the sweater!

Here it is, my first (very small) sweater. It's amazing how just some yarn can turn in to not just fabric but a fitted garment without really very much effort.

Ta-da...



I ordered 10 balls of yarn (approximately what the pattern called for), without thinking that the pattern was probably written with adults in mind, not toddlers. It only took 4 balls. (I could make another whole sweater! In the next size up!)

All it needs are the buttons and blocking. Any suggestions for buttons? And how the heck do you put them on (seperate the yarn and use that, or use matching thread?)??

I'm thinking about making this pattern for myself, now that I have a "test run" under my belt. All that stockinette stitch did start to get a little bit boring, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try adding my own stuff into the pattern.

I screwed up a few times along the way with this one, simple as it was; when I picked up one of the sleeves I knit the first row WAY too tightly (scared of loosing stitches off the double pointed needles) so there is a band there, and then there was this little thing...

Look closely at the collar:



For some reason when I picked up the collar stitches, I stopped about an inch short on one side. What was I thinking?? I have no idea. I had to go back and pick up the last inch and then seam it together.

Then there's the button holes - they are so wonky! For my next one I will have to actually keep track of how many stitches until the button hole and how many rows in between. Hmm, sometimes just winging it doesn't work out so well... duh! I should know that by now, don't you think? Lesson learned!

The pattern was the Sure-to-Fit Cardigan by SpinCraft Patterns (here's the Ravelry link), and the size was for a 9" neck. It only took me about a week to knit. Yarn is this stuff from KnitPicks, thanks to my cousin Jake (or really Aunt Gina probably)! And true to the reviews, it feels much nicer than it looks - not itchy at all. Most excellent for $1.99 a ball!

Now for the hard part of convincing Sophie to wear it - she gets freaked out when I try to put it on her! It's probably a product of being yelled at so often ("Don't touch my knitting!!"). Maybe I'll have to wrap it up and give it to her as a present!

my favorite place

I guess it's fairly obvious from my lack of posting that school has started up again. This semester is a little crazy, I'm taking all of my classes on campus (up until now I've had some of them online) so Sophie and I are both gone a lot. She gets to go play with Grandma, Grandpa, her sister Analia, and her friend Bailey during the week though so I think she's getting the better deal!

One thing that I've started to really enjoy though is the time I have between classes two days a week. It's not long enough to go do anything really, but it is long enough to get settled in at the library with knitting and reading. I've been holing up at the Egan Library upstairs, and it's very nice to have some quiet downtime without feeling like I'm rushing to get somewhere or do something.

Where is your favorite place to be by yourself?

in miniature

Baby socks!

They are just so darned cute, I can't wait to see them on a baby!

deceptively delicious: pancakes with sweet potato and diced apple

Thank you Keegan for getting me this cookbook!

I had pureed a bunch of different veggies to have on hand in the freezer, but hadn't actually tried any of the recipes out until yesterday morning. Sophie's friend Bailey comes over on Fridays so I thought I would make them something "special" for breakfast...

Pancakes:



With 1/2 cup of my sweet potato puree (as called for in the recipe) plus a diced Granny Smith apple. The batter is pastel orange, but once they're cooked they look pretty much like regular pancakes:



With some of my mom's homemade "pancake stuff" on top (it's really just jam that didn't set up), they look AND taste delicious.



And they passed the double-toddler approval!

The pancake recipe in Deceptively Delicious just calls for 1 cup of pancake mix, which makes them super easy to prepare with store-bought mix, but with an extra 15 minutes you can put together your own, healthier, pancake mix.

Basic Multi-Grain Pancake Mix:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup whole grain oat flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Just dump all ingredients into a container, enough times to fill the container. Mix. Put in pantry.

Then just scoop it out by the cup to use in the sweet potato recipe (or any other recipe).

it's a beautiful thing

10 balls of yarn destined (someday) to be a sweater for Sophie. And perhaps a pair of longies, too. Who knows.

It's Wool of the Andes by KnitPicks in color Hollyberry.

I've never made a sweater before, but I really want to make the Central Park Hoodie, so I need to get this one figured out and done first.

There's also this thing, which isn't quite so beautiful:



I walked (and ran, and chased toddlers) on it for a week before I finally figured out that I should probably go get it x-rayed. It's just one small fracture on top of my foot, so it should heal pretty fast (I only have to wear the boot for a month).

Be careful on icy stairs!

what a copy cat

My mom's co-worker asked me to knit her 5-year-old son a new hat. She brought over his old, worn out one for me to replicate to the best of my ability...

Here they are (old on the left, new on the right):



He was adamant that the hat be black - not dark blue, not dark brown - black. Of course the one yarn that is not to be found is black cotton... luckily, the owner of Skeins Fine Yarns found me two little balls of black cotton hiding in a corner of her sale room.

Nancy, the woman who owns Skeins, has a dog named Sophie. As of course you already know, my daughter is also named Sophie. Turns out that this is a very confusing situation for a toddler! When Nancy's husband came to take Sophie (the dog) home, he called up to her from the first floor lobby. Sophie, come! Sophie! Come here, Sophie! Sophie! Come!
My Sophie girl ran to the rail and stood there completely perplexed, frowning at this man yelling at her from below. She was a little unsure of how to react, but she got over it quickly, grabbed Nancy's hand and started pulling her back and forth along the hallway. She is so NOT shy! I would never have done that when I was a baby.



I'm happy so say that my mom's co-worker's son loved the hat - in his words, "it looks just like me!" and that he wouldn't take it off, not even to eat dinner.

starting out the new year with happy feet

Happy New Year!




I knitted the last bit of my second sock while I counted down till midnight last night. I finished with about 15 minutes to spare!



I've been wearing them all day today and my feet are very happy!

The pattern is Hellen's Favorite Socks from Fiber Trends, and the yarn is Austermann Step. I have quite a bit left over, I might have to make Sophie a pair!