Getting excited, but not making things yet

 Well, the last week has been semi-productive, but now I have more things I want to make. Sometimes, this is my motto:

It's a magnet, so my fridge reminds me to make stuff.

I made the mistake of finding a bunch of baby things to sew and now I really want to start cutting out fabric. I finished a dress for my SIL last week (no picture, but she's quite happy with it), and am in-between sewing projects. There's a wrap skirt I need to convert into something that actually fits and doesn't trail on the ground, and now there are baby dresses that don't use lots of fabric, so I can use some of the bits floating around in the fabric stash. And we need heavier curtains on our bedroom windows, because the morning light keeps waking me up too early.

I did finish this on Friday. It's been in progress for a while, because I would knit a chunk of it, get bored, set it aside, and then pick it up again. Plus I had to pull out about six inches of the back after I'd cast on because I realized I need to move it up a size.

My Fireside Cardigan: Finished at last!

 The pattern is Fireside, by Amber Allison. It's available on Ravelry for $5 US, and it's a lovely sweater. I did change a couple things, as usual. The closure on the front was done with an applied i-cord, rather than buttonholes, because I didn't want the buttonholes interrupting the cables. I seamed the arms, instead of working them in the round, because I wanted an easier time putting the sleeve caps in. Otherwise, it's knit pretty much as instructed. I used Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, which I have mixed feelings about (it tears rather more easily than expected: I've already had to darn the sweater). I have a whopping 5 1/2 balls of the yarn left, since the pattern's yarn requirements and the amount I knit up didn't match up. So Munchkin will be getting a sweater in the same yarn. And possibly a hat. And maybe mittens.

 The influx of items from my knitting friends has begun! This is the first knitted baby gift:

The first knitted thing for the baby from a friend

My friend Sophie, whom I've recently christened the Sweater Demon, since she's knit something like 4 or 5 sweaters in the last month and a half, made these. They are both adorable and machine-washable. I have that line from The Incredibles stuck in my head now: "And machine washable, dahling. That's a new feature."

When I've knit baby things for other people, the easily washable yarns have definitely been my first choice. Despite this, the baby cardigan out of the leftovers from Fireside will not be machine-washable. The yarn's there in my stash, and it suits the pattern I have in mind. Hand-washing isn't hard, but I don't plan to do too many hand-wash only pieces for the baby. Munchkin, if she's like most babies, will probably spit up on them immediately.

I'm casting on the next baby sweater tomorrow sometime, and we'll see how it goes. I might cut out pieces for a baby dress, too.