More goodies

Birthday largesse:

There you see a kit and needles for a lovely vintage knitted beaded bracelet and necklace (from my MIL); a newsletter from my MIL's LYS (for Christmas gift inspiration); a Patons poncho booklet which DD1 independently chose so that I would be able to knit her another poncho once she outgrows her current one; and, from my own little family, two balls of Meilenweit 50 Seta/Cashmere from Lana Grossa (65% virgin wool, 15% silk, 16% polyamide and 4% cashmere, for socks...I can only imagine how lovely they will feel on my feet).

More birthday largesse:

And here we have two treats for myself: On Your Toes sock yarn; plus June's (owner of my LYS) gift to me: five balls of Baby Micro, which I will use for a baby jacket I'm designing for my book.

My other birthday treat involved getting both girls down for naps and heading out to the LYS for about an hour, SOLO. I had a great time. Thanks, June and Mercedes!

I'm so lucky!

Calorimetry for DD1

I had so much of the Sirdar Click DK left over from my own Calorimetry that I thought, heck, why not make a mini one for my older daughter. The need was especially pressing since, at the time that I had this idea, she had a field trip to a pumpkin patch in about two days, and would be outside in damp, sorta-cold weather for a few hours. I cast on only 80 stitches instead of the pattern-instructed 120, and stopped the short-row decreasing when there were 26 stitches on each side of the stitch markers and 28 stitches in the middle. I think it took me about an hour to get done. DD1 chose a button, I sewed it on, and shazam...



She looks pretty cute in it, although we do need to remember not to put ponytails at the top of her head when she's going to wear it, as they make the band fall down too low:

Calorimetry for moi

I finished it super-fast, tried it on and was insanely disappointed. It was too wide and I looked supremely dorky in it. I did briefly consider posting a photo of me in it as proof of the dorkiness, but then realised that humiliating myself on a global scale was not my idea of fun.

Anyway, I ripped the whole thing out. Then, inspired by the success of DD1's mini-Calorimetry, I restarted with just 84 stitches in the cast on. I worked the short-row decreasing until I had 26 stitches on each side, with 34 in the middle. Result: a band that actually fits me, and lots of yarn left over.





Oh, and happy ears for me.

Branching out for DD1's teacher

A few more repeats have been done on this. Nothing huge, but progress is progress.

Fair isle tank top

I completed the 24-month size. It looked great, and took less than 3 balls of the main colour. I took all the necessary measurements, and a good photo, and then steeled my heart and ripped it all out. The 18-month size is now in progress.

Herdis for niece

No actual progress to report, but I did finally take a picture:

Doll clothes for DD1

Why do I keep piling on new Christmas knitting projects? However, this seemed like too good an idea to save until a birthday or next Christmas, so I've taken it on, too. (Also a good way to mow through small bits of stash.) I'm planning to do the "Jack and Jill" dress, the "Doll's Wardrobe" skirt, and the "Pixie Outfit" suit with hood from my Patons Beehive "Just for Dolls" booklet, in the medium size to fit her doll named Simone. I suspect it will all be a big hit.