Three little kittens, lost their mittens...

Anyone else remember that nursery rhyme?

When I left for college in Boston I didn't own a single pair of mittens or gloves.  Having now pumped gas in below zero weather I now understand their importance. But have you ever tried keeping them on a toddler?  I've already gone through three pairs and it's only mid-December!  We've got at least five more months of this. 

Which is when I remembered the illustrations in a childhood book of nursery rhymes - two mittens attached by a long cord that you string through a kid's jacket sleeves.  Genius.

A quick search and I found that unless I wanted to spend $118 for a pair of Ralph Lauren mittens for a two-year-old (number 25 on the list of "Signs You Have Too Much Money"), I'd have to make my own.  Which I did. 

Not only do we not waste ten minutes every morning looking for mittens, the fact that he can't drop them when putting them on means that Connor's been able to put them on himself.  

And I've made a couple more pairs since - which are on sale at Teeny Bee Boutique in St Paul.  And not for a hundred eighteen dollars, either!

D

Amateur Photography Hour

Today I took the camera and two of my designs down to Teeny Bee Boutique and played photographer.  I had an absolute blast, even though our usual child photographer has no reason to feel threatened!  A friend of mine who used to teach at the studio with me - Kristie - opened the boutique roughly a month ago.  It's stocked with some of the cutest baby clothes and brands I've seen in a long time but for my purposes it had something else I needed - a baby *g*

Connor is too big to showcase some of my designs for the younger set and I just finished a pair of baby legs and matching sweater for a twelve month old.  I wanted to get pictures of them to include with the pattern.  Kristie's baby Faye is a little younger than that, so the sweater ended up being more of a dress, but she was still a great model.  She smiled, cooed and kicked in the front store window - a live display at its finest!

The baby legs are obviously too big for her, but I still loved how they looked, especially with the adorable hot pink diaper cover that Kristie had in stock.

Faye rolled from her side onto her back and struck a pensive look for me.  Look at those gorgeous eyes!  And I love the roly-poly legs.  Can you tell I miss having a little baby around? 

Then we put on the matching sweater and she hung out in Mommy's lap.  It's definitely too big for her, but I do like how the ruffle on the bottom turned out and the seed stitch button band.  When I was working on the design I struggled with the puff sleeves and how much material needed to be folded together - I think I ripped and knit three different versions - but the little puff shape I ended up with is exactly what I wanted.  Faye is wearing a little bow that matches the diaper cover and an amber teething necklace, one of Kristie's most popular items.

And one final shot of the cardigan front.  The yarn I used was Sensations Cuddle from Joann's, and it only took one skein to knit both the baby legs and the sweater.  It's machine washable, which is a necessity with baby clothes!

Who can resist a baby nomming on hands?!?!  A great big THANK YOU to Kristie for letting me borrow her baby and her store to take these pictures.  Faye couldn't have been better behaved.  The patterns are called the Sweet Sugar Cardigan and Sweet Sugar Baby Legs and they'll both be going up on ravelry by the end of the week.  On ravelry I'm dmstoll, if you need to find me.  I'm so pleased with how the designs turn out, I hope everyone else likes them, too!

- D