Chevron Baby Blanket.

So check out the chevron baby blanket I knit for my friend's new daughter!

MMMM CHEVRON GOODNESS.

Isn't it pretty! I'm so happy with how it came out.

I knit it in direct violation of my "don't knit for newborns" rule.  See newborns grow SO FLIPPING FAST that I usually give a hand knit as a first birthday gift instead.  A sweater that is worn with the sleeves flipped up on a 1 year old will still fit at 2 and sometimes even for another winter.  But newborns?  Maybe you get a month out of it.  And they'll probably puke on it. Blergh.  HOWEVER this kid got me to break my rule:

So. Much. Adorable.

Because she is a 3rd child.  And 3rd kids don't get hand knits.  No, really.  My daughter could have worn something hand made every day of her infancy.  The dude - my middle child - also had piles of handmade goodness even if it was significantly less than his sister.  Tiny?  Well... I didn't even knit for Tiny.  In my defense I had 2 other kids to look after while redoing our entire basement pregnant so....

AT LEAST MY GRANDMA KNIT FOR ME.

When my friend found out she was pregnant for the 3rd time I knew that I wanted to make that baby something very special. All her own.

Sidenote:  When Tiny was first born my mom told my dad she was worried that as the little one he would end up with "the shit end of the stick."  And my dad famously said "there's no shit on that stick."  Meaning that in our little family it doesn't matter when you were born because it's going to be good.  Which is exactly how I feel about it.  Tiny may not have as much attention from me, specifically, but he has more attention overall.  Because he has 2 siblings that adore him.

Also he gets to play with all of his siblings toys.

Anyways!  The chevrons!  I started with this pattern and then decided that I needed to knit it in bulky yarn.  A tiny baby in a bulky knit = ADORABLE.

I used Plymouth Encore Bulky in bright, girly colors and repeated the 3 stripe pattern down the whole blanket:

I also added in a garter stitch edging all around to give it a more finished look:

Mmmmmm.  Edging.

I changed the size of the pattern to make sense with the bulky yarn.  If you want to do the same thing I wrote it all out on my Ravelry project page.  The whole thing took 2 balls of each of the pinks and one of the blue.  It knit up faster than I expected and was really fun to work on.

Yay for 3rd babies and Yay for handknits!

Tomten Jackets.

So!  I finished the Elizabeth Zimmerman Tomten Jackets!!!!!

I had to.  Because I'm pretty sure that if I didn't summer would never arrive.  Ok it sounds crazy.  But follow my logic here - You know that phrase "the baby won't come until the knitting's done?"  It's just one of those old adages that people like to say... that seems to be completely true.   I think that's what's happening now.  Summer can't come until the knitting is done.  It's the only explanation for why it's mid May and the kids are still wearing footie jammies to bed.  So I focused and finally did all of the finishing work on these.  And I am SO happy with how they turned out:

SERIOUSLY.

I took the kids to the park for a little photo shoot.  This was back on May 1. And right after that we had quite the warm spell.  Even got out the water table for a bit:.... Aaaaand then the cold came back.  And I had to (again!) dig through the attic to retrieve more warm clothes for the kids that I had put away (again!) BECAUSE WHY ISN'T IT SUMMER YET OMG.  Is anyone else stuck in the wardrobe change out that never ends?  Just me?  Moving on.

So now I figure that summer won't come until the knitting is done and blogged about.  That has to be it!   Because otherwise it makes no sense that today is the first day of summer vacation and it's barely going to hit 60.  So here we go:

 

Tomten Jackets for the brothers:

Pattern: Tomten by Elizabeth Zimmerman from the book Knitting without Tears.

"Tomten is the small Swedish elf who specializes in good deeds, and your child will resemble him strangely if you put a Tomten jacket on him or her." - Elizabeth Zimmerman in Knitting Without Tears.

Seems Legit:

My kids totally look like little elves in these:

The pointy hoods!  I love the pointy hoods.  It is the CUTENESS:

 I actually made the blue one for my little guy and the green one for The Dude.  But!  Kids only grow in one direction.  So I upsized everything.  So the Dude is wearing his brother's sweater and The Girl is wearing The Dude's.  Sounds confusing but basically each kid is wearing a sweater meant for their younger sibling:

Meh.  By fall they will be wearing the right sweaters.  Until then I think the Girl is rocking it:

Timeline: I started the Blue one WAY back in August of 2013.  The Green one was started in Feb. as part of the Ravellenic Games.  Both were completed at the end of April 2014.  So this was a 9 month long project. WOW.

HE WAS SO TINY!!!!!!!!

Modifications: Basically none.  It's a modular jacket so it's super easy to modify to make bigger or smaller following her directions.  The blue one starts with 112  stitches and is modular from there.  The green one starts with 128.  For both of them I picked up a button band around the entire edge and around the hood.  I think that gives it a nicer edge than just the garter stitch.

I did add in the slip stitch faux seam on the top of the sleeves on the green one.  The directions are in the Brooklyn Tweed Adult Tomten version.  I think it gives the sleeves a bit of detail and structure not necessary in the smaller size. 

 

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted for the gray.  It is deliciously sheepy and wooly and everything you want a sweater/jacket to be:

Then I used Patons Classic Merino for the blue stripes.  The Green is Cascade 220 that was left over from The Dude's Green Hat.  I had juuuuust enough to finish it.  Like I was cutting off long ends and spit splicing trying desperately to make it through the bind off without having to buy another skein.  My knitting group was quite amused.

Notions:  The zippers were just basic zippers bought at JoAnn.  I dragged both boys there one day with the intention that I WILL FINISH THESE TODAY. .... and bought non-separating zippers.  YEAH.  I would say that I'm an idiot but in all fairness I was wrangling two small boys in a JoAnn Fabric.  That I made it out alive at all is a success story.  I ordered the actual zippers that I needed online once I got home and realized my mistake. 

The verdict: LOVE.  Unabashedly love.  The grey sheepy goodness!  The pointy hoods!  The zippers!  The garter stitch!  These are classics that my kids will wear for years.  And then will get passed down to someone else because they are always going to be in style.

Yay Swedish Elves!!!!!!

And as an extra fun bonus picture here's the not yet finished Tomten's with a sweater that I made for their little cousin. 

Someday I need to get a picture of all three boys in their sweaters.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So!  You guys!  It's my daughter's 5th birthday today!

And since she wants to hang out and watch a movie this morning before we head to the parade this afternoon - and it's her bday so she gets to decide that - how about some pictures of my kids in the same handknit sweater?

The Girl:  March 17, 2010:

Look how little she was! Look how short her hair is!!! It goes so fast! 

I started this sweater on our trip to Maine when I was pregnant for the very first time.  Before we knew she was a girl.  Before we knew we'd have 2 boys after that.  All I knew was that my kid was going to be born around St. Patrick Day and therefore needed a green, cable knit sweater.

I finished it just in time for her 1st birthday.

Notice there's no buttons?  Yeah I didn't get around to sewing those on until 2012.  Seriously.

The Dude:  March 13, 2012:

OH THAT SMILE!  And notice how OUTSIDE we are?  Seriously outside.  In shorts.  I can't even fathom that right now.

So outside!!!

They both look so young!!!!  Even the dog looks like a baby:

The Little Guy:  March 17, 2014:

My littlest one.  The only one without the benefit of natural light since it's 20 DEGREES OUT OMG WHEN WILL THIS WINTER END.

and yet for some reason you didn't put shoes on me.

He's such a happy little one:

Although he did keep trying to crawl away during this little photoshoot. 

I don't know what you're talking about, mommy.

Heh.  Have a wonderful St. Patrick's day!!!!

Ravellenic Games Wrap Up.

So.  The Olympics are over.  As are the Ravellenic Games.  And I did not achieve glory:

I couldn't even see the podium:

It was clear pretty early into the competition that I am not the competitor that I used to be.  That while a former Olympic champion this time I would fall pitifully short:

Like a couple inches of sleeve 1, all of sleeve 2, the button band, and all of the finishing short.

 But.  Here's the thing about the Olympics.  Just to participate is an honor.  And this year I was not a favorite.  I was not at the top of my game.  I did not have the focus, drive, determination, or (AHEM) time I needed to achieve gold.  But I"m still proud of my accomplishment.

I knit more over these games than I have in the last 6 months.  And that is thrilling.  It shows me that I CAN make time for myself.  Even if it's just brief moments.  I CAN DO IT.  And when I do the results are pretty impressive:

Two weeks ago this was a couple skeins of yarn buried in my stash.

I was the country with one competitor who was just happy to be there.

The Land of 3 kids under 5 is not one who brings home many golds.

So I'll keep going with this sweater.  I have some new yarn coming to me on Thursday thanks to my knitting group's influence and my hope is to have this finished by then.

Dream Big, right?