finished knit: dragonflies sweater

I was so excited to put the last stitches into this sweater and finally be able to wear it.  Wasn't it considerate of Mother Nature to provide a cool and rainy July weekend for me to do so?  Well, at least this was a plus side!

The pattern is the Dragonflies Jumper by Joji, from Ravelry.  You can see all my notes on my Ravelry page here.  It is the first time knitting one of her patterns and I have already purchased another because I was so happy with the style and fit.  The design is so intricate and I just love it paired with this Plucky Primo wool (in bohemian blue).  The cashmere is this wool makes it so soft to the touch- such a treat to wear!

The pattern required more thinking than average, so this wasn't the best "social"or "tv" knit, but it wasn't difficult.  I did a few mods- the pattern called for a 2 stitch side band in garter, but I decided if it was there, I would make it more district by extending it to 6.  Also, I opted for 3/4 length sleeves so I can pair it with some cute bracelets :)

Love the look of this with a tank and jeans.  I think it is a pretty flattering fit and will be a real go-to piece for me!

Already have cast on the next knit!

on the needles.

Spring has finally come to "Winterpeg,"  and has caught me red handed, knitting myself another sweater in doubt of its arrival!

This is it, the Dragonflies Jumper.  Beautiful intricate design all over the body.  I love it.  But it takes more concentration than most to remain in pattern....will be clicking away with this one for awhile! Loving it combined with the soft Plucky Primo in the Bohemian Blue colorway. My first time using this yarn and I may just have a new favourite!

Happy Wednesday!

my favourite sweater

While it took me six months to plod through my Coolbreeze cardigan, this one, I whipped off in TWO WEEKS, thanks in part to a road trip and a day at a dental conference....as you may recall, I like shaking it up at my conferences with some knitting ;)

Oh, this sweater.  The perfect colour grey yarn with hints of blue (Tanis Fiber Arts shadow).  Simple fit and flattering boat neck.  Sweet cable details in the front and along the raglans and down the sleeves.  My very favourite.

The neck did stretch too wide after a couple wears as warned by several other Ravelers, so I took their advice and crocheted a chain along the edge and now it holds its shape perfectly.

I could have maybe gone down a size as it did give with wear, but I like the loose, easy fit.

A staple with jeans and a tank top!

All the details of mods, etc on my Ravelry page here.

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)

working on....

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

 

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

Have a fabulous weekend :)

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!

Wiksten-ish tank and a cabled cardigan

I am so excited to share these with you, they make me so seriously happy.  And I am all the more excited as I was able to take photos on my front steps, with NO JACKET.  Yes, the crazy winter here has finally seemed to have lifted, just in time for May (shakes head).  But I'll take it.  Perfect cardigan weather!

I finished this one a few weeks back but have been distracted and forgot to blog it.  I think this one takes the lead as my new favorite sweater, with the Golden Wheat Cardi as a close second.  I made it with the same yarn as The Middle Child's purple sweater as I loved the yarn and color so much.

The pattern is called That Time, and it was fantastic.  Details and link to the pattern can be found on my Ravelry page.  Challenging enough to make it interesting, but not hard.  I love the style and how it fits me.  I shortened the sleeves to 3/4 length, as I find that really flattering.  The cable work was so much fun and is so pretty.  I only needed one button so I chose a vintage one from my friend Katie's shop and I just adore it....remember how I told you she has a plate full of vintage buttons for FREE that you can root through any time you are in her store??  The. Best.

I decided I needed to make a tank just to go with this sweater!  I opted for the Wiksten tank, I have had the pattern forever but never got around to it (like so many things).  But, lazy as I am, I didn't feel like printing out the 27 pages for the pattern pieces, taping them all together, and cutting the pieces.  So I took a tank I have that fits well and traced that out instead, just assembled using the Wiksten instructions.  Though I didn't add a pocket, and I did add some bust darts to accommodate my oversized ta-tas.  So maybe it is more Wikstenesque than Wiksten.  Anyways, it works.

I had some issues with the neck bias not sitting flat at first, but was able to correct it using some tips I found on various sites online.  The fabric is a sweet floral voile just from my local Fabricland, but I love the feel and drape of it.  Girly and pretty, perfect as we finally welcome spring!!!

The Purple Sweater

I finished up my "Downton Sweater," which I knit like a fiend while watching all 3 seasons of Downton Abbey over the past month!  It is for The Middle Child, and both of us could not be more thrilled with the finished product!

(shown here on a lovely quilt made by Alison, that I was lucky enough to win!) 

Loved the pattern, by Cotton and Cloud, and was so entranced by this yarn (really, that IS the word) that I had to order a bunch more to make a sweater for myself.  It is the PERFECT color of purple, in all its variations.

The sweet braided cable along the shoulders is what sold me on this pattern.  Buttons were selected by my daughter from my stash.

And this is my first time knitting a hood!  Cute, and she loves it, but what a yarn and time sucker!

I think the only thing more adorable than this sweater is the little girl wearing it :)

All the details on my Ravelry page here.

Nevermore shrug

A sweet friend gifted me three skeins of some beautiful Knitpicks yarn in a shade called Nevermore (now discontinued). I loved the combination of blues and purples and greens, and decided I need to make something just for me.

After finishing Esther Mae's baby shrug, I thought a shrug was just the thing for me. I adapted the Evening Shrug pattern from Purl Soho into just what I wanted, a nice casual shrug that looks great thown on over a tank top with a pair of jeans.


I made the sleeves more simple, and I added ribbing around the edges to prevent curling.




I didn't love the way this was constructed...don't think I would make this pattern again, but it still is cute enough for what it is. I think it will get a fair amount of wear as we enter into fall!

More details on my Ravelry page.

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 knitted baby shrug

Can't help but continue to spoil my friend's new baby Esther Mae. Such a cutie!


I decided to knit up this adorable wee shrug to be worn throughout the holiday season with sweet little party dresses. And I think it would look equally cute with jeans and a t-shirt! Nice and versatile. Just a little eyelet detail on the sleeves, and that's it, no fuss!



I used the free "Confection"pattern off of Ravelry, and used one skein of lovely green label Tanis Fiber Arts yarn in natural. This yarn is so wonderfully soft, and has the added bonus of being machine washable, important for baby items!


The shrug was finished in only a couple days while at the lake, and I had enough left over to make a matching hat, a pattern I made up myself using the eyelet detail of the shrug. Simple and cute! I will share the pattern with you in a few sizes in an upcoming post.

I will be sending this along to Esther Mae along with a little fancy dress :)