Posts from — January 2010

Recently, Smitty’s brother became a grandpa.  Which then gave me the perfect “excuse” (like I need one!) to sew.  I love making boy baby things.  Girl baby things are great too, but since I raised a son, sewing for boy babies always takes me back to when my son was growing up and I sewed for him.

The variety for boys is no where even near to what’s out there for girls, so when I find something unique but still “boyish” to sew, I’m way more excited about it than is necessary.  This pattern called Sweet William by Wendy Schoen, actually serves well for both sexes.  I have also made it in girly colors and made the embroidered part of it feminine.  It’s one of those “keepers” – a pattern that is my “go to” pattern for a newborn.  Now, that said – it’s best to get these things made up ahead of time, because as we know babies grow fast.

I always mean to do that – make up a bunch of baby things and keep them stored for gifting as the occasion arises.  And, of course, I haven’t done that yet – except for the hat and socks that I added to the gift.  But this tendency of mine also makes this pattern even more special – because while it’s meant for a newborn it’s big enough for a little bit older baby – and it “grows” – at least in length.  I remember seeing my grands running around as toddlers in their little sleepers now serving a night-shirts.  So, nice that this one has a tuck basted in to it – which lets out if you take out the embroidered chain and the inside basting. 

I chose the chain stitch for the embroidery (pattern calls for a feather stitch) this time,  since you can just snip the knot and pull and the whole thing will just unravel.  I also thought it seemed kind of a boyish stitch.

For the drawstring in the bottom of the hem, I used some twill tape that I stitched to each end of a piece of elastic and then threaded that thru the hem/casing at the bottom.  That makes it a stretchy gather – which makes getting to a diaper change quicker when necessary.

The other thing I like about this pattern is the back opening is big.  At first I thought – wow, that’s way huge – but it facilitates just dropping the baby in and snapping the back up.  Ohhhhh – I get it!

I hope the new parents are pleased.  Most of the pleasure for me is just making and giving a unique gift, but it’s always a plus when the recipient likes it.  You know what I mean?

Koolhaas is finished, and is currently winging it’s way to it’s recipient in the frozen tundra of Idaho.  I just wore it for the photo here.  I wanted updated pics for my project page on Ravelry, so after I got this one photographed, I put on some of the other hats I’ve knitted (and kept) for updated photos.  Flickr set here.  I especially enjoy the “deer in the headlights” look in one of them.  (I was trying not to blink.)

I’m probably going to make Koolhaas again in a color that I like.  This one was okay, but not really “me”.  And the Encore yarn is fine, but I”d like to do it in one that doesn’t have such a “halo” to the yarn.

Meanwhile…there has been sewing, and more hat knitting.

I finished “Morgan” and it is currently blocking.  It was pretty hillarious looking before I felted it – kind of resembled a graduation “cap” only round.  I knit it in Paton’s Classic Wool, worsted weight, and I think the pattern calls for DK or maybe fingering weight yarn.  So, my intention was to felt it all along, but wasn’t real sure if the final result would work.  It looks like it worked just great.  Actually, I almost felted it a little too much.  We stretched it over Smitty’s head tho while it was still damp (he’s such a good sport) and now it’s blocking over towels.     I need to add the stabilizer (not really necessary, I’d be willing to bet) to the brim or “peak” as it’s called in the pattern, and this time I might add a snap to keep the top and the brim snapped down.

Typically, I’m a late bloomer. It’s a rare instance when I jump on a bandwagon immediately, and this was no exception. I remember when Jared Flood first blogged Koolhaas. I thought it was a nice pattern, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to knit it yet. I should have just gotten the pattern then, because after a while I started thinking I’d really like to knit that! And then getting the pattern wasn’t really possible since money was that tight. Then, Interweave published their new “Accessories” magazine last month,

I bought the magazine and now I have the pattern.

It’s probably considered “easy” by most knitters with any experience – but it took me a few rip-outs to finally get things established, and I’m pretty sure that a smoother yarn (like Cascade 220) would be a better choice, but I’m knitting this in Encore.  I’m just about to begin the top decreases.

My friend and her husband visited us this week, and we took them on a (kinda lame since most places were closed and it was raining) sight-seeing tour of our area.  Of course, one of the stops was By Hand Yarn in Sonora.  She bought herself a knitting basket there – which I forgot to photograph, and I found a set of Brittany cable needles that are PERFECT.  Just the right size – not too long, not fussy, just a little stick that I can slip a stitch off to the front or back of my work and then knit off when I’ve knit the other stitch.  I didn’t “NEED” them – I’d been using one of my Denise needles and it worked just fine, but I am ever so much happier now with a little “stick” dedicated to exactly this use.

I’m well in to the second Selbuvotter, but it is sitting on the back burner for now until I get Koolhaas finished.  I’m also knitting another “Morgan” for MP.  This one in a pretty heathered olive green color, and have plans for another one after that from a charcoal tweed.