getting there slowly

I made myself a deal. I WILL finish this sweater in February. In fact, I WILL finish this sweater this week. No more excuses. No more wishing that I could be working on something else. It is past time to buckle down and get going.

So I stayed up way later than I should have last night and finished the hood.

Overall, I am still proud of it. The mistakes that I made are glaringly obvious to me but not to anyone else in the house. The one mistake that I think is the most noticeable, SweetPea adores so its staying.

Of course, now SweetPea wants this to be a dress instead of a sweater. Um yeah, not going to happen, baby girl. But the flow on this is gorgeous and it twirls. When she spins, it flares out beautifully and does put me in mind of a dress. Once I finish the sleeves, it will be ready for the task of picking out buttons. I originally wanted to order some fancy buttons for this but now, I am thinking that plain and simple buttons might be the best. If it was a plainer sweater, cutesy buttons would be the obvious choice. But the cable work on this makes me think that the buttons would just get "lost" in the rest of it.

The decision will ultimately be up to SweetPea. And I am a bit excited to see what she comes up with this time.

let the celebration begin

Wow! I don't think that I could have (or really should have) tried to pack any more into today. Between birthday preparations, sewing that needed to get done, cleaning and baking, today has been insane! And its far from over yet. I would love nothing more to curl up with my feverish little man and catch some sleep myself but I just don't see it happening.

The big celebration today was taking SweetPea and Peanut to Build a Bear for SweetPea's birthday. It was both the girls first time going and I think that they had a good time. Peanut picked out a fennel fox and SweetPea picked out a purple (of course) bear. The place was crazy busy being a weekend, being a crummy day to be outside and being that the mall was hosting a robotics competition. Oy! But we still made decent time, only spending about 90 minutes there which included building our new friends and allowing SweetPea to dress hers. Peanut already is talking about going back for her birthday and I would love to take PorkChop for his.

At home, I completed SweetPea's birthday skirt and shirt, got the ribbon sewed onto her birthday sweater, added buttons to her army outfit and baked two cakes. Yes, for her birthday cake I needed two separate cakes.

don't think that its going to happen

Being gone for a week was good for my soul, good for my peace of mind... really bad for my goals.

Yes, this was supposed to be given to SweetPea on her birthday.... which is Sunday. I haven't finished the length requirements that she wants yet, haven't done the pockets, hood, or even the sleeves. Taking six days off of knitting/sewing has really put me behind. It was worth it, don't get me wrong. I am just feeling the pinch now that we are that much closer to SweetPea's big day.

I did manage to get most of her birthday skirt done today. And PorkChop's shirt and longies are complete. I am not sure that I am going to be able to get SweetPea's chef's outfit done but I can always give that to her for Easter. Or just because. I like the idea of just because more.

I still need to figure out how to make a dinosaur cake too. I have some ideas which is much better than I was just a few days ago but it would mean getting creative and not doing "exactly" what SweetPea wanted. It should be ok though.... I just need to remember that she is only turning three and that a cake is more important than a specific cake.

I hope.

here we go again

A new month is now upon us and with that, a new sweater challenge for me to do! Up this month, a "gold" Lavanda sweater for SweetPea. When I first envisioned this sweater, I just knew that I was going to go with some custom made dinosaur buttons to match SweetPea's birthday theme/outfit. Instead, now that I have tickled the yarn a bit, I am thinking of something sunnier, something brighter.... Not flowery or "girlie" but something more sun-inspired. I find myself singing "You Are My Sunshine" whenever I pick up the needles. And its kind of fitting since this sweater DOES remind me of a warm, sunny day.

I know that I raved about the sweater that I did in January, but I really think that this one might even surpass it. I love the purples of SweetPea's birthday sweater but to me, the purples look older. This color is just so.... so..... fun. Its bright and warm and sunny and just makes me smile to look at it. Not to mention that the yarn is so soft and squishy.

I decided to challenge myself a bit and add some afterthought pockets to this one. I have done a hood before, so that's not new. The amount of cable work is a bit of a challenge (or at least, more than I have ever done in a single project before) but its the pockets that I am most looking forward to trying. Wish me luck! I do not want to mess this one up!

sneak peek

Finally getting a chance to show this. I finished this on Sunday but it was dark by the time that I had it blocked and dry. Monday and Tuesday, the weather was too yucky out to try and photograph it. Even today, the skies have been overcast and just not the greatest for doing a "real" shot. But I am done waiting, I want to share.

I knit this shawl for a very dear friend. Still haven't had a chance to get it to her because I really want to see her face when she receives it, not just get an email or a phone call about what she thinks. I wanted to give up a few times because I came across a stitch that was giving me fits. But I found a way to alter the pattern enough that I could manage and I am so glad that I did! I actually now have a few more shawls on my "to knit" list because of this one.

I don't know what kind of yarn I used or the weight since it was gifted to me over a year ago. But I can say that I think that it was a fingering weight or possibly a sock weight. Its a blue and purple mix colorway. I knit this on size 4 needles. And I secretly want to keep this project too but like the owl longies, I am being good and sending them on their way.

almost perfect

Almost perfect.... Yes, this "beautiful purple sweater" is almost perfect. Why almost? Because my little fashionista decided to tell me that she wants a sweater that comes down to mid-thigh. This one will be perfect when it "grows bigger bigger bigger". Sadly, someone needs to tell her that sweaters do not grow and that this one WAS sized a bit bigger to ensure that it would make it through the spring and into the fall.

Thankfully, sweater yarn for number two has been ordered. And it will be a mid-thigh length sweater. If I can push it out soon enough, it will be part of her birthday present/outfit. A wonderful friend of mine gifted me a half yard of some awesome Dino Dude knit from the Michael Moore collection. I matched the yellow of that pretty closely with a beautiful gold color for her sweater and then will be ordering some dino themed buttons for the front. Pairing that with a little tiered skirt in the matching colors (thinking lime, orange and turquoise) and she will have her "birthday" outfit. This sweater was supposed to be her "birthday" sweater and it still will be... Just for her three year pictures instead of party wear. But its cute and festive and girly and I know that it will get tons of use. Especially after it "grows" a bit.

in over my head?

I love pattern searching, clothing planning, color schemes, the end result... Sometimes, I get overly ambitious though and try to see how far I can stretch my talents, my patience and my time. I really think that this might be one of those times. I found this pattern (Lavanda) and fell in love. I really think that it says SweetPea to me. I can picture it in a yellowish-gold with long sleeves and the full hood. And it fits her many criteria for a "good sweater". But its cabled, everywhere! And it has pockets, which I have never done. And all new, weird to me increases. But its gorgeous. And I will be knitting it soon.

I got loosely talked into doing a "project 12 in 2012" that started off as twelve sweaters in 2012. It was later changed to just twelve projects but I think that I want to keep the sweater theme. Maybe not all sweaters, but sweaters, vests, shawls, shrugs....

So far, I have almost completed the Saffron for January. Lavanda will be February's knit, although I will probably start it early so I can give it to SweetPea for her birthday. March will be an Andalusia for PorkChop. April, I am thinking about Sea Princess and putting it up for the fall. May is going to be a Spring Butterfly. June and July will be set aside for shawls..... I have one that I want to make up to give away to a special friend and I want one for the Renaissance Festival. August, I am contemplating doing up a Fratello. And that's about as far as I have gotten. In over my head? Definitely! But its fun planning and dreaming either way.