Happy Halloween!



Gecko lizard, black dog, and black bat

This year I managed to sew something for one older girl and my middle girl.  My other older girl wanted to be a dog, again.

Making the lizard went really well.  At first I was brainstorming all sorts of ideas for attached scales, but when I pulled out the old pattern I used for the dog costumes there were directions for making a dragon/lizard too.  Away I went with pre-printed polyester fabric and gold accents.

The bat wings I made from scratch.  I wanted something small, sized just to her, and understated.  I didn't want to make her a long cape, or a hood, or something that would get her confused as batman, the character. 

Using black flannel, I traced the neckline of these capes, and then added a basic triangle (traced from a folded sheet of newspaper) with scalloped edges.  I added quilted lines on the wings, but you can't really see them and they don't actually make much of a difference in wearing.  I sewed one hair band at each of the wing tips so she could thread her hands through and she didn't have to grasp the fabric all the time.  This way they attached (and unattached!) to her easily - and became part of her arms as she flew around.

Overall this Halloween was a success for the handmade.  My youngest went as a gray kitten with a thrifted baby costume.  However, she has a whole wardrobe of mama-made costumes to look forward to in the years to come.

The girls ate their fill of candy tonight and are looking forward to the candy buy-back program this weekend.  In fact they already separated what they want to keep from what they want to sell back.  I am amazed to report that 90% of our candy will be sold back!

Oh fall...

Burberry cowl in organic cotton (colorway: almond)

I love you fall.

I love the way to make me feel about knitting.

I love the way you make my husband obsess about face cords.

I love the additional layers I get to wear.

I love the smell of slow-roasted food.

I love your gentle rains and wet leaves, even though they get tracked all the way through the house on tiny feet.

I love that you recall the birth of my middle daughter.

I love how you shed your layer of green in favor of more becoming colors.

I love the way you bring forth my instinct to prepare. And while the necessity of preparing for the barren months ahead has long-been dispensed with (thanks modernization), I love that you kindle the vestiges of this need deep within me.

I love the way you remind me that things change - life is dynamic - and that honoring the cycles in all parts of life is important.

Not-so-Noro hat at the WI River (rav link)



Baby shrug for friends' newborn daughter (rav link)



WIP: one sock done, one to go.  Pomatomus by Cookie A.



WI Sheep and Wool Festival

One of two vendor barns


Sun Valley Fibers booth

A couple weeks ago I attended the WI Sheep and Wool Festival. Given that I have been knitting for nine years, and living in Wisconsin for seven, it's a surprise to me that I've never attended. I was able to slip away from the family for a few hours and I loved every moment I spent shopping, asking questions and taking in all that goes into the wool/sheep/yarn/knitting industry.

My yarn purchases were restricted to local WI vendors -



400 yds of fantastic red alpaca/nylon sock yarn from Alpacas of Prairie Station, and

a sage green merino/nylon sock yarn from Sun Valley Fibers. Can you tell I'm getting ready to knit up some more socks?

I also couldn't pass these lovelies up when I came across them. They are crafted by Jennie the Potter who is located in Minneapolis, MN. This set of stitch markers could easily double as necklace charms don't you think?



And these buttons will be perfect on a toddler sweater for my youngest.

FO: 7th Anniversary Monogram

The traditional gift for the seventh wedding anniversary is linen or wool. I was thrilled to learn this, but quickly remembered our anniversary gifts are about the two of us: about togetherness and our union, not about each of us individuals. So I modified my dream of crates and crates of yarn to something more symbolic and attainable.

I temporarily entertained a couple of other fantasies: a fairly-traded, hand-woven, wool rug, or matching Aran sweaters (that I would knit myself), but quickly let both of these go too. The first one for cost, and the second one for time. Instead I settled on something for our home, something that incorporated our name, and something that wouldn't take me six months to complete.

Per the suggestion of a good friend, I modified the wedding monogram pattern from A Rainbow of Stitches to include just one initial, in this case an "O" for our shared last name. It is a counted cross-stitch design, stitched with white embroidery thread on natural, undyed linen. And I am so very happy with the end result.

I am not sure how I want to display this. The book showed the final piece unframed, but pulled over canvas stretchers. I may go with a traditional frame - with so many little people about I would worry too much about the spills and splatters that could happen, not to mention the, ahem, dust factor.

So far I have only located one other blogger that has completed this project. You can see her work here.