The second vest I ever knitted, a scarf for my mom. That makes 2 knitted things

Merrick is a little harder to take as a model than Mariann (whom I suspect is loving to model).

I had a lot of fun and many frustration learning to knit with this vest. One sleeve ended up being 4 inches too long! I also ran out of the blue soy-wool yarn to make the collar. I tried with a color I had here, and it wasn't pretty. Undo the whole thing and did what I'm very good at: Improvise! So the cowl comes from the same sweater I made Mariann's solstice dress with. So that way they fit together, see?

Papa finds it a little weird and Mariann told me it the white looked like a bib. Oh well. I like it. I didn't blocked it yet and I hope it will make the bottom stop curling up. The big wooden button has a tree craved on it :)

And this I did for my mom. She chose the yarns and I ran out of one of the 2 so guess what.... Improvisation saved me again. I continued with the mohair and gradually bend off so that I only had 1 stitch left.

I really like knitting. I'm happy I decided to learn how.

Winter Clothing and Emergency dollmaking

My goal of knitting a sweater for Mariann, Merrick and Papa wasn't achieved, but, I managed to complete one for Merrick! It still needs to be blocked.

Mariann's sweater dress was made out of a sweater I paid 1$ and Merrick's pants were sweater sleeves as well. I plan on turning the body of that sweater into stocking for next year...I found ours are way too small!

And you know what? After completing and giving this doll... I found Victoria!
We made a lot of reno upstairs and since Mariann doesn't sleep much in her bedroom anymore we had put the reno stuff in there. I thought I checked everywhere and moved every blankets, but Saturday I was seeking for dressing the new doll and while moving the doll cloths pile I saw the pyjama I thought we lost Victoria in.... And removing the blanket, there she was, in the pink pyjama!

Mariann was so delighted. She's playing with her ever since. Dressing and undressing, walking around with her in her sling. Ah! It made my day!

Yarn Along- Merrick's vest

I hope you knitters out there are proud of me.. I'm a very good way into making Merrick's vest. The back is done and I'm doing the front left side, it's going pretty smoothly. I love being able to stuff it in the diaper bag and take it everywhere I go, or just sit in the play room and while I look after the kids.

As for the book, it was lend to me by a friend who thought it might interest me. Well, it sure does! This tiny book is a true Waldorf toy how-to treasury! I'm following its instructions to make little dollhouse doll. They have a pipe cleaner frame and are wrapped in pure wool, then covered with organic cotton. Papa is about 4" and I'm 3" tall. Yes, those are the right proportions... Papa is 1'6" taller then me! Can't wait to cover little me, little Mariann and little Merrick, and make us little clothing. This will be Mariann's Yule gift, and I'm pretty sure she will be thrilled! Just for fun... Anyone has a little scrap of red fabric with white polka dot? I can't picture mini-me not having one red dress in her closet!

Merro

I've got the habit of giving the doll I'm working on a nickname. If the doll isn't a custom order, I call her something random (I call the girl above is Adèle), but if I know the name of the kid who'll receive it, I mix my kid's name with his/hers and come for a nickname for the doll. It's silly...But it's how it works in my head!

So this little brown haired, brown eyed guy will soon be the possession of a little man called Matéo. He is a little ober 15½" and is button jointed. The mama didn't want to see it prior sending and then changed her mind, so here it is.

His brown pants once were a sweater, the burgundy long shirt was once a tank top, the boots were ones that I found and lightly dyed with tea, and the vest is a blend of wools, with remnant of Adèle's hair to make the hood.

Speaking of which, I'm pretty proud of myself! It truly was a make it work moment...Very few yarn to work with, and no pattern to start with! But I figured it out, and I love it. Updated Ravelry notes here. There's a lot of imperfection in this... But it's full of love, which fully compensate.

And so I found that I loved knitting...As if I didn't have enough projects going on!

My first completed knitting

I had a special request for a special little boy doll. The mama also requested a knitted vest with him. Since she reads my blog and does not want to see him before he arrives home, I've let Victoria model it.

It's the lovely free pattern made by waldorfmama, my ravelry notes are here.

I've added 7 stitches or it would have been too short, but the length of the body was okay. You can see I finally finished Victoria's hairs as well...

I'm really happy with the vest! It's meant to have a hood, and I will knit it soon. I'm also happy I can finally say that I can knit. Really...It was starting to be annoying, people assuming I could knit, me telling no, and them going You!?? You don't know how to knit!??? But you can do anything! Well, I guess now I can, thanks to a book from the SIL (that was all about gather stitch) I got last Yule and a friend who taught me how to purl. And google. Who showed me how to bind off.

So now I have to knit a vest for Victoria. I think it will be red.

Yarn Along and Doll Washing

Have you seen that? I've actually started a sweater!
It's for Mariann. Design from here. I'm using some purple wool I found at the thrift store. It cost me... I don't know, very not much! It's my first real knitting project. So far it's going great. I might have miss some spots and the cabling will probably look weird. But... I guess my daughter won't mind.

I'm reading Stephen Lawhead's Arthur. It's the third books of a 5 series and it's pretty great. It pictures a very catholic enviroment for the legende. There's still some magic...Since Merlin is so leet.

See the stickers and the sippy cup? That's how I manage to get Mariann to nap this week. She sleeps; stickers.

Ah! Poor Victoria. Looks like someone walk over her with his work boots. Beside, the plum on her feet and the chocolate ice cream on her arms needed to go as well...

Yarn Along: Actually knitting!

I started knitting for real this week. Thanks to my friend who learnd me how to purl!

Now my mom brought me some yarn she found in her supply room (she's an art teacher) and so far so good, it looks like it should. I'm pretty proud of myself! She requested it for Yule, so I think it's an achievable goal.

And as to what I read this week; I'm still not finished yet with Spirited Child, I'm at the point where she gives advice on how to manage mealtime. I've also cracked and commanded The Rhythm of the Family, which I think everyone knows about, and The Children Year, full of interesting little crafts to do (mostly knitting). I got all three from amazon, used. Ah! Used books. I love you.