Monthly Archives: October 2015

This sweater is cursed!

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I swear. It really feels like this sweater is cursed. I’m sitting here wearing it and loving how it feels, but…blah. I’ve procrastinating writing this post and hoping I’d finish something more fun, but I seem to be hitting a streak of unsatisfactory projects lately.

Back in November of 2014 I’d just had a baby and I was on maternity leave and determined to make as many things as I could before returning to work. So I pulled out my stash of Miss Babs Yowza in Aubergine. Hello gorgeous! Nice soft yarn with a fantastic reputation. I’d purchased it from a friend who didn’t love the color, but I found it to be so beautiful.

And at first I thought it was destine to be Fannie Fouche. Sort of a jacket/sweater combination. But then I read a few comments on Ravelry about the pattern and got cold feet. It seemed I would need to make too many alterations to the pattern for my sleep deprived mind to handle. Next!

Then I choose the pattern Effervescence Cardigan. I bought this pattern back in September 2013 and have wanted to knit it ever since.  I love the look of it! Really, I do. Several of my knitting friend have made Effervescence and it looks fantastic. I got to work and knit the back of the sweater using a mash up of Custom Fit and Effervescence. And then I just stalled.

The yarn was an issue. One of the skeins looked like maybe it had a tiny bit of a moth (!) problem. Or maybe it had accidentally been snipped at some point. By the time I would it all up I had several little balls of yarn, no, evidence of a moth problem, and no desire to actually keep knitting it.

Stall…

But then, magically I found some desire to pick this project back up and transform it into the ultra classic and chic Acer Cardigan!

Acer 3

Isn’t it pretty! But of course there were further complications. I got to the end and lost one of the sleeves! Frustrated and annoyed I just bagged up the pieces and hoping I would some day find the other sleeves. Finally in July I found the other sleeve! YES!

It all got sewn together and I bought buttons last month and managed to get the whole thing put together.

Acer 1

The detailing is so so so pretty. And it fits pretty well considering I knit it to fit my pre-baby #2 body. Wishful thinking. Though a little tight across my backside.

Acer 2

Over all very wearable and pretty. But I swear this sweater was just destined to be cursed because today is only the third time I’ve worn it and it is already pilling like crazy. At least it is no longer in my works in progress bin.

Rain Dance Jumper

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I had so many good intentions to get decent photos of this dress before Charlie really started wearing it and potentially staining it. But getting a busy 11 month old to stand or sit still is not happening.

First I tried our yard, but she looks like she is in baby jail.

Umbrella Dress 3

Then we went to Target and the little monkey spent the entire shopping trip trying to stand up and climb out of the cart. See that look on her face? Trouble. Oh yes we have trouble right here in River City, or uh Pasadena.

Umbrella Dress 1Umbrella Dress 2

Anyways, I thought I’d have one more chance to get in some good photos before she wore this dress to day care and it ended up covered in formula and dirt and who knows what else. We went apple picking this weekend and I fully admit I had a mental picture that we would suddenly be transported to New England. But of course the orchard was in Southern California and it was a bright and sunny day. The light was much too harsh for photos. Plus the ground was mostly dirt, gravel, and burs. Nothing you’d want your baby to crawl on with no covering for her knees.

In the end I gave up trying to get the perfect photo of our baby in her dress and sure enough I got a few cute photos…when we stopped by a brewery on our way home. Figures.

Umbrella Dress 7

Umbrellas Girls 2Umbrella Girls 1

Look at those sisters in their matching outfits. Warms this momma’s heart to see her girls in coordinating homemade outfits. A lady stopped me at Target to compliment me and it was such a great moment when she asked if I’d made their outfits. Probably something she doesn’t see a lot, but used to be such a standard part of childhood. I love being about to make them such nice things to wear.

I’m calling this Charlie’s rain dance jumper because I keep hoping if I make her more corduroy dresses we’ll get the El Nino rain that’s been promised. At least my girls are ready for it if you considering wearing umbrellas to count as preparedness!

The dress is sewn with Small World Fabric from Rae Hoekstra. I bought a couple yards of 3 different prints specifically to make clothes for this winter. Making a toddler skirt and an infant dress has exhausted this print. Lu doesn’t really need more clothes since she wears uniforms 4 days a week, but Charlie’s supply dwindled once I cleared out all the 6 month sized clothes. So I’m sure most of the other 2 remaining prints will be used for baby clothes first.

The pattern is Geranium Dress which is easily my go-to pattern for kid dresses. Simple, quick to sew, lots of options to customize it. You’ll be seeing many more of these in the near future.

In other sewing news, not a ton is happening right now. I’m knitting away on a sweater for my husband and that take the majority of my crafting time. If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably seen a lot of boring grey knitting posts like this one. A sleeve!

Grey Sleeve

When I’m not knitting I’m working on Halloween costumes and my first (I think ever) plaid dress. Hope to have something else to share with you soon! So many plans, so little time.