have a great weekend!
2008 @ 9:57 am
Mj and me in our matching aprons (courtesy of my sister via sale at Anthropologie)
Camden Market Hat
2008 @ 1:06 pm
Remember that Alchemy Synrchronicity i was so excited about purchasing on sale a few posts back? Two skeins have turned into this lovely hat, so named by it’s recipient. I couldn’t ask for a better person to knit for–she wears it so well…
I’m going to write up the pattern and post it soon! I’m very pleased with how this project turned out. I winged it all the way through and it looks exactly as I imagined it would. A nice surprise for me. I dressed up the brim with some faggoted lace and bobbled the heck out of it 
zee shoes for zee baby
2008 @ 3:41 pm
Visit Stardust Shoes to download this fabulous tutorial!
Materials:
Scraps of Raindrop Stripe by Alexander Henry
Scraps of RED Kona Cotton
Scraps of off white wool felt found at Brooklyn General (single pieces are $4.50–blame the weak dollar and buy it anyway, there is no comparison).
The cutest kid stuff…
2008 @ 8:36 am
I’ve been trolling online shops for good stuff for girl #1 and girl #2… thought I’d share my finds:
Wallpaper Letters from Land of Nod. This site also has those kids armchairs for under $60.
Set of 12 blank kids aprons from Discount School Supply. They’ve also got rolls of paper for less than I imagined. Including one with two textures: smooth for markers, finger painting and fine line drawing with no fear of bleed-through; rough that handles tempera, watercolors and acrylic paints.
This is more of a “coming soon”. Mary of Scribble Nation has some cute as heck Russian doll softies on the line right now…
And finally, I’m working on some baby shoes from the tutorial posted by Joann at Stardust shoes. They are adorable, but I’ll save the photo for when I’m totally finished. MJ and I will stroll out for some 1/8″ elastic after breakfast. I think easing the toe and heel in to place on these shoes has been good practice for setting in the sleeves on MJ’s Girl Style jacket…
Sweaters and more sweaters
2008 @ 2:48 pm
My fabric’s been cut and I’m ready to roll! Oh wait, I just left my whole Girly Style project locked in my car at the mechanic. Oops. For those of you that asked, I have no idea what the fabric is. I picked it up at the Repro Depot booth at this summer’s Renegade Craft Fair here in BK. At the same time, I got the cutest cherry jersey–I’d love to make a little sack for the new baby. Any ideas on where I could find a pattern?
In the meantime, there is knitting to report. My Raverly account tells me I have six WIPs. I am slightly disgusted with myself. Two are easily resolved. I think I’ll be moving the Herringbone mitts down to full resting mode and I am almost done with a sweet hat for my friend Laura.
I made up the pattern and am using Alchemy Synchronicity (silk & wool, link to color card). The colors of this stuff are UNREAL. I’ve been eyeing the stack at Brooklyn General for about a year and a half and finally bought some at their last sale. I only owe my self restraint to the $24 a skein sticker price! At 40% off though? I bought 4. The pattern, a slouchy bobble, will be available when I’m done.
Another thing I’ve started recently is a mesh bag made out of SW Trading Co. Bamboo. I got this in a swap long ago and have never done anything with it. I’ve got lots, but it’s drape is long and it doesn’t seem suited to garments. A mesh bag for bath toys is just the thing! I currently have no bath toy storage system and all 26 letters of the alphabet floating around. I need to get them off the floor so they can dry and not grow mold in my windowless bathroom.
I cast on 100, did a few rounds of garter (sz US10.5 needles) and switched over to *YO, P1* for round 1 and *YO, K1* for Round 2. If you’ve noticed me winging it a lot more around here, you would be correct.
I can’t think of a worse time to cast on for several sweaters, but that’s exactly what I feel like doing. Lisa’s Lush and Lacy cardigan is so so fabulous. I must have one. And there’s the Tangled Yoke I’ve been meaning to start forever. And the ongoing Twisted Tree for MJ. And the Cobblestone Pullover for the husband. BTW, this last one is FLYING. I’m already on the second sleeve! I may even finish before my January ‘09 deadline (so there).
Just wondering… has anyone else had their feeds crossed on bloglines? I think some bloggers feeds might be being hacked…
Girly Style
2008 @ 11:06 pm
Since Christmas, I’ve been sweating the Japanese sewing book, Girly Style Wardrobe (ISBN 457911132X). When Stephanie mentioned a trip to NYC’s Japanese book store, I asked her to pick me up a copy and she obliged, yay!
I’ve been pouring over the photos and patterns trying to work out which to attempt first. I love love love the aesthetic of the book, but must admit that there is no chance my girly girls will be dressed like this on the daily. We are all about play and comfort over here! Even on Christmas I went with overalls on MJ. But, for something handmade and girly, it doesn’t get any better than these classic, yet contemporary patterns. If only I was a better sewer and fluent in Japanese. I have referenced a few other blogs/websites over the last few days: Moving Hands for a glossary of terms, Thought and Thimble mentioned that a seam allowance is NOT included on the pattern piece–duly noted.
And then I dove in. I chose what seems to be a simple jacket (View D). I think the sizing might be a bit big for my almost-two-year-old so I picked a corduroy suitable for Spring or next Fall.
I outlined the largest size of the pattern in red pencil and then outlined the smallest size (100cm), the one to be used, in red Sharpie. Then I traced the pattern pieces onto muslin with red pencil, added the seam allowances and cut them out.
I must point out that what amounts to two sentences of explanation took several consultations with the experts (Jennifer, Mary, Mom and the Mac), a few sessions of tracing (while MJ colored), several assumptions and one omission. The omission? cutting my own bias fabric for the tie–I’m thinking of using prefab bias tape for that. The assumptions? That I identified the correct pattern pieces. View D also covers a skirt, not to mention that the pattern sheet closely resembles a topographical map of the Adirondacks. The second major assumption is that the ruffle piece should actually be laid out twice along the fold so that it’s longer than the sleeve, not shorter.
Stay tuned for what is sure to be a dramatic, if not adorable, conclusion…
A Snowy Day
2008 @ 9:31 am
There was finally a play-worthy snowfall last week! Jason and MJ went out in the backyard while I stayed in and prepared hot chocolate. Complete with homemade whipped cream MJ packed the snow down for snowmen, but decided that eating it was the best way to enjoy the snow. I remember liking that too! I also remember my grandmother (raised in VT) telling us about pouring maple syrup over a tray of new snow. I’ve always wondered how that worked, wouldn’t hot syrup just melt the snow? Well, a quick search of The Daring Book for Girls reveals that the syrup must be heated to 230 degrees so that it pours out in ribbons over the snow. We may have to try this in lieu of hot chocolate next time!
In progress… or a very grey post
2008 @ 10:16 am
A bit of news: there is a HUGE sale on knitting supplies and yarn going on over at Brooklyn General through March 2nd. Needles are 10% off and some yarns are up to 40% off! The good ones too…
I’ve rounded up my WIPs for a photo shoot. To see anything on Ravelry, click here.
First, I’ve finished the body of Mr. Sassy’s Cobblestone Pullover:
and the detail:
I’m using Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran and size 9 needles. I’m pretty happy that I didn’t stall out on this section–it gives me hope of getting through a sleeve by the end of winter!
Next, I’ve joined the sleeve onto my Twisted Tree Pullover for MJ:
The joining was not that easy… I think I confused a couple of yarn ends and I definitely have one huge mistake to fix after the fact. Somehow, there is a large strand of yarn across one armpit. I’m planning something totally sacrelig to fix it… cutting and tying it off on the inside. Shh, don’t tell on me. The pattern is written just fine, I just spazzed. Perhaps I had left it sitting for too long and was out of touch with the knitting of it. I also forgot how tough the first few rounds of knitting can be when joining for a raglan from the bottom up. Is that just me?
I thought I had a couple more (in color!), but it turns out there’s been no progress since the last time I updated the Herringbone Mitts! Sweaters are distracting… and there was that sock thing. I’ve got a cuff on my second Twisted Flower sock from Sandra, but have been too tired to think about the chart. That must be contributing to my plugging away at the Cobblestone!
surprise FO!
2008 @ 8:13 am
Somehow, I managed to finish this fab little project in two days. Oh wait, MJ had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpas… that’s how.
Yarn: Manor Silk Blends (3106)
Needles: sz 4 dpns and circ
This is a little hood with collar for unborn daughter #2. All it needs is a toggle button by October or November of this year
The pattern can be found at Brooklyn General (store only for now, sorry) and is intended to be knit with the store’s brand name 2-ply cashmere. But I just couldn’t resist this Manos Silk Blend. For some reason, whenever I buy Manos, it’s this same colorway.
Single Sock Spider Swap
2008 @ 8:05 am
WOOOOOOOOOOOW! This was hands down the best swap I have ever participated in. From soup to nuts, this one went according to plan for everyone involved. This was the very first Spider swap and it was an extreme success. Not only did everyone’s sock fit, they were all so beautiful! Everyone stepped up and knit gorgeous, fancy footwear. Perhaps there is something about wanting to impress your knitting comrade that pushed this one to the next level? Surprising a stranger is nice, surprising your friend is ever better…
I knit up a single Eleanora sock for Jess–it was completely addicting, but i am really happy not to knit another one. If for the size zero provisional cast-on and hem alone Pic to come when she posts–I didn’t want to stretch out the sock with my large and in charge feet!
And what did I receive? From Sandra, a gorgeous Twisted Flower Sock (Cookie A). The blue of this sock is beautiful and the pattern is enticing–I can’t wait to make the other. Check out that heel–super fancy! And not to get too sappy, but Sandra was one of my very first knitting friends–like pre-Spiders and everything–so it was pretty cool to reconnect this way
More details once I cast on!
