Step Into My Thimble

My little sister, who is an overachiever with a very full life, never seemed all that thrilled when I asked her if she want to learn knitting some years ago. So I left her alone.

I was surprised the other night when she said she signed up for a beginning knitting class at a new yarn store, with a few of her coworkers. (It’s kind of like with Maeve, sometimes when I ask it means nothing, but when others do it’s taken more seriously.) And after my sister’s first class, she called me and strongly suggested I go check out the new yarn store.

Well, all knitters know you can’t turn down a suggestion like that, so I went the next day. I got some chunky Ironstone wool for the Swing Cardigan, already 1/3 done, and some Lamb’s Pride Cotton Fleece for a Presto-Chango (spelling of that drives me nuts). Since it was the shop’s grand opening, I won a fabulous cashmere hat kit in their little roulette game. I don’t think I will make it as pictured, but it is the first time I have had some 100% cashmere in the stash. I will take offers if anybody wants to buy this from me. It’s Skacel Schulana Cashmere Trend in color 603 (olive green), and the kit is called Cashmere Cap with Pom.

Here is Maeve on Valentine’s Day. Her latest trick is drawing people, in that early stage where it’s a head with arms and legs coming out, no torso. Read this for more on the development of figure drawing in kids.

Done, and fabulous. Wearable? Not sure yet. After a full-immersion baptism this weekend, I am hoping it dries into a slightly looser finished shape. I like the snug fit, but this goes beyond that a bit, especially for a wool that is a tad scratchy. I used Rowan Pure Life British Sheep Breeds–a very very nice yarn to knit with.

This would be really nice made from All Seasons Cotton, if I had any skillz at hiding ends with that yarn. A little gauge adjustment might be necessary though.

My mods were minimal. After knitting parts of the yoke over and over, I decided it would be best to kitchener the underarms for more flexibility. I also needed six balls of yarn for the size S (34″) with a body length of about 18″. The buttons are vintage mother-of-pearl from my giant tin of them, handed down from the German great-grandma and beyond.

Yay for Owls!

It’s fun to make tiny cupcakes. It is even more fun to eat them. But it’s the most fun to drop off little plates of them for your friends. Happy Valentine’s Day!

My kid has been sick this week. I was worried that it would be a lot of misery of her special variety: begging for treats alternating with begging for “the little black thing” (watching Gumby clips on YouTube via the iPod Touch), and a heavy dose of snot. Yesterday really wasn’t too bad, she played by my side with Play-Doh and fabric scraps and a bunch of her old board books for most of the day. I managed to make two pairs of pants.

I was using an old Butterick pattern for pajamas, and it had lost its “finished sizes” chart. I thought 3T would work but they’re gigantic. Even the adjustments for the 2T size (the smallest in the pattern) would result in something way too large for Maeve’s current size. Oh well, still cute! These will go in the closet, and the second pair, a dusty pink 1950s floral print with only one pocket in the blue corduroy, will be for a friend whose kid is, I’m hoping, slightly chunkier.

In Owls news, the pieces are all joined and I’ll be starting the actual owls soon. Wearable by next week, which will have it done in time to be included in the parliament, I hope!!