I finally conquered the Five Hour Baby Sweater!

For two years on and off, I have tried to knit this bastard. I started out knitting the version with the lacey yoke. The lace was flipping me out and causing me to gain and lose stitches when I was not supposed to. So I poked around on the internets and found a version where some brilliant lady had revamped the pattern to eliminate the lace and replace with ridges. If I could find her, I would kiss her.

I know its supposed to be a baby sweater but I took a chance with some bulky weight yarn and size 13 needles and dove right in hoping it *might* fit Fern. (Gauge? I don't need no stinking gauge!) You know, it fits perfectly. I would say its a 5/6. We even picked out the cutest buttons. Now, its not perfect and if you look closely you will see flaws but hey - its my first knitting sweater. And I cannot wait to cast on for the next one.

Speaking of other projects, I am working on a baby dress from a vintage pattern book. So far, I have crocheted the bodice, but its pretty clear that I won't have enough of this hand spun and hand-dyed yarn to finish. My options are a) knit a skirt, b) use fabric to make a skirt to attach to the bodice, c) find a nice coordinating yarn to knit the skirt and some details or e) frog the whole damn mess and toss it back the stash....

Lastly, I had been promising the girls that we would do some tie-dye. I think they turned out pretty cute as I used a clearance kit from Wally-Word.

Sick and Sewing

So I seem to have caught Fern's cold. My head hurts and I am so stopped up and tired. It seems that intestinal issues also seem to be a part of this happy little virus. Yahoo! She has had diarrhea for the last day or so.

So, I have been tinkering with my sewing machine. I sewed a cute little cuff from some vintage fabric and trims. It turned out so well! But I have been having problems with my sewing machine, from the feed dogs to birdnesting. I was thisclose to chucking the whole machine out the window. (I have no idea where my manual is.) So I went to the Singer website and did some troubleshooting, and voila! Its singing along happy.

I need to take some pictures to get some stuff listed on ebay. Both of the girls are going to need fall clothes and I need about $300 to outfit them from Old Navy. Fern may have some handmedowns that fit but Lulu has nothing.

Still trying to get stuff listed on my etsy shop, at least 1-2 items a day. I have a ton of hearts and I am really, really hoping that cold weather brings some sales. I am going to have to look into some other items for my shop for the spring. I did get nice feedback on the red hat I sold.

Monday, Monday

The woman who bought the Chicken Pot Pie painting hung it in her laundry room with a painting of a rooster. We joked about the possibilities of the two mating. She and her husband have 4 children, all of whom were adopted from various Asian countries. So, I was inspired to paint this chick piece. She loved it!

Just thought I would also share some pictures of the girls. Fern had some major dental work done about a week ago. There was almost no enamel on her top teeth when they came in, so the dentist put caps on 6 of her top teeth. These teeth were very short and were becoming discolored prior to the procedure. She looks so good now. And she is eating so much better. They must have really been bothering her before. She picked out the outfit with the leg warmers and hat. She looks like a little flygirl. And Lucy, well she is just so beautiful.

I am working on crocheting a wristlet. I've seen them on etsy and I am a little intimidated by the thought of sewing in a liner and a zipper but I need a challenge right now. I am using some thick green wool/acrylic blend yarn. I'll probably make a fabric flower of some type for it. Of course, I will post pics when its done.