Seamless Little Girls Shrug

So it that time of year again. Easter is around the corner. You and or your mother or mother in law are frantically trying to find the perfect Easter dress for your darling little girl(s). And you live in the Northeast. And every single dress is either short sleeve or has straps. Ahhh, another year of covering up that beautiful dress with a sweater.

This year my mil has been unable to find a sweater she likes. So, I told her. Stop looking, I'll make them something.

So I am searching and searching and searching for patterns all over Ravelry's pattern browser. I know what I want. I want a shrug for them like the one I am making for myself . This one http://www.purlbee.com/evening-shrug/ . But I want simple sleeves and cuffs. Seamless and knit in once piece. No kitchner stitch. It also has to be made of worsted weight yarn. Because most of my stash is worsted weight and I am trying to use up all of my commerical yarn and then switch to only using my hand spun. So after not finding exactly what I wanted. I decided to just go ahead and make up a pattern. Similar to the adult ones I have seen but made for little girls. And since I really hate seaming. It had to be seamless.

So here it is. It includes directions for sizes 1/2 up to 7/8. WARNING!!! I have only tested size 3/4 right now. I am about to cast on for the 5/6 for my other daughter.

Sizing is included for 1/2,2/3,3/4,5/6,7/8 .

K = knit

P = Purl

m1l= make 1 left

m1r = make 1 right

k2tog = knit 2 together

ssk = slip slip knit

MATERIALS SO FAR:

size 8 dpns or size needed for gauge

worsted or aran weight yarn ( i will be using 100 Percent Pure Wool for size 3/4 and then Baby Alpaca for size 5/6)

Gauge: 4.5 sts/inch on sz 8 in st st

Measurement A: child's wrist to elbow

Measurement B: Child's wrist to armpit

Measurement C: Child's shoulder to shoulder across the back

Measurement D: Above the child's elbow to armpit

sizes: 1/2,(3/4,5/6, 7/8)Cast on 28(32,36,40) sts.

1) Place marker and join in the round. Do not twist the stitches.

2) K2, P2 around for 1 "

3) Knit in stockinette stitch (knit every stitch) until the sleeve measures measurement A from the cast on edge.

4) k1, m1l, knit to last stitch, m1r, k1 . (30,34,38,42 stitches)

5) knit

6) knit

7) repeat 4 -6 (32,40, 44,48 stitches)

8) knit in the round until the sleeve measures measurement B.

9)Turn, purl to end. (ws)

10) turn, knit to end. (rs)

11) turn, purl till last 5 stitches, k 5 (ws)

12) turn, p5, k till end(rs)

13) repeat 9 -12 until the piece measures Measurement C. Ending with row 12 and right side facing you.

14) Switch to dpns, place marker and join in the round. Continue knitting in the round until the arm measures Measurement D.

15) k1, k2tog, knit to last 2 stitches, ssk, k1

16) knit

17) knit

18) repeat 15 - 16 , 3 more times. (28,32,36,40)

19) Knit for until the arm measures Measurement B minus 1 " .

20) K2, P2 for 1 inch.

21) Cast off using needle next size up.

If you suggest any changes after making one, I would love to hear your comments.

Need more time during the day.

Right now I have about 6 knitting wips and 1 spinning wip. I finished plying the rest of the alpaca today. Then I proceeded to start spinning my Corriedale roving that Angelina of Zen String dyed for me. She dyed it in her Boreal colorway. I am so pleased with her work. I gave her free rein what what colorways she chose and she did an awesome job on choice.

Right now is the only time I wish I wasn't taking Celexa. Celexa has a tendency to make one feel tired. My body adjusted and instead of feeling tired durig the day, I now feel tired promptly around 10ish every night and do not have enough energy to stay up and spin or knit. This is good for me because I use to keep myself up to 3am-ish some days with worry and then I would knit into the wee hours of the morning to compensate for my worrying and now, I just go to sleep. But I am in a spinning mood today and just want to spin. I am starting to amass quite a collection of hand spun now.

My goal is to use up all of my commerical yarn and get myself down to one project at a time so that in time I will be dyeing, spinning (or spinning and then dyeing) and then knitting. Repeat. One project at a time. :)

Good News.

Very good news from the specialist. Saley's enlarged lymph nodes on the side of her neck definitely are not indicative of lymphnoma. He is having us take her to have an ultrasound to make sure that they are definitely lymph nodes. And he is having us give her a course of antibiotics that work well on things like skin infections to see if that will shrink that very large lymph node she has had for 2 years.

So a huge weight has been lifted off of our shoulders.

Also, we have found a really small school that does grades prek-12 for Haley. I take her tomorrow to meet the teacher and spend an hour there so she can get use to it. It is a Bible Christian School which would be something new for us but is very small. It has a 6/1 student/teacher ratio. And their cirriculum is mirrored to homeschooling without being at home. This makes me very happy because Haley is extremely smart but she can not learn in a traditional classroom. She needs individualized attention and to be able to learn things that keep her interest. She also needs a caring and loving teacher. Not that public school teachers do not care about their jobs it's just they have so many students and so little time for each individual student.

Plus this school will not hold a child back if they are excelling above the rest of their peers. And also if someone is lagging behind they will not get lost in the transit. The time is spent to help each child excel at their own pace.

I do hope the fact that my DH and I are not church goers will not hurt her being able to attend. The Vice Principle did not say anything to the such but some of the paperwork asks all that type of information.

I will be plainly honest and open with them and just hope they will take it in their hearts to let our daughter in to get the education she needs, craves and so deserves.

In Knots Tonight.

Well, firstly an update on Haley. Haley had her evaluation yesterday and as I have mentioned, things have become quite peaceful and at a normal level in this home. I believe this is because of a change in my parenting style which has been facilitated by getting help for my anxiety disorder.

At her evaluation, the Dr found nothing significant and believes it is a change in my parenting style from getting help for my anxiety. He did find that she is impulsive which may or may not be a problem when she is going to school full time. He can not and will not make a diagnosis of ADHD until she is going to school full time and a problem crops up. So for now. Things are peaceful with the occasional normal rambuciousness one gets from young children.

So 1 down and 1 to go. Next week is Saley's appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to have a look at her enlarged lymph nodes. She has one very large lymph node that is about the size of a large marble that she has had for 2 years. Her Ped. Dr. is not worried about it but her father and I are. Also, 3 weeks ago she had an ear infection which of course produced more enlarged lymph nodes. Now at this time the Dr had us get her yearly lead testing done and ordered a CBC. And everything came back normal. So I really hope this means that we do not have to worry about cancer. But tonight I am in knots thinking of it all.

I have no idea if anyone reads my blog, but if you do, could you please keep her in your prayers for strength and health?

Thank you.

Knit, spin, knit, spin

It seems lately that I am either spinning or knitting. I thought I was done with making hats for gifts. But now I have to knit my FIL a hat and then the owners of the comic book shop where my DH gets his comics from need something. They are really good to my DH and my girls, always have some sort of freebie for my girls if they are with my DH at the shop. And they are 2 really great brothers, father and uncles to their children and nieces and nephews. Though one is still single ladies!!! And he is such a sweetheart and REALLY looking for someone to share his life with. HE IS A KEEPER. If you are single and looking for someone to settle down with and live in the Capital District of NY State, please let me know, you need to meet this man. ;)

But right now I am taking a bit of a break and working on The Leaf T-Shirt by Melissa LaBarre for myself. I am using a merino/silk yarn that I kettled dyed a lavender color (thank you Amy J for the color suggestion).

It'll be nice to have a new piece of clothing for myself as it seems my wardrobe is pretty outdated and tattered. Umm, completely my fault. Cause you see, this is how the conversation in my head goes when I look at new clothes for myself.

"Oh that's a pretty shirt. Those are some nice jeans. Oh I love that coat."

"Oh wait. I just bought 8 oz of fiber for spinning and new sock yarn. And there is that Selah Sock Yarn from Woolgirl. Oh well, I'll get some new jeans next week."

Next week comes, repeat conversation in my head.

LOL! I need to go on a fiber diet so I can buy myself much needed clothing. Yes, 2 weeks ago I finally threw out those jeans that had huge holes in the knees even though I would still wear them! ;)

Oh wait, Dh said I could buy the Otium Spinning Wheel from Heavenly Handspinning . I really spin to knit so this would be perfect for me. And then I plan on buying some plans and slowly work on making myself a fancier spinning wheel. But will still keep this one as my oldest daughter (who is currently 5 years old) tells me her life ambition is to always stay with me and not get married and to knit for a living and own a yarn shop with me. ;) I love that child!

Navajo Plying on the Fly!!

I learned how to Navajo Ply on the fly today. AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! It is so awesome!!!! If you have not tried this yet, you must!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eunrqj97lLU

Things are still going ok here. I don't worry like I use to and things that seemed so impossible before are no longer an issue. It's like this huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

Haley and Saley still act like 3 and 5 year olds and rough house and get hyper from time to time but it doesn't stress me out like it use to.

Life seems a bit easier, emotionally now. Things aren't perfect but they are no longer driving me to a dark place where I wanted to escape.

Haley's evaluation is next week. But a lot of her sensory issues seem to be resolving themselves though she still gets overwhelmed by change so there is still some things that we need help with so that we can help her to cope. She freaked out when we went to my in laws and they had their Christmas decorations up and she hid in the bathroom for quite a while until she started to get brave and make her way out and by the end of the night she had adjusted to all the new decorations in their house. She did the same thing when we went to my parents's house and they had all of their decorations up.

She also still gets hyperactive and there is no bringing her down from it. So still some issues but we rarely have the HUGE screaming fits anymore. She still throws tantrums but they are not like they use to be.

My children are my life. They are the reason why I am still here today. I thank God for allowing me to have them. Without them, I might not be here today.