Tuesdays Featured Tut

So I've had this bookmarked for at least a year now but have been a bit apprehensive to try it.  I have finally decided to take the plunge and make one!  Perhaps it's my new found sewing confidence I stumbled upon after the success of the party dress.  I saw some fabric on clearance with an extra 50% off (can't beat that) and bought more than enough.  Once I am reunited with my sewing machine this will be first in line.

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It's called the Eddie Cap and I stumbled upon this tutorial over at Mushroom Villagers.  Although fearful at first I am very excited to make this little cap for my boy.  If it turns out I think I'll make one for myself since my head is so small I can never find cute hats to wear anyway!  Who knows perhaps little Emma will even end up with one, that is once I train her to keep hats ON!!

I'm Back!

So I know I am highly sporadic with these posts but basically it's clean or craft and while I wish I could just ignore cleaning all together.... I can't!

Honestly I haven't done any crafting...at all!  I know, a true crime but between weeks that seem  to fly by, clutter that seems to take over, and a nasty cold I just haven't had time.  Not to mention my newest obsession that takes up my time... COOKING.  And for those of you who don't already know I just started My Culinary Adventures , a blog solely dedicated to all my cooking endeavors.  If cooking interests you then check it out!

As for my 2 most recent projects they were a favorite of mine, HATS!  I always seem to end up making these because they don't take too long and it's instant gratification.  I am pleased to say after a very long hiatus I am officially back into knitting!  Exciting stuff.  While pregnant knitting was very uncomfortable for me because I couldn't sit still so I stopped, completely.  Since her birth I had been more into sewing because in an hour or 2 I could have a completed project in hand.  Since I knit like a snail it takes me forever to finish something, I am talking about a week just for a hat.

These past couple weeks though I have found my love for knitting once again.  I finally made my son a hat with some yarn he picked out a long time ago.  It's nothing fancy, I was planning it to be a folded brim hat with a ribbed brim but as you can see from the picture below that isn't the case.  I even tried it on his head to make sure it was long enough and alas, not so.  Still looks fine the way it is and it should fit him for years!  He likes it which is really all that matters.

The second was a hat I knit for my daughter.  I found a baby beret pattern while I was pregnant that I planned on making before she was born but, again, that clearly isn't the case.  I followed the pattern and it looks beret like off but on not at all.  I did end up going back and picking up stitches along the bottom to make it a bit longer.  It's a strange looking hat, but it's a hat that will keep her head warm in all this snow we have been getting.  I can't decide if I like it or not, one time I look and I think it's cute in a weird sort of way and I look again and don't really like it.  I do love the yarn however!!

Now that I am feeling human again I have a list of projects I want to get done so I will try very hard to get better at posting here!  More importantly I am going to try hard to get some crafting done since it is my sanity saver!!

Finally Some Crafting!

So I have finally been able to dabble in a bit of crafting lately. About a month ago I spent a few days cutting the fabric for about 10 projects but thats as far as I got. Now that birthdays and football are coming to an end I am getting back into my projects. Good thing because I do have a handful of handmade presents I would love to make. This won't be anything like last years handmade Christmas but I would still like to make some things.


First on the agenda though was a winter hat for my daughter now thats it's starting to get cold. We haven't pulled out the snowsuit yet since I put a blanket on her while she's in the carseat or stroller but her head is still exposed and gets pretty chilly (she's an ice cube baby). I knit this in Alpaca yarn in a beautiful shade of purple although it's hard to see here. Basic 2x2 rib done big enough, I hope, to fit all winter!

Yesterday I managed to make 2 of the small sewing projects I had. This was a taggie blanket made for my daughter. I also used a few fabrics with different textures (fleece, flannel, corduroy, polka dot minky) to add to sensory aspect of it. I only did the ribbon on one side because she loves to rub burp cloths against her face so I wanted some to be smooth for that purpose. I thought this would come together real quick but ended up taking 2 hours. It's worth it though because it turns out she LOVES it!! I think I will be making a couple more for her since she likes them.

The other thing I made were a set of seat belt covers for my son. His old pair were getting quite worn and they have since marked the price up from $2.99 to $6.99!! Yeah totally not paying 6 or 7 bucks for them. I traced the set I had to make these and they are perfect. While I would have not picked this fabric for such a small project he did and he likes them so that's all that matters. I have another set for my daughter all cut out but I ran out of velcro.

Birthday Present

The birthday present I knit a while back has finally been delivered so here is a picture. This was knit for a friend of mine's little girl who turned 2 on Easter. I used Adorabubble Knits free pattern for a Sun Hat, pattern can be found here. It knit up very quickly and easily and I will be making more of these in various sizes.

Pictures of Hats

So here are the pictures as promised. The first one is my first knit for my baby girl who will be debuting in early summer. This was actually the pattern on the skein of yarn and as you can see it's adorable. It will be perfect for summer, especially since it's baby weight yarn so it's nice and light. I may end up knitting one without the eyelets for summer use so she won't have a spotted head and perhaps a few more in various sizes because they are quick and super cute.

This next one was one I knit in a day using a small amount of leftover yarn. Turns out I loved the ruffle so much, and it's so easy to do, that I just knit a basic hat and added a ruffle. No pattern needed. I didn't write it down and am not sure how I did it but the decreases turned out in such a way that the hat looks like a flower. It even ends in a slight point. I knit this initially for a fellow Mommy to match the shrug I had knit but it will depend on when I see her next and if the hat will still for her little girl. If it's a bit before I see her it will be used for my baby girl. Good thing is it won't go to waste!

This is a view looking down from above so you can see the decreases. Again, really wish I would have wrote this down because it looks so much like a flower!

The only other news is I finished knitting the birthday present last night and I sat down yesterday and "designed" the quilts I need to make. Nothing fancy, basically just serves as a blueprint so I know how to sew it together and how many squares of what color and size I need to cut.

I also have begun a quest searching for pink and brown fabrics to see if I can find one I absolutely LOVE. If so then I may just make the crib set myself, or at least the comforter and curtains. A plain crib bumper is easy enough to find.

Recent and Current Projects

Time for a little catch up. These are projects that I have completed in the last 3 weeks or so. I was on a crafting kick and did a handful of projects in those couple weeks.

This was a garter stitch scarf done in Homespun yarn for a fellow Mommy I know. It was her birthday and I don't know her too well but still thought it would be nice to make something small for her. I thought a scarf is pretty universal and already had the yarn. This yarn makes a wonderful scarf, very soft and cozy. I liked it so much when I finished I am planning on making myself one with another skein of Homespun I have in my stash. I plan on making mine a bit more narrow although this one wasn't bad. I am not a big bulky scarf kinda person.

This next project is yet another hat (I have been on quite the hat kick lately). It is done with Peaches and Cream self striping yarn that I had bought at Micheals that week on sale for $1! Can't beat that. I also discovered from the cream hat I recently made, that one skein of this yarn is perfect to make a hat to fit a child or a ladies head (up to about 21, maybe 22 inches). It's not a long hat, just long enough to cover the ears. I am not sure if you would have enough yarn to make a small cuff or not.

This hat is done in a basic K1, P1 ribbing. I loved the colors of this yarn though.

The blanket I already posted about was completed during this kick too. Told you I was on a roll!

Next I started a pair of socks, more like slipper feet, knit with chunky yarn on size 8 needles. The pattern can be found HERE. It is a very simple sock pattern and knits up very quickly (a result of the chunky yarn). Even for me, a slow knitter, I completed a sock in 2 days. Mind you I have many distractions including housework and a 2 year old. I may make a few more pairs of these since my feet are always cold. The next pair I may make a little longer but otherwise keep them basically the same. As you can see, after a brief hiatus due to a horrible virus that struck my family, I am almost done the pair. Another shocker since I tend to have one sockitis! I don't think I'll quite finish them tonight but come tomorrow I should be able to put them on.

Two More Projects Done!

Yesterday was a very good day in the crafting world. I finished up 2 projects that I was working on, one knitted and one sewn.

The first project was a knitted hat called the "Beaufort Hat". I found the pattern on Raverly and loved the fact that it seemed simple but looked very complicated. I was getting tired of knitting plain Jane hats. I also like that is almost has a cabled look but is not cabled which is good because I don't know how to do that.

I was surprised at just how quickly this hat knit up. I also discovered that I actually like knitting a hat like this where you have to constantly count K2, P3, K7, and so on more so than just a simple garter or stockinette stitch. I think I will stop being intimidated by stitch patterns because they really aren't bad and are fun to knit. Here is a picture of the completed hat.

This picture I zoomed in trying to show the detail a little better but am not quite convinced I did. I love the color of this yarn too, it's a touch lighter than the picture but pretty close. I darkened the pictures a bit to bring out the detail more.


The other project I finished yesterday was a blanket I made for Nathan. This should have been a very simple blanket but as it usually goes, it wasn't! It's been sitting on the table for about a week now in various parts of completion. I found this fleece right after I painted his room and the green is almost the exact color as his walls which is awesome and I thought it was a very cute pattern.

I decided to do things a little different than I usually do and actually edge this blanket, the first one I have ever used edging on. That is most of what made this project so difficult. Also the fact that the zigzag stitch didn't want to work certainly didn't help. I am glad I have a bunch of different "design" stitches so I just picked another one and it worked fine. Strange I know.

Anyway it was worth all the trouble because it came out pretty well and is super cute. It's perfect too now because he's outgrown all his baby blankets and we only have 2 or 3 larger ones. I do like the satin edging so I may give it another shot on one of the other blankets I am making for Nathan but I don't think I would ever do it on a larger quilt/blanket. We'll stick to crib size and toddler size.

Diamond Border Hat

This was one of the two hats I knit for my son. It is almost impossible to get a picture where you actually see the border (at least I haven't succeeded yet). This was a very quick and simple knit although it did require a bit of math and attention for the border.

This was knit with Peaches & Creme yarn on size 8 circular needles, switching to DPN's as needed.

** Any multiple of 6 stitches would work so you could make it bigger/smaller as needed


Pattern:

CO 72 stitches (this makes a hat fitting an 19-21'ish inch head)

Place marker and join round, knit remainder in round

Purl 2 rows

Knit 1 row

Row 4: K3, P1, * K5, P1* (repeat until last 2 stitches), K2

Row 5: K2, *P1, K1, P1, K3* (repeat until last stitch), K1

Row 6: K1, *P1, K3, P1, K1* (repeat until last 5 stitches), P1, K3, P1

Row 7: Repeat row 5

Row 8: Repeat row 4

Row 9: Knit row

Row 10 & 11: Purl row

For remainder of hat knit until you reach desired length, mine I knit until it was 5.5 inches long.

Decrease as you want over the next 1/1.5 inches

Break yarn and thread through remaining stitches, draw tightly and weave in your ends.

It's as easy as that and you end up with a somewhat impressive looking hat!

Half Pipe Hat

This pattern can be found in Debbie Stoller's book Son of A Stitch and Bitch. I made a few small changes since I was making this for a female and it's a pattern written for a male.

Here's what I did differently.

First: I only used a single strand of worsted weight yarn with size 8 needles and CO 80 stitches.

Second: I only knit in K1, P1 ribbing for 4 inches instead of 5.

The rest of the pattern remained pretty much the same. It's an awesome hat and I recommend knitting one for yourself! I have made 3 of these so far with at least one more in the works.

Modified Half Pipe Hat (Toddler size)

So I decided to make matching hats for a good friend of mine and her toddler. To do this I modified Debbie Stoller's pattern for the Half Pipe Hat. This hat will probably fit any size head from 18-20 or 21 inches.

Here is the pattern I came up with.

any worsted weight yarn will do
size 8 straight needles or circular/DPN combo if you prefer

Directions:

CO 72

work in K1, P1 ribbing for 4 inches

Purl 1 row (this is to help when you sew in the brim)

work in K1, P1 ribbing for another 4.5 inches

I didn't write down how I decreased but decrease as you normally would over the next 1/1.5 inches

Finishing:

cut a child size brim out of plastic canvas

sew in the brim using the purl row as a guide, make the brim line up with that row

Knitting Oh Knitting

So I have been quite busy since my last post. First I knitted a belt, just a basic black belt in broken rib stitch. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in black. It was going to be for me but that stitch is pretty stretchy so it went home with a friend of mine.




The next project I completed was a basic, no cuff hat with K2,P2 ribbing at the bottom. I used Bernat Berella
"4" yarn in periwinkle. I knit this hat flat and just sewed it up when I was finished.















The third and final project from the knitting frenzy this past week was a sock. This is what I completed in a day on a toddler size sock. It is inside out right now so it will look better once I complete it and flip it. This sock was slow going at first because I had never used DPN's before and it is my first sock attempt. The pattern I used was http://www.valleycafe.com/knitting/sock-pattern.html
I found this to be a very simple pattern. Also there is a great site that shows a video of how to turn a heel, work the gusset and how to do the Kitchener stitch. The website for that is KnittingHelp.com
I was making them for my 16 month old some but his legs are too thick for the top even though the bottom may fit. I am using Bernat Berella "4" yarn in Seascape Ombre. I should finish sometime today and will post a picture of the sock completed.