Weekend Down Memory Lane

21 years ago, my husband and I got married in my dorm, at Smith College. This year, to celebrate, we decided to go back to Northampton, bringing our youngest son with us. We had an amazing time, walking through the streets, taking pictures, meeting with old friends, adding colors, and images to the mosaic of our lives together.

My dorm house at Smith College, where we got married 21 years ago.

Beautiful, colorful containers. They really caught my eye.

My loves sitting on Market Street, waiting for our friend.

Little L. and I.

In an alley.

Drinking his favorite drink, Coco Lola!

With our dear friend, A.

A window display that made me stay, "how pretty."

Tired after a long day.

Mother's Day Crochet Project

After working on the sweater for little L., and while working on writing the pattern, I decided to work on a little crochet project for Mother's Day.
The whole inspiration behind the project was a old envelope with the cutest little flower design.

I gathered some left over cotton to match the hues in the card, and started working on an i-phone phone cover for my mother. All the yarns are odds and ends of cotton in different weights from fingering to DK. I will leave with this for now. Aren't the colors beautiful?

Finished!

The sweater for little L. is finished. I was not sure this morning that neither the weather nor little L. would cooperate for a little photoshoot, but the stars must have been smiling on me! It did not rain, and my adorable little man was in the mood to explore our still wintery back yard.

The sweater, which by the way he loves,  fits like a glove. I know for sure he loves it because right after we put it on, he rubbed his belly, and said "it's beau", mixing French and English as he often does, and beau of course meaning beautiful. It is fitted enough to be be modern, while still having enough ease, for easy play.

The neckline is big enough for the head to go through, and for the sweater to sit on the shoulders perfectly. There are no buttons as I wanted the whole sweater to be crocheted in the round. Who does not like a seamless project?!

I am really fond of the overlay work with the stripes and the diagonal  lines on the raglans. These diagonal lines really add definition to the raglans, highlighting the shaping by looking like a faux seam, and framing the oatmeal stripes.

I kept the back simple, without a yoke design, only highlighting the raglan shaping with some overlay lines. I really like this sweater, and the fact that it is not girly, making it perfect for little boys, though I am sure it would look equally nice on a little girl. I am thinking of offering it as a pattern? What do you think?

Overlay Crochet Stripes

So, yesterday I told you I was excited because I was going to make the stripes for little L.'s sweater. What I did not tell you was that I had a plan for the stripes. I had decided to do the stripes using the overlay crochet technique. Instead of crocheting the stripes as you go, and getting a join when you switch colors, I decided to crochet the entire yoke with the blue single crotchets through the back loops. Once the sweater was finished, I went back and slipped stitched my oatmeal stripes securing them on the single crochet posts. This technique allowed me to make the stripes thin, with a texture contrasting with the background, and only on the front of the sweater. I love the overlay technique!

I finished the overlay work, and the weaving in of the ends just before writing this post. I will take pictures of the finished sweater tomorrow. Hopefully little L. will be willing to model for us!

Joined!

The sleeves and the body of little L.'s sweater are joined! I placed markers at the four intersections of the sleeves and body to mark the spots for my decreases. I forgot to say that I opted for a raglan sweater. My decreases are paired on each sides of the markers.

I plan on crocheting for about an inch before putting oatmeal stripes in my design.
I have almost an inch, and I can hardly wait to stripe! I will be using the same Misti Alpaca Cotton Silk mix in a lovely tone on tone oatmeal.

Sleeves

I made a little more progress on the sweater for little L. I finished one sleeve and am almost done with the other.
As I did for the body of the sweater, I am crocheting the sleeves in the round. I placed the paired increases on the underside of the arm, evenly spaced a few stitches apart, and at regular intervals. I love the way the increases are there without being there.

Little discrete pearly bumps going up the arm, adding structure, and smoothly enlarging the sleeve to fit cute chubby arms.

I am more and more in love with the yarn (Misti Alpaca cotton silk) and the stitch pattern (single crotchets through the back loops in the round) as well as the round, seamless construction. This is going to be such a comfy, soft, light summer sweater for the slightly chilly walks we will take in the evening, after a long day at the beach this summer.

I tried the sleeve on my little L. The perfect fit! I am not sure he was as excited about the sleeve as I was. After examining the loose threads, he quickly decided to take the sleeve off. I hope he will be more impressed with the finished sweater!

Pretty Granny

I took a little break from my gardening projects this weekend to take pictures of the little adorable granny squares I have been crocheting.

They are possibly the simplest pattern you could think of for a granny square. Just 3 sectins per square. I have been using only 5 colors from Brown ship cotton fleece. I have been debating adding other colors but each time I try, I return to my 2 original squares, one with a red center, coral and oatmeal, and the other with a turquoise, a light celadon and oatmeal.

Notice the lovely crochet hook I am using? I just bought a Clover Amour hook, and it is truly love at first stitch! This hook is so comfortable, it makes crocheting a breeze. I find myself crocheting for hours without my hand getting tired. I also really love the colors of the hooks.

The squares are destined to become a throw for my room. Maybe, it will be ready for winter! It would make me so happy to sit in my room, warm, and cheered by the flowery, summery colors.