Knitted babes, very soft things, ugly into pretty, yarn bowls
The title pretty much says it all, but keep reading anyway.
Let’s start with this: Are you all familiar with the popular Knitted Babes book? It contains patterns to knit 5 dolls & outfits for them, and they are super, super cute. I’d wanted to make one for June for awhile, but hadn’t gotten around to it because despite the success of last week’s knitted bunny, I generally suck at knitted toys. But Stacee had made a couple for her daughter & daughter’s friend, and they were so cute that I really thought June definitely did need one. I was wondering where I’d fit it in to my very tight knitting schedule (ha) when lo & behold, I received a package from Stacee in the mail! I wasn’t expecting anything from her so I was puzzled until I opened it up and found a Knitted Babe inside! With a teeny matching bathing suit (perfect, since June starts swim lessons again this weekend)! I tried to hide it from June until I could get the camera but she immediately saw it and started squealing “A beebee!! A beebee!!” and commenced dragging it around by her hair the entire evening. She’s now taken to calling it “dowy” (dolly?) and it rarely leaves her side. Here they are chilling on the couch together after an afternoon of coloring:
Thank you SO much Stacee!! What a great surprise! I’m definitely going to sew some little dresses for her!
Speaking of mail from awesome people: For her birthday, Phoe splurged on some of the most decadent yarn ever, Hand Maiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere & Silk. This yarn is 65% cashmere, 35% silk, 100% incredible. She made herself the cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts & it turned out gorgeous. In a cruel, cruel twist of fate, it turns out that when knitted up, this yarn is too itchy for Phoe to wear. What?! How can cashmere & silk be itchy? I don’t know, but this was a serious bummer for Phoe, as it would be for any of us, but even knowing that she couldn’t wear it, I was shocked when she wanted to send it, and the leftover yarn, to me. I was hesitant to accept it knowing the value of the yarn, but she couldn’t wear it and didn’t want it to go to waste. A swap was agreed upon and I sent some sock yarn her way. I’m now the proud owner of the softest item on Earth, and almost cursing the imminent arrival of spring (almost).
(I swear I’m happier about it than I look in this picture). Thank you so much Phoe!! I will try to resist the urge to sleep in and/or make-out with it.
Even more yarny delights: A few months ago I got some Arucania Nature Wool on clearance at WEBS for $2.99 a skein. On my monitor it looked like a pretty spring green. What arrived looked like this:
Mmm, mustard water. Except for the ‘mmm’ part. I knew I wouldn’t want to knit up yarn this color, but it was such a good deal, a sweater’s worth of yarn for $20! Enter the super great Adriana! She dabbles in the yarn dyeing arts so another swap was set up. I sent up some more sock yarn from my stash, and the 6 skeins of ugly wool. What arrived in my mailbox Wednesday was this:
Beautiful, gorgeous greeny-bluey prettiness! So much better! I’m thinking I may copy Phoe and knit up something like a Brompton with this…we’ll see! Thanks so much Adriana!
Finally, looking for a gift for the knitter in your life (especially if the knitter in your life is you?) I was reading turtlegirl’s blog a while ago and she had mentioned this great yarn bowl she picked up. The bowl keeps your unruly yarn contained while you knit, and looks pretty doing it. I was intrigued at the time, but the only problem is that once you threaded your yarn through the hole and started knitting, you couldn’t remove your project from the bowl until you were ready to cut the yarn. I tend to favor portable projects, so this would be impractical for me…until NOW. Enter the NEW & IMPROVED yarn bowl!
It’s got a little slot in there now! So you can take the projects in and out as you please! So perfect! As soon as I saw this I bought one right away! They are handmade by The Knit Witch and while I purchased a smaller bowl, she also makes larger ones (like turtlegirl’s) that are perfect for Fair Isle! Not affiliated, just a happy customer!
Oh, and the sock you see being knit out of that yarn bowl up there? Finished! I’ve already cast-on for the second one to avoid second-sock syndrome.
Super Grover is pretty excited about it too.
ooh i want to make a neck thing like that!
the picture of june and the babe is so cute. how are you going to keep her from bringing it to swimming lessons though, since it has a bathing suit on!
and the picture of a giant sock on june’s foot - so funny! (although its not really giant im sure, just her foot is teeny!)
What a wonderful world the knitting community it. What lovely things you and June have received. That yarn looks dreamy. Also that new dyed yarn is awesome and very springy. June looks adorable with her dolly. And she is talking….
It looks great on you! And I’m so glad you like it. I maintain I got the better end of the deal because I got non-itchy sock yarn.
Also, that bowl is awesome.
June looks so big!
Ah, I looked at those bowls awhile ago - I love that she makes them notched now. That will definitely go on my Rock Shoudl Buy This for My Brithday List.
And, holy, cow, this post is FULL of things to comment on. June looks adorable with her doll and I love her little socks (and the fact that you’d knit something so complicating looking for a quickly growing foot).
Love the cowl - just think, it’ll almost be like Christmas when you get to pull it out next fall/winter.
And the dying turned out so great - that’s a lovely shade of blue!
Ha ha! You can tell I’m a lousy typist and didn’t look at my comment before I published it. Who the hell is Rock?! Ahem, Rick Should Buy This for My Birthday List. Geesh….
Ahhh… June looks so cute with the doll! You’re super welcome! I love the cowl–great colors… The new color of the mustard yellow yarn is perfect. I’m thinking I might have to look into the ugly yarns and find someone to dye stuff for me, too! What a cool idea for a WIP bowl. I may just have to get one for myself. The sock looks great, too!
What a great save for that weird colored Nature Wool! What a lovely blue. Brompton would be an excellent choice.
Oh, so many pretty things to look at in this post! Do you think Adriana would take an order for some more custom overdying? I have some mint green Baby Ull that would very much prefer to be either yellow-er (spring green?) or darker blue-green-y. Can you send me her email address???
Yay! It came! Don’t you just love your yarn bowl to bits? Well, hopefully it won’t ever come to that but you know what I mean.
Love the blog. Love the bowl. Love the baby.
Love the yarn bowl! I saw that and thought it was fabulous. I just may need one.
That wool dyed up so nice! I would never have thought to do that. Oh and June is cute as ever!
I’m so happy that Phoe’s sad cowl has gone to a good home. And I’m thrilled that the yarn looks so good! I swear, it looks better in your picture than it did to my critical eyes. I can’t wait to see it knit up.
June and her dowy are too cute for words!
Hey - thanks for stopping by my sight - I totally remember you! I think the last time I read your blog you were pregnant and now you have adorable little June! I can’t believe how time flies. I’m glad you commented, now I can spend time catching up on your blog.
I LOOOOVE Super Grover - and all of his pals. I miss my Sesame Street watching days.
Beautiful knits, yarn and neat bowl!
ooo! that dollie matches June’s coloring perfectly! they are twins!!!
also i love the orig color of that yarn SOOOO much - i do believe i have found the color to paint my bathroom! yay!
“A BeeBee?!” That sounds so much like Ray right now, too. June and her dolly look so sweet my teeth hurt.
How clever is that bowl!
I seem to be constantly kneeling in frount of my sofa, reaching underneath it to rescue some yarn!
That would save many a long minute in my house!
Those knitted babes scare me. Seriously.
That mustard yellow is uhm, yeah…. watery! LOL. Fun!
Aw…June’s new “beebee” is so very cute! Looks like she loves it! Ooh, that dyed yarn is fabulous and so is the yarn bowl!
The bowl! I love it!