Christmas Wrap-up

I post a lot about the stuff I make, but I'd like to wrap up Christmas this year with sharing some of those I hand made in love for. (This is a very picture heavy post. Bear with me.)



Layne and his Tucker Teddy

Grandma and her Summer Flies Shawl





Brooke sporting her French Press Slippers





Callie and her Sunset Beret

Brandon and his Hawkeye Pillows



Renee all toasty in her Aspen Mittens

Grandma with her quilt

Dad all perky in his Cambridge Watchcap

Grandpa and his new little buddy, Bramble Owl



Mom definitely not square in her Squared Set

And now, at long last, I get to make something from me.

An Owl on Memory Lane

I considered not posting this owl since I posted the one I made earlier this year for one of my favorite little guys. And in honesty, I think that first one turned out looking a little better. But this one has it’s own story, so it has it’s own post. Many handmade objects are fortunate enough to have a story that goes with them over time. (Well, many of mine seem to have a story about the ways they drove me crazy in the process!) This little guy was made for my grandpa for this Christmas to honor one of our stories.

As I’ve mentioned, I grew up sending my summers with my family in campgrounds. I’m not sure of my exact age in this story, but I assume 11 or 12 because by age 13 I was spending more time flirting with the boys in the campground than hanging out with my family. But this particular summer night I was bored and begging someone to take me on the “owl walk” the nature center was doing that night. My grandpa agreed. So off we went. I can remember driving up and down the hills to the other side of the campground in my grandpa’s truck, the windows down and the warm air blowing in. When we got to the trail where everyone was meeting it was a bunch of moms and their kids. My grandpa distinctly remembers being one of the few adult males over four feet tall when he tells this story. Together grandpa and I walked. Listening for owls and making memories that can never be replaced. And now, almost twenty years later (wow) he still tells my grandma about that walk every time he hears an owl. Sometimes he’ll even call me and tell me he heard an owl outside of his window last night.

Project: Bramble Owl Softie by Knitwits  [Rav Link]
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool
Needle Size: US8
Ravelry Project Page

And this time I used buttons for eyes instead of the knit eyes. I fully trust Grandpa to not chew them off and choke on them. If you look close you can see the owl seeing me taking a picture of him.

Also,  I’m pretty sure I’m now the crazy lady in the townhouse complex. Which is a hard fought for title around here. Hang out your back door and take pictures of a stuffed owl in the snow on your back step. I promise it will gain you some crazy ground.



Sorry for the side view.I can't get it to turn and these
days I just choose my battles.



Cambridge Watchcap

So my Dad's (very first every knit from me!) hat has been done for over a week now. However, I haven't said anything about it because I wanted to show you how to make the super easy probably insulting your intelligence by giving you directions "wind blocker" (read: man neckwarmer from fleece). Doing the math of the projected finishing of all of my projects, I will be having a project a day done between now and Christmas, so I think I'll save that "tutorial" for after Christmas.

For now, my Daddy-o's first ever knit from me! I've never been sure if he'd wear a handknit or not, but my Mom reassured me if I made him a nice hat he'd wear it to work outside. So, I made him a very warm hat.

Project: Cambridge Watchcap by ever green knits Ravelry Link
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds (One Skein)
Colorway: Charcoal
Needle Size: US10
Project Page

I did make some adjustments. To make this an extra warm Daddy hat I knit this in a bulky weight yarn. The pattern calls for worsted. To do this I cast on 87 stitches and went up to a size 10 needle. I followed the rest of the pattern, but it got a little more iffy when I got to the decreases. I wish I could get into details on what I did there, but I was tired and just made it up half-assed as I went. I was hoping the bulky would make the 10 freaking inches until decreasing go faster. It didn't. What can I say, I'm a beanie kind of girl. The extra knitting for a brim always feels like torture for me.

Poppy

In the middle of all of the Christmas, winter, snowy madness a little girl named Leah is turning one. I have made her brother a hat for each of his two birthdays and a hat for being born and now I made this little girl her first hat. I missed the being born hat, so I'm already a bit behind. Since I have few little girls to craft for in my life, this little girl had to have a little girly hat. Not a hat just made in little girly colors.

Project: Poppy (Rav Link) by Justine Turner of justjussi
Yarn: Lion Brand Alpine Wool (Bulky)
Colorway: Vanilla
Size: 1-3 years
Ravelry Project Page

As I'm putting in my links, I must admit I'm getting a little nervous. I printed this pattern off a year or so ago and used this pattern print off to make the hat. At that time it had instructed to use a bulky weight yarn for 1-3 years, but on the updated pattern there is no mention of bulky. Hmmm. Well, I guess we shall see.

I really love this little flapper style hat. It is so girly and fun! And it was an amazingly quick knit. Well, with the bulky it was! I saw her in church last week in head to toe pink, so the pink button seemed to be a good call. The short row shaping to give this hat it's shape is really interesting.

My hat didn't want to take a cute picture standing up. I'm hoping this doens't prove that bulky was a no go. Maybe you should check before making this hat yourself? I'll report back after I've gifted this on Sunday!

This Christmas season I've tried to be sure to put little tags on my handmade items letting the recipients know things like fiber content and care instructions. I understand that handmade can intimidate!

Happy Thursday!

Cynthia's Garden Quilt

Cynthia is my grandma. And she asked for a quilt with roses. While fabric with roses is not really my thing, she is my grandma and I love her, so I made a quilt with roses.

See?

It is a windchill of -14F outside. While our "Blizzard Warning" over the weekend was a bit of an exaggeration as well, I'm still not feeling venturing outside to take pictures, so the view from the ironing board of my sewing room is about as good as this is going to get.

I have no idea what it was about this quilt, but it was determined to push me to the edge and methodically nudge me over. Why? It's only a large block and four-squares, right? How difficult could this be? You've did harder than this, right? This isn't your first time around a quilt block! I know!

Well, somehow I miscalculated the size I should be cutting the blocks. Promise I wasn't quilting hungover again. I did all of the math. Took the seam allowances into consideration.  Even measured twice and cut once. It all added up. Until it didn't.  I didn't figure out this was the issue until after I had ALL of the fabric cut. I know. Really, I wasn't hungover. Or drunk. Apparently just stupid and overconfident. So that was fun. And then as I was cutting the backing I cut INTO the backing. And after I had it all basted I pulled on a loose string. Not a loose string. Pulled a seam out. After it was all basted. Like that sloppy attempt at hand stitching it up? Oh, and I was somehow unconsciously hell-bent on sewing the backing in clumps to each other on the edges. That was fun. All four times.

But step by step we worked through it. Piecing, basting, quilting, and binding.

And in the end it all turned out and the mistakes are barely noticeable. Barely. Really just that ripped out seam. That is one of the things I love about quilting. It can look so damn messy while you're doing it, but in the end when it's all done it just comes together.

Why, what's that one square with the square quilted in the middle unlike all the others? I'm so proud of you for noticing it. I know you did. 

Well, that's a love patch. In no way related to a soul patch. A love patch.

Just a little bit of love to remind my grandma I love her always and forever. You see, the day grandma asked me to make this quilt was the day of my grandpa's funeral. My grandpa died in September of last year from cancer. This is going to sound a bit morbid and I don't mean it to. But, as my grandpa was laying there in the last weeks of his life in that hospital bed all he had on him was this impersonal hospital blankets. And I just kept wishing he could be covered in more love than that. I'm getting all teary just typing this. So when my grandma asked me for a quilt I told her of course. Don't worry, Grandpa. I've got Grandma covered. Literally.

Aspen Mittens

It's a dreary and cold day here in the Midwestern US, but I have another project to put under the Christmas tree! My family has learned to expect handmade for Christmas. I mean I took a pledge and all. This year I did ask my aunt if she would like bought or handmade. You don't want to be that person that when your family realizes you drew their name they go "Aww, crap. Handmade again?" She did say she wouldn't mind a pair of mittens.

To Ravelry I went! I wanted something kind of fancy, so I was looking for a project with a bit of design. However, with the long list and the loudly ticking Christmas clock it needed to not be a fingering weight poke your eyes out with the tiny needles project. I was torn between the ever popular Fiddlehead Mittens or the less known it appeared Aspen mitten pattern. Taking the lining of the Fiddlehead Mittens for what it was: essentially knitting two pairs of mittens on a tight timeline, I went with the Aspen pattern. And I was not disappointed! Forgive the iffy pictures. I missed the one day of sunshine this week while these were still blocking.

Project: Aspen [Rav Link]
Designer: Jennifer Adams of NuttyIrishmanKnits
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza (50% wool, 50% llama)
Colorways: MC-a green that doesn't really look like any on the colorway chart and I lost the label for
                    CC-Pastaza Paints Colorway 073
Needle Size: US 8
Ravelry Project Page

More of these will be made. Did I mention the yarn was ALREADY in the stash? I know! I'm a lover of the single ply plushy softness of the wool/llama blend that is Pastaza. However, I need to check, but I think the gauge of the Pastaza was a little larger than the pattern called for. I made a size medium.  I've been hoarding single skeins of Pastaza for awhile now. I got a little nervous if I was going to have enough yarn, because that seems to be my streak lately, but I even had a little left over!

The length of these is great! They are long enough to keep the drafts out of your sleeves. I'm considering putting them on here at the office today. It's a tad chilly in here. I'm seeing the potential for that to hinder my office work a bit, however. So I guess I'll just have to stick with the fingerless gloves that live in the desk drawer.

This was the first time I've did a braid on a pair of mittens, or well, anything that wasn't like hair or a tassle. It gave a nice effect and I think really helps to keep the mittens from curling. I'm sure the designer didn't have any of these things in mind and it is all just me. No, really, I don't think that. She seems incredibly knowledgable in the logistics of all of this.

Tomorrow is a day off! I'm taking a vacation day to keep from climbing the walls after being stuck in my office all week, to make some further project on the Santa's elf thing, and also to find my bed under the clothes thrown about my bedroom that need to be put away. So, while today is a twelve hour workday and I have to miss my knitting group tonight (which means I'll lose track of where we are in some insanity and spend like a month catching up), at least I get to look forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Happy weekend!

Sunset Beret

My brothers and I have pretty different love lives. Not different like freaky weird. Because it would just be awkward to blog about not only my freaky love life, but way awkward to blog about my brother's freaky love life. Back slowly away from that topic.I mean we are different from each other.
Me: A few different boyfriends, two significant long term, married my college sweetheart, divorced.
Youngest Brother: Married high school sweet heart at age 20, happily domestic with a toddler and baby on the way.
Middle Brother: A bit of a back and forth kind of guy. Until his latest girlfriend, who he seems rather smitten with and we're not so sure she won't be around for quite a long time.

What does this mean for my knitting? Why in the hell would this impact my knitting? This year I faced the question of to make her a present or not to make her a present? I've never gifted one of middle brother's ladies before. But this year I decided to.

Project: Sunset Beret by Knit-O-Matic (Rav Link)
Yarn: Lion Brand Alpine Wool , 1.25 skeins
Colorway: Black Pepper
Needles: US8 & US 10.5
Size: Small/Medium
Ravelry Project Page

I really had some issues getting good pictures of this hat. Because 1) I have to do the whole self pic thing. 2) I have a hard time getting a good picture of me wearing a hat. Well, a good picture of me period. She will look much better sporting this I'm sure.

While I will admit I'm a bit of a yarn snob, I'm a bit smitten with some of the bulky yarns that have appeared in my local JoAnn store lately. This one included. It's 100% wool roving. I have a thing for roving yarn. I love the stitch definition of any yarn that is single ply, especially 100% wool. This yarn knits up very nice and is incredibly affordable.

This is also a great pattern for a very stylish hat. So stylish that as I was knitting this I thought to myself multiple times "Why don't I just go to Old Navy and buy what I'm sure will be a pretty identical hat." But we all have a good idea of the answer to that question. Not. How. We. Roll.

I also started this hat a few weeks ago. In a discontinued yarn I love. (Debbie Mumm Reminiscence, Carnival colorway)That I ran out of with just a few decrease rows left. Sore subject. But if you have any, talk to me. I have baked goods. Lots of baked goods. And I just need a little.

I'm getting there on the Christmas projects! I'll even have a pair of mittens and a quilt to show you soon!

French Press Slippers. Again.

I made my first pair of French Press Slippers about this time last year. They now live in my office and I try to sneak them on as I walk into meetings when no one can see my feet. Otherwise I just flaunt them. Yeah, yeah. I work alone. But they are well loved these days.

So this year I decided to make my sister-in-law a pair as well. Come Christmas she will be well in her second pregnancy. What pregnant woman doesn't love slippers? And pickles dipped in chocolate? Okay, the pickles dipped in chocolate thing is merely a sterotype. I've never been pregnant.

Project: French Press Slippers by Melynda Bernardi
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool
Colorway: Burgundy
Needle Size: US15
Ravelry Project Page

While these took the usual process...

...I'm still always impressed with the results. This was also another reason I was glad for a well timed Mom visit. I wear a massive size 10 (the unfelted slippers are on my foot). But Mom and my SIL swap size 8s all of the time, so she got to stand by the washing machine with me the last ten minutes and try on warm wet wool every two minutes to see when they were done with the shrinkage. 

I've found it useful to stuff the toes with newspaper while they are drying to make sure the toes are nice and rounded.

So one more Christmas present done and ready to wrap! And maybe a new pair of these will be on the needles for me after Christmas...



Grandma's Shawl

A couple more projects moved to the done presents list this weekend. Cue happy dance. I feel like I'm actually make some pretty decent progress. Except for some damn socks. But that will be a whole rant of a post. Promise, something to look forward to.

Anyway, about this shawl. Grandma's shawl is done! Yay! This summer I was showing off my then newly finished Summer Flies shawl. As usual, Grandma says "I wouldn't mind one of those." Grandma learned to knit this year, but she still hasn't gotten the effect the words "I wouldn't mind one of those" have on a knitter, well, probably any crafter. She also hasn't learned to stop volunteering to anyone who likes anything I make her that I would be more than happy to spend hours and hours of my life making them something as well. But I decided to make her one anyway.

Project: Summer Flies Shawl by Holly & Ella Knits Rav Link
Yarn: Patons Silk Bamboo (3 skeins)
Needle Size: US6
Ravelry Project Page

The color is very her and I like it as well, although I don't typically gravitate towards Barney purple. This was the first time I've knit with this yarn and my friends who have tried it weren't really fans. But I really liked it. It annoyed me that there were knots, but in all honesty the Ella Rae silk bamboo I used for my version of this that costed twice as much had the same issue.

The downside was I realized about halfway through this yarn is a DK weight and not a worsted, so the shawl isn't quite as big as mine. I'm thinking I will have to buy a shawl pin to go with it. Mine had nice tapered points that make it stay on, but I think that may be because I added a few more rows to that one.

Not that I'm not usually constantly knitting, but this Christmas elf thing has made me really step up my game and my hands have been killing me. The ex ( I really need to find something else to call him, I dislike that label) spent just enough time at chiropratic school to tell me that I'm messed up. He does give killer hand rubs, but I'm thinking it would be more appropriate for me to find some daily exercises to do. Apparently my hands now resemble "the claw" when in resting position. At age 28. Hot.

So, some results I found online when searching "knitting hand exercises".

Knitting Daily (with pictures)

eHow

Knitting Guru (with some whole body exercises to relax other stiff muscles stressed by knitting.



Tucker Teddy

I finished my first Christmas present last night! And I'm pretty sure it will be the cutest. May I introduce you to Tucker Teddy?

Little Tucker Teddy will be going home with my nephew on Christmas morning. I hjope he will be loved and carried around the house and be snuggled in close when it's time to dream. Versus eaten by the dog. That would make me super sad. Truth be told, this little dude was way more work than I thought he would be.

But as long as he is loved and carried around the house and snuggled in close when it's time to dream, he'll be worth every stitch.

And I love his little bear butt that sticks up in the air. The original pattern had a pom pom tail, but I like him better this way.

Project: Tucker Teddy (Rav Project Page)

Pattern: Tyler T. Tucker Teddy  (Rav link) by bjfromnv

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease

Colorways: Taupe & Maize

Needle Size: US 6

The pattern used wool worsted yarn for this project, but I really really really like the vintage-y look of the Cotton Ease. I especially like how it gives this bear a loved on look. The downside with the cotton is that it showed the increases and decreases much more than a wool probably would have since the stitches are so defined. This yarn is a 50/50 cotton acrylic blend, so I'm hoping it will stand up to the anticipated loving, carrying around the house, and snuggling close when it's time to dream. Or have a fighting chance aganist the less desired dog on bear scenario.



Coming Home Bebe Set

There are few things that are constants in my life. These include:
 * I will always have a typo in emails to people that like to catch me making mistakes.
 * Walking into a yarn shop or fabric store will result in a purchase.
 * My cat will stand on me and meow at 2am when I have an important meeting in the morning.
 * As a female in my late 20's my friends are reproducing like rabbits and there will always be a baby gift to be made.

(That was actually an incredibly hard list for me to think of. I apparently have few constants.)

This fall there are a couple of friends popping out offspring. I have already discussed the quilt finished for one. Now for the adorable hat and bootee set I just finished for the other.

While making my Christmas list and checking it twice last week I also realized that I had baby gifts to make. (As well as a hat for a baby turning one in December!) I sent my friend a text to ask her to remind me if they are having a girl or a boy. She sent me back a "Haha. We aren't finding out. :P" reply. She has heard me rant and rave about what a pain in the ass it is to craft in gender neutral. Yes, it is all about me. Thanks for asking.

I'm pretty happy with how this set turned out.

The hat is made using the Bring Me Home Hat pattern from French Press Knits. It was hard to figure out a hat pattern to go with since I had to make sure to find a happy medium between girl and boy. I liked the simplicity of this pattern. And I just happened to have a skein of Blue Sky Organic Cotton in my stash. I'lll be honest. It took some serious soul searching for me to bring myself to use this skein. I had to fight aganist the hoarder in me because this yarn is L.U.S.C.I.O.U.S. It was a phenomenal experience knitting with it. It is so soft and buttery. Sorry, sidetrack. I know blue is traditionally baby boy color, but this is a new time, people.

Coming Home Hat Ravelry Project Page

The Saartje's Bootee's pattern by Saartje Knits has become a bit of a baby standby for me. I mean, c'mon. They are amazingly cute, a great use of sock yarn leftovers, and even on US 1's a surprisingly fast knit. And they always get rave reviews! The Paton's Kroy Socks Stripes I used for these wasn't even my leftover, but some yarn a friend threw my way that she didn't have a use for.

And I love the buttons with these!

Coming Home Bootees Ravelry Project Page

So, a couple more gift knits are done and ready to go to a new home! Now only twelve more projects to go...