knitting update:

i'm on my last balls of the jo sharp! i'm about halfway through the sleeves, and should be ready to seam the sweater and block by sometime next week (save for some horrible, horrible disaster). good thing i don't have a playful cat to impale some soon-to-be limp wool between its claws, but we can always dream. :) emily the strange has a kitty!

i feel i should do my duty as a craftster to be the crazy, bespectacled aunt who knits sweaters for little kids. my niece and nephew (they're twins) turned 4 a couple months ago, and i'm curious to poke my nose into the arena of kid designs. seems like a good entry into making gifts for other people... child clothes are relatively small items to construct, kids won't be offended if it's too large a size, and you get to play around with colorful yarn and patterns. plus, the models in the pattern books are just too darn cute. (check out tadpoles and tiddlers to see an unbelievable expanse of creamy-skinned, ruddy-cheeked lads and lassies, effortlessly exuding british charm; think salty grass and tweed and cables.)

femiknit loaned me her copy of junior knits by debbie bliss last week, and there are couple patterns that i think would work for my sis' kids. here's the proposed christmas/birthday gifts (haven't decided yet):

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above, the theresa cardigan using knitpick's shine (cotton and modal) in a lovely vivid pink, blush. my niece is currently in the princess and hello kitty phase, so i think pink will be her thing. just a hunch, but yeah, when i was growing up my bedroom was pink (per my request) from head to toe. even the carpet was fuschia. ai-ya.

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a cute green + cream jacket

and here we have the max zip-up pullover. i plan to use the pakucho organic cotton from elann.com in forest and vanilla. i've heard a lot of great things about this yarn, so i'm excited to try it out. i'm hoping the cotton will look okay, since the pattern calls for merino. however, these kids live in the heart of the south, so warmth is definitely not an issue.

i hope they'll like them, and the little buggers won't grow out of them before i finish!

in the mail: loop-d-loop by teva durham. it's about time i ordered it, from the constant drool on myself whenever i view one of her designs. niknak is already eying a sweater in there... is this the beginning of the curse? maybe it can be reversed if i can convince him to knit me a sweater! heeheehee.