purpley, velvety, girly



garter stitch baby cardigan - store pattern from A Good Yarn
(modified to look like the Matinee Jacket in Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino 2 book)
in Koigu with velvet ribbon tie

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Gotta have a special project for the ride to Rhinebeck. And it's got to be a new project for the baby, right? And what could be more perfect for the baby than this pink/purple speckled Koigu?

Koigu P703

I'm making a simple garter stitch baby cardigan that we have as a store pattern. (It looks sort of like this Debbie Bliss Garter Stitch Jacket but in a finer gauge. I'm thinking of running a ribbon through it like Debbie Bliss does in this little matinee coat from her Baby Cashmerino 2 book.) Our sample is knit up in a yellowy-orange speckled Koigu and every week when I go to work, I think, that is just one cute infant sweater. So I caved.

I love the subtle pink hue behind all those fun purple blotches. And, of course, the occasional bright blue speckles are my favorites!

See you at Rhinebeck in my purple sweater, knitting the baby's purple sweater....

Back from Rhinebeck where it was all about Socks that Rock and being a square. And I didn't participate in either.

I just wanted to run by and yell, "don't believe the hype!"

This was the line at the Socks that Rock stand about 15 minutes after the fairgrounds opened: 30 people, each with at least 5 skeins in their arms. And supposedly the line stayed like that all day. Crazy!

After checking out the STR insanity, we moved on to things I really wanted to get. Like Jamie Harmon's amazing hand-dyed angora. Last year I got her angora to make this funky hat. This year I got yarn to make this little baby hat for wee one on the way.

this is soooooo soft!

And I picked up some extra in the same colors to make a hat for me too. Awwww. Then it was on to another favorite: Shelridge Farm, where I was reminded of a cutie patootie baby bonnet pattern of theirs that Lisa, Johanna and I fell in love with last year.

Lucy Neatby's Domino Baby Bonnet

I've got some Lorna's at home that'll be perfect for it! I did still pick up some Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra for a tiny, lacy sweater for wee one to wear home from the hospital. And a skein of their worsted weight for a design idea. I couldn't find a sweater of theirs that I was desperate to make, so I'll just have to make one of my own!

And then we drifted....

I found this so funny, I kept repeating this title all day long. Just ask Johanna!

love that color - and it's not even yarn yet

sweest baby hat at the fair

Kate Gilbert's baby was in the best baby sweater at the fair, by the way. I didn't get a pic because I only caught a glimpse of her at the knitblogger meetup which was a mob scene. Oh and no, I'm not a square (sorry, Rhinebeck Bingo players). I am lame.

price list at the cashmere stand - check out that last item

a super bulky Kate

After about 6 hours at the fair, we spent about 4 hours at Morehouse Merino's shop. Here's what I got...

naaah, this is the sale yarn in the store - cool, huh?

We shopped, ate a ton free refreshments (we are pregnant, you know!), then Johanna and I grabbed a sofa by the laceweight and sat and knitted and told everyone we saw to knit a lace shawl like my Melody's shawl. (Look for me, Jess and Maya to be making the exact same shawl in the near future!)

making babies, selling laceweight

Finally, it was off to the Marriott to meet up with lots of knitbloggers and knitbuds for a knitting and spinning party in the lobby.

a couple of my all-time favorite people, Leigh and Sandy

I worked on my garter stitch baby sweater, getting all the way to the front panels.

she came home almost all done - watch for the finished pics soon!

And last, but not least, we stopped by Colorful Stitches in Lenox on the way home on Sunday to check out a little sale we heard they had going on. I got two baby sweaters' worth of yarn (one in Jaeger Matchmaker DK, one in Mission Falls 1824 Wool) for a total of $26!

thanks Peta for the tip!

And then we came home and showed all our loot to the Knitsmiths. Cause no one else would really understand.

My project Rhinebeck baby sweater was almost done - just a little picot edging to do - and I had a good bit of Koigu leftover from the last skein, soooo I thought some matching booties would be perfect. I searched for a good all garter stitch pattern and serendipitously found Kelley's post on the Baby Bumpers blog with Debbie Bliss' garter stitch booties from her Quick Baby Knits book. Hey, I've even got that book - awesome!

I cast on, knit, knit, knit (okay, I'm getting bored with the garter stitch) and it's coming out humongous. So I decided to put the bootie on hold for a bit and start the picot edging on the sweater. Then I find that the edging, in additon to taking forever to do, is eating up yarn like, well, like I eat up stuff these days really.

So bye bye bootie. I pick pretty picot over a big bootay any day!

wide shot

closer....

picot and ribbon

Oh my, that picot edge went slowly! Four hours at least. I don't believe I spent more than twice that amount of time knitting the whole rest of the sweater! I do really like it though, all pretty and picot-y. And I found the ribbon at Colorful Stitches this weekend, all purpley and velvety.

Oooh, I think I'm getting into this girl knitting!