in anticipation

I hate blog posts that start with an apology for not posting. So I won't apologize for not posting since the beginning of December. I will tell you that life has been busy and full and I have lots to show you and ideas I'm pondering, and it's hard to know where to start! I have knitting, plus some sewing projects, a round-up of things I've learned in the last year, sewing/knitting/making stuff with kids, and thoughts about how to approach 2016. I think it's best to break all that up into different posts to make it manageable for you and me.

Let's start with the exciting news first: I'm going to be an aunt!!

That's right! My brother and his wife are expecting a baby this spring. Of course we are all totally thrilled. When we first got the news, I had to start a sweater right away. I tried to hold out until they told us the gender of the baby, but I just couldn't help myself.



You can likely deduce from the buttons that we'll be welcoming a new niece in March.

The pattern is Ysolda Teague's brilliant Wee Envelope Sweater, and the yarn is some Dale of Norway Lerke, a DK weight 50/50 wool/cotton blend that I have been using up on baby projects since Anya was born. I love how Lerke looks and feels when it knits up, smooth and buttery and as a bonus, it's washable too. But Lerke is a tricky, splitty yarn with many plies and the cotton content makes it slippery and hard to hold. I didn't think I had so much in my stash, but I've made at least a half dozen baby sweaters out of the modest pile I had, and I bet I could eke out at least one more if I striped it. I'm ready to use it up and move on.

The brown alone seemed dull, so I added color blocking on the sleeve cuffs and bottom of the body. Since the baby is a girl, I chose flower buttons and added a row of bright red cross stitch on the front where I changed the color to cream. I made the newborn size, so the sweater will probably fit for about five minutes, and should it be passed along to a baby boy, someone could easily change out the buttons. I'm a practical thinker that way, yes?

I knew we would see Joe and MJ over Christmas, and I wanted to give them some gifts in person. One little sweater seemed kind of puny, so I made a blanket, too. You can never have too many blankets for a baby. 

The pattern is Tweed Baby Blanket by Jared Flood. I used about 7 balls of Rowan Pure Wool DK from deep stash (I'm pretty sure I bought this yarn from elann.com in a postpartum haze after Daniel was born) for the main part, plus a skein of Berocco Vintage DK in white for the contrast color on the edging. There are a lot of stitches on that edging, and the i-cord bind-off takes a lot of both time and yarn.

The result is so worth it. Don't you agree?

I do love the look of that i-cord bind-off. This is the second time I've knit this blanket and the finishing is no less magical than the first time. You've got what feels like 6,000 stitches scrunched up on a circular needle, and it takes what feels like an eternity to get them all properly i-corded (is that a verb? It is now!) and then you soak it and block it and suddenly the whole thing opens up into a beautiful, drapey, elegant piece of fabric perfect for wrapping around a snuggly baby. I love it.

I've got just one more baby thing to show you.

This started out as a very small quilt. I pieced the top in a whirl of inspiration more than ten years ago and then set it aside because I wasn't sure what to do with it next. It's really quite small, perhaps not even as big as those flannel receiving blankets you get by the dozen at baby showers. I didn't have enough fabric to add a bigger border; I'm sure it was originally a pack of fat eighths, and I had nearly used it up. About a year ago, or maybe two, I had the brilliant notion to back this little quilt top with terry cloth and make it into a little changing pad. So I did that. But I didn't have anyone to give it to, so I put it back in the closet with the rest of my fabric and sewing stuff. 

Last week as I was finishing up making the Christmas gifts and moving everything around to make room for drywall work, I found this little quilt. I decided to give it to my brother and SIL, and thought to add elastic straps to the quilted changing pad to make it more portable. When Daniel was born, a friend of mine made a small cotton changing pad backed with terry cloth that rolled up nice and neat with elastic straps and I used it all the time. I popped it right in the diaper bag and if it got dirty or wet, it was easy to throw in a load of laundry. 

That's all for now. It's already taken me far too long to write this post. I do promise I'll be back soon!