Summerlins

Pattern: Summerlin by Alice Schnebly, dress option
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
Needles: US 6
Size: 12 months
Fabric: unknown (a cotton lawn from my mum's stash)
Raveled


My gauge was a bit off but I decided to see what would happen. Finished band measurement was 17 inches. My guess is that this one would suit most 6-month-old babies, although it might work for 9-month-olds, too. The knitting went so quickly. As I eased the gathered skirt in place, I noticed there was some play in the knit top. I was easily able to encourage the top to be a bit bigger than the relaxed measurement. Upshot: It fit the recipient (a smallish 13-month-old at the time) perfectly.

Pattern: Summerlin by Alice Schnebly, top option
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich, color 3417 (orange)
Needles: US 7
Size: 2 years
Fabric: Cotton print from Freshcut line by Heather Bailey
Raveled


This is a heavier yarn than I used for my first Summerlin--probably too heavy for a warm-weather garment. After washing the bodice, I concluded that I should’ve gone up yet another needle size to get the fabric I was after. Maybe I should have tried the Cotton Rich DK instead?

Bagmania

Offspring the Younger, inspired by a pattern and fabrics we found at the Pine Needle, commissioned me to put together two reversible sling bags and a little zipped pouch.

Here's the reverse side of the polka dot bag.



And here's the second bag and the little pouch.



I love this pattern. Can't you imagine all sorts of great possibilities?

Documenting the year

Well, I haven't been so good at keeping up this here blog in 2008. Perhaps there's still time to address that shortcoming...

This is the first of my long-done projects just now seeing light on the internet:

Emma's patchwork-y pillow




A birthday gift from one of the offspring to a cherished friend. Did you know you can find quite cheap pillow inserts at IKEA?

Keep those birthday party invitations coming

HPIM1794, originally uploaded by scribblearts.

I love having opportunities to try out new projects. Here's my first attempt at Pink Penguin's patchwork fabric basket, made for one of Offspring the Younger's friends. Great tutorial, and one I highly recommend. Plus, the results are just so dang cute!

We popped in a few small containers of fun bath products, and this:

a reversible headband. You can find a tutorial for this project at The Long Thread. With practice, maybe I can make my edges at neat as Ellen's...but I'm still very happy with my results. And can I just say, free tutorials rock! Thanks so much, generous crafters!

Look, a helicopter

My life is full of distractions. I try to make the most of them.

This is a birthday gift for the August sibling, based on the great 1-hour bag tutorial by Jodie at Ric Rac. Took me perhaps five times as long as it took her, but that's--oh, look, a helicopter.

So, what have you done for me lately?

Owls. Many, many owls.

It is the season of birthdays at our house, and in a moment of weakness I agreed to do slumber parties for each of the offspring. Compounding the damage, I also suggested we make these little dudes as party favors.

My prototype:


Members of the parliament:


(Sorry about the dark photos.)

I've made 16 so far. That was enough for the parties, but not enough to satisfy the unexpected demand from adults. These are fun, but a bit fiddly. Hardest part? Finding buttons that work well as eyes.

On deck for this winter solstice

* The Bag (pattern by Wendy Wonnacott) for Mum
* Knit slipper socks for Gram
* Polar fleece slipper socks for Gram
* Baby Alligator scarf (kit from Morehouse Farm) for Mr. W
* Sewn gift bags
* Something special for Gram's 90th birthday (December 24)--You go, Gram!

Another Friday, another birthday party

It's Offspring the Younger's turn to be off to a slumber party. We made the entire gift this time. It consists of a totebag:


This is made from two florals from Erin McMorris' Urban Garden line for Free Spirit and a tonal paisley from the Tiddley Winks line by Arrin Turnmire for Moda. Offspring the Younger chose these from the offerings at Bolt. All three were great fabrics to work with and this was a fun project. I intend to try it again with some modifications.

We also made this fun little guy:


He's based on the wonderfully clear free pattern at BitterSweet. We will be making many more of these, I'm sure!

Spring cleaning

Offspring the Elder spent Friday trying to pull together a gift for a friend's birthday. The present was looking a little, well, thin...and we were running short on resources. But lordy, have we got a house full o' crap. Enter this idea:



In the seventies, my dad was quite the dresser. Frye boots, velvet sport coats, Swiss ski sweaters, and leather trenches were his sort of thing. He also had a couple of cashmere turtlenecks. When he handed a yellowish one off to me and gave me carte blanche, I threw it in a big pot of water with several packets of drink mix. Thus was the softest mottled spring green felt in the world born. I love it.

Back to the story at hand: we needed to beef up a birthday gift, as well as wrap it. This seemed a reasonable solution. The pocket, which I made by using the entire turtleneck collar, has two compartments. More fun that way, I think. (And the cashmere. Oh. We just wanted to keep stroking it. Ooh, what about using this bag as a hot water bottle cover?)

Problem solved...and I have a bit more room in my sewing nook. Cool!

Relief

...is spelled I-G-O-T-I-T-A-L-L-D-O-N-E-I-N-T-I-M-E.


This banner came together the night before the baby shower. I used wool felt, a cotton velvet ribbon, and Heather Bailey scraps from the quilt my mum made for the baby. The mother-of-pearl buttons are antiques my gram (who will be 90 this year) inherited from her mother and grandmother.


Mum's quilt:


My cousin looks like he's examining the finer points of the stitching, doesn't he? I've seen him look at x-rays of my teeth this way. Actually, he's reading the cool label my mother sewed into the corner of the quilt. She does this for all of her pieces.

Here is my bigger FO, the little cardigan I designed for Adeline. Those of you who wander the blogosphere will understand that I owe a big debt to Nona for inspiring this one:




I think they liked it.

Face off

The offspring and I were charmed by the idea of making some of these for a baby shower:


Here's my prototype:


I think I might prefer it just as it stands (sits) now, without a face, but the offspring are rather creeped out by that idea. What do you think?