Vacation and a New Project

I recently spent 5 hot, sunny days at Lake Powell, in southeastern Utah.  It was a very relaxing time, with great family time, great food, great views and lots of hot sun.

We played in the kayaks, padeling along the redrock shoreline.

 We rode a tube behind the boat, and waterskied until we thought our arms would fall off.

We goofed around on the houseboat, and wore our swimming suits the entire time.

It was lots of fun!!

I had planned to start a new knitting project while we were there (Carmine, designed by:   Belinda Boaden - THE KNITTER, issue 25).  I had everything I needed, but found the pattern to be a lot more difficult to start, than I had anticipated.  I thought I was an expert knitter, but this pattern is truly testing my skills.  I ended up knitting a few small hats, and teaching Emery and her friend, Sierra, to knit little shoulder bags on knitting looms, for their DSs.

We are back to our real lives now, in beautiful Salt Lake City (picture taken by my niece , Annie Hall), and I have turned my attention back to "Carmine".

It was the waist shaping of this pattern that really caught my eye.  I wanted to learn the techniques employed to make this shaping happen, now realizing that the stitch pattern and sleeve increasing would be the real test of my knitting skills.

Several quiet evenings out on the deck, helped me to get started.  I think I have the stitch pattern in my head now, so it is just a matter of finding quiet knitting time, to really get things moving. 

I am knitting it out of the yarn suggested by Belinda.  It is truly beautiful, a soft blend of merino wool and silk fibers in a sock weight, that are truly a joy to knit with.  I just love this peacock shade, and I am really looking forward to wearing it.

I have a great view from my deck chair too.  August rains have brought some fun to watch clouds across our back yard.

. . . and our garden is thriving.  Lots of tomatoes, eggplant, beets, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, green beans, and strawberries.  However, these flowers happen to be growing on the other side of the fence.

I'll keep you posted on "Carmine", as she progresses.  I'm hoping that she will only get easier from here, and that I will be wearing her soon.  Happy knitting!

Poor Baby Sweater Pattern (Backzip Hooded Baby Sweater)

I have finally finished writing a pattern for the "Poor Baby" sweater.  It can be found at:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-poor-baby-sweater

My Mother taught me how to make this little sweater years ago, so we have been knitting it from memory for a long time.  I had received so many requests for the pattern, that I decided to write my own.

The pattern includes these three design variations, to give you a little variety, if you end up knitting a lot of these. 

I often need several of these sweaters at a time, and end up knitting them two at a time.  It is easy to put two on the needles together.  The only problem comes when your four balls of yarn (needed for four sleeves) get all tangled up.

If you are viewing this blog, and you are not a knitter, I do knit these "for sale".  They are $35.00, and I will custom knit one for you, in the color and style of your choice.  Please contact me at:  knitzillaknits@gmail.com.

You probably remember me blogging last Spring, about my friend Tiffany.  She was expecting a baby girl and wanted to crochet her blessing dress.  This is Lily Paige, who was born in May.  She has been my model for past posts, and the pictures I posted, weren't the most flattering.  Isn't she beautiful?  It helps to have a great photographer (Joy Bailey).

Tiffany worked really hard, with the finest crochet thread, to make this beautiful dress.  Lily was blessed in it in July.  I'm sure it has been carefully packed away for Lily's little girl to wear someday.

Look at the carefully crafted little ruffles.  This was a major undertaking, as a project to learn how to crochet.  I'm sure Tiffany could crochet anything now.  She has a good understanding of the pattern abbreviations, and a larger thread would now be a snap for her.

I thought this picture (taken by Joy Bailey) was especially cute, as it looks like Lily is tieing the ribbon.  Tiffany found the pattern for this dress on-line at:  http://www.lullabiesandlace.com/.  She said it cost close to $100.00 to purchase in it's completed form.  I'm sure she saved a great deal, by making it herself, and she has learned a life-long skill that she is sure to use many times in the future.  Well done Tiffany!  . . . Happy Knitting!

Easter Clothes for Children

I have been working away on designing a few new knitting patterns, which will be ready soon for publishing on Ravelry.  Because I cannot talk about these patterns, at present, I have resorted to blogging about past knitting projects, which have long since been outgrown and passed on to  younger children in the family.

Several years ago, I decided to make Easter Clothes for the two grandchildren I had at the time.  It was 2008, and I was looking for a fun spring-time project. 

I found this cute little dress pattern in the 2008 Spring/Summer issue of Vogue Knitting.  Since Easter comes with lots of sugary and chocolate treats, I thought a washable yarn would work best.  I chose Lion Brand Wool Ease, in this soft, buttery shade.  It worked up quickly, and satin was purchased in the same color to make a wide sash, tied in the back.



Rolled roses and green leaves were knit out of the same yarn, and added to this cute little straw hat.  After all, what is Easter without an Easter Bonnet?

The same satin was used to make a hat band, and Emery was ready for church.  I'm not really sure how she managed to get the beads to swing to side, while this picture was taken.

I thought Easton needed something to match, but I felt the yellow was too feminine to be used all by itself.  Since I knew that he loved to wear khakis, I decided to throw in a khaki colored stripe to this little "V" necked vest.  I didn't have a pattern, but simply knit to his measurements.  The same Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn was used, and its a good thing, because he had a heaping basket of chocolate eggs at the family egg hunt.

I've sewn Emery's Christmas and Easter dresses in the past, but since I truly love to "knit" the best, it was a fun change to avoid the sewing machine.  Since 2008, their Mother has been on her own for Easter and Christmas clothes.  Perhaps I'll get ambitious and design some knitwear for them for Christmas this year.

Many thanks to Gillian, in Canada, who is test knitting my new pattern, with variations for the "Poor Baby Sweater".  There are many drafts yet to go, but it should be ready for publishing in the Fall.  I have been taking classes and reading many books on how to create body flattering designs, and I hope to be ready to create some of my own soon.  In addition, I have been studying up on how to dye fleece, using all natural dies.  I'm not sure yet, if I will be very good at this, but our first batch of alpaca yarn (from our own Cocoa Bean and Licorice Whip) will be arriving from the mill soon.  Be sure to check out "Wool People", a collection of knits, all designed in "Shelter", a great new wool yarn from Brooklyn Tweed http://brooklyntweed.net/.

Cocoa Bean is getting a little grumpy, and the time for the arrival of her little one approaches (Sept. 2).  She has been expecting for a whole year, so I don't blame her for giving a few little extra kicks in Steve's direction.  We can't wait to see that cute little alpaca, and Steve has been doing some studying of his own, to be ready for the delivery day.  Licorice Whip is expecting a little one too, but she still has 3/4 of year until she'll be ready.

Heather had her baby, via emergency C Section last week, and she and her little baby, Easton, are doing well.  Easton's blessing outfit is nearly complete (seen in prior post), and should be delivered to her in a few weeks. Camille's baby boy will be arriving soon too, she was due the same week as Heather, so I'll bet she is more than ready!  She was the winner of the "Poor Baby Sweater" give-away held back in May.  I want to wish her the best!  You can check out her blog at:  http://camillescasa.blogspot.com/.  Camille is a Home Economics Teacher/stay-at-home Mom, so she has some great cooking, sewing and couponing tips for everyone.

Happy knitting . . .