5 Fun Science Experiments for Kids (w/ Grover!) | #5facts

Summer knits

I finished another wool leaves baby blanket. This one I knit with Cascade Eco wool -- I really love this blanket in this wool, the pattern really stands out well and it is a heavy enough to keep a baby warm but not so heavy you couldn't use it even on slightly warmer days. I already have another planned.

I've also had some more time to work on my Emelie sweater. One arm is almost done. I can try it on now and I LOVE the way it fits and how it feels. Fingering weight yarn takes forever to knit in my size but it is sure worth the effort.

In other news I will officially be taking a long break from PKat Pants. I just accepted a teaching position for the fall and will be returning to working out of the home full time. I know with three kids, a full time job and the knitting I enjoy doing for my friends and family that I will not have enough time to knit for others. I think the blog will get a make over soon with a new name and while my focus will remain on knitting in the blog I do plan to add a bit more about daily life in our neck of the woods.

Easy Summer top

I was on the hunt for a cute summer top for my youngest R.  It just so happened a friend was looking for testers for just such a top.  I love the fit of this and I have recently fallen in love with the look of smocking.  This top was fun to knit, the smocking was a fun new skill to learn and overall I am very happy with the way this worked up.  I feel silly but I am equally as pleased I had a little pair of lightweight capris that match perfectly with the yarn.  This colorway is WSK Bella on superwash worsted merino with matching brown trim.  For this top (knit in the size 2) I used a full skein of colorway and the full 2 oz of trim, I litreally had about a yard left over of each and to finish the straps I had to wind the second skein (I almost used ribbons to save that skein but wanted to be true to the pattern because I was testing).  Here is Miss R "modeling" (if you can call being bribed to sit on your bike with goldfish modeling) her new summer top.

Summer is here!

Well not officially but I'm calling it summer! We had our first supper with baked beans from the bean pot last night so from here on out it is summer in my book. If I do say so myself I make a pretty killer pot of beans and they are one of our summer staples, I make at least a pot a week during summer.

I had a whole bunch of projects finished but waiting for the weather to clear up so I could do pictures. The first is a shrug for V, she picked out the color and the yarn and as I think you can tell she loves it. When I asked her to model for me this was the move she kept doing -- which is impressive considering a month ago she couldn't stand on one leg for even a split second. She could hold this pose for a few seconds today and was so proud of herself for it! I also finished a few soakers. The first one is size medium with handspun by Yarnnoodles, the second a newborn sized one on Gaia bulky (not sure of the colorway) and the third is bigger kid sized (22 hip 17 rise) on Mosaic Moon Kirkyard. Those three are all going to the same home. The white soaker with the ruffles is for a photography friend, I need to wait to her from her but I really think it needs more ruffles (and I am SO not a more ruffles kind of girl) it just doesn't seem ruffly enough to me. And last I finished off a baby blanket with some Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in the Peapod colorway. This is the Wool Leaves pattern and I think I found my new go to for quick baby gifts, it took me 4 days to make and I love the pattern -- plus handmade baby blankets are always something I treasured as gifts for my little ones.

All good things...

No pictures of finished things today but I do have a shot of a sweater I have been working on for myself. This has been my car project I work on it mostly when I am sitting in the car waiting for V during various therapies. I do work on it at home but only when I have no other projects or need a break from a frustrating project. So the going is slow and maybe by the end of the year I will finish but I'm okay with that -- all good things are worth the wait, and I know this sweater will be a good thing.

I did finish a tester shrug for V this weekend but I goofed in the construction and am working on figuring out how to fix my mistake before I can show it off. I also finally finished the ruffled bum soaker, once that is dry I will post some shots of that as well. Be on the look out for more posts from me later in the week.

Also don't forget I have some instock knits and a custom slot available on Their Own Knitted World, be sure to check them out!

My Blue Phase

I just realized uploading my pictures I've knit a lot of blue lately. I just finished an Elleby by Comfort Wool for myself with some Happy Feet DK I had laying around. The pictures of it laying flat just don't do the pattern any justice, so I attempted to do a self-portrait of myself modeling it. Yeah I'm so not a photographer, or a model or a model capable of doing self-portraits -- but that hat is cute and while I wasn't entirely sure about the color for me while I was working on it I really like it now and I'm glad I use this yarn for this pattern. I also finished up a small shawl I kind of designed using some hand spun from Rain City Fiber Arts. I used the same cast on as the Faraway So Close but from there I just did my own thing and really followed what the yarn was doing and changed things up as needed. I love this shawl, adore the colors it was such a peaceful item to knit. I will be listing it as part of our 2 year anniversary stocking at Their Own Knitted World so stayed tuned for some better shots!

Spring has sprung -- kind of.

We've reached that time of year in Maine where the promise of spring and warmer weather taunts us. We get sneak peeks of the nicer weather to come followed with cold days to remind us that in Maine we frequently get snow as late as April. I've finished up another project though, these are small longies done with Yarnnoodles Ponderosa on Cestari, I messed with the settings a bit in editing to get this picture to show the true depth of color going on in this colorway and it still does not do the colorway justice. I love these little longies they were such a joy to knit.

I also received some spectacular handspun from Tara of Rain City Fiber Arts in the mail today for a special instock project for Their Own Knitted World in May. I have one small project I need to finish (a ruffle bottom soaker that I've been procrastinating on when it comes to putting the ruffles on) and then I can start working on my idea for this handspun -- I won't lie I'm pretty excited to knit this up.

Things are plugging along with V, the change in her speech is amazing but PT and OT wise her progress is a bit slow still. This week she will be 6 weeks out of surgery so I am hoping we start to see more improvement with her PT/OT issues soon.