growing up and needs a new sweater!

A year has passed in the blink of an eye and my sweet little niece, who you may have read about here or here, is turning one!

Once a 3 pound preemie, she is now all rounded and squishy and perfect :)  The baby sweater I had knit her when she first arrived has long since been outgrown and retired to the baby box, so I thought a new one was in order.

I had a couple skeins of some Plucky Bulky yarn in the gorgeous Vintage Icebox colorway on hand, and decided those would be "the ones."  I brought it along to Jamaica and happily knit away on the beach....ahh, this is the life!

I paired the Plucky with the Tiered Coat and Jacket pattern, but seeing as I was a bit short on yardage, just eliminated the tiering part and made it a plain old sweater with a garter collar and trim.  To add a little more girlish whimsey, I used buttons I covered in some pretty floral Liberty fabric....so cute!

But even cuter is the sweater paired with my niece!  Look at that crazy toothy grin!

I knit the 12-18 month size, and it fit perfectly, with room to grow.  It will be a lovely spring and fall sweater for her.  Happy first birthday, VV!!

joint effort

So just wondering....if you are Canadian and are making blocks to contribute to the Soy Amado project for Mexican street children over at Little Island Quilting, would it be helpful to relay the blocks to me here, along with, say, a toonie, then I can ship them all on to the Little Island? Would save the masses some international postage costs.

If you are interested, just leave me a comment here with your email address and I will send my mailing information on to you!

working on......

A few projects on the go!  Here are a few WIPS I am working on lately.

Most of my crafty energy has been spent knitting lately.  And I have a few things in progress:

Some Snowfling mitts for a swap with the talented Krista of Spotted Stones.  I had so much fun meeting her at the Loon Lake retreat in November, she is the sweetest.  I drooled over every stitch she made, and jumped at the chance to knit her some mittens in exchange for a sewn surprise when given an "in".  I know these will be well loved and used in Alaska!

A wee Sproutlet dress for a babe on the way:

Just need to put some buttons on this baby cardigan I knit while in Jamaica.  Am thinking some covered in Liberty would be nice.

And this, my new favoritest sweater ever, all done and waiting to be photographed! Here is a sneak peak!

I have some beautiful blue Plucky Primo yarn all wound up ready to start this sweater, for me.  Next up!

I have been pretty quiet on the sewing front lately, but have recently relocated my sewing mojo and am inspired to start some new projects and finish some others that have been lying in wait.  To be honest, my sewing area was such a complete mess that I couldn't even beat a path to my machine!  A recent clean and IG fabric destash helped me uncover some long lost favourite fabrics and inspiration is back!  I have a bag pattern and a clutch tutorial planned (it's been awhile since I did a tutorial!) and a new quilt top in the works with this stack of Liberty of London and low volume fabrics, all sliced and ready to stitch!

My favourite sewing project currently is this one: whenever I have a spare minute, I like to put together a couple quilt-as-you-go blocks for The Soy Amado project over at Little Island Quilting, to provide quilts to street children in Mexico.  It is a great way to use up scraps and give back.  I would encourage you all to make a few, and ship them off to Alison to share a little love!  Go check it out! Here are the ones I have made so far.

Finished blocks are 12.5", with backing and batting of the same size attached.  You can make new blocks, or use "orphan" blocks you have sitting around.  I found a few old blocks from various quilts in the bottom of my scrap bin, added borders and quilted, and also made some log cabin and mini square ones from scraps.  They are quick and fun, and come together to make cheerful quilts for kids who need them.

Hope you have a fantastic week!