Instant gratification fix

I started this little thing on Friday, and finished it last night--pretty quick turnover for an item knit out of sport weight on size 5 needles (for me, at least).

Made from some knitpicks shine sport that was hanging out in the stash, this little top is sized to fit a 1-2 year old. And I just love it! So cute and summery, I kind of wish I had one for myself. :) Knit from the bottom up, using the EPS (Elizabeth Percentage System) to get the numbers for the sleeves and underarms. I did an I-cord cast on for the sleeves, and I really like the way this turned out. Since small people have large heads, I made a little notch in the collar to (hopefully) make this easier to get on. Not sure if the neck is the right size, though. Worried it might be a bit too small.

I used one of my mom's (11) sewing machines to do the free motion quilting on my placemats. And I'm so happy with how they came out!

The free motion quilting was super fun. I finished sewing the 12th and final napkin today. These were definitely more of a challenge than I expected, thanks to turning such a small hemmed edge and the pain in the ass mitered corners. But I'm very pleased with how they came out. Look at that corner!

And I finished just in time, too. I was worried there for a minute while sewing the last one. This is all the brown thread I have left:



I had so much fun sewing, I want to start more sewing projects RIGHT NOW. I saw this tutorial posted on a blog yesterday, and I really want to make one. But this will have to wait. Because now I am a knitter on mission. I gave my Aunt Michelle that little heart shawlette that I made last week, and she loved it so much, she's paying me to make another one for her to give to her mom. As a general rule, I do not make things for money--it's never really worth it. But when your sick aunt asks you to make something for her to give her mom, you say yes. So I went to the LYS this morning and got a skein of some lovely sock yarn to make another shawlette. I'm basically going to make it the same as the first one, I just wish I'd taken more notes the first time--I didn't think I'd be trying to recreate it. :)