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Knitting and Sewing for a bit of Winter Warmth

This winter has been a bit too snowy and cold for my taste. Over the past two months, I’ve been knitting and sewing garments to help keep us all warm.

Shortly after the new year, I knit another Falmouth Hat for myself using a skein of Quince and Co. Osprey in chanterelle. This has been my go-to-hat on these cold New England days.

I knit the Vines cowl using four skeins of Lark in honey. I’m donating this one to an upcoming raffle for a friend who is running the Boston Marathon.

I recently purchased a second hand serger, and have been easing by way learning how to use it by experimenting with all the different settings. This weekend I sewed the Lola dress from Victory Patterns using sweatshirt fleece. I love this dress. The fleece I used has a tweedy, nubby texture on the outside, but the softest and coziest fleece inside. I could live in this all winter. The finished dress reminds me of a garment that Prairie Underground would make, so of course, I want to wear it nonstop.

Using this adorable fawn print knit I picked up a JP Knit and Stitch yesterday, I made H. a new Hopscotch Top.

I also finished a new School Photo Dress for H. just in time for her to wear it for last week’s 3rd grade tea party.

I used a print from Sarah Jane’s Out to Sea collection for the main fabric and navy blue leftover uniform fabric for the lining.

For J., I made him a tooth pillow just in time for him to send off his first baby teeth.

H. and J. have a number of friends who recently celebrated birthdays. I made most of them birthday shirts. A handful went out without photos taken.

For one of H.’s dear friends, H. helped me make a birthday shirt, a reversible Hula Hoop skirt, and a matching gift bag.

Hopefully, warmer weather will arrive soon. I’m ready to start sewing spring and summer clothes!

Tags: Lola, oliver and s, Victory Patterns

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Categories Accessories, Child, Finished Projects, Gifts, Knitting, Sewing

January Gift Making

31 Jan

Just when holiday gift crafting finished up, I found myself scrambling to get started on making presents for a slew of January birthdays.

We have been in full birthday party marathon mode since the start of the new year. Between H. & J., one of them has been invited to a birthday party every weekend. For these birthday gifts, I added some applique to t-shirts. I’ve made so many of these over the years, I’ve stopped taking photos of them.

For one of H.’s closest friends, H. requested I make her a dress. I let H. pick out the fabric from my stash and made an Oliver + S Seashore Sundress.

H. wanted to help out, so she assisted in sewing on the buttons.

sewing button

For my step niece, I made her a Oliver + S Badminton Skort.

I knit up a simple ribbed merino wool hat for my brother-in-law.

For a dear friend’s birthday, I made her a Kimono Robe using on of my favorite prints from Jay McCarroll’s Habitat line. The pattern is from Amy Butler’s In Stitches. I cut down the length of the sleeves since the ones on mine turned out to be ridiculously long.

Sewing all of these presents made me realize my gift stash is running a bit low. I decided to use some leftover fabric to make a bunch of tote bags.

I used the Easy Lazy Bag pattern as a base and made some adjustments. I choose to make gussets at the bottom of the bag instead of having rounded corners. I also opted not to have the shoulder straps tie. Instead, I shortened the straps and sewed them together. Lastly, I added two interior pockets. I’m sure I’ll find good homes for these bags come spring time.

Tags: oliver + s

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Categories Accessories, Child, Finished Projects, Gifts, Knitting, Sewing

Recap of 2012 Holiday Knitting and Sewing Extraganza

3 Jan

Happy 2013. My apologies for being a neglectful blogger these past two months. Now that my marathon of sample sewing, holiday crafting, end of semester craziness and winter vacation all behind me, I can finally share with you some of the things I’ve been sewing and knitting.

This holiday season, I made cowls for almost every woman in my life (or so it seemed). This photo shows most of the cowls I made. I’ve lost count, but I believe I made a total of 9 cowls.

I made two more Avery Cowls using Osprey yarn in peacock and rosa rugosa.

I made a number of long Honey Cowls in Madelinetosh Vintage. I used skeins of Malachite, Baltic, Filagree, and Earl Gray.

I also made a simple ribbed cowl using two skeins of Manos from my stash. This one has yet to find a home, so it goes into my gift stash.

I’ve been wanting to try knitting Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter and was thrilled to see the new Wiksten Snöflinga Hat pattern suggested using this yarn. These adorable hats knit up extremely quickly. I made these four using Hayloft, Snowbound, Sweatshirt, and Pumpernickle. I kept one, H. snagged one, and the other two were given as gifts.

Using balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool from my stash, I knit three of these hats. And of course, a holiday season cannot go by without knitting a few Fetching Wrist Warmers. I made 3 pairs to give away as gifts. Holiday shipping deadlines crept up on me. I was literally casting off, blocking, and throwing them into boxes even before they were fully dried. Needless to say, who had time to take photos? Like many of my knitting projects, I fear most of the gifts I sewed were neglectfully undocumented. Most of my sewing projects consisted of making Have it All Wallets. I made a dozen of these to give away to teachers and friends. Some were already shipped off before I could take photos.

There were a few tote bags sewn as well as an Oliver + S Hula Hoop skirt for my niece. There may be a few other items I have forgotten to include here. I’m grateful I was able to finish all my holiday projects in time!

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Categories Accessories, Child, Finished Projects, Gifts, Knitting, Sewing

Avery Cowl

15 Oct

One of the reasons why I love knitting so much is that I can do it while I’m watching television or reading a book. Every once in a while, it is nice to come across a pattern which forces me to actually focus on knitting. The Avery Cowl by Melissa LaBarre is just that type of pattern. I knit one over the summer using two skeins fo Madelinetosh Vintage in Nutmeg. I went down a needle size and added an extra set of the 16 row pattern to add to the width of the cowl. When I first finished the cowl, I was a bit disappointed that the geometric pattern didn’t pop out more, but I have grown to love this cowl. I love the drape of it. Now that the cooler weather has hit, I wear this cowl just about everyday. I suppose an apology should go out to my friends and co-workers who have been subjected to seeing me wear this so much!

Since I’ve been wearing way too much, I decided to make another one using two skeins of Osprey in egret. With the thicker weight yarn, the pattern is much more prominent.

On a recent trip with some of my friends, two of my closest friends were also working on this cowl. There is nothing better than a little airplane knit-a-long.

Tags: Avery, Cowl, madelinetosh, Quince and Co.

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Categories Accessories, Knitting

Summer Knitting Projects

17 Sep

I have become rather lazy when it comes to finishing let alone posting my knitting projects. Now that we are into fall, I suppose it is time for me to post some of my knitting projects I finished over the summer. I finally blocked the small pile of completed knitting projects that started accumulating in our guest room. Here is a run down of my summer knitting projects.

Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl knit using Madelinetosh merino light.

I knit the Maluka shawl using a cotton/silk lace weight yarn. This is for my mom.

I doubled up the length of the Tuesday Night Cowl, so I could wrap it around my neck twice. I used two skeins of Madelinetosh merino in charcoal.

I used two skeins of Madelinetosh DK in Nutmeg to make Avery Cowl . I used a smaller needle size to accomodate the yarn. I probably could have gown down another needle size, so the pattern would pop a bit more in the finished cowl.

I made a few more pairs of Fetching Wrist Warmers to add to my gift stash. These were made using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.

Most of these summer knitting projects will be given away as gifts.

My favorite knitting project this summer was the Rocky Coast Cardigan. To make the sweater a bit longer, I added a few extra rows. I knit used Madelinetosh merino in charcoal.

The cable pattern gets a bit lost with the variegated yarn.

I wish I would have made the adjustments to add a bit of extra room in the upper arms and yoke, but all in all, I still love the cardigan. This is one summer knitting project that won’t make it into the gift pile.

Over the summer, I picked up the Valiant sweater again and finally finished it. This poor project had been hibernating for over a year. I’m not thrilled with the results. It just seems so heavy and unflattering. I haven’t even bothered to really take photos of it since it has been too warm. Perhaps once the cold weather hits, I’ll actually wear it.

Tags: Coastal Knitting, Gifts, Knitting, madelinetosh

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Categories Accessories, Finished Projects, Gifts, Knitting, Sweaters

New Hat for Camp

12 Jul

In my attempt to keep up my blog, here is a super quick post:

H. lost the sun hat I made her while she was visiting my in-laws last month. Last night, I was able to finish a replacement hat for summer camp.

You can find the pattern for this reversible bucket hat in Oliver + S’s Little Things to Sew, or you can download it for free here.

Tags: oliver + s, Reversible

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Categories Accessories, Child, Sewing

Recent Knitting

19 May

Here are a few knitted items I recently finished.

I made H. the Tiny Leaves Cardigan using Madeleine Tosh Vintage in Molly Ringwald. I wouldn’t probably have chosen this bubble -gum pink color if it weren’t for the fact that is made by Madeleine Tosh and, well, the name of the color yarn! That alone brought back many fond memories of John Hughes’ movies.