Sparkles

Everyone needs a little bit of sparkly fiber in their life! I found this batt (3.75 oz) at the Shepards Harvest Festival over Mothers Day weekend. I completely overspent on all the wonderful fibers - although I went knowing that I would overspend and being OK with that fact. Hey, when your husband's lounging on some beach in Ft Lauderdale and you're in 45 degree weather in Florida, you are allowed to overindulge.

Speaking of fiber, I know a friend of a friend who is giving away 1-2 lbs of wool straight off the sheep. I don't know if it's been cleaned, carded, etc. I know nothing about it. But let me know if you're at all interested and I'll check into it for you.

Non-Knitting

I've got several projects on the needles, but none ready to be photographed yet. We took this picture at my in-laws on Easter morning and I think it deserves to be seen. As you can tell, I'm pretty proud of my little family. The girls continue to amaze me with how fast they are growing and learning. We went to Kindergarten Roundup last week and it took everything I had not to cry through the entire thing. My baby is going to Kindergarten!

On Thursday at knit night, the owner of my LYS was wearing this. She made it out of a Cascade yarn that has linen mixed in with the wool - it was stunning. It's going to end up in my queue. In fact, the owner is ordering the yarn for me already and I'm going to use the gift certif I got for Mothers Day for it.

I'm also contemplating a lace tablecloth for my brother-in-law for his wedding in October. I know he appreciates knitted items and I thought that might be fun. Does anyone have any great pattern ideas?? I'm thinking a large circular shawl would work well. Am I totally nuts?

Swatch You Doin'?

One of my coworkers has decided that she no longer wanted a cubic ton of Debbie Bliss merino aran in an army green color and slightly less yardage of a very nondescript tan. She offered them to me at an extremely reduced price. It seems like someone I know likes those colors...

Oh yes, it's Adam. The man that truly believes that army green (usually camo) coordinates with nearly everything in his closet. (To give the man his due, he does realize that you don't wear a tie with camo pants.) Now, you may think I'm being mean or snarky - I'm not - I have photographic evidence.

Here's the kicker. I have very successfully not knit Adam a sweater up to this point. I have knit him hats and scarfs, but no sweaters. I maintain that this is because of his crazy long arms. I'd be knitting those arms forever! It's basically the same reason I don't knit him socks - I just don't have that kind of attention span. I have the attention span of a gnat. Plus, the man is always overheating. He's not really a sweater kind of guy. However, when I mentioned that I might have enough yarn to make him a sweater, his eyes sort of lit up. I was thinking maybe a nice ribbed two tone sort of sweater, nothing fancy. Oh no, he has his heart set on cables. Elizabeth Zimmerman style.

So following EZ's advice, I made a swatch hat. Kid size. Now that's something that can hold my attention.

Surprise!

It's a....

Baby Surprise Jacket!

It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman classic and one that I've done before. I cheat and use Dawn Adcock's notes. She gives you stitch counts for each row. This sweater was knit completely from Dawn's notes without checking the pattern for anything other than the recommended gauge. This sweater is headed to Baby Elliot. He's a month old but still tiny - he's smaller right now than either of my children were as newborns! Granted, I have big babies... but still!

Yarn: Malabrigo - have I mentioned that I love this yarn?
Needle: Size 5 16" circular
Modifications: None. (Wow! That's two in a row that I've knit as written!) I kitchenered the shoulders shut, which makes for a very nice seam.

The beauty of this sweater is that even though it is May, along the shore of Lake Superior we have been known to wear sweaters all summer long. It gets chilly at night and if the wind switches off the lake, it's downright cold.

If I get my act in gear, Baby Elliot might get a pair of booties in matching Kidsilk Haze to go with the sweater.

Lil' Buddy

What: Buddy Bag from Anny Purls.
Yarn: Mostly worsted weight ella rae in 100% wool.
Needles: size 5 for the bag, 3 for the I-Cord and decorative bits.
Modifications: None. Can you believe it? I was tempted to put the bird on the branch and call it good, but I made the nest anyway.

38" of I-Cord didn't take me quite as long as I thought it would. However, it still wasn't a ton of fun to slog through. The I-Cord works as the backpack straps, you start at the lower left side, bring it up through one of the picot holes, thread it through 1 1/2 times around the top and end up in the lower right corner. I'm lining it with a pretty purple lilac fabric.