Favorite Things Friday

Dear Mom,
A Finished Project, that turns out well and fits perfectly has to be a Favorite Thing, right?

this photo is true to color- the one above is too red

I've had Chickadee in my knitting queue for awhile. I suspect this one won't be the last. I've been investigating various fair isle patterns to replace the birds. Like BEES.
This sweater is knit from the top down. And there is subtle shaping between bust and hips. Because it is a top down sweater, it was easy to be sure that the shaping happened exactly where it needed to happen for my body. (As it turned out, I needed to make no changes to the pattern here.) I did shorten the sleeves a smudge. And I omitted a contrasting color- choosing to make those rings the same color as my birds rather than come up with a third contrasting color.
I tried and failed on 2 or 3 different button designs, decided to go purchase plain old black buttons, and then the lazy, cheapskate inside me decided to try one more shrinky dink button design rather than get in the car, drive to the fabric store and spend the money on buttons. I am glad I did, because I like the way these turned out. Once again, I sort of cheated, and traced over some fabric I purchased with this sweater in mind.

"They" say we are in for a bitterly cold, possibly early, winter. If this is the case, my Black Bird Sweater will be more than a favorite thing.
Love,
Kim

Winner!

Dear Mom,
Cross "Never Winning Anything From A Blog Contest" off my list. Because last week I won a button give- away!
The charming hand-crafted buttons from Fastenation Studio arrived and I am delighted with them. Actually, I could not choose between two sets, so chose one set as my prize and purchased the second set.

It was difficult to get a photo of these sweet yellow buttons. They are perfectly named "Sunshine Girls". Look closely and you will see a happy girl on the buttons. These would be adorable on a little girls sweater, but they are so cute that it might break my heart to give them away. I may just have to put them on a sweater for me.....and smile every time I look at them.
These buttons should get some credit for waking up the designing knitter in me. I've been distressingly uninterested in /uninspired by my knitting. (Part of the responsibility for this may be the current project on my needles- eleventy-two miles of striped garter stitch - a Dr. Who scarf for the Young Lady. All I can say is, Thank heaven for the stripes. Stripes are the only thing marking my progress.  I suppose eleventy-two miles of garter stitch is good for cleansing the pallet. ) Anyway, I woke up over the weekend with an Idea percolating...

Oh. I have lots more to say! But little time to say it and do a halfway decent job keeping up with everything else. And the grass is waving at me in the refreshing cool breeze this morning. Off to take a ride on John, Dear.
More later.

Love,
Kim

Sharing the Love

Dear Mom,
Button Love.

I offered a Shrinky Dink button class at the yarn shop on Monday. Only one person signed up, but she made some very cute buttons for her Alpine Tweed sweater.

Outlander Love,
For a cherished sister-in-law and fellow Outlander fan.
Claire's Shawl (inspired by the books)- off the needles and on the blocking wires as I write this.

The shawl measures @ 62 inches, square. I had to clear floor space in the Young Lady's bedroom to block this. I needed a spot behind a closed door. I could just imagine Olive deciding to nap right in the middle of it. A large fan is blowing to speed up the drying process. This pitiful photo was taken with me standing on the bed. I'll take much nicer, detailed photos when the shawl is dry.

Labor of Love.
The Young Lady wants a Dr Who Scarf. The yarn has been purchased. The scarf is started. Eleventy two miles of striped garter stitch. The only thing worse would be eleventy two miles of plain garter stitch. Thank heavens there is no deadline on this one. I've fallen asleep twice while working on it and I've only managed about 8 inches. Not even photo worthy at this point.

Gardening Love.
Not Rabbit love.
Apparently, the peas, spinach and lettuce I planted were for the rabbits. grrrrrrr.
Yes. Those beautiful, healthy, 18 inches high pea plants are nothing but naked stubs. The spinach? Gone. I don't know how those varmints got in, but they were rewarded for their efforts.

Love,
Kim