thumbsucker mittens (with pattern)

I always forget how cold the cold is Upstate New York. Being a thumbsucker, Antea won't keep her mittens on for long so I made these that have the option for the little thumb to be in or out. I posted the pattern here.

chunky mustard jumper

I finally got to use the beautiful Beiroa yarn I got last year at Retrosaria when I was in Lisbon. I wish I had gotten more! I ran out of yarn so the jumper is more like a t-shirt. I wrote the pattern here. The best part is it goes beautifully with Antea's Mabo kids playsuit.

knitted pants

Knitted pants made from beautiful yarn Margarida brought me from Portugal. Wrote up the pattern if you want to try it out.

strawberry jumper

Antea has been getting a lot of compliments on this jumper and I wrote down the pattern as some people have asked about it. I used Knit Picks Gloss DK in Scarlet that my dear friend Margarida gave me.

seed stitch cardigan

Beautiful local alpaca yarn. I wrote up the pattern as best as I could here.

pompom hat

Autumn Upstate New York always surprises me. I just want to knit all the time. Even Antea's Halloween costume was knitted - a big bad wolf tail and ears. Bobby Rabbit got dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood.
Instructions for pompom hat here.

summer jumper

At last finished Antea's Summer jumper. You can download the pattern by clicking here.

Liberty!

When I saw this Liberty Wool yarn I immediately wanted to make a new jumper for Antea. It was very quick - especially because I got some Addi Turbos to knit it with :) - and I am very happy with the result. The shape was inspired by a free Lopapeysa pattern. I hope to eventually knit the actual one...

Yellow jumper

Just finished last night. Got a lot of compliments today. (gosh! I have to get a proper camera!)

everything old...

 When Antea was born she was really tiny. I knitted these hats for her and they were too small - well this year they fit! The white one is wool and was inspired by Purlbee's Heirloom Hat. The aviator grey one is DK Alpaca and was a trial and error design.

and matching mittens.

 

Autumn is here. This year it really has been stunning. I have finished knitting mittens for Antea on the day Purlbee had posted these ones. Must be the season!

From flower to yarn

We bought some flowers that had these plastic nets protecting the crowns. I have been using them to keep the yarn together while I work or in storage.
Now that I figured out a system that works for making socks, I am loving this Koigu yarn to make a pair for Antea. I am using a combination of the KNIT Freedom pattern (for casting on) and Carol Feller's Japanese short-row method (for turning the heel). I feel I am really getting the hang of this and want to make tons of socks. I think I will make them less pointy the next time though...

Jolly jumper

Red! I used the same method that I have been using for cardigans but I made it into a jumper with a buttoned side opening.

Also, I got this great decorative heart-rainbow from my favorite notions shop in Ithaca and attached it to the back. Every time I go to Sew Green I find something truly unique and wonderful.

So ckonfused

I've been feeling really dumb as I try to figure out how to make the toe-up sock heel. I had started with this video reccomended by Wiksten but I just couldn't make it work.  Then I tried this tutorial and that was a disaster - I ended up with double the stitches I should have! Then I realized I could use the short-row yarn-over method that I learned in Craftsy. And then I went back to the initial video. I took tons of notes (yes - I have started a knitting notebook).

I have done all this in tiny socks for Antea. The left sock heel in the picture was done using the no-wrap method and the right sock heel using the Carol Feller method.

Know your craftsy

I've just discovered Craftsy. I'm starting with a bunch of free classes and I am really learning a lot.

I am now taking the Know Your Wool class. This made me realize the importance of keeping a knitting journal and do proper swatches when buying yarn - not just for the gauge but also to practice stitches. And if the swatches are consistent in size they will not only be a useful tool, they will be beautiful in themselves.
The class also made me realize the importance of buying good quality yarn. Often I have bought yarn just because it was cheap but in the end whatever I do with it ends up looking cheap as well. So it takes me back to what I learned from reading Elizabeth Cline's "Overdressed" - I don't buy or eat cheap food just because it's cheap. Why would I do that with anything else if it will also feed a "cheap industry" of any kind that will harm everything in the long run? Plus, knitting with good quality yarn is so much more fun and pleasurable.

I am also taking the Short Rows class. That was a lot of fun and I know I am going to use that technique a lot. The method I most like is the Japanese method.

...and, yes, another cardigan....

I've finished yet another cardigan for Antea - the third, I think. This time I tried making sure it was larger but it's just the right size (sigh!). So it should fit her for another week, the way she is growing...
I used this beautiful Blue Sky worsted cotton in Spearmint with number 3 needles.
For buttons I used raw wood beads which look very pretty but I made sure to really sew them well to make sure they don't come off.

One more cardigan

Made a second cotton cardigan for Antea using the same pattern as the yellow one, with some blackberry stitch on the sleeves and on the back.

Knitting companion

My knitting companion I made in November.

yellow cardigan

I knitted this cotton cardigan for Antea. By the time I finished it was already too small...