This sweater should not have taken almost 2 years to complete. Yes, you read that right. I kept letting it languish in the UFO pile during it's many stages. The yarn was salvaged from the beautiful
Trellis Sweater from
Knitty.com that I never completed. Never try to finish a heavily cabled sweater after your child is born. At least not for the first year. My brain was pretty fried from the lack of sleep, plus I was trying to knit the whole thing in one piece to avoid seaming little pieces.
One night, I came to the conclusion that by the time I finished it, it would never fit her. So I frogged it. Then I became obsessed with this fair isle sweater. I rummaged around and found all the colors that I would need to make it. It took me one evening to complete the yoke. The color-work was very addicting. Then during the week, I finished the body and one sleeve. There it sat for a while. The challenge and interest was gone and I was off on the next exciting project.
My memory is fuzzy about the whole thing so bear with me. At one point, I completed the 2nd sleeve and there it sat again waiting for me to pick up the stitches to make the button bands. After another long while, both bands were knit and all the yarn ends were tediously woven in. I soaked and blocked it. Now it needed buttons.
My friends and I planned a trip to the garment district to go button shopping. We all brought our projects to find the perfect buttons. The selection was over whelming. Thank goodness I had friends there to help. Plus, the prices really varied depending on where you went. You could end up spending more on the buttons than the cost of the yarn to make the sweater. My friend, Penelope, was ever so patient and went through a million buttons before these were chosen. It fit all the criteria: worked well with the sweater, the right size for the button holes and it did not cost a small fortune to buy 8 buttons (bought 1 extra just in case we lost one). They are really cute flower shaped buttons.
You would think the story ended there, but nope. I brought the buttons home and forgot about them. Fast forward to a year later. A few weeks ago, Melody found the buttonless sweater and insisted on trying it on. She instantly fell in love with it. So, I dug around the closet until I located the buttons and quickly sewed them on . She was so thrilled when I showed her the completed sweater.
Just so you all don't think I am horrible procrastinator, I knew it was too big for her a year ago. I think that's why I never felt the need to rush to finish this. But seeing her fit that sweater so perfectly a few weeks made me realize that I did need to put those buttons on so she can wear it during this Winter. I used a worsted weight yarn to make this sweater in the 6 months size. I just made sure to knit the sleeves and body longer.
Pattern:
Tulip Yoke Baby Cardigan Free Ravelry Download
Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm
Yarn: 2 skeins of
Shelridge Farm Soft Touch W4 in Green Apple. I love this yarn and always try to purchase from them at Rhinebeck every year. The rest of the color-work on the yoke was knit with small partial skeins of worsted weight yarn I had laying around.
Size: She is now almost 3 yrs old and I followed the 6 months size on the pattern, but made to sure to lengthen the sleeves and body.
Fall Foliage is called "kouyou" in Japanese and the kanji (Chinese characters) means red leaves. Kouyou is inspired by my favorite season, Fall. The leaves turn brilliant shades of reds, oranges and yellows and the brisk air makes it perfect weather for a cozy shawl. Knit from the center back to the bottom edge, Kouyou can be quickly knit up in either worsted or sport weight yarn to ward off the impending chilly weather.
The shawl is designed to sit on your shoulders without slipping off. That's the way I wear it when I am sitting in front of the computer. Now that Fall has officially arrived in NYC, I am always cold. At Rhinebeck, I purchased a beautiful wooden shawl pin so that I can wrap the shawl around me when I am out and about. No matter how you choose to wear this shawl, it will be stunning.
This 7 page pattern has both written and charted instructions. The shawl starts off with a simple stockinette section, then the lace portion and it ends with a bind off with picots. It also includes directions and pictures on how to block the shawl.
Today, I decided to go through my Winter knitwear and accessories to figure out what Melody and I will need before it gets too cold. I made this hat for myself in January, but I never wore it and I kind of forgot about it. Naturally, Melody wanted to try it on as soon as she saw it. To my surprise, it fit her quite well even though I had made the adult size. Kids have big noggins!
The brim is super stretchy so it's really perfect for fitting different sized heads. She needed a new hat anyways, so this worked out well. I like that the brim can cover her ears on those super cold and windy days.
I am sure she wouldn't mind sharing the hat with me if I wanted to wear it. Though she looks way cuter in that hat than me.
Did I mention that it only took one skein of yarn and it's a super fast knit? You can have a hat in a day. Go make one!
Pixiewear, please contact me with your mailing address. You can email me at oiyi.yau(at) gmail (dot) com.
Plucky Mushrooms, I used assorted handspuns scraps I had on hand. The colors definitely indicates that it's a deadly fungi! At least they are pretty to look at.
Squirrels on Wheels, it's a new breed of squirrels at the park!
Grouchy Couch, all done in fair isle knitting. The knitting was labor-intensive, but totally worth the results. Everyone that I have shown this to gets a kick out of it.
All 4 cushions are removable. Perfect for a doll pillow fight.
I tried to adjust the t.v. for this little guy, but all I got was static. (The bear was made for me by Sara a long time ago. It's one of my favorite dolls in my toy cabinet.)