Knitting Mojo

Hallelujah! I am knitting again. (Don't you hear the choir singing?!) I am not back to where I used to be with it but I am getting my mojo back. I finished C's Phoebe sweater over the weekend and have since cast on K's sweater. I am not even going to try to get these done by Christmas, though. I think they will receive them on Epiphany instead. I'm won't push myself. The doll versions of the sweaters might wait until a bit later in the year. We'll see.



I only now noticed that I am unintentionally knitting the girls' sweaters in Baby L's colors. How funny! I spent forever picking out just the right colors for them - but I guess I must have really been on auto-pilot during the process!

Once I finish K's sweater I may treat myself to a fast instant gratification type project to help me fully recover from my knitting fatigue. Then maybe I'll try to get back to work on my and Baby L's papoosa. Oh but wait, Baby L's first birthday is coming up in February...

I really want to get some reading in, too. I feel like it has been forever since I sat down to read a book - I don't mean a parenting, Waldorf education or childrens reading book but a real good read... know what I mean? I have a copy of Story of a Soul that was ever so kindly given to me (from someone special) sitting here next to my computer waiting for me to pick it up. I have been feeling even more drawn to it lately so maybe my knitting might go back on hold afterall. I wish I could knit and read at the same time so I didn't have to choose between the two.

Knitting Mojo

Knitting Through Tears

Preparing for Saint Nicholas day!

Here we are, already at this week's Phoebe Sweater KAL and yarn along update. I have nothing to say on my Phoebe's sweater for C. No, that's not true. I have a lot to say but I am still just too bummed out about the whole thing to go in to it, so here's a recap:

I was nearly finished with C's sweater (just had to do one sleeve and the hood) and it appeared to be small looking rather small. I did check my gauge this time around but something still went wrong. Fearing the worst I brought her into the bathroom so no one else could see and told her to close her eyes. I then tried the sweater on her. The length was perfect but I severely underestimated the size of sweet C's Buddha belly. It was barely able to wrap around her.

I tried my hardest not to cry but it was hitting me hard, all my work and no margin for error on this Christmas gift making timeline... Ughhh! I tried to devise a plan where I wouldn't have to rip out the whole sweater. I came close but couldn't find a way to avoid it entirely. So I sat and shed a few tears while I ripped out the entire upper body, just until I got to the decreasing section, then I stopped. I should have taken a picture of the many little balls of yarn I had from ripping it out. It was such a sad sight. I picked up the stitches on one side of the bottom half of the sweater and knit 3 rows in seed stitch then cast off. I did the same to the other side of the bottom half of the sweater. This added 6 stitches of width to the entire sweater. I then changed my needles from size 10 to size 10 1/2 and followed the decrease instructions but this time for the size 6 sweater instead of the size 4. Now I am knitting the entire upper body in size 6 with the bigger needles. It looks much bigger, now lets just hope it's not too big! I do want it to be a bit big and loose, though, so she can wear many layers underneath it.

This mistake of mine set me back big time, so now I am not sure what I will finish up in time for Christmas. The plan was just the Phoebe sweaters and the doll versions for the girls along with a patchwork quilt for their bed. Not sure about working on that quilt now. I am thinking if all else fails, I may have to drop making Baby L's gift and give it to him later. He has gifts coming from our families so I doubt he'll notice...

I was still sulking a bit when I took these pictures today. As you can see I choose to focus on our cute little Scandinavian Christmas angel chimes instead of my actual project. Ahem.

I suppose I better get back to work on that sweater!
What are you working on? I hope you are having better luck than me! Happy creating!!


P.S - Blogger wouldn't let me upload pictures tonight so I had a lot of hoops to jump through to figure it out. Thanks to my dear (birthday girl) friend Marina I think I have it set now.

Knitting Through Tears

Stars, Candles & Phoebe

More Santa Lucia makings... this one is for my special Baby L. I finished up C's crown minus sewing on the elastic on one side.



The girls and I took a trip to our local Bee supply store the other day (Thank you Dionne and Yvonne for letting me in on one of Portland's best kept secrets!) to stock up on some advent necessities.
Can you guess what I'll be doing the next few days?



Although, I started one and it separated because it's too cold in our house (as you can see in the picture), so I have to wait until we get a good fire going and then try again.



Yarning along and knitting along - on to actual knitting. Forgive the photo, I was out all day getting groceries (seriously... three stores = all day grocery shopping) and unable to get a picture until the sun was setting on a cloudy, rainy Oregon day (hence, the sweater thrown on the table alongside my groceries to put away). C's Phoebe sweater is coming along nicely. I finished up one front side and am now working on the other. I might be able to finish it in the next week or so, that is if I can stop myself from sewing. I did have a minor setback over the weekend, though. I have been copying the pattern out of the book onto post it notes, (so that the girls don't see me knitting with the book and figure out what I am making) and I somehow managed to copy part of it down wrong (probably in a sleepy state). I ended up having to rip out quite a few inches of knitting due to that mistake, but now I am back on track. I am on skein number four now and I have to admit I am a bit anxious about my yarn calculations. I was hoping to have enough for the sweater and to make one for C's doll. Not sure if that will happen or not.

Speaking of sewing I have a question for you: Now that K's first winter dress is done I am moving on to the girls' Santa Lucia dresses. More details on that later, anyways, since I want them to be fast and easy dresses I am using this simple pattern. I am hoping to alter it by making the length longer, the neck higher and the sleeves long. How do you go about making a short sleeved pattern into a long sleeved one? To alter the neck area I am thinking I should just add an inch or two to the pattern piece??? Does that seem right? This all seems so silly to me. I remember back when I made my own patterns and now look at me, I have forgotten everything. Oh well, it will all come back to me, eventually... right?

What are you working on? Happy creating!

P.S. I am hoping to talk to our school store owner this week about those pocket people kits from the Heart of Advent post but if you can find the supplies locally (or online) my friend Dionne just posted the tutorial for the ones she made (that were displayed at Heart of Advent). More details about the treasure candles coming, too!

Stars, Candles & Phoebe

KAL & Sporadic Makings

I got a nice early start tonight, it feels quite good.
It's Tuesday already and time for our weekly Phoebe's Sweater Knit Along check-in!



I am very thankful for a weekend in front of the fire with my family and my knitting needles. I am not quite as far as I would like to be on my first sweater but it is moving along rather quickly. I ended up going with size 10 needles instead of the 10 1/2", just because I prefer the look. I did my gauge swatch (for once) and I am only a tiny bit off. I am pretty happy with my yarn decision too, now that I am seeing it knit up. It feels really soft which is very important when it comes to knitting for my sensitive C.



I am at the point where you do stockinette stitching for 10" (size 4). I went through my first skein of yarn and I am about to finish up this second one. Rav update here.
How are all of you doing? Did you see Joanna's Phoebe sweater she is knitting for her little boy? I am keeping my eye on that one - I may have to make one in the future for Baby L. What about Paula's? The yarn she choose looks so cheery! Oh and sorry, Paula, for the late start :)

Let's see your progress! How are you doing? Need a little inspiration? Check out Joanna's video:



As I sat down to work on making a Phoebe's Sweater KAL button to share with all of you, I realized, I don't know how to! Do any of you know how to do this?

I also came to the realization that I don't have any thing really planned for Baby L for Christmas. I was thinking of knitting him the Snug baby hoodie but as time is running short I may switch that plan. Maybe another Milo, or pullover sweater? I have been meaning to knit another Small Things sweater, so maybe I'll just go with that. Didn't I say I was going to do that last March?! Yikes! Grace's recent knit reminded me. It should be relatively fast and easy as I knit the romper version of it last winter. Remember that cuteness?! I may even use the same buttons and yarn... maybe, oh and the matching bonnet... We'll wait and see, I need to finish up the girls' sweaters first.


Yes, that is a ridiculously large suction cup!

I finished up the nativity beeswax impressions I mentioned last week to sell in the store. Now let's see if anyone wants to buy them. I have now moved on to some other nativity beeswax projects using these.




C strikes again! She got to my freshly sanded and bees waxed desk with a crayon again.

There has been some sporadic late night sewing happening here. I finished up a winter dress with flannel bloomers for K. It looks so snug and warm. I just need to trim the threads and put it on her now. I am also trying to finish up/start my Santa Lucia crafting. St. Lucia is baby L's namesake so it seems even more important this year.

What are you working on? Happy creating!

If you are participating in the Phoebe's Sweater Knit Along please add your link below:


P.S. I apologize for being late (Baby L had a hard time sleeping last night) but the winner was announced in the Phoebe's Sweater giveaway. Please go check it out in the original post.

KAL & Sporadic Makings

Phoebe's Sweater Knit Along & Giveaway!

Hmm, is it a bit much with these pics?

Alright everyone, Halloween is over and November is here - time to get going on that Phoebe's Sweater Knit Along! My yarn arrived yesterday and I am going to wind it and hopefully start knitting tonight. I am starting out with C's sweater first. I ended up going with this yarn, as I got a great deal on it and the colorway is pretty close to what I was envisioning for C. I am still undecided on what yarn I'll use for K's but no need to worry about that until I finish C's, first. Did you all make a decision on your yarn?







I also wanted to check in with all of you to see if you had a preference as to how I host this KAL. I was thinking we could all work at our own pace (Do I really have four sweaters to finish by Christmas?? Maybe we should exchange gifts on Epiphany instead...), but would you rather we establish starting and stopping points as a group?


Photo courtesy Slate Falls Press

For pattern issues/questions I think the Slate Falls Press group on Ravelry is an invaluable resource, and of course our fellow KAL knitters. We are in such good company, wouldn't you agree?!

If you are joining us in this fabulous knit along please add your name/blog to the linkies list to the bottom of this post. If you happen to have a knit along post this week then, by all means, please add it! Otherwise I figured we'd start that next week.

>
Photo courtesy Slate Falls Press

Speaking of joining us,it's not too late! Need to find a copy of the book and pattern? You can order it from Slate Falls shop or Amazon.

I am hoping to make a button for the KAL and have it available for all of you next week. I figured I should make some progress on my sweater, first.
Oh, here's my rav page for C's sweater. What's yours?


Photo courtesy Slate Falls Press

Now for the really exciting news! To kick off our Phoebe's Sweater KAL Joanna Johnson, the author of Phoebe's Sweater has generously offered one of you lucky readers not only a copy of her book, but also a set of the knitting mouse stationary featuring an illustration by Eric Johnson of Phoebe's mother, from Phoebe's Sweater! I have been so excited over the sweater pattern I have failed to mention just what a great book this is! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the story is one that you'll want to read again and again to your children. My Mom actually got it for C on her birthday this year and it was the perfect gift, especially since C was (and still is) a brand new big sister. She likes to pretend that she is Phoebe and that Baby L is Phoebe's new sibling. While I am at it, Joanna's latest book Freddie's Blanket is another treasure. My Mom, again, (Thank you, Mom!) bought a copy of it for Baby L to receive this Christmas. I see some knitted gifts for Baby L from that book in the future.


Photo courtesy Slate Falls Press

There I go blabbering on and on again. I tend to do that when I get really excited over something, but let's get back to that giveaway.
For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post!
If you would like an additional chance to win:
-let me know you are a dear follower
-post this giveaway to Facebook, Twitter, or your blog
and please make sure to come back and leave me another comment letting me know you did so!

I will close comments on Tuesday November 15th at 9pm PST and announce the winner within this post that night.

Comments closed!
The winner by random number generator is:
Elizabeth - Oh I have been wanting this book for my daughter and to make her her own Pheobe sweater. What a sweet giveaway. Thank you for the chance.


Congrats Elizabeth! Please contact me at farmergopi(at) yahoo(dot) com.

Thank you Joanna for such a generous giveaway. Good luck everyone!


Photo courtesy Slate Falls Press


There's still time to enter to win the Organic Seasons patterns, too!

Phoebe's Sweater Knit Along & Giveaway!

Autumn Sheep

Well, Halloween came and went. I planned on knitting up three sheep costumes for my three little ones but plans changed. K decided she wanted to be a fairy and I just didn't have the time to do anything for Baby L so our flock shrank to just one sheep. Oh, but she was a joyful sheep!











Forgive the dark,grainy pictures. The sun was just about gone and I had to use a high ISO setting on my camera. Blech.
The pattern was a free one on Ravelry and you can find my rav notes here. My only modifications were to make the straps to go over her shoulders. She is really sensitive to a lot of fabrics and wool so I didn't want it to be too close to her face. It was supposed to be a size 3-4 but it came out quite bigger than that. It is even big on K at age 6! This ended up being perfect for Halloween night, though, as we needed to wear jackets. Her lamb 'fleece' fit right over her big winter coat with no problems. See, I meant to make it that big! Since it runs so large maybe we can try for our sheep flock again next year. I know our german shepherd would like that. She was a bit disappointed she wasn't able to guard the whole flock of sheep.





As I briefly mentioned (and you could see) in my pumpkin post last week, I finished Baby L's autumn leggings. You can find my rav notes here. It was about time. I started them late last spring! The pattern is the February Baby Leggings from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I purchased this book last year to knit C's (2nd) birthday sweater, after getting past my fear of knitting a Zimmermann pattern. I am not sure exactly what it is, but there is something a bit daunting to me about following her patterns. I tend to over think them and that's where my issues arise. I have now knit two of her patterns and survived so you'd think I would be over it, right? I'm not. I want to knit her baby surprise jacket but I am shaking a bit over the thought of it...
Anyways, I was inspired to knit these by Amanda's gorgeous pair (knit with some yummy Sweet Basil Fibre Works yarn!) after a couple of false starts on the baby leggings with adjustments to needle size and running out of yarn, I finished them up just in time for the autumn cold to hit. I have to say, I am in L-O-V-E. I do believe this may replace the picky pants as my new all time favorite longies pattern. They have quite a tall rise on them but that is just perfect for keeping a baby's core warm during those cold fall/winter months. I am really happy with how the leggings decrease right before the ankle ribbing, making them snug and tight to prevent drafts from giving Baby L a chill.
They are overall the perfect pattern, in my little old humble opinion.













I realized I didn't have any close up pictures of them on Baby L so I took him outside tonight for some last minute ones...again the sun was pretty much gone so they are dark and grainy...and I am just always finding the faults in everything, huh? Geesh.

In other news, my babywearer project is sitting in the corner gathering dust. I'll get back to it, really - I will! Now that the Halloween knitting is done, I am gearing up for Christmas. I ordered my Phoebe's Sweater yarn and I'm just waiting for it to arrive. I plan on kicking off the Phoebe's Sweater KAL next week (with or without my yarn) with an amazing giveaway so keep your eyes open for that. Also, later this week my talented friend and designer Megan Grewal will be offering up something extra special to help inspire your wintertime/holiday knitting.

What are you working on? Happy creating!

Autumn Sheep