Keep Calm . . . Craft On

Joining Nicole at Frontier Dreams

Oh, it has been a long time since I have visited this space. But that does not mean I have not been crafting. Just not writing about it. My knitting is such a source of relaxation for me. And it invigorates me. If I start knitting late at night, I will often get a second wind as the peace of creating begins to wash over me. Last week I finished two things but only have a picture of one. I finished the Greyson sweater for my most knit-worthy recipient: Mr. Manny-Man. It is his birthday and Easter sweater and he proudly wore it for both. That boy really knows how to melt my heart and he is just 4.  I also finally finished his birthday crown . . . three years late, but it's done. But the darn fairies got the credit. I won't lie, part of the satisfaction I get from creating is the acknowledgement that I made it! More on the fairies later, because they surely deserve their own post, but suffice it to say, the night before Gian's birthday party, Coco dictated a note asking the fairies to leave a birthday present for her brother.  That request surely could not go unanswered. So, even though I had already been up all night trying to get the house together for the party, at 5 am I found myself finishing Gian's crown. And, thankfully, he wore it.

This is a perfect match of yarn and pattern. Yarn is Madelinetosh vintage in Candlewick. Although I must admit I was sick over the obvious aberrant skein. Which, of course, is the one I started with. . . and no, I did not buy them on line, but in person. Note to self, OPEN the skeins before buying. It is not enough to just look them over. It all worked out as well as it could, though, because I think the skein with the black flecks would be more obvious on the arms.

Now, I am working on Ginny Sheller's Sunday Sweater for Coco.

While I really wanted to have this done for her to wear for Easter, I have come to accept the fact that getting two knits done for an occasion is not likely going to happen for me. This will be her spring sweater. And it's just as well because, remember that recognition I mentioned for having created something? I don't get much of that from Miss Thing, so, no point in staying up all night to get something done when she will be just as under-enthused at a later date.  I was a little bummed, though, because, as  you can see from the photo above, this yarn that I already had in my stash (Dream in Color Classy in Go Go Grassy) is a perfect match for the Easter dress my mother bought for her.

But, alas, there are far more important things in life than getting a knit done by a certain time.

What are you working on?

Keep Calm; Craft On!

Joining Nicole at Frontier Dreams again.

Keep calm, indeed.  I'm starting to feel a little bit of panic around Gian's birthday preparations.  But I have made some progress!  That little bit on the right was already done, I must confess.  Simply pinning the scales to the dragon might not seem like much, but it is more than I had previously done and it is movement in the right direction!  Plus, I did manage to actually sew it on last night.  Next step is to sew the other side of the body.  I may actually get this done by Sunday.  I have a board meeting Thursday night, so, no sewing will get done then and I'm hoping to take the kids to Legoland on Saturday, so, that day will be a bust.  Putting this fiddly thing together made me think about how appropriate the charges are for handmade softies like this!

Last week I forgot to mention that I also really want to make a doll for Gian.  I'll get let that thought lie here and marinate in the universe for a bit!

With respect to my Lenten knitting (trying to take a departure from all of the selfish knitting I do), may I present to you this little guy:

There is definitely room for improvement.  And I hope I can do justice to his face.  This bear is for the Mother Bear Project.  Initially, I saw it as a small way to use up my copious (and by that I do mean a most ridiculous amount) amounts of yarn, and hadn't really given a lot of thought to how the bear would look.  Then I looked at some of the FO's on ravelry and some of the pictures on the website of children with their bear.  Imparting a sense of beauty to children is important.  And immediately saw that I wasn't doing that. So, I tried to jazz this guy up a bit with some stripes.  I can see where I apparently had ladders in the knitting because we can see his stuffing.  Hopefully, those will come out with a lot of hugs.  He's knit with Patons and Wool of the Andes (which appears to be a slight bit thinner than Patons) and stuffed with wool.  I came home from work to discover Gian had tried his hand at helping out.  The eye was pulled waaayyyyy too snug and my darning needle was missing.  Fortunately, I could fix the eye and I found the needle!

And, last but not least, my progress on Bloom:

I tried this on Coco Friday night, and as a result, had to put the project on time-out for the weekend.  I had just finished the eyelet row and knit two more.  It was just too short.  I was going to need to tink back those three rows and add 10 more.  Even before that, I had a not so pleasant realization Friday afternoon.  What they say about reading a pattern all the way through is really true.  I had bought 3 skeins of yarn to knit this, based on the yardage requirements stated at the beginning of the pattern.  Then, I get to the part after the bodice which instructs that extra yardage is needed to knit a fuller skirt.  Then I took a look at pictures of the larges done on ravelry and they look kinda short to me.  Clearly, I was going to need another skein of yarn.

Did I mention I'm knitting this with Madelinetosh Vintage?  And the dye lots are not dye lots and not easy to match?  And it's way too expensive here in Chicago and I'd bought it with a 20% discount?  And I'd just been back to the freakin' store on Leap Day at 7 am to get 29% off and hadn't read this bit of information before then?  Yeah, not happy with that discovery.  My friends at work who went to the sale after I did told me there was no more pink.  I called anyway, and fortunately there was!  And some that had come in the shipment that was from what I'd previously purchased!  And I was able to get 10% off because of my affiliation with our Waldorf elementary school! Thank goodness for the small things!

Can't wait to see what the rest of you are working on . . . happy crafting!