FO Friday: A layette of custard and mint

My first ever time making booties and mittens (thumbless ones)! Eeeee...everything is co cute, I feel like I could already eat those tiny little fingers and toes that will be cuddled in these!

My friend will hopefully be thrilled.

This was my third(!) Little Coffee Bean cardigan. Not my last I am sure. It's so easy and so cute. Maybe I'll even knit a solid version at some point? I tried to size down with smaller needles. I omitted buttonholes entirely and will be sewing on some snaps later.

The label only goes on the cardi :)

My second or third time making the Magic Coffee Baby hat. It just goes so well with the cardigan that I often wonder it isn't part of a set. I use regular ribbing and a smaller needle. Baby hat brims need all the stretch they can get IMO! Of course I had to add the pompom on top. It looks way cuter than an Icord I think.

I'm soooooo in love with these wee little mitts! Each one took me under twenty minutes to make on magic loop. I sized these down too.

The booties are well...not my favorite paret of the layette but they're still kinda cute. I'm not happy with the toe shaping on one of them. But that's my poor sewing at fault.

Link to all patterns here on my Ravelry page
Yarn used throughout: Knit Picks Brava, in mint and custard colorways
Needles- varied but ranging from 3.75 mm to 4.5 mm

Sharing today's post with FO Friday, Fiber Art Friday and Creative Friday. 

Pastel overload!

I've taken a break from the lovely Latvian Garden to work on some much needed baby stuff. They're all meant as gifts but I'm keeping the recipient a secret till the little munchkins arrive. All I can say is that everything needs to be ready by September, so that they can be sent to the recipient in good time and everything needs to be gender neutral.

First off, I'm doing my old standby for baby jackets- yes this is my third Little Coffee Bean cardigan!

I got a little tired of the grey stripes so this one is in pastel yellow and green. It makes me think of spring. So refreshing!

I'm also working on a matching hat-- yes its the Magic Coffee Baby hat again (another third!) in the same colors.

I've been asked to make matching booties and mittens too. I don't have a fixed idea of what pattern I'll use yet, but the color scheme will continue :)

I'm using the yellow as MC for the entire layette, so the green leftovers may work their way into another project.

I can't say enough good things about Brava worsted. Its the softest acrylic I have ever worked with, the colors are fabulous and so is the price. Plus I bought all the yarn during KnitPicks summer sale!

Sending to WIP Wednesday. I'm sure I'll have an FO post for Friday if I can get Blogger to work on my phone as we'll be traveling-- off to Cape Cod!

Friday: An FO and some freaky weather

Taken by the Hudson, with the WTC tower in the background

We haven't seen the sun for almost a week here, instead we have fogs and 96-99% humidity levels. Ugh weather. It was so sunny on Sunday too! Sigh.

There are very few times when I stop knitting altogether. That's kind of what happened with this pullover. Unfortunately, it was a test knit, so I do feel bad that I took so long to finish it, but luckily I made the deadline and I wasn't the last to finish, so that sort of consoles me. It was a project that was interesting at first, but got a bit boring too once the lace part was over and there were miles of stockinette to do.

Its a tad loose- an issue most testers have reported to the designer. I had trouble starting the yoke too, but once Nell, the designer, clarified the positioning of the marker it went very well. The lace was actually pretty interesting to do.

I skipped the waist shaping with Nell's permission.

Other than that my only mod was to do a k2p2 rib at the hem instead of k1p1.

I love the color and the yarn. I might have mentioned how much I love the Dolce Merino yarn in my last post...well I can't say enough nice things about it.

Pattern: Daisy
Yarn: Dolce Merino (DK weight) in the Sassafras colorway
Needles: 4.5 mm (US 7) and 5.00 mm (US 8)

Sharing with FO Friday, Fiber Arts Friday and Creative Friday. This is FO #11 of 2014.

P.S- Thanks to all the readers who commiserated with my meltdown post last Wednesday. It's nothing I've (or the DH) has done, just circumstances that are frustrating for us and over which we have no control. Your sympathy is deeply appreciated. Shukriya! 

TGIF!

I know I've been away for a very long time. I would start out by writing posts, then delete all my drafts. April was a hard month for us and we're only just getting over it. So much so that I lost my knitting mojo. I'd sit with the same unfinished sweater next to me, work a few stitches, then give up.

I've never been so slow to knit before. I guess sometimes knitting isn't therapy.

On to the FO, then. This one was finished ages back, but I never got round to writing about it. Mainly because of inertia-- why blog when its easier not to? Also my mods didn't quite work out like I had imagined.

I love how to top half of the sweater fits. Its like it was made for me- oh, wait, it was.

Now the bottom half, I wanted to make longer than the pattern and also try to give it an A-line shape. To that effect, I went up a needle size and made several increases on the sides. I'm wondering if I should have made increases all round to get more of a skater dress effect. In reality, I sbhould have started the increases sooner. Oh well. You live and learn.

I chose not to knit the cowl that the pattern calls for. I really liked the boat neck.

Still the color is very me and it does fit well. Maybe too well around the tummy!

Pattern: Francis revisited
Yarn: Knit Picks Brava worsted, wine colorway
Needles: 5.5 mm, 6 mm, 6.5 mm

Sharing this post with FO Fridays, Fiber Arts Friday and Creative Friday. (Linking up anyway even though Tami and Natural Suburbia are yet to add their posts!)

Wip???

After endless swatching and two false starts all I have left is this:

What does one call a disaster of such epic proportions?! Lol. This just proves I am math impaired. And I can't read directions either. 

Oh- the blue box is where I store my stitch markers. I have quite a few of them it seems. 

Gah! 

WIP Wednesday: Working on a wearable

The Voice is back! Its the perfect show to knit to in my opinion, because all my attention can be on my knitting, so especially perfect for cables or lace or whatever. I am however, working on stockinette at the moment. I bought the yarn for Francis revisited during the Knit Picks cyber Monday sale and was it a steal! I cast on early in January, worked the body down to the hip increases (its a top down) and then...stopped.

It would have been sensible to have worked on and finished this cute tunic when the polar freeze was shivering me timbers (is that a phrase that works in this context?!). I'm kooky that way however, and I got so bored of the mindless stockinette that I bundled int up in a bag and shoved it out of sight and started working on so many of the other things I've worked on and finished these past few weeks. I've just dug it out again so that I can at least wear it this spring!

I'm about 60-65% done with the baby blanket too. It will hopefully block to about 30 inches square. Since all that garter was also starting to get to me, I felt like I needed a change :)

I have enough yarn to lengthen the body to tunic length. I went up a needle size after finishing the hip increases to accommodate the extra length and get a figure flattering A-line shape. It just depends on how bored I get :)

The color is a very rich, very saturated wine. Its (yet another!!!) snow day here today so the color may be a tad off. Ugh. I'm tired of the snow. At least I've got coffee with my friends to look forward to later on.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday with Tami. And now off for my usual Wednesday blog hop. Stay warm!