All This By Hand

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look what I made my husband -- he loves raccoons and is a secret fan of twee things I've made.  A long nap for Tom and a rewatching of the most recent Downtown Abbey made this a wonderful Valentine's afternoon for me.  

Why, hello!

Although I'm fairly certain no one but my family will end up reading my old-school, non-sponsored, written by one person blog, I'm looking forward to capturing my projects again.  I like seeing a record of the things I do that stay done, unlike most of what I do every day.  My last entry was Kate's first birthday.  Now she's three and definitely not the baby,  In fact, here's the baby.

Meet Tom, a happy, chubby two-month old.  He sleeps.  And eats.  And sleeps some more.  I'm almost not sure what to do with a baby who wants to sleep all night, but if thats what he wants to do I'll let him.  He's modeling a lovely Classic Cashmere Sweater from my favorite baby knitting book ever, Simple Knits for Cherished Babies.  Except it's Drops Merino Extra Fine because four kids means that babies around here don't wear cashmere.

Kate is a wonderful big sister.  She likes to help with Tom and just now was trying to make him smile.

Kate also happens to be modeling knitwear, a Sweet Peasy also in Drops Merino Extra Fine.  I like the yarn for its price, softness and washability.  It does pill, especially on the sleeves, but it's still one of my favorite yarns for kid sweaters.

Back when I blogged frequenty it was all about John and Pete.  So here they are, too.  

I always feel like I'm behind on knitting/sewing/quilting, but I'm trying to remind myself that they're hobbies.  It doesn't really matter when I finish or what I make as long as I'm having fun.  With that in mind I joined the Jimmy Beans Wool Downton Abbey Mystery KAL, clues here.  No deadline, very slow progress expected since there are only clues posted once a week with the idea that the clue can be completed while watching the episode.  It turns out the project is lace gauntlets.  Not the most useful thing in the world, but who cares?  I'm making something for me and the size of my hands really won't change as I lose my baby weight.  

I'm making them in Squoosh Sublime in Loganberry, a yarn club skein from back in 2010.  At least I finally got around to using it, right?

Stay tuned for stories of shawlettes (all the fun of shawl knitting, all the wearability of a scarf) and lots and lots of cooking.  I'm sure everyone who's had one knows how much little boys can eat and could scare me with tales of what's in store for me when they're teenagers, but it still surprises me how much my family eats!  

Kate the almost-toddler

She's one.  I can hardly believe how quickly this year has gone.  Here's Kate the morning of her birthday in her new dress. 

Kate is holding Pete's baby, which was John's baby.  Both boys went through a brief phase of playing with that doll when I was pregnant and had a newborn.  It was important, I thought, for them to be able to act out what they were thinking about the baby with the doll.  The doll has otherwise sat around the house, not being played with.  A few weeks ago Kate discovered it and fell in love.  That doll goes with her everywhere.  The obvious choice for her birthday was another baby doll. She was thrilled.

I stayed up too late tonight drafting a little doll dress pattern and sewing it up.  Now Kate and her baby can match.  I could just squeal with the cuteness of it all.

Daydream

One of my favorite things about going to the library with the kids is all of the beautiful illustrations in children's books.  John will actually find books that he thinks I would like and his assessment of my taste is spot on.  When I found Hansel and Gretel by Cynthia Rylant with Jen Corace illustrations I scooped it up into the already massive checkout pile.  The detail in Gretel's clothing is so beautiful that I decided I need to make this into a Kate winter collection, probably when she's three.  I was supposed to be knitting on a shop sample tonight but I put my extremely limited sketching ability to work and made this.  The toddler croquis was traced from an Oliver + S pattern, keeping my proportions nicely realistic.

 

Two sweaters, two dresses, two blouses, one skirt, one coat, one nightgown, one apron.  The evil stepmother also has some nice fashions, so I'll just ignore the evil part and turn them into loving mother outfits, okay?

 

I am looking forward to putting this all together in a few years.  As I was drawing this, I realized how lucky I am to have learned so much from my mom.  I can look at a picture in a book and turn it into real clothing.  It's not a skill that is in demand or one that could become a reasonable career, but it is one that I am so incredibly happy to have. 

Duplicate Stitch

I knit the boys' winter hats.  Two projects, exactly the same, not even different sizes since Pete has a pretty big head for a three-year-old.  I don't think I could ever be a cottage industry production knitter.  These were quick and fun and adorable but I was so glad to be done with the second one.

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Ravelry RedSchedule

Pattern: Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Mittens

The winter knitting plan is going pretty well.  I usually only knit at night but I had one of those weeks where the boys were acting up a lot and knitting on a simple project all day helped me stay calm.  Oh, you hit your brother.  Again.  Off to the naughty step with you!  Ahh, tiny little thumb gusset...

 

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Ravelry Red

Pattern: Grand Plan Mitten Chart by Ann Budd

Three pairs of mittens, done!  John tried his on to make sure they were cozy.  Next up, matching red hats!

My photographer

Pete loves to grab the camera.  He got a picture of me knitting while they ate breakfast.  You mean you don't sit there in your pajamas, knitting in the morning?

Lofty Goals

I recently opened the Stickies program on my computer, which I used to use to jot down just about everything.  I hadn't used it since 2006.  My favorite one?

To Do 2006

1. Buy a house
2. Knit up stash
3. Get pregnant

Well then.  I did get pregnant with Pete in 2006.  We bought a house in 2007.  Knitting up the stash?  Yeah...  It's not a stash, it's a yarn collection. 

So, To Do 2010

1. Clean up house, finally finishing unpacking
2. Destash yarn which stands no chance of being knit
3. Avoid getting pregnant

Let's see how I do.  :)

Winter!

I am officially tired of summer, so I am starting Christmas knitting.  With gifts and winter clothes I have 80 projects I would like to finish before Christmas.  That's 171 days.  About a third of those are sewing projects and another third are baby knitting, so it's not quite as crazy as it seems.  There have been considerable sock requests from my three guys as well.  I feel like I'm back to my normal knitting machine self, so here I go!

• 23 pairs of socks (8 adult, 10 kid, 5 baby)
• 4 scarves
• 1 pair gloves
• 1 knitted baby dress
• 10 hats
• 4 baby sweaters
• 5 pairs of mittens
• 2 vests
• 6 toys (5 knitted, 1 sewed)
• 1 quilt (machine quilted, top already pieced)
• 3 pairs baby pants
• 5 pairs pajama pants
• 3 baby shirts
• 4 pairs bloomers
• 6 baby dresses
• 1 pair shorts
• 1 embroidery project

And I'm starting shop knitting again, to subsidize the yarn binging for Kate's winter wardrobe.  If Kate can just get her teeth in already and stay asleep at night like she used to, I should be able to get most of this done.  Any bets on how many I will actually finish?

Stripey Goodness

First sock: October 6, 2009 - June 13, 2010.  251 days.

Second sock: June 14, 2010 - June 18, 2010.  5 days.

Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn, Winter's Passing

Pattern: Priscilla's Dream Socks, from memory

Temperature today: 94 F

Approximate days until I can wear these socks: 136