On the go

That could be said about many things in my life at the moment - my daughter (she never sits still for asecond these days!), me (all that running around chasing her and her big brother) or all the projects I am working on. I think I have a problem - I can't stick to just one thing! Of course, this means I haven't had anything finished to show here for quite a while, as nothing IS finished!
So to avoid dissapearing off the face of blogland, I give you some WIPs. First a little ruffled bolero for Maddy. This just needs some more seaming and the ruffled band all around. It is made from the super soft and sheeny Sirdar baby bamboo which is a wool/bamboo blend and I love it! It will give a little warmth without making her sweat when we have those strange Autumn days which aren't really warm, but not cool either.
Next up I have a secrect swap project. This little bit of lace knitting is for the Ravelry MCN Mummies 100g challenge swap, finally knitting up that knittery 4ply merino that has been sitting in my stash for a few years waiting to be turned into something special.

Next we have some longies for Maddy, now named the "Odd Leg Longies". I was planning to make shorties but got carried away as I liked how it was knitting up, then of course I ran out of wool. I did the green band thinking I could work an embellishment all the way around and make them look like they were supposed to be done that way, but now I am considering ripping them back and turning them into shorties after all. The thing is, she doesn't have any longies for the coming winter and these have a bit of extra length in them, so I kind of like them as longies, I just need to learn to live with that strange look... This one has been relegated to the "don't know what to do with" pile.

Here's the wool as I reskiened it after dyeing - I think it's one of my favourite dye jobs yet.

And I am still plugging away at this little top, hopefully she will get some wear out of it before the weather crisps up. It's so pretty, and when I have finished my 100g swap I am sure this will seam easy in comparison. The problem isn't so much the lace pattern but that the knitting pattern just says to "keep working in pattern" while decreasing for the armholes which is really hard to do when you can't work out whether to start with a k2tog, or a Sl1 or a K or a whatever! I am up to the armhole shaping on the front and have one more sleeve to go. I am not sure what to do with the neck shaping just yet as I am trying to modernise it and make it look "normal" as the pattern is from my antique patons collection with a button either side of the neck... just weird.

And some prettiness that arrived in my mailbox today. I bought the stitch markers thinking I might pop them in with my 100g swap parcel, but now they are in my hands I think I like them too much! I do have something else planned for my swap partner though. The bracelet looking things are actually row counters. The purple one is for me (I love amethysts) and the pink one for my Ravelry Pink Swap partner. The fancy bead on the pink one is divine! Madelyn helped me try it on before her nap - I wish I got a photo of that, I had the purple one on and she had the pink one and thought it was wonderful. Gosh I love having a little girl to appreciate the pretty things.

And onto some sewing - Madelyn has become quite a houdini at getting out of her nappies. I think she will be easy to toilet train as she already points to her nappy and says "wees" or "pohs" or "tinky napay" (stinky nappy) as soon as it's soiled. I decided to do her some more AIO's for naps with snaps instead of velcro to keep the cot clean, but the other day I found she had taken THIS one off and left it all pooey and yucko on the family room rug and went and sat down with a book - eeeeeEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!!! Luckily she didn't get too far before I noticed and cleaned everything up but my gosh! Now what am I supposed to do? Austy could never get out of snap nappies!

And finally a little top for Madelyn from Ottobre again. It is part of a set I am making - the ruffled jeans to match are still on the ironing board awaiting a wasit band though. Excuse the discusting backyard - it will all be lawn after Easter (I have been promised) but for now it is a dust bowl with retaining bricks lying about the place. Not that it worries Madelyn who seems to be attracted to dirt.

Woops, the colour of this little top (and the white pants!) is not really condusive to mud pie baking!