knitting

unfinished business

ideas and experiments

So, if you've been reading this blog for a looong time, you might remember a day when I was a button-maker. Remember the owl buttons?? * sigh.*  I loved it. I think my button-making days began to disappear when baby number three and four arrived.

i used to be a button maker

I keep making attempts at a return, but the time just hasn't been right yet. I even have a box of bisqued "ideas and experiments" sitting in my craft cupboard.

another idea, half finished

Even worse, I have a wonderful aunt who has offered to fire anything I want to send her way. It couldn't get any easier. Except for the fact that I need to unearth an extra four hours or so in my day. But I do miss it. A lot.

In the meantime, my personal stash of buttons is running extremely low, which means I have a few projects sitting here, waiting for the perfect buttons so that the projects can go from knitting basket to actually being worn by my children. 

for elizabeth....

This little sweater was knit for, ahem, Elizabeth when she was a toddler (She's turning four in a few weeks.) from Erika Knight's, Knitting for Two (I've heard it's also in Baby Bloom ).  And I confess, just like the shrug, this sweater has been put on babes in it's unfinished state, maybe pinned together with diaper pins? Not so classy, huh?

let's not discuss...

I have a few buffalo nickels that were given to me, and I think they'll be just the thing. And the sweater will fit Birdy perfectly right now, so I'm anxious to get it done. (Maybe even today?? I get my best knitting done when I have a really long to-do list of everything BUT knitting.)

again with the button dilemna

This sweater is what I refer to in this house as Harper's Vest (aka. Pebble)  But this is knit according to Amanda's experiments in making it in a larger size. Following the same pattern but with larger needles (size 9) and worsted weight yarn double-stranded.

again, with the button dilemna

I found a lovely soft cotton that I found at Michael's, of all places. The sweater is thick and chunky and warm. I love how it turned out.

But….no buttons. I'm envisioning really nice, simple, wooden buttons for this. I just haven't found them yet. Meanwhile the sweater is a little big for Birdy, but Elizabeth is trying to convince me that she can squeeze herself into it.

you'll never find the perfect project

 My current project, has been my Parenthood/knitting/late at night pleasure. (Am I the only one who can't make it through a single episode of Parenthood without tearing up at some point??!) I love this pattern so far and the yarn is from a small farm in Wisconsin. Dan bought me a sheepskin rug from this farm and we ended up visiting it a few weeks later when they were lambing. I've always hesitated to use the yarn because it's one of those beautiful yarns that requires the perfect project. But now, almost six years later, the yarn deserves to become something, don't you think? 

What's on your needles these days?

ideas and experiments

So, if you've been reading this blog for a looong time, you might remember a day when I was a button-maker. Remember the owl buttons?? * sigh.*  I loved it. I think my button-making days began to disappear when baby number three and four arrived.

i used to be a button maker

I keep making attempts at a return, but the time just hasn't been right yet. I even have a box of bisqued "ideas and experiments" sitting in my craft cupboard.

another idea, half finished

Even worse, I have a wonderful aunt who has offered to fire anything I want to send her way. It couldn't get any easier. Except for the fact that I need to unearth an extra four hours or so in my day. But I do miss it. A lot.

In the meantime, my personal stash of buttons is running extremely low, which means I have a few projects sitting here, waiting for the perfect buttons so that the projects can go from knitting basket to actually being worn by my children. 

for elizabeth....

This little sweater was knit for, ahem, Elizabeth when she was a toddler (She's turning four in a few weeks.) from Erika Knight's, Knitting for Two (I've heard it's also in Baby Bloom ).  And I confess, just like the shrug, this sweater has been put on babes in it's unfinished state, maybe pinned together with diaper pins? Not so classy, huh?

let's not discuss...

I have a few buffalo nickels that were given to me, and I think they'll be just the thing. And the sweater will fit Birdy perfectly right now, so I'm anxious to get it done. (Maybe even today?? I get my best knitting done when I have a really long to-do list of everything BUT knitting.)

again with the button dilemna

This sweater is what I refer to in this house as Harper's Vest (aka. Pebble)  But this is knit according to Amanda's experiments in making it in a larger size. Following the same pattern but with larger needles (size 9) and worsted weight yarn double-stranded.

again, with the button dilemna

I found a lovely soft cotton that I found at Michael's, of all places. The sweater is thick and chunky and warm. I love how it turned out.

But….no buttons. I'm envisioning really nice, simple, wooden buttons for this. I just haven't found them yet. Meanwhile the sweater is a little big for Birdy, but Elizabeth is trying to convince me that she can squeeze herself into it.

you'll never find the perfect project

 My current project, has been my Parenthood/knitting/late at night pleasure. (Am I the only one who can't make it through a single episode of Parenthood without tearing up at some point??!) I love this pattern so far and the yarn is from a small farm in Wisconsin. Dan bought me a sheepskin rug from this farm and we ended up visiting it a few weeks later when they were lambing. I've always hesitated to use the yarn because it's one of those beautiful yarns that requires the perfect project. But now, almost six years later, the yarn deserves to become something, don't you think? 

What's on your needles these days?

22 comments on “unfinished business”

  1. No knitting today, but I feel your love of making buttons with clay – that is actually what I am doing :O) I hope you are able to get back to it soon. With 4 kids of my own, I know how hard it is to find time (even now with them 19, 17, 14, and 10 – I still am in high demand for my driving, shopping, cooking, cleaning etc. skills.)

  2. Lovely UFOs. I hope you are able to find a few minutes to return to your buttons. I am currently working on a couple pair of longies, a few washcloths and a sweater for me. I am also trying my hand at crochet.

  3. I’m still hoarding the buttons you made. Can’t make myself use them. I think I won’t until I know I can get more.

    You know, it’s not hard to make wooden buttons. Might not be the permanent solution, but would perhaps look a little more finished than diaper pins. Make slices from a branch that is the diameter you want, and drill some holes. If/when it’s dry wood, you can finish it or oil it. I’ve seen some nice examples around.

  4. Longies. Or, rather, shorties. Forever. Why can’t I get enough of knitting these things? Though next I’m knitting a doll in the round for a swap (and another for my oldest – he’s requested a ninja!). Whee! (:

    Also – those buttons? *Gorgeous!*

  5. i have a close to 3/4 finished tea leaves in a lovely wool/silk blend plus some leg warmers for jane that i guess she’ll use next winter (or maybe the one after that).and yes, crying during parenthood every time.

  6. yes, yes, yes!!! i remember your button/clay days. 🙂 i was just thinking (while i was rolling out dough the other day) about a comment you left for me a few years back comparing a photo of my rolled out dough to your clay (i always see kneading the dough very much like wedging clay but i had never compared the too in the rolled out form)… love to see your knitting endeavors.

  7. I’m this {} close to being finished w/ an epic sweater and the Dylan song of Parenthood gets me every time.

  8. I have a baby sweater on the needles, on that has been sitting without sleeves for over a month, and a pair of legwarmers for a friend. I’m trying to tame the wool stash before a new flood of purewool hits ( I participated in a co-op…very dangerous.).

  9. I am almost done with a sweater for my Ellie. The pattern in on Ravelry… it is called Tiny Tea Leaves. I am just so happy that I could read the pattern and actually knit it without any help at all. The is the first time in my 3 *years* of knitting that I have been able to do that.

  10. your buttons are beautiful, I love them. I wish you had the time to start again too! I sent my mom an email to check out your latest knitting projects, such good finds!

  11. I just cast on for a garter yoke cardi and I’m planning on casting on for a habitat hat and a baby sweater for my cousins baby in the near future. I have to admit that I too, unfortunately, have a pile waiting on buttons…

    Clay has been popping up in a few blogs I follow in the last week or two. I’d love any recommendations you have for an interested beginner!!

  12. You guys must have a different theme song to the show. Over here in Australia, they use Lucy Schwartz’s ‘When we were young’ as the theme, which I love and seems to fit perfectly. But now I need to YouTube the American version and listen to the Dylan theme!

  13. Molly! Thank you, thank you for the cardigan link. I’ve just begun something similar, but not quite so nice, and am in love with the idea … there’s something so practical about a cap-sleeved cardigan for little people — all the warmth, none of the cuffs dragging through dinner/mud/paint/life. I’ve added this to my ravelry faves, to begin just as soon as my other 3 (ahem) sweaters are finished. Chop chop!

  14. You have some beautiful knits going. I am trying to finish my first sweater (for myself) – one or two rows in a sitting, which is going to take me forever, but I just can’t give it up! I also tear up at the end of every Parenthood episode. My husband can’t understand why I’d want to watch something that is so true to life. Because, I tell him, it is so true to life! 🙂

  15. I remember the buttons! You will get back to it one day or it will morph into something else. You’re very creative; it just takes different shapes in different seasons of life. I’m actually picking up knitting again (& sewing & other stuffs) after a too-long break. It feels good again. Right now, I finished a set of family hats, frogged a sweater that was 3 years in the making (ugh), and made some Matryoshkas. Come & see.

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