Owlet Sweater

I thought I had posted pictures of my finished Owlet sweater - but I guess my brain had a pregnancy blurp.  Here is a link to the pattern.  It comes in many sizes, and she also carries the pattern (called Owls) for adult sizes too.  Best part is that it is knit seamlessly for the bottom up, so it's a great sweater for beginners.

I finished this for our little man about a week ago, and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out!


It was such a fast and simple knit, and the shine yarn is so scrumptiously soft and cozy.  I can't wait for our little guy to wear it!  I knit it in the 18-24 month size, but it looks to be closer to a 12-18 month fit comparing it with other clothes that we have.

Here's a close up of the owls:


We're just 4 1/2 weeks away from our little guy's due date.  It won't be long now!!!

Hey Sweetie Pie!

I have a brand new paper crafting template to share with you!  I took a break from designing over the holidays, but I'm back baby - and this template is SUPER cute.  I think you'll enjoy making these little paper pies for any occasion, but they seemed quite appropriate for Valentine's Day!

Because this is a "mini" workshop, I've lowered the price to just $3!

CLICK HERE to purchase the template

Here are few detail shots of the layout:

In addition to the 2 page 12x12 layout, you'll also learn to make 2 adorable cards.  And you can take your "baker's knowledge" and create dozens of pies for cards and layouts in the future.  You can even switch out your colored patterned paper for blue to make masculine blueberry pies!

When you click the link above, you'll be taken to Craftsy.com where you can purchase all of my available patterns - both knitting and paper crafting.  You can also browse a great collection of other crafty patterns.  It's a fantastic site!

If you pop over to my "Paper Crafting Templates" page (see the link at the top of the blog), 

you'll notice a few changes as well.

All of the templates featuring current papers (or templates that can be made using any papers) are still on the top, but I've put all of the rest in the "retired" section.  These are still available, but you have to email me directly to purchase them.  However, now that they are "retired" I've lowered the price to just $3.  So if there was a particular pattern you'd had your eye on for a while, you can get it now and at a discount to boot!

Keep checking back for more new patterns that will be coming soon!  I can't wait to get my hands on all the fun new CTMH products in the new Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book!

New Pattern!

It's been quite a while, but I have a new pattern for sale on Knit Picks and Ravelry.  :)  I call them "Waffle Knit Mitts" and you can purchase the pattern by clicking on either of the links above.  The pattern is slightly less when you buy them on the Knit Picks website (because I in turn don't have to pay any fees to sell there). I also hope to have a few pairs up in my etsy shop in the next few weeks.

It's a super fast knit, and would even make a nice Valentine gift for the man in your life - since the pattern includes sizes for men and women, in both the fingerless and full mitt variety.  Working in worsted weight means you could knit these up in a weekend - or if you are really fast, just an evening.

I was pleased that we had snow at just the perfect time for a nice backdrop for the glove photo shoot.  Although that also meant I had to model my own creation - which I don't normally do.  I think my hubby did a nice job with the photos.  We had to shoot the "soap opera" way though - hiding my pregnant belly with a scarf and carefully cropped images.

Little Champion

My eldest, Samantha, competed in her very first spelling bee yesterday.  We have been studying the list of words for months now, but the bee still seemed to come upon us unexpectedly!

There were six different schools participating, and each school had two representatives per grade.  We drove Samantha and her classmate (as his parents sadly couldn't make it) to the bee, and it really worked out well.  Samantha gets anxiety very badly, and so to have her friend in the car was a great distraction.  I don't know if she didn't want to be embarrassed in front of her friend, or if she was just too distracted to be worried, but she was really calm the whole time!  I think the prayers we said over them really helped too.

Here they are before the bee started.  

These were their seats.  All 12 were taken by the students...

Samantha spelled very well.  She made it all the way to Round 14 before getting a word incorrect.  Thankfully, at that point it was just her and one other boy.  According to the rules, her competitor has to spell two words correctly to win.  He spelled his first word correctly, but he missed the second.

So the bee continued!

Dave and I were on pins and needles.

During Round 16, the boy missed his word.  Then Samantha spelled her word correctly.

Then she was given the winning word.  "Stubborn".  And I knew we had the victory.  Sam and I had practiced this word over, and over, and over.  So it came as no surprise that she spelled it correctly (with TWO bs).

I was so overjoyed and proud of my little girl!  The look on her face when she won was absolutely priceless.  She just couldn't stop grinning!  And then when she heard that she got a trophy - that sent her over the moon.

Samantha's classmate did well too.  He made it through Round 5, beating out four other kids.

Owlet Sweater and other knitting news

I'm so addicted to knitting for my baby that I had to immediately begin this new sweater pattern for him the very night I finished the last sweater.

This one is called Owlet and it's by Kate Davies.  I'm using Shine again because it's just the best yarn for baby sweaters that I've found.

Not sure if you can see in the photo, but there is a ring of owls with button eyes that are knitted into the yoke, back and sleeves of the sweater.  Super cute.

I'm knitting the sweater in the 18-24 month size, and so far my only complaint is that it seems small.  After discussing with another knitter who recently completed this project, she also had to go up (to the 9 months size) and her finished sweater is snug on her 3 month baby.  So keep that in mind if you plan to knit one for someone you love!

Here's my progress as of Tuesday night:

and last night:

I have about 4 more inches before I can start the sleeves.  Hoping to get to the owl bits by tomorrow!

In other news, I'm working on a new design - this time a sock!  And simultaneously, I"m knitting a pair for my sweet husband.  He has not received a finished pair of socks since January of 2010 (probably because his feet are so dang long!!!) but I've been promising him socks for a while now.  

So... here we go.  I'm 2/3 done with the first one, with a goal to finish both by Feb 10.  Since this photo was taken, I've done another two inches on the foot.  The yarn is Malabrigo sock, and the colors are just yummy - shades of brown, orange, and beige.  They are much deeper and richer than in the photo - I just used my phone camera.

I've also got a few strawberry hats on my needles, as well as a name banner for Ruby, one for the baby, and 2 Valentine's days ones for Etsy (that I hope to post by Saturday).  Additionally, there's one more new pattern that has been ripped out and redone about 5 times now, so I'm super close to having a viable, working design.  Whew!  

And that's what I've been doing this week.  What are you up to?

Mara Shawl

I recently finished another big project that had been on the needles/in my yarn bowl since Christmas.

This is the Mara Shawl (free ravelry download) - knit in City Tweed by Knit Picks.  I was excited to try out this tweed yarn, and was surprised by how soft it was!  I think it would make a great fisherman style sweater, or mittens as well.  The only downside is that it is handwash only.  But it sure knits up beautifully.

I knit the shawl as a gift for my sweet mother-in-law, Marie.  Doesn't it look great on her?  She can wear it as shown, or use a shawl pin with it.  :)  It was a belated Christmas gift, but still well received.

Be sure to check back tomorrow.  I"ll be posting pictures of a new sweater in progress for the baby boy!  I might need to start looking into sweaters for our girls, so they don't get jealous of all the hand knits I'm doing for their brother!  I just love knitting tiny things!

Nautical Baby Sweater

I was totally inspired by this sweater on this post and then again on this post on the Yarn Harlot's blog a few months ago.  It is just SOOOO cute.

So I downloaded the pattern, Puerperium Cardigan from Ravelry, and then ordered my yarn - Shine Worsted from Knit Picks (cream and navy).

I've been plugging away at it for the last few weeks - in between MANY other projects.  Then it sat in my yarn bowl for about a week, just needing buttons sewn on.

So, yesterday I got busy and within 30 minutes it was done!  I'm sooooo happy with how it turned out.  It's nautical (like our baby room theme), and it's soft, and it's comfy and cozy.  I can't wait to see our little baby in it!

Here are a few detail shots: 

 

And you know I had to "model" it on my 33 week baby bump.  :)