Two down two to go. . .

sleeves that is. Somehow I reached the point of knitting the sleeves on both of my top-down projects at the same time which although a little boring is fun because it means the end is in sight!

First, here is my niece's February Little Lady sweater:

I realized if I get my act together I can give it to her for Christmas along with something fun because even though she always squeals with delight whenever she sees it, a sweater really isn't all that much fun to play with when you are 4. . .

Second, here is Peasy:

And to break-up the Sleeve Monotony, I also swatched and CO Dark and Stormy:

The color in the top picture is closer to what it actually looks like. It was dark (but not stormy) last night when I took the 2nd picture so I had to use the flash.

Birthday Cakes

For my birthday last week one of my coworkers made me a FABULOUS Nutella cake!

I had been searching Ravelry for what to knit next but nothing seemed quite right until I saw LoriNY's Dark and Stormy - it was EXACTLY what I had been looking for but couldn't seem to find. She had received the pattern for her birthday :)

I decided to make it with Cascade 220 in a purple heather and the yarn arrived on my birthday:

Sweet Sixteen

Last week I finished Umbilical Cord Hat #16! A few years ago I started making these for friends, coworkers and of course my niece and it has become "my thing" to give to expectant mothers. This latest one was for a coworker and at the baby shower someone commented that people could recognize a baby from our group by their hat.

And here is my niece sporting her auntie hand-knit goodness on the first cold day of the season. It looks like she might need a new set of mittens soon :)

Katherine's Quilt

This is my first year to join in the fun and enter the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy.

I chose the quilt I made for my niece Katherine. It's called "Many Trips around the World" from the book Tradition with a Twist by Blanche Young. I love everything about this quilt. . . the soft colors which remind me of an English garden. . . the simplicity of the pattern. . . and the joy I had in making it for my niece-to-be. At the same time as I was making it my mom was also making a quilt for her so we had a great time comparing notes on where we were in the process.

If you look closely in the picture below you can see that the quilt had not been bound yet because my niece was a month early!

On my next visit 2 months later it was finished.