New dress for the Spring

This dress grabbed me and I really want to have it ready for warm weather and maybe some trips to the shore over the summer.

I subscribe to Red Heart's newsletter and sometimes I'm really impressed with the patterns that they put out and this one looks really great.

It's open and airy, has a simple but hopefully, flattering shape, and is FREE.

I started it with the hook recommended, but of course, my gauge was off and I went down a size. Unfortunately, the stitch height it slightly short, but that I can deal with. I'm slightly worried that blocking will really make it to big, but we'll see.

Project page here.

This is where I am so far. Just beginning the increases for the skirt.

Project Round Up

I have finished those Anna and Elsa dolls that I spoke about here. No formal pattern was written up really. I did write something for Anna's cape, but it's not edited and I'm not sure it's really that fantastic.

I've made a baby blanket for my dear friend who has recently become a new mommy to a cute little baby boy. I'll also dug deep and made a pillow with his initial sewn on with buttons. You can see the project details here.

I'm obsessed with granny squares, but not the traditional ones. So I've started producing some 5" squares in baby weight yarn for the guest room bed to get a decent sized blanket on it.

I jumped on the band wagon to make the Cowl Neck Poncho....but...I'm not sure yet how it will turn out. I don't have too much left on it, maybe just a few rows...but it's not coming out exactly right and I'm not sure if blocking will do the job either. So I've kind of stalled on it until I decide to frog or finish and try to block. It's acrylic, so once I block it...I will kill it. Project details here.

I finished a crazy shawl pattern that I was dying to make for my sister. She is really into dragons and so this pattern was just perfect. I talked about it briefly in the fall. I pulled it out and restarted twice before I finally got something remotely close to the gauge in the pattern. Considering that you have to count to more than 600 for the starting chain, it was a valiant undertaking. Project details here.

I finally completed a baby blanket for Lily that has been hibernating since Spring last year. It just needs the ends tucked in and a decent blocking. I love the way it came out and it's bigger than just a regular baby blanket, so she can use for a number of years. This pattern is somewhat made up by me, using a stitch for the green from mypicot. Project details here.

I made a cowl for a friend of mine and she just loves it. I can't tell you how happy it makes me when I make something for someone and they actually use it. I was careful to send her a list of patterns that I could and would make along with some yarn suggestions from my stash....I had to hedge my bets that she would like, you know....Project details here.

I made a sweater for myself in the early fall. It was a fairly easy project and it's a really nice addition to my closet for the fall and spring weather. Project details here. Apologies for the sad looking cell phone shot...I never remember to get a picture with my real camera.

More Than I Can Chew

Every year, the company I work for donates dolls to the local shelters. They purchase the dolls and then ask that employees dress them and give them back for donation. It's completely voluntary and since those 18" dolls give me the creeps, I usually avoid the whole shindig.

Well, this year...I've decided that I really should participate. I really like to create things and I can crochet dresses for people, so why not dolls...why not dolls, indeed...

I wanted something relevant to a little girl so I decided to do two dolls, Anna and Elsa from Frozen. I searched on Ravelry, but I couldn't find anything that would really work...so that means that I will have to make something up.

Now this is good news for Ravelry and other pattern sites because I will write it up and offer it for free, but I don't have a lot of time to do this so...we'll see how it all goes.

Wish me luck...

Excited

So this Saturday is Rhinebeck and I can't wait to go. My sister-in-law, a fellow fiber lover, will be coming along with me.

It's not so much all the buying options, but just seeing how many people are into what I'm into. It makes me feel like less of a weirdo. Some people think it's strange that I knit and crochet because I'm not a little, old granny hanging out in a rocking chair knitting up booties. Despite the recent "blow up" in popularity of the fiber world, it still remains quite a small blip on people's radar.

In other news, my Marshall sweater is chugging along quite rapidly. The pattern is easy and mindless so I 'm plowing through the body of it now. I haven't taken any photos of my progress because, even if I did, I probably wouldn't take them off my camera for days and days anyway.

I've stalled on the shawl. I think it's because I've pulled it out 3 different times, so now I have to kind of grin and bear it to get through the first bunch of rows before it will become fun again.

And since I have no content driven photos, here's a picture of something pretty.

Brush off the dust

I know in my last post I said that we had found our stride. I think that I might have been lying. 

Sometimes, that feeling of being in control is hovering just out of reach and it's covered in a slippery coating that is impossible for me to hold on to. Other times it's so far away that I don't see it at all. The worst part is that other people seem to have figured it all out, but I feel as though I'm not even close. Between guilt for working full time and being too tired to play with my kids at night and feeling rundown, it's as though I'm burning my candle at both ends and the middle is rapidly approaching. I almost have a feeling of impending disaster. Is this normal? If I could just put together some kind of strategy, maybe things would smooth out. At the moment, that is my priority; figuring this crazy life of mine, out.

I try to draw inspiration from people who have more challenges than me, because, truthfully, my life is good. I have a house, a family, a good job, and live in a safe area. Everyday, I work to remind myself that I have these things and even though everything is unbalanced, it's all good...

Step one, really, is to let go of the pressure. Let go of the self imposed, idealized versions of my life. I can't be super woman; I can't have a job, run a household, read all kinds of intelligent books, design patterns, write my own book, and care for my children, perfectly. That's the rub...perfection.

So, while I struggle to find my stride, maybe I will find time to log it all in here, and maybe I won't.

In my snippets of free time, I have been crocheting and knitting like mad. I've started a sweater as a Christmas gift and a shawl. The sweater is coming along ok, I had a few gauge issues, but I think I've worked it out. The shawl is still not working right. I used to knit/crochet very tightly and it was an annoying thing, but now it seems I'm the exact opposite and my gauge is way off. The sweater worked by going down a needle size, but the shawl...gosh...driving me nuts. You can see my tribulations on my Ravelry project pages.

And just because she's cute, here is a picture of my daughter.

Time

Hello.

I think we have found our stride.  It seems that things have finally smoothed out.  I can breathe again and little E can walk again.

Lily is GROWING.  I forget how fast it all goes, but in so many ways, I'm thankful for that.  Newborns are hard work.  She has been sleeping through the night for almost two weeks now and that's like a little miracle.  She holds her head up on her own now, miracle two.  Soon it will be baby cereal and sitting up.  Even though I'm in a small rush to see her a little more independent, it's an amazing thing to watch her personality emerge.  Everyday is something new.

I have had some time for crafting.  I've started this top.  UGH...it fits terribly so far.  In the pictures it looks so great on people, but not me.  I still have a few more inches to add and maybe it will carry the bulk away from my midsection.  If not, I may add a few more inches to try and get a better fit.  I would hate to pull it all out and it might not be me but maybe my choice in yarn.  We'll see.  It might look better in a drape-ier weight and material.

The pattern itself is sort of well written.  I feel like, it could have been edited better.  I think if you're a beginner, or even a not-so-confident intermediate crocheter, I would avoid this one for now.  Here's my project page.

One thing that I've been sort of chugging along on when I have any free time is a garter stitch blanket made in this yarn.  It makes such a cozy, easy to care for blanket and I had four skeins of it left over.  Whenever I have a free moment, I pick it up and add a few stitches.  So far, I've managed to get through two and a half skeins...

A few days ago I cut off about fifteen (FIFTEEN) inches of hair from my head.  I was so tired of it and now...it alllll gone.  Here's a sort of strange and forlorn picture of my ponytail.  And the second is a less forlorn but possibly just as strange Before and After picture of me.

WiP Wednesday - FO Edition & Home Update

Although I have a new WiP, I didn't get a chance to spread it out properly and get pictures, so instead I will show what I have totally finished....there was a few FOs that needed to be blocked and finally I got around to it this week.

My maternity leave has been a whirlwind of appointments, household chores, and cooking for after the baby comes.  I have to say I've done really well with that.  I've gotten lots of batches done and in the freezer.  All together I think I will have cooked about 22 lbs of chicken and 26 lbs of beef.  I did not keep track of the pounds of veggies that goes with all of this though.  Needless to say it was an expensive up front cost, but to keep us all fed and healthy for the first couple of weeks with a newborn at home, it was worth every penny and the hours on my feet, in the kitchen.

But I did squeeze in time to knit and crochet, and you will get to enjoy seeing the fruits of that labor....

Serriform Shawl :

Oaklet Shawl :

Simply Soft Blanket : 

WiP - Baby Blanket

I went on to Little Knits the other day.....and I saw this yarn.  It's discontinued, but I knew it had to be a baby blanket and for the price, I couldn't pass it up.

Since it's such a busy yarn, I figured I wouldn't bother with any kind of fancy design; you wouldn't be able to see it anyway.  Instead I chained about 150 and did double crochet until I ran out of yarn...about 10 rows.  I grabbed my Bernat Baby Sport in Kiwi to make an "accent" row of tilted squares, using Mypicot's Openwork Lace # 2042.  I can't link directly to the pattern, but her site is awesome.

The first time, I used the same size hook as the rest of the blanket, but it pulled a little tighter than I would like, and that was with me actively trying to keep the stitches big and loose.  So the second accent row was done in a hook that was 0.5mm larger...so from 4.5mm (body of blanket) to 5.0mm (H hook).  I think it works out much better now.

Here is my Ravelry Project Page.  Don't worry, I'm still working on my vest, but my issue is that I keep finding breaks in the yarn.  Although Knit Picks has compensated me for the one skein, another one has had multiple breaks and weak spots...it's getting rather frustrating.  I'm on my third skein for the project and I have about 30 ends to tie in already.

Dress FO

This dress is adorable and I could probably make hundreds of them.  It's so easy to customize, if you choose and it can be worn as a little jumper or just as a dress with a onesie underneath for warmer weather.

This is the second pattern from her site that I've made and she really has quite a good collection going over there.

My modification for the pattern making itself, was to join in the round after Row 6.   What I will do with it for wearing, is flip it around so that the open part will be in the front and tied with a ribbon.  I might even trade out the ribbon for buttons and then do a ribbon woven around the "waist" and tied in the front.  We'll see, as I really dislike sewing on buttons.

This pattern is the Angel Wing Pinafore by Maxine Gonser.  My Ravelry project page.

Sweater FO

Now that I've finished the world's most boring blanket...I'm so sick of that stitch, I have started and finished a baby sweater.

I just love this pattern, the Wrap Diaper Shirt.  I had made one for Ethan and now I have made one for my little lady, Lily.  Here is my Rav Project Page.

This flies off the hook and it literally, only takes a few hours.

WiP Wednesday - Girlie Dress

I have yet to block the monster blanket, or finish the one I started for my little girl, but I need a break from blankets for the moment, so I've made and finished a sweater (I'll post that tomorrow) and I've started a dress.  Ironically, it's not any of the dresses that I have featured on some of my Monday posts about baby girl stuff, but it's quite lovely anyway...

The pattern is called, Angel Wing Newborn Pinafore and so far, it's chugging along at a good rate.  I would say that her patterns aren't very elegant, but they get the job done.

My gauge seems to be off, the pattern is coming out much larger than normal for me.  Usually I have to go up a hook size as I tend to crochet tighter than gauge, but not with this project.  I'm not sure this will fit a newborn...maybe more like 3 months.

This yarn, the Bernat Baby Sport is really nice.  Good stretch and it's very soft.  It also comes in these huge skeins, which is nice for churning out a bunch of baby stuff that all matches (if you're into that....which I totally am).

Here is my Rav Project Page.

WiP Wednesday

I didn't take a picture this week because, even I am sick of seeing the slow progress of that thing.  I will say that I've managed to get the last stripe started, so I'm hoping to finish that by this weekend and start on the edging.

I've decided to do this edging.  I'll just do it in the yellow color before I block the whole thing and weave in my ends.  I really want this thing done.  I'm kind of tired of it.

I have this huge list of baby girl things I want to make AND the baby blanket for my own little lady to finish....

My Ravelry Pattern Page

WiP Wednesday - Baby Blanket

I'm almost half way through now.  I think I like it.  I also think that I will love it once I add a yellow border to tie in the colors better together.

It's so simple to crochet, that it's mindless, unfortunately, I have a really hard time keeping sticky, little toddler hands off of it and so I can only work on it when the little man goes to sleep.

Ravelry Project Page

Girlie baby stuff....

Although I have no time, I have lots of ambition...it's ironic and also a common predicament amongst us crafters.  I have two baby blankets to finish by May/June and another one to start and finish by July, but all I want to do is make baby girl stuff for my little lady or...shawls...yes...I feel like I never have enough.  I've also been baking like a mad woman, something my husband certainly appreciates.

I made these and holy moly they are delicious....and only 3 points per bar...not too shabby.

Now, more baby stuff that I want to make.

Mermaid Dress

This dress is really cute and since it's raglan it will be really easy to knit.  It's not free, but I might be willing to acquire such a pattern for the sake of cuteness everywhere.

Sweet Pea Sweater

This pattern seems great, my only issue is the price.  It seems a somewhat simple construction and they are charging quite a bit more than I would like to pay for a design like this.  It's so cute and appears easy to make, so it's definitely on my wish list for now.

Peachy Ensemble

I can't believe this pattern is free.  It's awesome.  It has matching booties, puffy sleeves, and bloomers.  This is a must make for me.

I will probably have to do another post of my baking escapades, a "round up" if you will, of yumm-e-ness.  If you can't wait for that, head over to my pinboard.  I try to comment on the recipes that I've made, including any modifications or things I didn't like.

If I can get some decent pictures of my blanket, I'll be back on Wednesday with a post of my progress...If not, maybe I can rehash the past few days of my little man and his hand surgery....such gripping blog fodder...I know.

WiP Wednesday - Simply Soft Blanket

I like working on this blanket, but I'm not sure yet how it will look.  Once I finish the yellow stripe and start with the ombre again, I think I will like it better...we'll see.  I haven't worked on the blanket for my little lady at all.  I've barely had time to crochet.  Too many social things going on and then working on the house to get it ready for the baby is keeping us busy.

Tomorrow my son goes in for surgery to remove his poly dactyl thumb...my heart is a little broken over it and the fact that he has to wear a cast on his entire, little baby arm for 4 weeks is awful.  Wish us luck.

Ravelry Page

WiP Wednesday - Abstract Cats

Well, I had some hopes of finishing up this blanket in the past week.  In fact, I've barely had time to work on it at all.  A few rows here and there, but my son was needy and we had some company over, so no rest and no crocheting.

I want to make all of this baby girl stuff, but I have requests for two baby blankets....yes...two...so those will probably come first; cute little, frilly girl dresses come second, and third is that new pattern from Ysolda for her mystery shawl KAL.  I want to make that in the worst way, but I know if I start it before the other "must do" projects, I won't get the baby blankets done.  I've been browsing patterns and will likely start another one this week.

I don't have a picture today, because, really, it looks fairly similar to last week, so you'll have to stay on the edge of your seats to see how it will look next week...ahem

Stuff I love

Yeah, so...that little heart button on Ravelry...it's dangerous.  I think I will blow up their website with the tag for "baby".

Here are some of the highlights of that scary jungle:

Ravelry Link

That is a little piggy romper....holy crap....I can't get over it, in fact I don't even have words.  I only know that I have to make this and stick my baby in it.

Ravelry Link

Little birdie....and I love the little bows...

Ravelry Link

Remember how I told you of my torrid affair with the bloomers...this pair is great because it's perfectly plain and ready for customization.  They also appear to be quite functional.  The best part...it's a free pattern from our friends at The Purl Bee.

Since the baby will be here in May (hopefully not any sooner), it will already be getting quite warm, so most sweaters and heavy stuff is out, which, when you're talking about knit/crochet is a large chunk of the pie.  Mmmm...pie.

WiP Wednesday - Baby Blanket

I'm halfway through this little pink fluff now....and on the horizon is another one.  I promised my SIL that I would make one for her baby girl too.  I have the yarn in mind, now to dig up a pattern....hmmm...so many possibilities.  Anyway, my current blanket is flying off the hook and I'm hoping to be done by next week; it's hard to say because sometimes my son lets me crochet and other times...well...he doesn't.

Ravelry Link

WiP Wednesday - Baby Blanket

I'm tearing through this blanket.  Baby blankets are so fast and I love it.  This pattern is really easy to remember so it's rather portable, despite the color changes.  I'm just about halfway through and my mind is already on the next thing for the little lady.
I've been favorite-ing like mad on Ravelry, trying to decide what to make...I think I might be in a serious relationship with bloomers.  They are just silly cute.

Anyways, here is the blanket in all her halfway-finished glory:

Ravelry Project Page

WiP Wednesday - Messy

I have this messy pile of yarn that I plan to turn into something for a little baby girl that is on her way to live with me.  Right now she has taken up residence in my abdomen and has given me, mostly gentle, nudges to keep me on my toes.

I've started working on the Abstract Cat Blanket.  It's just too cute to resist and is a relatively easy pattern to follow.

Check out my Ravelry page for details.

Here's my progress so far.