Thursday, August 01, 2013

preppy

Our little guy will be rocking a wee sweater vest this autumn:

pattern: tiny trees baby vest, by Kylie Bates
yarn: Valley Yarns Superwash DK, 1 skein (137 yds.)
needles: Clover US 7 bamboo 16" circs
size: 0-3 months

notes:
The yarn came from a giveaway on Suze's blog, Mad Knitting, a while ago. I used the first two skeins to knit Babe in the Woods (which still needs buttons but is otherwise complete), and the lone last skein was just enough for this tiny vest. It's very soft and cozy, but has a tendency to stretch (as superwash is wont to do). That doesn't bother me with baby knits, but I'm not sure I'd use it for a sweater for me. I might actually prefer it to Knit Picks Swish, the superwash I use for baby shower knits all the time. Hey, if it's a gift and I'm not sure that the recipients are used to washing wool, I'm not breaking out the Madelinetosh -- that's all I'm saying.


The pattern is easy and would be good for a newbie knitter, though it does call for you to kitchener stitch the shoulder straps together (though honestly you'd be fine just binding off and seaming, and it would probably give the straps a little more structure).

Hmmm... I'm also working on a new crochet afghan using Cherry Heart's free Rosie Posie Granny Square tutorial. I love the look of the round centers, but magic rings make me a little nuts. This pattern is reminiscent of Posie Gets Cozy's Sunshine Day afghan. I broke my yarn-buying embargo to acquire enough yarn for the afghan, and I'm loving the colors so far! This was a go-big-or-go-home Knit Picks order, so I also picked up yarn for these adorable moc-a-soc booties and aranami.
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Chicago's heat wave broke last week, and I've been so thankful. My Nordic blood can't handle heat and humidity, and I turn into a total sloth when the mercury hits 90. A crabby sloth, at that.
Now that it has cooled off our garden is perking up again (as am I, despite being seven months pregnant and feeling ungainly). I picked some basil tonight and tried Nicole's new recipe for mozzarella and basil bread. Mine doesn't look nearly as pretty as hers (note to self: thoroughly flour both the board and your hands before kneading so that you can shape a nice ball), but it is delicious. That said, it doesn't hold a candle to my mom's dilly bread (a yeast bread made with dill and cottage cheese -- I'll have to post the recipe sometime soon, esp. since there's a bumper crop of dill in my herb garden).

5 comments:

Tracy Altieri said...

Sweet little vest! The heat has broken in Central NY as well, and MY Nordic blood is grateful also!

Happy Weekend!

Caffeine Girl said...

That vest is just the cutest thing.

I also hate heat. It's been amazingly cool in Madison lately.

Mia said...

The vest is really cute! And I love the crochet blanket. I may have to break down and get yarn now. But I should probably clear out some of the stash and the UFOs. Yuck, Time to decide keep or frog and find new homes for some of the UFOs.

And the heat is horrid for everyone. We have been lucky and had much cooler weather than normal for late July and August. And although it has meant not as much is ripening, canning season is on. Peaches are in and finding flavor combos is fun.

Hilary said...

Aaaaah, baby vest!! So cute!! (Vests are great for babies, btw. I wish I'd had more when Daniel was teeny.) And my goodness, I don't know how you handled the heat being 7 months pregnant! I was lucky that D was born in March, so those last few months were very cool. I cannot even imagine being in my third trimester during the summer. Anyway...I'm glad it's cooled down now!

Rue said...

Super cute vest! I'll have to remember that pattern.

The bread still looks delicious, and worth getting some more basil - our plants are about done for the season.