Wrapping up March

Thank you so much for all the nice comments on my hat. It was very exciting for me to not use a pattern and dip the tip of my toe into designing. I have the pattern up on ravelry and a link to download the pdf on the left sidebar. If you find anything confusing or not clear please let me know so I can fix it. Remember I am a pattern writing novice so I'm looking for some constructive criticism. And for anyone who commented on my daughters hair she doesn't get it from me unfortunately. The color is all her daddy.....I love it too :).

I have had some minor frustrations in the land of knitting. One almost completed sock needed to be frogged (way too big). An Easter cardigan for my daughter that was almost finished and I found an error in my knitting that required pulling the whole thing out AHHHH. Here is my redo knitting of it....so much to go before Easter.

I made Ollie the Octopus from Lion Brand awhile back. I know that it was knit after Christmas but before now....how is that for precise. Ummm....you may notice he has no eyes. Well he has taken up permanent residence in my daughter's bed and I kind of forgot about his eyes. She would like green eyes so maybe someday I'll get around to crocheting his eyes but.....well I also might not.

I whipped this little beanie out sometime in March. The beginning of the month. It is the infamous Turn the Square Beanie by Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed. I used Andean silk yarn from Knit Picks. Not the warmest of yarns but incredibly soft and great for spring. Another hat for my husband who is an avid fisherman and one of his favorite fishing places only allows fishing in the winter. It fills my need for mindless, immediate gratification hat knitting.

Welcome April.....and up next my spring knitting.

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Earflap Hat with Tassels

First I want to thank you so much for all the wonderful book selections. Some we knew about and others were brand new. It will be so much fun exploring new books with my kids and re-exploring the ones I read a million years ago! We really appreciated it.

On to knitting....
Winter is just about over in most parts of the country and everyone is gearing up for Spring weather and spring knits. I however am on a quest to ensure we have enough winter accessories for our summer ventures. We camp a lot in the summer. It is either high desert or high mountains and while both offer beautiful daytime weather the nights can get very cold. With that in mind I decided to knit up some hats for my kids with little ear flaps to keep them warm. I actually made my own pattern....

This photo shoot was punctuated with a lot of, "honey can you please stand still so I can take this picture?"

The answer was a "yeah okay but how about I stand up here and show you how I can hang over like this?"
Me: Great, just please hold still. Reply: I am holding still. I just think you'll like it better if I move over here and hang this way.

Many, many photos later we got some that actually showed the hat instead of just her hair whipping behind her. I was also instructed that the paint on her cheeks isn't just paint it's a shamrock drawing for St. Patrick's Day.

I used Cascade Superwash 220 and I loved it! It is soft and easy to work with and will hopefully keep the kids warm. I am already working on one for my daughter (this hat is for my son) in pink and purple because those are her favorite colors.

I have the pattern all typed up and ready to share as soon as I get approved as a designer on Ravelry I'll post the link.

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Bedtime

My daughter has been peppering me with questions about when she will be old enough to read a "grown-up" book. I was very excited at the idea of graduating from the same old books we always read to chapter books. I have been buying up books and setting them aside for when she was old enough pretty much since she was born. I chose this book to start our inaugural chapter a night book. I got the idea for the tote from Soulemama and started out with the directions from her book The Creative Family. I kind of veered off course from her pattern a bit and used inspiration from sewmamasew and this post here.

She is going to store her jammies and book inside so everything is all together.

I also sewed up a little bookmark to match her bag. I cut two pieces the size I wanted and put a layer of double-sided fusible interfacing (the thickest I had) inside. After sewing it up with some ribbon at the top I ironed it, and the interfacing stuck to the fabric.

I realize that the time I have to read to her in bed at night won't last forever. I wanted to make it special for both of us.

What other book recommendations do you have for a four year old?

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Super soft hoodie

Here is the super soft hoodie ravelry link here. Loved knitting it. Love how cute she looks wearing it. I used the the Knit Picks recommended crayon boucle yarn and size 4 circular needles. The yarn is 100% cotton so it will be a great hoodie for spring.
I don't know what it is with my kids but it is so hard getting them to sit still for photos. The minute we got outside it is all running all the time.


A brief standing still while she searches in her "purse" for the frog she is pretty sure she brought out with us. Who doesn't have a frog in their purse when they go out?

We added flower buttons because that is what she picked out. Important for her to have a little ownership don't you think?

This was super fast and I already have another one on my needles for a friends little girl who turns one this month. Have a fantastic day.

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