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!!

done.

Wham!  Take that, to-do list!   A few buttons and some seams, and I finally finished this sweet little Coolbreeze baby cardigan for "the plaid baby."  Kaelin requested this pattern from me before she even conceived!  And it is my duty and privilege to provide cozy, woollen, authentically Canadian winter wear for her Louisiana babe ;) That baby might be sweaty, but she'll be cute!

I love the chevron gradient of blues in here, it knocks me out.  Have already started the adult version for me!

Finished this up dockside on a mini-escape to the cottage yesterday :)  Was such a great drive out, taking in all the fall colours!

 And I may just have another finish to show you soon :)

More sweater details on my Ravelry page here.

undone

So much accomplished, yet so much left undone!

Finished my Briar Rose lattice quilt top that I was working on, plus finished another quilt top last week....which leaves me with three quilt tops that need some backs and finishing.

This wee sweater, Coolbreeze Baby by Tanis Fiber Arts (intended for The Plaid Baby!) needs some seaming and some buttons to be in the "completed" pile.

Meanwhile, I am driven to distraction by the adult version for me!

I had high hopes of getting to some of this on my days off this week, but with a string of nights tending to puking kids and one home with me today, I am thinking that I may just come undone myself!!

working on....

....turning this gorgeous mound of wool....

 

....into a dreamy little sweater.  And loving every minute of it.

Have a fabulous weekend :)

June already?

Not sure how summer snuck up on us, just glad it finally arrived.  The days seem to fly by around here, and I am looking forward to slowing down somewhat over the summer months to enjoy....just enjoy everything.  Some time soaking up this view will be in the cards:

 

We bought a cottage :)  So, SOOO excited!!  As you may recall, we had a family cottage that was destroyed in floods here a couple summers ago.  With it, there has been a mountain of  paperwork and bureaucracy to work through.  We were finally at the point where we could start to rebuild.  BUT, then more forecasts of floods were made (which, thankfully, did not occur), and an ice storm caused more damage for some properties.  And we decided, enough was enough.  Time to make a move to a new, more sheltered area.  While we will miss our friends at beach, we are looking forward to this new chapter.  Life is good :)

And a new cottage means new bed quilts to make!  That should keep me busy for awhile.

While I haven't been blogging much, I have snuck in some crafting here and there.  If you follow me on Instagram (I am there under Kristieocd), you have seen some of these.  But here is a few more of the things that I have made for my new muse, my sweet peanut of a niece! So, in addition to the quilt and sweater she has scored, here are a few other items I have made for her of late.

A wee knit hat for her noggin, using my baby eyelet hat pattern and adding a crochet flower.

 

A voile dress.  No pattern, just went with it, much like the one I made for LBNL's birthday.  Used some crochet trim for the hem and the shoulder straps, and a button closure on the back.  Will be nice and light, and hopefully fit, in the warmer months ahead!

Some onsies, made with t-shirt transfers.

My sister is a bit OBSESSED with New Kids on the Block, U2, and Teemu Selanne of the Anaheim Ducks (and formerly a Winnipeg Jet).  She has a keenly developed sixth sense entirely related to finding and meeting celebrities, and as such has had several run ins with Teemu, Donnie Wahlberg, and even can be seen chatting up Bono in the latest U2 documentary about the band, which was partially filmed in Winnipeg.  It is quite comical how she pulls this stuff off.  So of course I had to take the opportunity to dress her offspring in NKOTB and U2 gear. This one reading "New Kid on the Block" and another that says "Achtung Baby" after the U2 album.  Of course, the first gift my niece received was her very own baby Jets jersey!

Have a great day, back again soon :)
Kristie