Rest in Peace, Little Brother

I am sad to say that my little brother passed away early this morning.


He was the sunshine of my family. Always cheerful to everyone he met. I am still in shock that he has gone so suddenly. He will be missed so terribly!

Giving Thanks

This year has been filled with many changes and surprises. So many of them have been so good and I am so happy and thankful for them all!

Definitely the baby and the new house are near the top of my list for things to be thankful for. The baby is doing well and kicking everyday. Moving into our new house is going along. Maybe not entirely smoothly, but we are here in our new home with most of the essential things that make a home a home.

Most of all I am thankful for my husband. He has picked up whatever slack there has been. He has been on the ball through everything. He has even made sure I haven't picked up boxes that are too heavy for me and has been super patient when I was too tired to keep working. I don't know how I could do it without him by my side.

So even though this year my family came down with the flu and we are unable to celebrate the holiday with them, I am really happy that I can spend it with my husband. Our first, and hopefully only, Thanksgiving where it will be just the two of us in our brand new home!

I hope everyone out there is doing well and keeping well! Happy Thanksgiving!

Exciting November News, part 2

So you guys already know that I am going to have a baby in March and it will be a little boy! We are very excited about this. Well, on top of that LavenderSheep is moving to a new location!!! We found a beautiful house in Cascade Locks where there will be room for us, our new baby, and studio space for dyeing and other crafts!!! That last one was an absolute must for me!

The house has 4 bedrooms, so I am going to convert one into a dye studio. The house has beige carpet in all of the bedrooms. Somehow I don't think it will mix well with dyeing yarn, unless I want a technicolor rainbow for a floor. So as soon as we move in I am going to get linoleum instead. So what does this mean for the online shop? Well, hopefully you guys won't even see a difference. We don't have to move immediately from where we currently live, so the shop inventory will stay here until we can safely move it to its new home. Also, since we are only about 20 minutes away I can easily fill orders even as we are moving everything else. I'll be back and forth between the 2 places for awhile anyway. I just can't wait to have my new studio and share brand new photos for it! Cascade Locks is also a very beautiful place. I can't wait to share photos of it too!

There will also be a few other positive changes with the move, so stay tuned to hear more about them!

Blair's Neckwarmer

So maybe I am managing a thing or two that isn't baby knitting. The other day I thought my husband looked cold, so I did a little stash diving and came up with a skein of Shibui Knits Baby Alpaca DK in Midnight. I originally bought this skein for him last spring at the shop hop with the idea that I would knit him a scarf. However, I think cowls and neckwarmers are way more awesome!

So I poked around on ravelry looking for a good manly pattern. Finally after much consultation with the man in question I finally decided upon the Darkside Cowl, which is a free download on Ravelry. You guys might remember that I knit one for myself last January out of some bulky tweed yarn. I really love the pattern! The only thing I modified from the original pattern is I added an additional repeat. This is because the baby alpaca yarn is DK weight instead of the worsted weight the pattern calls for. I also went down to a size #6US so it wouldn't be too lacy looking. Needless to say he loves it! I just couldn't manage a picture of him wearing it because it's too dark out when he gets home from work. Thank goodness Ms Lavender was willing to step up and be a model!

I definitely recommend this pattern for some quick holiday knitting. It only took me a couple of days to finish it off. Now Blair should be warm all winter long!

It's a...

Boy!!!

The doctor is very positive, we are having a boy! Now I just have to get all my knitting books out and plan on some very boy knitting! Anyone have any suggestions?

Grandma's Blanket

Yay! I have one more project off the needles! I knit this beautiful blanket for my grandmother for Christmas. I think it will be my only Christmas knitting this year, since it is baby knitting all the time around here.

I actually started this blanket this last summer before I even knew I was pregnant. The only trouble is it isn't very photogenic while in progress. I had a hard time explaining what it was to people in person, so I figured I wouldn't have any luck here on the blog. Most people thought it was a bag, since the border is knit in the round. That was the only downside to an otherwise fun and easy project to knit!

Also, it is simply gorgeous once it is blocked. The pattern is Brooklyntweed's Tweed Baby Blanket. I modified the pattern by knitting it out of Cascade 220 Superwash, which is worsted weight yarn. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn on size 8s. So to compensate I knit it on 10 1/2s to keep that loose lacy look. This makes the blanket a bit bigger than the original baby blanket, so perfect for an adult size.



It's the perfect size for my grandmother! I knit it for her because her retirement home has a small bus that takes residents and those in the nearby area to their doctors appointments. Often the bus can be a bit drafty as it loads on and lets out passengers. I thought this lap blanket would be just perfect to keep her warm during her journey.

I might have a couple more warm and wooly things on the needles as the weather gets chillier! I'll share what I now have on the needles next time, if I don't have any other exciting news!

B's Sweater

Oh, look, knitting content! I know I haven't posted knitting things in awhile, but I have a good reason for it. 1. I wanted the baby sweater I was knitting for my cousin to be a surprise. and 2. the other thing I have been knitting on looks like a big blob, but is also finished and will be blogged about soon too.

So, what have I been knitting? Well, I have been working on a very special Dale of Norway sweater for my cousin's first baby! I started it well before I even knew I was pregnant, and have been working on it all summer. This was my at home project, because it took a bit more concentrating than I am able to sustain while talking and listening to my wonderful knitting friends. So here it is:



This is all of the finishing. If you want to each of the photos with my comments on each step, including the scary steeking, you can check it out here:

B's Sweater

I made a little modification to the pattern, instead of knitting the hood I added an adorable matching collar, which I much prefer. Also, for errata: in the section for picking up the front it should say pick up 32 sts for every 4". Other than that the pattern was perfect! The pattern is Dale of Norway 16203: Hooded Cardigan by Olaug Kleppe, from Dale of Norway book #162. The book is currently out of print, but sometimes you can find it on ebay or they will sometimes reprint patterns in other books. Although I have only seen this pattern in this book so far. I used the recommended Dale of Norway Baby Ull yarn and even the recommended colors. It is a lovely fine superwash yarn that I simply love to work with, especially for colorwork baby things.

I have cast on for my own little Dale of Norway project. This one isn't colorwork, so it is knitting up much faster. As soon as I can snap some photos of it I will make sure to share it. I just love baby knitting!

SOAR

I got up early Friday morning to head out to SOAR! A couple of my lovely friends offered me a ride down and I simply jumped at the chance to go.


Here is the view on this lovely fall morning. I just love the contrasting colors. For a second there was even a rainbow, but I wasn't fast enough with my camera to catch it.


After being on the road for 3 hours to get down to Sun River, we arrived at SOAR! Only we got there at lunch time and found out that the marketplace doesn't open until 4pm! So instead we went out for a very lovely long lunch at the lodge. Then we wandered around and got some caramel popcorn and other tasty treats from a local candy shop. Then us girls found a comfy place to sit and knit while we waited for the market to open.

Here is just a taste of the market place! It was packed with people! We got around and looked at everything at least twice. I resisted buying anything, but I definitely have some ideas for Christmas and next spring!

I know posting has been a little slow, but I promise it will pick up. I actually have knitting content to share. Also, lots of really cool things are going on this month I can't wait to share with you guys!