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!!

last of the purple sweaters, I swear!

Okay, I may have finally gotten the "purple sweateritis" out of my system.  Though I love this one as much as the others.  If you missed the boat on the other three , they are posted here, here and here.  All with my favorite ever super soft purple Malabrigo yarn.

 

I made this sweater as a thank you gift for my sweet friend, Tracey.  Well, it is actually for her adorable daughter, Scarlet, but seeing our babes all dressed up does a mama's heart good, doesn't it?  I wanted to send her a little something in thanks for all of the time she spent on the graphics of my hockey quilt pattern.  Lord knows it would have never came to be without her!  She is always cheering me on with my knitting, so I decided this would be just the thing.

I used the tiny tea leaves pattern, which I have made a couple times before for my girls, but this time modified it to make the neck not so wide.  I added a few lilac pearl buttons, since Tracey was such a fan of those on my niece's sweater.  Inside, I stitched in a label by Izzy and Ivy I still had from my Sewing Summit grab bag in 2011.

And speaking of Tracey, not sure if you saw her Blogger's Quilt Festival post, but she has now finished and gifted the amazing scrappy sprouts quilt to her good friend, Chelsa, who is fighting cancer.  This is an absolutely gorgeous quilt and sentiment, and I was so happy to be able to contribute some blocks to its making.  I think I need to make one for me!

 

(photo by traceyjay quilts, used with permission)

a long time coming

Life has been pretty exciting around here in the last couple months!

My sister and her husband, one of the most wonderful and loving couple I know, have finally had their sweetest wish come true.  After years of infertility, failed in vitro treatments and heartbreak, they received a life-changing phone call, giving them the amazing gift of becoming parents to a perfect baby girl.

Our families could not be more thrilled or instantly enamoured with this most precious little gift.  And of course, Aunty has been celebrating with a frenzy of handmade gifts!  Let's start with this sweater.

Made all the sweeter when worn by my beautiful niece!

Instant love.  Look at that soulful stare.

I used the same purpuras purple Malabrigo yarn that I used to make a sweater for The Middle Child and for myself.  Someone is over the moon to match her new little cousin :)

The pattern is a free one from Ravelry, Cascade, and the size 0-3 month is the perfect fit for this 7 pound bundle of joy.  More details on my Ravelry page.  I love the details of this sweater, it has a sweet leaf motif along the button band.  I used lavender pearl buttons to finish it off.

It's exhausting work being this cute!

This Mother's Day, my sister's first, our entire family is so grateful for the gift of this beautiful child.  We cannot thank the courageous birth mother enough for entrusting her to our care.  We promise to love her and treasure her, always. 

Happy Mother's Day!

A quilt and sweater for Baby Kiera

Seeing as Last But Not Least snapped up the vajayjay quilt, I had to whip up a new one on the double for Baby Kiera!


Like the other, this quilt used the grey, yellow and pink colour scheme, to match Kiera's nursery. I love how the two quilts look so entirely different! I have to say this is one of my favourites. I loved every minute of making it, I completely improvised as I went, adding bits here and there. I started with the wonky log cabins, and as Kiera's mom likes strip quilts, I added a couple other different block styles in strips. My kids especially loved the strip of "ruler" fabric along the top, saying that would be perfect to help Kiera's mom measure her as she grows!



I quilted it with an all over loopy pattern, my first time trying this, and I honestly kinda sucked at it. But overall I still think it looks fine, and I love the crinkly effect. I used some Aurafil variegated yellow/white thread, another first, and liked the product. But I am just as happy with the performance of my Connecting Threads thread, which is much less expensive!


On the back I used a large piece of my new absolute favourite fabric by Heather Ross, the pin people, that my friend Angela was kind enough to pick up and send to me when it went on sale at Hancock's (I think??). I absolutely love the light grey colour with the pink and orange and lime accents, it is the perfect backing for this quilt, and I think I need to plan an entire other quilt around this fabric. Lovity love it!


On the back I included a label that I made using printer friendly fabric, and made it in the wonky log cabin style that I had on the front.


This quilt was a bit big for a baby quilt, about 40 by 50 inches. It will be good for Kiera to snuggle up with for some time, I hope!


Along with the quilt, I knit up a sweet little coat using the Baby Tiered Coat pattern by Lisa Chemery on Ravelry (see details on my Ravelry page here). Such a cute pattern! I made it in a nice neutral grey, using a Wool Ease worsted weight yarn held double for thickness, and added some cute yellow buttons as an accent.



Inside I added a label by Izzy and Ivy Designs that we got in our grab bags at Sewing Summit last fall. They are a great product with some really cute styles! I may just order some more of these.


The two were gifted at a nice casual baby shower the other day at my home, and seem to be well loved.

Welcome to the world, Kiera!

Shared at Sew Modern Monday.

A sweet baby cardi

Well, finishing up The Middle Child's sweater was just the motivation I needed to pull this one from the to-do pile and finish 'er up!

I had started this as my "first sweater" but lost interest as it has no recipient in mind as of yet...the person I was certain would have a girl found out she is preggers with a boy! Regardless, I am happy to hold on to this until the right wee girl comes along.

I used the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan free pattern on Ravelry by Elizabeth Smith in size 3 months. I love the sweet stripes and the short sleeves will look hip over a long sleeved onesie ;) I made one modification to the raglan increases, using a kfb instead of a yo to avoid the eyelets. I used Cascade 220 Superwash yarns.

The buttons are from my local quilt shop, and I opted to secure them with a splash of lemon yellow thread.

My youngest declared that she wants one in her size, so she could match her two precious "kitties." :)