Pick a Title (cuz I've got nothing)

The weather seems to have taken a turn away from winter around here.  We saw temps in the high 70's on Saturday!  It's been beautiful weather ever since.  We do expect to see a change back to more "normal" temps by the end of the week, but that's okay.  I think (hope) we have seen the last of the winter weather for a little while.

So, what have I been up to?  Well, before we get to that, let me tell you a bit about what Samm's been up to.  She has been making some jewelry to sell and plans to give 10% of all her sales to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Betty.  Isn't that sweet?  She makes me so proud.  We plan on setting up an Etsy store for her soon (where I may add some things too), but in the meantime I've posted a link to her finished jewelry in the left sidebar.  I think she does very nice work; check it out.

On to what I've been doing.  I finished the Garter Cardi for my great-neice on Friday night (except for buttons).  I went looking through my Lamb's Pride stash to see what I had to use for sleeves that would look nice with the pink body of the sweater.  I found some deep purple that I love and I think it looks great.

All it needs now are 3 purple buttons and it can go in the FO column and I can post it on the Holiday Headstart blog as my April project. Do you know how hard it is to find just the right color purple buttons? Not easy! I spent a good portion of Saturday searching for buttons with no luck. I decided why not crochet some buttons out of the leftover purple yarn; didn't work. I made a very nice button, but Lamb's Pride is just to heavy to make a small enough button for this sweater. I had to teach a class last night at the Yarn Sellar, so I looked at their buttons; nothing in the right color. I checked out all the purple yarn looking for some lighter weight purple in the same shade; I never realized how many different shades of purple there are!  I left empty handed and discouraged.  Then, this morning, just as I was getting ready to leave for work, I remembered that I had lots of leftover yarn from the Christmas stockings I made.  Success!  There was some purple Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the EXACT shade of purple I need.  It is worsted weight, but it's a much lighter worsted than Lamb's Pride so I plan to give it a shot tonight.  Wish me luck.

I also finished the Mason-Dixon felted boxes.  I ended up cutting pieces of cardboard to put in them while they dried so they wouldn't droop and lose their shape.  I think they came out pretty good.  Hopefully, the intended recipient will think so too.

Here they are stacked. I've been pretty lucky lately with the felting; these stack just the way I was hoping they would.  

I have just one more FO to show you.

 

Some Magic 28 socks.  This is a great little toddler "sock recipe" by Norma.  She's started a blog ring to "Stamp out cold feet".  Check it out; it's a low pressure knit-a-long for charity.

I was able to start and complete this pair during my 6-hour shift at the gym (in between cleaning and helping customers).  Fast, easy, and for a good cause; these are going in the Dulaan pile.  I used left over scraps of Patons Classic Merino from the felted boxes  for these.  1 down, 27 to go :)

I have started another sweater for another of my great-neices; it's the Mock Cable sweater by Yankee Knitter.   I'm just about done with the back, no picture yet. I think I'm going to do the cardigan version, but I haven't made a final decision yet. I'm using some DK wool yarn that I bought from an estate sale a few years ago.  I think it's probably from the 70's.  It is a really pretty shade of light blue.  It's not the softest wool, but I'm hoping that a soaking in some wool wash will soften it up.

Well, that's about all I've got for you today. Have a wonderful day!

Comments

[Charity]

Julie the sweater is sweet, and those BASKETS! They turned out amazing! :0)

[Gina House]

You have been a busy bee, Miss Julie! That cardigan is adorable. Nice, bright colors, too. Those socks are great and I think they'll be the perfect size for Ben. I'll have to make those. I'm in love with the boxes and really have to make some myself. One of my long term goals is to make one of everything from the Mason Dixon book. Someday......

[Brenda]

The sweater came out great. Way to improvise on the yarn! If you need buttons you should check out Central Yarn in Portland some time. They have a WALL of buttons. I never leave without the perfect ones. The felted boxes came out great too!

[Carole]

The earrings are very nice.

[Zonda]

Cute and bright sweater!! Makes you smile! Good luck with buttons! Those baskets turned out really good! I get a kick out of seeing those Magic 28 socks! They are just too cute.

[Amanda]

For the buttons, maybe you could make some out of fimo clay? I think you just pick the colors you want and shape it, then bake them. Could be fun!

[lisa]

Wow! You've been busy! Those boxes look great. Glad you found some buttons...I was going to suggest Incomparable Buttons, those ceramic buttons from South Africa...do you know them? Of to check out Samm's earings!

[Sheepish Annie]

Whooo! That's a lot of finished stuff you got there! And it all looks good. The felted boxes have been on the knit list for a while now over here...maybe this summer. It had better be a long summer if I'm going to knit all the stuff I've put on that list!

[colleen]

Wow you have been busy! The sweater looks Awesome! So clever to do crocheted buttons.

Love those felted boxes too... definately on my knit list.

[Heather]

Wow you've been busy. I love the felted boxes. And the sweater came out fantastic! Can't wait to see the buttons -- will you felt them?

[amanda]

I think your niece will love the sweater! And the felted boxes are fabulous -- might need to make me some for my craft room ;o)

[Deb]

felted boxes....BEAUTIFUL. You are certainly talented.

[Mia]

Holy crap that's a lot of knittin done!! Good job!

And I love the post title *grin*

[Chris]

You have been very busy indeed! The sweater is great - looking forward to seeing what you come up with for buttons. And I love the boxes!

[marianne]

WOW! I feel like I should've taken notes!
That little cardi is the cutest and I can't even begin to tell you how much I love those baskets! Great colours!
But those Magic 28s...they're beautiful little sockies, don't you just love them? They ARE like potato chips, I'm knitting some red ones right now, sigh, wishing I had tiny feet...just kidding, but I do love red socks! That Sage green is an all time favourite of mine.

[Amy]

I love the little cardigan, it couldn't have been any cuter if you had planned it that way from the start. The earrings are beautiful. What a nice girl to donate a portion of her time and bead stash to help a friend in need. I will help her cause. I have a bead stash that could use a little thinning. Email your address to me (again) and I will send them her way.

[Jackie]

Perfect cardi! Aren't you glad you ran out of pink? I think the combo is brilliant.

Love Samm's earings. Those boxes came out great too!

[Estella]

Love your felted boxes! I was thinking of making them sometime and the way yours turned out are an inspiration.

[Debby]

The cardigan looks as though you planned it that way on purpose and your niece will love it! Pink and purple are great for most young girls. I wonder if you could find some shiny glass beads a la Claire's to use as buttons. They would look like fancy jewelry to her, LOL. (Considers making grown-up version for self here...hmmm). Or maybe Samm has something ?

You have been knitting up a storm, as usual. Glad to hear your weather has been mild up there.

[~Kristie]

You're quite the busy beaver. You churn out knits so fast I can't hardly keep up. Thank goodness I'm not trying to ;-)

The cardigan is wonderful, but I can sympathize with trying to match purples. Been there, done that! LOVE the felted boxes. Those look fantastic and I'm impressed that they all stack inside each other so perfectly. What a wonderful gift.