A few more things from Christmas

Yes, I know February is almost over and it is therefore not time to talk about Christmas, but I never really did a post on the finished objects (and the unfinished ones), so here we go anyway!

My favorite first… the doll bed! I ordered the Jenny Lind doll bed in the Land of Nod black Friday sale, and it was a great deal but yes it was a special treat item and I could have gotten a perfectly nice doll bed from Ikea for $19. But, I fell in love. I had to buy it, and make tiny sheets for it, and tiny pillow cases, and duvets and best of all tiny quilts – and I plan to make some tiny knitted throw blankets for it too. I love miniatures, and making accessories for this little thing has been so much fun. Best of all though, K loves it! She ran right for it on Christmas morning and loves to tuck her little monkeys into bed and read them bedtime stories and whispers “go to sleep now monkey, mommy said it’s sleep time right now, sleep well, love you” and give them good night kisses.

 It also is a pretty close match for the bed K is getting (when I finish it, ahem), but if you get the Jenny Lind bed from Land of Nod your little can actually have their bed and the doll med match exactly too and that’s pretty sweet.

 

The little rosebud sheets match one of K’s sheet sets too (made them out of an extra flat sheet), and the little colorful quilt is a mini of on my mom made for her. The duvet will be a mini of her duvet when I find the right eyelet lace to add in strips.

I also made these little boots for the softies, and I loved them, so I made a second pair and stitched them together with some velvet ribbon as an ornament.

 I’ve been working on this ornament kit for years now, and this year I finished the snowflake and made progress on the little bed but it still isn’t done yet (mostly because I made some modifications – one side is as written in the pattern and the other side is a surprise!).

I did finish the little Christmas quilt (because it is little, and was machine quilted) but I did not finish hand quilting the bigger one and I think I’m actually just going to pack it away for a while because I’m ready to knit and think of spring things. It’s been fun, but it is very Christmas-y so I’ll pick it up again later.

I actually did not do any Christmas knitting at all this year, unintentionally. I feel like there should some knitting in here somewhere. Next year.

Rivendell

I started a bigger version of K’s Fisherman Sweater in January and with some tweaking of the sizing I think it’s going to last her a year or two like the last one (I hope!). I didn’t make it as wide as I probably should have – this is actually the 12 month size from the pattern but with 4 stitches added to the front and back in the seed stitch (8 total added) and I’m working it in the round instead of pieced to that adds a stitch or so on each side and some stretch.

Normally a cabled sweater like this needs to be pieced since the seams help provide structure for the heavier garment, but since it’s so small I decided to save myself the trouble. I am using bigger needles than called for too (6s for the ribbing, 7s for the body of it) so that sizes it up as well. I’m doing all the sizing for it custom based on the original gray one she’s been wearing for two years, and by comparing to her clothes that fit best.

The main differences between this and the gray one are the length (much longer this time – I’ll have to measure to compare), and I changed up the cable pattern a bit to give it more of a Celtic knot look. I’m also turning the side cables every 6 rows instead of every 3 rows as written in the pattern (I did this on the gray one too). I love the original as written, but it’s fun to have a change this time.

I started re-reading A Wrinkle in Time in January too, in advance of the movie coming later this year, and the fact that I’m still reading it is a testament to how little reading time there has been the last few months. I used to get to read a bit while K was napping but she is a MAJOR nap rebel now and naps have become the exception rather than the rule. It’s frustrating, since I do think she still needs a nap at this age, but I can’t actually make her sleep, so that’s that. On the upside, she is sleeping much better at night.

Some more pictures of the gray version here (I can't believe these are only from September, she has grown so much!).

Knitting and reading with G Sheller

Valentines

This sweet girl had so much festive fun for Valentine’s Day! Favorite parts included decorating monster cupcakes (totally her idea, I just gave free reign of the sprinkles and she make little pink and red monsters and I looove them), making valentines for everyone, and shaking this foil balloon around (this was a solid hour of entertainment AND the balloon is still going strong – shocked. Isn’t this red jumper gorgeous? A friend made it for her (I’m not sure of the pattern but the yarn is Madelinetosh DK in Tart). I haven’t been able to snap a picture of it on her yet but I hope to soon.

We had a fun day together, and more family time and an amazing dinner (which was eaten too quickly to be photographed) when G got home.

Pink crayons and paper scraps

It took our household a loooong time to let go of Christmas this year because someone really loves holidays. In mid-January when we were packing up the decorations and K was sad to see them go, I started explaining Valentine’s day to her. I told her Valentine’s day is about crafts and chocolate. We’ll color and do crafts, give people cards, and eat chocolates, I said – sold!

For the last week or so she has been talking everyday about wanting to make valentines for everybody, and today we finally did. As she was coloring so carefully, she kept saying “I just want make this valentine sooo special!” and she really did. We have some more to make tomorrow but the ones from today are precious. She put such care into them and was so proud to hand them out.

It is super sweet living with someone for whom every holiday is as special as the next – lots more crafting and baking to do!

Winter Waves

Well, that’s January done already, isn’t it? We’ve been busy with mundanity and I don’t have a whole lot of crafting or updates to show for the month, but it was cozy and we enjoyed time together.

In mid-January we went out to the coast for a weekend and it was lovely – cold but clear. These pictures are from a sunrise on first beach, with the wind coming down off the headlands sweeping the waves back as they rolled in. The arc of the windblown spray trailing behind the waves brought an image to mind clear as crystal but I have no idea where it’s from (a book? An old cartoon?) of stormy sea spray like this depicted as ghostly silver horses running in the waves.

Other miscellaneous thoughts: I think this weekend we will get started on our valentines making and baking, because why not fill cold wet winter days with any and all festivity? I am looking forward to the super bowl exclusively because when it’s over, This Is Us will be on. I started a sweater for K but I think it’s too small and I might have to rip it out but I don’t want to so I keep working on it anyway (denial much? Ugh. I really do need to slip it onto some waste yarn and try it on her).