Finished! Kid Cardis

Duckers is happily modeling the last kid cardi and kerchief, all finished and ready to head to the Midwest for Easter apparel.

These were a really fun knit, and got me all geared up to knit a sweater for myself.

The original cardi that got me started on kid sweaters is finished as well and ready to ship across the big pond to the niece in Germany, along with some other goodies for her birthday.

Duckers is going to get the first attempt at the Baby Surprise Jacket that I want to make. I borrowed the DVD that explains the construction of the BSJ from CatWithCats and it now makes so much more sense to me. (Thanks, Cat)

Once I make the first one, I may try to downsize it to actually fit Duckers. I think he will look so cute in a sweater come next winter.

Well, I am off to finish changing out my seasonal closet in anticipation of warmer weather. It has been a great day to stay home and get all these things done, as the blizzard winds shook the windows and the occasionally snowflake scurried by. Pedro napped between gusts and the occasional bout at the window to jump at the snowflakes. I wish I had video. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Weekend Update

These 3-D, multimedia artworks can be found at the shop, Nuts and Bolts, where I teach in Woodland Park. The gal who makes them uses fabric, natural wood and other pieces from the forest near her house, and floral bits and pieces. They are really something to see. (click on the pic to embiggen)

The rest of my weekend was spent working on finishing the kid cardis so they can be mailed next week. One has to make the big trip across the ocean, the other two only to the Midwest. I understand from the two families that the weather is still calling for sweaters so these will be right on time.


Duckers is enjoying his job as a model for the cardis and matching kerchief. He will be modelling the peacock one this week before these are shipped off to Missouri for Easter wear for my nieces. I can hardly wait for the pictures.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Weekend and Kid Cardi Update

This weekend was dedicated to a belated St. Patty's Day celebration, complete with traditional dinner with the folks. The addition to the meal was a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake courtesy of my brother in Missouri. He had sent some interesting dessert mixes in the Christmas box this year and this is the first time I had to try one of them. The pie was yummy (thanks bro') and so was the dinner (thanks mom). Then we watched the Madagascar Penguins extra DVD. It was very funny.

While I was there I showed Mom the progress on the kid cardis. I have two or three done except for button and end weaving, and the last one is almost ready to go on the big needle for finishing.

I am enjoying knitting these kid cardis so much. I just wish this pattern came in my size. I may have to do some designing of my own to figure out how to do one in an adult size. That will be like Pam Wynne who refabricated the pattern for the February Lady Sweater that is all the rage over at Ravelry. It came from Elizabeth Zimmerman's February baby pattern in her Knitting Almanac. Pam designed it to "fit a grown-ass woman" and it is lovely. I have plans to raid my stash and get started on a practice one soon.

The rest of the weekend was spent watching movies, airing out the house with all windows open while the weather was warmish on Sunday, and setting up to start the matching kerchiefs for the girls. At first I thought doing them in stockinette would make a nice fabric to embroidery on, however about 10 rows in I realized that it will roll up and not lay nicely so I ripped it out and started on a garter stitch version. This does not lend itself to having embroidery on it, but I have an idea to add decoration to them. I will share when I get the first one done. I think it will be cute and may add the matching deco to the sweaters as well.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Kid Cardi Update - Easter Deadline Approaching

From pieces to the beginning of the finish of the first of two kid cardis destined for Missouri. I have completed the parts for the medium-sized bright red cardi for the youngest niece in Missouri. I have plans to knit a matching kerchief and practice some duplicate stitch on it.


The parts knit up fairly quickly and make a great traveling project. It goes with me to work everyday where I knit for a few minutes in the car before going it to open up the office, then I knit at lunch for 45 minutes and then it goes home with me to accompany my evening movie. Now that I have the parts on the large needle it will stay home where I will knit on it morning and evening while the peacock/teal colored one travels back and forth to get its parts knit.

I still have not gone out to look for the buttons to use on these cardis, however I will be looking soon as the month of March is zipping by. I still have to have them in the mail with plenty of time to arrive at their destination.

Kid Cardi Update

The first kid cardi is done. Well, the knitting part of it is done.

I still have to weave in some ends, find a button and sew up the underarm and down the sleeves. Otherwise it is a "wrap."

I hope the intended recipients like them and get some wearing out of them. I have plenty of matching yarn leftover so I think I will knit up a matching kerchief for each.


Once I got this one going I realized that these knit up fairly fast for me so I should try to get measurements for the other two neices that live in Missouri. I called my brother, their father and asked for his assistance with the task. He happily complied and provided me with measurements and the favorite color for each girl. While I was betting pink and purple for these two as well, they surprised me with the request for "strawberry" red and teal.

Red I know is red, teal is a bit trickier. It can be either blue-green or green-blue. I opted for a color called Peacock and hope I am right. It is really tough knitting for kids you do not get to see too often.

Those two cardis are slated for delivery before Easter and, current progress is, I have the body and one sleeve done, halfway through the second sleeve of the red one. Once it is loaded onto the very long circular for the lacy pattern part it is only about 40 rows of knitting left. It is a great project for the assembly-line style of knitting. The pieces can go back and forth to work with me and the larger project stays home for evening knit time.

I will take pics of the other two on needles as soon as I can. I hope everyone has something fun they are filling their time with! Happy hint 'o spring!

It's A Beginning: Officially...

After the gauge knitting with Mom over a week ago, I finally got the German cardi cast on. It all started yesterday morning when I realized that I was out of flower samples to knit and needed to start on some gift knitting. So I re-read and finished highlighting the cardi pattern. Then I cast on the requisite number of stitches for the body of the sweater and psyched myself up to do the seed stitch bands.

The reason I say "psyched" is because I have never had luck knitting the seed stitch pattern in the past. It does not matter if I read the pattern repeatedly, or knit very slowly and deliberately, I still end up with it looking wonky.

Yesterday I finally got it! The AHA! moment occurred when I read the pattern again. I fully expected to make the decision to substitute a garter border for my nemesis - the seed pattern. However, when I realized that something I have gotten good at is "reading" my knitting, I knew I had the seed stitch mastered.

The instructions read - "knit the purls and purl the knits." I started with that mantra in my head and had six perfect rows knit by the end of lunch. I am very pleased with myself and how it looks. I hope it looks good on the little girl it is intended for.

And in Pedro news, he is feeling better as far as I can tell. The doctor wants him to stay on the antibiotics for another week. It is getting more challenging to hide his meds in food that he will eat. He is such a smart cat. And while he is recuperating, he is assisting me at my beading table. He sits and watches me set up my "palette" and assemble the parts for the stitch markers. Of course, he has to reach out and try to take the finished items off the table. :-)

Best wishes to those who are trying to master the challenges in your life!