Baby's Easter Bonnet

You know how in the movie Easter Parade, Judy Garland and Fred Astaire get new Easter hats for the parade? I like to think of this sweater with hood as Baby's Easter bonnet. Having a boy makes Easter outfits a little trickier, but I think I will knit him a new sweater for Easter each year. This little hoodie is from designer Anny Purls, who has two little boys of her own, and she designs some of the cutest things suitable for boys. The blue marled yarn is wool, next year I think it will have to be cotton, as Baby lasted about 20 minutes in it before fussing from heat. Just about long enough to get a couple of pictures!

Wooly Wonderfuls

For free entertainment Saturday nights, we sometimes go to the bookstore and get a big pile of books to page through or read (yes, we're those people, who read and do not, usually, buy). DH and I split up, collect some books we want to look at, and meet at the cafe. I have to say, I don't expect much from the craft selection, as I've pretty much exhausted it at most stores. But Saturday, I found this little jewel of a book, Wooly Embroidery; it is worth all of $14.95. There are great instructions for all kinds of embroidery, including crewel, using wool thread, and some sweet little projects. These buttons are from the book, done on scrap linen, and the larger embroidery is destined to be a needle case. I'm proud of myself, I've actually used a craft book that I bought, instead of just look and drool!

Thinking and planning

My beautiful crewel wool came today from Renaissance Dyeing in France, so I've begun planning my design. In some respects, I want to get the design drawn perfectly on my paper first, but in another way, I kind of want to just start the design and work spontaneously. You can see my doodles so far. I'll probably make a compromise between the two and just start with my design in mind and see where it goes. The "starting" always seems to be the hardest part of a project for me, at least in my art work. In my knitting, I have a tendency to start rashly, and never finish. What helps motivate you to finish pieces you've started?