Holiday Gift Monday: The post that was

This post was supposed to be the final one in the series. But, that was before some left-over birthday cheesecake, a sinus infection and the kids conspired against me.

This last gift is still unfinished and I had been using this posting date as my deadline. Obviously, I blew it out of the water. I don't say this with shame, knitting something beautiful (and big) takes a long time. I know that. It's just that I planned to be done with the vest by today and it didn't work out. Maybe I should blame those adorable baby hats from the last post? So, I will delay photos and more discussion until it is done and you can see it in all it's blocked, and finished glory. It's going to be beautiful.

More Earflap Hats

Here's two more off the needles. They are so easy and quick to make! One is in a beautiful sage green and the other is a nice chocolate brown with a purple/blue argyle pattern. They are both sized for 9-18 mo. old babes. The sage green hat is 100% wool, and the argyle hat is a combination of wool and acrylic, so it can be washed and dryed in the machine without worry. Not sure who the recipients of these hats will be yet.

The argyle hat was my first return to color knitting since I finished my mittens. It went well, so it seems that I've got the hang of two- and three-color knitting in worsted weight yarns. Now it might be time to tackle some in fingering weight. One thing I can't figure out is how to keep my colors from twisting all around each other. I don't mind on small projects like this, but if I were to ever tackle a larger project I'd definitely want to get it under control. Any advice from other knitters out there? Do bobbins work?

My neighbor brought her newborn by for a quick visit last week. The newborn-sized red hat fits her perfectly!

Holiday Gift Monday: These are for me!

This lovely stack of books were given to me by various family members for the holidays. I'm enjoying lots of time with each of them over my morning coffee.

I had gotten the Sara Foster cookbook and the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving from the library this past fall and loved them. I'm so happy to have them as part of my own library. The other three books are new to me, but they are astounding. I can't wait to give some of the Eco Crafts a try and the knitting book is a lovely reference with some great patterns and designs. The gardening book, The Earth Knows My Name, is an incredible essay on gardening and immigration.

We are coming to the end of the holiday gift series, only one more handmade gift to share next week. I definately cut back on my handmade/homemade gifts this year, and, I admit I was less stressed in the end. This year, in many ways, our home was literally a gift; hosting our whole family under one roof for two special nights.

In addition to what I crafted, I also purchased one gift on etsy (a holiday Sesame Street themed polar fleece blanket), gave one gift of fabric from the local fabric shop (two yards of Amy Butler) and gave away lots and lots of homemade yum (cherry jam, biscotti and homemade apple pie filling). And, as an alternative to homemade, I tried my best to purchase store-bought gifts locally. With only four gifts (2 books and 2 gift cards) coming from big box stores I definately fulfilled my 3/50 goal for December.

ps. Happy 33rd Birthday to me!

FO: TTL Mystery Sock KAL '09

I finished these lovely socks early one morning last week. They were supposed to be done last year; they were part of the '09 Mystery Sock Knitalong (blogged here), hosted by Through the Loops. But life and the holidays got in the way. In the end they turned out great in two ways, and not so great in one other.

I ran out of the yarn while knitting these and had to bring in a third skein. The colors match perfectly [great!]. But they were different yarns. The two skeins I started with - purchased on sale last year - were six-ply. I knew this would mean a pretty thick sock, but hey, they were on sale.

The third skein I found from a seller on ravelry was a 4-ply, which I didn't realize until I received it in the mail. It is more like a standard sock yarn, and it's definitely thinner than the two skeins I started with. So the socks are thick up to the toes and then thin out [not so great]. Not sure how this will wear, but I think it will be fine. And really it's the kind of thing that only a knitter would notice.

The yarn, obviously, shows off the stitch pattern really well [great!]. It is so clear, and beautiful. There is no missing the artistry and genius in the pattern for this pair of socks. If you want to knit your own pair you can find the pattern here.

Only nine more months to go until the next Mystery Sock Knitalong [great!].

Holiday Project Monday: Down comforters

Ok, not really a gift in the wrap-it-up-and-put-it-under-the-tree sense, but a necessary project for the holidays at our home. With the expected large number of overnight guests I began to gather up lots of bed linens (flannel sheets, blankets, etc.). We keep our home at a cool temperature and I wanted to make sure that everyone would be comfortable during the night. My local thrift store yielded an impressive number of linen finds, including three complete sets of brand name flannel sheets. In the end I came up with enough linens for all the overnight guests and their beds, but I wasn't having any luck with really warm, really nice twin-sized blankets.

A friend of mine - the same friend of the star doll fame - planted a brilliant idea the last time I was as her house. She told a story of sewing and cutting a large down comforter into smaller pieces for her kids. So the week before Christmas, and after some quick internet research on down comforter quality indicators, I ordered a king size down comforter from Overstock.com. I decided this was a double purchase: I wasn't just buying one down comforter, I was actually buying two.

When the box arrived I was giddy with excitement. I immediately set out to laying the blanket, measuring, and sewing two seams down the middle. Unluckily the middle of this comforter was in between two existing seams so I was in for more feather causalities than I planned. Once the seams were sewn I grabbed by scissors and began cutting. Then the feathers really started to fly. I quickly realized that this wasn't a feather storm I could contain by picking out the stragglers from beneath my seams; this called for some innovation.

Let me be the first to tell you that bias tape traps stray feathers beautifully. As I cut the blanket apart I immediately sewed on the bias tape and stopped a majority of the feathers before they emerged. The bias tape I had on hand was purple. C'mon, I couldn't of picked out a more perfect color for my girls if I tried! The sewing job isn't the neatest, but my grand plan includes finding more thrifted sheets, or two from Ikea, to make custom duvet covers.

The final dimensions of the comforters are 52 inches wide by 84 inches long, so they are a bit on the slender side, but they drape nicely over the sides of the beds. I highly recommend this project to anyone that is interested in down comforters for kids. While my heart and soul want to get them the best, warmest comforters money can buy, I will be a happier momma knowing that if accidents befall these twin lovelies - and they will - I won't be upset about it in the least.

She wanted her own.

My youngest loves coloring, especially when her big sisters are around and doing it too. Recently there was a squabble over the colored pencil rolls and I knew it was time to make a third. I'm really happy with how this one turned out; my sewing and assembly skills are improving little by little.

The basic pattern is from LMPQG, but I made a roll that only has 12 pockets. I used a linen fabric from the stash for the exterior, fabric scraps for the interior, and an old flannel receiving blanket for the batting. The ribbon is also from the stash, and while it's not my first color choice, I was determined to use up what I have rather than run to the store to buy something new.





The pencils pictured are from Melissa & Doug. They are awesome. They are big, sturdy and shaped like triangles (to minimize rolling off table tops!) I highly recommend spending the extra couple dollars to a nice set, rather than the cheap ones on sale. I can't believe it's taken me this long to learn this lesson: it helps everyone when I get the nicer art supplies for the kids. Less frustration on their part, and fewer trips to the store to purchase replacement supplies on my part. While I spent a bit more on these sets I know that they will last for quite some time.

I made this roll earlier this month, but I would like to add it to the idea book challenge hosted by Rebekah. I own the book and pulled it off the shelf when it was time to make this little project.

Reusable food wrappers and pouches

I've been wanting to make sandwich wraps and re-usable snack baggies for our family for awhile. But I was totally intimidated when I started to read about them on-line and all the cautions about food safe plastic. Over the long new year's weekend I threw caution to the wind and with the help of this tutorial and this one I came up with the set you see above. So far I have three sandwich wraps and six snack bags. Each wrap has a coordinating baggie, and then there are three random ones to take with us when we run errands or go to the park, etc.

The lining for these is made from the un-used remnants of an old Ikea shower curtain (I believe it's made from PEVA and from what I've read this is a good alternative to vinyl or PVC). I did try to use the liners from cereal boxes - a suggestion I read about somewhere - but they ripped terribly and didn't hold up; not the way I need them to for me to use them on a consistent basis. Which is sort of the point, right? I mean why make a reusable sandwich wrapper that isn't durable enough to be re-used?

These were all made from my fabric stash - I didn't need to purchase anything to make them, with the exception of velcro. So, Rule Number One for the 2010 Stash Challenge - small accessory purchases like velcro, thread, buttons (me) or screws, sandpaper and drill bits (him) will be allowed, but must be discussed and approved first. We are also allowed to make purchases with any gifts we receive during the year.

And Rule Number Two quickly became apparent when after an afternoon in the sewing room I emerged with this set, and after an afternoon in the workshop he succeeded in cutting a few pieces of wood. Rule Number Two is that projects will be celebrated based on ingenuity, quality, creativity, and usefulness - not the quantity of projects we can make.