Almost Fair Isle

Or not. I love the look of Fair Isle knitting but have never attempted anything using the technique. I'd have to take a class. I wanted to try the self-patterning yarns to see if the same effect could be achieved and found the answer: No. At least not in sweaters. Socks, great, sweaters, no. I still like this sweater, which was started ages ago when I learned that Bailey was expecting a sister. I planned two matching sweaters, one for the three year old Bailey and one for the new sister. I'll make the six-month old size, I thought, just in case I don't finish in time. The new sister, Chloe, had celebrated her second birthday by the time I pulled this out of the cupboard and decided to finish up the picot edging. The knitting was done and I had anticipated having difficulty sewing the picot edging down. I didn't. Easy peasy. So easy, in fact, I wonder why I haven't used this technique more often, it makes such a nice finished edge.

And now it belongs to Ellie, who is so tiny that we'll be well into winter before she will wear it. Perfect timing. And enough yarn to knit another in the event that Ellie ever has a sister.

More Pink

At the family Christmas gathering, Paul expressed his somewhat negative opinion about the color pink. I ignored him. I would have ignored him even if I hadn't been halfway done with Ellie's blankie. But when I finally turned over the finished product to Paul a few weeks ago, he admitted that he had come to terms with the over abundance of pink and had actually grown quite fond of the color. Good thing. Because, with two boys, I jump at the chance to make something---anything--in pink. Although, I have to admit, I was ready to be done with this pink blankie about three quarters of the way through. The pattern was very simple: six rows of stockinette and four rows of K2 together, YO. But, done in fingering yarn, it went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

I improvised a bit on the scalloped edging. I'm not a crocheter (although I can execute basic stitches and follow directions moderately well), but the directions for the scalloped edging started with one set of instructions for scalloping across the top of the blankie and then changed the pattern of stitches for the scalloping down the side. Consequently, the edging did not look the same from one side to the next. Weird. I think the change was trying to account for the difference in picking up stitches along the cast-on/cast off edges and the less defined end-of-row edges, but still. I found basic scalloping instructions via a quick internet search and liked the results much better.

Ellie

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to keep up with blogging ... so much for New Year's Resolutions. I haven't lost any weight, either. But many projects have been completed and there is lots to share. Miss Ellie was born in February and the Ellie dress and slip were finished in time for the baby shower. The jacket took just a bit longer and will show up in a separate post. I've had a bee in my bonnet to embroider a baby something ever since Alicia's book was published. If you are looking for inspiration, this book will provide it!


In the olden days, we used iron on transfers, but it seems that modern day patterns are not equipped with those handy tools. I used transfer paper, traced the designs from the pattern, and crossed my fingers that it would come out in the wash. It did. In the second wash, with a bit of Spray & Wash coaching.

I worried that the facing on the slip would not lay nicely and used a running stitch around the neck and arm rather than tacking the facing to the body of the slip. I think it adds a sweet detail.

Finally ... A Finished Project

It's been a fairly long while since I've actually finished a project. I've started many. The deadline was looming on this one, however ... the baby is due January 3rd and the baby shower was Tuesday. The sewing part of this quilt was VERY fun and went very quickly. The hand quilting was, however, tedious and time consuming. I could have knitted a blankie in the time it took me to hand quilt this one. Perhaps it would have been quicker had I actually known what I was doing. Balancing the laptop and watching youtube videos on hand quilting while trying to master the technique was a bit challenging. By the time I finished this quilt, I think I had pretty much mastered the theory of the technique, although I can't say that the stitches are exactly uniform. And uniformity, I believe, is the desired outcome.

Still, this blankie was very fun to make and I find myself contemplating the next quilting project. I plan, however, to check out machine quilting services for the bigger projects and save the hand quilting for table runners and other smallish items.

Catalog Love

The Garnet Hill Christmas Catalog just arrived and is filled with so much happiness I can hardly stand it. This catalog is my all-time favorite ... and I get lots of catalogs. How can you not love this felted wool Christmas tree skirt?

Wouldn't that be a fabulous winter knitting project? It reminds me of all of the felted items I saw at the Münchner-Freitheit Christmas market last year. And as long as we're talking about felted treasures, how cute is this game?


Wouldn't that be fun to make for a special little someone? These elf Advent calendars are also very sweet, with little pockets to hold the day's treasure:

And wouldn't you just love to wake up Christmas morning snuggled under these fluffy sheep?

Love Love Love

A Visit to The Bard and Other Quick Stops

Many miles were driven this week (precisely 614, thank you GoogleMaps) and a few sites were seen. Mike and I set off early Monday morning for Bend, where we presented a NT4CM workshop at OSU Cascades that afternoon. Last year the crowd at Bend Brewing Co. was overwhelming and we ended up at The Pine Tavern for dinner, which is, after all, THE place to eat in Bend. And we watched the snow falling on Mirror Pond. This year, however, Bend Brewing Co. had a place for us, as well as a a pint of Metolius Golden Ale. And, while it was a bit cool, the sun was bright and the moon was full and the sky was clear. Tuesday morning we left early for Ashland and our 1 pm workshop at Southern Oregon University. The weather was completely fabulous and I simply could not resist making a few stops to snap a few pictures and breath in that fresh pine-scented air. The tripod, unfortunately, was accidentally left behind and I was therefore unable to experiment with falling water and slow shutter speeds, something I've been wanting to try with the new camera. Probably a good thing, however, as we arrived at SOU just in time to grab a sandwich and cookie and load up the PowerPoint.

No time to catch a play, only a glimpse of the Elizabethan Stage. And dinner with Rick, who has finally found his way back to Oregon after a very successful, albeit cold, career-defining moment in Alaska. Brew pubs are starting to become a tradition for these trips, I guess, and we ended up at the Standing Stone Brewing Company for dinner and THE BEST Oktoberfest beer I've had in ... well ... a very long time.

I could definitely spend some time in Ashland. But not today. For tomorrow it's back to work (well, Reed-like work) AND Mr. Ben's 16th birthday. Where does the time go?

Sand Between My Toes

Craig and I finally got away to the beach over the weekend. For the first time this summer ... can that be right? We usually head to the beach the day after school's out, but events conspired to keep us away. Summer school schedules, College Board meetings, driving practice (for the 15 year old) ... and all of the sudden you realize it's the end of July and you haven't felt sand between your toes for a very long time. It seems life was less complicated when the boys were small and we headed to the beach nearly every weekend during the summer.

While we have many traditions that can't be skipped when we go to Lincoln City, we haven't developed those traditions in Seaside (other than, of course, setting up camp at Del Rey Beach). But we're working on it. We lunched at Bagels by the Sea (visited for the first time last summer), bought a half dozen bagels to go for afternoon snacks and picked up a chocolate dipped vanilla cone at the Gearhart DQ on the way home. I consider that to be a fine start. Oh, and I should mention, I finished one sleeve on Craig's sweater. Knitting at the beach is one tradition that transcends location.