So much to post!!

I have a ridiculous number of projects and things to talk about, so I need to just get it out there. I've been very busy spending time with my kiddos, being outdoors, watering flowers and plants in our new yard, finding fun things to do this summer, and I was housesitting my mom's place for a month while she spent time with her sister. In my "free time," I have been working on quite a few large projects, as well as lots of little things. Add to that, a very needy little boy who likes to be held every waking moment, and still refuses to sleep through the night, I've been very busy!

One of the cutest reasons to not post

First, I should wrap up about some projects I hinted at a couple of months ago. My mother-in-law loved the brown and navy flower beanie I made for her in January, so for her birthday, she requested a solid black hat, with removable flowers in red and tan. I had a hard time finding the right tan, so it is more of a yellowy cream than a tan, but she liked it. I just sewed the flowers to a barrette clip, and it worked out beautifully. She can wear both together, either color separately, or just the black hat. If I'd had that yarn in white, I probably would have made a white flower as well, but those were the only colors I bought.

Caron Simply Soft black, red, tan

 

The next project I hinted about was the pink elephant. I wanted to make it for our youth minister's new daughter, and since I never get to make girly things, I immediately found my pink stash. I planned to give it to them at their shower, but that was the week Blessing cut his first teeth, stopped sleeping through the night, and rolled over, so he was very high-maintenance that week. I didn't get it completely finished by the following week when I gave it to them, either. I should have sewed toes, eyebrows, a smile, and crocheted a chain tail. I also misread the pattern on a couple of points. It had different wording for crocheting in the back loop, so I did the opposite. Oops. They won't be able to tell, but I fixed this for the next one I made (still needing to be sewn and stuffed for Blessing...).
 

Old Red Heart yarn from Grandma

I am all but finished with 3 sweaters, and have made amazing progress on another one, and just cast on the last one yesterday. The first one is the first sweater I've made for an infant, and it is for Blessing. I believe I mentioned it in a previous post, about the outrageous cost of the yarn and the care of this sweater. I still haven't blocked it, but I think it turned out beautifully. I should have just enough yarn leftover to make myself some ankle socks as well. The yarn is so squishy.

Cleckheaton merino wool in Truffle and Cream, size 6 needles, per pattern

The second sweater is the one I made for Blessing with the leftover yarn from a gift several years ago. I still need to weave in the ends on one sleeve and sew on the buttons, but I think it turned out beautifully.

Yarn Bee yarn from Sue

I had a bunch of girl colors (purple, pastels) that I didn't know what else to do with, so I started a sweater for a little girl in the same style as Blessing's sweater. I wanted to try to steek it, but realized since it was acrylic, that wouldn't work as well as it would if it were wool, so I just just finished it in the round. Of course, it also needs the ends woven in...

Yarn Bee yarn from Sue

The fourth sweater is for one of the twins. I just finished the bottom ribbing Sunday, and obviously still need the sleeves. I should have woven the ends in as I went, but I'll just have to take a day or two to finish that when it's completed. It is going so much faster because it's all in the round, instead of the cardigan, which was all stockinette.

Yarn Bee from Hobby Lobby; Lion Brand Baby Soft in blue and yellow

The last sweater I just started is going to be just like the blue sweater, except the main color will be green. I hoped to have them done by Easter, but that didn't happen, with all the other projects I've had.

I also heard about this thing called a "corner to corner" (or C2C) crochet blanket. I have always liked the Sweet Rolls at Joann's when I went, but never had a use for them, so I ignored them. They had them on sale for 3 for $10 a few weeks ago, which I thought was reasonable, so I bought 4 in two different colors. I let my hubby pick which one he liked better, and he liked the Cherry Twist. I decided to make one of those blankets, but I didn't know how much yarn I would need. I ended up going back to buy 3 more skeins of the yarn, and it still isn't huge, but it is bigger now that I got the other 3. The yarn is warm and fairly soft (although I think Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" is softer), and the colors are beautiful. It doesn't match anything in our home, but we like it. Once again, I still need to weave in the ends. I entered it in a crochet-a-long on Ravelry, so I might be able to win something for completing it.

 

Sweet Roll in Cherry Twist; H hook, 7 skeins

I also sold my first beard since my Etsy site came back from vacation! I only had leftovers, but I had just enough of 3 different browns to make a full beard. I think this is actually the most realistic and beautiful beard I've ever made. I really like how the different yarns made it look like highlights and lowlights. I probably won't ever make another one like it (unless I have only remnants left), but it turned out wonderfully. I hope the gentleman likes it.

I have so much more I want to post about, but this is getting quite long. I'll try to finish up with a pair of flip flip socks I made a couple of years ago. These are the only socks I ever made, and I hope to be making several more this year. I made them with wool I received as a gift, and I barely knew how to knit at the time, let alone, what a gusset or heel flap were. Yet, I finished them both, even though my gauge was way off.

Wool from Cheryl