enough with the sickness already!

I really appreciate all the lovely birthday wishes. I would love to regale you with a tale of birthday fun and adventure, but unfortunately I've been so sick for so long that we had to skip it. Would you believe I've been fighting the same virus since last Sunday? It started in my throat, then crawled up into my sinuses, left into my ear, and down into my chest. As of today my ear still feels plugged, my sinuses are still a bit clogged, and I've got a really lovely deep chest cough. You know the kind...when you see someone out in public coughing like I am right now, you wonder how that person escaped the TB ward...yeah, it's lovely. Not that I've been out in public much. I've left the house exactly twice in the last 9 days, and Daughter has been cooped up for almost 2 weeks straight. When these germs are gone we're so outta here!

Not that there are many places to go, as it's been snowing for days. Between the snow piled on top and the snow mounded up from the plows, I can barely see my mailbox.

I guess it's just good old fashioned crafting weather.

I did not mention this sweater in my previous posts about finishing up my languishing projects. I wasn't sure how I felt about finishing it, because it was started last summer when I found out I was pregnant with another girl. Once I knew she would never wear the sweater, I couldn't bear to work on it anymore.


But I had a lot of the shell work done already, which was quite time-consuming and complicated, both sleeves were ready and waiting, and also I needed to free up the needle I'd been using in order to finish up yet another unfinished sweater. I pulled it back out last week and cranked away until it was done.


This will get a gentle wash and be stored in my cedar chest. Hopefully I will get to use it again, but if not, it will be saved for someone else.

Pattern: Leisure Arts "Special Baby Outfits" leaflet #2329
Yarn: Stylecraft WonderSoft Baby 4 ply
Needles: US sizes 2 and 3
Mods: None

This sweater is from the same booklet as the wee dress featured in this post from last fall. Oddly, it looks like I was sick then too.


Aren't these buttons just perfection? They're actually little pearls, and not silver balls as they appear here. I had to do some tricks with editing the photo and they ended up looking silvery. Anyway, these buttons were a gift from my superstar blog buddy Karen. She sent me a surprise package around Christmas with lots of old buttons and awesome vintage knitting pattern books.

Speaking of Karen, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing birthday gift she sent:

I asked my family for clothing this year because my wardrobe is so pathetic, so I didn't expect to receive any "fun" gifts, if you know what I mean. But! My dear non-knitter friend from across the continent braved a yarn shop and came out with 3 skeins of Cascade Sierra in a beautiful brick-y deep red, as well as some gorgeous beaded stitch markers. I've been coveting beaded stitch markers for ages. I can't wait to get some more unfinished projects done so I can cast on with this beautiful yarn. It will become a sweater for Daughter. What excellent motivation! Also included in the package was another lovely vintage pattern book. Thanks again, Karen!