Oooh Baby

Here are the baby hats I've been working on for those April baby showers coming up. I am also making two matching vest for the hats with brown trim. After working on the first hat, I was able to get my fingers used to working with cotton again. I veered from the pattern a little bit. I didn't include the chain stitch embroidery that goes along the seam and three decreases. I also just crocheted a six-inch chain to put through the top of the hat for a bow instead of making three loops and sewing them on top.

PS The weather here has been alternately sunny and rainy, so I'm not that motivated to work on the Sunrise Circle Jacket too much, but should be able to focus on it more once the baby stuff is finished.

Lots O Cotton

Over the weekend I headed to Lint to buy some Rowan Handknit DK yarn to make baby stuff for a couple of baby showers that are coming up in April. The projects include stripey hats and vests from the Monkeysuits pattern book by Sharon Turner. I forgot how much I hate knitting with 100% cotton. It's tough on the fingers and hands!

Craft Swap

Last Thursday at work I organized a lunchtime craft swap. People brought in old crafting materials they no longer wanted and swapped for other crafting materials. Less than 10 people brought in stuff, but as you can see, we still had a lot to browse through and check out.

HGTV Seeks PDX Crafters

Contact Lisa for an application...

Hi All:

Hope this finds you all doing well. We're now in our fifth season, believe it or not, and we will be making another trip to Portland in just a couple of weeks. We still have a few openings and I was wondering if any of you know of any artists/crafters who might be interested in submitting for the show. We have had a number of submissions thus far, but they are predominately glass artists, and needless to say, we can't profile only one medium in all of Portland. The segment producer handling the area is Julie Choi. Please let me know if anyone comes to mind
and/or feel free to give out our contact info.

Thanks so much for your help,

Lisa Insana
Segment Producer
HGTV's "That's Clever!"
linsana@wellergrossman.com
www.HGTV.com
www.WellerGrossman.com

Here's a Photo

For lack of anything else to blog about, here's a photo of the jacket back. For something more entertaining, read about what happened to me last night here.

Stockinette Stitched Out

I finished the back of the jacket on Sunday night and pinned it down for blocking Monday morning before work. It should be just about dry by now. I just started the left sleeve and haven't gotten too far on it. All the stockinette stitch makes my fingers ache, but I'm excitd to work on the two fronts and see the cleverness of the pattern come together.

Tweedy Vest

I finished the Tweedy Vest last night. I love how it turned out. I especially like the wide neckline, which is only wide on the front half, that was worked with short rows. The only minor changes I made involved the short rows. The pattern calls for all these yarnovers after turning the rows. The directions were a little confusing, considering it was late and I just wanted to get the vest done so I could wear it today. I decided to forego the yarnovers and just work regular short rows and I think it turned out fine. I also steamed blocked the finished vest lightly at the seams and the neck.

Knitting in Progress

I finished the front of the tweedy vest over the weekend and it should be finished blocking by the time I get home from work today. I'll start seaming and knitting up the neckline tonight. I cast on for the Sunrise Circle Jacket yesterday afternoon and have just started on the dart shaping (where you see the markers). The Karabella Soft Tweed is a nice yarn to work with and the resulting fabric feels slightly felted. I am really digging this rosy pink color too.

Here's the Back

Here's the back of the tweedy vest. It was done blocking last night. I started the front and have only done about 16 rows so far. I have yet to swatch the Soft Tweed, but plan to do so this weekend, if not tonight or tomorrow. We had some heavy snow showers in town this morning, so I may still be able to get some wear out of my winter sweaters.

I Got Mail

Yesterday I received my Karabella Soft Tweed as scheduled. The cheery package also included a free scarf pattern with a nice note and a small sample of some variegated merino that will be at Flying Fingers Yarn Shop later this spring. I was glad to see that this yarn color appeared true to how it appeared online too. I love it! In vest news, I started binding off for the armholes last night and have about five more inches to go to finish the back.