The best presents

I love handmade gifts. And knitted gifts are the best kind. Here is a picture of AJ in his sweater made by my friend Jeanne. She made this sweater and a lovely kimono top.



This is the Bookworm Sweater from Louisa Harding’s Miss Bea’s Rainy Day. How appropriate considering AJ's mama is a librarian!

This sweater is awesome -- looks great, is a nice weight, not too heavy but cozy for cool spring days, and with room to grow. I did have to make one minor modification and open up the neck a bit, due to AJ's 90th percentile head circumference...

You can see the opened neck here, it looks pretty cool:


Thank you Jeanne!

I Heart my Hoosier (style) cabinet

A few weekends ago, a new piece of furniture came into my life:

This is the Hoosier -Style cabinet we picked up at a local antique/collectible shop. I didn't know how much I wanted one of these until I spotted this one. It isn't an actual Hoosier cabinet -- that would have cost us quite a bit more money... but it looks a lot like the one we had in my family kitchen growing up. I think having this in my kitchen now is reconnecting me to my old 'home' -- it feels very comforting. The finish has this pale spring green wash to the oak-like wood, like a table of my grandmother's that I have.

Here is a photo of the table from our old condo in Massachusetts:

Someday maybe I'll have a studio and can have the two pieces together in the same room! The table is currently being stored in our basement...

For now, the Hoosier is in the kitchen, a much better item of furniture to store all my craft and office-y stuff than the previous setup, especially with a rambling infant prowling around.

It is definitely an inspiration to me right now -- and is influencing my current projects. I've been doing a lot of embroidery, and have some special projects up my sleeve...

Minimalist cardigan and Easter

I finished the Minimalist Cardigan on Saturday, the day before Easter. I wore the cardigan for 3 days straight! It fits well, and is very comfortable. Here are some pictures from the 'photo shoot' with my sister.

The finished product


With my beautiful Leslie Wind shawl pin

One mistake made is that the back is backwards -- so the ribbing is reversed. I had already seamed a lot of the sweater when I realized this error, and decided I didn't care. It is hardly noticeable. C'est la vie, or at least my life anyway...

Had a lovely Easter weekend... here are some of the highlights:

cupcakes made with my sister

Mr A enjoying his easter bunny

And me in my cardigan with my sister in law and niece!

In my Easter... cardigan

The race is on to finish my Minimalist Cardigan for wear on Easter Sunday. I think I will make it.



I have really enjoyed this pattern, and love the look of this sweater so far. Thanks to my friend Jeanne for suggesting it, and for Little Purl of the Orient for inspiring my color choice.

This truly is Minimalist, especially as knitting patterns go. Very easy to follow, easy to memorize, easy to work on without the pattern in front of you, not too much counting to memorize in your head, and wonderfully simple and elegant looking.

I have used Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL yarn in a cream shade, thanks to recommendations on Ravelry, and the good deals found at WEBS. This cardigan officially got me out of my knitting funk. First, I had to find the pattern -- could not find the fall IK anywhere! Then, in a strange turn of events, my sister's girlfriend happened to bring a copy with her while they visited one weekend, and the work on the Minimalist cardigan began! Hurray for ends to knitting funks :)

In other crafting news...

Naptime? No, bunny making time!! These little critters will be given to the young ones in the family for easter. I even knit up the little green scarf for Flopsy. The skirted bunny is Flouncy. I had some leftover pink fleece from the remnants bin at Joann's, so I made these free form bunnies and stuffed them with the same pink fleece! I managed to get most of the work done on these during a wonderful 2 hour baby naptime over the weekend.

Some socks

Some socks were finished a few weeks ago... here they are in my new clogs! Perfect shoes for showing off the beautiful Alpaca Sox yarn...

WEBS

Made a visit to WEBS in Northampton this past week while visiting my sister, and it was amazing to see all the stock in the sale room. I've 'seen' so much of it online, it was funny actually seeing it all in person. The store is pretty amazing, bigger than I imagined, and the staff were all really nice. I had a bit of a yarn spree, buying some online sock yarn, some Rowan All Seasons Cotton, a shawl pin, and the new Kim Hargreaves book. Upon returning home, I realized I had seen Rowan Big Wool on sale, which I would need for the pattern in the Kim Hargreaves book that I wanted to make, so I made one additional online purchase from WEBS. Nothing like a yarn spree, and I'll definitely be stopping in to WEBS when in Northampton again.

Some progress on my current projects (from about a week ago)...

Wearing the new hat

Wearing the new hat
Originally uploaded by stellesky

New hat for AJ! Made using the Cabin Fever pattern 'Colour Me Bright' with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande Paint and Reynold's Lopi yarns. A fun, easy fair isle that will fit for a while...











I think he likes it... both to wear and to play with!