Something Old, Something New

Hello! I still knit!

If you have kids you know that May is a really crazy month. All the end of school programs, art shows, preschool sing, Mother's Day tea, etc. Add in a birthday. Get outside and get that yard shaped up. Then, catch Tote Bag Fever and go a little crazy on that for awhile. My studio (my whole house) is just a crazy mess.

So, I've been trying to organize my knitting projects that have gotten scattered around the house. When I really want to buckle down and get some stuff finished, I do the "finish one old project before rewarding myself with a new project" game. I know you do that too.

So today I present you with two FOs, one started last October, one started last week.


First up, the Chic Basic Hoodie--Lace Version. I started this last October with some Cotton Ease in Violet. It clipped along for a few months, hit the wall in January, when I discovered for the 85th time, that a 4" rib just doesn't work for me. After a few months in time out, I ripped back and reknit 3" in stockinette and 1" rib.

Finished the sleeves in the car during spring break, and sewed the buttons on today!
I changed the hood to a big collar. I just picked up the same amount of stitches called for my size, fudged a bit to make sure I had a multiple of 4 (+2) and knit 8" of 2 x 2 rib. When picking up stitches for the collar, I made sure the pick up looked good on both sides, by just picking up the very edge loop (1/2 a stitch). More details on Ravelry.

And now, for something completely different.....

I love animal print. I especially love it on kids.

I've had this idea for awhile, to make a Magic Ball using Tiger yarn and some other bright colors. Last week I made a boy version, with Tiger, Candy Corn, Picnic Basket, and others, and a girl version, with Tiger, Cosette, Deep Rose, California Poppies, and more (pink, orange, yellow, and some neutrals).

Just as a mom "tests" the chocolate chip cookies when they come out of the oven to make sure they are good for everyone, I decided that I needed to test out one of these to see if it lived up to my vision.

I am really super happy with the result. I made this Baby Surprise Jacket from the boy version. I upsized it to a 3T to test out how large a sweater I could get from one Magic Ball. I can report that I used almost the whole ball for the 3T size--I had 2 color sections out of 15 left over--so it is could be possible to do a 4T and just make it shorter.

If you are needing to see the girl version, you can catch a sneak peek over at the Sophie's Toes Ravelry group forum, or see them in the shop tomorrow night.