Knitting In The North

Fickle Four

I became taken a while ago with the idea of sewing Gwenyth a skirt out of a pillowcase.  Last year, I made her a pillowcase dress (which I somehow missed blogging about - how did that happen?), but she's gotten tall, and I wasn't sure I could pull it off again.

 

We took a trip to the thrift store, and Gwen fell in love with this pillowcase.  After paying the 50 cents herself, we took it home and got busy.  I cut it off, sewed a casing, inserted elastic and Hey Presto!  Because a skirt on it's own is not nearly as good as An Outfit, Gwenyth rummaged in her dresser until she came across this t-shirt.  I cut a few flowers from the leftover bits of pillowcase and appliqued them onto the front.  (The leggings were a recent thrifty find.  Isn't it so great when things come together like that?)

 

 

 

 

There was only one little problem - she wouldn't wear it.  At first, the skirt was too long.  Naturally, I had made it a tad longer on purpose, hoping for more use.  Silly mummy.  I hemmed up the skirt, imagining that I had found the solution.  Ah, no.  The shirt was...  TOO ORANGE!  Let's forget the fact that Gwenyth likes orange.  Put aside the idea that it was her shirt to start with.  Don't even mention that she's worn this exact shirt around 8 million times.  Too orange.  Nope.  Can't do it.

 

Oooooh, internal struggle!  Do I force her to wear the outfit she chose?  I wanted to, I really, really did.  Instead, I told her (hopefully) calmly that if she wasn't going to wear the outfit I made her, that was okay.  But not to expect me to make her any other things, if this is how she was going to behave when they were done.  (Was that mean?  I'm not sure.  It was far less mean than the yelling I would have like to have done, the forcing a tearful 4 year old to wear the outfit I used my precious crafting time on.)

 

The other day (a whole 'nother story, I tell you), we decided to head off to the lake for the morning.  Gwenyth couldn't decide what to wear, and so I handed her an outfit from her dresser.  No - she didn't want to wear that.  Thinking I would short-circuit this conversation, I picked up this skirt & t-shirt.  "Well," I said (calmly?), "you could wear the clothes mummy made you, instead." 

 

"Okay," she answered, and that was the end of the issue.  Fickle Four, anyone?

 

 

Edited to Add: Joining in the fun Link Party at Tea Rose Home - check it out! 

FO: Koolhaas

There is a guy I work with, who started bugging me last summer to knit him a hat.  I suggested, as I always do, that he learn to knit one himself, and he seemed keen on the idea.  After a few failed opportunities, though, he offered to paint me a picture in trade for a hat, and the deal seemed to good to pass up.  He's loving his finished hat (although I haven't seen the picture yet...) - apparently it's great for "clubbing".  Who knew?

 

Particulars:

Pattern - Koolhaas, by Jared Flood

Yarn - Patons Silk Bamboo, Taupe, 1 ball

Needles -  3.75/4.0 mm

Notes - Because of the tendency of silk to stretch, I knit the smaller size, and it seems perfect for the recipient.  I was a little bit frustrated at first with all the cabling, but soon got into a nice rhythm, and sort of missed it when it was finished.  I was sure I would need to use more than one ball, but finished with a bit to spare with only one ball.  That's okay - Katie would love me to knit her one out of the other ball...

 

 

In return for Katie's madly awesome modeling, she asked me to share this riddle with you -

 

From the beginning of eternity

and the end of time and space

To the beginning of every end

and the end of every place.

What am I?
 

 

FO: Baby's First Ball

I told you I had things from last year to share!  Here, finally, are Liam's Christmas Balls, a little fuzzy & worn already, but you know that just means they're loved.  I used four different colours, and made six balls in total.  They're great for throwing around the house; since they're light, they don't do a lot of damage.  They're also great for tossing down the basement stairs, causing this mummy's heart to leap into her throat on a regular basis, worrying that Liam will follow suit.

 

Particulars:

Yarn - Elann's Peruvian Highland wool, 1 ball each of Daffodil, Ink, Oregano & Oxblood

Pattern - Baby's First Ball, by Melanie Falick (oh, how I love her!) and Kristin Nicholas

Needles - 4.5mm

Notes - I followed the pattern as written for a two-colour ball, working one in each possible colour combination.  They all had about a 15" circumference before felting, and turned out between 9" - 11" afterwards.  I stuffed them with polyfill before felting, rather than after, as I didn't like the sewing up of the felted balls as called for in the pattern.  I think the size difference in the finished balls is because of the stuffing - I had lots of helpers, and each ball was packed differently.  I quite like them this way, and I hope Liam loves and uses them until the fuzz wears off and the stuffing peeks out. 

FO: Girly Mitts

Gwenyth has, for a while now, been asking for a pair of fingerless gloves of her very own.  It was one of those little projects, that, because it was so little, I kept putting off for one reason or another.  This week, with Christmas out of the way, and a couple of small projects promised to others done, I got these on (& off) the needles.  I think because I tend to wear fingerless gloves most of the time, Gwen feels very grown up and special with these on, which makes me feel great (and a bit guilty I didn't get to them sooner).

 

Particulars:

Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, Carrot, less than one skein

Needles - 4mm bamboo DPNs

Notes - I hadn't used this particular yarn before, and now am a little bit smitten.  It's very soft, and nice to work with, and beautifully dyed, and I need to find some more.  Ahem.  I held the yarn doubled, which gave me close to the same gauge as the pattern, and the finished mitts fit both Gwenyth & Brian (ages 4 & 7, respectively), so it's all good.  (Not that Brian's allowed to wear them, of course.  I had trouble getting Gwen to take them off while she was eating her lunch!)  The pattern was well written and  fun to work.  I certainly foresee more of these in my future...

 

I realized the other day that I have several projects from 2009 finished that I haven't shown you yet - I gave a couple of them a fresh blocking yesterday, so stay tuned.

FO: Bella's Mittens

There is a young girl that I work with, who is very sweet.  When she started making noises around me that she needed, more than anything, a handknit pair of mittens, what was I to do?  She happens to be a fan of the Twilight movies, so this pattern was an obvious choice.   

 

Particulars:

Pattern - Bella's Mittens

Yarn - Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed, Reds, 2 balls

Needles - 5mm DPNs

Notes - I followed the pattern as written.  I didn't realize, though, when I started, how long the cuff would be, and had I known, I would have taken the first two repeats of the cable pattern off.  I started with one ball of yarn, and would have needed only that, had I shortened the cuff.  The longer cuff is a big hit with people, though, and it does look very fancy. 

 

The recipient was thrilled, and went all over the store the day I gave her the mittens, showing them off and telling everyone how wonderful they are, how warm and soft and cozy.  Really, what better payment could any knitter ask for?

 

FO: Thorpe

My, how things can change overnight!  Just yesterday I was bemoaning the grey-ness out there, and today we're blanketed in white.  The first snowfall is always exciting around here, making me want to break out the Christmas music and build a snowman and go tobogganing and decorate and make gifts and bake good things.  Since I've got a sick babe at the moment, I've had to content myself with Christmas music and baking cookies, and planning to knit this for Brian (in green, to look like Link's). 

 

I did drag Liam out for a few quick minutes, for his first look at the snow.  What a puzzled little face!  He's so serious, when processing something new - he just stood there, taking it all in.  Which made me want to kiss his face right off.  (I'll ask him now, if he needs me to kiss his face off, and he'll shake his head.  No thanks, Mommy.  It makes it even sweeter when he offers me a kiss, all on his own.)  Anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to try out his new hat (you know - the one that fits!).

 

Particulars:

Yarn - Paton's Classic Wool for the body, with leftovers of Knitpick's Comfy Bulky for the trim

Needles - 5mm

Notes/Modifications - I held the Classic Wool doubled, which gave me just about spot on gauge.  It was a little stiff feeling while knitting, but softened up nicely for wearing.  The finished hat has a fairly thick finished fabric, perfect for snowy days, and it holds it's shape nicely, without feeling stiff.  This hat is fast becoming my standby winter hat pattern - once I get past the fiddly beginning, it's smooth sailing, and I am always thrilled at how smoothly the crocheted edging goes on, and how well it finishes the hat off.

 

 

FO: Earflap Hat

 

 

 

With snow about to fly (there were flurries in the air this morning!  Flurries!  Isn't it still September?), it's time to get these kiddies ready for the cold.  Gwenyth is slightly put out with me this year because her winter coat is blue (what an ridiculous mother I am, when Gwenyth is clearly a girl, and practically a princess, no less); I've attempted to redeem myself with a pink & purple hat.  She seems happy, although she doesn't have to wear the blue coat yet - we shall see how it goes.

 

Particulars:

Pattern - Ear Flap Hat (scroll down for pattern)

Yarn - Debbie Bliss SoHo, 2 balls

Needles - 5.5mm

Size - 2-4 years

Notes/Modifications - I jiggled the numbers a bit, to make this a bit bigger than the 2-4yr size, but a bit smaller than the 6-8yr size.  Seeing how it fits, I probably could have gotten away with knitting the larger size, but keeping the length for the smaller size.  I have knit the Thorpe hat before, and I think I like that pattern better than this one - the earflaps on Thorpe are less pointy, and joining them to the hat was simpler.  I also added a single row of crochet around the whole edge of this, a la Thorpe, which seemed to neaten up the edges, and soften the pointiness of the earflaps.  Still, I'd call it a successful Finished Object; this is a pink & purple wool hat, after all, and that's nothing to sneeze at (unless you're allergic to wool, that is).

FO: Log Cabin Washcloths

  

I really hate having leftover yarn at the end of a project.  In a perfect world, I would buy exactly enough yarn, and the pattern would use every last scrap out, without any fear of running out at the end.  Since this world is amazingly far from perfect, I had a whole bunch of leftover yarn when I finished the Little Bubbles Baby Set.  Fortunately, this great washcloth pattern came along from The Purl Bee. 

 

Particulars:

Yarn - Leftovers of Knitpicks Comfy Sport, in Marlin, Sea Foam, Ivory & Jalapeno

Pattern - Log Cabin Washcloths

Needles - 3.25mm straight needles

Notes & Modifications - Because of the change in gauge for this project, the cloth as written came out a bit small.  I got around this by adding a fourth strip of log cabins, but you could also knit each stripe for a few more garter ridges.  This was an awesome mindless, take anywhere project.  The design is sweet & vintagey, but so simple to follow.  Plus, garter stitch can be so soothing, anyway.  These washcloths had me just a bit obsessed, until I ran out of yarn on the third one.  I'm already thinking what a great gift these kind of cloths would make - with some homemade soap, perhaps?

 

 

   

FO: Baby Sophisticate

  

My handsome boy is fast becoming a toddler, causing my heart to break in the sweetest possible way.  Every day, it seems that he's learned something new, or become more confident with one of his little tricks!  For a big boy like this, a big boy autumn sweater was definitely in order.

Particulars:

Pattern - Baby Sophisticate, by Linden Heflin

Yarn - Knitpicks Comfy Bulky, Planetarium, 3 balls

Needles - 5.5mm Denise Interchangeables

Notes & Modifications - I started knitting the 6-12 months size, but quickly realized that even with the change in gauge, I needed a bigger sweater.  I added about 4 extra increase rows before dividing off the sleeves, and I'm quite happy with it.  Liam is a little squirt, though, so for your average 1 year old, I would certainly plan to increase even more.  I made the body & sleeves proportionately longer, and still didn't run out of yarn (hooray!).    

I'm just as pleased with this yarn after a second full project with it - it is soft & squishy, and it really doesn't hurt to have something machine washable for this grubby little boy.  The buttons were a result of the Great Button Sort here last month - we have no proper fabric store in our community, and buttons always cause me a bit of trouble.  What a relief to find five buttons in the correct size, biding their time for the right project.

All in all, I'd say this pattern is a winner - do give it a try if you need a cozy warm layer for a little one in your life.

 

 

FO: Little Bubbles Baby Set

I've been thinking for the past little while that I should really change the name of this blog - although we do lots of fun (and hopefully, interesting) stuff, there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting going on lately!  Today, though, you get the real deal.

As soon as I saw this pattern in the Knitpicks catalogue, I knew I had to try it.  Someone from Stuart's work was expecting, so I had the perfect opportunity to try it out.  What a fun knit!  This is most likely something I will knit again, especially for another little boy - there seems to be a dearth of good baby boy patterns out there.

 

Particulars:

Pattern - Little Bubbles Baby Set,  Knitpicks

Yarn - Knitpicks Comfy Sport, 1 ball each of Ivory, Planetarium, Sea Foam, Marlin & Jalapeno

Needles - 3.25mm

Size - 0-6 months

Notes - I made no modifications here, just followed along blindly.  This was packaged as a kit, so I didn't get to pick out the colours myself, and I'll admit I really don't like the sea foam in there.  It's okay, I guess, and polling knitting friends (and random strangers) tells me that no one else sees this problem, but it still bothers me a bit. 

There was enough going on with the pattern to keep me entertained at all times, what with the easy top-down action, the bubble stitch, and the one-row stripes.  I did check out this tutorial for the bubble stitch to smooth my way, and found it very helpful. 

I was pretty skeptical of the yarn at first (it's a 75/25 cotton/acrylic blend), but was pleasantly surprised.  The initial feel is super soft, and the yarn lived through a bit of ripping and re-knitting without falling apart into a pilly mess.  (I liked this yarn so much, I ordered more to knit Liam's fall sweater!)  The hat is very sweet, but left me wishing I had taken the time to learn how to knit jogless stripes - definitely a technique I need to pick up before I do this one again. 

The baby this is intended for made a surprise arrival (two weeks early) on Saturday, which left me grateful I had actually done the knitting in July.  I did need to quickly sew on buttons, but it's all good.  And there's nothing like a 5 1/2lb (but healthy & happy) baby to make you glad you knit sweet little things!