black friday

Did you get any good Black Friday deals? We bought a house! Long story short, we've been casually keeping an eye on the real estate market around us for a few months and found a home that will give us a bit more space for Mae's ever-expanding toy collection. As such, this post will be short and sweet since we have A LOT to get done this week! (More details on the new house later.)

We spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. Thursday morning, we participated in the Drumstick Dash race. Kelsey and I ran the 4.6 mile course while the rest of the family walked the shorter version. Mae enjoyed the stroller ride, but she is still learning about how important it is to keep your mittens on. She had little finger-cicles by the time the race was over.

Somehow I only managed to take one photo in the evening but I think it accurately captures the chaos of Thanksgiving with 14 adults and 6 kids all together! The family room is covered in toys, Henry is dashing around the kitchen with a xylophone, adults are at the table decorating Christmas ornaments, and Kate and Mae are establishing the perfect symbiotic relationship: Kate gets to push a real live baby in the doll stroller while Mae gets a free ride all over the house!

Friday afternoon I went shopping with Mom and Kelsey, and on Saturday we all went to pick out the family Christmas tree. We came home Saturday evening and spent Sunday cleaning up the house before going to pick out our own little Christmas tree. We might be putting our house on the market this week, but it's not going to stop me from decorating for Christmas!

P.S. Let me know if you're in the market for an adorable 2 bedroom home. Charming! Natural Light! New AC!

yarny updates

My Breakwater Sweater, which I knit from Madelinetosh sock yarn a couple years ago, has found a new life! After a few washes, the neckline on the sweater started to lose its shape and I wasn't thrilled with the overall "loose" knit of the sweater. I love this yarn so much, I decided to re-knit it into a crew-neck sweater. Because I knit this version much tighter (size 1 needles!), I didn't have enough of the green yarn to finish. I decided to fade the bottom into a different colorway called "Cousteau." The pattern is a basic raglan shape. I didn't really follow any specific instructions, so I included lots of notes on my Ravelry page. I love how this new sweater turned out. It's warm and snuggly, and I love the unique colors!

I also finished knitting a pair of socks from my Jessica's Creations mystery bag from this year's Kentucky Wool Festival. The glittery bits don't show up great in photos, but this yarn is sparkly and speckly and fun! Details of the pattern are on my Ravelry page.

Lastly, I finished another baby blanket in time for my friend Karen's baby shower over the weekend. The pattern is called Babytæppe med trekanter, which I think is Danish for "Baby Blanket with Triangles." Google did a pretty good job translating the page for me, but I mostly followed the charts for this very simple and easy-to-memorize pattern. The yarn is new-to-me Cascade Yarns Anchor Bay in Dusky Teal, which is a DK wool-cotton blend (my favorite fiber blend for baby blankets). It turned out warm and soft with wonderful drape. Hope it keeps the new baby warm and comfy when he arrives! Details on my Ravelry page.

chevron bettine dress

I made another dress! This pattern is the Bettine dress by Tilly and the Buttons, and the fabric is a printed rayon challis. I made a size 3 in the top and graded to a size 4 in the waist and hips. I also modified the skirt slightly, drawing the side seams straight down from the hips and adding a lining. I wanted this dress to work with tights so I can wear it through the fall. Lining will prevent the dress from sticking to the tights.

I made a few small modifications to the sleeves. I understitched the dress at the cuff and also rotated the cuff so the seam lined up with the underarm seam. Then I stitched-in-the-ditch to secure the cuff instead of hand stitching (I haaaate hand stitching). I added interfacing to the cuffs and tabs, since this fabric is very flowy and I wanted a bit more structure at the arms. I also added a strip of interfacing to the pocket facing on the skirt to add a bit more reinforcement to that seam. I applied the interfacing to the fabric before cutting to make it easier to deal with the small, shifty pieces. You can sort-of see the cuff tabs in this photo though they are somewhat camouflaged by the crazy print.

I'm not quite as obsessed with dress pockets as the rest of the universe, but they are pretty handy for carrying my phone. Plus, as a mother, I am morally obligated to be carrying a half-used tissue at all times, with which I will indiscriminately wipe any child's nose that comes within a 4 foot radius of me.

So, there it is... a fun new dress! Hopefully it will get lots of wear this holiday season!