Autumn Leaves Sweater

This has to be my favorite sweater I have made in my recent knitting spree! I didn’t like the yarn so I searched for a pattern I loved, and it turned out to be my favorite.

It is a free pattern called Autumn Leaves by Nikki Van De Car. I used Sirdar Country Style DK yarn in color way 021452.  

I made one “mistake” on this pattern, but I preferred it this way so kept going with the “mistake.” I increased to often and made the flare more pronounced. I prefer flared skirts so I was happy with this mistake.

The sweater does require buttons; I just haven’t found the perfect buttons for this yet. They must be perfect so I am still on the lookout.

Baby Sophisticate

Another sweater from my knitting spree.

I was recently telling a friend of mine that I love knitting baby items, they are the perfect project for knitters like myself. They are so quick that I finish them before I can get bored.

This one is another free pattern called Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down and I used Red Heart With Love yarn in the color Peacock.

I used size US 8 needles like the pattern called for.

I had this yarn left over after I made myself a sweater. I love the color and it gets softer after washing (it also pills a lot after wearing).

I had to search for the buttons, but I found 4 matching buttons in my button stash, so that made this little sweater completely free!

 

Like I said I used US 8 needles, but then this happened with the sleeves. It makes me wonder if the needles weren’t the same size after all. I have never had this happen before. 

Even still, the pattern is very simple and so sophisticated; I will probably make another one using different yarn.

Longie shorts

Like I said I loved the Striped Longies so much, I made a few pairs. This pair I made the length of shorts.

I used Patons Classic Wool Roving in Natural, Pacific Teal and Aran (I think). The pattern was from Pimp My Longies. 

The main color is the Natural, I started to worry I was going to run out of yarn so I added the band of Pacific Teal and Aran. Turns out I did have enough yarn, but this is so much cuter than a boring solid color. 

Florida Agricultural Museum

The other place outside of St. Augustine I would recommend is the Florida AgriculturalMuseum. They have reconstructed historical buildings, horses, chickens, Florida CrackerCattle, and a wild boar (who is relatively tame). We had some much fun!

Below are some of the pictures I took (I took a lot).  

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park

If you are ever in St. Augustine, Florida, one place I recommend going is the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. They have amazing animals and a cool obstacle course and zip lines above the animals called the Crocodile Crossing. 

One piece of advice is you must call ahead and get reservations for the Crocodile Crossing! Also plan to do that first because they said you get free admission to the zoo if you did Crocodile Crossing first. 

We decided to go Saturday and found out we had to make reservations for Crocodile Crossing. We made reservations for Monday and then went to the zoo thinking we would only get “a discount.” We assumed it was only a few dollars off not free admission, oh well, the zoo was well worth the money.

 At the zoo there was a 15 foot 3 inch, 1,250-pound salt-water crocodile, named Maximo.  We made it just in time to watch him be fed, it was very impressive.

Maximo and his mate

The other nice thing about the zoo is there is a Wading Bird Rookery with native birds. In the trees were different birds and in the water beneath were alligators.

 We fed the alligators little pellets and one sat there in the water with his mouth open waiting for us to drop in in his mouth… all four of us missed and the alligator finally gave up and swam away.

They also have a few Galapagos Tortoises. 

Below are the pictures from the Crocodile Crossing, mainly Vince because he looked better in the pictures than I did.