Little Sweater Love

Introducing the adorable and super cute, Catharine....the sweet 16 month old baby girl that I made the Angel Sweater for. Her mom was wonderful and sent me some great pictures of her in the sweater and also the Sweet Leaf Toddler Hat I designed.




It made me so happy that the sweater fit well and the hat, too. I love seeing my knitted things being worn....plus, she is so cute in both....I just want to squeeze her cheeks!

I just sent off the Tulips Sweater with my sister....she's giving it a friend of hers that had a baby recently....a little girl named Aidyn. Can't wait to see her wearing that. Do you see a pattern emerging here?? LOL!

On the subject of little sweaters, here is the progress on Ben's "Inside Out" sweater:



I'm even farther along on it than the picture shows....the weather's been so overcast, I haven't been able to take a good picture of it. The body is 13 inches up to the arm pits and I've got one sleeve almost done. Little Ben is still asking me every morning, "Is it done yet?" and I show him how much I've done and he still says, "Is that it?" I'm working my fingers (and knitter's elbow) to the bone so I can get this done quickly. I forgot that he's bigger than a toddler now and I'm making the sweater in a 6 years size, so it's even bigger than his normal clothes. Whew! Keep...chugging...along....



Thought this cherry looked so interesting next to Ben's sweater....

I also have yarn to knit up the Pea Pod Sweater....Knit Picks' Merino Style in Cornflower....and the Sweater for Merry in Knit Picks' Lagoon Heather. Both are extremely sweet and I'm looking forward to knitting both. I can't believe the little sweater kick I'm on!

Along the lines of new yarn....Jackie brought me some gorgeous souvenir yarn from Washington, D.C. when she was vacationing with her family...where she visited the Stitch DC store.



I got two skeins of fabulously soft, 100% tactel nylon Suss Supple in white....so lovely...and also one skein of the super squishy warm Pear Tree 8Ply in blush pink. I am sooo lucky! (Plus, she gave me the Stitch DC bag as well....very cool!) Thanks so much, J!

I was also gifted some absolutely to-dye-for handpainted, handspun yarn by the very talented and always thoughtful, Cayli. We swapped some laceweight (from me) for some great, green Koigu (from her) and she sent me THIS yarn with my package:



It's a Cayli's Creations Handspun/Handpaint in the colorway, "Purple Violets"....130 yards of merino wool plied with cotton and strung with hundreds of glass seed beads. You can't tell quite how amazing this is from the picture, but it's not only baby soft, but truly well spun and the beads sparkle in the light. I have another skein of this yarn (though plied with silk not cotton) in a different colorway, "Sea Glass" that I may use with this new one to create something special. Only a really simple, but elegant pattern will show off the loveliness of this yarn. Thank you so much, Cayli!!!



As for fiber...yes, I promised some fiber and spinning updates, but things are still at a standstill because of the headaches. It's a bit easier to knit with a headache than spin. I can close my eyes for most the sweater knitting if I'm relaxed, but I really have to look when I'm spinning. I still have the purple/white angora/merino from Sereknity on my Joy and the pink/peach bamboo from HollyEEQ's Oceans of Fiber on the Traditional. Both are looking great...but no progress as yet.

Speaking of the Fiber Queen, HollyEEQ......I want to send her a very belated Happy Birthday wish (hugs!!!) and please check out her store and blog to see some gorgeous pictures and new fibers and handspun yarns. Believe me, they are so creative, colorful and you'll love the quality, too. I just ordered some more aqua cotswold lambie locks and also some other goodies, which I will take pics of very soon and blog about. I can't tell you how vibrant the colors are and how soft the fibers feel....I'm in HEAVEN!!!

Okay, what else am I forgetting to tell you? Hmmm....well, besides the ongoing headache problem, things are pretty good. I've got a few more rows done on the lace shawl and I'm determined to get it done in the next 2 weeks. I want to start my new lace soon....my fingers are itching to cast on with my handpainted yarn. What else? The podcast is one step closer to being done...I have the microphone out! Woo-hoo! Sigh...if only I had a whole day to myself...with quiet and Ian had the kids....then...then...it would be done. He is supposed to be coming home tonight. It's a 6 hour drive home from the trail he was at...he is hiking Mt. Katadan with his friends from work. Maybe he'll have some pictures for me to share....

Oh, I know!

Kiyomi from North Carolina knit up my Sweet Leaf Toddler Hat pattern and sent me a pic. Isn't it adorable?



She used Malabrigo in the colorway, "Cuarenta".

I promised weeks ago to put it in a new gallery, but still haven't had a chance to set it up. So, I at least wanted to show her beautiful work. Thanks so much, Kiyomi!!!!

If anyone else has pictures of things that they've made with my designs, I would LOVE to see them. Please send any pics to me and I will blog them, mention them on the podcast and, eventually, put them up in the Sleepy Eyes Gallery. (Oh, the procrastination!!!)

Happy Knitting!!!!