FO : Baby ruched cardigan

After a very good trip to Cuba (which I will talk about in a couple of days) I way up to some knitting time. I choose to knit a pattern I bought for my baby, whose is already 9 months olds !!! I make it just in time because it fit her, ok it's still big enough but we always need layers for a baby.

No more chat just look at the spec

Pattern : Baby Ruched Cardigan by Terri Kruse

Yarn : Knit Picks Stroll Tonal 370 yards in color Queen Anne (about 80% of a skein)

Needle : 3.5mm and 3.75mm circular needle

Size : 2T

Mods : I didn't increase on the row 11 as written and I just knit forward. My final cardigan is a big 18 months or a small 2yo size. Also I did not add any closure of button and prefered to let it open

I really really love the yarn I used and I already have it in mind for my next order to Knit Picks ! It's so soft and I like the smell if it too. Maybe I can plan a sweater for me with it...but just after my Thermal that I going to dig out of hibernation soon.

I am very happy with the result and even more because my daughter say "da!" when I made her to try it which mean something like "yes" to her. Knit from stash and more I knit the pattern I had in mind when I bought yarn ! Wow I'm getting better to this...

FO : a swap friend in the mail

Just before I left for my wedding in Cuba I knitted a little friend to send to my swap spoiler, now he is somewhere between my home and his new home in a box, I just hope his travel will be safe !

Here are the info of my little friend

Pattern : Sock Giraffe by Bobbi Padgett (free pattern)

Yarn : Knit Picks Palette in main color red and contrast color petal under 60 yards total of yarn

Needle : 3.25mm dpn

Use a black yarn to make him a face.

Note and comment : a lot of person are complaining about the pattern because the designer used unconventional techniques to make him but I am very pleased with the result and the pattern and I consider that it's very unkind to complain on a FREE pattern, good job to the designer. Already 155 of Giraffe like mine in Ravelry so I just hope now that my spoilee will like him and give him a name... :)

A quick knit to knit my mojo back

Yes again I leaved you for a very long time, I don't know what I have with Spring time but I never have time to blog frequently. I have to say that I have a LOT going in my personal life a little topo would be :

- Final exams at the university on April 21st
- We are going to Cuba on April 23rd and getting married out there :)
- Our condo is on sale
- So you imagine we bought a new home we are moving into this summer
- I'm going back to work on May 16th...unfortunately

and I have to run after my daughter now that she's crawling around and climbing on every piece of furniture low enough for her to grab !

Plus I lost my knitting mojo after hitting a wall with my latest project I was doing in March, a cardigan for me that turns to be too big and I was disgusted to find out only after I did the whole body and a sleeve...

Tuesday I was browsing on Ravelry and I found my mojo back when I saw the pattern of Celestine Sox, I had to make it right away !

So here are my knitting results :

Pattern : Celestine Sox by Berroco Design Team
Needle : 2.75mm
Yarn : Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in color Gypsy Rose about 192 yards

I did no mods out of stuffing it also with a plastic bag to make noise when my daughter grab it and a bell inside for more fun. So far I don't know who have more fun my man or my baby girl... :)

PS... I only used material that I already had at home !

Thinking about Japan...

It's horrible to think about the disaster that just happened in Japan, my thoughts are with them and I hope that they will recover soon and rebuild everything.

This video from Black Eyed Peas was videotaped one week before the tsunami...

FO : from 2010 finally got pictures

Yay another FO from 2010 made it to the WEB !!!

I am proud to present you my nephew Zachary wearing is very cool hoody ! Go boy and enjoy...

Spec :

Pattern : What a Character Hoodie by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence (bought as a kit on Knit Picks)

Needle : 4.5mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in color Jalapeno, Peapod and Fedora.

Notes : forgot the character part of the pattern I wasn't pleased and thought it would be more wearable without. Made the 4 years old size and it's big enough and he have plenty of room to grow into (I was afraid of making again a sweater too small for him!). I hate the way the hood is attached to the body, if I do it again I would simply go on from the body to the hood instead of knitting in 2 parts. I add bias tape inside to solidify and used a zipper.

The yarn is simply soft and can go through washer and dryer which is very good ! Loved working with it and I already bought some more.

FO : the rebirth of a UFO

Yay !

I pick up a old UFO (cast on July 5th 2010 during my nesting time) and kick myself to actually finish it ! It wasn't that hard after all and didn't took so much time. Sometime we only need a little push to work on a UFO and mine was that the size of the dress is a 12 months and it will fit Florence very soon.So had to finish it soon to be able to dress her with my knit...

Here are the specs and notes :

Pattern :  04 - Cardigan, Robe et Chausson by Bergère de France (from the magazine Tricot baby)

Needle : 3.5mm and 3mm

Yarn : approx. 400 yards of the violet yarn (unknown yarn bought from Wal-Mart in clearance section) for the cache-coeur and approx. 412 yards of the white (bernat  baby sport solid).

Notes: the pattern is the first french pattern I ever used in my knitting life... even if it's my mother tongue I hate how the pattern are written in french. It seems clearer in english and easier to read too. And my other concern about this particular pattern is that it involved a lot of seaming (they don't know about seamless knitting in France ?) and also way too much finishing (embroidery, seaming, grafting, etc) endless !!! That's why this project was a UFO since last July. I decided to go simple and abandon embroidery, bottom seam and the buttons for the cache-coeur. It took me less than 3 hours to finish everything.

Important : the strap for the dress are very short and I make 1,5 inches longer on the back. The booties are cute but unusable. They don't stay on feet and they are too short. And another important thing is that you don't need to seam the dress too high to let your baby move the way she like!

Finally I am happy to be done with this project and happy to be done in time to be able to put it on Florence and enjoy her wearing it !

FO : one day project...

Yesterday my day was filled with helping out my daughter to try move forward (still not done) and knitting while she was sleeping. The best part is that I used up every little bit of yarn left from the 2 bubble cardigans I made for the girls and the pattern was free ! :-)

Ok let's talk about my new project :

Pattern : Leafy Accordion Hat by Charlotte Bouchet (avalaible both in english and in french)

Needle : 3mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport all every yarn left from both cardi.

Notes : since I ran out of the main color (malted milk) before having completed enough ridge I only used up the leftovers of the other color to continue in simple stockinette stitch.

The pattern is very stretchy and it may fit over my head if it was longer ! Good to know if I ever want to make another one. I was worried because I used smaller needle but I wanted to have the same size of stitches than the cardi. I am very pleased with how it turned out and ever more because Florence decided that she like it and wanted to keep it on her head (for now...)