What did I do today?

hmmmm... let's see. I did the normal get-the-kid-to-school thing in the morning, talked on the phone, did some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, took the dog to the groomers, bought Chey some new jeans, took Chey to Kindergarten, went for lunch at a friend's house, picked up Jade from the groomers, picked up the kids and went to piano lessons, went to pick up a blanket for the WCOBBS (I'm doing the border), made dinner, cleaned up after dinner, read the kids their nightly chapter (two tonight) of the Eragon series (we're on Eldest) and.....

knit this....

Pattern is the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret (Ravelry Link) knit with some handspun that I did fairly early on in my spinning journey..... Hats are not my friends, but this one's not bad.....  and it hasn't been blocked yet, so I'm sure it'll slouch more when it is.... 

Blue Steel

Anyone a Zoolander fan?? I immediately thought of the movie when I downloaded this picture..... Eli's version of "Blue Steel"

If it wasn't obvious already, I finished Eli's BTSS 2010. This cardigan was my first real attempt at steeking (I have steeked once before on a sweater that didn't work out... the steeking was OK, but it didn't fix the problems of the sweater all of which were knitter error). Steeking, for those who don't know, is when you knit your sweater as a tube and then cut (yes, I said cut) either the fronts or sometimes even the armholes in order to finish your sweater. Apparently  this is handy for fair isle, as purling while changing colours is a pain in the backside (I say *apparently* because I haven't knit a full fair isle sweater before and therefore cannot use my own experience to qualify the above statement). Steeking is also handy for any sweater who grows up wanting to be a cardigan, but who's knitter is too lazy to purl (yes, I'm pointing at me).

Eli's cardigan began it's life as a top-down raglan crew neck sweater (my own design). It looked like this:

I then researched steeks and decided to attempt a crochet steek. Which looked like this:

I then held my breath, grabbed my scissors and began to cut. Which looked like this:

The cardigan held.... but the crochet pulled on the fabric a bit too much, causing it to ripple and stretch. I decided to re-do the steek, by crocheting a new reinforcement row on either side of the original in smaller yarn and much smaller hook....... Much nicer (but no pictures).... 

I then sewed down the steeked edge, sewed in the zipper and Voila! Cardigan done...... and steeks are my newest friends....

BTSS, Kindergarten style....

Wow! Two days of posting in a row!! As promised, I am writing a post about Chey's first ever BTSS. I finished it yesterday, just in time for her first "real" day of school.

The yarn is from Sweet Georgia Yarns, purchased from the studio during my trip this summer. The colourway, I was told, is a unique one.... rather perfect for my unique little girl. She had requested a sweater with Ladybugs, butterflies and caterpillars (which I do intend to make, just not yet), but I wanted something fast, especially after finishing my shawl. I asked if Ladybug buttons would be OK?, she agreed and I was off.

I decided to attempt a round yoke cardigan, based on a style that I had seen while shopping with Cary in yet another yarn store this summer. I have never knit a round yoke before and felt that it was time...... I couldn't find a pattern that worked for me, so I did my gauge swatch, figured out the mechanics of a round yoke and started..... 

Here is the result...

It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself.... the arms are a bit tight, but now that I know what to look for, I can solve that for the next one...... 

And here she is on her very first day of school..... I'll admit that I found the experience more traumatic than I had anticipated.....

Bittersweet.

Today my baby girl turned FIVE. Five seems like a big deal because she is no longer a baby, toddler or pre-schooler.... She's a full blown little girl (and she's got the highs and lows of a full blown drama-queen to prove it!). Before I know it, she'll be a teenager and then BAM! she'll be gone..... off to conquer the world....

Ok... I'm clearly in a panic spiral here... I need to stop and take a breath, I've still got another 13-15 years (maybe longer if she goes to college nearby).... phew.

We decided to keep the birthday hoopla to a minimum this year. No big birthday party, just a special day for a special girl. She opened her gifts this morning and then her Dad took her to the pool for some fun Daddy-Daughter play time.

The Bday Loot.

Ladybug from Aunty Kim

Shirt from Opa & Cary
(had to be worn immediately)

Eli reading the cards

When she returned we worked on her Birthday cake. This is only the third Birthday cake that I've ever made for either of the kids (and Chey's first)..... I'm not much of a baker, but I was watching a lot of Cake Boss this summer. How hard could it be???

I baked a cake and did a crumb coat. Then I iced the cake with a base and a piped some decorative stuff on it.

Then the fun part started.... I decided that we would make bugs out of fondant to decorate the top of the cake. Fondant really is like edible playdoh... it was fun!! Even Dale got involved.

Once the bugs were complete, I added them to the cake. We make ladybugs, butterflies, slugs, snails, ants, a spider, caterpillars, a couple of flowers, some leaves a mushroom and a duck (Dale made the duck, I guess he didn't get the memo about the theme).

 
After supper we sang the traditional "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed......

Tomorrow is the first day of Kindergarten and I finished Chey's BTSS.... stay tuned for photos.....