Category Archives: Knitting

First Week in August

Happy Sunday to you from sunny, hot, and very humid northern Illinois.

I’ve kept busy this week, but not sure where it all went to, which is probably the norm for me–the weeks rush by. I had to look at my planner to see what it is that I happened to accomplish, or not accomplish this week. (I guess I did enough.) 🙂

I finished my blue ensemble for the Little Darlings. I am calling it “Summery Blue in the Garden”. Here are some photos I took of Gina modeling it. Thanks to all who helped me with my fabric choice. I think you all picked a winner!

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Another finished project this week–the second sock to complete a pair. I also started another second sock that will complete another pair. At one point I had four single socks completely knit (not much use to us). I have two complete pairs and two singles left to work on. My ‘four pairs of socks’ project is getting there. This yarn is so bright; there’s going to be some colorful feet walking around here soon.

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I also knit a shrug and beret for my next Little Darlings ensemble. The beret is knit from my beret pattern. The shrug (sorry, no pattern) is knit in a simple lace stitch pattern with a crocheted shell edging added once the underarm seams have been sewn up. I’ve made lots of these in the past for the Little Darlings and the MSD sized Kaye Wiggs girls. They seem to love them!

If you’d like to see more ensembles that feature shrugs here is the link that connects you to all my blog posts that were saved with the ‘shrug’ tag. FYI, there is a group of words in the right sidebar (scroll down past my pattern covers and social media icons) where you can click on a word and see all of the blog posts that were saved with that tag such as shrugs. The larger the word the more posts there are saved with that tag.

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We had a wedding in the family yesterday. My nephew married his college sweetheart. She is a sweet and beautiful girl whom we welcome into our family with open arms. We are so happy for them both!

I hope you’ve had a fantastic week and wishing you a great week ahead. Thank you so much for visiting with me today! How was your week? Any plans for the one coming up? ❤ ❤ ❤

In Love with Autumn

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Hello! Hello! Hello! 🙂 I hope you’ve had a beautiful week and weekend! I made my week busy by choosing to spend lots of time outside soaking up this autumnal season. I spent two days at the Chicago Botanic Gardens and one day exploring a new to me forest preserve. I feel quite rested and rejuvenated.

Below photo is from the “new” forest preserve.

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And the photo below was taken in the Rose Garden at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

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However, even though I spent so much time outdoors, I did get a bit of knitting done this past week. I am working on two more sweater dresses for the Little Darlings. I think I am addicted to sweater dresses for my girls. Anyone else feel the same about sweater dresses? I DO LOVE them! I keep knitting more and more!

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The green one is almost finished–only a few more rows. I am using my Sweater Dress pattern, but changed it up by making a wide garter neckline to look Santa-like. The hemline will have a “fur” band also. A Santa hat will most likely be in order for this one.

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The pretty blue (love this shade of blue) sweater dress has long sleeves (my first for a Little Darling sweater dress) and narrow “fur” trim at the edges. I blocked the first sleeve right after it was completed, and while it was still flat.

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I am liking these two so much–getting excited for them to be completed. I hope to soon be rid of the ‘sweater dress making bug’ and do some sewing of Christmas dresses (with cardigans or capes, of course) next. You’ve seen my pile of Christmas fabrics; they really need some attention.

We have lots of small lakes around here and many of our forest preserves include paths around them.

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This one had a boat launch, fishing pier, and lookout points at different spots around the lake. There were some lookout areas with large flat rocks that I thought would be nice for taking pictures of my dolls.

I don’t have any little ones, but for those that do the playground here looks like a lot of fun. I love the super huge frog, turtle, and beaver. My daughter is taking a herpetology class (study of amphibians) so the frog and turtle are quite timely. (I sent her photos. 😉 )

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I wonder if at some time lightening hit this tree. Regardless, it had a nice sculptural quality to it, so I took a photo of it.

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Of course you know I cannot resist photographing mushrooms.

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My two visits to the Chicago Botanic Gardens were a little different. My first visit on Monday was spent exploring my favorite gardens: English Walled, Japanese, Rose, Heritage to name a few. Then, on Thursday I dropped my daughter off for her one class and her choir practice and then drove to the gardens for a few hours. This time I decided to walk the perimeter of the entire place to go through the prairie, around the test greenhouses and test science center. I felt like I was ‘behind the scenes’ at some points.

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I discovered the McDonald Woods which are in the process of being restored. At the entrance is a shelter with a fireplace. It looked like it had been used and there was a log in it. So cute!

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While walking around the perimeter, I found myself on the other side of the Japanese Garden islands. I’ve often seen people sitting on the benches here and wondered how they got over there. Now I know how.

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Flowers are still blooming here. Lots of mums and asters everywhere.

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Not sure what the blossoms below are called–do you know? They seem to be some sort of fall flowering bulb?

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And in my own back yard I still have flowers as the frost stayed away from the house.

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Today, it is sunny and warm–so beautiful! Even though the temperature is warm the look of the landscape is changing–gone are the deep greens which are being replaced by golds, oranges, reds, and browns.

How is autumn shaping up where you live?

Thank you for stopping by today. Enjoy the week ahead! ❤

What I’m Working On…

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Hi, my friends! I wanted to pop in quickly and show you what I’ve been working on. I have been knitting…

I am working on a pattern expansion for Amelia Thimble’s sweater dress pattern here. This will not be a full pattern (you will need the original to complete the dress); the expansion will contain additional instructions to make a longer, fuller skirt with a ruffle at the hemline. I’ve seen independent sewing pattern companies offer expansion packs with their sewing patterns and I think it’s a great idea. It will be one to two weeks before this pattern expansion is ready. I still need to write out the mini pattern and then test it.

Here is a photo from the first sweater dress I made using this idea. These skirts are actually how I first started knitting sweater dresses for Amelia Thimble back in 2012. I made a few changes for this 2019 version. Here is Amelia Thimble doing a little fall clean up. She is such a helpful little doll, isn’t she? 😉 BTW, Amelia Thimble’s pumpkin hat was made using Amelia Thimble’s Hat Set pattern.

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I’ve been knitting a sweater dress for the Little Darlings. I was inspired by this striped sweater and reworked my Little Darling sweater dress pattern to include some colorful stripes. I also changed the garter edgings to ribbed edgings.