First Taste of Lace

This has been quite a year of firsts when it comes to Little C.; we tackled first steps, first teeth, first words ("Mama", "Daddy", and my favorite: "Good boy!")--but I've encountered several firsts when it comes to knitting as well.

I learned a lot (how to M1, other increasing, decreasing, SSK, K2 tog,  provisional cast on, kitchener stitch, long tail cast on, three needle bind off, how to use DPNs, how to make an I-cord, etc.), but it seemed like there were certain levels of ability that I felt challenged to pass. In my head, if knitting were a video game then Level 2 would be cables and Level 3 would be lace.

Even though I've barely made it to Level 2, I feel compelled to try my hand at level 3. Armed with my tokens of acquired stitches, extra lives, and game hints/ codes from Ravelry, I decided to try an easy beginner lace pattern called Matilda. It was a journey that Mario or Zelda would be proud of. (This is how long it's been since I've played video games; My point of reference is from about twenty years ago!)

I cautiously entered into a realm of thin yarn (yarn thickness is called "ply"). If you want something to look light and lacy, you can't use a chunky yarn. The craft store I went to did not have anything available except for sock yarn and mohair. Although I love the feel and look of mohair I am extremely allergic to it; I always find it floating around in the air, getting sucked up my nostrils and stuck on my eyelashes. It's torturous. So I went with a variegated sock yarn with beautiful blues and greens instead.

This pattern calls for chart reading. It is a very simple design, but any chart requires some concentration. I muddled through it without too many mistakes, however it has become increasingly clear that I really don't have the lifestyle right now to concentrate on much of anything. There's a cute website called Petite Purls that features some child and baby knitting patterns. They have a level of difficulty key for all their patterns which takes a new mom's lifestyle into account. Instead of just using a key with Beginner, Intermediate, Experienced, they give these type of details:

"Beginner: Projects for first-time knitters using knit and purl stitches. [Totally do-able for a mama while breastfeeding or snuggling with baby]

Easy: Projects using basic stitches, as well as repetitive stitch patterns and simple color changes. [A simple knit when time is limited and you want everyone to ooh and ahh at that baby shower you were invited to next weekend]

Intermediate: Projects using a variety of stitches, including cables and lace and perhaps some simple color work. Use of circular needles as well as knitting on double pointed needles. [This isn't for when Grandma is knitting while babysitting. Unless Grandma is babysitting and mama is knitting!]

Experienced: Projects using techniques such as short rows, fair isle, and intricate intarsia, lace and cables. [Seriously? Wait until the kids have been dropped off at college to take on this project]"

---from Petite Purls

Even though this is a beginner lace pattern, peace and quiet would have made it infinitely easier to accomplish. I don't know if it required Little C. to head to college, since I knitted it when he was sleeping at night. I guess I have to blame the tv and my husband for distracting me while knitting it. Because the rows build on each other, you must have the exact number of stitches on the previous row. Almost every one of my rows had a missing or extra stitch. Sometimes I had a LOT of extra stitches. My mind was definitely somewhere else while knitting it, I guess. Good thing the pattern and yarn are very forgiving. I don't think you can see too many of my mistakes. It's a triangular scarf/ shawl that is worn kerchief-style. Here's another glamour shot so you can get an idea:

I think I want to return to a mindless knitting or crochet project now, something very Level 1-like in video game world.

Girls Night: September

K hosted Girls Night this month and decided to make....drum roll, please....PUMPKIN decor.

She was inspired by the lit grapevine pumpkins she saw in Grandinroad. (I love their fall and Halloween decor. They have the best decorations I've seen, and Martha Stewart has partnered with them too.)

*from Grandinroad.com

I have to give K props. I would have thought this craft was too hard to do and wouldn't have bothered (especially with having her hands full with two little ones, working, and taking care of the house. Go K!) Anyway, you need a rolled up grapevine, gardening gloves, 2 small strands of lights, scissors, grapevine twine, and regular green wire. After soaking the grapevine (K filled up her washer to soak all of them), head out to a porch or somewhere where you can get messy, throw on your gloves so you don't hurt your hands, and start making loops around a "stem" that you've made with one end of the grapevine.

With each loop you need to use green twine to secure it in the middle. The gloves come in handy when you remove each of the little metal closures found all along the vine. When you're done looping, start fanning out the vine, and then add lights. We only used one grapevine strand, but using two or more will give you a fuller effect like the ones from the magazine.

I had a serious case of pumpkin envy when I checked out P and K's pumpkins. Mine didn't look so hot in comparison. Um, that might have had something to do with the large amounts of Pinot Grigio I consumed. (Boy, did I pay for that later, too!) Thankfully, P tried to help my sorry-looking pumpkin out.



I'm going to add some faux leaves to the top. This will look perfect on my front patio, nestled in between a real pumpkin or two, and some colorful mums. K has two black urns on her front steps; she's going to put the two she made on top of each urn.

It was a great craft and fun night with the girls. The kiddos were well-behaved, and the food and wine were too too good. I'm up next for hosting. I'm thinking about some more fabric stencils (these really are addictive). Halloween shirts, anyone?

Pumpkin Patch

It's that time again!!!

Pumpkin time!

 It was only a year ago when I last wrote about my love of all things pumpkin.

And here we are again already. Where did that year go? Time flies when you're having fun!

Can you tell which pumpkin is the real one?

This crochet hat was made at K's request for her own little pumpkin, Baby N. N is round and adorable and she will look so cute in it. All the hat details can be found in last year's post.

This has only whet my appetite for pumpkin season. I'm a bit of a pumpkin addict. In fact, here's my October To-Do List:

• Head to the local farm/ orchard and get my fill of Pumpkinland while simultaneously taking pictures of Little C. in a variety of cute poses (e.g. sitting on a pumpkin mountain, holding mini pumpkins, sitting next to a pumpkin on a bale of hay, etc.) like the hundreds of other parents at the facility taking pictures of their kids.
• Make my favorite Pumpkin Spice Cake (recipe will follow, I promise)
• Roast pumpkin seeds in the oven and sprinkle with sea salt
• Decorate the house with pumpkin paraphernalia
• Carve a big toothy grin into my Halloween Jack-O-Lantern

I can't guarantee that I will clean my spooky, haunted house-like basement this month, but I GUARANTEE you that I will complete each of the above tasks joyfully.

Silk Purse Out of a Sow's Ear

I love this cardigan. It's made in the season's hottest colors for boys and features a bold and modern design. I even saw a similar sweater on one of the Beckham kids. Get yours now--only available for a limited time!!!

Did I sell you on the sweater yet? Nothing is true about the above, but I figured a good sales pitch complete with celebrity endorsement would make Little C's cardigan seem more attractive. The real truth is this: I planned on making a solid yellow cardigan for him, but I only had one skein of the yarn. I didn't think it would be a big deal to find this color, but OH HOW WRONG I WAS! This yarn is around 10 years old and who knows when they discontinued it. Here I was with 75% of a cardigan completed. I tried to add in the second color without it looking so obvious that I ran out of yarn. Although I would never normally pair these two colors together it has kind of grown on me. Coincidentally, Little C. has a couple long sleeve t-shirts in these colors; the cardigan will look pretty cute over them.

I didn't follow a pattern for this sweater, but I've made this pattern so many times that I organically followed the same construction technique used in it. I've also never sewed in a zipper before. That was fun.

Ok. I'm lying again. It wasn't fun. Confession time: I bought the wrong kind of zipper. The zipper is for a garment like a dress or something; it doesn't open at the bottom!!! Not a good zipper choice for a cardigan, which is supposed to open. I'm pretty sure it said "all-purpose zipper" on the packaging, but maybe it really said "multi-purpose zipper" instead?I had already sewed one side of it, and I just decided to run with it. I'm really very adaptable. Or lazy.

Part of the reason for just going with the flow on this one (besides laziness) is how much time it took to get to this point. I feel like I've been messing around with this sweater forever. I bought the zipper awhile ago too while Little C. threw a fit in the craft store, and he wasn't very happy with me this morning when I quickly sewed the zipper in at the kitchen table. He's cutting teeth, poor little guy, and he wants momma's undivided attention.

After all that, I'm happy with the final product though. I thought about buying the right kind of zipper and doing it over, but I don't think I would ever have Little C. wear the cardigan all the way open anyway. So it'll stay and it will just be our little secret.

Bella's Hat

This is part of a present I made for my sister's birthday. She is a HUGE Twilight fan and that is the understatement of the year. She is also my older (not by much) sister. So, as everyone knows, Twilight is not just for tweens.

This is the hat Bella wore in the "tent scene" from Eclipse. This means absolutely nothing to me because I have never seen the movie/ read the book. I actually haven't read any of the books or seen the movies. I haven't deliberately gone out of my way not to read them, I just haven't had them cross my path, or gone out of my way to get them. I'm sure I would probably read it if it was sitting around. Then again, I might not be able to sit still long enough to read it. If I sit still too long nowadays I promptly fall asleep. This is a side effect of child rearing, I guess. It may cause drowsiness. Use caution when driving motor vehicles or operating heavy machinery.

I do know a lot of the story, however, because I used to be a teacher of tween girls. Once a student wrote a three point essay about the plot of all the novels. I guess it was the 12 year old Cliffs Notes version. She didn't write about this particular "tent" scene, though. So I'll have to ask my sister what all the hubbub is about.

The pattern is from here. The designer saw the movie, jotted down notes in the theater, and then wrote up the pattern. It's very easy to follow and knits up quickly. I used cream and grey yarns from my stash.

Go Team Edward!

Vintage V

I'm a huge fan of vintage sports logos/ mascots. I like the artistic renditions of the various mascot animals and objects; they seem more detailed and grittier than modern versions (which tend to be flat and streamlined). And I like the vintage designs, of course, for the nostalgic feelings they evoke. Certain well-known designs take me right back to when I was a little kid in pig tails, chewing Hubba Bubba bubble gum, and running around V's sport stadium in my keds.

I'm lucky enough to still have copies of these images on a couple old vintage tees from the early 80s. And I really mean lucky, because I have searched ebay and the internet for other AUTHENTIC vintage logos to no avail. (Lots of sellers claim to sell "Vintage" tees when in fact they are really just ringer tees, with faded writing, and the modern mascot/ logo on them).

So what's a crafter to do when she wants a certain item and can't find it anywhere? That's right, she makes it herself.

I took the wildcat image from this vintage tee and turned it into a stencil. I drew out the image on a manila folder, used a razor blade to cut it out, and then used my handy marine blue fabric paint and a cheap sponge brush to stencil the image on a shirt for Little C.

This was a very delicate operation; unlike the turtle stencil, this has a lot of detail which increases the screw-up quotient considerably. 

I started drawing up this image a couple months ago. Like with my crochet hook roll, I started to think that I would never actually finish this project. Like everyone else, I seem to have no time to do anything. I'm finally learning that I can actually accomplish things, I just won't be able to do it all at once. Maybe I can apply this perspective to cleaning my basement? I'm never going to get a whole weekend to devote to it, but maybe I can start chipping away at it minutes at a time.

This was much more fun than cleaning my scary basement, though, and Little C. looked like a real fan when he wore it to V's first football game last week.

Girls Night: August

Have craft. Will travel.

Our old crafting friend, A, and her husband invited us to the beach this past weekend when they were in from across the country. Since it was P's turn to host Girls Night she thought it would be a good idea to bring craft night to the shore so A. could participate too.

P. came up with a great magnet idea. You take the flattened glass marbles/ stones used in the bottom of flower vases,

attach patterned cardstock to the back with super glue,

then glue on a heavy-duty magnet.

That's it!

A. had some extended family also staying with her, so it was fun having more gals joining in the crafting mania. At one point, even one of the guys got sucked into the crafting vortex. P.'s husband wound up making a magnet too. Crafts aren't just for girls, people! One time I forced my husband to go to a bead store to make bracelets. It was purely for revenge b/c I was tired of attending so many sporting events with him. So, I figured, 'Fine. Now he's going to have to do something that he doesn't want to do.'  To my amazement, he had a great time, yukked it up with the ladies at the shop, and made a really beautiful bracelet. It was unique, out of the box, and way better than what I made. So much for getting back at him. I bet there are a lot of other men who are keeping their crafting skills hidden in the closet.

I'm really excited about my magnets, especially b/c I always forget to buy them and I really need them. Yay for practical crafts!

The girls and I discussed how much of a challenge it is to come up with good craft ideas each month. We brought up the idea of maybe picking one long-term project to work on instead of all these smaller things. We sort of did this a couple years ago when we were all working on individual quilts. We're not sure what direction we'll go in, but it sounds like a plan.