FO: Christmas 2021

Winter of 2021 was a hard time for my family, but I still wanted to make somethings for the kids. I randomly came across these skeins of Sesame Street One Hat Wonder in Walmart on clearance a few months before and decided I wanted to knit hats for all the little kids - my two girls and my nephew. We had Sea World passes that year, so they got to go to Sesame Street and play and meet the characters anytime we went. They were obsessed, so I knew this was a good bet. I used my tried and true pattern - Basic Hat by Michelle of Ooo Baby Knits. It's a free pattern I've made a bunch of times and it worked great for this purpose as well. All the kids were thrilled and the stuffed animal on top really made all the difference. Oddly this is one of the only items I've made for the kids that I never took pictures of them wearing. It was a crazy time.

Now for the hard part of the season. My younger brother was killed in on December 2nd, 2021. He was walking through a cross walk and a car didn't stop. He was 21 years old, and it was a terrible time for my whole family. Since it was close to Christmas, some friends of my parents set up a Christmas tree for my mom (she loves Christmas, but she just couldn't do it herself), and we had all the guests at his funeral bring an ornament that reminded them of my brother. The tree is covered with things he loved and pictures of him - my parents still have the tree up in their living room to this day.

I knew I wanted to make an ornament for my brother. I always loved making him things - his birthday zombie, brainy beanie, various hats with beards, a knight's helmet. He always had requests for fun and quirky knit and crocheted items and he always loved them. He also always loved Spiderman - I was lucky enough to go to Universal with him in March of 2021 and he got himself a Spiderman shirt at the park. I knew Spiderman was a good choice that not a lot of other people would bring for the tree.

So, I started with the base of Knit Kid and Purl Girl by Anna Hrachovec. This is a free pattern and I've modified it for making Superman and Super Shannon before. It's a great blank slate and gives you an idea of where the color changes need to be for underwear. So I just altered where you change colors and then embroidered an asterisk in the chest and he's easily recognizable as Spiderman. 

I used my fingering weight stash for this so the red is Knit Picks Palette in Serrano and the blue is leftover Cascade Heritage Sock in Navy.  It was a bit fiddly to decide what would make him look most like Spiderman on such a small scale, but I'm happy with how this turned out. I think Briggs would have loved it.

Here he is in his space on the tree, where he still hangs today. It was a bit of a struggle to get this made given the circumstances, but I made it by the night before and I'm still glad I could make it happen.

 

I miss my brother terribly. He was an extremely kind and helpful person, and he was only just getting to be an adult. But I know I will see him again :) It will just be a while. I'm glad I was able to get this ornament done to be a part of his memory, and I'm glad I had the ability to make it for him. 

WIP Thursday: It Has Begun!

Sorry I'm a little late this week - a day late and a dollar short as they say. But better late than never, right? It's been one of those months weeks. Anyway, I think I'll start with progress on something you already are used to seeing, lol.

I finished the right front of my Emelie! Isn't it exciting?! It's looking more and more sweater-like all the time.  Even with my nice progress and excitement around this sweater, I have had to put it aside again :( I am getting a jump on my holiday gift knitting this year so I'm not a frantic crazy person like usual (well, let's face it, that will probably still happen, just for different reasons, lol). Anyway, I officially started my Christmas knitting on Sunday night and I already have one item 90% finished!

This is the only sneak peek you get, I'm afraid. I hate not being able to show what I'm making here, but I would hate for one of my family members to actually read my blog and spoil their gifts (I don't think they do read it, but just on the off chance...). I just had to show something because this is a project I've always wanted to make, but just couldn't justify for myself. So someone else will get it instead, lol. Don't you just love the colors?! The gray is Patons Classic Merino in Pearl Gray and the variegated is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Alpine Pearl (ooh, fancy!). Even better - both of these yarns came from a thrift store! Crazy, right? I can't believe someone would donate Malabrigo anything, but it was 100% unused and even wound into a cake when I bought it. I love the subdued colors and I love this combo of purple with gray. Anyway, I think this year I will show mysterious closeups like this so at least I can say, "Look! I MADE A THING!" and have something to show for it :)

I've also been plugging away diligently on my first Dahlia dress. As usually happens though, I have hit an unfortunate road block. I'll admit, I did make this project much hard than it should be - I decided to use a super drapey rayon-type fabric, then decided to underline it, then decided to match the pattern - all of these things I have never done before. I thought I was in the clear after a ton of work on my muslin last week (like I am talking ALL of last Thursday was spent in my sewing room) and I cut into my "real" fabric. I've slowly poked along, working on things a little each night and Monday was the day I finally got things together enough to try it on and double check ...

It doesn't fit.

I think I've figured out my error, but that doesn't make it any less depressing. I must have cut out the bodice piece along my sewing line by mistake because no joke I cannot even make the side seam touch where the zipper should go. I know what I need to do - remove the entire bodice (which means undoing more than half of what I've already done), recut the main fabric and the lining, and reinsert the new pieces. Man, is that going to suck. On top of it not fitting, I also discovered that this fabric is so not "me". When I have it on, all I can think of is how I would never buy a dress in a store with this type of print. *le sigh* Oh well, I am going to finish it anyway just for some much needed closure. Honestly, I really just didn't need that this week, lol.

Here's a little look at my technically failed pattern matching - though it was a diagonal print so I don't know why I'm disappointed. Also the fabric is totally printed off grain - so yeah, I just did the best I could. Also here is a look at the insides - all nice and enclosed. Ah :) I treated the bodice as 'underlining' simply because the pattern doesn't give any lining instructions, so you can see the seam allowances, but I enclosed the waistband and did the skirt as 'lining' to keep things more flowy. I've learned that really drapey fabric is not exactly flattering on my lower half. For my body shape, "flowy" seems to equal "clingy", which is why I decided on adding a lining at all. The lining is there to pull the drapey pieces over my lumps in a more pleasing manner and it has definitely succeeded :) I really wish I was the kind of person who could just make up the dang pattern with no lining, but I will pick lining it every time - it's just so much nicer!

Oh, and I tried making bias tape for this project and I am honestly having to curb my ill-mannered words while typing this just by recalling that horrific experience. I followed the directions of the Colette Sewing Book with the black cotton batiste I used for the waistband and I even used a bias tape maker - what a load of crap that thing is. I've read countless sewists out there on the internet saying casually, "I made my own bias tape for this project," without batting an eye - WHAT AM I NOT GETTING HERE?! Is it really this eye-gougingly-frustrating for everyone and they are trying to sound nonchalant, or am I just missing the bias tape making gene? No joke, I actually had to make myself not scream in frustration and throw the wad of fabric across the room. To save my sanity I dug out some pre-made bias tape from my stash and used that. I'll willingly admit that I don't like this option - the fabric is really scratchy, especially compared to the rest of this dress - but I didn't have to try making it again so I'm ok with it. Ugh! Bias tape!

So, those are my projects this week :) On top of my crafty problems, I discovered 3 big time house problems in about 3 days - not fun! Hopefully things are going a bit smoother for you, lol. Anyone else started their Christmas crafting?

ModCloth 24 Hour Gift Sale - Great for Christmas Gifts!

So, it's that time again - Christmas shopping time. I'm constantly stuck with what to buy for each person on my list that they will love but also won't break the bank. Lucky for folks like me, ModCloth is having a 24 hour sale today - save 20% off gifts! I'm never one to pass up a sale, especially one at a store I love, so I've compiled a list of a few of my favs here just to give you a taste.

My Favs:

Seriously, how cute is this 2014 Corgi Desk Calender?! I mean ... it's a corgi! We actually have a tradition in our house that we always have a corgi calendar. Yes, we're weird, but this will definitely fit the bill for next year :)

These Every Sizzle Day Oven Mitts would certainly make my husband happy. He would make mitts out of real bacon if it was heat protective.

Oh my gosh, they have the Knit Your Own Dog book and it is on sale! This would probably be a gift more for me than anyone else on my list, but I'm sure I could scrounge up a fellow knitter who would love it too :)

Here's another one for the husband/me. We've been talking about starting back up with our film photography lately at least once a month. This is the Lomography Konstructor camera - you build it in a kit :) And then use it!

This one has my sister's name all over it - it's a moon ... lamp! I got her a constellation lamp a long time ago and she loved it. I think she would appreciate this and it would look cool in her son's Star Wars room :)

How cute are these? They are the Stroke of Genius flats and my sister in Japan would absolutely love them :)

So, all of the items I have listed here are $35 or under - totally do-able for Christmas gifts :) Also, you can't forget ModCloth's super cute dresses and other unique clothes. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't love ModCloth's selection, so you really can't lose here.

So, head over here for the 20% off Gifts Sale at Modcloth! The sale is only 24 hours and ends Friday at 10am PST.

Knitting For Babies - Project Update

Well, I got it in my head that I should make booties - I guess since it's the biggest stereotype in knitting plus my sister is having a baby (she's due in November). Kelly's bébé is a boy and he will be my first nephew or niece. Since I've got the knitting bug something fierce lately, I thought it only right that I make my nephew-to-be a little something. I was browsing through sewing blogs and K-Line showed her set of these she just made as a gift. I knew I had to make some too so I got this Caron Simply Soft yarn in Ocean 9759  - I love the simply soft yarn line because it's easy to knit, feels great, and is washable and all that. The bootie pattern is in French, but it has the basics translated on the bottom. Unfortunately the booties are way small - like maybe a doll could wear these. I don't think I've ever encountered a non-preemie-baby whose feet were that small. So, needless to say I will be making another pair just gauging up a bit to fit a human baby.

The hat is my first hat ever! Yay! It was a challenge to start having never done anything like that before (plus you start with a basket stitch for the ribbing and I only just figured that out), but once I got going it was really easy. Now I'm in the home stretch with it - I have about 1.5" left to do in just a basic knit stitch so no biggie, then I follow the pattern to decrease and finish off. I did the booties on Friday night and I just started the hat on Saturday night (just got it cast on, divided and 2 rows knit) and I spent a few hours on it yesterday. I find I am more excited to finish it the closer I get, so I'm sure it will be hacked out really soon.

So, if you want to try your hand at these super simple baby gifts, follow these links:

• Chaussons Mignons (Cute Slippers) - Remember these are very small! If you size them up, just add the same number of stitches to the top section as the bottom so they will work out right (you'll see what I mean - it looks like a big T so just keep the T proportional). Scroll down to see the English translation and then just follow the diagram to stitch them together.
• Basic Baby Hat - No changes to this so far. The pattern is very straight forward :)