A New Sweater

As if this little girl didn't already have enough hand knit sweaters, right?!

But, for Christmas,  we had to make something special.  This pattern was completely dreamed up in my head and it was fun to see it 'come to life' over the holidays.  It was a little complicated with all the colorwork and sizing- so things may have been "fudged" a bit, but it came together.  For that reason, I wouldn't count on a pattern coming out of this- my notes are mere scribbles, and my charts are hand drawn with multiple dark lines being drawn through.

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to post. When I take a break, it's always hard to come back.  I feel I owe some sort of apology or really impressive post, but then I realize I just need to start up to get the ball rolling.  The holidays were grand, complete with much time visiting family and friends.

Unfortunately, Joe and I started 2012 off on the wrong foot, with a dreadful case of (what we believe to be) food poisoning.  I'm really not sure how we would have gotten through that situation without family nearby, but we have pulled through and finally seem to be on the other side of it.

I hope your holidays were wonderful and that you are now enjoying some selfish knitting- it is time for that, right?!

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Elise's 2nd Christmas Stocking

By the title of this post, you may have believed that I am some sort of super mom that knits a different stocking for her child each Christmas.  But, the sad reality is that Elise didn't have a stocking for her first Christmas.  Oh well, you can't win them all- better late than never, right?

As mentioned before, I loved the idea of incorporating the motif from Elise's first Christmas outfit into her stocking.    Since I never found an exact stocking I wanted to make, this was the perfect solution. After I originally posted about possible stocking options, I did stumble upon another great stocking.  Enter the Falling Snow Stocking by Jennifer Hoel.

Turns out,

+

=

I used elements from the Falling Snow Stocking, along with inspiration from her 1st Christmas sweater dress to create a stocking that will (hopefully) be with her for a lifetime.

It's a bit more flashy than our stockings, but that's ok.  I figure they don't have to match.  And, when we have more to add, we can have a whole eclectic collection of handknit stockings.

Yarn:  Cascade 220, Cream and Red (about .7 skeins of each)

Raveled: here

I have some big news that I am *SO* excited to share with you- stay tuned later this week.

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Uncertainty

I'm still not 100% sure of what this stocking will look like in the end, but I have cast on and started working.   I'm thinking of just doing the stocking in red and white and leaving out the blues.  Here's a reminder of what Joe and my stockings look like (just scroll down to the last picture)- I think it will blend nicely with just the two colors. 

I am incorporating the motif from her 1st Christmas dress, thank you so much for the idea!

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Stocking Stuck

Now that the big birthday celebration is over, I can move on to my next knitting event: Christmas.  More specifically, Elise's Christmas stocking.  Yes, I know, she was around last Christmas, but I didn't have time to whip up a stocking- at least she had a cute Christmas outfit- remember?

Knowing that Elise will (probably) be awake this year to open presents, I figure I need to jump on a stocking for her.  The problem?  I can't find the perfect pattern.  The solution?  You, of course.

So far, I do have a few stockings favorited on Ravelry, so here's a little roundup:

1:                                                 2:

 

3:

4:

5:                                                      6:

7:                                                  8:                                                  

9:

10:                                                 11:

(all these stockings can be found in my Ravelry favorites, tagged 'stocking')

And this is the planned on color scheme:

Or this:

The dark blues are more different than they look.  The first is hand dyed yarn, the second is a heather blue with a little more green in it. 

So- what do you think ?  I'm looking for opinions, but also suggestions.  Like I said, I'm not really set on anything and if there's some amazing secret pattern out there I would love to see it.

The Best Christmas Outfit Ever

Seriously- have you EVER seen a cuter Christmas oufit?  

I think not. 

If only I had the time to whip up something so nice for myself... maybe next year :)

This dress started as this pattern by Dale of Norway. 

After I got past the motif, I decided I needed to make the outfit a little more girly (Elise gets a little offended when people think she's a boy).  The solution was to stop knitting.  The body suit then became a little dress to wear with leggings- but I knew something was missing.  Enter the greatest little booties ever made (ok... so I'm a bit biased, but I love them!). 

A couple days before Christmas I spent some time scouring Ravelry for a basic bootie pattern I could embellish.  I knew what I wanted the end result to look like- I just wanted a little bit of help getting there. I stumbled across Christine's Baby Booties and knew they would fit the bill.  I mimicked the motif of the sweater dress, added length to make them more like a winter boot, and pom-pom ties to top them off. 

Since I wanted a washable outfit (I wanted to make sure she got a chance to wear this a few times over the holidays), the yarn I chose was Cascade Heritage Solids and Quatro Colors. 

The needles?  Yup- size 0 and 1.5 (US)

The Patterns?  Body Voss and Christine's Baby Booties

Raveled?  here and here

Hope you had a very merry Christmas!