Indie Designer Gift-A-Long 2014

What is a Gift-A-Long, you ask?  Well, it's an opportunity to join with other fiber folks to support independent designers and hopefully get a few Christmas knits done.

And, I'm part of the madness!!!

Until Friday at midnight all of my designs are 25% off!  So are the designs of 293 other designers.  Just use the code "giftalong2014" when you purchase the patterns through Ravelry.  Then, head over to the GAL group to participate in discussion, sharing, and a crazy amount of prizes. Seriously, do it. You won't be disappointed!

Here are a few of my favourite designs. Now I just have to decide which ones I am going to take advantage of the sale to put in my own pattern library!

Symbiotic Cowl

by Hanna Maciejewska

Polar Vortex Thrummed Mittens

by Cynthia Spencer

Goldilocks

by Justyna Lorkowska

Vaffel Votter

by Anniken Allis

Limesicle

by Debbie Sullivan

Libellula

by Cristina Ghirlanda

Summer Festival

by Georgie Hallam

Thyone

by Tori Gurbisz

And Suddenly it's November!

 My life. It get's away from me. Daily.

One day it's June 2007 and I'm having my first baby, and the next day it's November, I have no idea what day or year because I've suddenly got 5 kids and the calendar is in the other room!!!

By the persistence of my little sister, Chloe, I did manage to pull myself together enough to gather coordinating outfits, comb through everyone's hair, and meet her for an hour for a photo shoot.

My favourite thing about these pictures?  Atticus's hair. I love it!  He's 2 1/2 and hasn't had a haircut, and I love it.

The Suit that wouldn't Knit Itself

When I was pregnant with Eli I began crocheting a blessing dress for the much anticipated Baby Blessing that all children in our church receive shortly after they are born. Of course, when Eli was born a boy we realized that he would look much better in a suit than a lacy dress (which was okay, since I had only gotten about 10% done by the time he was born.) So, my lovely sister-in-law, Renee, made me a darling little suit out of the leftover fabric from my wedding dress. It was cute. He was cute. All was happy.

When I was pregnant with Silas I worked a little more on the blessing dress, but again did not get it complete by the time he was born. When he came out a he, I called upon the mad sewing skills of Renee again.  The suit she had made for my tiny little Eli, who was blessed at 6 weeks did not fit my monstrous Silas, who was blessed at 3 months. 

When I was pregnant with Atticus, I got awfully close to finishing the dress.  But, he came out a he as well. So, having made Eli and Silas each their own, Atticus naturally needed one as well.  Enter Renee, and a blessing outfit was made for sweet Atticus as well. Here's the dress (which, incidentally, won the Best In Class Ribbon at the Calgary Stampede Creative Arts and Craft Show): 

Well, seeing as I'm not sure if I will ever have a girl, and not one of my boys have worn anything of my own making, when Machen came out a he I decided I needed to make something for him.  I should have known, seeing as it took me 5 years to make the blessing dress, that this would be no small endeavour, but I dove in anyway. And, after two months of knitting ferociously, I did in fact finish a blessing suit for my sweet Mac.   Isn't he the sweetest thing?!?

The pattern is a Dale of Norway design, from a pamphlet I bought off Ebay.  I used MadTosh Lace, and teeny, tiny needles (size 0 and size 1), so it was basically like knitting with spider webs. Actually, if I consider the stitch count, I probably could have knit Jared an entire outfit of his own with worsted weight yarn - not something I would EVER consider doing.  I posted all about it on my Ravelry page, so feel free to jaunt over their and take a look: jennyvangy's Blessing Suit.