Joshua

Here's the back of Joshua's Argyle vest.

I'm using Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino and the pattern is from the Special Knits book. I'm making the 6-9 month size, which is pretty big for him, so he should be able to wear it all through football season. (The vest just happens to be in GA Tech colors.)
We hit a milestone yesterday with Joshua finally cutting his first tooth. He's had a rough day today and his gums are pretty swollen, so he might cut the second tooth very soon. (Or it could just keep bothering him for a few more months.) I'm actually sad about the whole thing; I'm going to miss his big gummy grins.
Here's his latest trick:

sitting up by himself

Cinderella

Charlotte has become a big Cinderella fan lately, so she is quite pleased to now have her very own "Cinderella" sweater.

The fact that it's blue with ruffly sleeves is all the similarity she needs.

The front of Cecile is finished.

I've started seaming this tank, so Charlotte should have another wardrobe addition very soon.

Sugar 'N Spice

Sugar 'N Spice is finished.

This is a Minnowknits pattern, and the yarn is Mission Falls Cotton in Skye. I used the two year old sizing for the width of the sweater and the four year old sizing for the length. Also the bottom of the sweater is supposed to be hemmed. I didn't realize this when I was knitting the front and back, so I assumed the instructions were wrong and knitted the whole thing in stockinette stitch. Since I didn't have a hem to keep the bottom from rolling, I added a row of single crochet. This pattern is labeled as a Quick Knit; it only took three days to knit all the pieces. The sewing and finishing only took a couple of nights, so this whole sweater could have been completed in less than a week. I was worried about running out of yarn, but ended up having just enough.

This is the two feet of extra yarn I had left.

Here's the button Charlotte chose for the back.

Charlotte went to bed before I finished the sweater, so no model shots until tomorrow.

Here's the left front of Spring Fling.

I changed the pattern to make the lace line up with the ribbing like it does on the back.

I was on Amazon the other day when I came across these. Does anyone remember the Steve Martin movie The Jerk? Couldn't you see all of the people who use these going cross eyed?

Knitting Meeting

It was a fun and productive night at the knitting meetup. Lousy weather kept the turnout low, but we still had two new people show up. I worked on a tank top for Charlotte, and here's the back.

The pattern is Cecile from Bouton d'Or layette and junior #12, and the yarn is Ice Blue Cotton Ease.

Sugar 'n Spice also received some attention and now has an attached sleeve and side seam.

A couple more seams, a button, and a crochet edging and this one will be done.

Happy Father's Day

One of our gifts to Michael was washing the car.

In knitting news, here's the back of my spring fling sweater.

Mike loves this project because the pattern was free and the wool cotton was already in the stash.

Sewing Lessons

Most of the ladies in my craft group are seamstresses so it was only a matter of time before I started sewing as well. Kristy decided to take me under her wing, and the two of us went shopping for a pattern and fabric last week. I decided to make a tank top and capris for Charlotte using some strawberry fabric for the top and red for the bottom.

We've had one sewing session so far, and here's the result:

Don't worry; it'll be a while before I trade in my knitting needles for the sewing machine. I think I only sewed one shoulder seam on this whole tank! I did cut the fabric and do about half of the pressing, but I need to practice with my machine a lot before our next session if I'm going to get straight seams. I do understand sewing patterns and how to operate my machine better, so I'm learning a little bit.
Charlotte now gets punished for telling Michael or me "NO!", so she's come up with some even more disagreeable alternatives. For instance, Michael asked her to clean her room. "I'm not supposed to clean my room," she replied. Or when I asked her to sit down for dinner, she said, "I not think so".

Joshua's Socks

Diana was wondering "how many [Joshua socks I] could make in the time it takes to make one big sock for Michael". Well, it turns out that I can get get through eight pairs of Joshua socks in the time it takes to make one pair for Michael. Here's my son's first pair.

I used the Better Than Booties Cable Rib sock pattern and the Elann Sock It Too Me yarn in the spiced blues colorway. The only change I made was to lenghten the foot by four rows so that he'd be able to wear them longer. And just because he's so cute, here's another Joshua picture.

Last week I received a mug and a Barnes and Noble gift certificate from my Sunday School Secret Pal. Mike watched the kids on Saturday, while I grabbed some coffee and picked out a book. Here's what i ended up with:

Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Little Cherubs and the current Vogue Knitting.

Thank you, Eileen!

Here are the beautiful stitch markers my Bead It Two partner sent me.

Thanks again Eileen!

Blog Break

VBS is really wearing me out, so there won't be any more posts this week. I'll be back on Monday.

Water Works

We spent Saturday at the Botanical Gardens for the second weekend of Water Works. Charlotte had fun playing in some of the new attractions such as the Wacky Waterbrella and the Kid Carwash.

The Carwash also featured a bubble machine.

She also enjoyed a couple of her favorites from last year- the Rock Garden

and the Psychedelic Sloshy Saucer.

Joshua stayed cool in the shade

while I took the opportunity to try out my new bucket hat.

This was made fom Bonne Marie's pattern, was knitted on size 3 and 7 needles, and used two balls of ASC in Jaunty. I made the medium size.
I'm teaching Vacation Bible School all this week, so I'm a little short on time. If I owe you an email, I'll try to send it out by this weekend.

"Got one sock,
looking for the other
Got one sock,
Looking for its brother.
When I find that sock
You know what I'll do.
I'll put it on my foot
And I'll stick it in my shoe."
-My apologizes to Louis Sachar if I've misquoted him. It's been a few years since I read the Wayside books. And yes, the kids hear this song every day while I put on their socks and shoes.

Beading

Here is one of the stitch markers I made for the Bead It Two exchange.

(The bead at the bottom is a little mouse.)

I really hope she likes them.