finding reasons to get *really* excited about our montana trip

trying hard not to get her pic taken!, originally uploaded by flanmela.

reason #1 -- we'll be seeing my brother and his family, including two adorable cousins that my kids haven't really met yet!

reason #2 -- lots of swimming time at the hotel and knitting time in the car!

and reason #3 -- perfect opportunity to make LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE DRESSES! i've just finished this one -- the dress is with pintucks, a peter pan collar and is made in a nice, muted Liberty lawn fabric. I've made the pinafore with some nice natural muslin. The pattern is an 80's McCall's pattern, and the only thing i don't like about it is that it's one size only -- size 5.

but i'm guessing she won't want to wear little house on the prairie dresses when she's 13.

i'm making another one for our 5yo cousin.

and maybe another for my bug...

big boy shirt

big boy shirt, originally uploaded by flanmela.

finished this a while ago -- around father's day. it's a shirt that was cut from my husband's well-worn favorite business shirt. in fact, it was the shirt he wore to our rehearsal dinner 8 years ago, so -- very sentimental!

the pattern is from a japanese sewing book and i love it! the neck is a bit too big -- when i was cutting the front, i maintained the buttons and buttonholes but didn't properly adjust the sizing. oh well. it's still pretty fab!

happy 100th birthday, elizabeth!

charity child's BSJ, originally uploaded by flanmela.

just finished a cardigan for charity. it's one of elizabeth zimmerman's classic patterns -- the baby surprise jacket. i made a child's size (6 to 8 yo) with my noro and morehouse scraps and have to admit, i like how it turned out. very EZ, if i do say so myself.

a lovely woman on ravelry has organized a charitable giving of many, many BSJs to children in need in elizabeth zimmerman's home state of wisconsin. all in EZ's name. i'm very excited to be a part of it!

evie, elise and (soon to be) camille's pjs

evie, elise and (soon to be) camille's pjs, originally uploaded by flanmela.

the girls' birthdays are all coming up and genevieve picked out the fabric for elise's and her own pjs. we're going to a sleep-over event for one of the girls' birthdays, so it will be cute to see them all together!

meanwhile, genevieve is sporting hers prior to her 4th b-day, but i guess that's the perks of being the daughter of the maker...

my circular needle case

IMG_7558, originally uploaded by flanmela.

yeah, they're still a mess, but better than before. and why, in God's name, do i have so many size 10 needles?

more pj presents

we had two boy birthdays last weekend and, as planned, i simply walked downstairs and grabbed a couple of pj bottoms that i made earlier in the year.

there was a small snag... i'm notorious about not finishing things, and i've left the waistbands undone. so, i had to put elastic in the pants.

not so fast. no elastic.

so, i made drawstrings, which meant having to put in buttonholes. ah, well. it's never going to be as easy as walking downstairs and grabbing the pjs, is it?

here they are -- my middle bug specifically said that her friend jackson would really like the construction truck pants -- and he did!

if 2009 was the year of stash-busting, then 2010 is...

the year of WIP completion.  i've got a ton of them (WIPs, that is), so i might have to designate the upcoming decade to their completion.

perhaps when i have a few hours to spare, i'll post all of my erstwhile knitting projects on the blog.   but meanwhile, you can find a few of them on my ravelry page...   the 14 or so WIPs on that page are, i am sad to say, but a few of the ones i have lying around the house.   

i think i have a problem.  i mean, i must have loved these sad, neglected projects at some point in my life, right?  how could i have cast them aside like this -- constantly searching for the perfect project.  

well, something must be done.   and i've got a hunch that 2010 is just the year i've been waiting for.  

onward!