Little Red!

So my baby girl turned three yesterday. Where the heck did all that time go?
Last year I knit her a birthday dress and knew that I wanted to knit her something special this year also. I'm not sure how I came up with the idea of Red Riding Hood, but initially I planned to knit a red hooded cape that could be worn as a dress up and also as a cover up when it was cold. I found a few nice patterns but none really spoke to me. I was committed to finishing my test knit by the end of July which left me with exactly 10 days to knit something awesome.
I was sitting at my computer trying to find a last minute solution when hello! The Annabel pattern by Georgie Hallam was released. I LOVE this little jacket. I had seen a test knit in red and was smitten. It must have been fate that this pattern went live at the very moment I was trolling for ideas.
I immediately downloaded the pattern, did a rough swatch and cast on that night.
The only thing I changed was the raglan increases; I preferred to do a mirrored m1 instead of the kf&b called for in the pattern.
I finished knitting it the day before her birthday with exactly 8g of yarn to spare. Sewed on the buttons and steam blocked (Didn't have time for a full wet block)
And hey presto!

And in the spirit of Yarn Along, I am currently reading not one, but two books!

I was feeling guilty that I hadn't read anything good (or anything at all for that matter!) in such a long time, and was inspired to pick up a book after first seeing the yarn along posts. I took a trip to the library and came home with Sepulchre by Kate Mosse.

This is a massive book and I'm barely halfway through. I haven't actually had a lot of reading time between my test knit and finishing my Annabel, but I'm enjoying reading this.

I had a call from the library the other day to say they had a copy of The Hunger Games for me. I couldn't help but start reading straight away. I've heard good things. I'm only up to chapter 4 but so far I'm really enjoying it also.

Yarn along

I'm a little late to this party but better late than never, right?
So I was over visiting the amazingly talented tikki's blog and happened across this great idea to encourage us crafty types to show our blogs a little love on a regular basis.

I'm the first to admit that I'm a bit of a knitting whore. I don't believe in monogamy at all. This sometimes leads to some complicated relationships between me and my knitting but hey, it's all good!
So right now I have a couple of projects on the go. The biggest and most exciting is probably my Mystery Knit-along shawl. I have been itching to participate in a mystery knit ever since I first heard of the idea but had trouble finding one. When this one popped up by designer Kirsten Kapur  I knew I was onto a winner! I LOVE Kirsten's designs so I'm hoping that this shawl will be amazing. I'm knitting it with Misti Alpaca tonos carnival in the Rosemary colourway.

clue 1 of the mystery shawl

This yarn is deliciously soft. I had initially envisioned socks but decided it was too soft to be hidden away in shoes and resolved that it should become a shawl instead....

On that note, I am actually knitting socks with the exact same yarn base, this time in the blackberry colourway. The colour makes me think more of blueberries with it's smokey blue black hue. My indecisiveness to settle on a pattern led me to find the Uzu sock pattern which featured in Knitty Deep Fall 2011. I love it when simple lace patterns give the impression of a cable!
Also on my needles right now is a second Sorello by the afore mentioned Tikki. I admit I've lost a little steam with this one but it has turned out to be a good go-to project while watching tv as it requires virtually zero attention. I will finish it one day....I hope :-/
I'm modifying this one, mainly due to laziness, I plan to leave out the lace panel on the butt and leave it as a more simple tee. I wish I would have included a little side shaping as my miss 10 is rather slim and although I've knit the size 7, it actually is HUGE on her. Not to mention that it will grow some when blocked.
I'm not going to go on about the many other unfinished, languishing projects...I'll save them for another day.

I admit to not reading much in the past few weeks. However, this evening I did enjoy a fireside session of reading aloud fairytales first published 200 years ago by the Brothers Grimm :-)
Followed by pizza and Back to the Future III.