Catch Up Post #4 - WIP

Now, finally, we get to current projects!  Thanks for bearing with me over the last week while I showed what I've been up to - there really were things I wanted to share with you, and I'm glad I'm able to do it now.

When the 9 year old was picking out yarn for her friend's legwarmers, she came across a skein of yarn that she really loved.  I mean she really loved the color.  So I decided to make a sweater for her out of it for her 10th birthday.  This was progress in October, when I'd gotten to the point of taking the sleeves off the circular needles.  I'm nearly finished with it, which is great because her birthday is in the first part of December.  The "pattern" is more of a technique for a top-down raglan.  (Link will take you to the very complete instructions.)  I was nervous about running out of the main color (Caron Simply Soft, Jade), so I decided to work in some white stripes.  I'm now onto the sleeves, so it's almost done!

This one is actually a finish, not a WIP, but it's from Halloween.  The 7 year old decided she wanted to be a princess at the last minute.  So we fished through the fabric tub and found an adult-sized floral dress someone gave me for a project just like this.  I cut the skirt off and cut a new bodice, then folded up the skirt to make it the right length.  I cut off the excess and eased the skirt onto the bodice.  Guess what - no hemming, no seaming except at the shoulders, sides and the waist.  The tulle came from her Southern Belle costume from a few years ago and solved the need to make a real sleeve (and also makes a cute peplum).  I glued some jewels and pearls onto the front and used sticky-back velcro for a closure.

Fairy Sisters - this picture was taken in August, and I think I've done a little bit more on it in the purple to the middle-left.  At some point I decided to stitch pages 3 and 4 at the same time.  I'm not sure now why I made that decision, it was probably not the best.  Especially because I've been so spotty on it, it's difficult to even remember which symbol I was stitching last.  I know some people stitch HAED in columns or squares in total.  But I just can't break the habit of stitching sections by color.  So once I start pulling a color I don't want to stop using that one until the section is done.  That's probably how the 2-page-at-once thing happened.

This is the progress on the legwarmers the girls requested for Christmas. They both chose to have the hot pink.  K wants pink laces, and H wants blue - the opposite of her friend's.  They're a pretty quick knit.  You can find the pattern here if you'd like to try for yourself!