Knitting Aplenty

I've been keeping my days filled with lots of knitting, with a splash of sewing here and there, too. The kids are enjoying the sunshine and the huge outdoor space at our new home. So far there have only been clusters of days here and there where the classic heat and humidity of our area have been too much to bear. On those days, we stay inside with the central air conditioning on full force, and focus on staying hydrated.
My daughter has found a new love: grass clippings. Truly, every week when the lawn mower blows through for an hour, she watches at the living room picture window, then when he's gone and it's safe, she begs and begs and begs to be able to go out and play with the "brown grass." As long as the weather isn't too warm, I give in to her begging, though I know the mess on my living room carpet when we come back inside is going to be tremendous. Short of stripping the children outside and hosing them down, I've done everything I can think of to keep the clippings in the yard where they belong, but somehow they always find their way in.

In honor of the change of season, my fingers have been busy knitting shorties for the cloth diapered cuties needing some warm-weather wool. One of my first KumfyKozies projects was a pair of Kumfy Shorts knit with 100PureWool's Uruguayan Merino in their Hot Night colorway. The yarn striped up so unique and evenly, almost like a black and silver zebra. Fun and funky. I like 'em.

Another project during the month of May was a new sewing pattern. This one is for the boys: A nice wide-legged pair of shorts. I call them Roomy Shorts.

Another boyish project was a fairly quick knit: A newborn Kumfy Soaker on single-ply Uruguayan Merino from PureWool in their Maceio colorway. Buttery soft and oh-so-tiny and squishy. Apparently it was a hit, because it sold shortly after I listed it on my store.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm wading through and clearing out a bit of my PureWool stash. The next project I completed was a pair of Kumfy Shorts on 3-ply PureWool in one of my favorite colorways: Vichadero. Turquoise and silver awesomeness. Really gorgeous color combination that can work for either a boy or girl.

To break up the monotony of all this boyish PureWool yumminess, I did a custom for a fellow HyenaCart WAHM using Blackberry Ridge Merino that she dyed herself. The pink and gray remind me so much of Ella the Elegant Elephant!

For a week, I took a break from knitting, and worked on my new pattern. I churned out quite a few pairs for testers for others and my own son, then a couple pairs of classic denim Roomy Shorts for my store. One pair sold this past week, and the recipient is in-love, so with that feedback on top of my testers' opinions, I dare say this new pattern of mine was a huge success!

Just in time for Memorial Day, I finished a pair of cabled Kumfy Shorts for my son, using Peace Fleece in their Ancient Fern colorway. It's a lovely rich brown color, with flecks of purple and green throughout. I love the way it knits up, and look forward to snagging some more from the next Peace Fleece co-op for some warm winter woolies.

Back to the itsy-bitsy theme, I finished a Sweet Mama Small Sugar Infant Kimono for a friend. She's due with a surprise (her fifth) in a few weeks, and when I asked what her favorite color for this baby was, she said greens. I kept the project a surprise, but showed her the yarn I chose, and she loved it. She just received the kimono earlier this week, and her gushing warmed my heart through. It's so fun to knit such teeny-tiny projects, and the fact that they're such quick knits makes me love them even more.

A break of sewing amongst all the knitting, and my first project for June was a sweet little set for a friend's little Elmo fan who is turning three next week. I showed her my sundress patterns, and she chose the simple A-line, with a matching pint-size library bag. The mama says her girl's favorite things in the world are ladybugs and Elmo, and when I showed her the fabric, it was love. The set is on its way down the East coast, likely to be delivered tomorrow, and I'm excited to see how the birthday girl likes it. 

Last but not least, fresh off the needles yesterday was a brand new pattern: The Snuggly Sack. Many mamas love the convenience of a wool sleep sack for those midnight diaper changes. Rather than messing with tiny snaps, buttons, zippers and diaper covers, a sleep sack fits snuggly around the waist, with an open bottom to minimize the hassle of the undressing and redressing of those late-night changes. This Snuggly Sack was knit with *SURPRISE* more PureWool, this time buttery-soft single-ply in their Adonis colorway.