Felted Booties

As the weather is cooling off, I'm finding it harder to keep my daughter's toes warm when we are indoors. Like most kids, she won't keep socks on. Our apartment is drafty, so I shopped online for indoor booties. I found a few, but at $20 each, I thought I could make something like my cozy felted slippers (that I still wear daily).

Free pattern: Ulrike's Felted Baby Booties
Size 9 needles, scrap yarn in red and coral, sewn velcro closure

Notes: The first wash left these too large, sized for a 3 or 4 year old. A second hot cycle shrunk them to fit her at 12 mo with a small amount of growing room (her foot is about 4 3/4" long now). I will add a little puffy paint to the soles for traction. She didn't seem to mind wearing these at all...I'm hopeful my solution has been found!

Little Red

I finished a few projects at the end of the summer that I am finally getting around to posting. First up, the Little Red Poncho.



Just the cutest little one ever, if you ask me. I might be biased. Halloween costume + warm layer for the fall/winter. I knitted a size 2, so hopefully she'll get some use out of it next fall too.



Free Pattern: Knitted Poncho with hood by Drops Design
Yarn: Pattons Classic Wool in Bright Red, doubled threads

I knitted i-cord instead of crochet for the string, and added pom-poms to the ends. I also changed the finished edge to bind-off in the seed stitch pattern. Thanks to all the adorable little red ponchos on Ravelry for the idea and inspiration.

Autumn, bring it on!

French Press Felted Slippers

Thinking ahead to the holiday season? Here's a great handmade knit for mom, sister, friend. Quick, affordable and relatively easy. I made them just before going into the hospital to have the baby last fall. I've worn them around the house all year and love how well they've held up!



Pattern: French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi, $7
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool, Currant, 1.25 skeins
Needle: US 15



I knitted these in one afternoon, seamed them together and felted the next morning. Two days later after a good air dry, my feet were cozy and warm. I hope to make some in grey for the fall.

Handmade for Baby recap

I thought it might be useful to recap the good and the bad of all the things I made before the baby was born. Perhaps you need a gift or are thinking of making something for your family.



Sewing

The most-used item I made was simply a 45" square flannel blanket, edged in bias binding, like the ones in Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. My mother made me 2 double-layer 42" square blankets (one in flannel, the favorite in quilitng cotton). She sewed a pretty machine stitch around the edges. I used these swaddle blankets constantly for 4 months. Wonderful gift!

My favorite item is the bird mobile. Baby loves it too, and the book of colors. Bibs and baby legwarmers have been nice to have and will be used for months to come.

On the downside...I sewed 2 simple kimono wraps and they have been worn all of 2 times. Very cute, but they require ironing after washing, and you can pretty much assume why that doesn't work for me. While adorable, the kimono shoes never stayed on baby's feet.

Knitting

The hats and booties have been in constant use. I wish I had made more booties...I get so many compliments on them. Great gift!

Seamless Kimono and Autumn Leaves sweaters were gorgeous, but unfortunately too big. I'm hoping she will be able to wear them next fall. Had more success with the ribbed baby jacket, which was worn daily for the first 3 months.

Seamless Kimono Sweater II

Another version of the Seamless Kimono Sweater, this time in pale pink and brown without ties. I want one of these in my size now.


Free pattern: Seamless Kimono Sweater by Jacki Kelly
Size: 6 mo
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Wool (heather pink), leftover Patons Classic Wool (chestnut brown)
Needles: US7 circulars
Modifications: Substituted seed stitch on cuffs and bottom (instead of garter stitch), and inserted 6 rows seed stitch at the empire waist (instead of tie).

Autumn Leaves

Knitting is turning out to be a great medium for me right now. It's much easier knitting in a comfy chair than sewing and basting quilts, and the baby will need some warm winter wear anyway. Here's the latest set completed over the past couple of weeks:





Free pattern: Autumn Leaves by Nikki Van De Car
Yarn: Ella Rae Classics in Rosewood (slightly marbled color)
Size: up to 6 months
Notes: Medium difficulty - you definitely need to count all the stitches until you see the pattern begin to develop. Such a pretty pattern and well written too. I used size 8 needles and worsted weight yarn since many knitters reported very small sweaters. I also lengthened the sleeves by knitting straight and decreasing twice around the elbow.




Free pattern: Greenleaf Baby Hat by Evelyn Uyemura
Notes: A leaf hat to go with the Autumn Leaves sweater.



Free pattern: Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties by Ruth Bennett
Size: 3-6 months
Notes: Cute, easy pattern. I made seed stitch cuffs to match the sweater. I'll definitely make a few more of these.

With all this mini-knitting, I'm getting brave enough to try a sweater for myself.

Seamless Baby Kimono

My second knitted sweater, this time a seamless sweater. I love how it is constructed. I only wish I hadn't run out of yarn, but I substituted shorter straight sleeves and I'm very happy with the result. If I were to be short of yarn next time, I would probably stop the increases on the inside flap (which doesn't show) in order to make longer sleeves.



Free Pattern: Seamless Baby Kimono by Jacki Kelly
Size: 6 months
Yarn: 2 skeins of Filatura Di Crosa Wave, Cheddar
Needles: US 7

I finished this sweater on my new set of KnitPicks Zephyr Interchangeable Circular Needles that I bought earlier this month with some birthday money. I'm pleased with these needles, having only used a set of bamboo dpns and a few metal needles previously. They are very lightweight and more than met my expectations for a starter set of interchangeable circulars. I also learned to knit the sleeves using the magic loop technique. There is already another sweater on the needles (keeping my hands busy while I cheer on my other obsession, the Yankees, this October).

a little knitting...

Catching up on a couple of knitting projects for myself:



Fairisle Cowl (first fairisle anything) by Irene Ramalho via Ravelry

I made this back in March. It's a pattern I came across in an effort to use up the remaining yarn from the Turn a Square hat I made for my husband. I slightly altered the intarsia pattern to use more of the Noro Silk. It's warm and heavy, but I would urge anyone making the pattern to cast on a few more stitches. It fits, but it's a tight cowl.



Toasty by A Friend to Knit With

You might remember I made a pair of Toast early this year. I love them, and wanted a pair of Toasty to go with my brown coat. I increased the length of the arms about 2 inches. I had some trouble with holes in the thumbs, but I was able to patch them up in my own amateur way. Yarn is Patons Classic Wool in Chesnut. Very toasty for fall.

A little one...

This space has been somewhat neglected this summer. Amidst vacations and activities, I have been been doing some sewing and knitting, all projects which I will post soon. The fact we are just a couple months away from welcoming a daughter into the world might have something to do with the blog neglect too. So, with that news, I'll share a few things I've made for the little one over the past several months:


free pattern: Simple Kimono Wrap by Habitual
Size 0-6 months. Great tutorial, sew easy and so adorable. Main fabric is a repurposed shirt of my dad's and some Joel Dewberry scraps. I've made a couple of these now and I'd like to make the Simple Sundress later on.

free pattern: Kimono baby shoes by Homespun Threads
Size 0-6 months. I love these, but I'm not sure about their practicality or how well they will stay on, so I won't make any others right now.

Etsy pattern: The Best Bib by JCasa
This is one of several bibs I made with quilting scraps. They've all turned out nicely and I love that they are quilted.

free tutorial: Baby legwarmers by Kymy
Easy and practical for a winter baby. I bought the socks on clearance at Target, $7 for 4 pairs.

free pattern via Ravelry: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss

Size 3-6 months. This is my first sweater. With help from online videos, the seaming was surprisingly manageable. I used an inexpensive, easy wash yarn, TLC Cotton Plus (being a white sweater and all), and added a fabric rose (following Sandi Henderson's instructions). There is some curling at the bottom that is bothersome. I added a row of single crochet which helped but did not entirely fix the problem. Not perfect, but not too shabby for my first sweater.

Peanut, the wee elephant from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted gifts
I've made this pattern for gifts so many times, and I never tire of the end result! This time he's made with leftover Amy Butler Lotus and cotton chenille fabric, stuffed with 1" pieces of extra quilt batting. My sister-in-law gave us a small stuffed giraffe that is a perfect elephant companion.

Turn A Square

I joined ravelry as soon as I was sure this knitting thing is for me. Wow! Is it a treasure trove or what? (Don't worry, there's still room for sewing and quilting in my life too.) One of the first things I wanted to make was a hat for my husband since he has only one that gets worn all the time. Jared Flood's Turn A Square pattern (it's free!) is stylish and a perfect choice for him.



The yarns (Cascade 220 and Noro Silk Garden) worked very well, but I learned a rookie mistake the hard way by impatiently starting the hat before I had wound the hank of Cascade into a ball. I spent a good hour or two unraveling the knot that ensued and vowed to never do that again. I was planning for more of the green tones in the Noro to be used, but the blues, greys and bits of dark purple in the self-striping yarn work better after all (and the greens are left over for another hat).

I attempted to follow the directions for the jogless jog technique, but it’s pretty obvious that I didn’t get it right. The stripes don’t match up at the seam. I’ll have to re-learn and try again next time.



All in all, not too bad for my first hat and I’d definitely try this hat again. I may add a fleece lining to windproof it for the coldest winter days, though.

New Year's Resolution #1...check.

With the help of Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch, I taught myself beginner's knitting in January. It's a start, at least. I find it meditative and a useful thing to do in quiet moments, like my enjoyment in hand-binding a quilt. I knit the first three projects in the book to master the basics:



1. Go-Go Garter Stitch Scarf (not my favorite, but good practice)


2. Ribbed-for-Her-Pleasure Scarf (shortened length and added a slip-through opening)

3. mini Kitchy Kerchief (schnauzer size)

But I'm most proud of these:

Pattern: Toast, from A Friend to Knit With.

Yarn: Rowan Classic Cashsoft Aran

Finished during the Super Bowl and I love them. Easy pattern. Functional and fashionable. Now, I can wear all those 3/4 length sweaters in the dead of February. I might need some Toasty too.

I think I'm going to like knitting.