Second Milo: Lazy Daisies

As I suspected, another Milo vest has been knit. This one has no cable but does have some daisies embroidered with some bulky-weight wool. The green yarn is Knit Picks City Tweed DK in Basil. The yarn is really more worsted than DK, but it's very nice to knit with.

Obviously someone is very happy with her new vest.

Little Cardigan for Little Miss

Now that our little girl is here (born August 30!), I can finally put some of my recent tiny knits into the laundry rotation. This cardigan, Vertebrae, is almost shrug-like in the sense that it wraps the arms and back but leaves the front of the chest open. I think the design is ingenious because when my daughter spits up, only her onesie is in the line of fire.

This was the newborn size, but my gauge was off a little and I still only used one skein of sock yarn. This gorgeous orange-pink-red is Knit Picks self-striping yarn, Felici, which is released in limited-time colorways. This colorway, Matador, had been sitting in my stash for about two years. I love having a little sweater for my daughter that isn't cotton candy pink.

First of Many Milos

I first saw the pattern for Milo about two years ago and instantly loved it. My son was 2 at the time and always runs hot, so I rarely knit anything for him that isn't a winter hat, and my daughter, who was born August 30 (was it only 16 days ago?!), wasn't even a thought at the back of my mind yet, so the pattern went un-purchased and un-knit. 

Finally buying the pattern this summer, I managed to knit one vest before my little girl was born. This one, knit in Berroco Vintage for ease of washing and its wonderful "squishiness," is the 6-month size. I used the heart cable motif, and look forward to knitting more Milos with other cables: my stash is calling me!

Milo, red hearts version

Heart cables (detail)

Preparation Knitting

Our baby girl is due two weeks from today (feel free to show up any time, little one!) and I have knit a few things for her this summer. Below is the Smocked Dress from 60 Quick Baby Knits. I used Cascade Yarn's Ultra Pima, which is a sport-weight yarn. The pattern calls for worsted weight, but I always knit larger than gauge, so this time I just went with it. 

The finished dress seems to be about the right size for a 6- to 9-month-old, so our little girl will most likely be sporting this in the spring over cute long-sleeved tees.

It's a Wrap

I've been working on smaller projects lately, things that don't get too hot on my lap in this ridiculous weather and don't take too long so I'll be ready for the Ravellenic Games, which begin July 27th. 

I finished this triangular shawl a few weeks ago. It's the Kumara Wrap, a free pattern from Classic Elite yarns. I used two skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash. It blocked very well, and the shawl is squishy 1x1 rib. The fringe took a while but was very worth the effort. I really like this shawl, but I have a friend who just is this color blue, so I may gift it away.

Another free pattern, Grayson, used less than one skein in each color of Palette, which is a nice fingering-weight wool that comes in a staggering number of colorways. It uses a very ingenious method of casting on stitches at the edge (where the yellow is later knit), thus making it completely unnecessary to pick up stitches to knit the border. I'm not entirely in love with the yellow. I think a darker yellow, one with more brown or orange in it, would have looked more harmonious.

When working the stripes, I always brought the new color under the old color, and this made a very neat little spiral/spine up the edge of the knitting: very tidy looking!

Currently on the needles is another shawl, Quaking Aspen. . . 

Oh, it's been a while, hasn't it?

Not without good reason, though: I'm 33 weeks pregnant, expecting a girl, and have been working on a few projects for her. I've knit a little cardigan and a smocked dress, and yarn is on the way to knit another cardigan as my project for the Ravellenic Games. I also have a few summer-friendly projects on the needles right now: small shawls and cowls, AKA things that aren't so hot that I'll melt beneath them in this heat wave I'm suffering through.

Back soon, with pictures!

Spinning a Storm

The drop-spinning continues at my house. I bought a small stash of wool roving and have been slowly working my way through it. I'm still knitting, for sure, and am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on a cardigan I'm working on right now, but spinning is so easy to pick up for five or ten minutes throughout the day.

Working third shift, I am blessed to be home to help my husband start bedtime for our son, but around 8:00 or so, I say goodnight, leave my husband to read bedtime stories, and I get ready for work. Once the scrubs are on and the dinner is packed, I have 10 minutes before I have to leave in which to spin.

Undyed wool roving, my second attempt at handspun:

Two plies of pink and one ply of purple, which I spun more tightly:

And some hand-dyed wool, done on the stove with plain old liquid food coloring, tap water, and vinegar:

Spinning is great fun, but there's a little added excitement for me as I watch the colors change gradually, and then again as I wait to see what will happen when the individual strands are plied together.