K2 Blanket

Oh man. I have had to restart this blanket so many times. And then they discontinued one of the colours that we finally decided on. I was ready to cry, but the teen just shrugged. A new shade of pink doesn't matter to her. As she decided, it will make a good story to tell people when she displays the blanket. And even after all this, it's still only up to my thigh. ~sigh~

Superhero Cape

Oh, saw the neatest, simplest thing for kids. They usually borrow my dish towels to tie around their necks, or the old baby blankets, when they want a cape. It's usually a superhero game or whatnot. The idea I saw was to simply take large t-shirts that had outlived their shirt life and cut away the front and arms. Basically leaving the neck hole and the back part of the fabric. And best of all, I'd still be able to hang them up in the closet at the end of the day, so that they aren't scattered all over the house. I'll probably give this a try the next time I go through hubby's old clothes.

New Craft Idea

So I was going to try my hand at knitting shawls for my younger two for Christmas. But honestly, that's going to take too long with the projects that I already have going. So I changed directions for that. Instead, I'm thinking of getting some lightweight fleece and some heavier cotton poly blend, for the different seasons. Then it's a simple pattern to create a fabric shawl. I can add some fringes at the bottom. And I think I will add in a button and buttonhole so that they can keep them on when their hands and arms get to flying around as little children are wont to do.

I'm excited to start this project. But first I need the money to go get the fabric and some corresponding yarn or thread. Buttons as well. They'd have to be fairly big buttons. And choosing the fabric and colors will be important. I know K3 likes green, but I want to incorporate some other colors in there. Until about six months ago, her favorite color was blue. Now it's green. So a little variety won't hurt.

Daughter 2 Sweater Progress

Wow, come a long way on the sweater since the last post. I have the front, back and one sleeve done for the sweater. So it's moving along well. But more importantly than that, I've finally converted said daughter to the use of circular knitting needles. She absolutely loves them now and has even started a blanket project of her own. It's mostly to give her something to do once the extracurricular school stuff starts up. They spend a lot of time on those buses.

I also just today, found an antique dragon motif pattern for crochet or knitting that will work perfectly for another blanket that I am making as a graduation gift. Now I just need to decide the colors on it. The blanket colors are lime green and black. But I was thinking of putting the dragons in gold to help them stand out a little. If not, I might keep the dragons green, but shade the area around them with purple, which is another favored color of the intended recipient. I'll have to do some experimenting with the colors and see what will work. But that, added to the Chinese characters will make it quite the unique blanket. Much like the child himself.

The other exciting thing that I managed to do this summer was learn the Continental style of knitting. That in itself was easy enough. But trying to master the purling took me several days. So quick and easy, that I can't imagine going back to the English style. I tried to convince my daughter, but she wants to master what she knows before she starts learning another style. And I suppose that's fair enough.

Daughter 2's Sweater

Well, while I was on vacation, I vowed to find some complimentary colors so that I could start knitting on daughter number 2's sweater. I figured now was the best time for it, so it would be ready for her extracurricular functions when she wants to look nice and stay warm. The pattern that we chose was set up for a nice boa yarn for the cuffs and neckline accent. But the other yarn was too flashy for her taste. So we got together with my mother and found a gorgeous royal earth boa-like yarn. The colors run from blonde to brown. It goes very well with the tan color we chose for the main body.

I got started on the sweater today, and even though it's less than two inches long so far, it's absolutely beautiful. It's going to look very understated, yet professional and complimentary to her face and coloring when it's done. And of course, she loves it already.

Eldest's Blanket

So I finally got done with the eldest's blanket that I had promised to knit her. It turned out wonderfully. I used the lace and fans pattern. The blanket was supposed to be about four feet long, but I extended that since the pattern was for a baby blanket. But she needs something a little longer.

So I knitted on it until I felt it was the right length for her. I honestly could have done more, but she was getting rather impatient for it. And with my promise to knit a blanket for her boyfriend before he graduates next year, I kind of wanted to get a move on with that one. So here's the result.

And I was very happy, that when I was looking for needles to complete her sweater, I happened upon a great little convenience. I don't know how I managed without it for so long. But I absolutely adore my Norwegian knitting thimble. Makes it all go so much faster!

And done!

Yay. Sat up until one thirty in the morning working on that sweater for the eldest. Still wasn't done, so I put it aside. Picked it up at just after nine this morning. Aside from breakfast, coffee breaks and cuddling the youngest, got it completed, sewn and trimmed up shortly after three. Eldest arrive home from school about 3:40. She was in a crappy mood and storming around the house until she noticed her completed sweater laying on the couch. Then the squeals of happiness were deafening. Tried it on. Loves it. Pictures hopefully to be up soon!

And while we have an idea about what we'd like to do for D2's sweater, I don't have the boa or eyelet yarn. Have a gorgeous stripe yarn goes from pink to gray to black that she likes. But I was kind of thinking of saving that for a prayer shawl for my mother, to match the slippers I made for her. If I want to get more, I'll have to drive two hours one way to get more. Esh! I'll figure it out though. Thankfully D3 wants a straight green sweater. And I have some adorable pastel stripe baby weight for D4's vest. So I have plenty to keep me busy the rest of the year. Not to mention all the blankets!