Knitting: Lace Yoked Sweaters in Dusty Rose

These sweaters are my favorite knitting project so far! I love the old fashioned lace yokes. I found the pattern for Audrey's toddler sweater at Lionbrand but I used this beautiful cotton/merino wool Dusty Rose "MainLine" yarn from KnitPicks.

Turns out I really enjoy following a more complicated pattern and yarn overs are really not so difficult. It keeps it more interesting so it seems to go more quickly than sticking with stockinette. I think the result is beautiful! I want to do this sweater again in a larger size. Would be gorgeous in a dark color--KnitPicks has a "Red Velvet Cake" that looks fabulous.

I love the seed (moss) stitch around the neck and in the placket. Though the pattern for Scarlett's sweater didn't call for it I decided to duplicate it because...

...Scarlett's sweater is from an entirely different pattern--more popcorn than lace--but I like it too. I used Lorraine Major's 5HBS (five hour baby sweater). I went out on a limb with this one because the pattern called for a bulky yarn but I wanted to use the same worsted weight yarn. It worked, but barely. It definitely could have been a bit bigger.

I didn't do the popcorn on the bottom of the sweater as per the pattern so that Scarlett's sweater would be more similar to Audrey's.

So fun to have the matching set.

Rooms: Baby Girl (#2) Nursery

The nursery is coming together! The chair was delivered, and I love it. My upholsterer did such a great job with the slip cover--matched the pattern perfectly. I love this fabric, and the trim, and it's comfortable besides. I made a pillow out of the crewel-embroidered fabric for the crib bumper (actually cut out two in a plan for twin beds down the road but only sewed one now as hand sewing the trim was a bit tedious). I found the side table on JCPenney.com of all places. Love it when I can find what I had in mind--no painting required.

For years I have been storing this painting of my mother and I realized the colors and size are perfect for this little girl's nursery! I love the idea of my mother looking over her. I painted this right after I graduated from college and my mother really never loved the idea of it hanging in her home. I think it made her self conscious and/or maybe she didn't really care for it. When I pulled it out a couple months ago I thought about trying to change I few things I would do differently now but decided to leave it as is. It is from that time. And I think it looks like my mother, which is the most important thing to me.

I have set up the little display cubbies in the closets. They add some color and personality to the room. I love these closets! More about them later (we had some built in Audrey's room too).

The crib is all set up. I am really happy with the way the bumper and skirt turned out. I LOVE this fabric. So fun to do another girl's room and have it be so different from Audrey's. This room feels sort of eclectic vintage to me, while Audrey's is a bit more formal, a bit Asian. I don't know... In any event, I really enjoy pulling these rooms together.

I found a crib sheet with a pale pink polka dot at Target, and I think it's just the thing for the crib.

Audrey didn't need the chest of drawers in her big girl room so it's in Scarlett's to use as a changing table. The glass knobs work here too luckily.

I have some ideas for a couple more oil paintings to paint, a framed crochet piece and some crochet pillows, but that will take some time. For now we're pretty ready! We just need the baby girl to put in the nursery!

Sewing: A Waldorf Doll for Audrey

Based on advice I've received from many moms and dads, seems it's a good idea to have a special gift for Audrey when her baby sister arrives. Something to make her feel as if she hasn't completely fallen out of the center of attention. A lot of people recommend a "baby" of her own, to mimic mommy and the new baby, but I liked my friend, Margie's, advice: she said you'll have a real baby in your home and Audrey should learn to help with her baby sister. She also reminded me that as parents we often have different ideas about how children should play, what toys they should bond with, how lifelike their toys need to be, etc. So instead of getting a doll with all the attendant baby accessories (which was difficult anyway since I didn't want plastic), I decided to sew a little Waldorf doll for Audrey. I love these dolls! I love the philosophy behind them. And I really hope Audrey will love hers.

Thankfully I have an amazing friend in Margie who has made many of these dolls for her daughter and some friends. She and her girls, Sophie and Olivia, came over to my home a couple evenings and Margie taught us how to make the dolls. We were using the Magic Cabin Doll Kit, but it helps to have someone to offer the finer points of dollmaking. The trickiest part was making the head, and getting the wool wrapped tightly enough. There was also a lot of hand sewing. It took a bit more time than I imagined but I think she turned out beautifully!

I wanted to make the doll to resemble Audrey so I embroidered big, round, dark brown eyes and a little pink rosebud mouth. I didn't like the lighter brown hair I found so I went with a reddish-brown. Audrey's hair has been cut in a cute pageboy style but that wasn't really possible with the doll so I opted for bangs and pig tails. Also thought this style was least likely to be too abused by a toddler!
I used the Magic Cabin Doll Kit patterns for the clothing as well, which sew up really quickly. Difficult to make clothing that small however!
I had a difficult time finding what I thought was the right fabric for the clothing in terms of the right pattern scale. I think these fabrics (Bubbles & Blooms by Beverlyann Stillwell for Lyndhurst Studio and Classic Red by Paintbrush Studio) worked really well for a traditional, American look. I would also like to try something a little more funky and European, but I can make more clothing later.

The important thing is that I finished this doll in time! Audrey was a week early and so who knows when this little baby girl will arrive...

Room Design: Audrey's Big Girl Room

Audrey's "Big Girl Room" is finally put together and she is so excited about it! We'll see if she actually sleeps in her big girl bed, which is a queen, because we had the mattresses and the space in the room, so why not? I found this headboard in our local want ads listing for $20! I think it is so great! I hauled it home and we painted it a red lacquer to match the armoire (Rust-Oleum --my favorite for low effort high impact painting!).

Not a lot has changed since her crib was here. I found more of the fabrics used in her crib bedding (I love them!) and made the duvet cover, shams, bed skirt and polka dot pillow cases. I can't believe I didn't think of buying more fabric originally since the chair is covered to match so I felt really luck to still find it.

I found the bedside bookcase on JCPenny.com, surprisingly. I think it's great for the space and balances the wide bed. Plus there is plenty of room for bedtime stories.

This rug is from Anthropologie. I was so happy to find it. I know you are supposed to start a room with the floor, including rug, but it was one of the last things I decided on and it was difficult to find something to work with the other patterns. I lucked out. Plus it's a soft wool--great for little bare feet.

This side table isn't new but I thought it deserved a close up. I love it. Found it at The Company Store when I was doing Audrey's nursery. It was white and my husband painted it red. He did the professional job on it with lots of steel wool sanding so it's a great finish. I love the curviness. It was a fun foil to the Jenny Lind crib Audrey used.

This built in closet is all new and it is a dream! I am so excited about it. Previously this space was a couple hinged doors and one clothing rod--not at all a good use of space. Now we have 36" deep drawers for clothes and toys, and I have double hung closet space. I decided to add the cubbies above rather than have a top shelf inside the closet or hang the rods too high to reach. I think it's nice to have a little display area and will work well as bookshelves when Audrey is older.

This little collection of things includes my matroyshka, which my parents brought me from Romania when I was 5 or 6, an antique teapot that was my mothers, and this funny glass bunny I found in a card store of all places--good colors for the room.

My parents bought these Hans Christian Andersen prints in Denmark when we were living in Germany and they were always hung somewhere in our home. I like giving them a spot in Audrey's room and they've proved useful for bedtime--she has me sing songs about them, which I can never remember the same way twice, but she just corrects me.

This lamp base is from Urban Outfitters and I finally found a shade to fit at Pottery Barn Kids. I added the pom pom trim.

And this is my "Barberini Bee" from a series I painted in college. I did them with blue and beige backgrounds too, and those are hanging in my sister's home. I saw this bee as a bas relief on the base of a sculpture during my Italy art history trip and loved it. I still love the form. Sometime I'll do some more.

Painting: Utah Landscape

I have always loved this particular view off I-15 north of Salt Lake City. I painted it once in highschool and thought I'd try it again. I did it the first time all with palette knife, which was really fun and I like the result--very textural. But I thought it would be interesting to try it again and try and get the values more accurate.

It turned out decently I think. I actually liked it in better in the beginning when I quickly laid in the composition and colors, but all-in-all I think it's working pretty well.