Finished Knit: Baby Blanket and Hat

I finished the Easy Eyelet Baby Blanket with some yarn left over, so I decided to make a hat. I'm quite pleased with the hat, actually. I carried every 11th and 12th purl stitch from the ribbing up through the stockinette as garter. Then I decreased one stitch on each side of those purl stitches every other row, which resulted in a little star shape at the crown.

Just a little something extra for knitterly interest. The baby is due next month, so I figure even if this hat only fits at the very beginning, it'll be useful. I have a hard time with baby head sizes. My first baby had an enormous head. Of course that was the only baby that wasn't a c-section. I remind him of this when I get a chance. And then my next baby was six weeks early. I think my third and last was of an average baby size, but like I said. I have a hard time with baby head sizes. The mother-to-be works with my husband, so this will be ready for him to deliver next week, when he returns stateside from his latest business trip, so she will have it, hopefully, before the baby is born.

The details are on Ravelry here. I used Cascade 220 Superwash because I don't know the new mama well enough to say whether a fussier-to-wash yarn would be okay. My younger two children pet it and remarked how soft it is and how much a baby will enjoy it. My kids are fans of my knitting, which is nice.

And that's about it! Easy knitting, soft blanket. I'm a little behind on Art Every Day Month but hope to post on that soon...ish. I discovered you can download USGS topographical maps online. Holy moly. Old ones, too. Down a rabbit hole, I fell. Just dig down through the maps, and you'll find me...

Garter Stitch

I began this blanket a few weeks ago--it's intended for a baby due in December--but I made huge progress on it this past week. It's a simple garter stitch blanket that grows out from one corner, then decreases down to the opposite one (Easy Eyelet Blanket). I've knit it numerous times, including one for each of my own children, which are still on their beds. It's a blanket that well outlives the baby years. And, as the name says, it's easy. And there is nothing like garter stitch to soothe a knitter.

I knit loads on this blanket while waiting for Sandy, during the storm, and after. I worked on it during my middle child's allergist appointment. It sat in my lap while I kept him calm during the scratch test. This blanket grew so much this week, it's almost done. I hope none of the anxiety transfers to the baby. I may have to give it a wash first, just to be sure.

We are fine...far enough from the coast that we didn't need to evacuate. We lost power for much of Tuesday--it stayed on all through the storm, but then they shut it off while they were making repairs in the area. A huge tree was down, all tangled up with wires, not too far from here, and I think our power went out when they began working on that. Truly, we were lucky in Rhode Island. Damage to coastlines and buildings but not people. I've signed up to help with debris clean-up this weekend (I'm waiting to hear if/where I've been assigned), and I've donated online to help victims further away. And I keep knitting, because it soothes my anxiety, which seems to have increased, generally, with age.

Garter stitch, garter stitch, garter stitch.

I hope all of you and all those you know and love are safe, every day. It's what we all hope for, isn't it? Every day.

Birthday Shirt

It's about that time of year again...

I realized when I made last year's shirt that I was going to have to make this a tradition. This year, though, it's not a surprise (although she won't see the finished shirt until her birthday). She just assumed it was coming because, after all, her number is changing, so she needs a new shirt. She had advance say on colors and design. In the end, she chose what I wanted to do anyway--a four with a crown--although for a while there we were awash in her initial in a circle with a crown and the four. I'm happy simplicity won out.

Goodness. I love that design, I really do!

I also really enjoyed sharing photos of where I live in the last post. Here's one more, a different pond that I drove by four times today (on the way to and from preschool gymnastics, and on the way to and from karate).

I didn't have my camera earlier in the day, so this was taken about 5 pm and it's not as vibrant, but still. Autumn is pretty here this year. Last year we sort of missed the colorful part entirely thanks to Hurricane Irene. The leaves that weren't stripped were salted, or something like that. There are a couple of trees on the way into town that are, as my son put it, so bright that it hurt his eyes to look at them. Next time I go in that direction I'm going to have to make time to stop, find a safe place to pull over, and take some photos.

Finally, I signed up for the Art Every Day Challenge. It takes place in November. I don't think I'll be posting every day, but I hope to have something to show for every day, when I do post. By the end, I'd like 30 postcard-sized pieces of artwork. I'm thinking of a variation on a theme--an animal per day, or 30 trees...something like that. Usually, if I make time to draw, it's a better day.

Before that, though, I need to sew up a sparkly cape. I didn't think I was sewing anything for Halloween this year, but the almost-four-year-old has other plans, and who can argue with the Birthday Girl?

Finished Knit: Sparkly Pink Sweater

You can't really see the sparkles, but they're there. The yarn is Dream in Color Starry; the pattern is Daisy Cardigan; the full notes are here on Ravelry. I began on US 5s, took it out and started over on US 6s. Much better. I'd forgotten how much this picot bindoff curls up, especially with wool, but when I asked the girl if I should try to block it out a bit more, she said, "No! I like the curl!" She wore it for a bit, but it's not quite sweater weather, not yet. Not for her, anyway. She's still wearing shorts and sandals half the time. Who am I to argue? She lets me know if she's cold.

Anyway, the pink sparkly thing? Kinda freaking adorable. The other day she was rummaging through our dress-up basket and informed me, "This house needs more sparkles." She wants to have jewels for Halloween. She suggested gluing them to herself. I suggested we go shopping for some costume jewelry, but in the face of her idea, I felt boring and a bit, well, lacking in a certain sparkle, no? Her sneakers are silver and sequin-y. She definitely brings sparkle to my days.

I'd have been done with her sweater slightly sooner, but partway through I took a short break to knit some baby things.

The yarn isn't quite this dullish; it was a dull grey day. It's quite pretty, actually, with some violet in there, so I when I went stash rummaging I thought this would work okay for a baby girl, the granddaughter of someone I know. The yarn was, I'm quite sure, a gift from someone, and I'm not sure where the label has gotten to, but I'm pretty sure the colorway was Passionfruit and I know it's merino with some nylon in there. Never mind all that; who can resist wee bitty baby socks?

I have So Many Big Things I want/need to knit, so instead of starting any of them when I finished the pink sparkly sweater, I cast on for a pair of socks. Knitterly avoidance, I guess. I'm not wrapping my head around some of the Big Things just yet.

I'm still grumpy about it being autumn, but knitting while watching football and drinking hot coffee isn't terrible, so there's that.

Sewn: Mermaid Pouch

On one of the posts with zippered pouches, Cameron commented that she'd be interested in one if I ever got my hands on some mermaid fabric. Turns out, I had a yard of Heather Ross Underwater Sisters tucked away, and a brown zipper that matched perfectly. It's quilting cotton, which doesn't have the nice weight of the upholstery fabric that I think is just perfect for these pouches, so I decided to try fusible interfacing for the first time. Cameron also wondered if I'd be able to do a strap, so that was another new addition for me.

I think it came out adorable.

I fussy cut so one of those mermaids ended up on each side of the exterior pouch. The inside has the same fabric.

I continue to have issues getting the open sides of the zipper to meet perfectly on the side seam--they shift a bit. I wonder if this is because you have to sew the sides together with the zipper open? I wonder if there is a better way to keep those loose ends from sliding, if perhaps I have to pin the heck out of it right there, which is tough, because that's the thickest part of the seam (where the raw edges of the lining fabric and exterior fabric are piled up with the edges of the zipper--lots of layers) and because the zipper is hidden on the inside while I'm pinning. I'll have to think on that a bit. This pouch had even more going on right there because of the strap ends.

That little imperfection aside, I still think this little wristlet pouch is just too cute. And my zipper foot doesn't intimidate me at all anymore. Sheer repetition will make anything easier, eventually!

Sewn {Obsessively}: Zippered Pouches

I spent last week easing into the new schedule around here. It's not like I've been sleeping in all summer--my daughter made sure of that--but getting up, showered, packing lunch, and being outside with my oldest by 7:45 to wait for the bus (I hate waiting for the bus in my pajamas; I need to be showered and dressed first) took its toll last week while my body adjusted. One night, I lay down at 6:30 intending to rest my aching head for fifteen minutes. I woke up three hours later. It's hard to get any crafting done when you're unconscious during your crafting time!

Nonetheless, I made slow-but-sure progress, assembly-line style, with a dozen zippered pouches.

My present closet is pretty stocked now, wouldn't you say?! When I ordered the 8" zippers for my sons' pencil pouches, I added in ten white 5" zippers to make more of the smaller pouches using that great upholstery cotton, including the purple and green version I bought at the same time I bought the camo fabric for the pencil pouches. The purple and green pencil pouch is mine, for bringing supplies back and forth to the art class I'll be teaching at our homeschool co-op. I'll be making my daughter a pink pencil pouch, with a black zipper, so it wasn't included in this assembly line, which used white thread. Not shown is one more camo pencil pouch, which has already been mailed to my nephew, who had trouble finding non-girly pencil pouches to fulfill his school supply list. But that leaves ten small pouches for the present closet, and I adore them all.

As I said, these were sewn assembly-line style, with the last step being hand-sewing the turning opening in the lining. Up until this point I've just run them through the machine, but I had eleven to do, and my husband and college football were upstairs, while the sewing machine is downstairs. It's been a while since I sat and hand-sewed; it's so enjoyable. I'm feeling the need for some hand-sewing or embroidery projects soon.

I'm not quite sure I'm done with the zippered pouches yet. I'm still not perfect with the zippers. I'm much better at sewing them in, and a top-stitched zipper makes me nearly smug with satisfaction. I don't always sew the sides perfectly evenly though, which leaves a bit of a jog where the zipper ends don't meet quite exactly. So I suppose there is nothing to do but practice some more, yes?!

And...happy September! My anniversary AND my birthday fall in September, which I suppose will (maybe?) help take some of the sting out of the end of summer. It went too fast...

Gifts for Nieces

Last week I made a couple of small things for my nieces, which of course couldn't be shared until I gave them to them yesterday. My oldest niece turned sixteen last week, and she'd asked for a special birthday shirt, like the one I made my daughter. Of course, I was happy to make her one!

There are some smudgy bits that I'm not happy with, but I stopped myself from pointing out each and every one to my niece. Once the first coat of paint had dried, I had to touch up a few spots, so I did, but those spots (don't know why) began to look different as they dried, so I covered the whole thing with an even coat of paint, but those touched-up spots still look different to my eye. This has never happened before with this paint, so I'm not sure what caused it or what to do differently next time. Other than that, I think it's adorable and it looked really nice on my terribly grown-up looking niece.

Since we were bringing gifts for my oldest niece and a gift for my nephew (whose birthday was last month, but I was a little late!), I thought it would be nice to bring something for the youngest in the family, a five-year-old who has to wait all the way until February for another birthday. Using her Zodiac sign of Pisces as inspiration, I painted her a rock.

Black is her favorite color, and I wanted to use silver on the black, and she also likes pink...and thus the color scheme was set.

And my husband and I received a HUGE gift of our own--we left all three of our children with my sister after the birthday party and we spent the night in Boston. From about 5 pm Saturday night until about 1 pm Sunday, we were in Boston just us, doing grown-up things. We got dressed up and went out to dinner. We had brunch and I didn't have to stop eating to cut anyone's food. (It was fairly easy to find safe places for me to eat in Boston. It is such a treat to simply go out to eat.) We talked without anybody interrupting us. We slept past 7 am. When I say we have rarely managed to date since having children, that is a huge, huge understatement. This was like a decade of dates rolled into one, and it was long past-due.

(I have the best sister, don't I?)

A Better Zippered Pouch

The comments to my last post about zippered pouches had some really great links and advice, which is why I have two better zippered pouches to show off today.

These are sewn from cotton upholstery fabric liberated from my sister's stash. (She's moving and has to sell her house, so if you know anyone who wants to move to Middleboro, MA, and likes old sprawling houses, let me know.) (Also, I'm very, very sad she's moving even farther away. The fabric only helps a little.)

So anyway, it's a thicker cotton, and a sturdier-feeling pouch. Naomi shared this tutorial link, which helped immensely in two ways. Firstly, I added a line of machine topstitching on either side of the zipper, which easily and immediately elevated the pouch into something more polished. It also eliminates any sticky-zipper issues. Secondly, I followed the tutorial's helpful tips on pinning the outer-fabric side first and how to position the zipper teeth. Once the zipper is in and it's time to sew all the sides up, the whole thing is so bulky in the middle it doesn't lie flat, and I was struggling, on my own, with how to approach it. Yay for helpful tutorials and helpful commenters who direct you to them!

My three-year-old daughter claimed one of these as soon as she saw them. I decided the other one was a perfect new home for all those cards I was trying to squish into a too-small pouch.

This photo gives you a good view of the topstitching and how neatly the zipper lies now. Also you can see that I lined the pouch with the same fabric. I have a lot of it, and it just seems like it will put up with a lot of abuse. I really like it as a zippered pouch, but I'm out of zippers that match it (for now, anyway!). I think this fabric will also make a nice tote, so that's in the works, too. You know, eventually.

A couple of quick, unrelated things:

* After a bit of a break, I'm back at my other blog, too, because it's the best place to talk about any homeschooling/life-learning topics and activities. (I suspect it might be in transition for a bit.)

* I had my annual physical not too long ago, and I had him run another celiac panel, because last year my tTG number was falling but still not normal. This year it's about four points above the normal reference range, what the doctor called "not clinically significant." I'm really happy about this because I hope it means my body is just about healed from all the damage I unknowingly did to it.

Hope you had a great weekend! I expect I'll have some things to share this week from the Pages and Paint online workshop, which started out great last week.

{How To} Sew a Quick + Easy Headband

Sewing headbands is addictive...

Since I sewed my first headband, I've made a few (ahem; quite a few) more for myself and my daughter. It took me a few tries to get the length and width just right, but once I did, I was off and running. I've sewn these on the machine and by hand; either way they are quick and easy gratification, and they keep my long, unruly (especially in the humidity of summer) hair off my face.

It's been a while since I shared a tutorial, and I thought it would be fun to show how I make these. I scanned in my adult template and child template as a Google doc. The child one is sized to fit my three-year-old daughter's head. The elastic makes it adjustable, but you may want to fiddle with the length or width a bit for an older child. (I aim to get the finished length to run from just behind one ear to just behind the other.) Just remember not to make the end openings any narrower than they are now, or it's just too hard to turn them right-side out. The templates are for half of one side of the headband--print them full size on 8.5x11 paper, but trace the outline against the fold of a larger sheet of paper. (Or you could cut two pieces and tape them in the center.) If this doesn't make sense, it should once you see the pics below. Okay, enough of the small details. Let’s get started!

For an adult headband, you’ll need enough fabric to cut out two pieces. A fat quarter is definitely enough. You could use two different prints and make it reversible. You could embroider your headband like I did with my denim one. Play around! You’ll also need about 5.5 inches of elastic (a little less for a child). I usually use woven, but the scrap I grabbed for this is knit. Take your full-size template and trace it onto your fabric. If you’re not fussy cutting (to get a particular part of the fabric onto your headband, like I did with the dogs here), just fold your fabric right sides together and trace, then cut out both pieces at once.

Sandwich your elastic on the inside. You can leave a little poking out the end.

Then pin your pieces together on three sides. Begin sewing (1/4” seam allowance) at the end without the elastic, but leave yourself a little room--a half inch or so--at the end. Otherwise, it’s really hard to turn it rightside out.

When you get to the end of the first long side, pivot and then sew back and forth over the elastic a couple of times.

Pivot and head down the second long side, being careful not to catch the elastic as you do.

Once you’ve sewn all three sides, turn it rightside out (grab hold of the end of the elastic to help you do this), then iron the seams flat. (You could press a bit before you turn, if you wanted to.) Fold the raw edges of the open side under and press.

Rather stained ironing board cover...

Tuck in the other end of the elastic and fit it to your head so it’s comfortable—not too tight, but not too loose, either. Then sew the opening shut, sandwiching the elastic inside. Again, go back and forth over the elastic a couple of times.

Pinned and ready to be sewn

You could topstitch all around if you want, but I never do. Here's this one all finished.

If you finish and realize the elastic isn’t quite right, no big deal. You can always adjust it. I made one too loose, so I just overlapped it and sewed it securely. I made one for my daughter much too tight, so I cut the elastic and inserted another piece to extend it, again, sewing it securely.

Finished headband--the modeled shot! So quick and easy, pretty and useful. So much to love in one little project.

Goofy self-portrait, so you can see it on.

Shared with my creative space...

Scratching the Itch: Zippered Pouches

Do you ever get it into your head to make something in particular, and then there's just no getting it out of your head until you do? Some time last week I decided I wanted to make little zippered pouches, to have on hand for gift-giving or just plain spontaneous generosity, not to mention I'd like a new one too. I'm not sure exactly where this idea came from. It might have been while I was trying to jam everything back into the small zippered pouch I use as a wallet. It's only a tad bit bigger than the size of a credit card, and I have so many cards that size stuck in there. It's fine to slip one or two out, but if I have to take them all out to look for something, it's really hard to get them all back in again.

Geez, I thought, I should just make my own. I might have had that idea while flipping through my copy of Sew What! Bags for fun one night (you do that too, right? just look through project books for fun?). There's a recipe in there for a wristlet, with the idea of modifying it to make a small zippered pouch. But where to get short zippers? I don't remember seeing them in Joann's. Etsy to the rescue! I ordered ten 5-inch zippers from zipit. With shipping I think they cost about sixty cents each. While I waited for them to arrive I cut 6.5" by 4.5" pieces from scraps, enough to make four pockets to start with. I chose plain outer fabrics (linen and scraps from an old, soft button-down shirt) so I could stamp them.

Clockwise from top left: Birch leaf; Irish moss; winter tree; summer tree.

A bit wonky in places, but cute! So cute!! They are just under 4x6 inches, and they are lined, of course. (They all have the same lining.)

So, I am still not great at zippers. My side seams don't line up exactly, and I don't seem to understand how the zipper foot helps anything, really, and I feel like I am actually sewing too close to the zipper, so the lining fabric tends to get stuck--especially in the one with the seaweed print (top right), where it really does get too close to the teeth in one spot. But yet, it also feels like too small of a seam allowance with the fabric. Maybe I shouldn't line the top of the zipper up exactly with the top of the fabric before sewing. If I position it down just a little bit so the stitching isn't so close to the top edge of the fabric, would that be a bad thing? Anyone have zipper-sewing tips to share?

Luckily, I have six more little zippers with which to experiment, and I know where to get more--in so many sizes and so many colors! Is it weird to feel like a kid in a toy store when faced with all those zippers?

Any creative urges just been nagging at you lately?

Linking up with my creative space...

Sewn: {Last-Minute} Teacher Tote

I'm so glad you all seem to be enjoying reading the Squam stories as much as I'm enjoying writing and sharing them. I have a couple more coming up, but tonight I wanted to share this last-minute teacher gift. I've been thinking of it as the "crazy bag" in my head, which isn't fair, because the bag itself isn't crazy. It's more me, kind of. Anyway, first the bag:

And excuse the poor lighting; I made it tonight and am gifting it tomorrow, so daylight photos aren't an option. Tomorrow, see, is the last day of school. It sort of snuck up on me, which is weird, because I've been counting down to it for months now. (I have a little song about school lunches, and how many more I had to make, to the tune of "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." And when I got home on Sunday, my husband said, "Packing the lunches sucks!" No kidding, I said. Haven't I been saying?) But anyway, this is the earliest we've ended since we started going to that school--no snow days this year. We did have four hurricane days right at the start, but we made up three over the course of the year. One year we had flood days--four of 'em. They are not kidding when they say anything goes, weather-wise, in New England.

So, right. If I'd have been here last week, I'd have been thinking of teacher gifts, but my husband was being me, and he is not the version of me that thinks of these things. Typically at the end of the year I try to do something for all the teachers and staff, rather than individually, like I try to do before the holiday break. So I'm bringing in two iced boxes of joe tomorrow morning to leave in the office. But my oldest has had the same teacher for three years in a row, and he's moving on, and we wanted to give her something besides the shared coffee. But what? Nothing seemed right. So at ten this morning I decided I needed to make her something, and I went and found this tote tutorial from Zaaberry that I'd pinned over a year ago.

Did I mention my sewing machine wasn't actually in my possession at that point? I'd left it to be serviced while I went away, and it was pouring yesterday so I didn't want to pick it up. I got it back this afternoon, came home, fed the younger kids lunch, decided upon fabric, and cut my pieces. Because my husband is away, I didn't get to start sewing this until 7:30, but it's a quick sew, at least. My one concession to time was to use the thread already in the machine, thinking I'd match fabric to it. But I decided the bag should be this linen combo, which doesn't really match blue, except I had no brown thread and nothing that would go any better than the blue, so I kept it.

Oh! Take a closer look at the leaf print.

That's a birch leaf stamp that I carved the other night. I just had to. I'm so delighted with it. It's going to show up on other projects...one I'm quite excited about but can't show you yet. I'm so pleased with this stamp, I decided it had to be incorporated in this bag--it's on both sides. I used liquid acrylic craft paint, both because I don't have brown textile paint and because it's quicker and works just as well for this sort of thing, and it doesn't need to be heat-set (and it still won't wash out).

The really cute thing about this bag (and the reason it has that great button, which came in one of my WhimseyBoxes) is that it folds up.

So his teacher can just have it in her bag and use it at the library or the farmers' market or wherever she may be this summer and in need of a re-usable bag. I'm kind of smitten with this bag altogether. We're going to say the blue thread was a design choice, and be very forgiving of the wiggliness of linen (I'd forgotten how it moves when you try to cut it, if I ever knew). My son, to his credit, also seemed pleased and appreciative and thought it was a good gift. I think he is also admiring of the way it folds up like that, like it's almost tactical or something.

I'm linking up with these creative folks (missed them last week!) and then I'm going to lie down...

Finished Knit: {A Better} Baby Yours

Two weeks ago I had just a back of a sweater; now I have the whole thing.

I don't usually photograph finished knits hanging up. But anyway. This is my second Baby Yours sweater (the first is here), and I'm much more pleased with this version, which has been modified all sorts of ways.

* I knit the six-month size in width, but to the length of the twelve-month size, and it looks way more proportional to me.

* I attached the fronts to the back at the shoulders using a 3-needle bindoff, wrong sides facing, instead of seaming. You can't even tell, because that portion is in garter stitch and it blends right in, but now the poky seam isn't on the inside where it can irritate sweet little baby shoulders.

* I picked up the stitches for the sleeves and knit them in the round, top down, eliminating the sleeve seam, which looked like it would irritate sweet little baby arms. I also ignored the pattern's instructions for increases (which would now be decreases) every four rows, and did them every ten, which worked out to every inch. The sleeves look better to me now.

They increase evenly, instead of weirdly. The pattern doesn't include a row gauge. The pattern doesn't include a row gauge. I paid $6.50 for this pattern, and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that complete gauge information should be included with patterns, especially boughten ones. My stitch gauge was spot on, but I had to go down a needle size. Perhaps if my row gauge matched the designer's, the sleeves in the first version I knit wouldn't look so weirdly sloped to me. But I don't know if that's the problem. If I knew the row gauge, I could do a little bit of math ahead of time and make sure everything matched up but the pattern doesn't include a row gauge.

Anyway, this left just the sides from the bottom to the underarm to sew up, and that's not an area where a seam is going to annoy a baby. I prefer my modded-out version of this pattern to the original, but I am also happy to be done with knitting baby sweaters for a while.

A view of the back, just because. It's really a lovely cable.

It seems like ages since I've knit anything for myself. I've been knitting for Other People's Babies since December. So I began something for myself, using stash yarn that turned out to be annoying...but that's a story for another day.

Linking up with our creative spaces...

Slow But Steady {Creative Space}

My husband arrived home Saturday night from his week in Belgium, and Sunday morning I woke up with a sore throat. A week of not-enough-sleep and feeling stressed, topped off by two hours outside on a raw, cloudy Saturday afternoon, could only result in a rollicking spring cold. The symptoms went downhill from there, which means not a lot of progress has gone on this week with anything creative, although I have consumed impressive amounts of lemon/honey hot water.

But I finished the back of the second Baby Yours sweater, thank goodness.

Besides being awesome open-ended play props, play silks make excellent backgrounds for photographs! The blue color is very true to life in this photo, and I'm wondering if that's because I chose an orange background (orange is blue's complement). I'll have to keep this in mind for future photographs of tricky-colored yarn. Back to the sweater: I'm knitting the 6-month size in width and the 12-month size in length, and I think that will make for a much more proportionate sweater. The shoulder stitches are on holders, awaiting their 3-needle bindoff when I finish the fronts. I really meant to be farther along on this by now, simply because I want to be done with it.

And that's it for this week's creative space for me, but you can find more creative souls right here.

Finished Knits: Mitts and a Baby Sweater

I have some knitted things to show you (and some I'm not showing you, since I managed to knit myself the most unflattering sweater ever...). First up, fingerless mitts knit for Jen:

This was the exclusive in the Squam store last month--the yarn is by Jill Draper and the pattern, Pinehurst, is by Natalie Selles, just for Squam. I didn't have even the least tug toward buying either, overwhelmed as I am by the bins of yarn in my basement and more than happy with my modified-to-suit-myself Evangeline mitts. (I've lost count how many times I've knit those mitts as gifts. I can nearly knit them in my sleep.)

However, when Jen mentioned in the Squam Ravelry Group that she'd pay someone to knit them for her, I offered to do it. For free, of course. I've pretty much decided not to knit for money, ever, because knitting needs to stay a centering activity for me (we're not talking about that unflattering sweater, remember?), not a stressy thing for income. So she had the yarn and pattern sent to me, and I asked, in return, that she learn how to knit.

The yarn is absolutely gorgeous, lovely and soft. The pattern gives lots of choices--type of cuff, length of arm, plus three sizes. This is the horizontal cuff, long arm, size medium. Supposedly you only need one skein to knit these in any size, but see that itty tangle of yarn in the photos? That's all I had left. I was weighing as I went. I did have some trouble with the numbers given for this size/cuff combo, and I emailed the designer as suggested in the pattern. Normally I'd just work it through on my own, not email, but I really wanted to send Jen the mitts exactly as designed. But I never heard back to my email--maybe it got caught in spam? Regardless, I reworked the numbers in question, referring to the numbers given for the small size as my starting point, and after that it was smooth sailing. (Ravelry project notes are here.)

Is it weird to offer to knit something for a relative stranger? I dunno. I don't think so...I wanted to offer, so I did. Not too long before that, she'd sent me a really nice email, out of the blue, about what I'd been struggling with as far as Lyme (this after I posted my February DDD of walking, to help with the pain and fatigue). It happened to land in my inbox on a day I'd been particularly discouraged with Lyme out in the real world. Would I have offered to knit for her if she hadn't made that connection? Dunno. I do know I like to knit, and I was more than happy to, well, make her happy. Good enough, right? It's kind of a people thing, in that, people should do nice things just because we're all people.

So anyway, that's the mitt story. Before them, I knit this:

That's the Baby Yours sweater (project notes here), knit for one of my son's teachers, whose wife is due with a boy early next month. I won't lie; I am not crazy about this sweater. Oh, it's cute enough (and isn't that little gift tag I made adorable?), but I'm worried it's too small, and it's wicked fussy to sew all those pieces together, plus the end result doesn't look comfortable to me, with seams at the shoulders, down the arms (and I don't like those increases either, the arm looks like it tapers too much toward a too-narrow cuff), and on the sides. I knit the smallest size because I figured, how long will a baby due in early April wear a sweater anyway? (Especially this year, geez!) But it looks super small to me. Maybe I've forgotten how tiny new babies are? Although I'm not sure my full-term babies were ever that small. (The preemie, yes, but even he was a good size for a 34-week birth.) I really hope the parents get at least some use out of this.

My original plan was to knit two of these, one for another upcoming baby, but now I'm not so sure. I bought enough Socks That Rock Mediumweight (colourway In the Navy) for two, but either I'm going to have to make some mods to get rid of those uncomfy-looking seams, or I'm going to have to find another boy-suitable pattern in sport weight.

Also, kind of random, but I kept wanting to ink up that cable and make a print of it. So I may be knitting that cable again either way, just to ruin it.

Anyway, there you go. Proof that I occasionally still knit, too.

How To: Lickety-Split Valentine's Day Napkins

When Valentine's Day falls on a school day, I like to tuck a surprise in my boys' lunches. Last year I wove a little heart out of paper and slipped a note inside. I was wondering what to do this year--and let's face it, I'm running out of time!--when I saw Maya's doily-printed coaster and I thought, Of course! Freezer paper! I love that stuff. I have a stack of white cloth napkins that I bought with embroidery in mind, but the fabric is all wrong for stitching. My kids take a cloth napkin in their lunch every day. Of course!

Materials: Freezer paper, heart hole punches or scissors, cloth napkin, textile paint (I like Speedball Screen Printing Inks), brush to apply

I began by cutting a square of freezer paper to fit in the corner of the napkin. Then I punched hearts into it, more or less dictated by how far the hole punch would reach. You can see that the cut-outs aren't perfect; it's not a very good hole punch, I don't think. (This is what I get for not waiting until I was at the store that carries Fiskars.) I neatened up best I could with an x-acto knife. If you don't have a heart hole punch, you could just cut some hearts the old-fashioned way with scissors.

Iron the freezer paper into the corner of the napkin, then dab on the paint.

I made five of them. Two will go to school with my boys, and the kids will each have one for Valentine's Day dinner. But also, there are five of us in the family, so we have a matching set for all of us, too.

When the paint is dry, heat set it (follow the instructions for your particular paint). And there you go--lickety-split Valentine's Day napkins. I made these after my kids were in bed Friday night.

This will be a sweet surprise in their lunch bag on Tuesday! And I was able to do it quickly and with supplies I already had on hand. Phew!

On the Double: Baby Blankets

About a week and a half before Christmas, my husband (inadvertently, in his defense) presented me with a knitterly dilemma. Through his work, he knows people the world over, and since he's been in his industry for nearly fifteen years, he's become close to many people that he may see only once or twice per year. That is why we can be surprised to hear that someone is pregnant with twins and due in eight weeks. That didn't give me much time to knit for two, especially given that twins come early an awful lot. Adding to the logic problem: the mother is currently in Germany, where her parents live, on bed rest, and the babies will be there for a couple months. But then they'll be in India, where the parents-to-be usually reside. That's a totally different climate. And twins could be small--or not. What size to knit for? What climate? Argh!!

I decided it had to be blankets--a one-size-fits-all gift. But given the climate differences, I didn't want to go heavier than sport/DK, so the blanket wouldn't be too heavy. And I wanted a luxury fiber. This woman, although I've never met her, is kind and generous and the type of person who sent my firstborn, when he was a toddler, a Ralph Lauren Polo button-down shirt and dress pants. (Yes, he wore them. Why not? What else to do with them? They certainly swanked up his typical Old Navy wardrobe.) She lives a sort of lifestyle I can't even imagine. I really felt I had to knit with as much luxury as I could swing, which is why I ended up ordering four skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina, which is superwash merino, cashmere, and silk. Did I mention she's not saying if the babies are girls or boys or one of each? I tried to pick a buttery yellow, although it's a bit more gold, and a not-mint green. Actually, I love the green. It's "thyme." I covet it.

And finally, I chose a pattern, the Garter Rib Baby Blanket. I figured the yarn was so lovely, I could use a simple stitch pattern and let the yarn do most of the work. This was a smart choice, especially considering how badly the doxycycline prescribed for Lyme affected my ability to think. I've never felt so routinely stupid in my life, so it's a good thing this pattern was so simple. I'd have never gotten these done as quickly otherwise. I only changed the pattern slightly, casting on an extra six stitches to add to the width. I used a US size 7 needle, which helped in blocking--these each blocked out to about 24" by 36", and they are not at all heavy.

They are, in fact, gorgeous, if I do say so myself. And amazingly soft. The two skeins of thyme matched perfectly, but the winter wheat did not, and I knit that one first. I didn't alternate skeins at the join, and I wish I had. My husband swears it's not as noticeable as I think it is. I alternated skeins at the join for the green one, and of course it ended up not being necessary at all. Just can't win. Can't not mention it either, though. I think it's good, in the long run, that these blankets are flying to Germany soon, or the yellow one would plague me forever.

But really, skein join notwithstanding, I think they are fabulous blankets, a very fine solution to my knitterly dilemma.

Super G Cape

My first made thing of 2012:

When she saw her cousin's superhero cape, my daughter naturally asked for one. And really, I've been remiss in not making her one sooner, since she's been wearing one or the other of her brothers' initials on her back for a while now. First she said blue, but when it came right down to it, she wanted a red one, too. So one day last week while her brothers were at a movie with dad, she and I went to buy some more red fabric. She picked out the fat quarters for the shield and her initial, too. Monday afternoon, I sewed. It was all done but the Velcro at the neck closure, which I sewed on by hand Monday night while she was in bed. When it was done, I hung it on her doorknob. She came into my room Tuesday morning holding it.

"My cape! Thank you for hanging it on my door handle." Then she asked me to put it on her.

Of course, when a super hero is wearing a cape, she needs to run.

And run.

Although if you ask nicely, she will stop for a second.

It might look like a cape, but what I really make is smiles. :)

Sewn + Embroidered Closet Sachets

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was very relaxing, which was just right this year, considering the lingering fatigue. Of course I still baked and cooked, but lots of time was spent in jammies, resting, reading, and knitting. This is a gift project that wasn't quite done heading into the last week before Christmas, so I finished it up in small bits. These were begun in September--I embroidered the pine cone motif on linen, then cut squares, hand sewed them, and finally, filled them with cedar shavings. Turns out there was really no shortcut for this part; it had to be done by hand, bit by bit. The shavings weren't going to fit through a funnel, and they didn't pour from a paper cup, either. When all four were filled, I sewed the filling holes shut.

They smell so nice, and they can be tucked into a drawer or hung in a closet. I gifted three of the four today. I really enjoyed making them. I didn't realize until I went looking for the first post that these were actually three months in the making. Of course it wasn't three solid months; I'd do a bit, put it aside, do the next step, and so on, in between other projects. But there's something nice about passing along, as a gift, something I've lived with for a quarter of the year. I hope they're hung in a visible part of the closet. I like to picture the recipients (my mothers-in-law, my sister-in-law, and my sister, who hasn't received hers yet but knows it's coming so this post is perfectly okay) opening the closet to grab a coat or sweater, seeing their hand-embroidered and -sewn sachet, and smiling. Because making these certainly made me happy.