Irene's Eden

The kids had picture day at school this past week. Irene's day was Wednesday, on the Friday before I decided that I needed to finally knit her Eden dress. I've had the yarn since April and it has just been waiting for me to actually knit it.

Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned and a lot of my time was spent not knitting. On Wednesday morning I was still trying to finish before she went to school. I decided to end the dress at just past her backside. I'd never let her wear it as a dress that short but I had her put on jeans. All together it made such a cute outfit!

I still have plenty of yarn left and I plan to take out the bind off and make it longer. Of course, there are at least 5 other things in line to be knit. Still, now that the dress is in the skirt part it is easy.

The pattern is Eve's Eden by Georgie Hallam. It is the same pattern I used to make the dress for my friend's 1 year old daughter and Irene's birthday top. I love this pattern! Ms. Hallam invented a stitch that she uses in this pattern and in some of her others as well. It is a Kfpsokb, or a knit front pass stitch over knit back. The printed directions made no sense to me but she has a Youtube video (under the name tikki) and this Kfpsokb is actually super easy and makes a sturdy and nice looking join.

The yarn is Berroco Comfort DK. It is 50% super fine nylon and 50% super fine acrylic. I purchased it online at WEBS and I thought it was cotton. I was surprised when it arrived but it is soft and breathable and knits beautifully. Berroco Comfort also comes in a chunky weight and I am tempted to try it. Of course, I'm still on a yarn and pattern buying hiatus.

Irene received many compliments on her hair (she asked that I make her look like Lalaloopsy) and her dress. I had to post these pictures to Facebook since she is just so darn cute. I received many compliments on my adorable daughter and the great dress.

Knitworthy

I know I complained about knitting that blanket. Let's face it, it was a boring knit. However, I received an email from my friend and she loves it! She thinks it is super cute and she is glad to have it. That just made her knitworthy ;-)

Sideways Grand Cloche

I received some Moda Vera Mousse in a deep forest green that I wanted to knit. It was a gift from my sweet friend in Australia. I went on Ravelry and looked up the yarn then went through the projects that had been made with this yarn. This is a feature I LOVE about Ravelry. When I saw that someone had made the Sideways Grand Cloche with this yarn I was thrilled. I love this pattern and have wanted to make it for a while. Then I discovered it was a pattern from a book. Sad face. Due to those fun circumstances that suddenly get thrown at us, I am on a yarn and book buying hiatus. Then it finally dawned on me...the library!
In our new town our library is part of the bigger library system of the entire big county. It is something like 18 or so libraries. They have a lot of books. I looked up Boutique Knits: 20 Must-Have Accessories by Laura Irwin. The library had it and even better, the library in my town had it! Since I am about a block from the library I immediately ran over to get it.

The pattern tells you to knit the hat starting with size 10 needles and working so many inches before changing to size 9 then a few inches later changing to size 8. Again, so many inches later then change to size 7. On Ravelry I read the notes others have made about their hats. I decided to follow one modification that a lot of people had made. I used just the size 9 needles and only cast on 36 stitches. This made the hat smaller but I love the way it fits! I want to make another in different yarn and this time I think I would knit it with size 10 needles. For the twisted part I want to try doing another version I saw on Ravelry. Several people made a braided twist and I think it looks cute. Unfortunately, I'm waiting for my "ship" to come in so I can get some more yarn to try this.
Still, I am so pleased with this hat and I can't wait to wear it. Of course, wouldn't you know that as soon as I finished it we are suddenly having a heat wave!

I do recommend checking out the book. There are two more hat patterns I want to make and I've renewed the book again. I really don't want to give it back to the library.

Out of the two pictures, the second one is more accurate in the color. As soon as it is not 80 degrees out I'm going to get a picture of me wearing it.

At Last!

What can I say? Sometimes the project I'm working on is the most tedious, irritating knit ever. A couple of weeks before we moved a friend asked if I would knit a baby blanket for her to give to her friend that is pregnant. Since it seems (in hindsight) that I am crazy, I said sure. After all, she was offering to pay me and we could really use the money.
Between packing, moving, unpacking, adjusting to a new home, etc. I worked on this darn thing. It seemed like while it grew, it never actually got bigger. So many times my measuring tape was brought out and each time the blanket was never anywhere near the length it needed to be. I ran out of yarn and had to drive 20 minutes into the nearby big town to search 3 stores to find matching yarn. And to think that I picked this pattern because I thought it would be a quick and easy knit to do while we moved. I finally finished the project just shy of two months after I started it. I'm kinda embarrassed about how long it took me. Thankfully, my friend still wanted it and it was mailed to her today. The above picture is of the blanket. Yes, it is wrapped in Saran Wrap. Since I was mailing it to her I wanted it to be protected. I usually put my knitted items in zip-lock bags if they are being mailed. The blanket wouldn't fit in one, hence the Saran Wrap. Of course, I realized afterward that I never took a picture. Yeah...no way am I unwrapping it.

This morning I decided I needed to send a matching baby hat with the blanket. I hurriedly knit up a hat which turned out to be rather cute.

The blanket pattern is Simply Ridges by John Feddersen, Jr. and the yarn is Bernat Baby Coordinates in Soft Mauve.