Tricked into a Vest, Via Harry Potter: Thanks, Oh Loops!

This vest!!!!

I have been wanting to knit Tiberius a Benedick and Beatrice vest for MONTHS, y'all.....But tragedy of tragedies:  Tiberius was adamant that he did NOT want a vest.

WHAT????

We all have that kid...the kid who has an opinion.  WHY?  I think a big part of it, honestly, is that he knows things like Batman and Darth Vader and owns clothing from Hannah Andersson that features those characters, as I maybe mentioned in my last post.  Camden wasn't exposed to these sorts of things at such a young age, and I always knew my reasons for that were sound, because, well, case in point.  But he's also quite specific about his outfits, so, he'd likely be this way, no matter what.

As his knitting mother, though, I have an opinion, too, aha!  I insisted he needed a vest, and I knew I had yarn for such a thing:  Oh! Loops yarn!  I purchased the yarn back when Lydia and Sarah were still dyeing together, and I NEEDED the Harry Potter colorway on the merino worsted base.  I'm not sure which lovely lady dyed this colorway, so, you'd want to check with both Oh! Loops and Gracelynn Wool, Sarah's new dyeing shop.  Anyway!

LOVE it!

My friend, Laura, designed this pattern back when Camden was but a wee thing, and a knitting friend had knit up the lovely Mosaic Moon version below for Camden, but I myself had never actually knit the pattern, because there are SO MANY things to knit!  I clearly plan to knit another quite soon, as it is only sized up through a 23-inch chest size, and it used almost all of the one skein of main colorway I had.  AND.  You need to knit her Rhino Romper if you have a baby - OR the Toasty Sleeper!!!  The patterns are crazy easy and super cute!!

Camden was SO LITTLE!!!

But I digress....go knit this pattern!  It's super easy, clearly, and way cute.  It's weird, as I had searched for vests for Camden, because she'll need something larger, and I honestly couldn't find anything that was simple and plain-ish that I liked, so, this totally fits the bill if you are looking for something to feature the yarn, especially those fun single skeins you want to use up!  Laura spells out all the directions nicely, and even the size 4 knits up lickety-split!  I ended up using a size 4 needle on the main body and on the neckband, but I did size down for the armholes and the hem....just for funsies!  I do wish I'd knit the ribbing as long as the pattern said, but I was worried I wouldn't have enough contrasting yarn...why, I don't know.

You can clearly tell my photo quality still isn't great, but this vest was slightly easier to photograph than the last few makes for Tiberius.  I had decent lighting, which helped.  And it happily matches well enough with a pair of Treasure Pocket Pants (Pattern found in the Sewing for Boys book!!!) I made Camden years ago, so, double score!!  Watch the blog for the next wee vest....coming soon!

Well, let's be honest...coming soon-ISH.

An afternoon in the life....

Featuring her Little Honey sweater!

Also featuring the Owlet sweater!!

A Complete Re-Knit: The Antler Sweater

Man.

The original knit, knit in February 

I knit the Antler sweater by Tin Can Knits the first time back in the late winter, already feeling behind, knowing the poor kid needed a new cardigan.  As it was, I'd already taken what felt like FOREVER knitting his Christmas in July, a pull-over.  The goal is to try and have one cardigan and one pull-over knit for Tiberius each year.  Tiberius is young, and I'd already failed him, as I had to rip out the entire sweater, buttons and all.  It was tooooo small.  I knit the size correct for his age, but I had pretended to myself that it'd block out, knowing full well that non-superwash yarn doesn't really BLOCK OUT.

Also sporting the Zilver shawl

Not a great photo at ALL, but it's the only one I have of the back

That was a sad day.  I definitely needed a break, especially after that pull-over fiasco.  So, I told myself I'd get back to it this fall.  I started the last day of August, so says Ravelry, and I finished September 28, because though I was knitting the size 2/4 and sizing up on needles, it was STILL going to be too small.  So, new plan:  I cast on for the size 6/8, and I knit the length to somewhere between the size 2/4 and 4/6...which seems NUTS.  But I definitely didn't want to go up another needle size, as my fabric was fine as is.

Was definitely NOT using markers that morning :O

As for the fit:  I definitely am not a huge fan.  I'm sure part of it is the 6/8 sizing in the yoke, but it's definitely larger around up there, and the buttons still pull.  And as for the button bands themselves, I'm a fan when the collar is added AFTER the bands, as I think it's more aesthetically pleasing to have the collar topping the bands, rather than the bands sidling up to the collar, if that makes sense.  If I'd thought about that, I could have done it, but I clearly hadn't.

I'd even gone to great lengths to purchase some more Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted in Tarragon from someone on Ravelry, and I'm pretty sure I didn't even need the extra skein...but I'd been so worried!  I honestly should whip Tiberius up a hat to go along with this sweater.  The yarn is great, and I'd totally use this line again.  I love the color, and in the photos, it comes out truest in the outdoor shots.

These are the faces I get, LOL, when he isn't blurry

                                                

While it's cute and while the pattern is well-written, I don't know that I'd knit it again.  I liked the Northshore patterns I knit up for both Camden and Tiberius, but knitting another cardigan has me nervous, LOL.

Days in the life.....

Camden loves copying her books

Just a day out at the farm ;)

She has been dying to write with a quill, like Hermione!

We great four pumpkins!  And I HOPE they aren't frozen!

A Blur of Sketchbook Shirts and Treasure Pocket Pants

A cheerful soul!

I'd forgotten about the days of yore....the days when I had to try and photograph a crazy person.

WHEW.

Photographing Tiberius is a LOT of work, if I actually want something I can use - when it comes to blog posts and getting non-blurry details on things I've made.

So, I tried and tried again, but there's only SO MUCH I can do, folks.

I have several one-yard cuts of fabric meant for the Sketchbook shirt by Oliver and S.  I've clearly taken QUITE a while to get around to sewing Tiberius a fun outfit, other than THIS version of the same combo and then his pajamas (which, along with Camden's, I apparently never blogged about).

I managed, then, to sew up TWO shirts and one pair of pants in ONE day!!!  Well, that's a semi-lie:  I did sew part of the black shirt during a two-hour hang-out session with my mother-in-law.  We sewed at Modern Domestic for a bit on a lovely afternoon, and it was AWESOME.  Y'all know I love MD with all my heart!  THEN????  How'd I manage to do the rest of that sewing??  I had a sewing VACATION!  YES, I did!  Tiberius stayed with his grandparents for a few nights, and Camden was at at a sleepover, and I was able to sew from 11:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night.  Granted, I should have quit the day much earlier than I did, but I knew it'd be a while before I made myself sit back down and complete the job, and I wanted a whole outfit for my little guy.  Plus, it broke my back a bit to sew those buttons on that late at night, as I have a habit of sewing shirt buttons while sitting on the floor, all hunched up, aha.

Anyway.

No, f'real.  Best sewing day EVER.  I ate Vegan Snickers Pie and salad all day.  And by THAT, I mean that I ate ONE salad and had a few helpings of the pie ;)  Go make it!  It is awesome!

The shirts went together pretty fast, as it is a simple enough pattern.  I was a fool and cut the black math shirt fabric out upside down.  Fool.  Ah, well.  And I knew he'd get excited about a pirate shirt, as he is kind of into pirates right now.  I lengthened the black shirt a wee bit, and I think I went even longer on the pirate shirt, just because sewing a small hem in areas like the button placket is tricky, so, I wanted to make it more of a 5/8 inch hem.

As for the lovely Treasure Pocket Pants, from the book Sewing for Boys, I used a lovely turquoise corduroy.  It was tricky to pair the corduroy with a panel that also matched shirts/wasn't too bright/busy.  I managed to grab two small cuts of some Cotton and Steel Basics while I was at Fabric Depot, and I ended up using both of them, as the gray wasn't enough to cover all areas (I was cutting against the grain).  That worked out well, and sewing the pants WAS a last-minute decision, as I honestly hadn't thought I'd get around to starting them.  I probably started after 6 that night.  I also had a hard time finding pattern pieces and went with a size that I hoped would fit him well, if I just lengthened them a bit.  It all worked out, and they match both pants okay enough - works for me, anyway!

As usual, the pattern was easy enough.  It is always important to remember that one of the side panel pieces has to be printed off the internet, as the original piece isn't sized correctly.  And I do cut my own hem facing, as I believe the one from the book isn't sized correctly, either....or something like that.  No biggie.

Now...getting him to wear what I've made isn't as easy as it was with Camden.  First, he has some Hannah Andersson pajamas that he loves to wear all the live-long day, and he is just more particular.  I had let him pick out the fabric for the black shirt, and I knew he'd like the pirates, but he still goes nuts and doesn't necessarily want to wear those things, so, it can be a bit of a battle.  But he sure is super cute in his new clothes!

And fall days in the life of....

Always fun with friends!

With Aaron Reynolds, author of Creepy Carrots!!

With author Ben Hatke!!!  (He writes the Zita the Spacegirl books!)

With author Lucy Bellwood of Baggywrinkles fame!