Ribbons and Bows Beanies

 

 

I knit up these most adorable hats for shop samples. It’s the ribbons & bow beanie by April Lowe. I picked up the pattern (for 4$) on Etsy. (Seeing the purple one on her Etsy page makes me want to make some more, in purple too). This pattern makes me want to knit one for every baby girl I know. And make some for gifts. I think I will absolutely make this one again, over & over again. Well, let me tell you, the next girl that I need a gift for, will be getting one of these! And the newborn size doesn’t take more than 30g combined (in white & pink or whatever color you chose), so from a 100g skein of worsted weight, you can get a bunch of hats out of these. It was about 20-25g of the main color & about 5-10g of the white. Oddly, the cotton hat weighs more than the wool blend hat. I used Berroco Weekend for the cotton hat & Berroco Vintage™ for the wool blend hat on a 4.5mm needle. I used a 16” for the hat until the decreases and then switched to some double pointed needles.

 

They’re on display at the shop if you’d like to see them!

Gaptastic, again

At the beginning of the year I knit up a gaptastic for the shop. I loved it so much, that I decided that I had to knit up another one, for myself. Those mornings standing at the bus stop with the kids in the middle of winter get brutally cold. My thrummed mittens are a staple for standing at the bus stop, along with a trusty hat. Now, I can add this to my wardrobe to keep me warm.

I used up 3 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Solids (color: 640 Fisherman) that was in my stash for a very long time. I do have stuff in my stash that was not purchased at my shop, but acquired before I bought the shop. I used 9mm (US 13) knitting needles. This was a great project to work on while at Sean’s baseball games. I was able to knit & chat with the other baseball moms at the same time. I would definitely knit this project again. It’s a fave of mine now!

Bling Shawl!

I just finished knitting up a shawl, my own design, for a kit that we are selling at the shop. The kit comes with 2 balls of yarn (enough to make the shawl) and the pattern (for free with purchase of the kit which costs 15$!). If you cannot get down to the shop and would like a copy of the shawl pattern, it's available for sale on Ravelry. I am in love with the color and the way it striped along the shawl. The yarn was lovely to work with. (Rozetti Yarns Polaris). The finished size is 50"x21". The pattern calls for 5mm / US8 needles. This was fun to knit & design - I hope you like it!

Saartje's Bootees for Jameson

I knit these adorable little booties for a co-worker of my husband’s who had a baby in May 2014. I used 12 grams (55 yards) of ONline Supersocke 4-fach London Color using 2.75mm/US2 needles.

These are so cute & took no time at all to knit up. The pattern is very easy to follow. I knit them in one evening. I definitely plan to knit up more of these.

Oriental Lily

I just finished knitting up the cutest dress ever. I plan to knit this one again the next time I need a gift for a baby girl. It’s the cutest thing ever. It also took no time at all to knit. I used 221.5 yards, 69 grams of a 100 gram skein of Stylecraft Merry Go Round in color 3142 and for the wait band, arm cuffs and skirt cuff I used  57.3 yards which is 16 grams of a 50 gram skein of Sirdar DK in color 197. I used both 4mm (US6) and 3.75mm (US5) needles and the stitch definition is very nice.

This has got to be the cutest store sample we’ve got right now. It’s a free pattern, Oriental Lily by Georgie Hallam. Very well written and comes in many sizes (newborn to child size 10).

I made the newborn size and it was tried on by 8 lb 4 oz Sienna and it fits perfectly. The sizing is perfect.

Double Rainbow

I have seen a lot of rainbows this week. The first one was on Thursday after some rain. Then last night, on the way to dinner at my in-laws, we saw the most beautiful thing ever. A double rainbow, where one of the rainbows (the clearer one) was a full arc. Unfortunately I couldn’t capture the full rainbow on my iPhone fast enough, from the passenger seat of the car). It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rainbow like that. I just had to share it. Happy Saturday!

Like a Hockey Player

Last week Sean lost his 3rd tooth, on the bottom. It was his 3rd tooth lost on the bottom. Yesterday, he lost his 4th tooth, an upper one this time. It got accidentally knocked out at school by himself. He looks like a hockey player after a fight. He has a few more teeth that are currently loose. The tooth fairy is going to go broke around here!

Mr. Quentin

 

Ah… Mr. Quentin. My baby. Our source of entertainment. He’s quite the comedian. At almost 3.5 years old, he truly keeps life interesting, eating dinner with his backpack on (as he cannot take it off), or watching Caillou on the computer, through binoculars.

 

He plays very nicely by himself (on the benches at Sean’s baseball practice, while Mack runs around with a classmate of his, whose brother is on Sean’s ball team, while Mommy knits). He comes up with stories beyond my imagination, for the toys he brings with him to the ball park. (In his backpack of course). Quentin recently had a vernissage at daycare, and I got the most beautiful piece of artwork from him. I need to find a place on the wall to hang his art.

 

About a month ago, I traveled to Toronto with Quentin, a good friend & her daughter who is in Quentin’s class at daycare. While visiting a friend in Toronto, Quentin fell in love with the superhero cape that belong to my friend’s son. He was so cute in it, that my friend made some capes for each of my boys. (Thanks again Jen!)

 

Quentin is just a cutie. Always making us laugh.

 

I just want to eat him up! He’s talking up a storm now, far from from his speech delay, which is now the past. Some words we are still working on, but he’s slowly but surely getting them. He uses full sentences (though not always in the right tense, but that’s ok!) and when I used to say “I wish he would talk already”, now I say “does he ever stop talking?” LOL!

I cannot believe my baby will be 4 this year. FOUR! Where on earth does time go?

Mr. Mackenzie

Mr. Mackenzie is too funny. “Look Mom, look how much hair I have, time for a haircut?” The next day I called to make an appointment.

Mackenzie had a project in his class called “Enfant Vedette”. I went in to his class to talk about my job or hobby. Coincidentally, mine is combined. So I did an activity with Mackenzie’s class as well, and we made pom pom monsters. Making pom pom monsters with 19 kids at the same time in a short time frame was a little challenging, but I made do. Luckily, Mackenzie’s teacher and an aide in the classroom where there to help with the kids. The kids had fun and Mack was super happy to have me come to his class, since I haven’t been able to volunteer at all this past year now that I’m working full time out of the house.

Mackenzie loves all sports (we play frisbee at Sean’s baseball practices), however he still has no interest in participating in organized sports.

And he loves climbing to the top of the structure at the local park and scream out “I’m the kind of the castle, you’re the dirty rascal!” The joys of being a child. I think I’d get dirty looks if I tried that.

Mr. Mackenzie is surprising us greatly with his maturity this year. While he hasn’t lost any teeth yet, maybe soon, who knows, he is eager for the tooth fairy to pay him a visit.

And with the blink of an eye, Mackenzie’s just about done Kindergarten. Just a few short weeks left – I can’t believe it! Where on earth does time go? My birthday buddy turns 6 in less then a month.

Mr. Sean

Sean lost his 3rd tooth on Friday. We knew it was loose, but we didn’t think it would come out so quickly. He ran to me just before bedtime and said “Look mom! I pulled it out!” Brave kid! It’s his 3rd tooth on the bottom lost. He hasn’t lost a top one yet, though his teeth keep spacing further apart on the top, making room for his adult teeth. The top front teeth are loose, but not loose enough to fall out yet. Soon enough! The tooth fairy brought rainbow loom elastics (a mega 1200 glow-in-the-dark & two-tone mix pack) and 2 loonies.

For Mother’s Day recently, Sean made me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers (from construction paper and tissue paper) at school. They’re better than real flowers, as they won’t die. He was so proud of them, I love it.

He’s growing up too fast. The blink of an eye, and he’s just about done the 1st grade.

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung.

Things are blooming all around.

I am so glad the warmer weather is here.

Definitely Diagonal

Recently I whipped up a quick shawl. It’s the Definitely Diagonal Shawl by Kris Basta – Kriskrafter. I used 1.62 skeins of Berroco Maya on a 6mm needle. I started it on a Thursday evening and was finished by Sunday morning. I loved the pattern, and would knit this one again. The yarn was a pleasure to work with. It’s 85% Cotton, 15% Alpaca. Feels great to work with as I am not normally a fan of most cottons with my dry hands. This one was very gentle on my hands. This shawl will live at the shop as a sample until I retire it and bring it home. You’ll probably find me wearing it in the shop.

SPUN

Catherine McKenzie does it again! She had me not wanting to put this novella down. I read it pretty much in one sitting. I have been a fan of Catherine's work since her first novel came out, which I read in the spring of 2010, a few short months after it was released. I've read all of Catherine's work, and thoroughly enjoyed every single novel & now novella, that Catherine has written. I was thrilled when I received an advanced reader's copy of Spun to read & review.

Spun is a sequel to Catherine's first novel, Spin. While Spin is Kate Sandford's story, Spun is Amber Sheppard's. While you don't need to read Spin to enjoy Spun, it does provide you with background on the characters. And if you haven't read Spin, I advise you to go pick up a copy today and read both. (And all of Catherine's other novels, you will not be disappointed). You can pick them up on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Kobo.com, Chapters, etc!

Amber's character is extremely realistic, and I could picture her story on the covers of US Weekly or any other tabloid magazine. Amber stays clean after her stint in rehab and tries to get her life back on track. The story starts off with Amber going to see the love of her life, Connor, on the night he dies, and decides to get off his plane and with that decision, manages to save her life. So much happens in the 100-something page novella and the way Catherine writes makes you want to know more. And you have to keep reading to know the full story, as bits of the story and of what is going on are dropped along the way.

There is a giveaway for 5 copies of Spin by Catherine McKenzie. You can find the giveaway here!

Nantucket Throw

 

Over the weekend I knit up a Nantucket Throw that will be in the shop later today as a store sample. This knit took about 3 hours to do, I just didn’t have 3 consecutive hours to knit it as I was out of town on a business trip and it was a busy weekend. It’s so fun to work with and my arms got a great work out while doing so. Though, if I had one entire evening to sit down & knit, I could have finished it from cast on to cast off in one go. This used 150 yards, which is 1100 grams of Loopy Mango Big Loop Merino in Ivory. It’s so soft to work with and definitely different to work with than all smaller weights of yarn. I used US 50 - 25.0 mm needles that came in the kit, and those were really nice to work with as well. The unblocked finished size is 28"x53". With blocking, it should block a bit larger. I just need to find a space to block something this large!

 

I do plan to make one for my house, as it’s so cozy to sit under.

Cute Little Dresses

I whipped up two really cute dish cloth dresses as gifts this past week. One for my mom and one for my brother’s girlfriend. These are super adorable and knit up in no time. I’m thinking future teacher gifts! Both used up each approx. ~20-21g of dish cloth cotton. Making it in one color is easier as there are less ends to weave in. I also made one change to the pattern, instead of chaining 12 at the neck I chained only 4, as 12 is way too long. I am really happy with these cute little dresses!

 

Zayda

My grandparents and I on my 1st birthday in 1982.

My grandfather passed away yesterday in his 87th year. May he rest in peace. November 16, 1926 – April 1, 2014.

Pompom Monster Tutorial

This is my pompom monster for a project I am doing for a presentation in my son's kindergarten class in April. His teacher does an "enfant vedette" project where one child is highlighted for the week and one of the child's parents comes in for an hour and talks about their job or hobby so I will talk about knitting and my yarn shop and make these pompom monsters with the kids as the activity I will do with them. It's a cute and fun project to do with the kids. This was my trial monster to see how much yarn I need I prepare for each kid in Mackenzie's class. He has 18 classmates.

To make the pompom I used this free printable PDF from Mias Craft Ideas. I chose the size I wanted and I cut out the shape and traced it on cardboard from an empty cereal box (you need to make 2 of them to hold together when wrapping the yarn). Then I used a worsted weight yarn and wrapped the pompom tool. I cut around the edge of the yarn to release the strands & then I took a string and tied the pompom together. To see how that is done, you can watch this youtube video. I did trim a bit of the pieces afterwards (like a haircut) to make the monster even. Then I used my handy glue gun and glued on 2 google eyes & voila! A cute/adorable pompom monster!

 

(Side view of my monster)

Boomslang

I knit up Boomslang (free download on Ravelry) in less than a month. While it’s a mindless knit, there are a LOT of stitches. I casted on 300 stitches instead of the 220 the pattern recommends and I find it just right. Any less amount of stitches and it probably would choke me. I used 1.3 balls of Drops Baby Merino in black (21) and I used 1.5 balls of Drops Baby Merino in red (16). The extra red is because I finished it off with the red as well as started it with red. The pattern is just a simple knit 6 rows, purl 6 rows. I read on Ravelry that some knitters wrapped & turned to knit the purl section, but I don’t mind purling, so I did the purl rows as is. I knit this up on US 4 - 3.5 mm needles. I love how reversible it is, and I loved working with the baby merino yarn. I would definitely knit this pattern again, however the next one would be black and a variegated yarn, instead of 2 solids. I think the black would make a variegated yarn pop.