Monday, December 26, 2011

A few days left in 2011...

...and only a few stitches left on my needles!
The last few days have been quite productive, and I'm happy to end the year with a few less bags of unfinished projects.

First, the eternal cardigan.



No, it is not finished. But I am so close...17 stitches away from wearing it, to be exact. And I could have finished it (I mean, I had the time to do it), but I definitively do not understand how to graft the collar. I tried, but not too hard, because I just didn't want to spend any more time undoing anything on this sweater. I really, really felt like just sewing both ends of the collar together instead of following the instructions, but I figured out that I might as well finish it well, and keep learning as much as I can from this pattern, so, no, that's not what I wore for Christmas this year.

I also started a R2DTuque for my man (http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/2007/06/r2d2-beanie.html), but there too, there is something I don't understand (the duplicate stitch part). So I put it aside.

Which gave me time to finish this hat that I had started last winter.


 Actually, I knitted one last winter, and sent it away to my friend in Hungary. Then I knitted a second one, and sent it off to Hungary again, for the daughter of the friend who had received the first one. Then I cast on one for myself, and the weather got warmer, and I started other things and never touched it again. So while I was kind of on hold with my other projects, and because winter finally arrived 2 days ago with a nice -18, I decided to get back to it, and this time, finished it in 2 days. I also read some comments on ravelry, and decided to change the needles for bigger ones after the ribs, so it is a little bit "slouchier" than the previous ones I knitted. That was a great way to see how much I progressed in the past year, because I was able to make it in 2 days only this time, December 24-26, mostly in the car as we went from one Christmas party to another, as opposed to a month last year, because I kept making mistakes and didn't know how to fix them. I think I also understand knitting better, so I knew that small mistakes would not make a big difference in the overall project, while last year, I kept counting the stitches at every row and panicked when there was a slight difference. 

But I have not been the only one knitting: my mother decided to offer me a sweater this year. We went yarn shopping a few months ago, she bought St-Denis Yarn Spring 2011 pattern book, and I picked the Dolman Aran.


It was quite a challenge for my mum, even if she has been knitting for over 60 years. Even if she doesn't speak a word of English, she can knit in English, because she understands the abbreviations, without knowing what the actual words mean. For example, she knows what to do when she sees "yo" (which she calls yo) but she has not idea what "yarn over" means. To her, yo means that to have to bring the yarn in the front, that's it. This pattern, because of its intricate motives, had a bunch of abbreviations she didn't know and she had a hard time figuring out what they meant, since their definitions were in English. She also got very frustrated that she could not find the actual St-Denis yarn, because she really wanted to make the sweater exactly as it was in the book. She ended up with some Cascade yarn, which made a beautiful job.

I love the details
I also receive a beautiful pair of mittens, Northlights pattern from the same magazine. I love that they fit me! My mum traced the shape of my small hands on a napkin the last time we met for brunch, to make sure they would not be too long. It's a perfect fit!


I think I'll attach them to a ribbon which I will pass in the sleeves of my coat, just to make sure I don't loose them.


I'm now all ready for the next few months of Canadian cold winter!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Another sunny day...

...means another productive day, especially that I went to bed at 9 last night, right after sending out my last English essay! I have one more day of work, and then it is time off until January 9th!

So, right on time to be distributed at tomorrow's office Christmas party, here are:

Blue jeans booties (they don't make me think of blue jeans, but they were blue in the original pattern). I really like this pattern, it was so well explained, and it is a very quick knit, for a very cute result! The original pattern called for a ribbon to put trough the holes, but I think I like it better this way.
This pair is going to be given to Isabelle, new mother of Samuel, and Master's student in my research group.  

I was so productive this afternoon, I also finished a pair of booties for Charles, another student of my research group, and soon to be father of a little girl:

I still need to find mini buttons for these...

I love Mary Janes, so this was an easy pattern to choose. Also quite easy and very fast to knit.

I still didn't finish the cardigan. It's quite ridiculous, really, because all I need to do is to get 2 pieces of about 3 cm long together. I just don't know how to do it, so I need to have at least an hour of peace and quiet by myself to try to figure it out. But I have all of Thursday to do that, so there is still hope I will wear it on Saturday night for Christmas dinner at my parents!

Next in line: a R2D2 hat for my man. Yeap, that's what he wants.
And then, the possibilities will be endless. I can't wait for the new year!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

back to some productivity

As you know, because I keep repeating myself a lot here, I have a lot of things I would like to finish before the end of the year. So, this week, I kicked my bum a little bit, and finished my present for one of my ex-colleague's baby (born at the end of October, I hope she is as little as her mum is and that it will still fit her when I mail it this week.)


It's full of very obvious mistakes, the buttons are not well placed, the sleeves are pulling in a weird way, and it is still missing a button (I realised last night while sewing them on that 3 x 3 buttons = 9, while 2 x 5 buttonholes = 10 - Did I mention that the snow and the sun have disappeared again, and that I am back to my November fog?) but I still really like it. It is made with my favourite yarn (Berocco Vintage), which is soft and easy to knit.  My plan was to make a second panel, but I'm just can't knit that quickly. I'll try to make another one if I see that it might fit a few more months when she receives it.

On the side of the (in)famous cardigan, the extra inch has been added in the back, and now I need to graft the neckband. That's it! 3 cm wide of grafting! I just need to figure out how to do it, although it is very well explained in the pattern. It is a lovely pattern, with lots of picture, diagrams and explanations (4 pages!) but somehow, I always feel like I keep discovering things I need to go to finish the cardigan. But I swear, I will finish it. This year. Hopefully before Christmas.

 Talking about Christmas, I'm not a big fan (I'm probably the only crafter-blogger on the planet who is not a fan, but that's ok). Too much drama, too much stress, too much running around spending money. I am, however, a fan of the season change and of the days starting to get longer again, so I'm willing to get in a festive mood just for that. So we'll eventually install some lights in our windows, and we already got this in the front of the house:


Pine wreath made by my man from left overs bought at the Christmas tree shop, bow made by the ex-florist employee (me).

Have a good week! Hope to get back with more finished items next week!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Yeah, it's December!

AAhh, it's been over a month since I last wrote something? 
It’s not that I didn’t have anything to say, it’s more that November was dark and cold and wet...I just can’t survive, never mind accomplish anything in these conditions. (I also think that a month starting by "No" just can't be positive, really). 

My man thinks I’m obsessed with light - he would be very happy to use the ceilings lights only, but I bought a several extra table-top lamps for each room of the house. I thought it was because, generally, it is just more civilised to have several types of lighting in a room, but it might be more than that. I just can’t function if I don’t have enough of the right type of light. Even if I have done a lot of things this past month, everything has been done as if I was on an automatic pilot, nothing was done well, and mostly, nothing has been finished. I NEED LIGHT!!!!

Craft Project management system. The only thing I finished this month was a new bag (the brown, green and pink one) to carry my hardhanger embroidery.

Oh, how I was looking for the snow and the beautiful reflection of the sun on it to give me back my energy! Sun was announced for today, and, as a result, I got up before dawn, full of energy. 

My backyard this morning, sun reflecting on the snow, at last!!!
For those wondering why I have such an empty backyard, it is the result of this: 
Yes, it was a stressful evening. Me, the over-organised person, just froze, and for a few seconds, I had no idea what to take with me when we got evacuated. Standing on a sidewalk for several hours, waiting to see if you will loose everything  without being able to do anything is really, really stressful and exhausting. When we were finally authorized to go back in, I slept like a baby, and woke up sore from the stress.

But back to December. Things have been started in the past months, and since November ended this week, I am confident that December will bring me a lot of finished items, leaving me with a whole new list of things to start in the New Year. My first step of finishing things was to visit my friend Elizabeth, knitter and designer extraordinaire, to ask her to help me figure out how to finish the last inch (1 inch!!) of the cardigan I have been trying to knit for over a year and a half now. Now that I know what to do, who knows, I might be able to finish it this weekend...

Talking about lists, one of the best ways to procrastinate last month had to be Pinterest.  Pinterest is awesome because it allows you to save at the same place all those things you see on the internet and don’t want to forget about in a neat way. It is also a very interesting place to do sociological and anthropological studies about the mainly North Americans users. Seeing so many references to Christianity next to recipes for the most disgusting, unhealthy food, next to pictures almost glorifying anorexia can be a little bit disturbing. I can also see patterns of an obsession for Harry Potter as well as for ranch seasoning (!?!). But in between all these, there are many inspiring quotes, tutorials, tips, great recipes and DYI ideas, and I really, really like how we can organise them all and leave comments. If this site ever disappears, I’ll be in trouble. When I go to my boards, it just makes me happy to see all those pretty things I like. You can find me here: http://pinterest.com/genyke/

On this, I'm going back to my knitting! Happy Saturday, everyone! 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Going crazy

I'm going to my 2nd crazy quilting (or crazy patchwork, not sure which term is more used, I think patchwork is the proper one) tonight.

I'm not a natural seamstress but I really enjoyed this class where we put material next to each other, and then we cut, and we sewed, and we cut and sewed some more, with a little bit of ironing in between. (It's the simplified version of the real crazy quilting, but it is good enough for me).

So far, here is the result of my 6 future aprons.There is a little bit more cutting, assembling, ironing and sewing waiting to happen, plus adding some batting and embroidering (machine embroidery!)
My man already decided he won't eat on them, too afraid to get them dirty (I guess that means he finds them pretty?).

That's giving me a lot more ideas for other things in the future...but I must start by finishing this (or anything!) first.

Now back to my knitting.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The art of procrastination

I am bringing procrastination to an art.

First, I have about 1,000 pictures of different crafts that I took in Transylvania this summer and that I would like to share here, but it's just too much for me right now, so you might see them in December when I have a few days to go through them during my holidays.

I'm also looking at my sad loom as I write these lines. It is still covered so it won't get dusty, and I didn't get event close to it for the past 3 months.

But, really, my procrastination masterpiece has to be that red cardigan. Started in April 2010. My first piece, the one I was so excited about, the one that made me work so hard, the one that taught me everything I know about knitting right now, the one I just can't wait to wear in public. The one I had promised to finish before I boarded the plane for Budapest this summer.

It's still not finished.

It is almost finished. I know I have been saying this since I finished the body, but I have a good excuse: I didn't know sleeves took so long to knit!(and were so boring...)

So, here is what it looks like now. Almost finished, right? (Well. at least, it looks like a cardigan).

Wrong. That little part in the back around the neck that is obviously not finished is giving me mathematical nightmares. I mean, I know I can figure it out, but I feel that I need the peace and quiet of a lab to truly study it and figure out exactly what to do. I can't do it here at home, there are too many stimuli.


My problem is that I finished my back (a while ago) with a bunch of decrease, but the sleeves are too long for it, so I have to undo those last decreased rows, add a few regular ones, decrease again, and sew to the sleeves, while also finishing the lacy part that goes around the neck. Not too difficult. I can do it. I'm just too coward to start it. I might uncover more problems, who knows? I'm a little bit exhausted by all the drama this cardigan keeps creating for me. (But at the same time, I'm very grateful to have learn to knit on this pattern, because even after all these months (18 of them), I still love it, so that's probably why I keep going back to it, and keep knitting all together.)

This blog post from one of my knitting idols made me feel ssooo good about my knitting problems this week. I felt guilty about it, but it is just what I needed.  The fact that everything was fixed the day after when she posted again did not make me feel as good, though.

But we were talking about procrastinating. Since I started this cardigan, I knitted at least 6 or 7 other smaller things that kept me from frogging this thing. Very conveniently, I remembered last week that I friend of mine, an ex-colleague, is very, very pregnant. Like, she is delivering in the next few days. I really like her, and I didn't know how to knit the first time she had a baby, so she definitively deserves something this time around. I found what I think is going to be a perfect little outfit for the upcoming holidays (although I am not sure if there is any Jewish holiday coming up? oh well...): Presto Chango. I love that the front panel can be changed in case it gets dirty. And it is very easy to make, so far. And, I can knit it with my favourite yarn.

This is what it looks like after 1½ day. I hope to finish it tomorrow!

I had another good excuse for starting this new knitting. I had a "Tricot-Martini" (Knitting-Martini") to attend, and needed something easy to knit and easy to carry. The tricot-martini was a happy-hour event organised by the craft organisation I belong to: we met in a nice bar, had martinis and tapas, and chatted for a few hours while knitting. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the next one! From what I heard, the owners and staff of the bar thought we were very cute and are looking forward for us to come back.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Bliss


  I have not been very good at keeping up with my blog this summer.
Not that I had nothing to write about! I probably have enough to write a novel, with :
- A wonderful month in Transylvania, visiting friends and learning a lot about embroidery, Hungarian language and new recipes
- 1 week in Lilloet and Vancouver with my man
- an urban garden that gave a lot of dill and cherry tomatoes, and not too many cucumbers nor peas...
- a half day a week added to my part-time job
- a new busy role on the Board of our local craft association
- a new certificate in translation
- several translation contracts
- a quilt course
- a hardanger course, and
- as of this morning, a new pilates course.

Thank God I have a 16Gig card in my camera...

So, anyway, I have a lot to write about in the future, but I'm starting with the end and what I did last weekend, which was Thanksgiving here. It was a beautiful, beautiful weekend in the Mauricie, and we decided to go camping at the camping site where we usually go. I love this place; it's quiet, it's beautiful, and it is close by.



We brought my canoe (birthday present from my man...Did I need a canoe? Did I ask for a canoe? Noooo.....But after this weekend, I'm so happy to own one! )



It's was a warm weekend, so camping was very comfortable. I was hoping to walk a lot around the lake and go to a lookout, but because it is hunting season, it was not recommended. So we went on the lake instead, 3 times in 2 days. The colours were out, and it felt just amazing to be in the middle of them. Most of my pictures were taken on Sunday morning, when I went out by myself at 7:00am. I was totally alone on the lake, except for 2 loons who were up already.My man and I went back later on, before going back home, and this time we shared the lake with a couple of Mergansers. 
















Thursday, June 30, 2011

consequences of randomness

So, last week I was telling you about how zen I was about randomly decreasing my cardigan's left front.
Well, yesterday, after finishing the right front, I was a little less calm about it.
yeah...not at all the same length...
Actually the 2nd side is the right length. I guess all that is left for me to do is to rip the left side, and try to redo it following the randomness of the 2nd one. Hopefully I can do it quickly, I'm still hoping to wear it on July 20, in the plane.

Until then, I can at least enjoy how beautiful the lace is (that's what sold me to the idea of knitting this as a first project, even if it was an intermediate pattern).



Talking about the trip, after planning what feels like every single minute of the 4 weeks I will spend in Transylvania, it is now time to start thinking of the knitting part. I'm planning on bringing a pair of socks, so I finally learn how to knit them. All bloggers will suggest you socks, which are easy to carry and to knit anywhere.

But I also want to start something more substantial, after I'm done with my current cardigan.
I'm hesitating between the following:
1. Buttercup, which looks easy enough with just a little of lace to make it interesting.
2. Yoga wrap, which looks just easy.
3. Lauriel, not as easy, but oh so pretty...

I'm going back to Montreal to get my passport on July 13th, and I'll get my yarn at the same time, so feel free to comment to let me know what you think I should start.

On other news:
Weaving: 2 more inches. putting all my energy and time on the cardigan.
Sewing: pfew, still not over that size thing.
Gardening: things are starting to look like future vegetables on my balcony

Have a nice long weekend!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

a better knitting week

So, I realise that my last post was a little bit negative. Nothing seemed to work, so I just put everything aside for a few days until it got sunny again and I got the chance to spend 2 full hours in my favourite knitting environment: the 3R-Mtl bus. I actually would rather pay lots of money to take that bus than use amigo or other carpooling systems, just for the knitting-time quality. 


I usually take this bus early in the morning, because I usually have a day full-jam-packed ahead of me when I go to Montreal. Fortunately, that's when I'm the most productive (this time, I took the 6:15am  one). I get to spend 2 full hours focusing only only on my knitting. I sit on the first row, where I have a little table that is more stable than the ones in the other rows, I take my pattern and my iPod out, put my iPod on the pattern so it won't move, turn on my iPod to one of my several knitting applications, take a sip of the café au lait I got right before I left and bang, I can knit for 2 hours straight.





This time, my main problem was that I had not followed the instructions properly, and did not do the decreases at the right interval. But somehow, I did not panic (my self-instruction "breathe" do help a lot) and kept going even if I knew I was not following the pattern. Let's call it knitting intuition, or, ahem, maybe more properly, stubbornness. Somewhere else in the pattern, I had to decrease every 6 rows, and somehow, even if it was VERY clearly written in the pattern I now had to decrease every 5 rows, I did it at every 6 rows again...but not constantly. Actually, even with my hi-tech iPod application, I'm not sure at all what I did, so it added another layer of stress: how am I now going to make sure both fronts are symmetrical?




After over 2 hours spent waiting at the passport office with my bag pack on my bag (practising for this summer, and strengthening my lower back...not) I arrived at Elizabeth's place for a session of pilates-knitting, She also did not look stressed or worried about the fact that I was doing whatever, since the final product looked OK. She also did not look worried or even puzzled at the fact that my needles were not at all where they were supposed to be (I was not stressed, because I had not realised yet I had not followed the pattern for that either). Anyway, the left front is now finished, and somehow, I finished it with the right amount of stiches left, and the right length. I started the right front, which I seem to be knitting as randomly as the left side, despite my super iPod application. But, people, take a look at this: it is starting to look like something I will soon be able to wear. (Ok, I've been saying that since about a month after I started it, last year, when I thought it looked like a cowl), so let's change this to: People, take a look at this: it is starting to look like a CARDIGAN I will soon be able to wear...maybe even on July 20, when I leave for Romania!!!



Other crafting news: after asking my man if he could see the mistake in the weaving, and he was, I did undo the inch, and weaved a couple more inches. But nothing to get exciting about yet.
Sewing: I'll try to get back to the skirt today, as I have a day off. (but I would rather try to finish my cardigan...).
Gardening: it is all green again, the new tomato plants look good and are full of flowers, and the one thing that survived our early planting, a zucchini plant, has started to produce one tiny zucc, with flowers for a few more.




Life is good again, except for the pictures that refuse to upload...I'll re-post when it's fixed, until then you'll have to use your imagination.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Sewing

It's June! Hopefully this means that the month of rain if over. So far, so good.
Unfortunately, our urban garden has not survived this awful month, so we re-planted everything except for the tomatoes which I will buy today at the market.

Dead cucumber with new ones planted last week

I'm leaving for Transylvania in a little bit more than a month. I can't wait, although really, I think it is now time to seriously plan that group trip, starting by getting a new passport...

On the crafty side of things, I've been sewing more than knitting or weaving. I made a mistake about an inch ago in my weaving, and I can't find the will to undo that inch to redo it.

The knitting was going well, I started the sleeves, and started to divide for armholes. All was going well. Then I read AT THE SAME TIME...start shaping neck, and started to wonder if really, I was able to multitask that much while knitting. After a few minutes of trying to calculate numbers of row, and decreases on my knitting application on ipod, I had to add another thing not to forget to do:
left front, neck shaping and breathing, all happening at the same time.
I knitted like this for 2 hours while on the bus 3R-Montréal last week, but I haven't been able to get back to it since. I feel that I cannot just grab my bag and do a few rows anymore, I will need serious time to figure out where I am the next time I touch it. I could however work a little harder on my sleeves, which I will do as soon as I get the courage to do so many increases in a row (I'm not crazy about increases, I still don't feel very comfortable doing them). However, tomorrow is the World Wide Knit in Public Day, so I think that sleeves will be safer to knit at the Dek-hockey tournament I'm supposed to attend than the front-neck-breath part. 
I'm still hoping to be wearing this on the place next month...or maybe on the way back a month later...

But, really, the last month has been busier with sewing. I don't feel very comfortable sewing, even if I took some basic courses a few years ago with a dancer from my Hungarian folk dance group. I think she was very good at giving us good habits. I also sewed very intensively a few years ago, sewing 4 or 5 sets of Hungarian costumes over a weekend with 2 friends. But I hadn't touche my sewing machine in years, and remembered mostly un-sewing the many mistakes I kep making and being discouraged at how crooked everything I tried to do was.  So, even after I moved to this gigantic apartment, acquired a monstrous desk, a new iron and ironing board with the objective of starting to sew again, I had not touch my sewing machine since the move last July. But somehow, the nicer weather inspired me, and in the past 2 weeks, I started a few things.
The curtains for our main door had been on my to-do list since I visited the apartment last year

This is a future bed skirt. It is all sewn, I only need to add velcro to make sure it holds onto our fairytale bed.
The curtains took half an hour to make (I only had to sew the sides). Having everything I needed ready around me (iron, machine, needles) made a huge difference. I also noticed that somehow, even if I had not sewn in years, I now sew lines that are straighter. Maybe with age comes wisdom and patience, and with that come straight lines?

The second item is a bed skirt. My man built us a bed that is about 18 inch high. I love it, I have trouble getting onto it, it's so high, but it really feels like a princess' bed. And it's got tons of room for storage underneath. Unfortunately, this space is 1. not pretty and 2. always full of dust. So after finding this fabric at Ikea, I spent 2 hours sewing it. It looks good, and it works well again the dust. I now just have to find a way to keep in in place, probably with velcro. That too went very well, and very quickly, and everything is straight.

The last project project I worked on in the past weeks was a huge catastrophe for my ego.
I decided to make myself a skirt with some very colourful fabric I bought last year. I found a pattern that looked easy to make, and cut all the pieces of paper and fabric for what I thought was my size.


Then, I don't know why, I put the pieces to make the belt around my waist. Shock and horror, it was way too small. I went back to my papers, and sure enough, it was the size that all my other clothes are. It was even written that the belt was made to be worn an inch and a half under the waist. AAAhhhhhrrrrhhhhh! I was not even able to put it at my waist!

Before starting crying, I took a deep breath, and went to my bedroom, and tried on several clothes in that same size. Pfeww, they all fit. So I had not doubled in size overnight. Some of these clothes I've had for several years. But I really find it annoying that the sizes I wear are more and more different depending on where I get my clothes. I have clothes in S, M and L which all fit more or less the same way, and I also have clothes in at least 3 different sizes, because some sizes are made smaller, or bigger to please the crowd, I feel. Of course, nobody wants to be over size 6. But selling size 14 clothes with a size 10 or 12 tag on to make people feel better is not helpful, at least not to me. How do people order clothes over the internet? Not only I feel fat, but I also feel like someone has decided they have to lie to me because, what, I am not able to take the truth? Because if I feel big, I will not buy clothes anymore? (hum...maybe, but I still need to wear something). I think we should have a system where we are able to identify our size by the real size of our waist. Anyway, all that to say that I was not happy because now I have to redo the skirt. I will cut a new belt one size bigger, and I will undo the pleats to make them smaller, so I will gain room at the waist. 
And I will seriously re-start looking at what I eat, try to figure out ways to be  more active, stop using the way I feel in my clothes as a way to assess if my body is changing and figure out a way to "try" the paper pieces of a pattern before I start cutting the fabric. That was not a good day. :-(

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Quilting camp

I'm just back from spending the weekend in a camp with 18 other lady-farmers, learning the stain glass quilting technique. It was awesome, and not only because I got to learn a lot of new things.

First, I got to spend the weekend out of the city. 3R is not a big city, but it is a city nonetheless. So I got to spend 2 days in a camps in the woods, where I could hear a waterfall from my room and take long walks.



It was also wonderful to be with 18 other women, all passionate enough by textile arts to spend 2 days away from their family! (I was the baby of the group...and my man spent half of the weekend in Québec city for a course he is taking for his masters' degree, so it was easier for me...). Most of them had a lot of experience, and a lot of generosity in sharing their knowledge.


The other reason why it was so great is that it was relaxing. We worked hard, but without rushing to get our things done. There was a lot of knitting and playing in pyjamas, and we even took an impromptu break to go yarn shopping in the next village in the afternoon.


I was going there hoping to learn basic techniques that would help me with any sewing; I did not have a particular interest for the stained glass quilt, but I am very happy by what I was able to make, and hope to be able to use it.

cutting the different pieces and sticking them to the background

adding the pieces one by one, making sure there is no space between them

adding the bias tape


It's not finished; I was able to sew the bias around the flower only, and I also have to add the batting and decide what I want to make with it. Some ladies made a mural, some others made a cushion. I'm thinking of a bag, because I love craft that is useful. If anyone else has an idea, please leave a comment! 


Other crafty news

Weaving: 
So, after I warped my loom to make dishtowels, I started to weave and I keep seeing a bag appearing in front of me (I have something with bags...)



Knitting: 
I'm currently knitting a little cardigan for a colleague who is expecting. I hope to finish it before the baby arrives! Somehow, I have a hard time to get into it - maybe I just have too many things to do as well, such as the morning echo cardigan that I started over a year ago and that I still have not finished...But I am determined to wear it in the plane I am taking on July 20th to go to Romania, so I better finish the baby cardigan if I want to get back to it ASAP! 

the back and one of the front piece - but I'm almost done now


have a great week!