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Some Bootees and a Rattle

Published March 6, 2009 Crafted by Friends , Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Knitting 16 Comments

Next up in the parade of baby gifts is this pair of baby bootees. They were made for a friend who did not know whether she was having a boy or a girl. I went with this rainbow Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino yarn — leftovers from Katie’s kneesocks — thinking it would be gender neutral but in the end I think the bootees ended up looking a little girlish. All’s well though because my friend has since given birth to a healthy baby girl.

The pattern is Saartje’s Bootees. I made the newborn size and the colorway of the supersock merino is brights. The buttons are vintage mother of pearl and were part of this haul. I’m hoping they’re suitable for a new little princess.

The second part of the gift was a baby rattle made by Papa. This one, like the last one, is made with holly and finished with food-safe mineral oil. He’s been able to get back in his woodshop a little more recently and I think he’s been very happy about it. Is anyone seriously interested in buying one of these? I’m told that more can be made if there is interest. And, as promised last time, I’ll leave you with an action shot:

Tomato Sweater

Published March 5, 2009 Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Knitting 5 Comments

This sweater is for a little tomato who arrived at the end of Autumn. It’s been done for a little while but waiting for me to get my act together on some big brother gifts — why can I not find 40 minutes to get into the sewing room!?!? — before it’s given. I better hurry up though or it will be too warm to wear it. The pattern is Riverstone by Justine Taylor and a really great baby sweater since all that ribbing makes it very accommodating in size. This is a 6 month size but I imagine it will fit with the ribbing stretched and the cuffs uncuffed until around 18 months. The yarn is blue sky alpaca‘s dyed cotton which is super soft and well-suited for baby gifts. The buttons are vintage vegetable ivory, perfect for a tomato sweater if you ask me.

Some Babies’ Things

Published March 2, 2009 Fiber Crafts , Knitting 9 Comments

There seems to have been a surge in baby arrivals amongst my friends. Has it been happening for you too? And while no more babies will be arriving in this house there have been lots of babies’ things. So this week I thought I’d show you some baby stuff I’ve been working on. First up, the February Baby Sweater:

This is my first completed project from the Knitter’s Almanac. I really love how it turned out and I am in love with the vintage green and white buttons floating on that sea of pink lace and garter stitch. The yarn came in a box of odds and ends Heather sent me a while ago and I think it must be her sportweight sock. It was wonderful to work with and I love the color. The only problem is that with all the baby gifts I’ve needed to make — seven total — only one of the babies has been a girl and I didn’t know she was going to be a girl until she arrived and had already made her something else. So, this little sweater is going into the granny gift closet because surely more baby girls will arrive someday.

Knitting

Published February 4, 2009 Fiber Crafts , In the Mailbox , Knitting , Swaps 5 Comments

A little update on the knitting. Amanda Jean‘s socks are done. Thank goodness. I have never really suffered from second-sock-syndrome — the inability to finish the second sock — but I am definitely at the top of the third-sock-syndrome list. No, Amanda Jean does not have three feet it’s just the first sock I knit was more suitable for someone with very wide feet. Very. Wide. Feet. Not so well suited for Amanda Jean so I unknit the giant sock into a more human sized one. And now two Amanda Jean sized socks are in the mail. Phew.

I mentioned before that I”m trying to knit through Elizabeth Zimmermann’s A Knitter’s Almanac this year. I’ve made good progress on my January sweater. That thing is very cabled so it takes some concentration and can start to make my hands tired so I can’t knit it for too long or for too many nights in a row. I’d like it to be ready for wearing next Autumn when the weather turns cold again. In the meantime, February rolled right in — how did that happen so fast? — and I started the February baby sweater. I considered making the lady’s version of the sweater but decided instead to stick to the patterns really included in the book. Plus, I can only have so many adult-sized sweaters on the needles at once. Now I just need someone I know to have a baby girl, it seems there’s been a run on boys around here.

Not Pneumonia

Published January 23, 2009 Fiber Crafts , Knitting , Sewing 11 Comments

You guys are so sweet to Papa. He’s feeling all proud about your response to the rattle. He really has a talent for the turning wood. Me, I would do some serious damage with the lathe. So my little guy has been sick all week. Yesterday the doctor and I both thought he might have pneumonia but it turns out that it’s just a really bad case of bronchitis. I really hate when the doctor says they have a really bad case of… Still, this year is nothing like the horror of last winter as far as illnesses go so I’m thankful.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the sofa with my patient because he must be touching me at every moment which is working out well for the handwork. I’m finally almost done with Amanda Jean‘s sock — it’s actually a lot further than that photo shows, and I bound half of a quilt that I finished back in May or June. Of course I need to run out to get some more fabric for binding the rest– I swear I cut enough but I cannot find it for the life of me — and Mr. Hacking-Up-A-Lung isn’t quite ready to return to public life. I’ve got another quilt to bind and some buttons to sew on a valentine dress. Plenty to keep me busy while this one recuperates:

More Mitts

Published January 13, 2009 Crafting With the Urchins , Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Knitting 12 Comments

I realized I never told you guys about some holiday knitting that happened here in the urchin house. Some of you may remember that in 2007 Katie and I dyed some yarn and then I knit scarves from that yarn for her teachers. I was prepared to do the same thing this year but Katie decided that instead of scarves she wanted me to make them mitts.

These are just knit in rib with a thumb gusset — I can email you the particulars if you need them — so they were very quick. The yarn is Knit Picks Bare – bulky weight again and we used easter egg dye to dye it. If you have not dyed yarn with your urchins you should really give it a try. Using food-safe easter egg dye or koolaid means that the dyes are urchin-safe too. Do wear gloves though when you are putting your hands in the dyes. Food safe or not it’s very acidic.

There is a bit of green yarn left, which is good because there is a new aspiring knitter in our house. She really wants to knit but is frustrated she doesn’t just know how to do it perfectly to start with. Can you tell she’s a first born? Getting her to practice anything is a bit of a struggle and knitting is supposed to be fun so I’m not pushing it. Nana and Opa are coming for a visit next month and I think practicing with Nana will hold more appeal. Nana and Opa gave her the needles, yarn, and Lucinda Guy’s book Kids Learn to Knit. Opa made the needles — thanks to Grace for the inspiration for this gift — using a dowel and Katie loves the little faces at the ends. I do too as a matter of fact. With some more practice maybe next year she can do the dyeing and the knitting too.

Right Now

Published January 5, 2009 Crafted by Friends , Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Knitting 9 Comments
Tags: januarysweater

I often wonder if the soundtrack of the urchins’ childhood will be the shrill beep of the smoke detector. That thing goes off an awful lot in our house. I also wonder if the tract home kitchen designer responsible for it’s placement has ever cooked anything. Oh, well. 2009? Can you believe it? I love the new year. A clean slate, a new start, and all that. I also really like the quiet stillness of January. A fire in the fireplace in the late afternoon while we wait for Papa to return from work.

Yesterday I dumped my yarn stash on the floor to see what I have. I’m planning to knit through Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac this year and first up is an aran sweater. A bag of red tweedy wool ought to be good for that and who knows, maybe I’ll even keep the sweater for myself in the end. I have lots more ideas and plans zipping around in my mind but for now, I’m going to stick with just this.

2008 – The Year That Was

Published January 2, 2009 Cooking , CSA 2008 , Fiber Crafts , In the Kitchen , Knitting , Sewing 9 Comments

It’s time for that bloggy tradition — the year in review. Last year I set some lofty crafty goals. Let’s see how I did….

I said, Knitting wise I’d like to make more socks using a variety of techniques.

and maybe you can count these:

A pretty pathetic showing, I must admit. It seems that 2008 was instead the year of the mitt:

I said, I’d like to conquer a lace projectand I did just that, not once but twice!

I also said, I am going to knit a sweater for Papa. and it didn’t happen. I’m not even sure why it didn’t happen but I did finish the sweater for my brother which I hope will be the largest sweater I ever make:

I wanted to continue to improve my garment-making skills and I think the proof is in this picture:

Those were some serious garments made with some seriously annoying fabrics. I really feel like I’m starting to understand basic garment construction.

And I was hoping to conquer my fear of knits which didn’t really happen. Maybe 2009 will be the year.

I said I also want to make a bed-sized quilt top — I’ll probably send it out to be quilted. And that is exactly what I did:

At 68″x68″ it isn’t the size of any bed but is comparable in square inches to a double bed quilt. There are so many reasons I love that quilt.

I wanted to tell you more about some of the great food we’re eating and I think I did, if not here than on flickr.

and I said I really want to try to compost less of our CSA share each week which I’m pleased to say happened. Preserving was the key. I canned more than I have in many years but very little of that was from our CSA share. Instead I started freezing portions of green beans, chard, celery, roasted tomatoes, herbs, and ratatouille.

In fact 2008 was the year I started thinking of our farmer’s market as our grocery store. We’re lucky to have excellent local sources for beef, cheese, chicken, butter, eggs, and vegetables and in 2008 we really started taking advantage of that.

So not too bad 2008, but I have a feeling 2009 is going to be even better. If you are interested in seeing all that I finished in 2008, take a look at my flickr set.

Cable Cuff Mittens

Published December 11, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Knitting 9 Comments

These mittens are a late gift for my sister-in-law’s birthday. You may remember that these mittens were intended as a birthday gift last year but… well you know how it goes. For some reason these were the mittens that never wanted to be done. Sometime last spring this project got pushed to the bottom of the knitting basket. I’m so glad they’re finished now. And actually, I finished them on time — for this year’s birthday — but getting to the PO was a different story. Now it’s full-speed ahead on the Christmas gifts.

Cable Cuff Mittens
Pattern: my own
Yarn: Dalegarn, baby ull
Needles: US size 2
Gauge:
Yardage:
Modifications:

Sucking Mittens

Published November 24, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Knitting 12 Comments

About a week ago when I finished those dashing mitts for Melissa I was thinking how cute they would be in a smaller size. Tristan sucks his fingers and every winter he and I battle to keep his mittens on. I put them on, he takes them off, I put them on, he takes them off and throws them… I’m guessing you might have had some experiences like this too. Fingerless mitts might just be an answer to our problem.

So this idea consumed me until I made some mitts that were three-year-old size — three years old! — and it turns out they are a big hit. He calls them his sucking mittens and I can put them on before we leave the house and they remain on until we get home. A small miracle for sure.

I started thinking though, kids are the perfect candidates for fingerless mitts. They’re the ones who need their finger dexterity to pick up that leaf, or pebble, or twig. Me, I just stand there with my hands in my pockets. So, I made another pair, for Katie this time, and since she will mostly be putting them on without my help I knit the thumb on the right mitt in a contrasting color so she knows which hand to put in which mitt — a purely aesthetic thing, no issue for fit. Katie not only wears her mitts outside but inside too.

I really knew I was onto something when Katie asked me to make a pair for her friend’s birthday gift. And considering they take about 42 yards and two hours of knitting they are just about the perfect urchin gift. So do you have some hands that need warming? Well, download the pattern and start knitting friends. Make sure you let me know if you encounter any problems or the instructions are unclear. And show me your finished mitts too!

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