Charm & Whimsy

Adorable pixie, elf or gnome hat for baby - free pattern!

Here is the charming Stella Pixie Hat I made from the beautiful book Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren. I've always loved the look of vintage patterns but found them difficult to follow for one reason or another which is why I was thrilled when Kirsten's book came out.The designs in this book are based on vintage patterns with sizing updated to today's yarns, needles, etc. Super! She hosts a great tutorial series on knitting from vintage patterns yourself - reading them and altering them to fit. Check it out here.

For this hat I used a wool, variegated sock yarn but for the life of me can't find the tag. I'm pretty sure it was Malabrigo but I can't be certain. It was a pleasure to knit with, I hope I find the tag so I can buy it again!

It's a quick, easy hat since it's just a rectangle with one side sewn up and a band collar. However, the pattern called for the kitchener stitch to sew up the seam...that's the part I got stuck on (frustration turned elation blogged here). Thank goodness for the KnitWitch!! Her instructional video saved the day. The hat pattern also includes instructions how to scale up the hat from infant to adult size in case you need to whip up a whole set for the fam. 

Warning - this hat on your beautiful baby will elicit squeals of delight and hushed whispers of adoration from random strangers on the street. As if your baby wasn't cute enough - this hat ups the "Awwww" factor. I'm thinking of making one in red to go for the gnome look.

It's your lucky day!!! I found a free PDF pattern of this hat over at Craft Magazine. Yippeee!

Enjoy!

Crochet bobble baby sweater

Hi all, been a long time. Just trying to get through these last few weeks of work, very busy these days.

On the homefront, I've been a crazy crafty mofo for my little bun in the oven. I haven't nearly done as much as I had wanted but now that I look back on it - I've really managed to make a lot! It's been a crafty extravaganza - will try to post more soon.

So this was the first sweater I made for him (I had made 3 girl sweaters before seeing the little twig and berries on ultrasound - will save those for baby #2). I love the bobbles! This yarn is a little heavy though. Sweetboy says it will be like a weight lifting vest and he'll grow strong. This from the man who wanted to name him Genghis Danger. Nuff said.

It's really a beautiful blue green color, looks more blue here.

I love this picture! They look like little outy belly buttons.

There are lots of great, simple patterns for babies and toddlers in this book, Easy-to-crochet Cute Clothes for Kids by Sue Whiting. Some darling little girl patterns too. New yarn at Michael's, nice to work with I think it looks great worked up but a little heavy like I said above. Wonder how it will wash? I should really get in the habit of washing gauge swatches - do any of you do that? I don't have the patience and just start projects.

Alright then - as you can see by the time of this post - I'm at the point in my pregancy where I'm not sleeping well but will try to go back to sleep and catch some Zzzzzs.

Sweet dreams!

The BEST instructional video for the Kitchener Stitch as well as adorable pixie hat from Vintage Baby Knits.

Ahhh - the Kitchener Stitch...the devil's worst torture!! I've been working on an adorable pixie baby hat for the little guy from the fabulous Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren.

I'm using a beautiful variegated merino sock yarn (lost the tag!) and whipped up the hat in a jiffy but then I got stuck on using the Kitchener Stitch to make up the back seam. It stopped me in my tracks for weeks. I tried it, ripped it out, tried it again - swore a lot, ripped it out again. This insanity was repeated about 5 times before I finally just put it away. I pulled it out yesterday to show my Mom and sister and lamented that I still hadn't figured out the freaking stitch yet to complete the hat.

So tonight I scoured the internet and found the BEST instructional video for the Kitchener Stitch. I watched many, I read many written instructions, this one is by far the best and I think mostly because of the fact that it's 4+ minutes long so she does the stitch set over and over again and it helps you pick up the rythym. I love you KnitWitch!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7jIzwO5Nv4

Since it's 10:44pm on a "school" night I'm too lazy to find the camera, take a picture and then upload so I'll post a picture once it's completely done and blocked.

Lots of craftyness these days getting ready for baby. Still working on the nursery mural, started painting the details this weekend. Also finished another sweater. Will try to post them soon.

Have a great week!

How to block a baby sweater.

 So I've never actually blocked any of my knitting or crocheting...I know I know you die hards out there...judge me if you will. I'm lazy and just glad to finish projects. Actually, I mostly make toys, booties, etc so I haven't had the need to block often but still.

Fast forward to today, finishing a baby sweater for my sweet little bun in the oven. The pieces were terribly curled up (see below) and hard to sew together so I decided to try this blocking thing. It was pretty easy and although the pieces didn't end up completely flat, the blocking definitely made it easier to sew everything together. There are many different methods for blocking. I chose the the spray damp method b/c of the yarn I used. See below for some resources I found really helpful.

What you'll need:

• Towel(s)
• T-pins or other long, straight pins
• Spray bottle with water in it
• Tape measure
• Your pattern
• Your piece to be blocked

How to:

1. Fold your towel in half, you want a bit of thickness, lay it on a flat surface

2. Pin out your pieces to the measurements in your pattern or desired size

3. Spray the piece until it's nice and damp. Smooth out the edges and any rumpled stitches (I tend to knit looser than I purl so I always have a lumpy stockinette stitch. The blocking evened it out nicely!)

4. Measure once more to make sure the work hasn't shifted during your smoothing, adjust pins as needed.

5. Let dry completely and voila! Your piece is now blocked and ready to put together.

 
(sorry for the terrible lighting on all of these. Crafty time is late at night these days since work is so hectic)

I've also made two lovely baby sweaters from Sirdar patterns and their instructions require you put everything together and then block. Haven't blocked those yet, maybe this weekend. Will post those soon. Still missing the buttons and flower embroidery along the bottom hem and sleeves of this one (I'm still thinking I've got a girl in there - we'll know for sure later this week! Squeal!!).

The Basics of Blocking, part 1 (Knitting Daily) - basics
Tools for the DIY Knitter (Knitty) - this is a great page on blocking methods based on yarn used
Roll Your Own Blocking Board (Yarn Maven) - in case you want to get fancy and make yourself one

Lots of baby crafty in the works. We started the mural in the nursery over Memorial Day weekend. Today I painted the clouds, tree and leaves. I've made a rough sketch of what else will go on the walls but having difficulty figuring out where to put all the little goodies. Will post about this soon too. I forgot to take a picture of the room before all cluttered and full of furniture (although here is a good view of my mountain of a craft table the week before I cleared it out of the room) but I've been good about taking pictures of the mural in stages. Can't wait to share!! It's looking good if I may say so myself :)

Alrighty then...good luck with your blocking!

Good grief...it's been too long but it's been a good absence.

I've been meaning to write. I've started several posts. I even started a tutorial, actually two. What can I say - I've been a bit scattered lately. However, I have been prolific in my craftyness! This is what my crafty table looks like. Yikes!



Let's see what we have in progress...

1. 3 baby sweaters (knit & crochet)
2. 2 crochet baby blankets
3. crochet baby booties
4. flannel pantyliners (I'm doing my part to save the world)
5. crochet footstool cover
6. crochet teddy bear
7. flannel baby blankets
8. applique onesies

Hmmm... are you thinking what I'm thinking? Why all the baby things?

Well we're having a baby!! Yippeeeee!!! So, besides my schizophrenic craftyness (I haven't finished one thing) I've been busy making a human being so I'm going to cut myself some slack for not posting. :)

I'm 15 weeks along and everything is going great! It's been a long road to this point. We're thrilled everything is going so well so far. Our last ultrasound showed her (I'm convinced it's a girl although we don't know for sure) kicking and punching and flipping around. Very exciting!

More to come soon. Thanks for stopping by - hope you're all doing well and enjoying Spring!

A burger beanie to wear while I waste another perfectly good day playing Burger Time.

I can't seem to download a picture but hilarious and worth it's own post nonetheless. Especially given my current "burger" state of mind. At Fred Flare.

 

Here's what I should be doing instead of climbing ladders, making burgers and tossing pepper at rogue pickles, weanies and fried eggs:

 

• Finish the knit short row scarf from the free project sheet at Michael's. I'm about half way done - it's a beautiful berry color.
• Start the Big Bow Cardigan sweater from the cover of the winter issue of Interweave Crochet. I have a really cool, funky yarn that I'll use around the trim to liven it up a little. I just love the bow on this sweater!
• Do some laundry.
• Repot a couple of houseplants.
• Finish the Radioactive Girl uniform for my friend at work. Long story - I'll post about it when I'm done but it's going to be super cool. It has a cape! That alone makes it awesome.
• Clean house because the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow. Shhh - please don't say anything, Sweetboy already gives me enough grief about it. If she puts things away I never find them so better for me to pick up - you know what I mean?
   

Ok - enough, I need to get back to my Burger TIme. I'm going to make it to the 5th level this time I just know it.

Crochet cowboy hat & Pippi Longstocking hat for the kiddies.

Sharing a couple of items I made for my niece and nephew for Xmas this year. According to my sister they love to play dress-up (Jake is 5 and Susie is 2.5) so I thought it would be fun to make them little hats. Originally wanted to make them dress-up aprons (because they also like to help Mommy in the kitchen); however, I was running out of time and the hats were quicker. :)

Please excuse the dark pictures - these were completed in the middle of the night (there were some long nights to finish up before Xmas!).

I used a peach colored Bernat Satin for the hat. Orange bangs and braids were Plymouth Yarn's Encore. Green dotted ribbon was recycled from a recent baby shower. They had wrapped the favors and were being thrown away so I grabbed a bunch, so cute!

Front of the cowboy hat - used Bernat Satin here too. The black tie around the middle is scrap black yarn, probably Red Heart.

Back view - finished with simple black beads.

The patterns were from a book called Personality Hats for Little Kids. They were super easy and quick. I also crocheted a little fedora hat for my other nephew David but apparently he's not into the dress up gig yet. Which serves me right because I made him a crochet Davy Crockett hat for his 1st birthday and he doesn't really wear it. Note to self, he's just not into hats...should probably stop making them...

We spent New Year's with my sister and David in Vegas. It was a blast, he is so freaking cute! Although I think I've seen the Polar Express enough times to last me for the rest of my life, seriously.

The cutest Halloween costumer EVER!!

Check out West Coast Crafty's beautiful Pearl who dressed up as Harry Potter this year, complete with a lightning bolt scar, a Nimbus 2000 and Hedwig. AWESOME!! This is definitely going into the idea notebook for when we start our family. What a charming costume. I love it!

On another note - as you can see I have a blog addiction problem (list to the right keeps growing and growing and growing). The way I manage to look at all of them is through bloglines. Despite being a super way to manage so many blogs, you don't get to see all of the other stuff on the person's blog. Today while clicking through to make a comment on this cutie-patootie I realized that West Coast Crafty is also Susan Beal who wrote one of my favorite beading books, Bead Simple . Beautiful jewelry, super easy projects - I just love it! Susan, it's nice to finally meet you :)

The afghan is complete!

I actually finished it during my stint at home this summer after surgery. My first afghan...it took a long time!! I think I've been working on it since last winter.

The pattern was from one of those free tear-away sheets in the yarn section of Michael's or JoAnn's. I had never cabled in crochet before and it wasn't hard at all. I used Red Heart Soft Yarn. I really like acrylics for big projects like this because they need to be able to withstand washings. This yarn becomes deliciously soft after washing.

Next afghan will be a colorful one. I became bored pretty quickly with the same color of square over and over again. But overall, very satisfying and for a dear dear friend who helped me through my rough patch this summer. Hope you're enjoying it Karen! I had actually started it for your birthday last year but apparently needed 3 weeks off from work to get it done. LOL

Dorothy's baby ruby slippers.

I love these Mary Jane baby booties. They are my go to crafty gift for baby showers for little girls. The red yarn is lovely and very sparkly, the picture doesn't do it justice.

 

The pattern is very simple and you can find it here at Annie's Attic (Baby Bootie Boutique). I regularly see the pattern booklet at Michael's too. If you can single crochet and double crochet, you can make these darling little baby booties.

I use a basic, inexpenive acrylic yarn (like Red Heart) for these booties since it holds up really well during multiple washings. For these Dorothy slippers I used Paton's Brilliant yarn. Since the white acrylic yarn is worsted weight and the sparkly yarn is a lighter weight I crochet two strands of the sparkly yarn together as one while hooking. By putting the skein in a little plastic baggie and pulling the yarn from the center and from the outside it's easy to double the thickness and the yarn doesn't get tangled.

These are a hit at baby showers and the pair can be made in a little over an hour or two depending on how quickly you crochet. I've also made the cowboy boots, high top sneakers and roller skates from this booklet and they're quick, easy fun projects. Hope you try them, good luck!!