FO Round-up: Christmas Edition #1

I hope that everyone had a fun Christmas this year :) I know I'm a bit late in reporting on all my finished projects, but it's been that crazy time of year. I'm happy to report that I finished almost all the items I originally planned to make up - pretty awesome! I guess I made a good choice in starting my projects in October, lol. The above photo is my immediate family on Christmas Eve - see where I get it from? 

Instead of doing an FO post for each item, I've decided to break them up into groups, so you can expect to see several of these posts for the next week. So, here goes ...

I made my sister, Kelly, a pair of mittens. This was my first ever mitten making experience, and aside from the cuff not being quite long enough they came out great. I used the Fastest Mittens pattern by PetitBeurre Knits, a free pattern on Ravelry. I didn't specifically pick this pattern because they were "fastest" - they were just the shape I wanted at the time. Originally I had planned on making these those mittens where you can hold your child's hand and both of your hands stay covered, but right when I was making the kid mittens my sister saw the toddler sized one and said, "Why would you make my kid mittens? We live in Florida!" - you can see why I decided not to proceed, right? lol I was afraid she would think this was a pointless gift, but the mittens were already made. She did like them though, so there's that. I used SMC Northern Worsted Wool in Lilac for these (from my stash) and this yarn worked up really nicely. I test drove the first mitten while walking the dog one night and I can attest that they are nice and warm. The pattern was very simple, but it if you use it yourself I would be careful of the distance between the ribbing and the thumb hole. I was worried at the time that it was too short, and it did end up being too short - I should have trusted my instincts. It doesn't make them unwearable or anything, just something I will pay attention to next time around.

My sister, Marisa, requested sewn headbands. I've already knitted her several to be worn in the cold, but she wanted some she could wear in any temperature. I really had no more specifics from her and I didn't want to give away what her gift would be, so I just made a variety of thicknesses in different fabrics. All of these fabrics were in my scrap bag, so this was a very efficient project. Even my elastic was from the stash. The one with the jockeys on it (she likes horses so I thought she would be amused) is reversible and has light blue on the underside. It turns out that her favorite one is the pink leopard print one, not just for the pattern but for the thickness. Now I know what she likes for next time :) I was able to make all of these in one evening, probably about 3 hours total. It was a nice project and she seemed to like them.

This was another project that I loved at first and then got really worried that the recipient would not like it. My sister, Shannon, lives in Japan so she is really the only family member that could use any truly warm accessories (it actually snows in Tokyo). Also when I planned this hat, she was told she would have to move to Minot, North Dakota - talk about cause for lots of wooly items! I've always loved the Escargot pattern, a free cloche hat on Knitty, but I never wear hats myself so I hadn't made it yet. I thought she might like the design too, so I whipped it up for her. It's a crazy pattern! You cast on the brim of the hat as well as the length you need for the spiral and knit back and forth (not in the round) for quite a while. You cause the spiral to curl over on itself as you knit with well placed decreases, then you join and knit the rest of the hat in the round. I finished the actual knitting of this in just a few days while watching tv, but then I procrastinated the blocking and sewing the spiral down for a month of two, lol. I was really happy with it when it was finished, but sadly it ended up a bit big (womp womp). She still likes the hat though, and it's a style that really doesn't have to be tight so I think it will still get worn. I used all wool for this hat in preparation for Minot (which now is not happening) - the gray is Lion Brand Lion Wool in Pearl Gray and the purple variegated is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Alpine Pearl. Both of these yarns came from a thrift store (I know, right?!), so this was a very economical project.

This project is the only one that I didn't finish in time, but it was absolutely not for lack of trying! My brother specifically requested a brain hat - he had seen one on Facebook and thought it was awesome. I saw it and knew I would go crazy knitting so much i-cord, so I looked for a crocheted alternative and found the Brainy Maniac pattern in the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Crochet Today magazine - which I happened to have :) I will confess I procrastinated this thinking it would be a very quick project since it was crocheted, so I didn't start until a few days before Christmas. I finished the actual beanie in a few hours - it's just single crochet, totally easy. Then you have to start the ruffles for the brain ... the pattern shows you the strange squiggle that you need to make your stitches in to give that "brain quadrant" look - it took some playing around, but I got there in the end. Then you just single crochet along that line you made - when you reach the end, you sc 2 in each stitch all the way back again - then you sc 2 in each stitch again for the third row - then you sc 2 in each stitch AGAIN for the fourth row. The line looks more brainy with each round, but holy cow does that end up being a lot of stitches! As I was finishing the final row on the left frontal lobe (I already had the right one made) ... I ran out of yarn! I used Vanna'c Choice in Dusty Rose for the beanie and in Linen for the "brains" - I had 1.6 skeins of the Linen in my stash, so I figured it would be no problem to make it up with what I had. I was definitely wrong. I still am in amazement at how much yarn it took for the ruffles AND I HADN'T DONE THE BACK HALF YET! It was crazy. I gave it to him as is and promised to finish later on...

But he loved it as it was! lol He kept calling it his "George Washington Wig" (he was wearing it backwards so the pink part looked like his forehead). I've got the yarn now, but he says he may just want to keep it that way, lol. I think it's pretty funny. He may change his mind and want a brain later on, but at the moment he's happy with his weirdly curly wig.

So that's the first installment of Christmas gifts I made - stay tuned for more in the coming week!

FO: Luke's 2nd Birthday Present

(Warning - this was a large project which translates to a long blog post with lots of pictures - you've been warned!) :)

Well, it's that time of year again - when I come up with some awesome idea for my nephew's birthday and then give myself barely enough time to accomplish it, lol. In my defense this time I have had this planned since July/August, and I had all the amigurumi completed by a week and a half ago, I just put off the sewing until last night. At least it's an improvement from last year when I made the fishing pole about 30 minutes before the party :) Yay, progress! Anyway ... here's what I made this year:

It all started when I discovered Lucy Ravenscar's patterns - which include all the main characters from the old Star Wars series. My sister and her husband are big Star Wars nerds (I mean, their son's name is Luke, ok? this was no coincidence), so I knew that these would be a big hit. Luke himself may not know who these people are, but he certainly will soon anyway. I figure he may not appreciate this so much quite yet, but he will grow into them. So, let's look a little closer at these guys :)

Originally, my plan was much grander. I wanted to make ALL THE PATTERNS! But when October rolled around and I realized how much time each one of these figures take to make, I shortened my to-do list a bit. I figure I covered the top 5 here (and then I have more characters to make for other occasions - I'm looking at you, Christmas!). I did make one small change to how these are made - I used worsted weight yarn and a size H hook like I always do. This made the figures bigger than the pattern intends, but I think that's a good thing :)

Luke Skywalker came first (of course). I made half of his head and when I went to get eyes for him out of my safety eye stash I discovered a hiccup - the pattern calls for 7.5 mm eyes which are a specialty size (meaning Joann's and Hobby Lobby don't have them, and therefor I don't have them). I had to make a decision - spend $15.00 ordering all the eyes I would need for the whole cast of characters (so I didn't have to order them again in a month or so), or make felt eyes. Since I'm trying to be ultra frugal right now, I opted for felt eyes. Thank heavens for Sizzix Paddle Punches :) Love those things. Anyway, I made all of the figures first and added their eyes later. I majorly raided my stash for all the yarns used in these since you need very little of most colors. Luke is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (his skin), Chocolate (his belt), and Linen (his boots) as well as Loops & Threads Impeccable in Yellow (his hair) and Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (his clothes) with some random scraps of black for his mouth.

Han Solo came next since he and Luke are the same, just different color combos :) Han was a bit more complicated due to his colorwork, but still nice and easy :) I love the little stripe of red on the sides of his pants! Such a cool detail. Han is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Toffee (hair), Chocolate (belt),and Black (vest and shoes) as well as Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (shirt) and Really Red (stripe) and Red Heart With Love in Peacock (pants).

Princess Leia followed. I was worried her buns would be hard, but they are just flattened 3-d circles - so simple! Leia is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Chocolate (hair), Cranberry (lips) and White (dress) as well as Patons Canadiana (Vintage) in Silver (belt). I decided to get fancy and add eye lashes to her eyes as well.

Yoda was another simple design. The pattern includes two versions (like this or with a removable robe) - I went for the simplest option. His ears are also very cleverly made. Yoda is made using Red Heart With Love in Lettuce (skin), Patons Canadiana in Flax (clothes), and Vanna's Choice in Chocolate (belt) with a scrap of black for his mouth.

Darth Vader was the last figure I tackled for this gift. I'm glad I waited to make him last because he was definitely the most complicated of all. He wasn't too difficult or anything, but much more so than the others. The construction order is pretty neat and I love that the head is all one piece including the helmet (meaning you don't sew the helmet on later). You do sew the nose on, which I just couldn't get quite as triangular as the pattern example photo - sadly mine looks a bit more like a black pig snout, lol. Oh well, you have to look really close to even see it at all since it's all one color. I do really love the embroidered tummy area. It was a pain to do, but totally makes the design. Darth is made using Vanna's Choice in Black with Patons (Vintage) Canadiana in Silver along with scraps of green and red. Darth has felt eyes as well, but I didn't add white French knots since they are just part of his helmet. Darth's cape is a solid piece of felt that I whip stitched to the back of the neck. The pattern includes an actual pattern piece for the cape, but since I used larger yarn I had to scale it up considerably. 

I was really happy with all of these patterns. Everything is explained really well and each figure took 2 to 3 hours to make, so really not bad at all. Interestingly enough you can no longer buy these individual patterns, but it's because Lucy Ravenscar got a book deal! How exciting :) Star Wars Crochet will be available to buy in spring of 2015. You can see all her particulars here.

Now for the bag ...

I hadn't really thought much about making a bag until I came across this adorable fabric on Spoonflower (I would post a link but it seems to not be available anymore). I ordered an 8x8" swatch of Eco Canvas knowing I would incorporate it somehow - I just didn't know how until Friday night, lol.

The black is actually some kind of old polyester table cloth that felt canvas-like. I got it at a thrift store in their fabric section a while ago for something like $0.50. The previous owner had already cut a big section off, so it was perfect for my purpose. Even my zipper was one of the crazy bag full that were $0.10 each. Hooray stash busting!

So since I only had a few hours, I buckled down and decided on a bag design. I chose to make a box bag with handles and I wanted to make it big enough to accommodate the whole collection of figures when I get them done. Look at my "oh so official" pattern, lol. I decided to make it 12" tall x 11" wide and 3.5" deep - I just added 1/2 seam allowance to all sides and and cut them out with a rotary cutter.

I put in the zipper first - the one I had in my stash was 9" long so I had to get creative with extra fabric to cover the space it left since I wanted the zipper exposed from the top for a nice pop of color. I used Wonder Tape to set the zip in place before sewing it in - man how did I even insert a zipper before I knew about this stuff?! I'm not sure if I did the rest of construction in the "correct" order, but I sewed the narrow strips together for the sides first. Next I turned the edge under on the pocket twice and sewed it on as a patch pocket - I did it this way so I could use as much of the swatch fabric as possible. Once the pocket was on, I sewed the front and back pieces to the edges. I added the strap after the rest was completely constructed - they are just two lengths of polyester grosgrain ribbon from my stash. I made sure to really go over where the straps connect to the bag several times to make sure they are very secure. Once that was done, I finished all the inside seams with pinking shears and then pressed the daylights out of everything to make it look more professional - it's amazing the difference that makes, really.

And here is the finished product :) I figure the bag can be used for lots of other purposes as well. It doesn't stand up on its own, so I stuffed it with netting for these pictures, lol.

All the nice finished details :) Look at the insides of that pocket! Mmm... love it. I burned the heck out of my fingers while pressing under those tiny edges, so I am particularly proud of the insides. I wanted to make sure the canvas wouldn't fray with use though, so it was worth it for the bag to have more durability. The top stitching isn't perfect since I used a weird foot (I just grabbed one with a guide I could follow and it didn't have quite as much tension as usual. It's close enough though and like a kid is really going to notice anyway :) I'm also quite proud of how nice the zipper looks. All in all my bag came out very boxy just like I wanted :) And as you can see all the figures fit in it quite nicely.

I love the results :) It's funny - this year's gift was so much more work, but definitely not as well loved by the kiddos. I know Luke will grow into them though.

Poor guy - he was much happier than he looks in the photo. He hadn't napped all day and it was about 6:30 pm when we did presents at his party. It was a Halloween themed party and he was Russell from UP! My sister was Kevin (the bird) and her husband was Carl. They looked really cute :) Luke was a little preoccupied by his other noise making presents, but Kelly and Nick were very excited so it's all good. I think these will end up as room decor until Luke is old enough to know what they are, lol.

Anyway, the secret is finally out! Yay! lol I hate keeping big projects like this a secret, but I do love the reactions to the reveal. The cat is now out of the bag for subsequent gifts since I plan on increasing the set, but I know they will be well loved. 

Happy Birthday, Luke!

FO: Mindful Marion

Well guys, I have finished another sweater :) This time I managed to finish this in 3 weeks and 3 days - a personal record - and I didn't have to give up on the rest of my life while I made it, so that's a good sign :) I made this to participate in the Marion Knit Along with Andi Satterlund (the pattern designer herself). I've always loved this sweater as I saw others make it, so I decided this was a prime opportunity to try it out for myself at long last.

I'm going to lay it all out for those of you who haven't been along for the full ride :) I knew I wanted to make this sweater, but I also knew I needed to make it out of yarn in my stash since I'm on ultra-frugal-mode right now. I have a few wool yarns, but nothing that really spoke to me for this sweater, plus my last wool sweater was hot as the dickens (causing me to still not wear it - ugh, Florida). I do happen to have an obscene amount of Caron Simply Soft yarn though. Back when I first started knitting, Walmart was my "local yarn store" (so sad, I know), and when they put most of their yarn aisle on clearance I sprung into action ... leaving me with 11 (yes, ELEVEN!) skeins of this yarn in this colorway called Blue Mint. I had no idea what I would make with it at the time, but at $1.50 each that is still the best price I've ever gotten on this yarn so at least I did well money-wise. Anyway, now that I know much more about yarn and knitting (2 years later), this yarn just sits there taking up a ridiculous amount of space in my closet. I thought, "I wonder how this sweater will turn out in an acrylic yarn?" After a little research to make sure I wasn't setting myself up for disaster, I made the decision and off I went.

The sad part is that in my research I really couldn't find much of anything to tell me it would turn out ok. Most of the blogging world is full of yarn snobs and wool purists it seems. Us sad, uneducated bumpkins with our cheap yarn must cower and hope none of our wool-wearing cohorts notices what our sweater is made of. Frankly, I decided to use this yarn just as an experiment for myself. Happily, my experiment was a big success! Does this yarn have its faults? Absolutely. But I still have yet to find any yarn that I 100% love (and for the person who decides to comment and say that's just because I haven't bought "really nice yarn" before, the answer is No. I would not feel 100% happy with any really expensive yarn either because I would feel ridiculously extravagant every time I put it on. End rant.)

Anyway, so my Marion is knit with the recommended needle size and this time around I decided to play with customizing the size a bit more for my body. This is my 3rd sweater from an Andi Satterlund pattern, so I felt confident about what I could expect fitting-wise. My adjustments were still quite basic: I knit the size L up til the waist decreases, then switched to the instructions for the size XL. I made the sleeves in size L and ended them 1 decrease set early because I like my sleeves to hit just below the elbow.

When I had the knitting finished, I realized I had yet to pick out buttons for it. Oops. I shopped my stash and came across these fancy fabric knot buttons that my friend Tara gave me. To be honest, I never thought I would use these buttons in a million years. When I saw them in my stash, I was still skeptical. Could they match too well? I'm not usually one to go for matchy-matchy, but I just could not deny the hand of fate in this choice. These buttons are: the exact color as my yarn, the right size, have a texture that compliments the cables, and I only had 5 in my stash. I think in the end it was the fact that I had the exact number I needed for this project - no more weird knotted fabric buttons languishing in disuse. Hooray! One thing I did have to do differently was blocking this due to my yarn choice. You can't just wet block an acrylic yarn, you would be wasting your time. You have to block this stuff with steam. This was another dicotomized issue around the internet - some swore steam blocking would ruin your yarn, other said it was the best way to go. I decided to proceed with caution, keeping the actual iron at least 2 inches from the sweater to avoid scorching/melting. I pinned the sweater out to the size specifications first, then went over each section with the steam, making sure to blast steam directly at any places that needed extra effort. I paid particular attention to the cables and made sure to puff them up as I went. All worked out great :) I just left it pinned with a fan pointed at it until it was dry again and we were good to go!

I will confess that my sleeve adjustment was a last minute decision. As I finished the 2nd to last decrease of the pattern, I decided to try the sweater on. Seeing that I liked where it was going to hit at that point, I just began the ribbing. It was too late to figure out how to incorporate this change into the fancy cuff design, but I was able to just knit the extra stitches creating an additional rib piece. The extra knit section is along the underarm seam, so now one will ever know it's there unless I show them. I won't tell if you won't :) I do absolutely LOVE the little cables in the sleeve ribbing - probably more than is acceeptable, lol. I don't care though, I point out those cute little twists to anyone who will listen.

All in all I had a lot of fun making this sweater :) The knit along was fun to read everyone else's design choices and see everyone's progress. I particularly enjoy reading about other people's fitting notes (I'm a knitting nerd, I know). I would definitely be tempted to join in another one of Andi's KALs (I really wish I had bit the bullet and worked on her Christmas Sweater KAL - such a good idea!).

The day after I finished this sweater, we had a freak cool front here and the temp went into the mid 70s. This was just enough of a low for me to wear this and not die of heat stroke, so I wore it to work that day :) It was super comfy, not to hot, and got several compliments from random customers who had no idea I made it - that's a score in my book, lol. My only issue I had was that the shoulder seams came out a bit boxy. I've never had this happen with any of Andi's other designs, so I'm chalking it up to my yarn choice. One of these days I will try steam blocking the seams on a tailor's ham to try to push them down, but I just haven't felt like it yet. Other than that, I love this sweater :) So yay!

Oh, for anyone who is curious, I name the the "Mindful Marion" because of all that happened while I was making it. I had some of the most stressful experiences of my life toward the end of this project, so I would just knit and think things over - knitting is great for that :) Things still aren't completely fixed, but they are much better and I know everything else will work out. Knitting is such a great activity for just thinking, you know? I'm glad I have this ability to help me through the ups and downs of life.

Anyway, I definitely recommend giving this pattern a try if you feel the inclination. Those cables are just too cute! That said I think this will be my last Andi pattern for a while in the sweater department. A girl needs to branch out sometimes, you know? I'm plugging right along with my Emelie which is quite different from all the previous sweaters I've made in so many ways. Lots of fun expanding my knitting skills though :)


Summary:
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Blue Mint, 2.09 skeins (658 yards), $3.25
Pattern: Marion by Andi Satterlund, $5.20
Buttons: 5 vintage knotted fabric buttons from stash, Free :)
Time: 3 weeks and 3 days