Blue Sweater

Hi All.  I happened into my favorite knitting shop last weekend, The Ladybug in Dennis, sadly they are closing at the end of December.  The owner has decided to retire after many years of shop keeping.  I'm bummed but the bright side is that she was having a 50% sale on everything in the store!  I picked up a bunch of patterns and some yarn and some great needles.  I was so excited.  She was nice enough to recommend some beginner knitting patterns because I am not yet all that adept at the craft.  I started on a roll neck sweater for my 1 1/2 year old a few days ago and I can't believe how fast it's knitting up!  Plus it's super easy, at least up to this point it is...
It's a pattern by Roo Designs, they had tons of super cute stuff for kids.  So I'm off on my second attempt ever at a sweater.  I'm hoping that it fits him!

Above is what I have thus far.  You can see why it's been easy up to this point since I'm only on the beginning of the back piece. lol.

Looking for Linens

I've got a bug in my bonnet.  I have been dying to make more embroidered linens.  I have an adorable spring time set that I made a year or so back but recently I've been wanting to make some fall and Christmas napkins.  My problem is I can't find any plain white dinner and or cocktail napkins!  At least ones that don't cost a fortune. 
My friend just started on an adorable Christmas set, I think she found the napkins at Home Goods.  So maybe I should get my butt over there this week.  Wish me luck that they are still there!

In the meantime I've been brainstorming what contributions I can make to our Thanksgiving meal...
I know I'm baking a Pumpkin Pie, but I need something else.  Maybe an appetizer, or a second dessert, hmm.  If the pie turns out to be a great one, I think Pumpkin pies are always hit or miss, I'll post back with the recipe!

Toddler Hat

Well I've haven't written in quite a while but suddenly I'm re-inspired.  Maybe it's the holidays.  There's a chill in the air, everyone seems a little cheerier and home seems a little cozier, it's a good time to settle into indoor things like knitting, cooking, crafting. All the good stuff that tends to fall to the wayside in the summer months. 
I've been picking up forgotten projects, lots of Christmas crafts to be finished!  But one of my favorite things that I've been making lately are winter hats for my little guy.  The design kind of came about as an accident but turned out to be super cute.  It's a really easy pattern, a good thing when you're trying to knit and simultaneously keep an eye on an ever moving toddler. 
I used a size 7 circular needle with a washable worsted weight acrylic yarn.  It's awesome for kids stuff because it wears well and can go in the wash (always a plus after a particularly rough day on the playground).  I swear sometimes I have no idea how he manages to get everything we pass by smeared over his entire body, it's really quite an accomplishment.

I cast on 62 stitches to start.  Then just knit until you have about 4" in length.  Once there you start to decrease, I did knit 10, knit 2 together and repeat until the end of the row.  Repeat this alternating with straight knit every other row.  Once you get to the last few row start doing the decrease row every row eliminating the straight knit row all together.  Bind off the yarn and sew the hat together, then top with a pom pom.  Super cute!
To adjust size just increase or decrease stitches by multiples of 12 and adjust the number of rows you complete before starting decrease.  I'm definitely not an expert so hopefully this is easy enough to follow!