• alternate rib cast on
• knitting in the round
• grafting
• duplicate stitch (full charts included)

I've been on a mitt(en) knitting spree lately. In the last month, I've knit four pairs. Two of them for my kids (one pair for each kid) and two for me. Fair, right?

Both for both kid pairs, I used the Kveta Mitt pattern by Monika Sirna, just opted for different embellishments. For my daughter, I chose to crochet some flowers. Her mitts have fold over cuffs on both ends. The top cuff will cover her fingers when fully extended. They're not the best snow mittens, but they did a great job this fall keeping her tiny hands warm while still allowing her to play.

I finished Jack's Gathering Stripes last week and as predicted, he wanted to wear it on the hottest day we've had so far this year. I guess that means he likes it.

This little sweater has been languishing in my WIP pile since the beginning of June. I started it at the end of May, quickly made it through the body, promptly tossed it into the WIP basket and forgot about it. Oops! I'm not in a hurry to finish a long-sleeved, cowl neck sweater for my "always runs hot" 3 year old. By his own choice I'm sure he'll wear it constantly. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite understand dressing for the weather yet.

I ordered some custom buttons for it around the same time that I tossed this into the WIP basket, and when they arrived last week I was reminded that I should probably finish the sweater. It's another Gathering Stripes. Jack needs a decent sweater and since he likes stripes it seems like a perfect match. He picked the color combo, which reminds me of Superman.

I finished these adorable little legwarmers last week and despite our hot temps, they have already been worn a few times. My daughter loves them. She carries them to me and says "Mama, on" while flashing her sweet little smile. I can't say no.

One of my favorite designers was recently published in Knitty's First Fall 2013. I've already raved about Monika Sirna's Cabernet Series a few times, so I think you're all familiar with my love of her patterns. If you aren't, or you've never heard of Monika, please go check out her designs. They are amazing! Her patterns are incredibly well thought out, easy to follow and she is fantastic about answering questions, should you run in to any problems.

When Monika announced that her Nozky pattern was published in Knitty, I was beyond excited. I was not only excited for her (because, hello, how amazing is that?!), but also for the adorable little legwarmer pattern! I almost immediately cast on for a pair for my daughter. It doesn't hurt that there's also a KAL happening in Monika's group right now. You know how I feel about a KAL.

By a total stroke of luck, I received a yarn purchase in the mail the same day that Nozky was published. I had purchased a destash on Ravelry and due to a tiny hiccup in the transaction, Nicole very thoughtfully included a skein of Madelinetosh DK Twist in Sweetheart. I think I might have actually jumped up and down when I opened the box. Not only was the extra skein totally unexpected (and wayyy too nice of her), but the colors are to-die-for! I knew immediately that yarn was destined to become a pair of Nozky for Grace.


I know, I know, long post about little legwarmers, but my heart cannot contain all of the cute. I have to gush. Please excuse me.

I finished my Goldilocks yesterday! I even had enough time to block it and get some pictures before bedtime.

It was a quick knit once I made it past the first 10 rows. Getting started with the contiguous increases and the cable pattern required a lot of paying attention. As you can imagine, I don't get a lot of undistracted knitting time. Most of the time, my kids are with me when I'm knitting, which can lead to mistakes (like knitting instead of purling, or missing an increase). This sweet dress was completely worth the short-lived confusion. Grace even agrees!

Since my last post was about a sweater for my son, I figure it's only fair to dedicate this post to the dress I'm making for my daughter. I'm knitting her a Goldilocks by Justyna Lorkowska. Justyna is hosting a KAL in her group on Ravelry for Goldilocks through the end of July, if you want to join in the fun! There's also a great thread that offers some tips for the pattern.

The pattern offers instructions for two lengths - a tunic and a dress. I'm knitting the dress. Grace is at an age where her chest measurement will likely stay the same (or only fluctuate slightly) for the next few years, but she's going to get taller. For reference her brother is 2 years older, but his chest measurement is only an inch bigger. So as she grows, the dress will still fit, it will just become a tunic and then a t-shirt. If I played my cards right, she could really get three years of wear out of this. I know that's pretty optimistic, but it could happen!

I decided to use Malabrigo Sock. I'm in love. It is the softest sock yarn - it drapes beautifully (more than I thought it would!), it's really light, and it's machine washable. It doesn't get much better than that. Oh wait, it does because I'm using Light of Love. Light of Love is the most gorgeous orangey-pink. I'm almost tempted to knit myself a sweater or top out of it.

I only have the sleeves and bottom cable details to finish on the dress, so I'm hoping I can finish today or tomorrow!

What are you working on (knitting or otherwise)?

If you haven't entered this week's blogiversary giveaway, you can do that here!

If you take a look at my Ravelry projects page, you can see that I really like knitting for kids. [Sidenote: every project gets added there, not every project gets blogged, so if you really want to see what I'm up to, you can add me on Ravelry, too!] I admit, the projects are heavily biased towards my daughter. What can I say - the girly patterns are so much cuter! I think I might have knit 2 hats for my son, ever.

Jack is 3.5 and has a total opinion about what he wears everyday. If we're staying home, he insists on pajamas (and I don't mind!). If we're going anywhere (and I mean anywhere - grocery store, playground, post office), his first outfit choice is always a button-down dress shirt and corduroy pants. Even in 85 degree heat. Last week, I tried to get him to wear shorts with his dress shirt (one battle at a time) and that didn't go well. He wore the pants.

Needless to say, if I knit him something, I want to make sure he's going to wear it. For almost a year now, I've occasionally asked if he wants me to knit him something. The answer has always been "no". A few weeks ago, we had a familiar conversation - I told him that I really want to make something for him, he said no. I figured that was my effort for the time being and we'd revisit soon. Imagine my surprise when a few hours later we had this conversation:

"Mama, do you want to make me a sweater? I might like that."
"I would love to. What color do you want it to be?"
"....hmmm....ALL THE COLORS!"


The next day, I got out the appropriately stashed yarn and let him pick. He chose a really great, deep blue and red. The blue looks either navy or bright depending on the light. I'm making him a Gathering Stripes and he already loves it. "Mama, did you knit the third stripe yet? How about the fourth stripe? .... How many stripes does it have now?"


Last night I finished the body and in the next few days I'll do the sleeves. It'll be finished in just enough time for Summer to be in full swing. I really hope he doesn't want to wear it everyday.

I'll be back later today to announce the first blogiversary pattern winner and put up a new contest. Stay tuned!

As promised, here are the last of my Mad May projects. One of my best friends is pregnant with her first baby, a girl, due at the end of the summer. Since we had just attended a shower for our other close friend, Kelsey knew I was going to knit her something. She just had no idea what. I was happy to fulfill my duty as the friend that knits and make that something she knew was coming.

Her baby shower was last weekend. The shower was beautiful, though very pink! Not that I'm complaining, I love pink. In true Jenn fashion, I knit a pink sweater and matching hat. I know what you're thinking, but don't worry, the sweater is a 6-12 month size and the hat stretches a lot. Plus it gets cold where she lives in mid-September. Trust me, I thought about all of that. After having two winter babies and receiving beautiful summer clothes for them in newborn sizes, it's ingrained in me to pay attention to the seasons.

Over a year ago, I bought 2 skeins of Madelinetosh DK Twist in Faded Calico - this really beautiful dusty, pale pink with slight tan undertones. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but it was too beautiful to pass up. When Kelsey found out that she's expecting a girl, I knew immediately the Faded Calico had her name all over it.

There are a ton of great baby sweater and hat patterns out there, and I agonized about which one to use. I finally decided to knit a Baby Sophisticate. It's a classic sweater with a shawl collar and 4 buttons. It's simple enough not to be fussy (even if the baby is), and the collar/ button combo guarantee that it will fit over the baby's head easily. Mom won't even have to unbutton it if she doesn't want to. Maybe that's just my button-hating bias showing.

Since I went relatively simple and safe (read boring) with the sweater, I wanted something a bit more fun and feminine for the hat. As you all know, I'm pretty addicted to the Cabernet Series, so it should come as no surprise to hear that I made a Cabernet hat. This hat is so incredibly clever. The crown shaping is practically invisible in the Cabernet cable pattern. Sidenote: I can't wait to make one of these in my size!


Kelsey cried when she opened them, which I was really hoping to avoid, but I'm pretty sure that's the hallmark of a good gift. All in all, I'm really happy with how this sweet little set turned out. But more importantly, I can't wait to meet her baby girl. Is it August yet?

Project Details: 
Pattern: Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down; Cabernet Hat by Monika Sirna
Yarn: Madelinetosh DK Twist in Faded Calico
Needles: Us 4, US 6, US 8

About 6 weeks ago, I posted about the Kveta Hat that I had the opportunity to test knit for Monika Sirna. I also had the pleasure to test knit the matching cape, but I just realized that I never posted about it! Bad blogger...

The Kveta Cape is a sweet little accessory than any girl would love. I made another Kveta Hat to match the cape - because, really, who can resist? The cape has a lot more finishing than I typically go for, but it was well worth it. The pattern has you hand sew ribbon and snaps onto the ribbing for closure.

In my circle of friends, 2013 is the year of the baby (not to be confused with the year of the cicada. Which, coincidentally, is also this year). I have 5 friends due to have babies between the end of June and the end of August.

My childhood friend Lindsay's son is due first - scheduled to make his arrival at the end of June. Her mom and aunt threw her a lovely surprise baby shower last weekend, so now that she's successfully received the blanket, I can post it. I never know who reads here (and how often), but I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the blanket, but I really, really didn't want to ruin the surprise of the shower. And trust me, she was surprised!

I saw the Chevron Baby Blanket by Purl Soho sometime last year and fell in love. I was just waiting for a new little baby to knit it for. I knit it in KnitPicks Comfy Worsted. I used that for my daughter's baby blanket over a year and a half ago. It's holding up beautifully, despite being dragged around, played with, slept with nightly, and just plain loved. Comfy Worsted is a 75% Pima cotton, 25% acrylic blend, so it's machine washable and dryable, and super soft. It's my go-to baby blanket yarn. It doesn't hurt that I can knit a massive baby blanket for less than $40 (as opposed to $120 for the Blue Sky Alpaca recommended in the pattern). I used just about 1300 yards - I told you, it's massive for a baby blanket - approximately 36"x 48". Yeah, huge.


I opted to do 3 large stripes of color instead of the 7 called for. You can read more of my project notes here. If I was going to knit this pattern again, I would definitely cast on more stitches to begin with. This blanket came out pretty tall and skinny before blocking. I tried my best to block it into a more desirable shape, but I have no idea what it will look like after it's machine washed.


I hope this blanket sees lots of playtime and sleeptime. I hope it sees happiness along with the inevitable baby tears; I hope it's a source of comfort. I hope it gets used enough that it gets casually tossed on a chair or the couch instead of carefully folded and put away. Put away means it's never used. I want it to get dragged around, I want it to get dirty, I want it to be loved. I hope my dear friend knows just how much love went in to every stitch for her precious new baby boy. I can't wait to meet him.


Project Details: 
Pattern: Chevron Baby Blanket by Purl Soho
Yarn: KnitPicks Comfy Worsted in Whisker, Sky Blue, and Ivory
Needles: US 11 (8mm) and US 17 (12.75mm) for the bind-off

I had the pleasure of test knitting the Kveta Hat for Monika (mdcim on Ravelry) last month. It's an adorable floral hat, perfect for chilly spring days. I made the small size for my 15 month old daughter and she loves it.  She digs it out of our winter-wear basket and carries it around, begging for me to put it on her (despite what her look says).

The hat is cleverly knit inside out (no purling after the ribbing!) and then the flowers sewn on. I opted to crochet the flowers for this hat for a few reasons - 1. I really hate i-cord; 2. crocheting is faster; and 3. I have that pesky little goal of actually crocheting something this year.

Grace is a little rough on her hat and a few flowers have already come loose, despite my thorough weaving in of the ends. Oh so many ends! I had 33 flowers in all and could have used more. I think I ended up with 37 ends total after you count the brim and hat body. I'm going to have to go back and either re-secure the flowers or just embroider some directly on the hat. If you look closely at the photo below, I'm sure you can see some rogue ends poking out.


Either way, she loves it. Last week she learned the word "hat" and now she yells for her hat while excitedly patting her head.

I used Cascade 220 for the brim and some of my hand-dyed yarn for the body. The flowers are all scraps of fingering weight yarn I have from previous projects. Next time I knit this (yes, there will definitely be a next time), I'll use DK-worsted weight for the flowers to make them more substantial. Hopefully then I won't have so many ends to weave in.

To go along with WIP Wednesday, I thought I'd do a FO Friday post too. I finished my daughter's Tiny Rocky Coast earlier this week, just in time for the warmer Spring weather. Here she is rocking out in her (Tiny) Rocky Coast.

Since it's essentially the same pattern as the Rocky Coast, just on a smaller scale, I have a lot of the same notes. Namely, size up (seriously), learn to cable without a cable needle, and use more stitch markers than you think you need.

1. On the size - my daughter is 15 months old, her measurements suggest that she could fit into the 12 month size, but I knew I wanted it a little bit big so she has some room to grow. I also know that you're supposed to knit a few inches of ease into the sweater. Armed with that info, I opted to knit the size 2, though I lengthened the body and sleeves by .5" each. Now that it's finished, I probably could have (and should have) knit the 4 and been totally fine. Also, apparently my gauge swatch telling me the 2 would be big was a lie. My kid did not grow several inches and gain several pounds in the 3 weeks it took me to knit this.
2. On the cable needle - it might seem scary, but it's not. You save a ton of time cabling without one. It's totally worth it to learn the technique. Practice on the swatch if you're nervous. But really, it's not that bad.
3. On stitch markers - I ended up using stitch markers to note where to do the raglan increases, but also where to start and end the cable repeats within each section (front, sleeve, back, sleeve, front). It saved a lot of headaches (and a lot of counting) to be able to see how many stitches I had and whether that was enough for another cable repeat or not. I used different colored markers for the cable repeats (green) and raglan increases (purple).

I'm also not amused by the white fur everywhere, all the time (both labs and beagles tend to shed a lot). I'm really not amused by it after I've spent a half hour taking pictures of some knitting, uploaded and started editing the pictures before realizing that there is dog fur all over the garments. Grrr...

That's exactly what happened yesterday while trying to take some progress shots of my Tiny Rocky Coast. The deep plum is a great choice for a toddler sweater (it won't show stains very easily), unless she lives with a white dog. I've apparently also knit a lot of dog fur into the sweater. That was fun to pick out, since the lint roller didn't get it all.

How many (active) WIPs do you have at any given time? Is it weird that I only work on one or two at a time?

First of all how is it March already?! 2013 needs to slow down a bit!

At 10 o'clock last night I had a fit of "I don't want to work on any of my current WIPs." So, I cast on for a Tiny Rocky Coast for Grace, my 14 month old daughter. Apparently, I can't get enough of Hannah Fettig's patterns. I wasn't planning to start this sweater just yet, since I have a few other WIPs with actual deadlines and a test knit in progress. I just can't resist the tiny knits! At least they're quick, right?

The only drawback (which really isn't that big of a deal) to knitting this now instead of in the fall is that she's going to grow over the summer. It's already March, and although it's currently snowing, hopefully the cold weather won't last much longer. Ideally, I want the sweater to fit now and next fall. However, all bets are off when it comes to kids and growth spurts. I'm planning to knit the size 2, which should give her plenty of growing room. Depending on how it looks as I'm knitting, I may opt to make the body and sleeves longer. It's so easy to turn up ribbed cuffs and making them longer will allow more room to grow. The nice thing about the Tiny Rocky Cost, like the adult version is that it's open in the front. So a perfect fit is less of an issue.



I got some Cascade Yarns Heritage sock yarn for my birthday that I'm planning to use. It's a deep plum color and will be so pretty on her. It's a superwash merino and nylon blend, which should be perfect for a kids' knit.

Is there a particular designer (or type of design) that you just can't get enough of? What are you working on? Any tiny knits? 

Happy knitting!

Happy Friday!

I'm really excited for today's FO Friday. Maybe because it's the first time I've actually finished something in time for FO Friday? Or maybe it's because they're super tiny and cute. I'm a sucker for anything tiny - tiny knits are no exception.

Last week, Purl Bee published this adorable little mitten pattern. I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to make them. It took me a few days to free my needles from other projects and cast on. Like all tiny knits, it was a super fast project. A couple of hours at most. The worst part? All that i-cord and weaving in the ends.

I did alter the pattern a bit, since Grace is now 10 months old and the pattern says it should fit 3-9 months. I cast on 36 stitches and knit a few extra rows before the decreases, including an extra contrast color row. The i-cord is a genius way to make sure you have both mittens at all times. I just thread it through her coat sleeves and bam, attached mittens. Perfect.



Yarn is all Knit Picks - Palette in Silver & Stroll Hand-Paint in Dolly. It might be hard to tell, but the stripes are variegated in shades of pink and purple due to Dolly's hand-painted-ness (yeah, I made up a word, whatever).

Happy weekend, all!