top down knitting

i think that i have decided that i will only knit top-down sweaters - i love that they are seamless and take shape right as you work on them.  i still have the pieces of a cowl neck sweater that i finished two years ago and have not seamed.  (i know - really lame, but i also need to pick up and knit a cowl neck).

ellie's tea leaves was top down as was this great little knit shirt that i made her.  and, also a swingy little jacket.  come to think of it - pretty much everything i finished in the past year was top down.

i am almost finished with a top down project for myself.  and, i just bought this new book, that i am very excited about.

the patterns look so great - i am very excited to dig in!

making do

this weekend we had a birthday party to go to.  naturally, i had not purchased a gift ahead of time and we found ourselves in office depot realizing that was the only place we were going to be before the party.  but, what do you get a 5-year old at office depot?!

a kindergarten readiness bag, of course!  notebook, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpener, scissors, and some colored pencils.
 

since i messed up and the party was on sunday and not saturday like i thought, i even had time to make a personalized tote.

all in all, i think that it worked out alright.  maybe office depot will remain our go-to birthday store- we'll see.

getting back on it!

oops, ok, so small break...

anyway, i am getting back on it - lots of knitting and sewing going on here.  a few things to share, but need pictures.  in the meantime, i will start with just one quick shot of my planned projects.

i recently subscribed to ottobre because i kept hearing/reading such wonderful things about the patterns, especially for little boys.  my first issues arrived while i was on vacation.  i have been having so much fun flipping through.  combine that with a sale at my favorite local fabric sale and boom - i am getting back on it!  i have big plans - the most exciting of which is to tackle knits.  i'll keep you posted.

ellie's tiny tea leaves

it is done and i really like it.  i finally sewed on the buttons and sent ellie off to school in her new tea leaves cardigan. i am sure that i will make more of these - definitely thinking about a short-sleeved version.

i really like the buttons - they are hard to see, but have little tiny flowers on them.  very sweet.

now i am really torn- i was thinking of starting the february lady sweater while we are away, but i am thinking now that i might just need to do another tea leaves for me.  the shalom is in progress, but i made a mistake and am trying to decide whether to tear out several rows or soldier on.  currently leaning toward the latter, but we will see...

knitting for me

i am almost finished with ellie's tiny tea leaves sweater.  hopefully. i'll be through with it by the end of the week.  i really like how it is turning out.

i think that my next project will be for me - i have three cardigans that i am thinking about getting started. i am leaning toward the febraury lady sweater. 

but, i might aloso start on my own tea leaves cardigan or the sofia cardigan by cocoknits.  then, of course, there is the shalom. 

so many choices, so little time - good thing that vacation is coming up!

any recommendations on which to cast on?