On the brink of trying something new

I'm deviating from my original plan with this knit...all of a sudden I was hit with the inspiration to try something new with the sleeves of this dress. This is another birthday present for my soon-to-be four year old.

Merino Angora Sweater

This sweater is hand knit from yarn I spun myself. It's the first fruits of my first fleece purchase...which I bought, washed, carded, and processed almost a year ago. I've not finished the spinning of the entire fleece, but I'm very tempted to drag out the wool box today and do a bit of spinning so I can work with more yarn. Then again, I'm a realist and I don't think I quite have time for spinning right now. So just admiring the fruits of my hard work might have to suffice for today.

This little girls is getting this sweater for her birthday in a couple weeks. It's not a surprise, but she's very happy with the turn out non-the-less.

Most importantly, "it's not an itchy sweater...it's a soft sweater." Praise the Lord!

How I find time to get my work done

Set a good example of what diligent working should look like and the kids will hopefully follow suit.

So here I am knitting while one child works on phonics and the other works on math.

And I'm getting to knit! Win, win for everyone!

Baby Sweater

I took a break from knitting longies to make a sweater for the new baby. My child will not be cold this winter...if anything overheated is more likely the scenario with all my fervent knitting. Well...socks, I've not been much for knitting those. Perhaps I should consider some socks now.

Red Longies

And another pair done...

On the needles

I'm working on...bet you can't guess????

Yes, another pair of longies! This pair is red. I like red.

Old dress, new dress

Last week the girls wore their "pretty" dresses for skating. Charlotte's coach wanted to see how her dress would look on the ice. Felicity just didn't want to be left out.

I've since finished the beading on the sleeve cuffs.

More and More

I just can't stop knitting longies! I love longies, and I guess I just want to be sure my baby will have a dresser full of them. That's all. Can you blame me?

These are a little different than the ones I did before, but I like to experiment and try new things (in very small doses I like to try new things).

Shop open till cleared out

I decided to re-open my shop and list the dresses I have sitting here. I will not take any custom orders, but would like to sell off the dresses and snow beanies I have left over from last year. I'll probably list one thing a day, and just keep them up till they're gone. Get em while they last!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya!

Tomorrow, You're only a day away... and now the dress is mostly finished. Just a few finishing touches and this season's skate dress will be done.

Seed Stitch Longies

These longies are for my baby (yes, I want to be sure I'm well stocked this winter). This pair was made utilizing some new wool yarn my grandmother gave me. It was spun in Colorado and is nice and thick.

The ribbing has faux cables and the main body of the pants are seed stitched. The cuffs (legs and top) can be folded down for little baby and unfolded to accommodate growth.

I put a few short rows on the top and bottom of the seat area to allow for extra room in the bottom area, and I'm pretty please with the turn out.

Pink Lace Back dress

Originally, I planned to make this into a shirt, but decided I didn't need a few inches of left over fabric and made it into a summer dress instead.

This top resulted in a few mistakes though. I've been working on making this top design without seams. So I've been finishing it off in the round. Well, I made the lace back a little too long, so the front hangs down too low. I could have compensated the front by starting off with fewer neck line stitches too...so this was a learning experience piece. It's nearly befitting that after an hour my daughter pulled on one of the tops treads and made a nice sized snag. Hopefully, it will work it's way back out, but if not, just chuck it up to her trying to unravel my mistake.

Yellow Spring Lace Back Shirt

Today I finished this top for my daughter's birthday, which was last week, to go with the pink skorts.

I've got another on the needles for her little sister now.

It's longies

The mystery project I started a while back is just about done. I only need to tuck in the tails and lanolinize.

I've inserted a size small, MotherEase, Sandie's diaper so you can see how I worked to shape the rump a littler better. I also added seed stitching to the soak zone thinking it would help to add a bit more wool to that area without making a double knit layer (which I don't really know how to do with longies anyhow).

These are for my baby....though when I finished my dh asked me if they were for my (almost four year old) daughter. Nope, I'm done making her wool pants...I hope.

So close...but so far away

I've all but given up on the idea of pursuing all that is now required to legally sell my hand knit dresses. It's a crying shame, but I haven't much time these days to knit, let alone figure out how to accomplish all the bureaucratic &#!* that I would need to do to fulfill the new CPSIA laws. I've tried to keep up, but it's too overwhelming.

I just want to knit and sew dresses and not worry about breaking some law.

This morning I came across the address for the CPSC...it's practically in my back yard!

It's not lost on me that I still have about six completed dresses sitting in my sewing room, which I'm too afraid to list on Etsy...because they haven't been lead tested, nor do they have tracking labels.

I've always labeled my dresses with a sew on, cotton tag. That label includes my name, and my website address. Also included is a hand written label that describes the fabric/ fiber content, care instructions, my e-mail, and my name (again), and that the article is entirely hand made.

I try to think of everything. I even include a disclosure on my listings that I have a dog...just in case they're allergic to dogs.

So, the CPSC is just 15 miles away...and it's tempting to just go and show off my dresses to these folks...what else can I do with them? I'm wondering if I should send them the remaining dresses...I don't know why...like it would do any good...but it's as if nobody sees what they've done to the American work at home mom who loves to make children's clothes (diapers, toys, and so many things).

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,an independent federal regulatory agency, located at 4330 East WestHighway, Bethesda, MD 20814 Toll-free hotline: (800) 638-2772

Lincoln Decor

Today I toured Lincoln's Illinois home on-line, via photos. I was just a little surprised at how boldly the carpet and wall paper selections were. Many of the rooms have absolutely no coordination what-so-ever, and some of the color choices just smack of what I would expect. It's not to say it's good or bad, just surprising, that's all.

On the whole, it was affirmation that a home is a place to "lived" in. It might not look pretty, but if it's comfortable to you, and it functions for all who reside in it, then it is...as it should be.

Window treatments for the girls' room

There are three windows in this room. I found satin sheets on clearance at Target, and thought it was a great price for drape making fabric. I'm not sure if the turn out is as astounding as the concept was...but it will work. And the girls' like what I've churned out thus far.

I still have two more windows to go, but this is a good start.

Taking the Angora out of the Knitter

What do you call an Angoraknitter who no longer has an angora?

Just a plain old knitter.

Today my last Angora went to bunny heaven. So...I'm kind of rethinking this blog.

Boy's skates...girl's skates

Skates are expensive! So when one sibling grows out of his skates, and his younger sister could use them (cause she's complaining her skates are too tight)...well, girls can wear black skates. Of course, there's a relatively easy fix for black skates. Boot covers!

Pretty pretty boot covers! They go with her pretty dress. So here you go, my first sewing from the new house. The dress was mostly done, but I had to alter the neck line (it was coming up too high) and finish the elastic in the legs.

On the Needles

I decided it was time to start knitting again. There's still plenty of unpacking to do...but I need to unwind.

So, I went looking for the socks I had cast on during our drive to VA...but couldn't find them. So I cast on something new. You'll just have to wait and see what this will be.

The yarn is Lion Brand fishermen's Wool, Natural Brown. Casted is 68 st on size 6 circular, 2k/2p ribbing.