Zoological and a new knitting pattern

Immediately following the release of my last knitting pattern Mesh Panel Tee, I decided to downsize it and release it as a child's pattern. This was accomplished over a month and a half ago with only a final edit holding me back from publishing. And so it sat..... and sat and SAT... until FINALLY, today, I did the final editing (basically a spell check and some measurement conversions) and got it published on Ravelry (link to buy at the bottom).  I'm not sure why I didn't finish it before, but there you are.

The main purpose of this post is to show off the skirt I made for Chey. I've mentioned (many times) that my daughter is not very girly, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up. She hates pink and loves green? I knit her an acid green skirt (Silly Frilly). She hates Barbies and Princesses... how about a Zombie Mermaid?? (check out the shirt in the picture linked for the skirt)?? I sneak in the girly in every way I can...nail polish, feathers for her hair, ladybug shirts, butterfly shirts, animal shirts with lots of sparkles. The result is that we're both happy. She gets her way and so do I.  It was with this happy medium in mind that I found a cute skirt tutorial on Pinterest and somehow stumbled onto the most perfect fabric at The Purl Bee. It's a black and white printed fabric with every imaginable animal: from ants, to crocodiles to zebras, to dolphins to rhinoceroses. I started it last week and finished it today. I didn't end up following the tutorial at all, it was more my inspiration, but look at the result.....

I interrupted video games for a photo shoot. She hides her mood well, no?

It's a very simple skirt to sew. I cut three strips of fabric, each twice as long as the last (the longest piece was two strips sewn together) and did a double fold hem on both the top and bottom of each piece. I threaded a piece of elastic through the top hem of the shortest piece and sewed it down on each edge. I then sewed each of the longer strips with the fold to the OUTSIDE of the fabric so that it would ruffle slightly above the ribbon trim. I created the ruffle by pinning the fabrics together in 1/8th sections and then bunched the excess between the pins as I sewed the pieces together. I then sewed a length of grosgrain ribbon over the ruffle seams and finally, sewed the whole thing together down one side..... Another win for the both of us.....

If you'd like to buy the pattern for the top she's wearing... It's my latest: Mesh Panel Tee: Child (perhaps I should try to use my imagination to come up with something more interesting for the next one??)

Silly Frilly Flamenco skirt....

About a week ago... a new yarn store opened in Calgary, called The Loop. The news of a new LYS was greeted with exuberant anticipation. Of course, this meant YARN CRAWL..... my local small group of knitters organized a trip on the opening day and at the last minute, I was able to go..... While we were there, enjoying all kinds of fibre goodies, we saw a ribbon yarn called Rizos, by Katia. I'm not normally a big fan of novelty yarns, but I thought this one was pretty.... It had been knit into a ruffle scarf and was quite lovely and we immediately began discussing other options for the yarn. Although I didn't buy any that day... I couldn't get the yarn out of my head and made a trip back a few days later with Chey to see how she liked it (she doesn't really like skirts much... they say they make her "too attractive... to attractive to homework")..... Once she agreed that a ruffle skirt would be worn, I purchased a couple of balls and started to plan.

My first three attempts were total failures.... Firstly, I didn't know how to knit with the yarn. I treated it like regular yarn and knit it as a big wide ribbon... this didn't give the neat ruffle that was intended and made the skirt really bulky... and after several inches, I frogged it.  I did a google search and discovered that I was using it incorrectly (this is the correct way to knit with this yarn, although I knit into every loop, rather than every second loop). Once I ammended my method, the next attempt was much better..... sort of..... knitting with Rizos row after row created a look that resembled a clown collar... not quite the look I was going for in a skirt.... so I ripped and started again.... My third attempt was MUCH nicer, but my sizing was WAY off... I didn't realize how off, until I cast off and tried the skirt on Chey (it fit me, actually)... it was terrible... I mean UGH-LEE.... I frogged the whole thing and started again.. this time, I started the skirt from the bottom (my other attempts had been top down) and alternated it with another yarn. This allowed the ruffle to lie much flatter and reduced the bulk and weight of the final skirt....

Final Result:.... AWESOME!

I'll work out a pattern and release it very soon......

I've been on a Bender.....

and I can feel it.... my head is woozy, my hands hurt and I don't really remember what happened. Somehow, in the last two weeks, I've managed to complete seven projects (actually nine, I did make two each of the toys). They haven't been large projects, mind you.... but even for me, seven seems like a lot.....

I knit these mitts for Dale to line his work mittens. He loves them, they keep his hands nice and warm even on the coldest days.....

I knit myself another pair of gloves to replace the cashmere pair I knit last year. They wore out, poor things..... Pattern is Meisi, by Julia Mueller knit in Indigo Moon Superwash Merino.

I then decided that I wanted to spin some top that I purchased before Christmas. Another JulieSpins creation in a blend of Merino, cashmere and nylon... so soft and squishy..... I made a 3-ply chunky yarn and knit this awesome circular cowl that can be worn several ways.

Next, I knit this super cool sweater... It's called Endless and it totally makes me happy. You can wear it a bunch of different ways, it is comfy, cute and fashionable. 

I also knit this cute skirt for my friend's daughter's birthday on Sunday (she turned 2... Happy Birthday Aubrey!). I must make one for Chey... it is a sweet, swingy skirt with an adjustable waistband.... perfect!

and finally, I  crocheted these critters inspired by the hot iPhone game "Angry Birds" for the kids... They love the game and Eli even had the plush birds on his Christmas wish list... I'm envisioning the real life version that's going to take place in the basement.... I hope I don't regret making these... ;) Two of each (I do have two kids... which can suck in these circumstances... why is it not OK to pick a favourite and just make stuff that that one?? Just kidding, just kidding..... mostly)

Believe it or not.. I still had time to go skating several times, volunteer in each child's class twice... and my house hasn't fallen apart..... small projects rock?