Socks in secret

My youngest daughter got to complaining about not having any hand knit socks since she grew out of her last pair. I picked up this super wash yarn at the local craft shop and knit up this pair for her in secret, mostly after she went to bed in the evenings. I finished them in time to wrap them up and put them under the tree for her. She's going to be surprised - and they'll be perfect for the ice skating and sledding yet to come.

Socks for Daughter #1

I started these back in the fall and finished one sock. I had just completed the first cable sock for my husband and needed a quick break. But that meant that the second sock waited until I finished the second cabled sock.

But not matter - I finished it up today while waiting at the orthodontist for the twins to have their braces tightened.

I love these socks. They are simple, colorful, and the distribution of the blues is perfect, IMO.

My three oldest girls (all whose feet have likely stopped growing) now have teenage-appropriate socks.

Socks for Daughter #3

This pair came together quickly and have been on her feet ever since. Time to get them in the wash though...hand knit socks and 5th grade gym class don't make the best companions.

Socks

Purple socks for my Birkenstock loving 12 yo.  She asked for a pair of hand knit socks for the holidays but time got away from me and these needed to wait until January.  They were off the needles quickly though, and that color!  I hope it stays this vibrant.

The twins' feet are the same size as mine, so I knit these a bit large (~1/4-inch) in hopes that she can have them for many more winters to come.

In Wisconsin we know how to keep our toes warm!

Hats: Flower + Moose

Somehow Daughter #3 lucked out with two new hats this summer - the first is the Wildflowers Cap.  This was made from a cute kit by Barrett Wool Co. The hat knit up small, but fits my 10yo perfectly. 

The other hat pattern was the Moose Hat by Sisu Designs that I purchased during a quick stop at Sisu Designs Yarn Shop while on vacation in Ely, MN.  What a fantastic store and owner.

The hat fits me quite well, but it was made for my 10yo (she picked it out at the store, along with the yarn and colors), so we'll block it and line it with a bit of polar fleece.  What a great trip memory and project.

(2.5) of (4) French Hens

These adorable french hens are staring to populate our house.  I've completed 2.5 and have them on hold for a bit.  I just might need to give myself until the holidays to finish the last two - wouldn't they make perfect stuffers, though?

Each of my daughters is getting one that is unique, but using the same three colors.  They are just adorable.  Yarn is from my stash; pattern is by Susan B. Anderson, published in Taproot Magazine.

Tiger Shirt

All this girl wanted for Christmas was a tiger shirt.  My mom made it happen!

 

Daughter Socks (x4)

All my girls got handmade socks for Christmas this year too!  With some planning, and a good hiding place, I managed to knit a pair for each of them without them knowing.  There were the Packers socks, the Badgers socks, a plain blue tweed and a multi-colored pair.  (The pair my husband is wearing were a Christmas gift from last year.)

All the socks have been worn and washed and worn again (and again, and again) which makes me one happy knitting mama.

The Hat Ladies

I think that we are up to 9 by now.  That is 9 fleece hats that have been custom sewn for our girls through a school fundraiser by The Hat Ladies.

I am a proud member of The Hat Ladies team for Franklin and Randall school and have likely sewn close to 100 hats - for other kids - by now.  Each one is so unique and fun and it is great to see them worn around Madison in the winter months.  Our team sews hats at two of our community building/fundraising events each year - the school dance and the school carnival.  There is an entire team of parent volunteers that supports this effort - fabric cutters, sewers, table volunteers and people that help kids choose their panels and pieces.

I love that the kids get to select their own colors and patterns and they always pick exactly what they want -- and the hats turn out great no matter the combinations.

One of these days I will line up all the fleece hats in our house to share - but until then if you are interested in kicking off a hat fundraiser of your own you can check out this link.

This entire Hat Lady project was started by my former preschool teacher Nancy Daly - what an amazingly small world that I now get to spend time with her again at the sewing table making hats for kids in our own public school community.  Her program volunteers in multiple schools, community organizations and all over Dane County.  They are making a difference for so many kids!

A few more...

I was amazed to find a few more hours before the holidays to squeeze in a couple more presents.  Pure fun for me.

I finally got around to framing the cross stitch (above) that I completed for a special little baby boy and sent it out to him in the mail.  In case you can't tell, I am a big fan of Alicia Paulson's work.

The next gift was a second taggie blanket for special friends that just welcomed their second baby girl.  I made two for their first daughter (she needed a second one because she loved through the first!) and I really wanted to send out another for their new addition.  These owls are too cute and paired with a bumpy purple minky should be fun for the baby to explore.  I sent the blanket along with a crocheted turquoise crown - I called it the 'big sister crown' - made by a friend for the older daughter.

The last few presents came from a burst of sewing for my own three oldest daughters.  They all learned to knit in the week before Christmas so I sewed them each a knitting project bag and filled it with a skein of yarn and some needles.  They love then and I love seeing the bags and their knitting float around the house: the couch, the bed, the dining room table and their locker.  I first made the fox bag below to match the needle case for my niece.

Then I made three more.  I am really happy with the construction of these bags.  My serger makes such a professional finish and the satin cording for the drawstrings work perfectly.  I modeled these bags on the small della Q bag that I have for myself and they turned out great - perfectly sized and perfectly useful (I did skip the interior pocket this time around).

Handmade Holidays

The first handmade gift of the holiday season is for myself - a new double-pointed knitting needle roll.  Using fabrics from our trip to Japan last February I put this sweet little roll together in about an hour.  It replaces my much larger needle case crafted in 2008.  That one was made to accommodate 10 to 14-inch straight needles.  In the years since I made that case I have gravitated towards using circular needles and my little double points kept falling out of the over sized roll. 

I am just in love with this little case - it is perfectly sized and the fabrics make me so happy.

This next gift is a whimsical tree ornament from the Posie Gets Cozy collection that I have been working through.  When I was working the most recent set of three ornaments I made a rookie mistake by crafting two identical trees when I should have made mirror images!  I even make this mistake TWICE - on the snowflake ornament too - just goes to show that crafting and mothering at the same time don't always work out the way that you expect.  Yikes.  At first I was disappointed/frustrated by my silly error, but quickly realized that with a little more effort I could turn it into a second ornament.  This second tree will go to my Mother-in-Law for Christmas.

The kit was actually sold out for this set of ornaments so I purchased the pattern and then ordered felt and matching floss from Prairie Woolens.    

This cowl, completed a couple months ago, will head to my Sister-in-Law.

This next needle case will go to my niece who has recently learned to knit.  I purchased sets of aluminum straight needles (which she seems to prefer) from Ebay and crafted the case to fit them.  Paired with some skeins of yarn it will make a great starter knitting kit for her.  And since I am partial to them, I put in a couple circular needles and double-points to round out the collection for her too.

Speaking of knitting, we have THREE new knitters under our roof!  This past month I taught my three older daughters to knit and they just took off.  The scarves they are creating are incredible and they couldn't be more excited to watch their own progress.  Abby (below) is wearing the first thing she ever knit - a red scarf for her favorite 5th grade teacher.  We had to google 'average length for a men's scarf' which came back about about 6 feet.  Abby decided to cut this one off at 5 feet.

My eight year old is part of a Girl Scout Troop that is focused heavily on the arts.  This past month they went to a local pottery studio that also carries a great selection of beads.  She was so into it!  In that short afternoon she made earrings for her older sisters.

The following week she and I took a separate trip to a local beading store and made more earrings for older sisters and a necklace for her younger sister.

I am so excited the crafting and creating is becoming a part of what we can do together as a family and that they are all excited to make things for others.  While I didn't 'make' as much this year as I have in years past I am finding so much joy in seeing my girls make for others.

Guest Projects (from Grandma)

One of my daughters is learning to sew.  She loves all aspects of sewing - picking out fabric, learning the stitches, choosing patterns, the notions, all. of. it.

My Mom has been helping her along with special 'sewing days with Grandma'.  For Christmas my Mom gave her this fantastic tutorial and a box of filler.  A couple days into the new year she had her very own bean bag chair!

As you can imagine, the other three girls begged for one too.  I took the girls to the fabric store to choose and purchase fabric and each beanbag turned out so unique and different.  All four were sewn by my Mom and daughter.  The fourth beanbag (not properly photographed) is the red/light green one in the background of the third photo.

here's that bird fabric again!

The other project my Mom recently finished up are polar fleece front-pocket pullovers for each Granddaughter.  They are warm, snugly and an all-time favorite for each girl.  Thanks Mom for your hard work, creativity and generosity!

FO: In Threes for my 9yo

A simple little cardigan for my increasingly fashion-enthusiastic daughter.  She picked out the color and buttons with me at the store and I knit away until I had something long enough to fit her.

She loves it - but is also becoming more and more interested in sewing and design - it is really fun to see how she interprets her world and what is 'cool' and what is 'unique'.  So far she has worked almost exclusively in animal (cheetah) prints in bright colors.  Hmmm...

FO: Happy Halloween

Three newly made costumes this year and one vintage.

One of my 9yo's went as a Tootsie Roll.  While we freestyle-sewed the 'roll' we spent some time making a lovely headband and ensuring that we had the right lettering.  My daughter cut the letters from a pattern (did you know that the Tootsie Roll font is really close to Cooper Black?), traced them onto fabric, cut them again and then glued them to her costume?  I am proud of my little DIY-er in training.  We also put together a cute headband with red ribbons and a real Tootsie Roll on top.

My other 9yo went as a cat - her favorite cat from the Warrior Book Series (by Erin Hunter), hence the yellow color.  I think the cats name is LionBlaze.

My 7yo wore a leopard costume that must have been sewn by my Mom in the very early 1980's.  I am amazed at how well it is holding up.  She wore a similar costume - also made by my Mom - last year too.

My 3.5yo is a snowy owl, inspired by her favorite animal and an article in Family Fun magazine.

The body suits for the owl and cat are from the patterns that are annually available by McCall's or Butterick for various Halloween costumes (lion, frog, dragon, cat, bear, etc.).  It is so easy to use that pattern as a base and then build off with details from there.  The cat really didn't have any additional details, but the snowy owl needed wings and the headpiece, both of which I borrowed on heavily from the Family Fun October 2014 issue.

FO: Quilts for Daughters #3 and #4

My other goal for the summer - aside from clothes for myself - was to finish two more quilts for my youngest daughters.  Building off the design and look of the quilts for daughters #1 and #2, I went with a stacked coin method again.  The prints are all from my stash but I did purchase cotton on sale for the binding.

These two quilts are very similar to each other, which was a happy accident.  The original two quilts I made in 2009 were on the narrow side so I set out to make these wider.  Each color block measures 4.5 inches by 7 inches.  In my over-zealous attempt I made too many vertical strips; so many that I only had to cut and sew one extra to get a second quilt.  So while I set out to only make one for my 6yo I also finished up a second one for my 3yo.  It is certainly too big for her toddler bed and has been tucked away in the linen closet for a year or so until she moves into a 'big girl' bed.




















Something wonky happened towards the bottom of the first quilt (first photo) and I think it was because I pulled the backing fabric too tight when taping it to the floor to make the sandwich.  I caught my mistake for the second one and didn't have any trouble.  Luckily for the first one it seems confined to the second row only.

One back is all the same cloth (the waves on the far left in the photo below) and the other is as you see here - pieced with a few different pieces of fabric from the stash. 

The binding strips worked out great this time - I think after working on bias for armholes I really have the hang of machine sewing binding and bias on.  I hand stitched the backs, however, while catching up on episodes of "Suits".

My 6yo loves her quilt already and has been using it every night.  I think they are a success - and it is nice to walk by various bedrooms upstairs and see the quilts splayed out (but very rarely on their beds, smile.  They are kids after all.).