Rowan's 1st birthday

As you all know (since I must have mentioned it at least 100 times by now) Rowan turned 1 year old on Friday, April 4th. We had a birthday party for him on Saturday. The whole thing was a ton of fun and I am so incredibly happy to be at the point in my life where I am throwing a birthday bash for my own baby. It's surreal. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was wearing my own party dresses and playing hot potato in my parents basement at my own birthday party. I don't know when I became old enough to have a baby and bake special birthday cakes for him and celebrate one whole year of his life, but it happened. And it feels amazing.

Actually, it feels more than amazing. It feels like everything all at once. Every single emotion. I think that the only way to really describe it is to say that it's overwhelming. This past year has been the most challenging, exhausting, rewarding, empowering year of my life. Rowan is such a fun, curious and happy baby. Happy really is one of his defining characteristics. That kid just loves life. It's amazing to see. Getting to spend my days with that kind of happiness and those giant toothy smiles (5 teeth now!) is just about the best thing ever. I feel very blessed.

Rowan's birthday was a blast. He thoroughly enjoyed the day with friends and family. A few funny details about the day: I made those paper buntings and put up a photo for each month of the year to show how much he grows and changes every month. Completely accidentally he is wearing a different hand knit in 8 of the 12 photo's! I let him off the hook and didn't dress him in knits June through September, but the rest of the year was all knits, all the time. Funny right?

I baked that awesome 3D panda cake myself and am incredibly proud of it! I rented the pan and everything. It took me all day to make, I'd never done anything like that before, but man was it cool. I may have cried once during the process and expressed super dramatically that I was a total failure because my panda's right arm looked weird, but I pulled myself together and Rowan's panda cake looked great. I also made cupcakes because though the panda looked awesome I was pretty sure that it was going to taste like a brick of sugar, I was wrong, it was totally edible. But the cupcakes were a delicious bonus too. Rowan, however, preferred the pineapple... I could have just made him a fruit salad and called it a day - ha!

R&R Hoodie

R&R Hoodie

$5

The classically cool hoodie - A wardrobe staple for both men, women and babies alike! I designed this hoodie for Rowan, with the quintessential kangaroo pockets, zipper and hood, and it has become one of his most worn handknits because it just seems to always be appropriate. The hood fits snugly over the head (and stays on!) so it doubles as a hat on cooler days. Don’t let the zipper scare you off! Though it takes a bit more effort during installation, it more than makes up for it in ease of use.

This hoodie is the very first thing that I knit for our Rowan. I knit a whole bunch for him before he was born, but they were all for "the baby". After Rowan was born and the dust settled a bit I naturally wanted to design something special for him and when I asked Chris what that should be, he immediately said "a hoodie with a zipper and pockets". He didn't even have to think about it! So, mission accepted, I cast on for this simple little hoodie, worked my way through the body with the pockets no problem, the sleeves and the yoke were a piece of cake. I knew that I wanted to trim out the fronts with a really neat i-cord edging… all that was left to sort out was the hood. But oh man, that hood! My mom and I must have knit no less than a dozen prototype hoods between the two of us. I had gotten it into my thick skull that I really wanted a very specific type of hood. One that would fit snuggly, would stay on and wouldn't be too bulky. The design I came up with is sort of like the heel of a sock. It took forever to get it the way I wanted it, but it was so worth it because in my opinion it really is a very cool hood!

Rowan has a little cousin named Ross who was born only 2 weeks after him. I knit Ross his own little hoodie (R&R actually stands for Rowan & Ross!) and for Ross' version I experimented with adding a bit of colour and I love the results. The i-cord edging around the fronts really is the perfect spot for adding a pop of contrast and why not play around with a different coloured zipper while you're at it? I'll be knitting a new hoodie for Rowan soon (he's just about outgrown his Lucky Penny hoodie!) and I'm thinking it'll be grey with a neon green zipper. Fun right? And if you like that scalloped colourwork pattern as much as I do (I used it on a Schoolboy Vest too!) you're in luck because I've got a free pattern coming out next week that features this motif, so you'll be able to apply it to all your Lucky Penny knits no problem. Stay tuned!

So lastly, we've got to talk about that zipper! I think that a lot of knitters (myself included) are a little apprehensive about sewing a zipper into their hand knits. But I'm here to tell you that it's really not that bad! It requires a little bit of careful positioning and pinning, some easy sewing and that's about it. The very first sweater I ever knit for Chris had a zipper, and though I'm not in any particular rush to hand sew a zipper into a man sized sweater any time soon, for a little sweater like this it was a piece of cake.  

So there you go! This concludes Lucky Penny Baby week! I hope that you enjoy these patterns and that you get a chance to knit them for the sweet little babies in your life. Tomorrow is Rowan's birthday. He will be 1 year old and I am excited and nostalgic and overwhelmed all at the same time.  

Schoolboy Vest

psst: Julie is doing a Lucky Penny Baby giveaway on her blog! Go check it out and then come right back!

This photo was an out take from our Christmas card photo shoot. I love the expression on Rowan's face, but don't love that I wasn't able to scurry out of the frame quick enough!

Schoolboy Vest

$5
In my humble opinion no baby’s knit wardrobe is complete without a knitted vest. Not only are they quick to knit, they happen to be one of the most practical baby knits out there. They keep the body warm while allowing all the frantic arm flailing and Cheerio throwing that little ones love to do. As an added bonus, your baby will look super smart when he’s sporting his scholarly sweater vest.

Ok, so the above photo does not feature my new Schoolboy Vest pattern, it is the Master Charles pattern knit for Rowan by my dear online friend CelticCastOn. This vest arrived in the mail shortly after Rowan was born last April. I cooed over it (because it's so cute) and then put it away because it wouldn't fit him until the fall. When fall rolled around I pulled it out, put it on Rowan, and the rest is history. I am very, VERY much a vest person when it comes to Rowan, and I never would have known it were it not for Kelly's awesome gift. So thanks Kelly!

I love vests on babies because they are just so easy. They are adorable over a onesie, but let's be honest, what's not adorable over a onesie? The real key for me is that they keep baby warm, but you never have to fuss with making sure that their sleeves aren't bunching up under the sweater, or worry at meal time that they are dragging the cuff of their beautifully hand knit cardigan through their pureed sweet potatoes. Plus, when it comes to the knitting, it's basically as quick as a hat! A simple tube, a little back and forth and then voila, a vest. As you can tell from the variety of vest patterning shown in this post (there are three different colourwork versions of my Schoolboy Vest pattern here),  the possibilities for adding your own favourite motifs are wide open. The pattern provides you with the chart for the version shown below, but adapting your favourite fair isle pattern for the body of the vest would be a piece of cake. 

In case you haven't noticed, this vest features the same colourwork motif as the Frosted Alpine hat! The two together would make an adorable baby shower gift, don't ya think?

Oh nothing - just reading up a bit on my favourite colour. ;)

Frosted Alpine Hat

Frosted Alpine Hat

$5

A hat for Rowan that had earflaps for warmth and ties for the “stay-put” factor was essential throughout the colder months. Rowan wore this fun and colourful hat all winter. Chris and Rowan have coordinating hats, and when they wear them together it’s almost too cute! The pattern is sized from babies all the way up to full grown men. The colour possibilities are truly endless, so have fun with it!

This hat has very quickly become my go-to baby gift pattern. The ear flaps, the pompom, the colour possibilities! It's such a fun knit. I also think that the fact that it comes in multiple sizes is pretty great. You can make a coordinating set for a father/son duo, or for a pair of siblings, heck, the whole family can wear matching Frosted Alpine hats if you want!

Chris and Rowan make a habit of posing for adorable photos in hats, see Rowan modelling his Frosted Alpine while it was still a WIP here. What can I say, we're hat people! 

Keyfit Baby Blanket

Happy Monday everyone! So, last week I announced that the collection of patterns for baby boys that I've been working on for over a year now was finally finished and available for all to knit and enjoy! Well, this week I hope you'll indulge me in a little more in-depth chit chat about the four patterns that make up the Lucky Penny Baby collection. It is Rowan's first birthday on Friday, so I'm very much feeling the need to go through photos from the year and share some memories. And man, do I have a lot of photos of this kid and his knits. Let me tell ya! 

All of the patterns featured in the collection are available for purchase individually, or as part of the collection. 

Also - I designed these patterns with my son in mind and will frequently refer to them as "for baby boys" but don't for a second think that they wouldn't be just as awesome for little girls! They are totally unisex. 

Baby Rowan was only 7 months old in this photo! He was so excited throughout this shoot. This shot was supposed to be just to test for light. I snapped about 8 photos of him displaying off the charts levels of enthusiasm. They are hilarious!

Keyfit Baby Blanket

$5

It is my experience that one can never, ever have too many baby blankets. I use them in the car seat, in the stroller, in the crib now that baby is older, as decoration over the back of a chair, as a peek-a-boo toy! You name it! Baby blankets are truly a labour of love and seeing as it is something that the baby will never outgrow, it is perfect heirloom knitting. A gift that the baby in your life will cherish forever. This bright, graphic design was inpired by the colour palette of my son’s nursery. It’s modern, crisp and fresh.

It seems appropriate to start "Rowan week" by featuring the Keyfit Baby Blanket pattern since it was the first design that I completed for this collection over a year ago. This was one of those designs that came together very quickly. My mom and I sewed all the bedding for Rowan's nursery (more on all that fun here) and when I picked out this fun polka dot chevron fabric for the bed skirt I loved it so much and found the colour palette so inspiring that I immediately played with my TFA colourways and put together a Palette to match. Which, incidentally, is now available as one of my TFA Palette kits!

I had been thinking about this particular triangle and diamonds graphic pattern for a while. I pinned an image on pinterest featuring this design ages ago. I couldn't get it out of my head and a baby blanket was the perfect place to use it. 

This blanket requires lots of seaming. The panels are knit first using intarsia, in big blocks of colour. You're only ever working with two colourways at a time. Don't let that scare you! A little bit of seaming is so worth it. Watching it all come together as you sew it together is all part of the fun. 

Rowan has lots of knit baby blankets, we love them all and they are all special, but this is the one that he wrapped himself up in and rolled around on my bed in, which resulted in me getting the above shot which is one of my favourites of all time, so to me, this blanket will always be a little extra special. 

Lucky Penny Baby Collection

Lucky Penny Baby Collection!

$12

Well gang, I've been working on this collection of baby boy knits for over a year now. The first pattern I worked on was the Keyfit Baby Blanket, I blogged about it being almost complete last February, more than a month before Rowan was born! Rowan will be 1 whole year old next Friday (boohoo, don't mention it!) so it's fair to say that this collection has taken me longer to wrap up than it took to make a baby. 

Anyways, lets not dwell on that. It's out now and I love it! I guess the good thing about taking so long to get things organized is that I have had a full year to test out these designs with my own baby boy and I can now tell you, with total sincerity, that we have used and loved every single piece. This collection truly makes up Rowan's knit wardrobe staples. In my humble opinion as a mom, these are the classic, baby boy must haves. 

I probably don't have to mention this, but I'll point it out anyways just in case anyone is on the fence about it, but this collection would obviously be perfect for a baby girl's wardrobe as well. I'm all about the little boys these days, but that's because he's all I know! But don't let all my talk of little fella's trick you into thinking that your little lady couldn't rock everyone of these pieces. 

So, because I've spent an entire year fussing over these patterns I am going to give myself permission to stretch out the chatter about them for as long as possible! Haha. I mean one blog post would not be enough for me to get this out of my system. So today I'm just here to let you know that the collection is live and available for purchase, and next week I'll be back with all the details on each piece. Oh, and tons of baby photos, since next week is Rowan's birthday week. You've been warned!

Patterns are available individually, or sold together in the collection for a steal! 

R&R Hoodie

Schoolboy Vest

Frosted Alpine Hat

Keyfit Baby Blanket

Fashion Friday - knitted family layers

Featured Knits: My sweater - a vintage hand-me-down from my mom.
Rowan's vest - Schoolboy Vest - pattern coming soon!
Yarn: My sweater - awesome vintage Scottish wool.
Rowan's vest - TFA Green Label Aran Weight in Chris Grey, Lemongrass, Seabreeze and Chestnut.

So, Fashion Friday was supposed to be all about highlighting some of my favourite knits and discussing how I like to wear them in real life. But lets be honest, this kid's got much better style then I do, and he wears a lot of knits, so from time to time lets chat about how he likes to style his knit-wardrobe shall we? 

Rowan, thankfully, is not afraid of a little colour. He can rock a pair of turquoise cords like its nobody's business. He wears a lot of stripes, often paired with more stripes, polka dots or in this case, scallops. He is also partial to vests. He has 3 and wears them all the time. The vest he's wearing in these photos is the same pattern as this one, with modified colourwork. The pattern will be released as part of my upcoming baby boy collection soon (like within a week or two!) I cannot say enough about how much I love the baby vest look, it's adorable and incredibly practical. I will go on and on about it when I release the pattern I'm sure. So stay tuned for that!

My sweater was knit by my aunt for my mother years ago. It was knit with 100% Scottish wool yarn, that's all I know about it, and I am continually amazed at how well both the yarn and the style of this sweater have stood the test of time. Aren't classic pieces like this amazing? Knitting a sweater is a big  commitment, but when it lasts years and gets passed on through generations I would say it's more than worth the effort. I've made it my personal mission to make sure that I design and knit at least a few pieces like this in my career. I really can't think of anything more awesome than having a grown daughter one day who loves to wear my hand knit hand-me-downs. 

Frolic Update

Calling this post "Frolic Update" is kind of unfair because it gives the impression that there is some sort of exciting update about to be revealed. I just couldn't bring myself to call this post what it's really all about... "No Frolic for me". Sad face. 

I feel terrible admitting defeat, I had every intention of packing up the family and driving to Toronto for the weekend, but as the months went by and the Frolic inched closer and closer I knew I was lying to myself. It's just too much for us at the moment. I feel like I say that a lot lately. Doing wholesale at the scale that we used to is too much, doing shows is too much... Why is it so hard to know our limits and just say no sometimes!? Because we want to do it all, right? 

Well, I just can't. I've accepted it and am actually feeling really good about it. I mentioned in this post a few weeks back that things with TFA haven't always gone exactly as I had planned, but that the way they've ended up is definitely the way they should be. And I stand by that. I used to think that I could do a little bit of everything, but that has not worked for me. It's all good though, in learning what works and what doesn't work, what we love to do and what feels like too much effort, we've been able to streamline where we focus our attentions and we are all the better for it! And I really mean that. I think that we are producing higher quality colourways and patterns these days, and when that happens, everybody wins!

Instead of being completely bogged down by overwhelming tasks we're being realistic about what we can manage and are focussing on doing fewer things, better. 

So though I won't see you at the Frolic this year, I am still cooking up a plan to have some new TFA available for you there. The Purple Purl will have new TFA offerings in their booth, so you'll still have a chance to get your recommended dose via them! 

And one last update for this morning:

This child is growing way too fast. The photo on the left was taken less than a month ago when Rowan still fit in his adorable little hat. I've knit another in a size larger so I could get some good pattern shots and get this pattern published already. Rowan has decided that he's so over being a baby model. Instead he's a baby rebel who will do whatever it takes to make photographing him in focus nearly impossible.

Oh boy do I love that face! Excuse me while I go kiss those cheeks. 

Swatches

Yesterday Rowan helped me to get the ball rolling. He crawled right up there, pulled himself up, opened the doors and started cleaning things out. He found the bin where I stuff all of my swatches. I hadn't looked in that bin forever, so a big thanks to Rowan for making me take a second look. A bunch of the swatches have been turned into designs or knits. Others are still percolating and may never be anything more than a swatch. One in particular really got my wheels spinning. I'm excited about that. 

I laid out all my swatches, took stock, and then proceeded to clean out the cupboard. Then I moved on to another area... man it feels good to have conquered just one tiny corner of chaos. Thanks Rowan! For wreaking havoc and then making feel good about sweeping up behind you!

That's our boy!

So, this hat was not knit by me, nor is the yarn my yarn, it's not even my pattern! Zero for three. But, hey, that's my boy! Hat model extraordinaire! Can that kid rock a slouchy hat like it's nobody's business or what?

My cousin Louise was recently visiting and while she was here she finished off this gorgeous hat. The pattern is Magnolia by Maria Socha. It's knit in Madelinetosh Chunky in the Spectrum colourway. A colourway that I really love, in fact, I own 1 skein of Madelinetosh yarn in Pashmina and it is in this very colourway (my cousin and I have great taste!) but now I think that I should have bought it in Chunky rather than Pashmina because Rowan really looks good in this chunky hat! Or maybe TFA needs a chunky base... wheels are turning!

Shipping update: If you are still waiting for your yarn from the Boxing Day Etsy Update or from an order that you placed over the holidays, rest assured that we are packing and shipping as fast as we possibly can! Canada Post has gone and thrown a wrench in my plans by having a glitchy website today, so I am writing blog posts with cute pictures of babies to try and calm my nerves because I can't work on getting all the shipping done... grrrrrr. 

Thoughts on 2014

I have this feeling that 2014 is going to be a great year. I'm not sure why. I've moved seamlessly into writing the date ending with a 4 rather than ending with a 3. Usually that takes me a few days to get used to, but not this year! I think that it's the 4. I just like years that end in 4, they feel good.

Looking back on 2013, I'm still not really able to wrap my mind around all that has happened. I became a mother. Enough said. How much bigger a life change can you really make? Having a baby required me to make lots of work changes as well, tough decisions, but I know that they were the right decisions. There were lots of moments in the first few months when I wondered if I could do it all. My work needed me, my baby needed me, I felt like I was failing at everything. But bit by bit, 9 months later, I think that it's all working out. I've spread myself thinner than I'm used to, but y'know what? I like it that way! Rowan has made me stop trying to always multitask and rather work harder when I'm working and play harder when I'm playing. He's given my life the balance that I wasn't able to find on my own. The past 9 months have been very empowering in that way.

at 6 weeks - learning to make it work.

Having Rowan has changed everything. I used to try so hard to find balance in my work and my life. My work is my life and my hobby is my work. It used to be confusing, but now it's all starting to make sense. I had a moment after Rowan was born where I was complaining to my sister about how overwhelmed I was. I didn't take a day off - the second I would put Rowan down I would run into my office to try and get some work done. I was bemoaning my lack of "me time". My sister Lilia, in her ever wise if not so tactful way, reminded me that frankly, I love my work. That if I had all the "me time" in the world I would likely spend it knitting, Ravelling, blogging, playing with yarn... what exactly was I complaining about? I'm not sure she realizes what a huge impact that conversation had on me. She was totally right and it was just the kick in the pants I needed. Any time I feel overwhelmed now I just think of my brilliant sister and her words of wisdom. "Get over yourself Tanis. Your baby is adorable and you work a job that you love, what's your problem?" Gotta love sisters. 

at 2 months - inspires in his own special way.

I don't have any big New Years resolutions to share. I've never been big on resolutions, though I do like the idea of a clean slate, the beginning of the school year has always felt more like "New Year" to me than January 1st ever has. This year, my only real mission is to live slowly, savour every minute and be spontaneous. I've frequently shared my desire to find more balance in life on this blog, and I think that I'm actually getting closer to achieving that for myself. Funny, you'd think that adding a baby to the mix would throw us all for a major loop, but Rowan has actually helped me (probably more like forced me) to slow down, take breaks and let my mind wander. 

I feel that what is right for me this year is to do whatever feels right "right now".  I find that I really don't work as well with too many fixed deadline and long term goals. Of course I have an idea of what I'd like to accomplish and how I plan to go about it, but find that I work best when I allow myself to just ride the waves of inspiration as they come to me. So this year, rather than setting up too many official goals, my plan is to just live in the moment, both personally and professionally, and do what feels right.

I want to maintain the creative passion that got me started in this business in the first place. I am so fortunate to still get extremely excited every time we hit on a great new colourway. You should have seen me when Chris came in from the studio with the first batch of Lotus; I actually squealed! My enthusiasm for colours, fibers and designing has gained momentum throughout the years. The 2013 Boxing Day Etsy update was an excellent reminder that I am still as excited as ever about colour, and sharing it with people (like you!) who appreciate it makes me so excited I can hardly stand it. Making gorgeous colours and then hoarding them really would not have the same effect. It's the sharing that makes it all so rewarding.

So my plans for 2014? Play, teach and learn with my baby boy as much as possible. Talk, walk, cook and be with my husband as much as possible. Dream, draw, colour and knit for my work as much as possible. A little bit of everything, not too little of any, the perfect life/work cocktail. I think I can do it!

Rowan photo bomb!

Oh, and I'll make 1 official goal for 2014, finish up the collection of baby boy knits that I've been working on forever!