A Knitting FOOL - Or, Time's 'a Runnin' OUT

Listening to a little Schubert and Beethoven while Camden bathes - figuring I should whip up a wee blog post about what I HAVE, indeed, been working on.  It's been radio silent on my blog, as I've been knitting furiously these past several weeks.  And doing wee, teeny blog posts on each item would be silly, to say the least, so, I took a few pictures yesterday - nothing fancy, and clearly NO action shots, but it's what we have ;)

Incidentally, I was basically forced to knit so much, as my machines were up in Portland, receiving a yearly service.  While I have a back-up machine at home, I can't do any projects (well, almost none) without my serger.  Lack of awesome weather put a stop to me picking up my machines a couple weeks ago, though I WAS able to crank out ONE project, as it was fully lined - a gift for Camden's friend in Vancouver.  I do not have any action shots of the friend in it at this point, but gosh - I sure wish Camden had a red coat!!!  :O  I've used the DMK Stylish Kid's Coat once before, and it's a super easy pattern, things going together quite well.  I did size up to 4, with a length of 5.  It's not supposed to be snug, by any means, but a size 4 is quite roomy on camden.  I did use a 1/2" seam allowance for the sleeve/side seams; otherwise, the pattern used a 3/8" SA.  As you can see below, I also used decorative stitching for underneath the collar - adding the girl's initials.  A fancier move would have been to whip out the embroidery module, but I was lacking time.

Getting back on topic....I have knit a million (well, CLOSE) pairs of socks, hats, longies and a sweater!

I am awesome in that I used my Socks That Rock by Blue Moon Fiber arts in tie-dye yarn to make four pairs of socks and two hats!  Back when Camden was a baby, I knit her a toddler-sized sock, but my gauge has changed since then, and I wasn't able to replicate the sock, so, I took it out and re-did it, along with making the match - finally ;)  And she LOVES to wear them allll the time!  I did have trouble with pooling on this size at the gauge asked for, so, I added stitches, which made them too wide around her leg/ankle, which is a bummer.  I should have decreased sooner - before heading into the heel flap, but such is life.  I used the Children's Easy Lightweight Sock Pattern.  I have the paper pattern, but it can be found HERE on Ravelry.

As for the baby socks I have knit up - I've simply used the Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet sock pattern for alllll of them - one pair, including one tie-dye hat, is a gift, and my wee baby gets the same set, so, as you can SEE, I'm alllll done with tie-dye yarn.  For realz.  The hat to match the tie-dye socks is the Twist pattern by Melissa Goodale.  I also have the paper version, along with the sister pattern, the Sprout hat.  I love the pattern, but after knitting two of those in fingering weight yarn, I'm sort of worn out, aha!

White/green pair knit using remnants from my stash - green pair is Madelinetosh (!!!)

For the longies, I used the tried-and-true Evie Pants pattern by Marilyn Porter.  It's what I used with Camden back in the day, though I hadn't knitted tiny longies for her .....tiny things definitely go faster ;)  I've done two pairs so far.  The green pair is Mosaic Moon, Salmon (of??) Wisdom and the blue pair is Maclir, also by Mosaic Moon.  The Salmon colorway was left-overs from a sweater Camden has, and the Maclir was a purchase from a mom on Ravelry.  I did make a hat to match the Maclir pair - the Otis pattern (FREE, people!!!).  I do recognize it's larger, aha!  Poor baby may swim in it, unless he/she pops out with gigantor head.  One never knows.  Anyhow, I DO have one more pair to knit up, when I receive yarn purchased from another mom.

The two hats are just the Blue Sky Baby's First Hat pattern - the green with Blue Sky Bulky and the red hat with Mirasol Sulka yarn - allll yarn from my stash, so another score!  Clearly, the red hat is meant for months down the road, so, I hope the timing will be right for the fit, and I DO hope the green hat will fit right away, though it IS quite bulky (so, will it be COZY???).  This pattern is honestly an easy fall-back pattern.  I like the ribbing and garter brim - super simple and EASY to modify from baby through adult.

Lastly, I used the Puerperium Cardigan pattern by Kelly Brooker (also FREE in the newborn size!).  I mostly did it because it was free.  The pattern itself is simple, easy to follow, etc.  I'm not in LOVE with the yarn choice, but I was being GOOD (read: poor!) and using yarn from my stash.  It's Blue Sky Alpaca Melange, which is fuzzy and such.  It'll work, but I do wish I'd had enough DK yardage in another colorway/yarn.  The part I AM excited about is the buttons!!!!!  Aren't they most beautiful???   They're Tessa Ann Designs, the Organic set - which I chose because it was rather gender neutral and fit with the yarn color/design of the sweater.  I die at their cuteness.  This is clearly the baby's first sweater, and the baby will also get to wear Camden's first sweater.

As for knitting in general, I hope to finish a sweater vest for Camden by tomorrow night, which will be her last for quite some time.  As for sewing, I hope to sew a TON from Friday through Wednesday, when Matt is out of town on a ski trip!!!  Those'll all be projects for Camden, so, we'll see what I can get through  :O

Liebster Award Nomination?? - Holla!!!!

And an early good Friday morning to y'all!  (For realz....I yawned my way through writing that sentence.)  Not sure if this is a sign of anything baby-related, LOL, but I was up at 1 then up at 4 - and decided that it was time to wake up, eat a cookie and get the day started.  And by "started", I mean get on-line in the dark of the living room.

So!  To get to the point of this blog post - hey, hey, hey!  I've been nominated for a Liebster Award!  What is that, you say???  Had I, myself, even heard of this particular award before I was nominated??? Never!  But here we all are, and I'll take it!

Under Liebster Award qualifications, a blogger is to nominate 11 other bloggers with under 200 followers (I CLEARLY met this criteria, aha!  Could we bump that up to a solid 20, I ask???), answer 11 questions, state 11 facts and then ask 11 questions of the nomineess.  And on and on!  Kathy of The Nerdy Seamstress nominated ME - along with 10 others - yay!  I first caught wind of her blog a few months back, when I noted the awesome sewing she did for herself.  In my role as "mom", I focus on so many kid-related things, so much kid-related knitting and sewing, that it's nice to see any element of ADULT ;)  And when I saw that Kathy has a similar body type to me, I was quick to keep watch on the sewing she did - to gain any tips/thoughts on certain patterns and pattern designers.  These tips will be nice to have around when I get back to sewing for myself in several months, after el bebe is born.

In making the rounds, the Liebster Award is nice because it's a way to show support for other bloggers - and that whole "word of mouth" thing does work, in this case!  Just by looking at Kathy's list, I was able to click "follow" on a few other bloggers who seem to write about/craft about things of note to me.    So, please take the time to check these bloggers out and see who you might want to follow or subscribe to!!

So, here are 11 bloggers I would love to nominate, in no particular order!

Ali Cat and Co.
Paisley Roots
The Life of a Compulsive Crafter
The Crafting Fiend
Ginger Dimples
Four Corners
Begin with B
Two Many
The Crazy Tailor
Sew Straight and Gather
ArtBella

And now on to answering my 11 questions from Kathy:

What interesting fact about yourself do you want others to know?
I really ONLY got into sewing and knitting because I wanted my child to wear my....wares ;)     

One of the first tops I ever made Camden!

Why did you take up sewing?
See above - I hadn't sewn since middle school (unless you count one crazy night sewing tarot card bags with a friend in college!
Other than sewing, if time weren't a concern, how would you spend your day?
If time was NOT a concern?????  I would READ and KNIT - well, and bike!
What have you learned most from maintaining a blog?
I've learned that I need to step it up with my actual blog design/lay-out.  I always knew it's best to post regularly if you want followers, but my "regularly" is about once every couple of weeks, at this point -- though I'd like to post more often.
What other artistic/crafty things do you like to do?
Besides sewing, I like to knit!  I don't actually consider myself a crafty person at all - I just like to make clothing for my daughter.  Other than these two activities, I'm not a crafter by any stretch of the imagination.
What's your favorite outdoor activity?
I like to bike, and since we moved to Bend, it's been our mode of transportation, for the most part.  It's how I got around with my daughter throughout the summer and fall - and even part of the winter.  Only because of the weather of late - and that I'm getting closer to my due date - have we slowed down on the biking.

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? 
!!!!  ???  If only!  I would pay off ANY outstanding school loans we have, etc.  We would move OUT of this rental.  I would buy fabric and yarn ;)  And....my husband would clearly need some fun tools and sword fighting equipment....and naturally, we would go on a couple of fun trips - then save a bit of that cash!
What's your favorite childhood memory?
Oh, gosh.  I suck at this stuff.  I think one thing I like/remember is telling weird stories about a wee
mosquito named Mosqui to my sister.
What's your "make" that you're most proud of?
For myself, it'd have to be my Colette Violet blouse.  I LOVE that thing!!!!  Of anything I've made myself, it fits the best, and I love the glass buttons!

What have you learned most from sewing?
Iron, iron, iron!!!  But I've always been good about that since I started sewing.  READING directions is also key - and I FAIL to do that ....quite often!
What's your guilty pleasure?
I don't know!  Too many things, sadly!  I need MORE Liberty fabric!!!!

As for 11 facts about myself:

• I hate catsup!!!  Ewww!!!
• I have a dimple, which isn't too exciting, but my mom calls it a deformity/malformation of my muscles!
• Not a mystery at all, but I'm a HOSTILE sewer/knitter.....yep.
• I don't watch TV/shows at all, but I'm THISEXCITED about "Outlander" coming out!!!  
• I have a grave fear of carpet beetles.  I truly think they will destroy every wool item I have ever made.  
• I'm in love with Liberty fabric, as basically stated above.  I want a million Liberty blouses.
• I lovelovelove to read, but between reading and sewing and knitting, I can never decide which makes most "sense" to do, and this means reading takes a back seat to the crafting, because it's not very "productive"
• I had my first official "job" when I was almost 14...and I worked up until June of 2012...so, I put in 19 years of work outside the home, but I now stay at home and work with Camden ;)
• I'm a weirdo who does NOT like dishes sitting in a sink - talk about nasty times!!!
• I had a 36-hour at-home birth with Camden, our first child, and I am doing an at-home birth again... but please let it be LESS than 36 hours!  :O
• I do not drink alcohol....and strangely, not for any particularly good reason!  (Though let's be honest... it's best that I do NOT drink!)

My 11 questions for YOU, my nominee, to answer:

Which animal do you most resemble?
Are you into sewing/knitting more for yourself or for another person in your life?
Have been a life-long crafter, or was it something you took up more in adulthood?
Which yarn/fabric do you most enjoy working with?
Are you a daytime/nighttime crafter - and in your fantasy land, is this your IDEAL time to craft, or no?
What is your favorite project???  Show it off!
What is your #1 reason for sewing or knitting?
If you had a plane ticket in your hand to ANYWHERE right now, where would you be headed?
What is your favorite tool/implement for sewing?
Ten years ago, would you have imagined yourself doing what you do NOW?
Do the people in your life understand your need to craft/support you?

Go ahead, bloggers!  Answer and nominate away - spread the love!!

That Whole "So Much to Do... So Little Time..."

Wow, peeps.  That's all I can say - WOW.

A baby is coming - and FAST.  I mean, I have a whole FIVE WEEKS or so, but that isn't nearly enough time to accomplish what I must.

My blog has been quiet over the past few weeks, because I've been knittingknittingknitting.  For two weeks, my serger and one of my sewing machines have been held hostage by Modern Domestic up in Portland, as I needed a servicing on each.  No biggie - I'd love a smooth-operating kind of machine - BUT.

The SNOW hit.  We received about two feet here in Bend, and smart people know that to head up to Portland to drive around with the crazies on icy roads is just asking for trouble, so, while we were to head up this past weekend for a baby shower, it wasn't to be.  We stuck around here, and I did complete a full pair of socks.  I will bore y'all with a blog post covering all my knitting over the past month - probably in a couple weeks, as I complete MORE projects.  As I'm still without a serger until we can next get up to Portland, I have to pretty much take advantage of all knitting time that I can, so, socks, hats and a baby sweater will be featured when I can finish a bit more.  I even managed to squeeze in a few gift knit baby items :)

Now - on to my POST-baby to-do list:  There are several things I cannot knit until I know the gender of the baby, for yarn-buying purposes and such.  I have three major projects I would like to accomplish right after el bebe pops out.  I mean, I'm SURE I'll have OODLES of knitting time, right??!!!

???????!!!!!

One of the first things I'd like to knit, which I have knit a couple times before, is the Rhino Romper, a pattern designed by a lovely friend of mine.  It's cute, cozy and pretty stinkin' easy, as far as patterns go!

Supa' score!  It's a FREE pattern:  Picture/Pattern source

Another pattern I can't wait to knit is the Sunnyside by Tanis Fiber Arts - sososo cute!!!  Alas, it's fingering weight, so, I'll count my lucky stars that I plan on doing the 6-12 month size, likely (which means SMALL)!  And I'll need some gorgeous yarn to accomplish the project!  As you can see below, there is a more boyish version and a more girly version, which is another reason I'm waiting!

ALSO FREE:  Picture/Pattern source

One other pattern I'm dying to do is the bunting that Melissa of Dandelion Girl Designs is putting out in collaboration with Swans Island yarns.  (I think I have that information right!)  I don't think it has a specific name, yet, but it's sooo simple and great that I would love to be able to whip out one of these - and I probably should try that SI yarn - now or never, right???  This project would be great in a neutral, but I'm debating on what I want to do!

This will NOT be a free pattern, LOL...and it's not quite published:  Picture Source

I clearly have much more to do than this, but for now, I'll leave you with this last romper, the Hootie Who by Teresa Cole.  I've seen the same friend from up above whip this one up, and it's just fabulous.  I never got around to knitting one for Camden, but I clearly will need to do so for this wee baby.  I'm also waiting on knowing gender, as I want to pick a yarn I SUPER love.

Pattern for $7!!  Picture/Pattern source

Lastly, I'll leave you with a few (or more) pictures of what it's like here in Bend...and how my little girl enjoyed the past few days (when she wasn't INSIDE, emotional as all get-out!).

Some tosses into the snow

Making andouille sausage...???!!!  Don't ask!

Tough times, working with wood

Get to work!

A spot 'o tea for the likes of these two!

I do hope to have a few more things cracked out so I can write up one big knitting blog post - most of the projects are just socks, LOL, but hey!  I have to do as much as I can...which means making sure el bebe has warm feet!

Modkid Naomi - In Which We Again Pretend It's Summer!

THIS, my friends, is a quick sew, if you're feeling rebellious and want to leave out the pockets AND the bottom ruffle....which is what I did ;)

I did a version of Modkid Naomi two years ago, and while it was cute, I almost thought it was too busy.  I wish I hadn't added the pocket, as I think it's toooo large for the dress in a size 2T (3T, perhaps???), and the ruffle is okay at the bottom, but I wanted an overall simpler look - which shoot!!!  I LOVED that fabric, so, I feel I didn't do it justice, and that always stinks.  And even if I hadn't done that pocket in a garish yellow, it would still seem off to me, aha!  Anyway, my bad.

So, this time, I envisioned something quite simple in comparison.  The pattern itself is super easy to put together, though I did change up a few things.  When constructing the bodice front and back, I did NOT sew the skirt back and front separately to the bodice back and front.  Instead, I sewed the skirt in one loop (which means my one seam is at the back of the dress) and the bodice in one loop, as I have a great disdain for exposed seams at the underarms in this sort of design/sleeveless item.  This meant I had to add the elastic in a bit differently to the bodice back, which was fine, just slightly annoying, aha!

(Brief interlude....I totally ironed my interfacing to the RIGHT side of the bodice, which made me want to punch a table, but I was finally able to peel it off, and I made THAT side the inside of the bodice, LOL.)

I also clearly left off the pocket this time around - and I did a folded straight hem at the bottom, keeping it classy, aha!  My contrast fabrics didn't *quite* match the main fabric - oh, believe me, I know - but I went with it, anyway.  Also, I used shot cottons, which are a fave of mine - and which are a better match for this fabric, in my most humble of opinions - over quilting cotton.

Lastly, I did not shirr the back of the dress, liking the look without it.  (You can see the shirring above, on the version I made when Camden was 2.)

Something to keep in mind with this pattern is that the bodice stops at an odd point on a child with a belly, and it seems quite snug around the chest - this time around, I went wayyyyy up to a size 5, though Camden isn't exactly huge and isn't even 4 years old.  And I find it fits perfectly well, LOL.

Wait'll these ceramic buttons are in a million pieces....

This was her "real" smile, apparently

Camden super loves this dress, though she clearly will appreciate it more when the air is a bit warmer.

Lastly, in case you weren't sure of her name.....

Scrappy Maxi Top - In Which I Weave an End Almost Every Round

Nine hundred woven ends later, and here we all are.  I'm PRETTY SURE I will NEVER do another scrappy sweater/dress/tunic EVER again, thankyouverymuch.  For serious.

Like...Dead Serious.  My end-weaving was atrocious, and you'll see that in at least one picture, below, but let me move past that for un momento.

And....presenting TWO Maxi Top patterns, designed by Elena Nodel!  (Best part???  It's a FREE pattern, folks!)

I did a mini-KAL of sorts with a friend of mine, Tessa from Tessa Ann Designs.  This was her second-ever sweater she made her little girl, and it looks super fabulous, if I do say so myself!  She received a lovely gray colorway (Cascade Yarns) for Christmas, and she added some gorgeous buttons, of which I just may be envious.  Gray is a color I have yet to use for a full project (other than Camden's Color Me Pretty sweater, and it's really such a versatile color - pairing it with fun leggings, as Tessa did, using tops in millions of colors, etc.

How great are those buttons???

I know Tessa is pretty pleased with the results of her knitting, and the fit is great on her toddler, as you can see!  The only issue she came across was the difference in color in the last skein she used - the dye lots matched, but the colors were, as you can see, different.  The one cool thing is that it's gray and has more of an ombre effect, we like to say!  ;)

Also, major shout-out to Tessa because I got a head-start by a few days, as I was trying to whip through two sweaters at once.  So, I thank her for understanding when I was feeling pressure from myself in finishing projects before the baby is born (and can I say how awesome it is to have a knitting date with a friend???  Sans children???).

Camden's version was a size 4/5 and is definitely big-ish on her, especially after blocking.  I know she'll grow into it, no biggie.  I did alternate every two rounds, which was NOT cool when it came to finishing the sweater (ie: weaving in the ends).  I do wish I'd gone every three rounds, just to make my life that much easier, but whaddya gonna do?  The thing is, the "seam," so to speak, looks AWFUL.  It's quite obvious to even the un-trained eye, if I'm being frank.  I tried to weave in the ends carefully, but it was too many, and I also had tried to sort of spread the alternating over several stitches down the length of the sweater, but it did NOT help.  I'm greatly saddened by this first-world problem and think of it as an eyesore.  I don't know how others do scrappy style so well, LOL.

Try NOT to stare at that side "seam"!!!

Camden happens to LOVE this tunic, as it turns out, and she did receive a compliment today at the grocery store, aha - so...bonus!

The pattern itself is super easy to follow - though I naturally had some confusion about why the BOR (beginning-of-round) marker was moved.  I didn't see a reason for it, so, I did not do it.  That is the only thing I changed, other than trying to fancy up the sweater by casting on and binding off in colorway, rather than white trim (and let's be honest here:  I only did my bind-off in colorway because I was probably 15-20 inches TOO SHORT on yarn...which I ONLY realized after I'd bound most of it OFF, sadly).

Lastly, when I blocked it, the colorways did bleed a bit onto the white, though it's not super tragic, so, I'm over it.  I used a scrappy set I'd purchased a couple years ago from a dyer I believe is no longer in business.  The colorways are super lovely, and I've used this dyer's yarn before for Camden's Hudson hat.

Overall, the Maxi is a great pattern - you can switch things up by going tunic or dress length, straight hem or ruffled...and it clearly works super well in all solids or colorway/trim form.

A very happy girl with her dad :)