WIP Wednesday!

The whole place is trashed!  I normally try to keep my sewing stuff to the left side of the dining room table, but I just have so many things going that I've migrated to the right.  Family may not get a decent meal here until I leave for QuiltCon.

I've been sewing up some new clothes.  I know I don't really need any more, but it's kind of fun to make clothes where you'll be around people that will really get it.  And any excuse to buy fabric is a good excuse.

So far I've done one horrible muslin and scrapped that entire pattern.  Then I went back to the old standby, the Washi Dress.  One needs a hem, and one is finished.  I just have that Brambleberry Ridge fabric in the back there to go.  I'm thinking of adding some short sleeves to it, just so they aren't all complete duplicates.

And, I've thrown together a lanyard and a new business card holder.  I'm debating whether I should make a new bag for Con, or just reuse one of the many I've already made.  For now, I'll wait, but if I get the itch, I may end up elbows deep in interfacing in the middle of the night.

And when I'm not sewing these days, I've been working on this Corvallis Cardigan for my son.  He's pretty excited about it and keeps checking in on my progress, but I'm so BORED of it!  He just wanted a green sweater, so there's no stripes or color-changing yarn to keep me interested.  And I realized too late that I should have put something in, a cable or an interesting stitch, but I didn't.

I think at this point, I'm so close I just have to finish and remember for the next time.  I'm so close to the bottom ribbing and then it's just sleeves.  (Thank goodness this pattern has you knit the button band as you go, so that's one less step between me and finished!)

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday and Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

WIP Wednesday: Little Sperry Sweater

I love a fast knit.  This is another basic raglan sweater, but I actually bought the pattern for it.  Mostly, because it was perfect already and cheap, but sometimes it's just fun to support other crafters.  (Go Team Craft!)

Anyway, it's the Little Sperry from Amy Miller (get it from Ravelry here).  I love Amy's sweater designs, but this one is just perfect for what I wanted, a lightweight summery sweater for the boy to throw on on chilly evenings.  And my friend Laura (of Little and Lots) recently knitted this up for her daughter and it was just adorable.  She didn't post about it, but trust me, it was killer.

I got this great variegated cotton yarn on sale at Joann's, because I can't get a solid answer from the boy about his favorite color.  After years of blue, now it's green, but I didn't want to risk an all green sweater that never gets worn, so he gets both, plus yellow!  I'm skipping the stripes on this one, but I'm definitely going to do them on the next sweater.

Another fun tidbit, I actually knitted a swatch for guage.  Weird.  I ended up going down two needle sizes to get it right, apparently I'm a very relaxed knitter.

I couldn't get a good picture of the girl in it.  It's way too big, but the boy was unavailable for modelling.  This sweater is obviously too big, but I really liked the length on her with the shirttail hem.  I might make one as a sweater dress for her next.

Linking up with Lee for Work in Progress Wednesday!

Kids Clothes Week: Purple People Eater Sweater Dress

I try to keep things even among the kids.  So after I made Isaac his green sweater, I bought some more yarn and decided to make the same sweater for Dell.  I was only going to change the front panel, but then I got a bit carried away.

The pattern is a top down raglan, so I started with the neck collar.  I didn't like how the first sweater had a K1P1 rib, so I switched that out for a K2P2 rib and twisted my stitches so that the rib would look neater.   Now it pulls together much nicer and sits right up against her neck.

The next bit to knit is the chest, arms, and back.  I've been wanting to play with more textures, so I just started scrolling through stitch libraries until I found on that would work well with my increases.  This honeycomb pattern is worked over four stitches, so I was able to just add half and full honeycombs when I had enough new stitches on the sides.

Then I put the arm stitches on to waste yarn and had to decide how much of the honeycomb I wanted.  I thought of just continuing the pattern to the hem, and finishing it like a regular sweater, but I got a lot of votes for a sweater dress from friends.  So I continued the pattern to just above the waist and then increased every few stitches so that it would flair out a bit.  I have no clue how many I eventually added, but it was enough.

Then I realized that I only had one ball of yarn to finish the sleeves (still on the waste yarn) and the bottom of the dress.  I'd already cleaned out the store and had to buy a different dye lot, so I didn't want to have to go back and add a third dye lot to the pile.  The solution was short sleeves!  Which is perfect since the weather turned warm, and long sleeves would have been too hot to wear in the spring.

In the end, I love how it turned out.  It's so different from the first sweater, but I love that I'm getting comfortable enough with my knitting to start doing crazy things like this.

Linking up with Kids Clothes Week!

A Sweater Finish!

This sweater all started with the sale bin at the local quilt/yarn shop.  We couldn't resist digging through all the colors, and my friend found a bunch of this yarn and fell in love.  It's a cashmere, merino, and microfiber blend in a pretty chocolate/maroon color.

Since she didn't knit, I volunteered to knit her daughter a copy of the Soledad sweater that my daughter was wearing at the time.  This is the third time I've knitted the sweater, but this yarn was just a little bit thinner than the first two versions, so it turned out a little slimmer, but super warm.

I added a couple inches to both the sleeves and the body, so that it can be worn even if one of those growth spurts happens.  She also wanted a higher neck, so I just knitted until I ran out of yarn, which turned out to be an extra inch and a half of collar.

The best part of this pattern is that little cable section that runs along the sleeve and down the side.  I have a couple other cable patterns that I want to try inserting in there.  I'm nervous about modifying a pattern, since I still feel like a novice knitter, but it doesn't seem that hard to change the path of the cables.

I really hope my friend likes the sweater, and more importantly, that her daughter loves it too.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!

WIP Wednesday!

So sure, there's cats and dresses going on over here, but this is my latest work-in-project.  I'd heard of this yarn for quite a while, and I finally got my hands on it, pattern figured, and the rest of my knitting off the needles I needed.

The yarn in question is from a friend's time working on a sheep farm.  When she left, she was given a tub of this yarn, spun from the sheep she'd been tending.  I'm also told that it was dyed with plants found around the farm, which is amazing considering how bright and happy that blue is.

Now that I've got it, I'm making a striped jumper.  I didn't realize until after starting that the whole thing is done in a seed stitch, which means this won't be getting done quickly, but will have an amazing texture.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday!

It's WIP Wednesday!  Time for me to get out all my projects, realize that there's way too many of them, only photograph a few, then go procrastinate and work on none of them!  I'm only half joking since I don't actually pull them all out.  I probably couldn't fit everything into one picture.

But anyway....  I am actually working on the #Catventquiltalong.  I love that it just takes about 15 minutes to finish a cat.  I've gotten one of every rainbow color done, the whole Roy G. Biv is there, so now I just have to fill in spots with more hues.

I'm finally digging into that stack of rayon that my mother picked out.  She asked for a couple copies of her favorite dress for Christmas, and naturally I said yes, even though I'd never worked with the fabric before.  After completing a dress for myself to practice, drafting a pattern, making the first dress and having my mom try it on, I'm ready to just bust out the rest of these dresses.

And I've finished the sleeves to this little commissioned sweater and I'm on to the body.  I got this far before deciding to check my gauge, and I'm concerned.  The gauge is correct, but I'm trying to replicate a sweater that I've already made, and that sweater's gauge is too big.  I'm taking a break from the knitting until I can try it on the little girl that it's for, but I have a feeling that it's going to be ripped and more stitches added to the front and back.  Still better than finding out when I got all the way up to the armpits!

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday!

After all the rush leading up to Thanksgiving, I've tried to lay low this week.  So my projects are actually fun and for me!  (Not that I don't have fun, but sometimes you stare at something so long you want to just chuck it out a window.  That's how UFOs are made)

Anyway, yesterday I decided to just buy the Staple Dress pattern and whip up a dress for the upcoming holiday parties.  I had that big chunk of rayon from Joann's and figured that it would be the perfect flowy fabric for the high/low hem.  I just have to adjust the fit on the top (it's a bit too big); sew in the facings, hem, and elastic waist; and I'm done!

And, as a side bonus, it was a great test run since I've never sewn with such slippery fabrics and I promised to make my mom a bunch of dresses from similar fabric for Christmas.  Turns out it's not so bad as long as you go slow.  I'm doing all French seams since I'm nervous about fray, but that's pretty easy too.

This lovely pile of yarn is a sweater I'm making for a friend's daughter.  She picked out this yarn and a pattern and said go!  I love knitting with it.  It's a merino, cashmere, microfiber blend that's braided not twisted, so it's super soft and easy to knit.  Also, it hides a Russian join like nobody's business, which I love. 

Arms are done, so I'm onto the body.  That's my favorite part, because there's a nice cable that takes just the right amount of brain power to do, but I don't have to constantly consult the chart, so I can just zone out in a comfy spot and knit. 



My super fun project is the Catvent Quilt-a-long that Elizabeth Hartmann is doing.  I love these little cats, and they're super easy to do.  I can't wait to see them all together!  I've already picked out the spot where this wall hanging will go and warned the husband that he has little choice. 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

A Little Pipit Sweater Coat Finish

Does this little girl really need another sweater?  Not really, but the yarn was on super clearance and I couldn't resist.  And I had this pattern already saved in my Ravelry queue, so really I had no choice.

Beefcake!

The pattern is called Pipit, from Melissa Lester.  It's a super fast knit that doesn't really involve anything very fancy, making it the perfect project for me to bring in the car on our Thanksgiving trek.  I was able to just knit away while husband drove the three hours, while minding children in a not-so-kid-proof house, and while getting caught up on all the latest family news.  I love a project that's just enough to keep your hands busy, but not muddle up your brain.

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern.  It called for 18 rows of ribbing on the neck, but I only did ten.  I also had to do a little brain work on the buttonholes.  She warns you that the pattern is wonky, and to just ignore that part.  I've never done buttonholes, but a simple K2tog YO worked perfectly.  

The only other thing I added was the picot bind off on the button placket.  I wanted it to be a little bit more special since the rest of the cardigan is pretty basic.  Also, I had a feeling that binding off that long row of ribbing would look warped if I did anything else.  This way it looks like I meant it to be a little ruffled.  

And Little Girl picked out those perfect heart buttons herself (from a couple options I brought home from the store).  They turned out to be the exact right color.  She's very proud of them!

Taking a bow!

I love how it turned out, and she refused to take it off for most of the day, so WIN!

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday!

WIP Wednesday!

I've sadly been away from my machine for a couple days now for an impromptu trip to Connecticut to visit with family.  I'm sure it's plenty sad out there on the cold porch all alone.  I'll be back at it finishing up my Rainbow QAYG for real soon.

Right before husband and I took off, we managed to pick a full bushel of apples with the kids and some friends.  When I went through them, I realized we hadn't been entirely clear on the "only pick red apples, not green apples!"  Oh well.  I was going to make apple sauce and pie filling with the apples we probably wouldn't eat in time anyway.

The long car ride did give me plenty of time to finish up my Sweatshirt Sweater.  I almost finished binding off the neck before it got too dark to knit, so I finished it at home and then weaved in all my ends.  

I'm probably going to end up ripping out the neck ribbing though.  It's just so bacon-y, and the front ribs just don't squish together like they should.  I probably did something funky when I picked up the bound off stitches.  Or maybe I should knit a few more decrease rows, so the ribs have less ground to cover.  As it is, the neckline is pretty generous, and could stand to shrink some.

In the meantime, I started back up on my fair isle scarf.  The pattern is from Tricksy Knitter.  I started this because I saw my friend Letty doing something ridiculous with two yarns at our Stitch and Bitch meet up a few months ago.  After I insisted she was breaking some sort of law of yarn physics, she showed me what double knitting was and I started this project (check out this video, it may break your brain!).

I kind of went big, because who wants to mess around with smaller patterns when there's leaping deer out there!  I hope to do another full repeat of the pattern and then change direction so the deer and trees will be right side up when you hang it around your neck.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

 

WIP Wednesday

I've decided to just punch this out.  To go completely crazy and sew like a mad woman until this Rainbow QAYG quilt is done.  All those blocks that are off center are the ones I've added since this weekend.  That includes three purple blocks that could not have happened if I didn't have two friend's with plenty of purple scraps to spare.

Still a little doubtful if I'll have enough to finish three more pink blocks.  I may have to start knocking on random quilter's doors begging.  Sure I could just cut into the stash, but where's the fun in that!

Of the sixteen I needed to add, I've finished ten!  Downhill skating from here!

And doesn't this lovely pile of knitting look almost sweater shaped?  It's so close!  I have a few more chest decreases left, and then I can start shaping the shoulders and knitting the neck ribbing!  It's so close and I want to wear it because I'm starting to get a bit cold sewing on the porch, and I could use another cozy sweater.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

 

WIP Wednesday

I couldn't help myself!  I went into Joann's to get one very specific colored fabric for a swap block, and found this awesome sparkly teal corduroy on sale for $4/yd!  Who could possibly say no to that?  Plus, I had a half off coupon for the piping, so I'm in the middle of  making a seventh pair of Parsley Pants!  (Love that pattern!)

This is the stack of 24 Rainbow QAYG blocks.  I'll have to do some real scrap organizing to get the 16 more blocks I need.  And organizing might mean making these awesome color coded scrap buckets from Sunday Morning Quilts.  Of course, that could just be me procrastinating.

I think tomorrow these might end up being some quilted pouches.  Grown-up ones, for me that I don't have to fill with the kids' toys.  I definitely need a better make-up pouch, and maybe one for my EPP stars that I started years and years ago.  Carrying them around would definitely be incentive to work on them more.

For size reference, that's a giant 12 inch My Little Pony.  

And that is almost a whole second sleeve!  I've had more knitting time on my hands now that school's back in session and I'm waiting in the massive pick up line at the school.  I have maybe seven more four-row repeats before I can join it to the sweater, but I'm going to have to try on the sweater torso first to make sure it's long enough.  The more I look at it, the shorter it seems to be.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!