Knitting for Babies

The baby shower was last night, so I can now share what I've been working on.  Two grandsons are coming and I'm sooooo excited.  The first baby is due in a few weeks, and the second is due a month later.  (I love having married daughters!  And I love, love, love grandbabies!)  As you may imagine, I have been knitting up a storm.  A few more projects are still secretly being kept under wraps until after the next baby shower, but I can show you these:

 EviePants All In One Booties 

A fantastic pattern knit without seams and starting at the sole. 

 

 Aviatrix Hat 

Another great pattern.  Thanks to this pattern, I now feel comfortable with wrap & turn short rows.

 

 Garter Rib Baby Blanket

Rather monotonous to knit, but I like the finished blanket.  I do wish I had made this one slightly bigger. 

Oh, and I can't forget the flannel receiving blankets with crocheted edging.  One can never have enough of these blankets.

 

Puppies: Only one round, (2 sc in next stitch, chain 1) repeat around.

 

Bicycles:  2 sc, ch 2, around

Messenger Bag

My bag has been finished now for several weeks, and I've been enjoying it since then.  The pattern is from Lori at Girls in the Garden.  The bag is a nice size--not too big, and not too small.  (An iPad fits in it along with my other usual purse contents).  

The changes I made to the pattern are few:

• added hardware for an adjustable strap.
• reinforced the strap with grosgrain ribbon.
• added a 3rd pocket for my cell phone.
• added a snap closure to the inside pocket .

Changes I wish I had made:

• put the extra pocket under the front flap instead of in the back.
• added batting to the front flap.  (It is interfaced, but the flap is still pretty flimsy).
• paid better attention to the fabric flower motif.  I don't like how the 2 big blue flowers are adjacent on the front of the bag.

Note:  There are no pattern pieces given for the pattern, just a set of instructions with the dimensions given for each pattern piece.  The layout drawings are clear cut, and the instructions are easy to follow.  The fabric requirements are spot on.  I had practically no leftover fabric, just enough to cut out a third pocket.

Likes:  The design of the bag is what first caught my attention.  I like the long strap that can be worn cross-shoulder, and I like my modification of making an adjustable strap so it can also be worn over one shoulder.  I like that the purse has multiple pockets--one on the inside and two on the outside.  

Dislikes:  The pattern was difficult to read in places, especially where the print was placed on the blue and pink background colors.  

big pocket, another zippered pocket, and my additional small pocket

Gotta love pockets!

snap added to inside pocket 

(My snap press from diaper-making days still comes in handy!)

 The instructions call for interfacing the straps, but I also inserted grosgrain ribbon for additional sturdiness.  If I had had strap webbing on hand, I would have used it instead of the grosgrain.  

Sew Happy

Happy me, I actually sewed today! And I just had to share because it's been way too long! :)

Knit Chic

With all the knitting going on, I think I should change the name of the blog to Knit Chic instead of Sew Chic.  Just kidding, but yes, it seems 2012 was the year for knitting for me.  I really do hope to sew more in 2013 because I sure do miss it!

No sewing yet, but the knitting continues....

This cowl scarf, modeled by my daughter, was a gift for my mom.  It suits my mom much better in size than it does Emily.  I liked this cowl so much that I'm half tempted to make myself one.  I particularly like it when worn as a hood.

 

Pattern:  Honey Cowl

Yarn: Lion Brand Amazing in the Glacier Bay colorway

This next hat and scarf set was made for my dad, modeled by my son.  I don't know that my dad will ever wear it, but I thought it might be warm for him in the cold Wyoming weather.  (I'm not there, so I'll never know).  

Pattern:  One Row Handspun Scarf

Yarn:  Lion Brand Tweed Stripes

With the remains of the Amazing yarn for my mom's cowl, I made a scarf and hat.  Okay, the whole truth is that I didn't have enough leftover yarn so I had to buy another skein.  I do like this yarn even though it is a wool/acrylic blend.  It's not that fun to knit with (fuzzy and a bit splitty--yes, that's a word), but it is so soft and I love the excitement of watching the colors play out.  

Pattern:  Scrunchable Hat and Scarf

Yarn:  Lion Brand Amazing

 

And now I think I'm going to go to my sewing room and see if I can make some sense of the shambles there.  My idea of giving Emily free rein of the sewing room has its disadvantages.  :(

Rocio Cardigan

It took three months to finish this cardigan---three long months of knitting with lace weight (thin!) yarn and miles and miles of stockinette stitch. But the final result made it all worth while.  I love this "Rocio" cardigan. The pattern, designed by Joji Locatelli, is so well written and easy to follow, and I'd definitely knit another one of Joji's designs again.  I participated in a KAL on Ravelry, and I even won a skein of handspun yarn (thanks to those of you who "loved" my photo) and another of Joji's patterns.  (I chose the Flyaway Hoodie).  But before I start another cardigan, I have a few Christmas gifts to finish knitting and a lot of baby items to knit.  I'm ready to kick into baby mode (two new grandsons coming in the spring), but first things first, right?  Like Christmas.  :-)  We are certainly enjoying the Christmas banner (see previous post) hanging over the fireplace, but really, I must start the Christmas baking.  Chocolate covered cherries, tomorrow!  

Ruth

 

When I found this clasp at Hancock's, I knew it would be perfect. 

 The detailing on the back is the highlight of this design and the most difficult part to knit.  

 

The sleeves a slightly too long, but that's okay. I'd rather they be too long than too short.

Christmas Banner

  
After seeing so many beautiful Christmas banners on Pinterest and other websites, I decided to make one for my own fireplace mantel.  Because I couldn't find any printable letters to my liking, I ended up making my own banner letters using the "Flakes" font, a free font from RAFwebdesigns.  Making the letters took a long time, but I was happy with the way they turned out.  

I found all kinds of ideas online for ways to put the banner together, and I incorporated some of those ideas in my banner.  Assembling the banner was not difficult but it did take time to cut out all those ornaments!

The banner is now decorating the mantel in my living room, and it looks so pretty there.  Now I just need to get up the rest of the Christmas decorations! (This coming weekend, hopefully).

Merry Christmas!
Ruth

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours!  As my children grow up, get married, and have families of their own, it's sometimes a challenge to coordinate the holidays so we can all be together.  This year we celebrated an early Thanksgiving and the family was almost complete.  (Our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter in Switzerland couldn't be here). 

Truly, I have so much to be thankful for! The Lord has blessed abundantly, and I can't begin to express my gratefulness in words, on a blog post.  So I'll leave it at that and instead will show you a few pictures of my own sweet little Thanksgiving Pilgrims and Indians.

When I sewed two Pilgrim dresses in the late 1980's for my first 2 girls, I had no idea that twenty-some years later my 5th daughter and my granddaughter would be wearing the same little dresses.  Emily is 7, my granddaughter just turned 4, and my grandson is 5.  Elliot is almost as tall as Emily!  This will probably be the last year that the dress will fit Emily.

 

 

 In this picture taken in 2007,  Emily is just 2 and 1/2 years old.

I sewed this Indian costume in 2007 when Jacob was 7 years old.  He loved the costume so much that he wore it almost continually for years until he finally outgrew it.  Now he's 12.  Sigh.  Where do the years go?!