More baby stuff...

I have to admit that knitting baby stuff is addicting. Everything gets finished so quickly and it's all so cute! But this addiction is actually ok, since so many of my coworkers are having/have recently had a baby (the baby in the last post is not mine, she belongs to a friend -just thought I'd clarify). So I can easily knit a whole bunch of baby garments without feeling weird about it. ;)

This is for a little baby girl that was born last week:

It shoul fit her just as the weather starts to get cool again sometime this fall. The pattern was the usual "make-it-up-as-you-go", using Blue Sky Dyed Cotton and 4.5 mm needles. It's a little thick for a baby, but I had ordered this yarn and the color wasn't what I expected -not something I'd wear, but fits a baby perfectly. And the yarn is soooo soft!

I've also ordered the pattern for the EZ Baby Surprise Sweater, and I think I'll be making a couple of those, once I get the pattern in the mail. Unfortunately Schoolhouse Press can't send their patterns electronically, so you have to wait for the mailman to bring it. (What business these days doesn't have the capability to PDF documents and e-mail them?... I just wonder...)

I finished Pippa last weekend, and I have to say I'm most happy with it. I love the color, love the softness of the yarn (I hope it wears well) and love the fit. This sweater will get used a lot!


Pattern: Pippa by Anna aka Amelia Raitte
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton, 11 balls, 50 g each
Needles: Addi bamboo 3.25 mm circular
Mods: I started the neck line a little earlier than specified in the pattern.

This was a very nice basic sweater pattern, nothing goofy or too complicated. It is fairly short, so there are no waist shaping or decreases, just increases for the chest. The sleeves are pretty long, which I prefer, and my arms are quite long anyway. But if your arms are short, you might want to make them a little shorter.

And one more shot of the matching earrings I happened to have:

Which reminds me, I should take and post some pictures of my hand made jewellery some time...

The Dark Side

Yes, I admit it. I take occassional trips to the dark side. Every now and then, the urge hits me, and I just have to do it. It doesn't last long, but passes fairly quickly. This time it was inspired by the fact that I noticed a little friend of mine was missing a summer hat. And a fine lady can't very well go around without a hat! This problem had to be fixed immediately.

Enter Rowan Cotton Glace and a crochet hook and two days later, The Hat:


Modeled here by a very conveniently sized foam ball:

This would have taken even less time, had I had a pattern and had I crocheted a test swatch, or at least done some planning. But without any one of those, I made the whole thing at least 2 or 3 times with all the ripping back.

I added a little flower to hold the brim up:

And here's the young lady with her new hat. It ha a little room for her sweet head to grow yet, but all in all it fits pretty well.

Sweater progress

I guess I'd better write an update on my progress on the green cardi, since Maud said to come look at my blog for another version of Anna's Pippa. ;)


I've actually made pretty good progress, what with the trip to Quebeck and a quick turn-around in New York a couple of weeks ago. I was actually hoping to finish this weekend, but the good weather and gardening interrupted my knitting in a very effective manner. It's about midnight, and this is the first time today that I sit down and have a moment to knit.

I have both the fronts, the back, and one sleeve done, and have just started on the second sleeve. I initially bought 10 balls of yarn, but half way through the sleeve it was obvious that I was going to run out, so I went and bought 2 more. Now I may actually have a full ball left over, but this being one of my favorite yarns (Rowan Wool Cotton), I don't mind.

Yesterday at the garden store, we got something a little different just for fun. We saw these water plants that are for fish ponds, and I thought why couldn't we have a little pond in a pot and a couple of plants in it.

The big one is called water lettuce, and is such an interesting plant. The leaves are all thick and puffy. The little things floating on the water -well, I can't remember what they were called, but those were sold by the quarter cup. They are very cute up close: In the water we also have a few long skinny plants that Mr S calls snakes and I would call just water weeds. They are the same ones I just hate when they touch my leg or foot, when I'm swimming. But in a pot on the deck, they are just fine. ;)

Here's a few more garden shots for your enjoyment (click for bigger):

The container garden on the deck, mainly herbs and salad greens:

Some berries and vedgetables, and a garden helper: