Polka Dot Bonanza...in Oliver and S Pajamas!

This'll be a short and sweet post in that I've made the Sleepover Pajamas from Oliver and S before and LOVE them.  It's such an easy pattern - and the only thing that's even remotely fiddly is the facing....which is not all that fiddly, LOL - maybe mostly in tearing out all the basting stitches after it's sewn up.

I love the fabric - which was purchased by Camden's grandma in October over at Cool Cottons.  Camden's old pajamas were OLD.  I don't believe in making 50 pairs, and we don't BUY pajamas.  Camden often sleeps nekkid or in random clothing, so, one pair suffices.  I made her last pair in October 2012!  Soooo long ago!

Almost the same face as above!!  :O

Technically speaking, those PJs still fit - but they were insanely short, aha!  So....off to the cousins, they go!  And now....the next pair is too big, all over again!  Such is life.  I love that they'll work for a couple years :)

I grabbed just a few quick pictures right before swim class, so, whatevs to quality ;)  And speaking of....this is the blog post that has the LEAST amount of pictures EVER.  LOL.

Again, the pattern is great, the process was relatively simple (as in, I only almost broke a needle once, LOL), and they're super cute!  Also, the buttons were something I had THANKFULLY picked up randomly from Joann's about a week ago....glad they were in my stash!

And just for fun, here is a picture of the little guy and his dad!  He's pretty feisty (STILL) - and fast!  He likes to escape into the bathroom every chance he gets.  And he loves to play with floss containers and his nail clippers, LOL...those are the two "toys" he has always liked!

Lastly, we had a great time at our raw milk farm last weekend!  Matt is working on a small building there that we call "the little house," LOL.  He's done some tile work and insulation, etc.  Anyway, they hosted Santa on Sunday, and Camden happily decorated some cookies and ran around with the turkeys and other little girls who were visiting - then proceded to tell Santa she wants a happy purple pony and a robot that can stand on its head (please refer yourself to Berenstein Bears Meet Santa Bear).  Weirdo girl.  I was too busy with tending to Tiberius's sad ways that I didn't take any exciting pictures, aha!

A Year in the Making! The Sunday Brunch and Puppet Show Tunic

Wow.

Honestly.

I originally sewed up this jacket and skirt four score and last December.  I'm pretty sure, anyway.  YIKES.  And you are correct - the skirt is a bit small.  Ugh.  I technically have enough fabric to make another, a size larger, if need be.  And thank the lawd I lengthened the sleeves, I believe.  Did I lengthen the skirt and the jacket itself?  I can't recall, but I think so - and again, whew!  It was SOLONGAGO.

I remember that the Sunday Brunch outfit was a bit of a pain, though - for TWO reasons.  One....I added all the seam binding, and I wasn't sure I was even doing it correctly, so, totally judge my shoddy job.  I recall watching a video later on how to do it nicely, but the video wasn't great.  LOL.  Anyway, I attempted for a pretty finish ;)

Love the wrinkling?

Secondly, the BUTTONHOLES.

Need I say MORE???

You may not be able to tell in the photos, but EFF.  If I'd thought ahead of time or known then what I know NOW, I would have added the buttonholes BEFORE sewing the top of the jacket to the bottom, if the construction allowed for it.  I ended up needing to do the bottom two buttonholes manually, I believe, and it always looks awful when I do that.  Anywho....it works, and I LOVE my buttons, which were upcycled or whatnot from Buttonhole Buttons (not a great site, btw).  I believe I picked them up at Bolt in Portland, though I know Twisted also carries them.

Look at those buttons!!

Other than that, naturally, the jacket and skirt went together swimmingly, and I love the results!  I am SO happy with my fabric choice.  As soon as I saw this print at Modern Domestic, I knew I had to have it, aha!

Now....the BLOUSE.  That was a whole other affair.  Firstly, I knew I didn't want something that buttoned up the front.  So.  My first attempt was to turn the Fairy Tale dress into a blouse....which was a sad failure, as I didn't give enough wiggle room AT ALL.  It was definitely a size too small, even after my careful planning.  Super sad times, because I'd gotten some pretty, off-white voile.  I wish I had a picture to show you.  And it WAS sewn back in January or whenever.  So....more timely.

Next attempt was in green voile....purchased a few months back - then finally ALMOST sewn up a few weeks ago.  And...BAM!  Shot down.  I was trying to do a Japanese pattern out of this great book I have....And I thought I'd be okay in doing it, but I ruined any chances it might turn out - by cutting it OPEN.  AHHH!  I was trimming down the seam allowance at the neck.  My bad.  And I do have a horrid picture of that, LOL.

Then, when I KNEWFORSUREALLHOPEWASLOST, I realized I had some lovely blue shot cottong that basically matched the blue on the main fabric!!!  Say WHAT?!  So, out came the Puppet Show pattern by Oliver and S.  I knew it was way too billowy, so, I brought it in 2 or 4 inches (can't recall) at EACH seam....and it's STILL too billowy.  Ah, well.  It works.  And I could have shortened it another inch and a half, surely, but whatevs.  I wanted it done by this point.  I've had the whole outfit done for almost a month, and Camden wore it on Thanksgiving, but here I am, finally with photos, aha!

So, I had Camden race outside today to nab some quick photos.  It's done, dudes, so, whatevs on quality of photos.  I love the outfit and just wish I'd finished it eight million years ago.  I will definitely plan better for Sunday Brunch, round two, aha!

Awww!

These faces kill me!

Hand-Knits and Two Cute Boys: The Anders Sweater

The moment I saw this pattern, I knew I HAD to knit it!  And every time I put this sweater on Tiberius, I melt a little inside - I love it that much!

Presenting the Anders sweater, designed by Sorren Kerr, sported by both Joshua, the son of Nina, a wonderful mom/knitter on Ravelry - and Tiberius!  I will preface this post by saying that Nina must be a magical photographic genius, because it took ME three photo shoots to get the blurry pictures you see below, and she was able to get some loveliness in ONE try, aha!  Tiberius won't sit still for anything....

As you are probably noting, Tiberius is HIDING a little bit inside that sweater, but that's all right; we'll get a few month's use out of it this way...as he's sadly already too big for his Sunnyside - though I could probably happily still squeeze him into it.

The pattern itself was super easy - it's a basic construction, top-down, which I like.  I did NOT change my needle size in the colorwork as soon as I maybe should have.  I was testing out whether or not I really DO tighten up in colorwork, as I'm such a crazy loose knitter.  I DID tighten up a wee bit, which is why I finally changed needles, though I did not do that on the sleeves (and I don't think it calls for you to do that, anyway, on the sleeves...it'd be silly).

Awww!  I love babies and leaves!

This was my first time using Miss Babs, and I used the Yummy 3-ply sport weight yarn in the Indigo Bunting and Oyster colorways.  I enjoyed the yarn, and as with Tiberius's first two sweaters, this one is pilling up a bit, just because he's still a roly-poly baby....though he IS crawling now!!  OMG.

Nina used Malabrigo Arroyo in Fresco y Seco (the darker green) and Miss Babs Yummy 3-ply sport in Frog Belly - I love how hers turned out and still wish I'd done a green version, aha!

My ONE issue with the pattern is that I should NOT have run out of yarn.  I initially bought 240 yards, as the pattern page said 225 yards for size 6-12 months.  When I purchased the pattern, though, it said 255 yards :O  I wrote Sorren, and she messaged back, of course, that the 255 was more correct.  I figured as long as I was on gauge, I was safe, even though I had 15 fewer yards.  Turns out that was NOT the case.  I'm not sure how closely many pattern designers normally cut it, but 15 yards seems close, and I think the yardage requirement should be higher on this pattern for the main color.  There were some freak-out moments about finding more yarn....thankfully, a Ravelry user came to my rescue.

Very stoic!

For the matching hat, I used the stitch count and decreasing/finishing method of this Simple Striped Baby Hat pattern - and just incorporated the tree chart from the sweater.  It mostly worked out well, though my "tie" at the top wasn't quite long enough, so, it was tricky to actually TIE.  Secondly, I did make the hat too long - ooops.  I wish it was an inch shorter.  I was mostly focusing on trying to get the change from colors to look neat, rather than thinking about hat height.  So, it's clearly large.

Clearly, this is a super cute sweater on little boys, and I think Nina and I both vote that you head out and knit an Anders today!

All Spice from Paisley Roots - Traveling With the Blog Tour!!!

So!  About this All Spice Blog Tour for Paisley Roots....What a fun dress!  

But what a hot mess I am about being a destination on this blog tour, aha!  I have NO action shots this blog post....because I made a dress in a size or so too small for Camden :O  And I find this incredibly devastating - in a first-world problems kind of way.  I made the size 4, as I thought that would work for Camden's chest size, as the finished measurement is 24 inches, and HER chest is 22 inches....or so I thought, LOL.

Camden's sad face at not getting to keep this dress!

I love how the dress turned out - and I completely ADORE the fabric....which is why I'm bummed it doesn't fit - but whatevs.  it's all my fault.  Camden's chest is 22.5 inches.  The next one I make - because YES, there WILL be a next one! - will hopefully use the same fabric (please, Joann Fabrics, do NOT run out during this holiday weekend!  I beseech you!  And if you are a close reader, you are noting that I did, indeed, buy fabric at Joann's!)  I do not have quite enough of the shot cotton I used to line the bodice, so, I will need more of that.

The dress, running AWAY to it's new owner!  (that....and the crazy wind!)

And speaking of wind....this is Camden's "it's windy!" face

The directions seemed super easy to follow, though I did change some things up.  I didn't extend the buttons into the skirt, and I ironed interfacing on the wrong side of the pintucks - to stabilize the fabric for the buttonholes themselves, but also to hold the pintucks still so there'd be no pulling when I added buttonholes.  Lastly, I never like exposed seems at the end of a sleeve, if I can help it, so, I sewed my sleeve side seams before I hemmed the cuffs.

This dress will be sent off across the country as a fun gift for somebody else's little girl, so, I can't wait to see action shots!  For now, please just enjoy the fun buttons and pretty fabric - and sad face of a girl who cannot wear this dress, aha!

Look at those pintucks!!!

There is a giveaway and a link-up, so, make sure to check out the links below!!!

But WAIT!  There is MORE!  Karly is doing a Black Friday sale - 25% off with the code "blackfriday2014" - remember that, y'all!  That's tomorrow!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Tender Is the Hat....and Cowl??? Cabernet Time!

This girlie can officially be WARM this winter!!!!  Seriously, isn't it beeee-yoo-tiful???

Can I also say that I'm glad it's DONE???  Aha!  Neither of these projects is lengthy/difficult.  Naturally, though, I made them more difficult - because that's the sort of ship I run.  The first time I made the hat, it turned out too small, because I failed to read the directions and left out the first several rows I was to knit after the ribbing.  Such is life.  This first version will head off to a cousin - naturally!  I didn't want to rip it out, because I figured a finished hat is a good thing - as long as it fits someone and I have enough yarn to complete everything else, which I DID.  Whew.

Gonna get ya'!

I used Colour Adventures (the FB page link), base Dia Merino DK, colorway Tender.  Elena Nodel, as always, dyes up a gorgeous yarn.  And it needs to be known that after blocking this yarn out, it softens up super nicely, not that it's rough to begin with, but you get me??  The patterns, Cabernet Hat (in DK weight) and Cabernet Infinity Scarf (which covers several weights of yarn, though the link says it's DK) are written super well - easy to understand and no issues at all.  Monika Sirna, the pattern writer, includes a tutorial to help peeps out with the cabling, but it's not something an experienced cabler needs to look at.

Always have to do a sad face

With that hat, my gauge was trying to trick me, as usual.  I didn't want to go down a needle size, and I didn't actually do a gauge swatch IN pattern, which the pattern calls for.  I winged it, and I found the right size needle I needed for the ribbing.  I cast on for a small but did the length of the medium.  And naturally, after blocking, it's a bit bigger in the ribbing than I'd like it to be, but thankfully, the hat is a teeeeny bit slouchy, so, she'll grow into it just fine.  And as you can see, the cowl is a great fit, so, I'm pretty happy with the set.

As a bonus, it SMELLS awesome, aha!  I used Eucalan in the grapefruit oil scent...which for some reason, really stands out this time :)

Love this!

And bonus:  I love that I made two hats AND a cowl out of two skeins of yarn!  Yay to me!  One day, when I have TIMETIMETIME on my hands, I will whip up one of these sets for moi.

One day.