Lina's Scarf and the Kitty Hat

My friend, Lina, was my first friend over here in Sweden. And she told me about Anita's - a nice yarn shop downtown. So for International Women's Day (which was March 6th or 7th, I think) I gave her a scarf. Now, I've had the yarn for this scarf for a while now. I saw it and thought "That would make a really cool scarf for Lina!" And I had been holding onto it, just waiting for the perfect scarf pattern to show it off. And then I came across the Easy Drop Stitch Scarf pattern while playing around on Ravelry. It was perfect! The scarf actually went much quicker than I had anticipated, and it really does show off the yarn beautifully. And Lina loves it.



I would just like to state that I have now knit a hat that actually FIT in one try. No second attempts were necessary. There wasn't a first "oh, this will be Lilli's" hat, nor was there a first "I wonder what will happen if I felt this" hat. No, there was just one hat that fits perfectly!

The pattern is Kitty Hat. The pattern was very easy and it went together much quicker than I thought it would. As soon as I'd finished this hat Lilli ran up, grabbed it and yelled "Mine!" and ran off with it. So I think I'm going to have to make her one. Only I'm sure hers will be in pink. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture to show off the pom poms at the bottom of the i-cords. I wasn't sure if I would like the pom poms, but they are kind of fun.

I wore this hat out yesterday when I was walking around downtown (it was snowing!) And I kept getting these weird looks from everyone. It finally ocurred to me that maybe it was the bright pink kitty ears that was drawing everyone's attention. Whatever - I love the hat. It's fun, warm and it FITS!

FO

Dear Jenn,

I made this veggie crown for someone who wants to have a veggie theme for her little guy's first birthday. The pattern isn't mine (it's the one from LTK) so no money could change hands, but she asked me to make it in exchange for a couple of shirts for the boys. So that's what I did.

The corn one is my favorite.

Coming Soon...

... pictures of some finished objects! To include: Kitty Hat, two Peeps (one pink, one white) and Lina's scarf. Oh, and a washcloth.

Pictures and details coming soon, I promise.

Sländan

In February, on one of the few days that nobody was sick, I went to Lund with some friends. Lilli went with us. We went to Sländan, a yarn shop on the main shopping street. It is a good thing that store is in Lund and not Malmö...


Now for the details...



Enough soft pink Merino to make Lilli a sweater (plus an extra skein, just in case.)

Enough soft charcoal merino to make Tipton a sweater (plus an extra skein, just in case.)

Some yummy silk, because it was on sale. (I think Lilli was influencing my color choice.) I have no idea what I'm going to make with this. I just like to hold it in my lap.

Some red and black cotton, for a special project for You-Know-Who. (I've finished my part of the project and hope to get it in the mail soon.)

This stuff is supper soft and fluffy. I've already made a white peep (bunny) out of the white stuff. I'm gonna make one out of the pink, too.

I bought this yarn as a birthday present for a wonderful friend of mine. I turned the labels upside down because I was planning to post the pictures before she got the yarn. (That didnt' happen.) I remember that it was a wool/soybean blend, but I don't remember the percentages.

And if you spend enough money, and you've got a little girl with you who is destined to become a knitter, you get a free gift. I was standing outside the store waiting for my friends to make their purchases and the owner ran out of the store and handed this to Lilli:

Her very own spool knitter!

Tawashi!

Dear Jenn,

My friend Kerry told me about a group on Ravelry called Tawashi town. It's a group for little scrubbers and washcloths made from Japanese patterns. Some of them are really cute, and they're really good for instant gratification.
This week, they put up an English translation of the Fishy Tawashi pattern.

Rowan has claimed him for his bath. Niall is requesting blue.

Bright cabin, FO's and flowers

Dear Jenn,
Let's do the flowers first.

Some of our spectacular neighbor kids ripped this branch off the tree in their yard. I'm sure his mom is pleased. But Rowan asked if he could have it and they let him, so he brought them to me. A touch of pretty for my kitchen, for as long as they last.

And FO's





For Jessica, who is a friend to Elvira, who is a friend to you.

I have another soaker nearly done for my friend Fiona, but I've not taken pictures of it yet.

And the super bright log cabin


You can see why the boys love it. It's about the size of a potholder now. I wonder how big it will be when I run out of yarn?

At last! I have sewn up the baby kimono sweater for my friend's baby.





I sure hope it still fits... I have been putting off and putting off finishing up the sweater. Really, all that I needed to do was sew up the sides and sew on the ribbon ties. But I just haven't wanted to do it. It's not something I can do while the kids are awake (and around.) And it required more concentration than I was willing to give during my tv-viewing/knitting hours (after the kids go to bed.) So I had been "saving" the finishing for our next knitting group. And not only did I get the sweater finished up, but I also added a little ribbon embellishment to the bootees.





And one of my friends said "Oh, wouldn't it be cute if you had a matching hat to send, too!" And I thought "Yeah, that would be great!" And so it began... I had just enough yarn left for a baby hat. But which pattern? My friend mentioned a baby hat she'd seen that had a little knot on the top, and a ribbon was tied around the knot. I wanted that. I wanted to knit a cute little hat like that. But again - what pattern? I flipped through a few books and was getting ready to search a little online, when I saw that YOU, my dear Milli, YOU were online! So I asked you - do you have a simple baby hat pattern? And you did! You suggested a simple baby rolled-brim hat. And it worked perfectly! Came out exactly as I was hoping it would (and really, how often does THAT happen when I make a hat??) At the top I decreased down to three stitches, then went down a needle size and knit an i-cord that was almost the lenght of my hand. I tied it in a knot at the base of the i-cord, then tied a little pink ribbon between the knot and the top of the hat. It looks so cute! (If I do say so myself.)





And it just makes the little ensemble.