Brasov Wrap Top

Just stopping in with a quick post tonight!

No school for the boys + no sitter + plus the fact that they need my hubby at work way more than they need me (although it does hurt the ego a bit to admit that! LOL) meant that I had a day off of work today! I had fabric at the ready and the brand new, just released Itch to Stitch pattern, the Brasov Wrap Top* printed off and assembled!

The crossover top pattern features figure flattering pleats and a nice modest neckline. I do prefer v-neck tops, and absolutely love a wrap top, but am always conscious of how my tops fit and making sure the neckline isn't too low or too revealing.   Throughout my day I'm up ladders, or bending down to get things and I also work closely with the maintenance team and often meet with vendors. The last thing I want to be worried about is if I'm at risk for an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. Brasov is the perfect solution! I was so excited when I saw the first pattern photos for it and snapped up the pattern the minute I got the email from Kennis yesterday morning advertising that it was available!

I'm really happy with how my top turned out! I used 10oz cotton/spandex from The Fabric Snob that I had bought a few weeks ago. It was my first time ordering from there and I'll definitely be making future fabric orders!  Their jersey is top notch - super soft, great weight and fantastic recovery!!  Unfortunately between the fact I started out with less yardage than called for, and that my fabric had  shrunk a bit when I prewashed it meant I had to get a bit fancy in my cutting out the pattern. I ended up having to have a centre back seam and 3/4 sleeves, but that wasn't too big of a deal. Certainly not enough to deter me from using the fabric!  I did add 1 1/2" in length instead of my usual inch I add to Itch to Stitch patterns because I wanted a bit of extra insurance in the event that it shrinks more when I wash it again.

If you act quickly you can grab a copy of the pattern for yourself with a 20% discount! I highly recommend it as a great wardrobe staple for fall and winter! (I'm also dreaming of doing a sleeveless version for spring next year too!)

Leo The Lion, King of the Prairies

I mentioned my other road knitting project in my last post and thought I'd share a bit about it today with you.

Baby Boy - I really should think of a new name for him, he's hardly a baby now that he's in grade two and about to turn seven years old - made the discovery recently that everyone in the world (or at least all his siblings) have a sock monkey and he does not.  He had found my Paton's booklet, "Monkey Business" in the basement a week or so before we were to leave on holidays and he put two and two together and realized all those sock monkeys he's seen in his sibling's possession had to have been mama made.

He desperately wanted me to knit him something.  But not a monkey.  What he wanted was the last pattern in the book.  A cheerful looking lion named Leo.  I told him that as soon as I was finished knitting his sweater I would start Leo.  Every time he saw me knitting on his sweater he make a comment as to the fact that it was good I was knitting his sweater because then I could start his Leo.

He was actually playing with his lion in his head all the time and had so many imaginary adventures with the yet un-knit Leo.  Oh the stories he made up about their adventures.  It was unimaginably sweet.

Before leaving on the trip I let him go through my stash of worsted weight yarns and he picked out the colours he wanted.  I put together a kit of everything I would need to complete Leo from yarn, to needles, to fibrefill and popped it in my bag for in the front of the truck.  As soon as I cast off his sweater I cast on the lion.

I only knit on long driving stretches but slowly and surely all the pieces started coming together.  Lots and lots of pieces.  I am not overly fond of knitting toys.  Especially toys that have a billion fiddly pieces to sew together in the end, but it was a labour of love so I bit the bullet.

I worked on the head between Swift Current, SK and Medicine Hat, AB.  Then continued on two days later from Drumheller, AB to Calgary, AB and bit from Calgary, AB to Jasper, AB.  The muzzle was done while driving to the "Enchanted Forest" outside Revelstoke, BC and back into town again, and the body started somewhere around Rogers Pass, BC and finished somewhere between Calgary, AB and Moosomin, SK.  Seaming, his face, mane and feet (I ran out of yarn for the legs) were finished for the most part between Moosomin, SK and home here in South Eastern MB.  Last Wednesday evening I put the stitches onto the needles and got the four legs done and sewed them on and then added a few more strands in left over orange Berroco Vintage to add a little depth to his mane and fill in the bare spots that were left because I'd run out of the dark brown.  Since most of the knitting was done throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta I've dubbed him "King of the Prairies".

I had Leo already by Baby Boy's bedtime and he was thrilled.  And not just him.  Little Man was equally excited for his little brother to have a "sock toy".  It was such a gratifying moment as a mom and as a crafter.

SSKAL 2017

What a busy summer it's been!  I can't quite fathom how it's already September and the little boys are already back to school!  We finished off summer holidays with a bang and took an amazing ten day trip out West making it as far as Revelstoke, BC.  It was fantastic and we did so many amazing things on our trip!  One of the things that I did on the trip was knit.  Did you know that driving across Manitoba and Saskatchewan leaves a whole lot of time for knitting when you're not actually the driver?  A WHOLE LOT.

Thanks to the trip and hours upon hours of knitting time, I was able to finish my project for the Very Shannon Summer Sweater Knit Along.  The KAL ends today and I think this may be one of the few times I wasn't hoping for a deadline extension.  (Good thing too - Shannon mentioned recently that there wasn't going to be a vote for an extension this time!)

When the SSKAL was announced, since the rules allow for finishing up WIPs, I decided that I was going to take the opportunity of motivation of the KAL to finish up a project that had been languishing in my knitting bag for a few months and hopefully knit another project.  The project in question was Little Man's new Greyson sweater.  I had started it in March when I realized that there was no way he could squeeze himself into his original Greyson anymore.  Of course I shouldn't have been surprised.  He'd been wearing it since he was four years old.  No wonder it was too short and too tight!

I let him pick out yarn from Webs and he'd chose red and black James C. Brett Aztec - an acrylic, alpaca blend that I think will prove to be soft and very cozy.  He also chose how he wanted the stripe pattern to be. The sweater knit up fairly quickly given the very little I worked on it and within a month or so I was done.  Except the neckline was horrendous.  I should have taken a before shot to show how bad it was because it defies description.  I'm not sure what I did, but all my centered double decreases were not centered. Nor were they even in line with each other.  It was a hot mess.  So I was frustrated and left the sweater laying in my knitting bag until about a week into the SSKAL.  Then I ripped that offending neckline out, picked up the stitches and had it done and looking good by the end of the evening.  It was perfect timing, because the next morning Little Man woke up feverish and miserable.  Shivering and cold he curled up in his brand new sweater claiming it made him feel much better.

A few days later I had the chance to wind the wool for Baby Boy's sweater, because his second Greyson had also long since been outgrown.  He had also chose the black Aztec yarn and then had picked out some Estelle Chunky - an acrylic, wool, nylon blend - from the lys in the city and planned his stripe pattern.  I was determined to get his sweater done in time for wearing in the mountains, so knit like the wind, working on it every spare moment I had, which unfortunately with work and other mundane things like taking care of the house and yard wasn't a whole lot.  Thank goodness the sweater is small!  I started it on August 14th and by the time we headed out on the  highway August 26th I had just put the sleeve stitches back on the needle.

By the time I put my knitting down just outside of Moose Jaw, SK. because it was too dark in the truck to see anymore I had one sleeve done and 18 rounds plus a cuff left to do on sleeve two.  That was a LONG drive!   The next morning I picked it up again and had the second sleeve and ends woven in about a half hour or so west of Swift Current, SK.   Good thing too.  The next morning when the boys crawled out of the tent in Drumheller, AB it was quite chilly.  Baby Boy was thrilled to have his new sweater to put on and stay cozy until the sun warmed everything up.

I had high hopes of getting the perfect finished object photo in the mountains, but trying to get photos of these two little goofballs when they're excited proves to be difficult, so I had to settle for this next one atop Whistler's Mountain in the Rockies.  You can sort of see the town of Jasper below through the smokey haze.  (No worries - there was quite a bit of land behind that rock they're standing on, it is just the angle that makes it look like they were perched on the very edge of the mountain!)

Finishing Baby Boy's sweater so quickly gave me loads more road knitting time, but I'll tell you about that project next time!  I've got to catch up on some housework and then get the boys out to their power skate workshop this afternoon, plus I'm sure if you've read this long, you probably have other things you need to be doing too! LOL

Just one other quick "housekeeping" thing before I leave off.  I want to apologize for how some things are looking on the blog lately.  As you may be aware, Photobucket, which is what I used for a few years for photos on the blog, suddenly changed their policies without any warning in the spring.  In order to keep the photos showing up from them on the blog, they want a fee of $399/year.  Not going to happen!  So I need to clean things up and re-upload photos, but unfortunately I've had no time to do so yet, so please bare with me while things are in a bit of a messy state.