on!

Spring Shawl

The weather over Easter was beautiful and had me wanting a new lightweight scarf.  I have this yarn that I bought a few years ago that is a merino wool and silk blend.  I had yet to find the perfect thing to make out of it but once I saw this shawl and thought it would be perfect.

I modified the pattern a little.  There are several charts and the pattern changes slightly every few inches (a textured ombre is the best way I can think of to describe it) but I liked how the first chart turned out and not the second so I backed up repeated the first chart pattern throughout the whole shawl.

It's now off the needles and I love how it turned out!  It's so light and soft, I'm wondering why I didn't make one of these a long time ago!

Yarn: Heritage Silk

Pattern: Sempervivum by Jerod Flood

Ravelry

Elijah the Elephant

I first made this little elephant two years ago as a baby shower gift.  It was my first stuffed toy that I had made and I have been wanting to make a second one ever since.   It is also fun to look back at the photos of the first one I made and to see that my knitting has improved some since then!  I have a feeling I will be making another one of these since Elijah the Second is about to be gifted just like the first.

(After taking all these photos, I realized that poor Elijah does not have a tail yet.  I must remedy that before putting him in the mail!)

Pattern: Elijah

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK (Discontinued colour)

Ravelry

(If you want to see my first Elijah, look here)

Knit Giraffe

Will got to meet his new giraffe today.  It was love at first sight and is now sufficiently covered in drool.

Pattern: Giraffe from Itty Bitty Toys
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Ravelry

Mystery knitting

All the pieces are coming together.  I've been working on this off and on since Christmas.  Does anyone have a guess as to what this project might be?

Yes, this looks like squash.

I have many of these

Knit Valentine

I'll be honest, Valentine's day has not ever been my favourite holiday.  I don't have any bad memories associated with it, and I'm not one to rant about or complain about it either.  In fact, I should love valentines day because I love hearts, chocolate and flowers.  Both pink and red are my favourite colours.  And I really love all the candy that is on sale on February 15th.

That being said, last year I decided to make Grant a knit valentine.  Knitting is not exactly his forte, but he loves to receive (and give) cards and I love to knit.  So this seemed like a perfect fit.  A little of me and a little of him.  I think I might just have to make another one this year... or if anyone would like me to make one for you to give to someone special (on short notice), I'd love to do that too!

Milo Soaker

I received a new knitting book for Christmas, Vintage Baby Knits and I LOVE it.  Already there are a ton of things that I want to make for Will and as gifts.  The first airplane-with-a-baby friendly knit was the Milo Soaker.  Will does use cloth diapers, but I am thankful that this isn't a necessity as a diaper cover (thank you Bum Genius and your fantastic pocket diapers), but rather just something cute on his little bum.

Pattern: Milo Soaker

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool

Ravelry

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")

Gramps Cardigan

A few months ago we went to lunch on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul with Grant's parents and this (of course) included a stop at the Yarnery, my all time favourite yarn shop!  I saw this yarn and it was a total splurge, but definitely worth it.  It's also the perfect yarn for this pattern.

Will testing the sweater before buttons are added

So far Will has got a lot of use out of his hand knit sweater!  He's worn it to almost everything we've had him dress up for including Thanksgiving, celebrating my birthday, and seeing Santa! 

Celebrating my birthday

After church one Sunday (and ready for bed!)

Pattern: Gramps Cardigan

Yarn: Madelintosh Tosh DK in Tart

Ravelry

Baby Mittens

I have been working on a new knitting pattern inspired by living in Minnesota!  I've been knitting for a long time and making up a lot of patterns as I go so I am super excited to publish my first pattern for others to use and enjoy!

Here is a sneak peek of Will modeling/testing some of my sample knits. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good name for these baby Norwegian mittens??

It's tiring being so cute!