Oatmeal raglan for William

It seems I don't knit enough for my little guy. This is especially apparent when he reaches into his sister's hat bin and pulls on a hat I've made for her as his first choice hat. I was glad to finally have the chance to knit him his own sweater, in a natural oatmeal color that he can wear with just about anything.

The pattern is from Jane Richmond. I used four skeins of Debbie Bliss Rialto to make it. When William tries it on, he likes the softness of it, and shows me by rubbing his hands over his tummy and saying "soft". I like the fact that it's machine washable, a must for little boys' clothing. I'm looking forward to watching him wear it in September when we go apple picking and for those walks when the autumn air is crisp.

Beret for tea leaves

After knitting Savannah's tea leaves sweater, I had enough yarn leftover to make something else. Since Savannah already has a favorite winter hat, I wanted to make her a beret. She's young enough to get away with wearing a beret and I think the colors look great against her shiny blonde hair.

This simple pattern is available for free on www.ravelry.com by Amy Rose, called the Adah beret. I knit it in the same yarn as her sweater, my favorite Malabrigo merino. I hope she'll wear it this winter on occasion with when her favorite owl hat, but it's pretty hard to get her to wear anything else on her head.

Tea leaves sweater in ocean palette

 

I forget exactly how I began knitting this sweater. It wasn't planned. I had five minutes to grab a pattern and some yarn before taking the kids to an indoor bounce house to play during our terrible heat wave (upper 90s for a week) so I would have something to do for two hours while they got their energy out (parents aren't allowed to jump).

So using some leftover Malabrigo merino (my favorite for its soft, squooshy, warmth) I knitted this up in size 8 for my daughter. The colors are marine colors for her love of all things oceanic and piratical - emerald green trim and bobby blue for the main color. She chose the buttons herself from our button collection. None of the buttons match exactly but they are all the same size and same dark navy color.

Most importantly, she loves it. It is soft and in her favorite color - she loves all things blue. And, I finished the pattern from start to finish without wasting anything or procrastinating. (This is something I'm always working on!)

I'm glad that she likes it. I can't wait to see her wear it under a long-sleeved shirt or turtle neck this fall.

The Tiny Tea Leaves pattern is available on Madelinetosh by Melissa LaBarre or on ravelry. There's also an adult version of this sweater, which is the original version.

Owl skirt

My daughter is currently in love with Kathryn Lasky's series, the Owls of Ga'Hoole, so owls are frequently on her mind. For Easter I made her an owl skirt. Every year we set out our Easter baskets the night before Easter and after the children go to bed, I tell them I place one or two small mommy-made gifts inside then go to bed so the Easter bunny can fill them up the rest of the way. I like that long after their baskets have been reduced to piles of candy wrappers, the mommy-made things remain.

The fabric is Robert Kaufman's Urban Zoologie, Owls. It's a fun print and in her favorite color of blue. Nearly everywhere she's worn her skirt, she's received compliments on it. There's a spacious side pocket that she's already filled up with pine cones, leaves, and acorns. It's always an adventure sticking my hands in the pockets of her clothes before tossing them into the washing machine; never know what I might find there!

I embroidered an owl on a shirt that matches the skirt, but she has two other coordinating shirts with this print and two coordinating sweaters, which is convenient. It also matches her owl hat. This skirt should fit her for at least two years with the elastic waist band, but if we tire of it, we can always find another use for the fabric and recreate it as something else. For now, we think the owls are super cute!