Sweaters for Nieces

I finished sweaters for my two of my adorable nieces. The yarn I used was Knit Picks Swish DK in Peapod and Sugar Plum. I found a pattern in IK's Weekend 2010. In fact, it's the cover sweater. This amazing design ranges from infant size all the way up to adult. It took me less than a month to knit both sweaters. Of course both the little girls are very small...

Choosing the buttons took me longer than actual knitting time! I really wanted the same style of button in different colors for each sweater. There were so many buttons that I liked, but couldn't find a similar one for both projects.















A month after knitting the sweaters, I finally sewed the buttons and posted the pictures on Ravelry. To my surprise, someone favorited my sweater. I clicked on the heart button and found that my green sweater was favorited by someone named Hannah Fettig. Wait! That name sounds familiar... Hannah designed my sweaters! I was thrilled to have my sweater favorited by the actual designer. It really made my day!

I spent the next hour looking at Hannah's other designs. Lo and behold, I have a few of her patterns in my very own favorites file. She wrote Closely Knit: Handmade Gifts for the Ones You Love in 2008. She also has many designs in other publications and magazines and her own blog.

Lazy Blogger

I'm definitely not a very good blogger. I really have been busy and a bit blue. Let's try to catch up on some of my projects. The most recent one is this wallhanging I made for my friend, Andrea. She's a coffee-chugging, funny, gregarious friend. She also loves the color purple. I started out with the border fabric from my stash (It's purple in real life, but looks royal blue on the computer screen).







The rest of the fabrics were recent purchases from Joann fabrics. I'm pretty happy with the coffee mugs. They're all based on mugs I have in my kitchen.


Even the backing is cute with cute little birds.

Scarf Saga

I "discovered" Noro two years ago while I was visiting my sister-in-law in Connecticut. While my husband was enjoying one of his many games of Majong with this parents and sister, I ventured out to the local yarn store, Saybrook Yarn. The store had a nice assortment of yarns and patterns and the woman working there was very friendly. I fondled their many knitted samples on display and enjoyed digging through their ample sale wall. As I was deciding on which sale yarn to purchase, I spied a pair of beautiful socks that looked like it was dip-dyed. I loved how the colors flowed seamlessly into the next. I was sold. My first purchase of Noro was made with two skeins of rainbow-colored Silk Garden Lite.

Not knowing what to do with two skeins, I perused Ravelry and discovered the Noro Striped Scarf. My problem was getting my hands on two more skeins. Well, two skeins were found at my lys in greens, blacks and orange. Not exactly my colors, but I was willing to give them a chance. I cast-on for the scarf during a Girl Scout camping trip and was hooked. I couldn't wait to see the next color change and see how it blended the other yarn! Less than two weeks later, my first Noro scarf was completed.

Now since both my older daughters also liked the scarf, I vowed to knit at least another one some day. Last December, during a trek to a little town called Brunswick, I found the Brunswick Yarn Depot. I almost missed the store. It had no real sign and was a converted garage attached to someone's house. Not a huge selection, but the staff was friendly (aren't knitters always nice?) and helpful. I found some Noro-like dyed yarn called Poems. It's an aran weight, so I guess it more like Noro's Kureyon. I finished the scarf during a visit to my parent's and my mom really admired the scarf. Of course, dutiful daughter that I am, I gave her my Noro scarf. E loves her new scarf, Mom loves my old scarf and I'm left with a cold neck.

I knitted up a new Striped scarf with random skeins of silk garden lite that I had picked up here and there. I finished this scarf during another family visit. This time we were at my sister-in-law's. Since I wasn't crazy about the end product, I gave sis-in-law the new green striped scarf. I picked up more Noro at A Good Yarn in Brookline, MA and knit yet another striped scarf. Now I have my very one Noro Striped Scarf (again), my neck is warm and I can stop knitting scarves for a while. A long, long while

Bag Happy

I made a couple of bags for Christmas. This one was for E's dance teacher who loves everything Asian. Nothing spectacular, but I really like the fabrics.

I had so much fun making the first bag, I made another one for Moira. I even put in more effort by quilting it. The birds on the lining fabric are so cute!