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Five Ideas for Handmade Gifts

March 13, 2017 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

This week, I’m bringing you 5 hand-made gift ideas to consider for your friends and family.

1 – Hats

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Hats are quick and easy projects and make great gifts. These are some of my favorites that I made so far. The first is a hat I made for my husband several years ago. It is still the most favorite hat I have ever made. Second is a hat I made for my friend Chelsea. She wanted a couple of fun berets for summer. This one has a purple companion and was really fun to make. Number three is a fair isle hat. I love doing color work and since you’re using two yarns for the colorwork part, it’s double-thick and cozy. Finally, a little baby dinosaur hat that’s a mixture crochet (for the base of the hat) and knit (for the spikes). This one can be made in any size from newborn to adult.

2 – Mittens and Gloves

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Gloves, fingerless and otherwise, as well as mittens are great warm gifts to give. They take a little more time than a hat to make, but that’s only because there’s some shaping involved.

3 – For the Kiddos

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For welcoming baby to the world, what could be better than a sweet layette set? A coordinating hat, sweater, diaper cover and booties go together to make an adorable little outfit, suitable for the newborn photo shoot. Soft toys with sewn-on eyes are perfect for littles ones of all ages. For older kids, who haven’t outgrown the love of stuffed toys, getting the perfect gift that matches their interests is easy.

4 – Christmas Stocking

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These things are so much fun to design and make! I really enjoy getting to know my clients and designing a pattern that fits their personality perfectly. Did you realize that each of these stockings was designed especially for the person I made it for? The designing process is as much fun for me as the knitting process, especially with Christmas stockings! We can work together to make a design that fits your style and decor perfectly.

5 – Housewares

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Knitted items can be functional as will as fanciful. There are practical things such as dish cloths, swifter mop covers and bath mats. Then there are fun decorations such as doilies and knitted flowers. Then there are the bonus combo items, like a pretty knitted afghan with wonderful cabled texture or a bright baby blanket. If you’re a beer lover, you can keep that growler nice and cool with a felted cozy – the possibilities are endless with the design of that one!

Have you thought about having something handmade for a special someone on your gift list? Maybe a hat or mittens, just in case we get cold weather again. Does your family need a matching set of knit stockings, or have you added a family member (or two?) but haven’t gotten them one yet? Are there little ones in your life that would love a little softie? I know it’s only March, but it’s not a bad idea to start thinking about what you might like to do for Christmas. If you have an idea, let’s talk about it and see if we can work together!

Monday’s Update (Late) on a Tuesday

October 6, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

This is getting to be a habit, isn’t it?

I’ve spent lots and lots of time adulting this week. Things just gotta get done, ya know? The craziness of preparing to move plus trying to find a new house plus getting this one ready to sell (we can’t find any handy people who want to bid our job!) plus keep up with all the normal stuff we need to do (for some crazy reason, my family still wants dinner. Every night!)

Take all that and add in a toddler who’s dropping naps (woe is me!) and it’s a struggle to get anything done.

I’ve instituted a daily quiet time for the toddler, which will allow me too get something done, and I’m using my MDO time to pack and sort through all our stuff. Which only leaves bedtime for knitting. The plus side is that we can put jellybean to bed early when he doesn’t nap and he usually doesn’t have an issue with that.

I’ve been focusing on my husband’s sweater for the last week or so. I’ve finished one sleeve and made good progress on the second. The pattern is easy and predictable, so after the first repeat, I didn’t need to look at the chart anymore.

This sweater is constructed differently than my cardigan. My cardigan was knit all in one piece with no seams. This sweater is knit with the front, back and sleeves being separate pieces.

Patterns always start with instructions for the back, then the front, then sleeves. I started with the sleeves, though. I do have a reason! The sleeves start out at the cuff, and are only 54 cast on stitches rather than 120-something. I used the first sleeve as a gauge swatch, so I sorta cheated. Turns out I hit the gauge right on the money so there was no need to rip out. Always a good thing.

When I started the second sleeve, though, I realized I forgot to change one of the needles after the cuff. (The ribbed cuffs are usually knit with a needle one or two sizes smaller than the body.) So I knitted the entire sleeve with an 8 on the wrong side and a 9 on the right side. Oops.

I’m not really sure if that will have a huge effect on the overall fabric, but just to be on the safe side, I forgot to do it again on the second sleeve.

I have a few stockings that are washed, blocked and ready for details and personalizing. Two are for the shop and the other two are claimed. One of these nights, I’ll take a break from the sweater and get them finished up.

I have plans to offer some luxurious lip butters and lotion bars in my shop this fall, too. My father-in-law keeps bees, so I have an awesome local source for untreated beeswax. I’m very excited about this!

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at more houses. Wish us luck that we find one we like! Have a great week!

P.S. I wrote this entire post on my phone, since I’ve been to busy to sit down at the computer. I hope the mistakes are few and forgivable. 🙂

Epic Sweater Reveal!

August 31, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

After much anticipation, I can finally reveal my epic sweater.

This is my healing sweater. I have failed no less than three times to make a sweater for myself. Reasons for failure include lack of skill, lack of confidence and complete stupidity. But this one is a complete success!

My skills and confidence have improved so much in just the last couple of years. Making sweaters for my tiny human has helped my sweater confidence a lot, but I’ve learned a lot about reading patterns and techniques that make garment knitting easier. (I’ve also learned a lot about staying committed to the finished product.) I was able to modify this pattern just a little bit to make it fit me the way I wanted it.

This will be my winter sweater. I plan to wear it over layers, so for that reason I wanted a looser, not fitted garment. I also have long arms and broad shoulders. This means that commercial sweater sleeves tend to end up being about 3/4 length on me. It’s annoying and my wrists are always cold. I’m not so into the trend of shorter length sweaters, either. I was able to make the sleeves and body long enough to my satisfaction.

I might have made the sleeves just a smidge too long, but the wonderful thing about knitting it myself is… I can redo it if I want to. I would just undo the bind-off, rip out the cuff and a few rows, then re-knit the cuff.

"Why are you wearing a wool sweater in August? Are you crazy?" — “Why are you wearing a wool sweater in August? Are you crazy?”

The construction of the sweater was interesting and fun. The designer wrote the pattern so that you knit half of the back part of the collar then you stop there, pick up stitches along the cast-on edge and knit the other half. When you get to the same point as the first half, you pick up stitches along the edge and continue on down the body. If you’re not a knitter, that is probably completely confusing, but it works and it’s fun to do.

I modified the pattern at the hem to avoid having a split between the cable and the ribbing. That took some fancy needlework, but it was worth it. The only other modification I would make is to do a provisional cast on when beginning the collar. That way you would have live stitches to use when you started the second half and it would be seamless. As it is, the seam is pretty much invisible from the outside.

I love this sweater so much. It’s warm and soft. The cables are beautiful. The construction was simple, but interesting enough to keep me interested. I will wear this for years to come. I am so happy I made this!

Merle sweater designed by Norah Gaughan. Made in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. (Just for an interesting tidbit, Norah Gaughan is the same person who designed the pattern for the Aran Afghan I finished last month. I think you could say I’m a fan.)

P.S. Thank you so much to my awesome hubby for taking these photos for me. I am almost never satisfied with the photos I take, but I am almost always satisfied with his. <3

The Afghan That Just Won’t Quit

August 17, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 7 Comments

I’m working hard on my sweater. I’m done with the body and working on the sleeves, now. I’ll have to do some math in order to get the sleeves the way I want them, so I’ll tell you about that next week (after I’ve gotten it all figured out.) In the mean time, I want to tell you about a long-term project I recently finished.

This thing is a behemoth.

I started working on it in February of 2012. I bought a book, Comfort Knitting and Crochet: Afghans and fell in love with the Aran Afghan pattern. This pattern is designed by Norah Gaughan, who is also the designer of the Merle sweater.

I have to pause a moment to talk about the book. Many of the patterns in that book are worthy of spending time on. I made a version of Greenway for a baby blanket when that pattern was offered for free, then I found the book and discovered many more patterns that are beautiful and unique. I just flipped through all the patterns again, and wow! This book can keep me busy for YEARS!

I wanted to make it out of Cascade 220 superwash. I found the right color, with help from my husband, and ordered it through my LYS. She required orders by the bag for special orders. That’s 20 balls of yarn. If I recall correctly, that’s two bags.

20 balls, 220 yards in each ball. That’s 4400 yards of yarn. 2.5 miles. 100 grams per ball means 2000 grams, 2kg, of yarn or about 4.4 pounds.

I decided to stop short of 20 balls. I held back a little less than 1 ball in order to have yarn to make repairs, if needed.

But, like I said, it’s a behemoth.

That’s no afghan, that’s a twin size blanket.

Working off and on, usually during the very cold months, it has taken me more than three years. I did some of it in the spring and summer right after I bought the yarn, but it quickly grew big, heavy and hot.

I worked on it the entire winter I was pregnant with Jellybean. Just before he was born, it was big enough to cover my toes while I worked on it.

I almost can’t believe it’s done. It’s had a permanent spot on my shelf for so long, and now that spot is bare. It’s worth it, though. Bring on the Winter!!