Boxy Pouch and Sweater

I finally got around to finishing my second Owlet sweater for Clara. Like the first time the pattern called for much more yarn than I ended up using. I think I have enough left over to make a second sweater. This time I decided to make it short sleeved because spring is upon us (and I got tired of doing sleeves). I also decided to cast on extra stitches at the yoke and pick up those stitches to make the sleeves rather than make the sleeves first. This work much better for me and I did not get the big holes at the armpit that I did last time.

Today I felt like I needed a nice quick sewing project so I could feel like I accomplished something, so I decided to make another try at the boxy pouch. This time I used interfacing and I like the product SO much better. I used heavy interfacing with the outer fabric and lightweight with the inner. Using the interfacing also seemed to make construction go much more smoothly in addition to giving the product a lot more shape. I used a combination of tutorials. I used the dimensions from Indie House's tutorial, I attached the zipper in a similar manner to Jane's, I sewed the bottom seam of the lining and outer fabric separately and then turned the pouch inside out and sewed the rest of the seams with the lining and outer fabric together. I made the corners similar to this tutorial.

Using this combination I can make a lined boxy pouch from start to finish, with minimal exposed seams in less than a half hour and still be happy with how it looks. I prefer no exposed seams but when I have used that method it has doubled the amount of time it takes me and doesn't really look much better. In fact I think the pouch has a little better structure this way and the one seam is only visible if you go looking for it.

Brown Owlet sweater

Finally here is a picture of Layden's Owlet Sweater which has been done about a month now. The sleeves seem a bit tight and the neck a bit loose but maybe some blocking would help? I haven't decided yet whether I will add the button eyes.

Raveled.

A red scarf and bathroom remodel

I haven't been doing too much crafting lately because we are hoping to sell our house and have a good bit to do to get it ready for the market. Currently we are working on remodeling our downstairs bathroom. The wiring is done and now we need to get the drywall up, put the floor down, paint and put the toilet/sink in. I have been sneaking a bit of work in on this scarf. It is basically just a couple repeats of the "Old Shale" lace pattern.

I think scarves may be one of my least favorite things to knit, they always seem to go so slow. I am thinking this might end up a neck warmer with buttons rather than a full scarf. The pattern is nice because it has only a 4 row repeat so it is easy to memorize but has enough variation that you don't fall asleep knitting.

I have also gotten myself into another 5" charm square swap (through thebabywearer.com), not sure why since I don't have much time for quilting. I just couldn't help myself, I guess. I think they might still have room for a few more people the yahoo group is here.

More knitting

I have been on a knitting kick and I have gotten a few more small projects done. First I knit up this shawlette for my friend Lisa. She bought the yarn close to a year ago on a trip to the yarn store together, it is Jojoland Melody superwash (fingering weight). Sadly since then something has gotten into my stash and a good bit of my yarn seems chewed up. This shawlette would have been a bit bigger but the last quarter, at least, of the yarn was unusable. I used the same pattern as in this shawl but I think I much prefer it with the lighter weight yarn. I also made a few changes, half-way through I got tired of dropped YO's so I knit the rest using a size 11 needle for the YO rows. You can't tell the difference. Pattern. Raveled.

I also made this mini danish tie shawl for Clara. She seems to like it fairly well. I used a superwash worsted weight yarn for this shawl and size 9 needles.

Raveled.

Right now I am working on my first lace project, a Dandy Neckerchief. It has a leafy look to it and I am using some worsted weight Ultra Alpaca that is a bit more foresty green looking than this photo shows. I have also done a few more repeats of the pattern since the photo was taken. The start was a bit rough and the first night my cat got into it and I had to unravel 10 rows to get it fixed but otherwise it is going well. I think I have finally figured out how to ssk and I think I will have to try another lace project soon. Raveled.

Shawl and hat pattern.

I finally finished off my danish work shawl and sadly I am not really happy with it. I think I knit it a bit tight so it doesn't really have any drape and it doesn't really lie flat. But I really like the concept and I will have to make another sometime. Raveled

I am very happy with this hat I made for my mother in law. She has a fairly small head so I am hoping that it will fit her. Here it is modeled by my son and it is a little big on him. It was inspired by Thorpe by Kristen Kapur but hers is knit top down and that was just not working for me so I made something up. It ended up with about a 21" brim and 7" tall sort of a small adult medium. But it could easily be made bigger just by going up a needle size and knitting the hat a little taller before decreasing.

Yarn:
Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool - held double

Needles:
Size 7 16-24” circular

Gauge 4”x4” =
Garter: 16 st and 32 rows
Stockinette: 16 st and 24 rows

Earflaps:
Cast on 5 (I used double tailed)
1: k1 kfb k1 kfb k1 (7st)
2: and all even rows knit across
3: k1 kfb [k3] kfb k1 (9st)
5: k1 kfb [k5] kfb k1 (11st)
7: k1 kfb [k7] kfb k1 (13st)
9: k1 kfb [k9] kfb k1 (15st)
11: k1 kfb [k11] kfb k1 (17st)
continue in garter stitch until flap measures 5” from cast on edge
leave flap on circular with 6” tail
repeat for second flap but do not trim off

Body:
turn and knit the 17 st on second flap,
then cast on 17,
knit 17 st on first flap,
cast on 25
1: join for circular knitting and purl one row
2: k all
3: p all
knit in stockinette until piece measures 4” from brim

Crown decreases:
[k8 k2tog] x4 [k7 k2tog] x4
k 1 row
[k7 k2tog]x4 [k6 k2tog] x4
k 1 row
follow this pattern until you k2tog each stitch

half double crochet around edge with contrast color.

Raveled

Slippers and a Tribble

Raveled

For Christmas I knitted up some slippers for both of the children using this pattern by DROPS. The pattern was very quick and easy because the slippers are knit flat then seamed rather than knit in the round. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for both pairs. Both of them bled a little when felting but shrank up nicely and don't seem too scratchy. Clara's are the 12/18 month size and Layden's are the 4/5 size. I tried Clara's on her already and they seem to fit well but I haven't tried Layden's yet. He has to wait until tomorrow.

Raveled

Today I whipped up one of these little Tribbles, which I have been eyeing for a while now. This one is in some yellow scrap acrylic and I am hoping it will make a nice washable, reusable dish scrubber. Others on Ravelry commented that they had trouble with theirs getting smelly so I will have to see how it works out.

Raveled

Red Mittens

We drove over to the in-laws for Thanksgiving this year and I decided to take advantage of the long car ride to finish knitting up these mittens for Clara. I knitted them up with a worsted weight red wool that I had laying about so I am not sure exactly what it was. I used this pattern from Drops and it turned out quite well. Tonight I finished getting them felted down to size, unfortunately her hands are so small and she is uncooperative so she just sticks her whole hand in and doesn't use the thumb part. I may have to knit up a set without the thumb so she doesn't go around looking as if she has severely double jointed thumbs. She was very happy with them at least and insisted on wearing them for a bit even though they were rather damp.

Busy busy

I have been quite busy lately. Unfortunately for my blog I have been busy with school not crafting. I have been slowly plugging away at this hat. I am using the Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] pattern by Thelma Egberts from Knitty. I have had this pattern in my Ravelry queue for a while now and after I finished my scarf I decided it was time for a hat. I don't know if it will be for me or for the kids. I guess I will have to see how silly I feel wearing it and whether Layden leaves me any choice in the matter. He is already excited about "his" fish hat.

I was up early this morning so I decided to go ahead and cut the legs of a pair of warm up pants I picked up at Goodwill for self defense. I think I will probably just leave them as is. I am not feeling particularly motivated to do any hemming.

Fringed Scrappy Scarf

I finished my scrappy scarf this weekend, it measures in at just under ten feet long, counting the fringes and about 6.5" wide. I cast on 250 stitches, which, in retrospect, may have been excessive. I used size 9 needles and knit, in garter stitch about 60 rows. I used 25 different yarns, 1-3 rows of each. One row, counting the fringes used around 10 yds of yarn. I used all different sizes and types of yarn, from lace weight to bulky, mohair, wool, cotton and a touch of acrylic, as well as some mystery yarns. To make the fringes I just left extra yarn at the end whenever I started, turned or ended a row, when I was all done I trimmed them to be the same length and tied them into groups of 4 or 5 strands. Also, occasionally while knitting I would tighten up the stitches at the ends of the rows if they looked to be working themselves a bit loose. My reluctant, but I think cute, scarf model is my husband. I think a more monochromatic version of this scarf could be fun or even a gradation.

Scrappy scarf and vintage flowers

I have been working on some knitting again and this scarf is the result. I think it is close to being done. So far I have about 20 different yarns in it, a couple rows of each. I think I will do a few more and call it good.

I stopped by our local thrift store yesterday and found three yards of this vintage flower fabric that I have not yet decided whether I like and what I will do with it. I also got the equivalent of about 3 yards of the black and white check fabric but it came about 12 separate pieces.

Estate Sale finds

Today I snuck out of the house and left the children with my brother for a bit to go to an estate sale in town. They had big mystery bags of yarn that I didn't feel like sorting through so I grabbed a couple and hoped I would get lucky. Now I am wishing I had grabbed them all. They were mainly wool and cotton in decent colors with only a little bit of cheap acrylics and pinks thrown in. I also picked up some DPN's in larger sizes that I didn't already have and a wide variety of scissors.

I found this tablecloth(?) that seems to tie down with these cute embroideries, thought I think the embroidered bits might get cut out and turned into a quilt. For the kitchen I picked up a marble rolling pin and these copper owl salt and pepper shakers. I am not sure if I will keep the shakers but they were too cute to leave behind.

Knit shirt and booties

Today I finally finished off the shirt and booties I knit for my cousin's new baby, her first girl after three boys. The shirt is the same pattern as the lilac and green shirt/dress I made earlier. I didn't follow the pattern exactly, I included one less lilac stripe because I was starting to run a little low on the lilac yarn. Luckily I had plenty of the variegated (Lorna's Laces, by the way and I really like it) so I could make matching booties. Hopefully they will both fit at the same time. The booties are from a pattern by Saartje Both these projects were quick and easy and made with patterns I found free online, I love the internet sometimes and I definitely love all the wonderful, talented people out there who are willing to share. I definitely love Ravelry if you knit/crochet and haven't joined yet, you should. Just request an invite and join up.

Raveled

Raveled

PS: any one interested in swapping quilt blocks? Join here.

Excuses, slippers, and quilt blocks.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. First we went on a long road trip through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. It was a lot of driving, some great scenery and some dinosaur museums. We visited with my Dad's siblings, went to my cousins wedding and didn't get much sleep. I did get some knitting done while we were driving and almost have my brother's slippers ready to felt. But with all the work to be done on our backyard fence I haven't gotten around to finishing them.

The last few days we have all been laid up with a lovely snuffed up nose issue. Today I am still not feeling 100% but I did get this block finished for a block swap. The request was for 12.5" girly/princess.

Here are two more 12.5" blocks I finished before we left on vacation for the same swap. The first person requested "scrappy log cabin" and the second "greens".

Lilac dress

I just finished this dress, probably for Clara. I used the Maxi dress pattern from Knitting Adventures. I used worsted weight and made the smallest size, 6-12 months. It was very easy and quick, I think about 5 hours total. It seems maybe a little big on Clara but she is pretty shrimpy. So it should fit her for a bit. The picture shows it a little damp because I am blocking it to keep the bottom from rolling up.

Raveled

Too big slippers

I finished off some slippers for my brother but sadly they ended up a couple sizes too big so I need to find some one with feet about 12" long. I was using the same pattern as previously but I decided to use a double strand of worsted rather than single and I over compensated with the length.

I picked up some fabric recently that I hopefully will get around to turning into some clothes. The top two fabrics are linen and I think I will use them to make a couple of skirts. The third one is a fairly thick knit and I am thinking maybe some pajama pants. The bottom is a thinner bamboo/cotton knit and I am planing on making an infinite shirt but there will be left overs and I am not sure what I will do with those.

Cute baby pictures and some fabric

In honor of our upcoming visit to Oli's parents here are a couple of, better, photos I took of Clara's eggplant hat at their house. I think the scary orange carpet makes a very nice backdrop.

Also here are the meager results of my shopping trip today. I took advantage of a 50% off at Joann coupon to get 5 yards of nice quality white muslin for quilts. I also picked up some red tag tartan. I will be making Layden some kilts I think. He is curiously resistant to my potty training efforts thus far.