Quilt Retreat Weekend

It is a beautiful sunny weekend here, but I have been inside sewing up a storm! It is the local guilds Spring Retreat, which has been a blast.  I have finished one quilt top, a pillow, and I am working on the blocks to finish my unicorn quilt.

Here is a picture of the pillow I finished yesterday.  The embroidery is a project I started right after I moved to Cordova 3.5 years ago.  I had put it away until March when I was inspired to finish.  I was able to turn it in to a pillow cover after some math and trimming and I couldn't be happier with it.

On the needles

So far this year I have finished six projects, including this set of coordinating sweaters for the kids.

Dorothy mostly refuses to wear hers, but Sawyer has been wearing his non-stop.  It is perfect sweater weather around town right now, and he is the best at wearing all of his knits. 

When looking for a set of needles I needed to finish up these sweaters, I ran across two other half finished bulky sweaters, one for Lucy and one for Dorothy.  Lucy's is a the second in a set for the girls (Dorothy has been wearing the coordinating one lately) so I am hoping to get that finished up soon.  Dorothy's is one that I do not have enough yarn for, and I am not happy with the neckline....so I am not sure what my plan is with that.  I also have a fingering weight open front cardigan on the needles at the moment.  I need to start a pair of socks to keep in my purse as the kids have started hitting up the playgrounds in the afternoon and it is nice to keep my hand occupied. 

2017 Round up

Well now that 2018 is well under way, I guess I should do the 2017 wrap up. In 2017 I finished twenty projects! That is pretty great.  And not all of them were small things....

1 vest
6 hats
2 pairs of mittens
3 sweaters
3 pairs of socks
3 toys
2 cowls

Pretty impressive for me.  The pairs of things should count for two FO each. HA! I enjoyed knitting the socks quite a bit actually, and the kids (and Josh!) have enjoyed wearing them, so there may be more in my future.  I have a few skeins of worsted weight Felici I have earmarked for socks.  It is almost playground knitting season, so having easy, small, portable projects is key for getting things done.  If you would like to see pictures of all the FOs, you can check out my Ravelry page here.

So many projects....

I have completed more than 17 knitting projects this year!! I am really happy about that. I am really hoping to get Sawyer's sweater off the needles before the end of the year. Here are a few I have finished up the last few months.

This is Smalltimore, a fun cowl/shawl for Lucy.  She loves it and it covers her shoulders if she gets colder. 

This is the huggable Christmas tree that I made for the kids. With Dorothy the age she is, it just wasn't feasible to have a tree in the house this year so this was my solution. The kids have really been enjoying carrying it around. I put a rice bag as a weight in the bottom just so it would stay up.  I am really happy with this project. 

There are clearly a lot more projects that have been finished, but those will wait.  This morning I started a hat for Lucy and I have the yarn wound and ready for a bonnet for Dorothy.  I also recently fell down hard at the Knit Picks sale and might have enough yarn to knit multiple sweaters for each kid....it is too bad I am not an octopus, because I need to knit like the wind to keep up.

Time marches on....

How did five months slip away?!? Finding time to get the computer out is still a challenge, but today the older kids started school so I will have my days filled with just one kiddo....

This crazy one.  I knit this for her last summer while I was pregnant and finally got the buttons on it.  And while I love it and the buttons are *perfect*, buttoning eight buttons on a wiggly child is quite the challenge! So it hasn't gotten as much wear as I would like.

I am still knitting.  I finished Lucy's super lion, a sweater for Dorothy, socks for both kids...among other things. I am still working on the Crazy Heart sweater for Sawyer.  I am almost finished with the second sleeve and then I will start the body.  He helped me design it and it will be quite the sweater when it is finished...which I am hoping will be soon.  I have plans to knit the girls coordinating sweaters, so I would like to get those started.  And I want to knit Dorothy a little sweater dress thing now that she is walking. So many projects. So little time....

Still here...

I am still around. I am still knitting. Just also very busy taking care of the three kids.... finding time to hop on the computer is challenging.  I am also in a bit of a rut knitting wise.  I started a rainbow sweater for Sawyer, and despite the tell-tell signs that it would be too small, I kept going.  It was a very fun knit, and in the end it was too small..... BUT it became a rainbow sweater dress for Lucy! So, win?

She loves it, and I love it on her, but I was apparently pretty bothered by my gage issues.  I have since started another sweater for Sawyer (Crazyheart from the Heart on My Sleeve collection, I would link but I have to leave in three mins for school pickup!!) and I am again worried it is too small.  My gage is spot on (even after blocking) so I am hoping it is just because it is jammed on the needle.  I am knitting him the 8-10 year size, which should be plenty roomy for my skinny kiddo. Hopefully. I am half way through the first sleeve. I also need to get some baby things on the needles.  So many new babies are expected this fall!! Exciting! And Dorothy needs a new hat (well, maybe, really all I need to do is go through our hats and find one that fits her, but I like making new things for each kid as well as having them wear things they have all worn).... ANYWAY. Off to pick up Lucy from preschool. I hope to get back into the groove of blogging more...and knitting more...maybe life will settle down next month. HA!

First FO of the year!

I will have to do my year end wrap up soon...I got a lot of knitting done last year! But today I wanted to share the first thing I have finished in 2017.  It is a vest that I knit with a skein of handspan yarn that was gifted to me by a lovely and dear friend.  I love knitting with handspan...it is lovely to work with.  The pattern is Milo, which is a great pattern. I love the construction of this vest, it is a simple and quick knit.