An Accidental Valentine's Day Sweater

 A few years ago my friend Jaime was selling a lot of her stash on ebay.  Since I've never met a yarn sale I could resist *cough* I bought quite a bit of it.  Into one package she threw four skeins of TLC Macaroon because it hadn't sold, with instructions to make something for my best friend's daughter Lillian.  It was very, very pink.  The yarn has sat in my stash for a while, but this year one of my resolutions is to bust through the pile of yarn that's been sitting in tupperware in my office.  So a few days before Christmas I started this sweater for Lillian;

Um, yeah, did I mention that it's pink? *G*  I was baby-sitting Lillian a few days after I'd started it and she saw me working on it.  "That yarn is very pink, Aunt Dena," she said, sidling up to me.  "Yes, it is," I said.  "I love the color pink."  Bats her eyelashes.  "Do you, now?"  Yes, she's quite the charmer.  When I finished it I went looking for buttons but I couldn't find any that matched the two pinks well enough, and I saw this bag of heart-shaped buttons...so I figured I'd just go with it.  And now Lillian has a Valentine's Day sweater.

I hated working with the yarn - I'm not surprised it was discontinued, because it's coarse and the lighter color pink pulled a lot - but she loves the jacket, and I hope she'll enjoy wearing it on Valentine's Day. 

- D

Polka Dots in Different Sizes

When I find a material that I like I buy enough to make two bags - a larger project bag and a smaller DPN bag.  I play around with the contrasting colors a lot, yellow on the front on the smaller bag, orange on the larger bag.  This is partially because I enjoy color, partially because I don't always buy enough of one color to do all the pockets in it on both bags.  In this case the orange linen was upcycled from an old tablecloth.  Here's the interior of the smaller bag. 

 That's the side with the two pockets, one for a cell, one for make-up or odds and ends. 

It can be hard to gauge the difference in size from just measurements (at least if you're me, and very visual), so here's a picture of the two bags next to each other.  

In the larger bag I've been able to fit projects up to the size of a baby blanket, it's surprisingly roomy.  The smaller bag is great for socks and the like.  Both are for sale on etsy :)

- D

A Knitter's Pride

So this funny thing happened when I started learning to knit.  I grew strangely ashamed of any of the knitted items that I'd previously purchased.  Not ashamed like I didn't like them anymore, but when friends, acquaintances, and co-workers learn that you knit they start to assume that you made every knitted thing ever.  Which is flattering, sometimes, but means that I get oddly embarrassed to admit, "No, I bought this scarf before I started knitting." 

See?  A knitter's pride :)

What this also means is that, if I could make it, I don't want to buy it.  So when we had a cold snap a few weeks ago and my son needed a hat and mittens I refused to buy them - I mean, everyone would assume I'd made them myself!  I found a quick and easy pattern on ravelry, and here is the result.

Cute and simple, if I do say so myself *g*  After I finished them the weather obliged by snowing (the way it does in Minnesota) and I needed them immediately.  Here's C looking at snow for the first time, wearing his new hat and mittens.

I think he's a little skeptical of the weather *G*

- D