Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Kids are apparently time consuming...


I knew when we got Ella that my knitting time would be diminished, and that is totally fine. I love taking care of our daughter, and we have a lot of fun during the days, I just wish I wasn't so tired when she goes to sleep at night! Most evenings I just haven't got the energy to do any knitting at all, which means that the projects take a lot longer than usual. Oh well. I have managed to finish four things since I wrote last though, although three of them are baby items.

The first thing off the needles since last time was my Austin hoodie, and I am very pleased with it:


It is made with Manos del Uruguay Fino yarn (70 % merino/30 % silk), and I started it back in February before Ella was born. It turned out great, and fits me perfectly. I had to shorten the armhole length, which I almost always have to do, but I think that's the only modification I made. I bought frog fastenings and sewed them on to the fronts, and it took me three tries to get them placed right! But now it's finally done, and I've worn it a lot.

Once that was finished I started the Flower cardigan for Ella, and finished it about two weeks ago I think. I made the one year size, so it's a little big on her still, but she can wear it this fall anyway:



The construction on this one was really unique, and I don't think I'm giving the pattern away by saying that you start with knitting the flower on the back in the round, and then continue on with the sides and sleeves. It was so much fun, not difficult because the pattern is very well written, but I had to keep track in the pattern. I made it in Wollmeise DK (100 % superwash merino), in the colourway Sabrina, which I had a little more than one whole skein left over after my Julissa sweater.

I then cast on for the matching Little Flower hat, in the same yarn, and finished it in less than a week:



It is also a little bit big, but as long as I fold the ribbing, she can wear it right now. And she will grow into it during the winter I think.

Then I cast on for another hat, mostly to use up the last of the Wollmeise yarn. Yesterday I finished the Owl baby hat, and it fits Ella right now. It is a little bit wide, but it is fine. I like this one a lot, and it was a lot of fun to knit the owl too.



I have made a little bit of progress on the Walk the Line socks, the first one is almost finished. I finished the toe a while ago, but I just haven't felt like knitting socks lately so the heel is taking me forever. They will get done eventually though.

Finally I also cast on for a new cardigan for Ella, and this one is so much fun! It's the Minni cardigan, and I read about it on the Yarn Harlot blog as she's making one right now. It has stripes and short rows and intarsia colour changing, so it is a challenge, but so far it's fun. I took a picture when I had just started, and you'll have to make do with that. I'm making it in three different sock yarns: Gepard Cash-soft in pink and KnitPicks Stroll in Merlot for the main body, and Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Blush for the accents (the green yarn in the photo is just the provisional cast-on). 



I also bought some new yarn a couple of weeks ago. I ordered another skein of Manos del Uruguay for the Austin Hoodie as I wasn't sure I had enough to finish, and I noticed that that colour was to be discontinued. So I got three new skeins, as I really love it, and I figured I could just use the left-overs for something else eventually. It turned out I didn't actually need any of that yarn, but I'll just keep it in the stash for now. Along on that order I also got four skeins of Cascade 220 superwash, in colourways Saphire Heather and Marionberry, to make some baby clothes for Ella.



I got the book 60 more quick baby knits, that only uses Cascade yarns, and there are some stuff in there that I want to make. I really really like the Cascade 220 superwash yarn too, and it's fairly inexpensive, so I figured I'd get some to have on hand.

Yesterday I also got a package in the mail, and although it didn't contain yarn it had some craft supplies. I got a new set of dpn's, KnitPro Natural needles (KnitPro is the European version of KnitPicks I think, and they usually change the name of the products. The Harmony needles are called Symphony here in Europe, for example). These are 20 cm long (8 inches), even in the smallest sizes, which is very nice.


I also got a set of pom pom makers, as I figured that the ones I was going to make for the Owl hat will probably not be my last ones, now that we have Ella. I used them yesterday evening, and it was so much faster to use these than the ones I have made myself previously. They were very cheap, so a very worthwhile investment!


This past weekend we went and visited Anna and Peter in Linköping, and Anna had gotten a package in the mail from Sarah. Anna and Sarah have been making a baby blanket for Ella, but due to lots of other stuff happening in their lives it has taken a while (and that is more than all right, I'm just so happy they wanted to do it at all!), but now it's finished. It's absolutely wonderful, and we both love it!


It's also made with Cascade 220 superwash, and I got to pick the colours myself. We have already used it, and Ella seems to like it too as she is keen on grabbing it when it's hanging from the couch back so she can reach it. Also included in the package was a little cardigan that Sarah knit for Ella, in white thick-and-thin cotton, and it's absolutely gorgeous! I'm so happy to have yarny friends!


I think that's probably it for this time. The last weekend in September I'm going home to my parents for a visit, and to visit the annual sewing festival that takes place in Borås each September. I haven't been for a couple of years now, so that will be a lot of fun. I'll be back with a full report on that!

/ Jenny

2 comments:

Sarah {The Student Knitter} said...

YAY! The sweater looks like it fits nice over stuff, which could work as a layering piece for winter than an actual sweater that fits for the summer! HUZZUH! :)

Jen Mc said...

I love all your knitting projects - they're fantastic! I really like the sweaters.
Ella is beautiful, as are you!
I hope you're all well.