Little Irish Lass and Men's Sock

First up, the partially knitted Men's Sock. I have the cuff to toe done, the yellow stitches in the middle is my waste yarn where the heel will be inserted.

Here's the dress on my little model! It's fits perfect...love it! And no, there's not a drop of Irish in my girl...well at least no more than is in everyone ;)

Little Irish Lass Dress

And here's the dress! No pics with model yet, because she's sleeping (FINALLY!!!!) and I dare not wake her, not even for pics.

I am very pleased with this dress. I accidentally made one of the buttonholes a smidgeon small so I had to buy smaller buttons today, and it's still a tight fit, but I can make it work, and it will loosen with practice. There are supposed to be two bows in the back, but I felt they would be too much with the busy pattern, so I didn't work them up.

I found some nice lightweight summer fabric today at WalMart so those will be worked up at some point as well.

I'm taking a quick break from my knitting - working on a pair of men's socks...it's a new type of pattern. Instead of working the cuff, then turning the heel and working the foot, you work the cuff, put the heel stitches on a spare thread, working the foot, then coming back to pick up the heel stitches and work that. Very different...I like the concept, at least for something different, but overall I like the look of a neatly turned heel so we'll see how the final project looks.

A New Leaf

All right, I'm sorry I SUCK at writing titles. LOL. Anyway, this is referencing the clover leafs in my latest project.

I had some scrap clover fabric from a bag I made last year, and after looking at it a few weeks ago I decided I had enough for a dress for DD. I cut it out on Saturday (I could have done it all during DS's nap but he woke after a measly 20 minutes - I swear he can sense when I want him to sleep like some crazy spidey-sense), then started sewing yesterday at naptime. It's a sundress and matching hat...there were supposed to be panties as well but they were looking pretty stupid so I scrapped those.

Anyway, I'm done with the machine stitching on the dress, but I have to do quite a bit of hand stitching yet and find some buttons. The hat is finished - it's a bit big, but better too big than too small. It's my first attempt at a hat...it's ok. I'm not thrilled with it, but as a first attempt, it's ok. The dress is darling though! Perfect for St Patty's Day. Once finished I will post pics of the whole ensemble.

I am working on a knit baby blanket...it is 16 squares sewn together. I have worked for 2 days (well, evenings) and almost have 1 square done. Sigh. This one might take a while. But it's a nice easy stockinette stitch that I can pick up while Toby is playing and if he needs me I don't have to remember where I am in the pattern, so I can save my more complicated projects for after he is in bed. I think I'm a bit impatient on the blanket because the pic in the book is just darling and I can't wait to finish mine. There is no recipient in mind, mainly because I have no idea how long this will take!

Lavendar Soaker

This has been my project of the week - it's nice to finish something for once!

It's a size small/medium (sort of inbetween the two), just a tad big on my DD. The yarn is Malabrigo Merino (love it!) embellished with this and that wool. I freehanded the embellishment - hence the butterfly is a little wonky, but I also think that once it's stretched over a diaper, the flatter side may fill out, kwim? I can't wait to get action shots, but thought I'd go ahead and post these - after all, I need to lanolize before we can wear, and it will take a few days to dry.

Oh, soaker knit using the Curly Purly pattern, size 2,4, and 6 circ's and size dpn's for the legs.

Update

I have several projects on the needles/ in my head.

Right now on the needles I have a lavendar soaker for DD, using the Curly Purly pattern (will have to find and add the link). I just have the waistband done so far, not much progress there.

I also just added 2 skeins of Caron Brites Orange...I have one skein here already. I have a pattern in a book of a baby blanket I just LOVE and have to try, and I think bright orange is just the color to try it in. Plus, the newspaper carrier screwed up and gave me 3 Michael's ads this week, so I have 3 40% off coupons. If that isn't the knitting gods saying to stock up, I don't know what is.

I have a pair of socks to make as well.

I sewed the second sling this weekend - looks great! I also made 2 setws of window toppers - a straight one out of Thomas fabric for my DS's new room, and a gathered one of a fish fabric for the nursery. We spent the weekend painting the spare bedroom and then filling it with new furniture for my DS. I'm counting that as a crafty weekend :)

I have pics of the room, but the curtains weren't up yet when I took it so I will have to update those later :)

More pics of the sling

I wanted to add a few pics of the sling not being worn. This was the first time I've tried the French Seam and not only was it easy, but the result was really beautiful. I honestly still can't believe how easy this sling was to make. Had I realized this before I'd have been making slings a long time ago!

About the fabric - the pink is a cotton/poly interlock, very lightweight. I wouldn't have minded it being a little heavier, but the minky has some weight to it so it's probably for the best. I don't think I'd want a sling with 2 layers of the interlock because I think it would be too light.

You can see my DS "petting" the minky in the lower picture - it is so soft. I can't get over how soft it really is. I know now why so many people rave about minky and how touchable it is. Unfortunately it is uber-expensive, so it's not something you want to buy unless you have a project in mind - unless you find a super deal! I will be keeping my eyes peeled now.

The bets part is I had enough fabric to make 2 slings - one I will be putting up on Ebay. But the minky is 60" wide so there is still some left over. Not much, but I am thinking of a way to use it, maybe on something for Lucy? I can't throw it away, even scraps. Now THAT would be a crime!

My new sling!

Ah, I love sewing! I made this reversible pouch sling out of pink interlock and brown with pink dots minky. The minky is sooooo super soft! I love it! It's stretchy, so I might sew it a little smaller, but I'll try it out a few days first. This seriously took less than an hour to sew up! Yay for naptime!


Please excuse the messy bathroom, I was too excited to take pics to clean up first :)