Busy bee

I seem to have been a very busy bee this week! On Monday I decided to go over to one of my lys and get a pattern and yarn for Alice's Communion Bolero. I had offically given up on the crochet version. Some of the knitters in the Irish Knitters group on Ravelry were ever so good and sent me some patterns, but they just didn't float my (or Alice's) boat, so off we went.


I brought the dress with me so I could match the yarn colour up.
We came up with this yarn:

Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk. It's yummy. Really soft! But, a bit slippery so I had to keep my eye on it! It was €5.95 a ball and I bought 6, so not the cheapest childrens garment ever, but it is for a special occasion.


The pattern we got was this:

Isn't it cute? It's a Sirdar bolero. I've decided to knit it with 3/4 length sleeves. Alice insisted that this one was the one she wanted as it was really pretty, and "doesn't look to hard for you Mom"! Aww. Now, Alice seems to be quite a small kid on top for her age. She's a 26" chest, which seems to be a 5-6 year old size. She'll be 8 in March! Anyhoo, I proceeded to cast on Tuesday and it literally flew off the needles.
See?


Last night I finished the sleeves. I had done the fronts and back in a day!
I love the border detail:

All I have to do now is finish the border for the fronts and then sew (ick) it together. Should I block before I sew? I really hope it fits her, I think it might, but I won't really know until I have it all finished. Still, there's loads of time to rip back and do it again if needs be. It's not as if it took me forever to do!

While I was at the yarn shop, they had a sale. Sales are the devils work. Look what I got:

Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4 ply, €2.95 a ball! Bargain! The colur of this matches my brown Skechers brilliantly, so socks for me!

Sirdar Town & Country Sock, €2.95 a ball! Another bargain. I know I have sock yarn coming out the wazoo, but it really is good value. I got a pair of socks for Dad out of the Town & Country using a smidge over a ball, and he loves them, so I might make him another pair for his birthday in March. Along with the sweater I want to make him.


I gave into the pressure and ripped back the Jaywalkers. I decided to recast on the next size down. I still think it's big, but I'll see how I get on. No pics, it's only the ribbing done. I'm saving it for Knitting group as it's mindless knitting.

Next, onto the good stuff!

On Tuesday morning I was happily snoozing away in bed on my last day off before returning to work, and I was rudely awoken at 9.15 by the doorbell. You know when you're woken up like that, you're kinda out of bed and running before you even register? Yeah well, it gets better. I knew immediately what it was, so I bolted down the stairs and flung open the front door. I knew speed was of the essence, our postie waits for no snoozing woman.

I stood there for a second, then realised it was a bit cold... I was standing in front of him, hair askew, 10 seconds awake in my ever so elegant and come hither Cinderella nightie. yum. Especially with legs that could do with a visit to the razor. Ah well, I figured I was screwed anyway, so I flashed the best asleep smile I could and said "Morning!, have you a parcel for me?" Poor postie. I bet he's still at home, off sick, rocking back and forth muttering about hairy Cinderellas.

Anyway, the parcel was... my Secret Santa!!!! Look at this mysterious grey parcel:

Who could it be from? The return address said S. Santa so that was no clue. I ripped it open and...

Lots of beautifully wrapped parcels! The excitement! I did spot the Soak sachet and I was glad. I love that stuff. I ripped open the parcels and this is what I got!

A veritable bounty. A harmony crochet hook, a box of Ferrero Rocher (long since gone) and some beautiful handmade stitch markers. Then the yarn. Oh the yarn.

First up:

A gorgeous skein of Mirasol Tupa. This yarn is yum. I sent my secret pal two skeins of this stuff. A good start I thought!
Next up:

Two skeins of Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport. Isn't the colur fab? I used this yarn before for my Hourglass socks and I must say I really liked it.

Lastly and most definitely not least on the yarn front:

Faboo hand dyed yarn especially for me! See the pretty label? And the colour, isn't it wonderful? Like an exotic ocean. This skein also gave away the identity of S.Santa, it was none other than Lisa, the co-owner of my fave lys, This Is Knit. How lucky can a girl get?

Thank you a thousand times, Lisa, what a fab package!