Baby Elephants and Sushi?

So...sometimes inspiration comes in silly forms. ;)

First are two new baby sized woolies inspired by elephants-Ella and Elliot to be specific. These make me wish I were pregnant with boy~girl twins. These sweet woolies will be available at Sympatico tomorrow...though, I honestly have considered adding them to my hope chest....just in case. Don't tell my husband. ;)

Then the Sushi....yum...these woolies are for a really sweet momma and her adorable little girl. We worked really hard to find just the right combination...pink ginger, sage wasabi, fluffy white rice and using a bit of artistic license, black for the nori. Um....yeah, I'm feeling a tad hungry right now. :)

Drumroll please! ;)

And the winner is.....Comment # 14! Left by my dear friend Andrea!! This should help to keep you warm in your new state! I'll be in contact with you to pick your brain about colors. :)
Thank you to everyone who left a comment....I really appreciate all of you!

Ok...so unless you have "super spy eyes" there is no way you can read that! lol...but if you click it to open, you'll see that I got a random # between 1 and 29...and 14 it is! :)

It's going to be a Zoo at Sympatico!

Here's just a sneak peek of one of the goodies I have in store for you. :)

Inspired by the Ella Elephant fabric, it will be darling with many of your new baby's tops.
I hope to have a pair inspired by Elliot too. :)

A Special Knit~And a Giveaway

I woke up yesterday morning feeling *off*. I've felt that way every September 11th since 2001. What a horrible, life changing day. I did not personally lose anyone in those planes or towers...but many of my friends did. Much has changed in my life since that fateful morning....but that feeling of shock and dismay that I felt on September 11th remains in my memory.

So, as I began my knitting work yesterday, my heart just was not in it. I wanted to do something for my children...something lasting for them. I have had a gorgeous single ply from Selah in my stash for a long time. Prayer Flags just seemed like the right thing to knit...so I went off to Ravelry to find the right quick knit.

I found a pattern for a lovely little lace cowl...I knew that I could knit it up quickly, and it would keep Emma cozy, warm and wrapped in a little love this fall and winter. Out came my needles, and I knit while Emma and Bear played around me. It was really quite nice. Here's the completed cowl...which is now called a neck warmer, as Emma thought I was calling it a "cow". ;)

Because I enjoyed this knit so much, and because I believe that we could all use a little hug, I'd like to knit one up as a gift to one of you. It won't be in this colorway, and may be a solid color of my choice, but it will be this pretty little lace cowl. I can do a child size as pictured, or an adult size. All you need to do it leave a comment with a positive thought about anything at all. What a lovely day you have today, how plentiful your garden is, or just how nice it is to be loved....any little positive thought at all. I will use a random number generator to select the winner on September 20th. Please make sure I have a way to contact you. :)

Community and Sharing

There are many reasons why I love being a work at home mom.

I have the priveledge of raising my two children. I am with them when they are happy and engaged in play and learning. I am with them when they test their boundaries and try all sorts of new things. I am their teacher - their nurse - their cook - and best of all their mommy.

I enjoy working for other moms and dads. I have the pleasure of getting to know lots of these parents fairly well. Some have gone on to become friends with whom I stay in very frequent contact. Getting to know about the little one that I am knitting for is joyful. Seeing their pictures in the woolies I hand knit is even better!

I love being a part of a larger community of wahms. I've shared ideas and "best practices" with these other work at home moms. I've shared struggles such as organization and time management. I also shop from many of these other wahms...and therefore provide for my children while helping another mom be home with her children...it is an *awesome* circle.

Being a part of this larger community has provided me with two friends who have shared with me some little "tricks of the trade" that I've not used before. So, I'd like to say thank you to Lindsey of Cake. for sharing her idea to do both legs of my woolies at one time using two 12" circular needles. Why didn't I think of this? I love having both legs work up at one time without magic looping. This is just such a fun trick. :) I also want to thank Kim of Western Sky Knits for suggesting I try a crochet bind off. Another simple tweak to my process and I love it! It is so much quicker than using a traditional bind off for stockinette work.

Two simple tweaks...two members of a larger community who are willing to share. What a lovely way to work. :)

One of my custom Silly Stripes is making me hungry!!!

Here is a hint...be on the lookout for pictures off these delicious longies in the next few days! :)

A WIP I'd like to keep for Bear!

I am loving this color combination. As a mater of fact, I have a very similar collection of yarns selected for bear for a very special set of shirts that are being custom made for him. ;) lol

I took a quick shot of this pair to share with a customer, so I thought I'd share here too...I won't tell you all about them yet, but this pair will be part of a special collaboration later this month! :)

A custom heading home tomorrow!

This sweet little set is headed to its new home tomorrow! The baby who will be wearing it is still growing and is not due to be born for several more weeks...so it will be a little longer until we see action shots. I'll be excited to see them though! :D

The first picture here is the truest showing of these colors. They are really quite fun in real life! I am having a terrible time getting good pictures now that our days are often rainy and overcast in the PNW. Any suggestions, dear readers?