I made a sweater!!

I have never been one to make clothes really, although I feel somewhat differently about childrens clothes. The whole idea of fit and making sure things are accurate....well it just doesn't really appeal to me, possibly because every time I have tried, it has ended badly. As far as knitting a sweater, I just wasn't interested a project that would take forever and probably not even fit.

This past fall, I found a project to change all that. My mother-in-law had a short subscription to Burda magazine, and in the fall issue was a knit sweater. It was a nice chunky knit, using size 17 needles and a super bulky yarn and was knit in one piece from one arm to the other. It is a simple cardigan style and I wanted to make to wear around the house. I admit, I did not check my gauge because...well I never do and I figured it really didn't matter since I am not wearing it out of the house. I started it over the holidays and really had wanted it done by the new year, but obviously that didn't happen that way. Still, it was a very quick knit.

I actually chose the color (Lion Brand Yarn, Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Fig) because I had a ball left over from a previous project. It worked pretty well. The problem with the pattern is that it is all done by measurement, not by rows, and measuring is difficult when you are using a thick knit that is heavy and not very tight. So despite my best efforts, it is uneven. Quite uneven actually although I can generally manipulate it so that it isn't quite as bad. Ah well, I tried. And my dislike for making clothes is confirmed. Until I find something that makes me try again :) Now, to add buttons or not....


In other news, I am waiting to see what happens with work, but I may be crafting/posting less for a while. We shall see how the week plays out, but I may be a busy bee until the end of April. More on that as it develops.

Ice cream neck warmer

Some time in the past few weeks, I don't even know precisely when, tragedy struck. I lost my scarf. In the middle of winter. In Binghamton. Um, bad times. Cold weather tends to make me want to knit anyway, but I didn't feel like making a whole replacement scarf, so this time, I made a neck warmer. Have you seen these? Because I am gathering they are all the rage. I figured it would be quick to make and cut down on the possibility of my child strangling me by pulling on a scarf.

I found the pattern in the book Knit2Together, which my Mother-in-law gave me for christmas. It seemed simple enough and after noting the bulky yarn used in the pattern (an insanely expensive cashmere in fact) I went looking through my pile of leftover yarn. It turns out I had some leftover from the knit baby blanket I made last year that is a cotton/acrylic blend and is super soft and wonderful. I had no idea how much of it I had left, but I picked the colors I liked best together and went to town. It really does remind me of ice cream or something. I love the dusty pink and cream together and the gray stripe in the middle just makes it pop. It is a simple feather and fan pattern although the lacy-ness is not totally apparent, but I guess that's good for keeping the cold out more. And it used just the right amount of yarn since I now have just little tiny balls left that I might make some flowers out of or something. It worked up really quickly, as in a bit of time 2 days in a row and it was finished which is good since I have so little time these days.

I actually think I have just enough of the other two colors to make another one if I so desire, but for now one will do. I love the satisfaction of using yarn that has been sitting around without purpose :) I think I have a few other projects, one needs new pretty yarn and the others use what I already have. Someday I'll get it all done. Next up is to show you my big knitting project. Oh, the suspense! And maybe sometime soon I'll finish something sitting on my sewing table.

Security Blankets

Alright, I know you can't really choose what your child gets attached to. I know, really I do. But that doesn't mean I can't try! I wanted to make a set of blankets for the little lady. Small. Simple. Soft. You get the idea. So after reading about this double cotton gauze fabric that sounded perfect, I decided to order some and see what I could do. I got a half yard each of two fabrics by Nani Iro and after washing them up, cut out 4 20" squares, paired them up, and rounded the corners.

Now the binding was an adventure. I wanted to bind them because I like the look, and this gray organic cotton is just perfect, but I was worried about hand stitched holding up if she actually does take to them. So I decided to try machine binding using the tutorial over on Red Pepper Quilts. It did not go well. It's okay though, it will work and I'm sure she won't care.


I love love love the fabrics. The florals are so pretty and the polka dots, well is there really anything that needs to be said about polka dots? I figure even if she doesn't care, they will make cute doll blankets or something so it's all good.

I have recently completed 2 knitting projects that I will share soon, and the top of my little folks quilt is done. Now I just have to do a little piecing detail on the back, sandwich it and figure out how I want to quilt it. And of course I have some scrapbooking to do....did you know valentines day is less than a week away? Eeek! I better get busy!

Baby legs success!

I did it! If you remember back here I was complaining about my baby legs attempt and ended saying I was going to give it one more try. Well I did and I am so glad! I finally got it worked out and made 4 pairs without any big mistakes! The stretchy zig-zag on my machine, paired with my walking foot are a winning combo. Had I bought them, 4 pairs would have cost about $48 instead of the $10 that I spent.

And seriously, isn't this just too freaking cute??


I just needed to prove that I have accomplished something :) I have another small project done, should finish knitting something tonight and, get this, I am done 18/24 of my little folks blocks! Happy Friday!

The plan

It is time to talk about goals. Again. Even though I feel like we just did that. But my brain is kinda mushy still so I need to keep organized somehow.


***These are the quilts I am going to try and have the tops pieced in the next 5 months***

• My little folks log cabin quilt. This will be done soon. Seriously. It is sitting on the table, waiting to be sewn into beautious blocks.
• A baby little folks. Made with my scraps. Still waiting to have the big one done to make sure how much is left. It will be simple patchwork.
• Christmas quilt. It is almost all cut and ready to be sewn. I need one more solid fabric too, but no prob.
• Wedding gift. I may have just settled on a new design for this one haha, but it's okay, it will be better. I need a few fabrics for this one still. I did start some work on it though.

In addition, my hexie quilt is ongoing, I am almost done one knitting project and have another ready to start, and I have a bunch of small sewing things to do. Of course, I also would like to do the first 6 months of the little one's scrapbook (which I have been planning in my head). And a few other scrapbooky things. Okay, it's a lot, but little by little I think I can get it done. I actually think 4 quilt tops (hopefully at least the first two completely finished) is completely doable in 5 months. I just needed to get that out there :) Now I feel all accountable and whatnot haha.