Katja finished!

Once again I've managed to fall behind in my posting. I've been knitting and obsessing about yarn, but I think it's a reaction to being a bit stressed out and not just for the love of knitting. I have a huge pile of grading that I am making almost no progress on and I am in charge of one of my department's signature events which is happening next Tuesday (yikes!).

Anyway, here is my Katja (ravelry link), which I actually finished knitting in December and did the seaming in January. The pattern is here. I just finally got RJ to pose for some photos:

I used mostly Dale of Norway Svale, a blend of cotton, silk and rayon. It's perfect for a summer top. I liked it even though it was a bit splitty, because it looks just a touch shimmery and luscious when knit. The lighter mauve was a small bit of silk yarn that someone gifted me and I think it adds a bit of interest to the top. I just bought her striped bicycle shorts and flowered leggings that can be worn under, although it looks cute with jeans too.

I found the pattern really easy and cute, and think it fits RJ fairly well. However, in full disclosure I knit the 12 month size for my 2-year-old, which may have alleviated some of the bagginess issues others have had (according to Ravelry notes, anyway). Partly that was a conscious choice based on my daughter's size, and partly it's because I'm a slow knitter (or too busy with other things, probably both). I then added A LOT to the bottom, so it would be more of a tunic top and fit my long, skinny girl. The bottom edge is a bit tight, so next time I will bind off more loosely, or use a stretchy bind-off. I am happy enough with it that I plan to make another, but in a larger size for next year.

Birthday Exhaustion

The reason it has take me so long to post is that we have just ended our one month of birthday celebrating at my house. My husband's birthday is February 16th, mine is March 12th, and RJ's is March 13th. It seems like there has been nonstop celebrating and planning since forever, but that's mostly because I planned parties for both my husband and RJ. So, this Saturday was the overblown, kid-centered, party for RJ's second birthday. The theme was "Old MacDonald" so I was generally going for anything farm-related. There was a bounce house (which had palm trees and was not farm-themed, but oh well), rented tables and chairs, animal cupcakes (sheep, cows, pigs, & chicks), and balloons.

I sewed RJ a little shirt out of red gingham and had hairbows made in cow print with a red accents. Here she is modeling the shirt I sewed. Sadly, the hairbows kept falling out in the bounce house. Boy, does that girl love to bounce!

I got flowers at the farmer's market and made flower arrangements in small galvanized pails and watering cans.

I don't want to bore you with photos of everything, but it was pretty much out-of-control crafting. I made bean bags from felt for a bean bag toss (which we never got to, the kids refused to leave the bounce for anything but food). There were goody bags decorated with a hot glue gun, ribbon, and scrapbook paper with horses on it. There was also a pig pinata and tons of food, most made from scratch. We had over 20 kids show up and at least as many parents. Thankfully the work was worth it and it was a big success (according to the guests and the guest of honor), and now I am exhausted. I have done some knitting these past couple weeks whenever I could squeeze it in. I also want to post about an FO I finished over a month ago for which I finally got some modeled photos. More on that next week, after a restful and hopefully uneventful weekend.

Going for the Gold!

Thanks for all the mohair input. Once I finish another project or two I'll go ahead and start it.

Sorry for taking so long to update on my Ravelympics results. Look over there in the sidebar. Do you see them? Yep, those are my medals. It took awhile to get around to posting since my team started celebrating after the medals ceremony (Team Motherhood Later on Ravelry). We must have gotten a little carried away, and some of us may have, ahem, passed out behind stadium. Anyway, now that I've recuperated from the celebration I can finally post about my two projects. The project that took up most of the 17 days was my Linh's Ivy scarf. It turned out great and I got a gold in the Scarf Super G! Here I am modeling the day after I finished. Yes, I am aware that there is palm tree behind. Trust me, it was chilly don't let the palm tree fool you.

I was also able to quickly finish another Ballband dishcloth for holiday gifts for RJ's daycare providers. Four down and two to go! I finished just in time and got another gold in Holiday Jump-Start Skiing.

Woohoo for double medaling! Most importantly I feel like I can actually finish a bigger knitting project (well, bigger than a dishcloth) in less than six months. I am feeling inspired to keep giving myself Ravelympics-like goals. For my next project I plan to finish RJ's new Anouk in time for Easter. The Anouk was my fallen project for the Ravelympics, and I've now fixed it and caught up to where I was before. I only have about 3 weeks, but I think I can do it!