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.

Busy little bee

I've finished a few projects. First is the set that will be up for sale on Their Own Knitted World. This is a capri set knit using Lickety Stitch Purple Knit with buttons made by DigitDesigns (on Etsy). The capri's have a bell ruffle and a unique working button detail that allows you to add length in the form of an additional ruffle (which will be an option when they are listed). The shrug is the Little Girls Shrug pattern from Diane Soucy of Knitting Pure and Simple. I think this set is adorable and wish I had knit it in a size we could use if it doesn't not sell, sadly this is all approximately 18 months and wouldn't fit us here.

I also finished a Bel Cloche as part of a trade for Rain City Fibers, it came out amazing and I can't say enough about how amazing Tara's handspun yarn is. This was a merino silk blend I believe but I'm not sure on the colorway name. Look for some of her yarn featured in my instock item for May at Their Own Knitted World!

Right now I have a pair of small longies on the needles, using Yarnnoodles Ponderosa colorway on Cestari. Another project I am really enjoying and hope to having finished tomorrow.

Not much new going on with V she is still recovering well from surgery. It is hard to believe just looking at her that she had brain surgery 5 weeks ago but behavior wise and skills wise it isn't hard to remember. She is still mega hyper most of the time, but at least her sleeping has become better so we aren't dealing with mega hyper 3 1/2 year old until well past midnight. It seem post surgery I spend a good deal of our time in the car waiting for V at various therapies. She has speech twice a week for an hour, PT twice a week for an hour and OT once a week for an hour. Good thing little R is such a trooper and perfectly content to sit in her car seat and read books most of the time (although for a few of those we do go and run errands but they are all just far enough from home that coming home would mean turning around as soon as we get here to head back to pick up V). She is finally making huge amounts of progress in speech, in the last month she has made more progress in her speech therapy then she has since she began it a year ago. We are very happy with her progress and really hope that the auras she seems to be experiencing go away soon and do not turn into seizures.

Something for one of my kidlets

I finished a pair of longies for my youngest. These are WSK Madeline on Mountain Meadow. I've actually had them done since Sunday but I didn't get a chance until today to take pictures. This colorway is so nice and will match so many of her shirts. I'm working on a pair of shorties to list for sale with the leftovers!

I've been busy busy busy keeping up with everything for V. It feels like a full time job driving V to speech therapy, physical thereapy and occupational therapy every week. Oh and don't forget her special pre-k program twice a week. We took today off she is beat and needed a good nap and I have so many things I NEED to get done her but with our constant running I haven't had a chance to. She is doing great though, it looks like the surgery was a success she hasn't had a seizure in nearly a month now. Totally amazing that she has recovered this quickly and is doing so well, everything about her astounds me.