The final countdown.

Just a quick reminder: The 2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week starts tomorrow :)

For more information, please visit Eskimimi's blog or click on the banner below to be transfered to Ravelry group for active bloggers :)

Elfie.

I've been a busy bee recently, working on few project at the same time and taking any opportunity to knit one more row whenever possible (and believe me, it's hard to find a spare moment with a vary active almost two year old toddler around ;) ). Today when G. was having her afternoon nap I managed to finish this little green top. And I feel quite content with the way it turned out. It's yet another of my experimental knits: I had the idea in my head and I braught it out to real life. I enjoyed knitting this top: so very simple and quick. I aimed to make 6-9 months size but I think it actually is 12-18 months (I tried it on G. and it was a bit too short and a bit too tight but not very uncomfortable and she is 21 months now). After the top was done, I decided to call it "Elfie"- this forest green color and cable motif make me think of little elves.

I've got so many ideas for other knitting projects these days, I should start writting them down . If only I could strech days and nights a little bit... For a while now I've been thinking of opening my Etsy shop with little knits like this one. But I don't think I've got enough courage yet...

Circle in a square.

I mentioned before (here) that art of crochet is a real mystery to me and I truly admire crocheters for their magical skills. Knitting always seemed to be a piece of cake for me if I compared it to my fruitless tries with crochet hook. While I'm able to learn new knit stitch and technics very fast, I could never understand the basic crochet stitches. Until I saw this:

photo by Tamara (click on the photo to be transfered to her beautiful blog)

When I first saw this blanket, I knew I want one too. It's just so cosy and colorful and I thought it would be a nice gift for G. So I decided to give crochet yet another try. And another... and another... It took a while until this mysterious tr finally stopped being a trouble and became treble. Finally, I have learnt how to crochet.

So now I'm making lots and lots of colorful circles and I can't stop. And then I close them in a square with pale yellow yarn. I like the result and I can't wait to comlete the whole blanket. I think I'm already addicted ;)

(Pattern: circle-in-a-square by Tamara Erbacher)

Little sister's dress (or: big girl's vest top)

Last week we had C.'s parents visiting. This time they came by car, bringing us some stuff that we left in our flat in Genoa in January. They also brought almost all my yarn and needles and started projects which made me really happy. I found this dress among them: I started knitting it before G.'s first birthday and left it unfinished and didn't really think it would suit her now. Long time has passed and now she is a big girl, defenetly too big to wear a dress in 12 month size. But I liked this dress and I wasn't keen on frogging it so this morning, when G. was still sleeping, I got up, made myself nice cup of coffee and finished this dress. Actually, it turned out to be a top.

I realized I didn't have nice buttons for this dress/top and decided to attach a crochet flower. The thing is that I can't really crochet, although I have tried many times to learn this craft. Crochet still is a mysterious art to me, hook is a wand, charts and patterns are a top secret coded information understood only to the chosen ones and any crochet project is just a pure magic to me. I own few hooks and every now and then I try to play with them but this little flower is actually the first crochet thing I successfully completed. I really feel proud; maybe there is some hope for me after all ;)

With some help of YouTube I managed to produce this little beauty:

I accessorized it with a pearl in the middle:

And then I attached the flower to the dress/top:

I'm really happy with the final result. And G. seems to be happy too :)


Project notes:
Pattern: Little Sister's Dress by Tora Frøseth
Yarn: RYC Cashsoft DK
Needles: US4/3.5mm

I can't believe it's June.
I can't believe how cold it is outside, how uninviting.
We've been warming up ourselves with some ginger and lemon tea with generous dose of honey.

This chilly weather makes me want to have something warm and cosy around my arms. So I started a new shawl yesterday and I just can't stop knitting it... I simply love these colorful stripes...

Happy week everyone!

Little knit for a happy toddler.

The other night I was tidying my bag with yarn and I came across one skein of Rowan cotton that I bought without a reason (yes, I do sometimes buy yarn without a reason...) and decided to knit a simple beanie for G. I chose Cecily Beanie (Ravelry link) pattern which is one of my favourite patterns for simple hats. It took me only few hours to knit this hat and I think it's just perfect for the cooler days here. And little G. seems to be happy with it.

When the beanie was ready, I decided to sew on few shell buttons- quite a pretty detail, I think.

I wanted to take proper photos of G. wearing the beanie but there was little cooperation from my little model. That's why the pictures are a bit blurry.

Project info:
Pattern: Cecily Beanie
Yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton
Needles: US3/ 3.25mm

Off my needles.

Few days ago I finished knitting this scarf:

Pattern: One-Skein Tapestry Scarf by Sarah Keller
Yarn: ?

Needles: US9/ 5.5 mm

I found this yarn in one of my favourite yarn shops in Genoa. I was waiting to be served and there was sale basket on the counter, containing last balls of random yarn. This beautifully colorful skein caught my eye straightaway. I couldn't resist and grabbed it. I don't know it's name or brand as it didn't even have any label on it but if I knew I would definitely try to get some more. Having only one skein I decided to turn it into a scarf, especially that autumn season is just around the corner. The pattern I used seemed to be perfect too- just one skein was needed and this beautiful yarn is also similar to suggested Rowan Tapestry, it's just much thicker.

The scarf came out pretty short though but I'm still satisfied with the result. I'm going to look for suitable brooch and use it as a neck warmer. I just love the way the colors change into different shades. And they do look like autumn leaves, don't you think?

Lately, there has been lots of knitting going on. I recently tidied up my yarn basket and realized that I had lots of yarn to work with. I've chosen some projects but I still keep browsing Ravelry pattern base and keep finding new wonderful things I'd love to knit (if only I had enough time...). I'm honestly in love with Ravelry and although I've been a member since April 08 I only started usung it recently and discoverd what a magic place it is.

As I said before, I keep getting new yarn. I just can't resist buying it. Last Saturday we went to street market close to Piazza Martinez and I left with two bags of new yarn...

I finally tidied up my needles too...

I also finished knitting hat for one of our friend, Isabella. I only have to join seams- this is the worst part, I do not enjoy sewing seams together because I'm never able to do it neatly enough and feel disappointed; it's like sewing is the finishing touch and I always mess it up, it's pretty frustraiting and demotivating.

This is my first hat and I think it turned out very nice (well, as I said it, seams are not joined yet). I used 100% organic cotton and 4mm and 4.5mm needles (double knitting) and I love the effect. I'm in love with this color. It's a surprise as I rather chose green/brown/black colors for myself. But I do like this fuchsia color a lot. In fact, I think I will get some more yarn and make this hat for myself as well.
The pattern comes from Knitting Daily and is very easy to follow, it only takes few hours to finish the garment so it gives instant feeling of satisfaction.

***


PS.
Thank you all for those warm and comforting comments that you left on my last post. Your kind words mean a lot and lifted up our moods.
Thank You!