Words & Wool

I’ve made a lot of progress on Corinne’s little cardigan. I started the first sleeve today. I’m really excited to see how this one looks once it’s all finished. Corinne was excited to try it on when I checked the length. I will say, a size 6 kid’s cardigans sure do take longer than size 6 month!

Are you finishing anything up right now? Please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Link to ravelry page with all the details: Bella Cardigan

Corinne’s first day of kindergarten

My little girl started kindergarten this week and I had hoped that would give me more time for crafts. So far, after two days of (half day) kindergarten, I’ve gotten a bit further on the little cardigan I’m knitting for her and I’m hoping to make more progress this weekend. Today, however, needed to be a sewing day.

Some good friends welcomed their new baby girl into the world two weeks ago. Later today we get to meet her and I had wanted to make something special for the baby.

I had pinned a tutorial for a cloud/rainbow toy ages ago and decided it was the perfect gift for the new baby. I had picked out the fabric (soft, silky minky for the cloud, fun geometrics for the rainbow), printed the pattern, and was ready to go for weeks now. But I’ve been dragging my feet because of the embroidery…two little black eyes and a small smile and I was avoiding a project simply because of that! So, today, with a few hours to go before we go see the baby, I buckled down and embroidered, sewed, and stuffed.

I couldn’t be happier with the result. All told it took less than an hour and it uses very little fabric. The technique is all very basic (yay!) so it was a light, fun project. My embroidery skills are very very very rusty, but I’m betting the baby won’t care. 🙂

Tap tap tap…hello? Anyone out there still?

So, um, yeah. It’s been over three years (almost four!) since I last posted. What happened?

Life…

my daughter has been busy growing into a lovely, amazing, smarty pants, funny 5 year old.

my hobbies have expanded to include sewing and euro board games.

we have three cats and a puppy, but only one of the cats is original to the year 2010.

we still live in Oregon and I’m starting to feel I can take time again to blog now that my daughter is starting kindergarten….tomorrow!

As for knitting…I have been knitting fairly steadily since I last blogged up until about 6 months ago. Then I stopped. I don’t know why. WIPs were draped around the living room. Patterns were still being queued occasionally on Ravelry. A random skein of yarn (or two or three) arrived in my mailbox. Then, a couple nights ago, I started knitting again.

Here’s a little taste of what I’m working on right now:

This the Bella cardigan and I’m using KnitPicks Comfy Sport in Planetarium and Zinnia. The pattern is beautifully written and this yarn is fantastically soft and smooth! It’s been the perfect knitting project for while we watch AMC’s The Killing on Netflix.

If you are still out there, please comment and let me know.

Life has been full this past year. There were many projects cast on, but few finished. An amazing weekend at Sock Summit with my dear Chicago friends. Cori has gone from being a baby to a toddler and it’s been a joy to be home with her to watch her development. I look forward to what the year ahead will bring.

In 2010 I hope to:
-Finish my numerous works in progress (’09 was a year of day-dreaming and casting-on, ’10 will be a year of productivity and completion)
-Lose weight slowly and mindfully (no fads, simply being aware of what I’m eating and making choices)
-Strengthen my relationship with my amazing husband (having Cori has brought us closer together, but leaves us with so little time to be a couple. Feel free to leave any advice you may have).
-Read a book a week (Before Cori, I easily read 52 books a year. Can it be done with an almost 2-year old in the house? My super duper new Kindle should help!)
-Learn to play the guitar (I’ve always wanted to learn. My mom used to play folk songs for us when we were little and I hope to do the same for C).

Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2010!

(So, will you be saying “two thousand ten” or “twenty-ten”)?

Please say hello to Charlotte’s Web! (Pattern by Maie Landra)

I like it a lot.

I’m thinking it’s too pretty to leave at home so I will wear it out.

I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Stonewash, Peaseblossom, Never on Sunday, Jubilation, & Lenore. More details on my Ravelry project page.

The rectangle version of the Ulmus shawl has been released and I love it! I want to make the scarf sized one first, but can’t decide between 3 Socks that Rock yarn pairings. Please help!

Matt, Cori, and I will be participating in the Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday Sept. 20th walking with the Knitters for Knockers team. We are planning on walking the 5k.

We are walking in memory of my husband’s amazing aunt who lost her fight with breast cancer 4 years ago leaving behind her husband and two small children. We are walking for my mom and my father-in-law who are both survivors. We are walking to raise awareness and fight breast cancer.

If you are at all able to, please consider donating. We appreciate any support,
no matter what size the donation. Please use this link when donating:
https://rfcp.convio.net/goto/McCain

75% of the Oregon and SW Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen funds provide the following services for local women:

Education about breast cancer and early detection
Information and support to breast cancer survivors and their families
Mammograms for the uninsured or underinsured
Transportation and treatment support for survivors

In addition, 25% of their revenue is combined with Komen Affiliates nationwide, making Komen for the Cure® the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world!

I’ve been so busy this past month knitting and sewing, but not taking photos of any of it! My plan is to get pictures and projects all updated over the next few days so expect a blog post about actual knitting by mid-week.

Happy weekend!