With so many planned knitting projects, I finally had a justification to get this circular knitting needle set. I also finally set up an account on Ravelry ( LolaT ). What an organizational treat. I don't know why I've never gone on there before. It's going to take me a while to set up all my projects and things but I had no idea there were so many photos of finished projects. If you're new to knitting or just didn't know about this site, it's great. We are coming out of a bout with the flu, the infamous H1N1, but I plan to start posting some knitting soon.

[pattern photo from oliver + s] Because I really enjoyed the Jump Rope dress pattern from oliver + s, I decided to get another one, the Sailboat Top, Skirt & Pants pattern to complete an outfit I got at Gymboree for monkey pants . As monkey pants gets older, I'm not drawn to Gymboree's matchy-matchy lines as much but I couldn't resist this adorable panda top and black short sleeve cardigan. I was shopping with coupons so that was all I was going to get. The pants didn't appeal to me that much anyway. There was a cute black denim mini skirt but it also had a panda face on it and I thought that would be a bit much. [I have to admit, the panda looks a little scary in these pictures. My camera was spazzing out with all the white and black contrast and the white is overexposed and in your face.] Looking in monkey pants's closet, I realized she has nothing that is red or black so I figured I could make a couple of cute little skirts to go with the outfit. I picked...

Pattern: George Book: Jaeger JB29 Materials: Knit Picks City Tweed DK Amount: (4) 50g balls 'Splash' Needles: US3 and US6 bamboo Cost: $3.99/ball approx. $16.00 Notions: Buttons (Walmart .79 cents) Size: 12-24 month. My swatch came out bigger so I knit a smaller size than what my son measured (he just turned two and was maybe one centimeter smaller than the 2-3T size measurements. However, I knit to the lengths for the 2-3T size. I made the button border following the smaller size and the collar following the bigger size. I'm not sure why, but it seems to have worked out. Start Date: Oct. 3, 2009 Finish Date: Oct. 12, 2009 I've never knit anything this fast before. I guess the combination of Fall, being pregnant, and watching too much TV is very complimentary to knitting. As I went along, I started worrying that the cardigan was turning out too small, but it is very fitted in the book picture so I trusted that it would come out OK. It fits perfectly, but I do...

Progress on the "George" cardigan has been super fast, super fast for my standards anyway. Finishing in the same year would be fast. Anything above and beyond that, I would consider "super fast". It did take me several tries to get the right number of stitches added on to the front for the button border, though. It's kind of tricky to get them equally spaced apart and to end up with the right amount by the time you get to the end. I don't know if there's a more organized way to do this. Perhaps you're supposed to count up the number of rows and perform some kind of mathematical formula, but I just used the frustrating and time consuming method of trial and error. Before this, I had to do the blocking. A term with which I'm only vaguely familiar as I've only done it twice before and with enough years in between to really be a novice at it every time I try. I followed the pattern instructions and did it with the steam iron. Which is probably no...

I'm planning on making a few knitted gifts for Christmas again this year so I was forced to make a plan for a few projects so I could make a large enough order from KnitPicks to get free shipping. I picked my colors from the catalog this time and ignored the pictures on the website. Hopefully I'll have better luck. In my search for fingerless gloves patterns, I found the cutest knitting website blog and shop, Cotton & Cloud . They have patterns, kits, notions and delicious photos that will make you want to knit everything there. She also has video tutorials and the PDF instructions are super detailed with amazing illustrations and photos. [photos from Cotton & Cloud] My project list may be a little too ambitious and I don't know how far I'll get but here's my plan even if I don't get all of these done by Christmas, I know I'll want to make them eventually. "Fetching" fingerless gloves from Knitty -free "Cigar" fingerless gloves ...

After the first Jump Rope Dress for monkey pants , I really got the urge to keep sewing stuff for her, so I completed view A of the pattern that same week. This one is made with Heather Bailey's Bijoux fabric , Tiled Primrose - yellow , in a size 5. I have to add, that I found these buttons in a budget multi-color pack at Walmart and do they ever go so well with the fabric. I hadn't even bought it for this dress. I made a feeble attempt to match the pattern on the placket with the dress bodice, but clearly wasn't trying very hard. It doesn't really matter though. Our crazy weather suddenly went from highs of 90 to 45 and it's been too cold to go outside and take pictures. But finally, here it is. I'm so happy with this dress, the style, the fabric, the fit, everything. It's so cute and orderly. Monkey pants is not an orderly looking girl to say the least, and she looks quite proper, yet not uptight, the style is still casual and fun. Really love this dres...

Along with picking up on some sewing projects, I'd like to start knitting again. There's tons of stuff I'd love to make, but knitting takes so long (for me), I really have to force myself to focus on one thing at a time. I decided to start with a cardigan for my little boy, "George" from Jaeger Handknits JB29 . I'm not too game these days to make a trip to the yarn store, so I decided on some yarn from Knit Picks since I need to keep this project budget friendly. After seeing all the gorgeous things made with tweed yarn on Brooklyn Tweed , I picked City Tweed DK yarn in color "Splash" for $3.99/50g ball. Of course I picked the color off their website and just like last time with the " Jenny " cardigan, the colors on their website are WAY off, so the color I got is totally different from what I thought I was getting. I thought I was getting a light aqua (Splash -like the ocean) and instead it's a more saturated teal green (it's actu...