Garter Ear Flap Hat

I made this for my sister's baby who is due to arrive in January. I made it with some Encore Plymouth worsted yarn that I had. The pattern is by Purl Soho and I found it here on Ravelry. This was fun and easy.

Wickerwork Hat

Still on my hat kick, I decided to try again to make one that would fit me. I had some leftover Berroco Vintage from my baby's Miss Daisy sweater, so I used it for this hat. The pattern is here on Ravelry. This was fun to make and is very stretchy, so it's fits both my six year old and me.

Snowflake Hat

Even though I didn't enjoy the first color work hat that I did, I decided to give it another try. I used some leftover Berroco Vintage DK (the white) and some leftover Knit Picks Swish DK (the blue) for this and made it for my six year old. I'm glad I gave color work another try because this was more enjoyable and my daughter just loves it. When she wore it to the store, she told me that people would probably think we bought the hat. Haha, I don't think so, but it made me smile. The pattern can be found here on Ravelry.

It turned out a little more snug than I wanted where the color work is. I think I need more practice with colors.

Herringbone Hat

This was my first try at color work. There was nothing wrong with the pattern, but I just didn't enjoy making this hat. So, I cut it short. It was supposed to be for me, but really just fits my baby because I didn't make it long enough. I used some Berroco Vintage DK that I had leftover from other projects and the pattern can be found here on Ravelry.

Miss Daisy Sweater

I finished this sweater in a week! I think that's a record for me. I think it turned out cute and I love the pink, although I don't think the pictures show the true color. The pattern can be found here on Ravelry and I used Berroco Vintage.

Baby Emily Cardigan

This is one of those patterns that caught my attention over and over on Ravelry and I finally just had to make it. The pattern was easy to follow and I'm happy with how it turned out. The pattern can be found here on Ravelry and I used Berroco Vintage DK.

Sweater Vest

I finally finished this one. I don't know why it took me so long. I guess I'm just a slow knitter. I would love to be faster. The pattern is called Shore and can be found here on Ravelry. I used Knit Picks Swish DK yarn for this.

I made the 3-4 year size and it fits my almost five year old. But he is a little small. He says he hates it, but at least I got him to wear it to church and smile for a picture!

La Vie en Rose Hat

I noticed this hat on Ravelry a while back and really liked it. I have been working on a sweater vest for one of my sons for quite a while and needed a quick break. This was the perfect project! I made all of it in one sitting except for the braids, which I made today. I followed the 6-9 month pattern but it is snug on my baby, so I will be gifting this hat to a friend's younger baby and making a size up for mine. It was a fun quick project! I used Lion's Brand Vanna's Choice yarn and the pattern is here on Ravelry.

Cornwall Shrug

I have been going crazy making things for my baby girl that I wanted to take a break and make a couple of things for my other children. So here is a shrug that I made for my 6 year old. It has some obvious mistakes. I noticed the mistakes shortly after they were made, but I am so bad at undoing my knitting that I just left them there. I figured that I would have messed it up even more. She doesn't seem to care and loves wearing it, which makes me happy! I used Berroco Vintage DK and the pattern was found here on ravelry.

Onesie Dress and Liten Shrug

So...having a girl is so much fun. I have really enjoyed making clothes for her to wear. A long time ago I saw the idea of sewing a skirt onto a onesie to turn it into a dress, and I finally got around to trying it out. I'm very much a beginner at sewing and even this simple project took a few tries. First I sewed the skirt on inside out. Next, I did something wrong that led to my sewing machine eating my fabric and breaking my needle. Finally, I went over to my sister's house and she helped me with it and let me use her machine. The instructions that I followed were from love city.

I purposely picked out fabric that would match some Sirdar yarn that I purchased so that I could make a matching shrug. The pattern is called Liten and can be found on ravelry. It was super easy, but I did make it a little small. I followed the 6 month instructions and it is snug on my almost four month old. But I tend to knit that way and I really should check my gauge before making clothing. It was a fun easy project that helped pass the time while we road tripped for a wedding over the weekend. Here's my baby wearing the combo:

Baby A-Line Dress

This dress was one of the first things I saw when I was looking for knitting patterns and I really wanted to make it. I tried it around the holidays last year and I was having too much trouble, so I worked on some other things. It went well when I tried it again this time, but I did change it to be in the round instead of in pieces. Much less purling that way. :)

I am not a fast knitter and this dress took me a long time. It helped to have a couple of road trips to make some good progress, but I did worry that she would outgrow the dress before I was done. So I was pleased when I tried it on her and saw that there was plenty of room to grow. If I remember, I'll post another picture when she's a little bigger and it fits her better.

I found the pattern on Ravelry here, and I used Katia Baby Merino.

Misty Lily Sweater

I had some fingering weight yarn that I was using to make a dress. I decided that the dress was going to be too small and I also wanted to knit it in the round instead of in pieces like the pattern said, so I frogged what I had done and decided to use the yarn for this sweater. I love it! I should have made a size bigger, though.

The pattern was easy to follow. It's called Misty Lily by Danskknit and can be found here on Ravelry.

I used Knit Picks Comfy Fingering Weight in Lilac Mist.

Ice Lolly T-shirt

My plan was to make this before my baby came, but I was surprised by having her 12 days early. I worked on it some in the hospital during labor and then during the 5 days she stayed in the NICU, but didn't finish it until today.

Truthfully, this was not a project that I loved, both in the making process and in the finished product. My original plan was to make a matching one for my almost-6-year-old, but I'll have to pick something else. I struggled a bit with the sleeves, probably just because I'm a beginner and not because of the pattern (found here on Ravelry). I didn't understand how to do a provisional cast on with the sleeve (I was fine to do it with the neck when starting the project), so then I was kind of on my own to figure out how to get the sleeves started. I also think that my bind off on the sleeves was too tight. If my baby ends up with chubby arms by the time this fits (and I'm sure she will), it might not be wearable.

My favorite part, though, is the I-cord finishing on the neck. I like how it looks and I kind of wish that it had been done on the sleeves, too.

I used Rico Cotton Essentials DK yarn for this project. At first I thought that I was going to have to try something else because this yarn slipped off my needles so many times during my cast on and the first row, but as I got farther into the project, it became less of a problem. I do love the color.

When I look at the pictures from other peoples' projects with this pattern, they all look great. Maybe this would be a good one to revisit after I have gotten better at knitting...

Baby Sun Dress

Being very pregnant and not having the energy to do a whole lot has left me with a lot of time to practice knitting. I just finished up this baby sun dress.

I found the pattern by OGE Knitwear Designs here on Ravelry. I used Knit Picks CotLin yarn in the color Conch. This pattern was a lot of fun, but I would be interested in trying to do it in the round instead of in two pieces. Except that I don't know enough of what I'm doing to figure that out myself. :)

Granny Stripe Baby Blanket

This is the latest complete baby project. A granny stripe baby blanket. I like how easy granny stripes are, although changing colors every row did leave me with a lot of weaving in to do at the end. I couldn't decide on a border, but eventually tried out this interlocking chain edging. I'm not sure if I love it, but I'll probably leave it there. This was with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn.

Blue Bird Top

This top was so much fun to make. It took a while for me to get down the M1R and M1L and the pleats in the sleeve were a challenge for me, but it was fun to learn. I made this with Knit Picks Swish DK in Wonderland Heather and I used the "Blue Bird" pattern from Valerie Morris found here.

When looking through other projects, several people had put buttons on the sleeves and I thought it looked so cute. So I did the same.

Update 8/5/2017 - here is my four month old in the shirt!

Simple Peasant Dress

Pregnancy this time around has done strange things to me and put me in the mood to sew, which is a rare thing. I really liked the cardigan that I made, so I thought it would be fun to sew a simple dress to go with it. I saw a pattern from Sew Much Ado on Pinterest and thought it might be something I could handle.

The instructions and pictures were very thorough and helpful. I ran into a lot of issues along the way, but I think it was mostly because of my machine, and because of me. I'm just not good at sewing! I loved the fabric I picked it and even though I think the colors go well with the cardigan, I'm not sure that the dress sleeves will actually fit well inside the cardigan. Oh well, another thing I'll just have to wait and see! And the dress can definitely be worn without the cardigan, so it doesn't really matter.

Maxine Baby Cardigan - Mini

After I finished the dress, I was ready for another knitting project, so I decided to make a little cardigan. I followed a pattern from marianna's lazy daisy days. I made the shortest size and used Berroco Vintage DK again. I really liked the yarn from the dress, but this time I tried a new set of needles, which I felt like helped things go faster. I tried ChiaoGoo Red Lace Circular needles in size 6 and I really liked them! I ordered them from Amazon and they actually sent me three sets. I contacted them and they said I didn't need to send them back because they couldn't create a return slip since I only ordered one. So I can keep them, but I wish they were in different sizes. Three sets of the same size aren't super useful.

Anyway, here is the cardigan. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I made the button holes and need to add in the buttons, but I think I would also like how it looks not buttoned. I guess I'll have to try it on baby girl to see for sure.

Simple & Sweet Little Baby Dress

Since I am expecting a baby girl this spring, I have a good excuse to practice knitting baby clothes. My sister-in-law knits all the time and makes such beautiful things, and although I love crochet, I don't like the look of crocheted clothes. I think that knit clothes look so much nicer. And with a baby on the way, all I want to do is make baby things.
My SIL helped me get started with knitting at a family reunion over the summer last year with some dishcloths. I made a few and even worked on a couple of other projects, but I wasn't very excited about them. This is the first thing that I have made that I am excited about.
The pattern is Simple & Sweet Little Baby Dress and was free. I used Berroco Vintage DK yarn and I really liked it. I do worry that it may be a little small, even for a newborn, so I hope that we get a chance to use it!

And here's an update from 4/9 with my sweet baby wearing it!