Sparkly Scarf

One of the side effects of learning about the incredible knitting community online (mostly via Ravelry and the Yarn Harlot) was that I found a number of online yarn shops in Canada where I would, often, buy yarn on impulse. Their sale bins were no less appealing just because they were online. And so I acquired a number of things which - quite honestly - if I had seen them live and in person, I probably wouldn't have bought. This yarn was one of those impulse buys. The idea of sequined, beaded mohair sounded great, but when it arrived, it was the smallest skein of yarn I'd ever seen. Seriously - when I wound it up (and it was closer to dental floss than yarn in terms of thickness) the ball was no bigger than an apple. I had no idea what I was going to do with it - how I would stretch this tiny bit of luxury yarn into anything at all resembling anything useful. Still - I fell in love with it, and stashed it carefully where I wouldn't forget it. Eventually, I found this one row scarf pattern on Ravelry and decided that this was what my yarn was destined to become. I paired it with a plain brown sock yarn to give it some body, and knit until I ran out of yarn. I seamed the ends together and, voilà! A sparkly brown infinity scarf, large enough to go around my neck twice. I'm very, very pleased. But I've learned my lesson: buy most yarn in person unless you know the yarn well, or unless you're willing to take a risk. And I'm also laying off the online yarn store websites until my stash is reduced to a more manageable level.
Pattern: One Row Lace Scarf by Turvid
Yarn: Artyarns Beaded Mohair & Sequins; Sandnesgarn Sisu Sock Yarn, both in brown

Winter Socks for Daddy

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I find coming up with gift ideas for the men in my family is always a challenge. Luckily: they all seem to love the hand knit socks. (Either that or they're doing a fine job of pretending.) So it's kind of become my go-to gift for my dad, my brother, and Jeffy. Last Christmas, however, I was a little behind in the whole crafting department (I think going back to work, taking a trip to Mexico, and hand sewing a wedding dress may have had something to do with it), and so I gave my dad a tin of cashews and a ball of the sock yarn I was intending to use to make him some socks. He seemed delighted (though slightly confused about why he was getting a ball of yarn) and said he was actually kind of happy that the socks weren't done, because if they had been he might not have gotten the cashews! (Mental note: nuts are always a good gift for my dad. Especially cashews.) I managed to whip these little puppies up quite quickly and gave them to him in late February, at which point he immediately put them on his feet. With the winter we've had, there's still lots of good reason to wear wool socks.
Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards in "Denim Blue"
Pattern: the Yarn Harlot's Good Plain Sock Recipe

Crooked Paths Hat

I just finished up this lovely little hat for me. It's hard to believe, but I am functionally winter hat-less - a sorry state of affairs for a knitter. (What's that saying about the shoemaker's children going barefoot? Hmmm...) I love the current slouchy hat trend, and found this beautiful pattern on ravelry, and dug out some yarn from my stash that's been waiting for the right project, and whipped this little number up in about two weeks. It was a really enjoyable knit - straightforward pattern, but not boring, and blocking it around a dinner plate was especially fun. By chance, it matches a scarf I bought in New Zealand perfectly. I wore this hat outside today when we were playing with the kids, and it kept me warm and happy. Success all around!
Pattern: Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre
Yarn: Dream in Color "Classy" in "Chinatown Apple"

Balaclavas for Neva and Hugh

Well, I don't know if you've noticed (or if it's this cold where you are), but it's -33 Celsius around these parts these days. We're in a cold snap, and although the school is good about not making the kids go outside if it's less than -25C -- that's still pretty cold. Hence: balaclavas for all! This is a pattern I'd done before for Jeffy, and liked a lot. It's a fast knit, and the face opening is stretchy enough that it can be left open just for the eyes or pulled down to expose most of the face. I even managed to make Hugh's in less than 48 hours, which shows you either a) how quickly it knits up, or b) how good I am at ignoring the children when I have a goal in mind. Regardless: they wore them today, and not for the last time, methinks. Their comment: "We look like ninjas!" You bet, kidlets. Really warm ninjas.
Pattern: Easy Balaclava by Nanette Blanchard
Yarn: Dream in Color: Neva's is "Classy" yarn in "Pansy Golightly" and Hugh's is "Knitosophy" yarn in "Superhero"

Mittens for Rachel

One of the problems with being a crafty sort of person is that I default to making people stuff if I'm not sure what else they might like. I was kind of stuck for Rachel this year, so I started making her these mittens. Then I thought, "Man, why am I doing this? Maybe Rachel already has a million pairs of mittens! Maybe she doesn't need another pair!" So I sent her an email saying, basically, "I love you and want to make you something but don't know what that might be. Ideas? And sorry for being so blunt and pragmatic." She emailed back saying, basically, "No problem, lady, I love you too, and I could really use a pair of purple/mauve mittens." At which point I thought: this is why we're such good friends. Even when I don't know what to make for her, I'm still making the right thing. She didn't get these until her birthday party after Christmas, but they match her new scarf and hat perfectly - as if they'd been made purposely for each other. Note to self: do not question the knitting mojo. It works in mysterious and wonderful ways.
Pattern: adapted from Knitty's Cigar Gloves
Yarn: Dream in Color "Classy" in "Midnight Derby;" Noro Hakuto

Socks for Bri 2010

Bri seems to appreciate getting hand-knit socks from me, which makes for an easy gift for him. I wasn't sure if these were going to get done, but they did, and a very manly sock they are too, I must say! I'm always worried that they'll be too big, and then they always fit just fine. I'll try to remember that for next time.
Pattern: the Yarn Harlot's Good, Plain Sock Recipe
Yarn: Online Supersocke 6-ply in "Desert" colourway

Handprints

This was a bit of a last-minute gift idea for my parents this year. Sarah had mentioned to me at some point the idea of incorporating kids' handprints in to a quilt, and it occurred to me that this would be the year to do it for my parents: Neva, at age 8, would still be young enough for her handprint to be cute, while Ewan, almost 2, would be old enough to actually produce a decent one. I contacted Bri about getting him to get his own kids' handprints on some fabric, and somehow it all came together. It was fun to make, and I incorporated the names of each of the kids in the stippling underneath each flower-hand. I think it's kind of neat to have this memento of my parents' six grandchildren: both Bri and I are done having kids, so this is the complete picture of the third generation. A tear or two was shed when this gift was opened on Christmas Day, and the kids were excited to find their own hands on the quilt. (From left to right: Miranda - age 4, Nicolaas - age 6, Ewan - 22 months, Neva - age 8, Hugh - age 6, and Rory - age 3.) Fun to make, fun to receive, and meaningful on all sides: a great gift for everyone involved.
Pattern: from my head, but similar ideas could be found in this book
Fabric: cottons from Fabricland and Quilt & Stitch in Kingston; fabric paint for handprints

Neva's Dress for Brad and Karine's Wedding

Here we have the dress for Neva to wear to Brad and Karine's wedding (a mere 2-and-a-bit weeks away in Mexico). She chose everything: the style (she wanted the same as the pink sparkly dress I'd made her previously, because the skirt was just the right fullness), the fabric (the bottom is actually drapery fabric, and the top is pure silk, but they match perfectly and I think I made these two work together quite well), and - of course - the butterfly embellishment (about which there was much debate and discussion about whether it should have been a flower, or a cluster of flowers, etc). I had always said that I would let my kids wear whatever they want, and I am doing my best to stick by that. This is by no means the dress I myself would have made or designed for her if I had been the one in charge, but I must say that I think it has turned out beautifully and her choices are perfect for her and the age she is right now. She is delighted with it, and I'm very glad. And even though she saw me working on it every step of the way, she still said at the end: "Mommy, did you make this?" And you know: sometimes I know how she feels. "Really? I MADE this?" Indeed I did. And I'm glad.
Pattern: Butterick 3714
Fabric: Silk, Embossed Organza, Broadcloth; purchased embellishments

Hallowe'en Costumes 2010: Neva and Hugh

So here we have Neva and Hugh in their Pokémon costumes: that's Cyndaquil on the left and Chikorita on the right, or as I like to call them, "Green Blob With Leaf" and "Platypus on Fire." These were actually super-fun to make. I used a standard McCall's dinosaur pattern and just adjusted the details accordingly, faking my way along when necessary. (As I said at the quilt retreat weekend last month: I feel like I've been doing this long enough that I can break the rules if I want to.) I've also learned that it's the details that matter, especially when it comes to costumes. The kids seem very happy with how they've tunred out, and I know them well enough to know that these will get used long past Hallowe'en. (Give me credit for making the fire detachable, so I can wash Hugh's costume as needed. A 6-year-old boy in a mostly cream costume? I know how that story ends. With muddy knees, at the very least.) So far, so good. Now I just have to make a Dora the Explorer Head for Rory to wear, and we're all set. Talk about "faking your way through."
Pattern: McCall's 6185
Fabric: Fleece and some random sparkly stuff for the fire

Socks for Nancy

After talking about it for several years, I have finally gotten around to making a pair of socks for Nancy. These were given to her for her birthday this October, and were very fun to make. I love the yarn, and love the pattern. I hope they keep her feet toasty warm for many winters to come!
Pattern: "Waving Lace Socks" from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color "Classy" in "Midnight Derby"

Rainbow Wall-Hanging

This past weekend, Nancy took me on a quilt retreat. (These sorts of craft retreats are becoming more and more popular, I think; several women at the retreat this weekend also go to scrapbooking retreat weekends, and recently there was a knitting retreat weekend held on Wolfe Island.) Nancy had gone to this quilting one last year, and really liked it, and offered to bring me along this year as my birthday present. I must say: it was great. The sewing machines were humming all weekend; meals were all prepared; and everything happened in one big room, so you could leave your machine to grab a bite to eat and head right back into crafting mode. There were 24 women there, and seeing the variety of projects was inspirational, to say the least. It was great, and I'd gladly go again.
While there, I started and finished this little number: a wall-hanging for my office, to brighten up my lovely cinder-block walls. I found this pattern at our local quilt shop, Quilt & Stitch, and bought it immediately (I've learned that in the world of crafting, if you see something you love, you need to pick it up then and there because there's never any guarantee of finding it again). I modified it slightly, and turned it into this lovely rainbow riot of colours and shapes. It's funny; everyone has a different opinion about what they see in it, which I love. I also did some serious stippling for the very first time, and am very pleased with the results.
Pattern: "Eclipse of the Moon"
Fabrics: from my stash

Fall Cowl

I went to the cottage all set to make a poncho for Hugh, but when we arrived, he declared that he didn't really want one. This was good news for me, since making a poncho is the kind of tedious knitting I would only do for a beloved child. Luckily, I had brought some spare emergency fun knitting in the form of some Noro yarn for this cowl. I used a cowl pattern I've done before, and this sucker got whipped up in no time. I have big plans to make myself a corduroy fall coat, and this is going to go with it just perfectly. Pattern: Cowl'd and Frosty Morning
Yarn: Noro Iro in fall colours

Creamsicle Camisole

I've had this yarn in my stash for a couple of years now, and have loved it, and so finally decided to put it to good use this summer. This is a little tank top of my own creation, knit from the top down to use as much of this yarn as possible. I'm very happy with this summery creation.
Pattern: self-designed (of the "fly by the seat of my pants" variety)
Yarn: Needful Yarns "Cotton Joy"

Hooray!

One day when I was over at a friend's house holding her delightful baby (I'm officially a baby-grabber), I noticed that she had decorated their living room with a great banner made of fabric triangles. They were celebrating her brother-in-law's birthday, and I must say it made things very festive. Plus: reusable! And a great way to showcase some of the lovely fabrics in one's stash which haven't quite gotten used in an "official" quilt. Since Rory's birthday was coming up soon, I decided to make one for our house, to be used on all festive occasions henceforth. (I also have big plans to make seasonal ones, but let's not hold our breath on that one.) In any case: it was a super quick, easy and fun project. Neva helped me choose fabrics; I cut them into triangles using pinking shears (no sewing!); and then I stitched them on to a piece of extra-wide double-fold bias tape, in the order Neva suggested. (She enjoyed organizing the fabrics by colour and figuring out which ones should go where.) And voilà! Festive banner! The name came from Rory, who awoke on the morning of his birthday, came upstairs and saw the banner, and asked, "Mommy, is that a Hooray?" It was so adorable, and so appropriate, that now it will always be known as our "Hooray!" All day, he's been talking about "the hooray made of triangles." I think he'll be just as cute at age 3 as he's been for the previous years of his life. Hooray, indeed.
Pattern: none - just triangles sewn onto bias tape
Fabric: from my stash

Hobbiton Quilt Panel

Waaaay back in the day, when Rachel was still living in Guelph, I offered to make her a Lord of the Rings quilt. I have the plans, and I remember vividly drawing up schematics... when we were living in New Zealand, in 2004-2005. Well, here is part one: Hobbiton. It seems a little shameful that it's taken me six years to get this one, tiny bit of a quilt done, but: there it is. I'm terribly pleased with it. The technique is one of layering each curve over top of the other, which I learned from doing my mini Winter Quilt in the style of the Mother Earth Art Quilt "Genesis II." Those of you familiar with The Lord of the Rings will recognize Bag End, Sam's house, and the Party Tree; those of you unfamiliar with the story will just see a rural scene with weird circles in the hill. This quilt is noteworthy in terms of technique because it was the first time I used the free-motion sewing feature on my sewing machine (to quilt around the trees). The whole finished quilt is supposed to have five art panels and four corner medallions; at this rate, I should be done by 2035. (I'll aim for sooner, though.)
(An aside: When Hugh saw this panel, he wondered if it was a whale. "A whale?" I asked. He went on to explain how he thought the round doors were the eyes and the trees were the water spurting up out of the blowholes, which - once he explained it - I could see. Just another example of how The Dude's brain works in its own creative, unique way.)
Pattern: my own, inspired by Mother Earth Genesis II
Fabric/Yarn: fabrics from my stash; yarn for grass detail is Estelle "Shimmer"
Finished Size: 60cm x 35cm

Sparkly, Soft Scarf for Mme Martine

It's end-of-year gift time for teachers around here. I've blogged before about how much we loved Hugh's teacher this year, and I had made Neva's teacher a pair of baby booties for her imminent twins, so it only seemed fair that I offer to knit something for Hugh's teacher as well. He thought she might like a scarf, and this seemed like a reasonable request, so I put all of the yarn choices out for him and asked him to choose which yarn(s) he thought she would like. He took this assignment very seriously; he said that he thought she would like "something soft and something sparkly." He felt the yarn to assess their softness, and quite quickly settled on two, both mohair blends. (You can't beat mohair for softness.) I realized that I could hold the two yarns together to create a nice, thick, soft-and-sparkly yarn. I used big needles and a big stitch pattern, and whipped up this little scarf in about ten days. When I showed the finished product to him, he nodded and said it was "perfect." My guess was that she would be touched by the handmade effort and the thoughtfulness Hugh put in to the choice of yarn, and indeed she was. As she thanked me yesterday after school and wished us all a good summer, she asked me to make sure that Hugh "continues to dream." We'll miss her.
Yarn: Sandnes Garn Alfa and Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair, held together
Pattern: Twisted Drop Stitch Scarf

Manly Sling for Kyle

While I was in Prince George, Kyle was looking at infant slings on Etsy and was talking about buying one. He was looking for a "manly" design, and found one for about $40. As a good seamstress [read: a cheapie], I couldn't in good conscience let him pay forty bucks to some stranger for what is basically a glorified rectangle. So I told him I'd make him one. And I did. I picked up the fabric at Fabricland's big pre-inventory sale - I think it cost me all of $10. I was a bit of an idiot when it came to the pattern, though, and misread the instructions the first time around, so the sling was sewn beautifully but was twice as wide as it needed to be. (In my defense: I could never get the hang of using one of these with our own babies, so it took me waaaaaaay longer than it should have to figure out that my proportions were all off.) Anyway, I just trimmed the sides off, but then realized that the curve where the baby's bum would sit wasn't deep enough for safety. Strike two. Today, finally, I got around to actually making it to the correct sizing specifications, but because it was basically my third time making this same sling, the sewing is a little... less meticulous. So: is it gorgeous and perfect? No. Is it manly and functional? I think so. Plus it's reversible, and the stripes match up. Ewan obliged me by modelling it for the craft blog, and I have to say that even though this is NOT at all the way it would be used with an actual infant (see here for 3 great references on how to use a sling with babies of differing ages), it was remarkably comfortable and I can totally see the appeal of such a contraption. All we need now are pictures of Kyle modeling his own sweet baby in it... once baby's fully cooked and out safely in the world, that is. Wishing him many sweet hours of cuddling his own little one, looking manly as all get out!
Pattern: from Handmade Adelaide Baby
Fabric: Cotton Twill and Cotton Stripe
*Note: no part of this post is meant to exclude Courtney, to whom I also wish many sweet hours of cuddling her little one. But it was clear when I was visiting that Courtney had little-to-no interest in having a sling, except in so far as it would make Kyle happy. However, I'm sure Kyle will share it with her if she gets interested once baby arrives.

Delicious Celtic Cardigan

This is one of the aforementioned "UFOs" that I just managed to finish up, thanks to some extended knitting time while visiting my cousins in Prince George. It has been in the works for a long, long time. I started in when we were still living in our old house - so, in 2008 - and I chugged along pretty well with it until I got to a point where it had to be blocked. And we were trying to sell our house and were showing it with very little notice. And having a big, damp sweater that couldn't be moved lying around seemed unlikely to improve the chances of selling our house. So I set it aside until I would "have time" to block it out and then finish the sleeves... which happened 2 years later. (Those were busy years.) But now: it's done! And lovely! And I'm de-light-ed! (Pic courtesy of Courtney.)
Pattern: Fleece Artist Celtic Cardigan
Yarn: Scotian Silk

Tickle Toes Booties

Another baby coming in to the (extended) family; another pair of booties. These ones are for Kyle and Courtney's baby, due at the end of July this year. Courtney spied these on my Ravelry page, and was excited to see the colour listed as "yellow-green." I hadn't posted a pic, thankfully, and so they were still a little bit of a surprise. I think they're happy with the colours, and all I can say is you know it's a good bootie pattern when even the Dad-to-be sees them and says, "Awww..." Wishing them every happiness as they become a family of three.
Pattern: standard bootie pattern from Patons Look At Me!
Yarn: Dream in Color "Classy" in "Spring Tickle"

Twin Baby Booties

It's end-of-year teacher gift season around here, and Neva's teacher is pregnant with twins which provided me with an excellent excuse to whip up a pair of baby booties for her imminent arrivals. Neva chose the yarn and knit a row or two on them herself. Her teacher starts her maternity leave tomorrow so these got done in a hurry, but I've made them so often that I can almost whip them up in my sleep. (Almost. Not quite.) They're pretty cute, and hopefully will get some good use on two happy, healthy baby boys.
Yarn: Ashford Tekapo in rainbow varigated yarn, bought when we were in New Zealand 5 years ago; Red Heart "Hokey Pokey" in "Blue Bonnet"
Pattern: standard bootie pattern from Patons Look at Me! Soft Shades Layette