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!

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. :)

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!

Girl's Playground Cardigan

I'd had my eye on this cardigan pattern for a while and finally got around to making it. Since I stitch tightly, I decided to follow the instructions for a size bigger than I wanted it to be. I guess I didn't stitch tightly this time, because it ended up bigger than I needed! I think it is a pretty design, though, and I'm excited for when it fits my daughter.

When I went to buy the yarn for it, I first grabbed the suggested yarn for the pattern. I would have ended up spending about $28 on yarn for this! I just couldn't. I ended up getting some Bernat Satin yarn for MUCH cheaper, and I think it is just as pretty.

I got the pattern here.

Maybe I'll update this post with my daughter wearing it once it fits!