Birth Announcement

Have you seen how cute the penpals patterns are from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery? These are beginner friendly, and a big part of that appeal is they are small enough that you can finish fairly quickly.

I had been working on Penpals 202, which I believe was originally a Valentine's release.  I bought this as a kit, with the polka dot linen and delightful cosmo threads, from The Cottage Needle on Etsy (I highly recommend them for your stitch goodies).  While I was working on this, I received the good news that a dearly loved couple were expecting a baby girl.  As the months went by I saw that they were decorating the nursery with pink and hearts.  That triggered an idea - this cross stitch pattern would make a cute birth announcement.

Once I worked the penpals design, I needed to add the personalization.  A quick Google search later I came across Stitchpoint - a site that lets you pick a font and type in the letters and characters that you want to stitch.  I opted for the Monaco font - I wanted the lettering to be delicate and not overpower the penpals design.  For the name I used the darkest of pinks from the design.  For the birth details I used the medium pink.  My thought here is that the name would stand out a little bit from the rest of the details.


For the finishing I found a frame at TJ Maxx that would work with the furniture in the nursery, and also complement the cross stitch design.  I cut some card and batting that would fit the frame (I like how the batting adds some 'poof' to the finished design, centered the design over the top and then laced up the back.  (There are a number of online tutorials showing how to do lacing...  this was my first time finishing/framing a project myself, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out).

Have you tried something new this week?

Wishing you a great week ahead.
Love,
Sam xxx

Delicate baby booties and hat

I started the baby booties and hat again using the new yarn. It was a good decision!


The previous colours were nice... they just didn't feel really special. These new yarns however - Wow! First the colours - I feel that they are classic and delicate. Perfect baby colours. The cream yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Royal, and to use their description: A very rare quality of luxury alpaca fiber. You just want to snuggle with this. (Or as friend of mine would say, you want to have a complete body suit made out of this!) The peach yarn is Louise Harding Orielle in color Blossom. This one is 97% baby alpaca (more snuggly softness) with a silver princess sparkle that runs through it (and the sparkle does not detract from the softness). If there is any downside it would be that the stitch definition is not as crisp in the alpaca yarns compared to the cotton. But you could argue that this just adds to the charm of the alpaca. Always a silver lining :)


The pattern is Knitting Baby Set by Elena Mitchell (Solnishko43 on Etsy). The pattern is extremely detailed with a couple of size options: Excellent written instructions and accompanying photographs for each step. As I was knitting I felt that this must be a very talented knitter that created this design - there are some steps in the design, such as how each row starts and stops that give a very professional finish. If you have some baby knitting in your future I recommend checking out her patterns on Etsy. The finishing touch was to add the pearl beads as a final decorative element. These are fit for a princess!


Now, if only this snow would let up I could go and get them in the mail :) 
I am taking full advantage of the snow day - crafting, blogging and quality family time. It is a good day! How would you/do you spend your snow days?


Stay safe Coloradoans, and wishing everyone a great weekend,
Sam xxx

Road trip

Over spring break we took a road trip to visit family in Arizona.  The timing was perfect because we were able to catch a spring training game with the Rockies.  That's a win:win for my husband and I...  He gets to watch the game while I get to enjoy some great weather and solid knitting time :)


It was really good to get away for a few days, see family and enjoy some delightful weather (thankful to have missed the blizzard back in Colorado). I mainly worked on the Clapo-ktus scarf on the road trip and have been making good progress - almost at the half way mark!  I have since flitted between the other projects on the needles:
 The Habu Gauzy scarf (now on the 3rd colour):

Some baby booties:


Although I am not loving the dusky pink and have since been reworking them in this glittery peach and cream combination.

In addition to the knitting I was able to pick up some fabulous Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn, which is soo bright and happy! I'm eager to get one of these skeins on the needles! But first, I need to finish those baby booties.

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend,
Sam xxxx