Knit, Purl

So, my friends are having a baby. Naturally I thought, I HAVE to make a baby sweater. I figured it would be a satisfying project because it was tiny, so it would work up fast, and it has to be cute because it is tiny. I used this adorable owl yoke pattern by Abby Belnap. I was not disappointed. This sweater took me 2 weeks, working on it only after work for a little bit at night watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes.

It was expecially fun to work with the cable needle and make the tiny owls. I have a few things in que, but more cables are definitely on the list because they are fun to do. The only thing I struggled with here was the picking up of stitches for the button bands and actually rationing out where the button holes would go. That was a little hard for me. BUT it still turned out adorable, and part of me thinks it is because of the fact that it is for a 3 - 6 month old. That is ok, I am working on the Agatha cardigan right now, and I am pretty confident that there are button holes in my near future so that I have more practice.

In sewing news, I have been wanting to pull out my sewing machine, but have been so lazy about it. It is really nice to kick up my feet and pull out the knitting needles, but not so comfy to drag out the sewing machine, thread it, and sew up what I have half started/cut out/etc. Right now I have a really cute dress with cowboys on it that needs finished, I only have the lining to go, and a cute dress in fall colors, that is cut out and cluttering up my bedroom. I am thinking about sewing today, we will see where the day takes me.

Finished

I am a knitting fool right now. I feel like I have a lot of unfinished sewing stuff, and it is all in various states, but when I come home from work, all I want to do is pick up those needles!

This is the $5 in Paris sweater. Here is my ravelry link. It was my first sweater, it knit up pretty quickly and it is cute. My only problem is that I washed and dried it and the neckline GREW. It is way big now and I had to safety pin the sholders to my bra to make sure my shoulders were not hanging out. I hate that! I am going to now start on the Agatha by Andi Suterland. I saw Lladybird's and I love it. So I am starting that today!!

In other finished news, I did finish my first Jasmine pattern by Colette, and I love it! It was SO easy to put together and the effect is adorable. I also made the Ginger too, to wear with it, and my fabric choice was less than what I wanted, so its fate is not as favorable. I am thinking of putting one together in denim and I think that will be better for me and way cuter. I think I have Colette Fever, because I also bought the Clover pattern to make, if I can ever get over my fear of making pants.

But life is good, my husband and I have been a flurry of making. And I have been trying to stick to  my workout routine(not always making it because I am sorry, leaving for work at 7am and not getting home until 8pm is not fun) I can't believe I have been married for almost 8 months already! Time flies by.

Sorry about the work bathroom pics, this is the only place I can take pics of myself lately. I need a camera I think... :)

2012 was fun

I did some stuff, I made a bunch of stuff, I married a guy, I got older, I went places, you know all the usual stuff. :)

Here are some pictures to catch you up on what I have been doing since October:

Car holder made for my nephew

Terrible picture of an elephant backpack made for my OTHER nephew!

I made my halloween costume! 

I made a cupcake scarf for my niece!

I made a ton of Christmas mittens!

I made a fun hat for this crazy little lady! 

We had a very pretty Christmas tree, with no skirt, next year I will have to change that!! 

And we ended 2012/kicked off 2013 with a quick trip to Florida to see an adorable couple start their lives together and hang out with this crazy kid and his awesome sister. 

This year, I am going to keep on knitting, keep on stitching, keep on loving, and living to the fullest with the love of my life and our sweetie pie puppy. I have a bunch of goals! Here is to the best year yet! 

completed and working

Hey guys! I have been working a lot! I do have more fabric in my stash than I know what to do with right now, but that is good because I have a craft show coming up in November in Sacramento. And I have nothing made for it. But I am doing really well making things selfishly. I guess I have also been working on a ton of presents. It seems like everyone's birthday in mine and my husband's families are between September and February. But, I have completed a few things for me. You will have to forgive my classy work bathroom shots, It is the only place I can take a full length picture of myself. I have tried at my apartment, but we get so much sun that it doesn't really work. It is weird.

But! I finished New Look 6145. It was pretty easy, there were a few weird directions, and I only consider myself to be a beginner/intermediate sewer so it could be that I just didn't understand why they wanted me to do something, so a couple times I just did my own thing. I like how it came out.

I am also working on the $5 in Paris sweater. Here is the Ravelry Link. I am making mine is all grey. And then if it works out, I want to make one in cream too. So far I think it is pretty cute, even after I have had to frog it a bunch. It is my first sweater, so you can imagine how frustrating it is. I have a whole list of things I want to knit after this. I just want to thank You Tube for being an awesome knitting teacher. Haha. 

My next thing I am going to attempt is that lovely Christine Haynes dress and her secretary blouse too. I am going to make the dress out of courderoy because to me I think it would benefit from the structure of courderoy. Maybe a soft brown and dark brown trimmed. I can't wait to see how it turns out! 

Work work work

I have been on a roll! I got some fabric this weekend at regular old JoAnns and on Sunday, Ryan and I declared it a work day and we got down to business. Right now I am working on New Look 6145

I am making it in all black, and I can't wait wear it! 

I have a couple of things in the pipeline, one being this gorgeous dress(the one on the left) from Christine Haynes:

I have a really pretty fabric to use, but right now I am debating using something else because the fabric is really busy. I can't decide. I was thinking of using a black trim with this:

The more I look at it, the more I like it, so it will probably be that pretty little number soon enough!

Sew what?

So. I think I got my sew-jo back! I am so pleased. It seems like every change of the season I am more inspired to make a ton of new things. The first thing I tried was a peter pan collar shirt that I found a tutorial for on Pinterest. I sewed up a quick knit shirt, from a pattern in Wendy Mullin's Sew U Homestretch book. I love my serger, I am still figuring it out, but it is great for a 15 minute knit shirt. Then I followed the collar tutorial and voila! A super cute, super quick satisfying top. :)

Now, I have a list of things that I want to sew on Pinterest, a full Ravelry knitting list, one sweater started and a pattern cut out.

It is go time!

And Now

We just got back from a beautiful reception/party that was thrown for us by my husband's lovely mother. It was so fun and she worked so hard. The only thing was that it was in Toledo, and the weather was just as cold as it is here normally in San Francisco. I was really looking forward to some HEAT! But, there was no heat. It was a fiesta theme, so I dressed like Frida and made Ryan dress like Diego Rivera. He changed later in the night to jeans but I held on! Even if I was freezing in that sweater and wishing that I had my winter coat. In Ohio in August.

But there WAS awesome friends, adorable kids, lots of family and lots of love. There is nothing I could have asked for more.

And I made my little dress! And embroidered it. And it took forever but was cute and fun. Now we are back and just an old married couple. Which is so much fun!