The Rhubarb Cardigan is now in the final stages of pattern development. Well, maybe 90% of the way there. I cast on a quick little project for myself. Lately, my Little Pearl Vest has gotten a bunch of traction, as that’s become one of my top selling patterns.
I’ve yet to figure out why there’s such a recent surge of interest in it, but it got me thinking, that I wanted my own Little Pearl. My girls have theirs, but I don’t have one. It seems like a perfect layer for chilly days around the house. So I went stash diving, and am making myself one “Lady Pearl” as I’m calling it for a woman’s sized pullover vest. I think I’m going to make one with color work, and one without. I’m thinking of splurging and getting myself some Swan’s Island yarn for the plain vest. I’ve been dreaming of that yarn for awhile. I’m going to make myself finish the fair isle version from my stash yarn before I order yarn for the second vest. I’m thinking of releasing an adult version of this pattern sometime this Fall.
At first I was thinking of making a whole new color chart for the adult version, with this Estonian stitch pattern that I came across a few months ago, and have been hoping to incorporate in a project. But as I got half way through it, I’m not liking how it’s working with this design. So I’m ripping back and going with possibly the same color chart as the child’s version, with a few small modifications.
Silje has been really into her cross stitch project lately. She’s spending a couple of hours a day on it, and she’ll be done in no time. I’ve tried to get her started on some basic counted cross stitch, but she found that to be very difficult. I remembered when I was little my step-mom got my sister and I half-aprons with a stamped cross stitch design to work on. I looked in a few stores for stamped cross stitch, and didn’t find any simple ones. I finally went on Etsy and found some vintage stamped fabric, with threads and odds and ends. I got her a set of 4 flower motifs for her to work on for 4H at the fair. She will likely not enter them all, but she may 1 or 2. The daffodil motif is now complete, and she’s working on the bluebell.
I cannot tell you how much fun it is to sit and stitch with her. In the past she needed a lot of hand holding, and helping her place each and every stitch. Now she can thread her own needle, read the chart and mark it herself, and basically just hang out next to me when I’m knitting. I love it.
For reading, I’m still doing a lot of children’s literature prep for our school year next year. I had a bunch of credit at our local used book store, so I did some used book shopping, and am piecing together a plan for next year.
Silje has recently read “The Jungle Book” and fell in love with Kipling through the process. She’s been checking out a few more of his works, but when I came across this old used books with a lot of stories she hadn’t read yet, I thought maybe we could come up with a larger Kipling project this next year. She’s also a big James Harriot fan, and has recently moved from reading his children’s stories to his adult stories. We didn’t have them all, but I found the rest of his series for a dollar a piece. I’ve learned that she reads the animal books multiple times, so it’s good to have them on hand as much as possible.
I also found a copy of “Giants of the Earth” for myself. I’ve wanted that book for ages, and may read it again this summer. It was one of those books where I was certain I didn’t catch everything the first time through, and exciting enough to want to relive it all over again.
Linking up with Ginny’s Yarn Along.
Mom says
April 30, 2014 at 2:32 pmWow, she is growing up so fast! We have a few James Herriot books, too, that she can read when she comes down to visit.
Have fun prepping for next year!
Amanda says
April 30, 2014 at 3:07 pmMy post today mentioned finding some Kipling, too! Great minds…
I’d be first in line to buy your Lady Pearl, just so you know. How much yardage do you think it will take?
Anne says
April 30, 2014 at 3:49 pmYour daughter’s stitching is beautiful! The moment when she could handle all the steps by herself must have been a great accomplishment for her.
I wish you and your family a wonderful week,
Anne
elizabeth says
April 30, 2014 at 6:54 pmhow nice about all the progress that S. is making! lovely!
Anonymous says
April 30, 2014 at 9:45 pmRead the sequels to Giants in the Earth. They are wonderful too.
Ravenknitter says
May 1, 2014 at 2:00 pmWhen I was her age I couldn’t put down James Harriott’s books! Now that you mentioned them I may just have to pick some up for some light summer reading! It’s nice to come home from my highly stressful life and relax with an easy read 🙂