For Madison

Yesterday we went to Aiken for a baby shower for the girlfriend of my oldest nephew. They are having a girl and will name her Madison. I knitted what may well be my favorite baby/child sweater.




Specs:
Pattern: Cardigan with Eyelets and Daisies from Baby Bamboo Knits by Sirdar
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK Sage
Needles: 3 & 6 US addi Turbo
For: Madison, size 6-12 months
Started: May 12, 2010 Finished: May 28, 2010

Modifications: The only change I made was to use iron-on appliques in place of the embroidered daisies. In the future I will change the armhole and sleeve shaping to decrease 3 stitches at the beginning of the armhole on each side and then do 1 decrease at each end of every other row for the next 6 rows. The shaping was really awkward and made the sleeve difficult to set in.

Getting Organized

The craft room was so out of control that I've spent about a week bringing order to the chaos. I decided that it was a good time to create some project kits.

Sweater kits...

From left to right top row:
1. Heavenly Blue Cardigan - Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca Sportweight
2. Tokyo Topper - Interlacements Tokyo
3. Toreador Jacket - Koigu KPPPM
4. Hedera Jacket - Cascade 220 Wool
5. Marta Jacket - Reynolds Lite Lopi
6. Sigridur Pullover - Reynolds Lopi
7. Additional yarn for Lopi sweaters

From left to right bottom row:
1. Cerisara Cargidan - Classic Elite Bam Boo
2. Flyaway Cardi - Debbie Bliss Merino Aran
3. Tiny Tots Cardigan - Sirdar Snuggly DK
4. Heartfelt Sweater - Tess' Designer Yarns Microfiber Ribbon
5. Brigitte & Eric - Reynolds Lopi
6. Elka Cardigan - Reynolds Lopi

Shawl kits...

From left to right top row:
1. Brandywine Shawl - Knit Picks Gloss Lace
2. Trellis Framed Leaf - Jojoland Harmony
3. Seashell Silk Shawl - Ivy Brambles Pure Silk 20/2 Laceweight
4. Haruni - JaggerSpun Zephyr
5. Echo Flower - Hand Maiden Sea Silk

From left to right bottom row:
1. Laminaria - Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace
2. Olga's Indinski Shawl - Skaska Designs 50/50 Merino Silk
3. Flower Meadow - Jojoland Harmony
4. Gail (aka Nightsongs) - Hand Maiden Sea Silk
5. 198 Yds of Heaven - Blue Heron Rayon Metallic (not pictured)

Accessories...

From left ot right top row:
1. Miss Sophies Hands Gloves - Zitron Trekking XXL
2. Hopper Sock - Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino
3. Gretel - Cascade 220 Wool
4. First Lady Mittens - Cascade 220 Wool
5. Lacunae Mitts and Hat - Cascade 220 Wool

From left to right bottom row:
1. Spiralicious Mitts - K1C2 Ambrosia
2. Rainbow Socks - Online Supersocke 100 Fun Color
3. Eshter Socks - Inca Sportlace
4. Mayrose Hat - Cashmere Merino Silk DK
5. Delft's Blauw Hat - Classic Elite Arcadia (not pictured)

Purchased kits...

Clockwise starting at top:
1. Halo sweater kit
2. Woven Yoke Wrap
3. 7 Scarves and a Shawl
4. Mariposa Shawl
5. TNT Beaded Scarf
6. Bumblebee Jacket

I still have some summer sweater kits to get together but this should keep me busy for a very long time.

Old Habits Die Hard

Last Saturday I went to the market at Stitches South in Atlanta. I made a short list of what I intended to buy. It didn't work.

I was easily seduced by the abundance of yarn, patterns and other knitting-related goods. The fact that I was traveling with the great enabler aka Mom didn't help the situation. My favorite purchase is the yarn bowl. I put it to use immediately in the hotel that Saturday night.


We met up with two of our Palmetto Purlers, Millie and Brenda, and some of our Greenville knitting guild friends. Needless to say we had a blast. I also took a continental knitting market session and have been practicing regular since then. I was having a problem with the purl and tension but have worked both of those out since then.

Shirley Paden the author of Knitting Design Workshop is doing an online workshop in the form of a KAL for her Ravelry group. She gave us a stitch pattern which we are to use as the basis for a sweater or scarf. I've elected to do the sweater and this weekend did my swatch.


It is Circles and Butterflies. I'm using Katia Austral from the stash in a nice rose color. I bought this when it was discountinued at my lys several years ago. I've been waiting for the right project and this is it. I still need to have my measurements taken so that I will be ready for the next session in which will be calculating all the parts of the sweater based on our individual measurements. I'm really excited about these workshops and hope that I can use them to work up some of the yarns I have in the stash for which I haven't been able to find that perfect pattern.

I'm so close to finishing the Summit Shawl.


It seems that I'm never going to finish the little ball that is left. I haven't been working on it regularly or anything else for that matter. I've been trying to bring some order to the craft room. It was out of control before I went to Stitches. In order to tame some the of the chaos, I created kits using the yarn already stashed and some that was acquired prior to Stitches (couldn't resist the Webs sale). There are sweater, sock and shawl kits. I like the idea of just walking in and picking something out of one of the bins to work on. I was getting overwhelmed and I think this will eliminate some of that.