Sun Salutations Quilt Top

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ETA (2/8/20)

What an absolutely lovely quilt. I am so happy with how this one turned out - and it came back to me in February, right when we need some respite from the gray and white snowscapes all around us.

The quilting was done by the extremely talented Heather of Blue Turtle Quilting.

Big Sister Cardigan

I finished up her cardigan about a week ago. She has worn it almost every day - only taken it off once to be washed. I think that it is the perfect sweater for her. Easy to pull on and off - and the red is just so 'her.' The best part? Whenever she sees it around the house she runs over and gives it a kiss. It is that precious to her, and hence, all the more to me.

The pattern is sweet peasy (rav link), a child's version of an adult sweater pattern that is also available by Heidi Kirrmaier. I loved the pattern, but did switch things up for construction and made this a seamless top-down knit; also knit the arms in the round. The cotton linen blend washed wonderfully, but it did shrink a bit in length (these photos are pre-washing). I still think it will look cute for many months to come.

Baby Sweater

I am really excited to knit for this new baby. The trouble is that s/he will be born in the next few weeks. Not the ideal season to begin wrapping a newborn in woolens - spring is right around the corner, no? And since we don't know if the babe is a 'he' or a 'she', I am shying away from knitting anything bigger, knowing there will be time to knit fall/winter items later in the summer.

However, a nice set of coincidences headed my way over the last week and I was able to knit up this little newborn-ish size sweater out of a lovely un-dyed organic cotton. Kristen Kapur - the famous knitwear desinger from Through the Loops - was having a blog-based de-stash sale and I was able to purchase some lovely skeins of organic cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas at a deep discount. I love this yarn! It knit up very quickly and is super soft. I also love that it is undyed and organic - perfect for a little baby sweater.

I found the buttons on a special trip to the yarn store with one of my older girls - she loves dogs (look here for one of her dog-themed holiday gifts) and my LYS has a life-sized stuffed animal dalmation in the store that she can snuggle up with while I browse. Arn't these buttons just the greatest? I was hoping to find something unique, like little fish, but a little fish in a fishbowl with air bubbles? Oh my. That exceeded every hope I had!

So this may be the end of the baby knitting for a little while, and truth be told I should really get on making a light sweater for my youngest daughter. As she transitions into 'big sister' she is going to need some extra attention and snuggles. She is very independent, and at 3 yo she is a full year older than her sisters were when she arrived in our family. I am so grateful for the independence, but she is also old enough to sense the change that is happening; and young enough still to cling to being the baby when she feels she is not getting what she needs. I think a little tunic like this (the last sweater in the post) would be cute - and I'll let her pick out the yarn color(s) as an added treat.