Two new sweaters for the kiddos!

I finished up these two sweaters for Henry and Ellie during the Ravellenic Games as well. Ellie is so excited that mommy finally finished her sweater (I am making a promise to myself to finish hers first this fall!).



For Henry's I followed the Sanctuary for Baby pattern, and omitted the collar. I knew he would just chew on it, and it would get gross.



For Ellie's sweater I used the Korrigan pattern, which I made several modifications to (I didn't knit the sleeves flat as called for). I knit the 24 month size, and it came out perfectly! (She is a tiny thing!)
I think it came out really cute, especially given all the trouble I had keeping track of the cable chart (too many increases!)

Finished Sweaters

I finished Ben and Samantha's sweaters recently, and they were both big hits!

For Samantha's sweater I used the pattern Kindling Season. It was very well written and I enjoyed knitting it. It obviously didn't come out to be a size 6 (damn gauge!), but I was planning to knit her another one for school next year, so it's OK if it only fits for this year. 

The back has a chevron pattern on it - subtle but something more than stockinette! And I love the tall collar. I left off the pockets because I was ready to be DONE knitting it. 

For Ben's Sweater I used Grow Old With Me, and I think it is adorable. It is supposed to have positive ease, and I knit a size 2 - guess he is a big boy! This is one I would definitely knit again when he is older. It was a bit confusing at the beginning with shaping for the raglan, and the collar and then the extra stitches for the button band, but I figured it out. He loves it, and he loves the bike buttons I chose for it. 

He wore it all day the day I finished it, so I consider that a success! Now to finish Ellie's and Henry's! 

Easter Outfits

This past winter, when Rae released her Geranium Dress pattern I knew I had to have it. I love cute simple dresses like this - that can be worn with a long sleeve shirt and leggings if necessary, and without. I also loved the different choices for length (top or dress), pleats or gathers, the different necklines and sleeve options.



For the girl's first Geranium Dresses, I chose the pleated, scoop neck (no notch) and 'sleeveless' version. I knew it might be chilly with Easter so early this year, so I wanted them to be able to wear a shirt underneath if necessary.



I struggled for a long time with what fabric I wanted to use. I wanted the to match without being identical. I saw someone in the Geranium Flickr group had used some of the Lizzy House Butterflies, and knew that would be perfect. I was lucky enough to find some in both colors on Etsy (why do I always want to use old, out of print fabrics for things?).

I used buttons from my vintage button stash (I need to find more larger buttons, it seems that most of what I have is too small to work well on dresses like this), and love the way they compliment the dresses.



While Ben seemed to want a dress (he had to 'try on' Ellie's as I was fitting hers), I decided to fix his Christmas vest that came out too small around the neckline. I cut the neckline off, and crocheted an edging. It worked just perfectly, and he looked very handsome in his little vest!

Happy Easter from our little cuties!

Neighborly

Several months ago I knew I wanted to knit Samantha a cute vest of some sort for layering. So often down here in Texas we don't need winter coats, and we often just wear wool sweaters, but sometimes just a small amount of warmth is needed (of course, as I'm writing this is almost 90 here in November, so obviously not this year!). I had seen this pattern pop up across blogland, and I thought it would be super cute.



It knit up pretty quickly and only used one skein of Cascade 220. I left off picking up stitches for the armholes (I like the way it looks with the rolled edge) and I added some length (I still think it's a bit short).

Samantha enjoys wearing it, which means it's a winner!