Surprise Baby Surprise

I've been making little things these last few weeks...like the Baby Surprise jacket:



Here it is in all its glory, made of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock yarn lightweight, in Goody Goody... The buttons are so cute - peeping baby chicks! I have ahuge collection of buttons, including baby buttons I've saved for years for just these types of projects, but could I find any that matched this sweater? no...noooooooo. Of course not! I was happy to find these at the yarn store though...



and socks that match the rest of the Petroglyphs family:



These are also made of BMFA STR lightweight. The colour is Petroglyphs, of course. Very tiny. The pattern is found on Ravelry and is called Little Eyelet socks.

and finally, I've made a little silk hat similar to the one my friend Ziarah made for her niece. I used some generic silk from China that I got at the weaving store. It was very inexpensive for pure silk, about $5.60 per skein - it must be the base fiber that yarn companies buy to dye and then charge a million dollars for. This pattern is the Feather and Fan baby bonnet, also free on Ravelry.



They sort of match:



Now, I'm in the midst of making 3 newborn diaper covers that I think I'll embroider on: an elephant, a giraffe (if I can find a graph), and a turtle (ditto). After that I want to knit some baby wash cloths and towels...

Sometimes life crowds so much into such a short period of time. Its almost like being swept under by a large powerful and particularly beautiful ocean wave.

My doll, Primrose...and her Penguin friend...

This last Christmas, my boyfriend's niece gave me a gift card to a big book store near their home (probably at the urging of her grandmother). I finally got around to using it online and found that I was able to search for and purchase vintage knitting books through this store! Based on the photoless description, I purchased this:



"I Learn To Knit....To Dress My Doll, Primrose"

This little cardboard cover children's knitting book from the 1940's starts out with a hilarious story about the doll Primrose's adventure in the garden, being transported with her aviator penguin friend to the doll fairy's land and then back to the garden. Here you see her with her happy little girl...but note the ...interesting...penguin and anthropomorphic airplane in the background - her magic transportation (yes, there are many times when I wish my magic penguin would arrive and transport me far away!)...



Many of the pictures for this goofy story are a combination of photograph and Disney-like animation drawings. But the second half of the book is full of standard knitting instructions and patterns for a very extensive doll's wardrobe (Primrose was a quite indulged fancy doll):



These doll wardrobe photos have a decidedly vintage air to them, looking very like the photos of doll clothes in my 1920's books.

I'm making some little socks with the left-overs of my Petroglyphs Leyburns. I so love working with Blue Moon yarns I could happily make an entire wardrobe out it! (Really? Wouldn't that be a little...odd?) Erm... well, probably not a 'complete' wardrobe, but at least a lot of stockings!



Working on little thin needles isn't that hard, but I discovered that the only size 0 DPNs I had were from my KnitPicks set and with the very first row one needle splintered right down its length and drove a very long jagged splinter into my thumb! Ouchie. I do wish I had gotten some Grafton Fibers little DPNs in size zero because they use really good wood that doesn't splinter. But when I made my order last month, I got 6 DPN sets all in size 1.5!! This comes under the 'what was I thinking????' category.

But my work is enhanced by this beautiful stitch-counter that my friend Nadine sent me from Germany:



I do love it so much! And just like Matroska dolls, it came with a big, little, and tiny size. So cute.

Life is quite stressful these late winter days, including at work, where I'm being bullied by a jealous co-worker with no degree. She sends out missives suggesting changes to my job description, even though she has absolutely no authority over what I do. I really need my knitting these days, to sooth my ruffled feathers...