The Effortless Cardigan

While only minimal amounts of sewing may be going on around here lately, LOTS of knitting has been making up for it. I've been off my feet, knitting close to five hours a day (usually late into the night), and I finished my new sweater in two weeks! This is record-breaking for a slow knitter like me.

The pattern is called The Effortless Cardigan, designed by Hannah Fettig and it's very hot amongst all the Ravelers right now. And really, it was fairly effortless if you don't count all the hours logged and aching muscle joints. A great sweater to try if you're comfortable with knitting but haven't yet made the plunge into sweater-knitting.

Mine was knit with the gorgeous madelinetosh dk in the color Gossamer. I love grey and this one has a beautiful, very subtle lavender hue to it. It's super comfy and wearable and will get tons use use during the rest of my pregnancy and beyond.

I'm looking rather grouchy here showing off my growing rear, but I wanted you to see how the back of the sweater hangs. Modeling is never my idea of fun and certainly not at 23 weeks pregnant!

In between knits and purls, I'm trying to squeeze a little sewing machine time in, and I really need to get to work on my Single Girl quilt. I confess I've fallen behind. If you have too, make sure you hop on over  to Katy's blog for inspiration to get you going again - she's leading us through step 4 today in the Single Girl Quilt-along.

Happy Monday Everyone!

My husband is gonna hate this hat....

But ask me if I care. I don't. I'm so proud of myself! This is my first ever hat-for-me and my first cable pattern. Cables have scared me off for a really long time but these were beyond simple and this was actually a very relaxing knit. I totally recommend it for anyone who has wanted to try cables but didn't know where to begin. If you can knit in the round, you can do this.

And to show you the fit, here is me playing self portrait model again, this time in the bathroom. I had to take a lot of these to even get one OK shot - and without the toilet in the background. I almost left in my beloved Heather Ross VW vans bathrobe that hangs on the wall, but I decided it was so cute it would distract from the hat.

Yep, Mark has already called this a Rastafarian hat. I had to take back some new jeans I bought recently because he said they looked like "swabbies", and who wants jeans to look unflattering to their guy? But the hat is staying. And you know the best part? It's loose so I can wear it all over on cold days but still not have total hat head.

Oh yeah, the pattern is free on Ravelry - Star Crossed Slouchy Beret - and mine is knit with a scrummy squishy Mirasol Miski baby llama yarn.

More on this next post - a new baby quilt from Oliver & S's new City Weekend line. The binding is only half on and I really don't count a quilt as finished until it's all washed and crinkly, but the sun was shining today and I'd like to get all the outside pictures of quilts while I still can. We never trust the weatherman in Seattle when he says tomorrow will be sunny too!

And I found a new method for taping down backing! Wine labels work beautifully! I'm always running out of tape when I decide to baste, so I was happy to find this roll in the garage. Don't worry, this vintage has already been bottled so these are just some leftovers who needed a job.

I might not be back until Monday but check in then for another giveaway! There's a hint in this post as to what it will be - and it's a good one!

Sometimes I knit...

I haven't had much time for knitting these days......or sewing for that matter. Add to the list cleaning, laundry, dishes, oh and sleeping! This little pea you see here is a very busy girl! And she is not even crawling yet. I am really in for it.

While I was pregnant I spent every evening after my hubby went to sleep sitting in bed knitting, and this little sweater was my proudest accomplishment from that time. It is knit top down and the sleeves are added later so all in all it was fairly simple to do. The pattern is the Easy Baby Cardigan by Diane Soucy and I found it for free on Ravelry . I really loved the yarn used too. It is the Desert Bloom colorway from the Taos line by Crystal Palace. I got lazy and haven't yet added the ties, but it fits her and I am hoping to get some wear out of it all winter.