Rose's Birthday #2.

Cupcake gnome. Would you like some of my lovely cupcakes?

Rose turned 2 yesterday. My goodness, she seems so grown up. Well, as you may know, I planned a food theme for her birthday this year. As you may also know, my husband, son and I made gifts for her ourselves. Well, in addition to the whole market bag full of wool veggies, she got a few other things.

The cupcakes here are from my mom, and are HABA toys from Germany. My mom also found her a kid's apron with cupcakes from Williams-Sonoma. A half-hour of hemming and it was short enough for Rose. My dad got her a wood sandwich playset, also some other lovely wood toys. Her Grammie and Grandpa Bob are 1440 or so miles away and had us get some toys for her - wood trains, a LEGO, and some stuffed animals (characters from favorite story books.) Her great-grandparents sent a cute cat card and some birthday money - she picked out more LEGOs. She is a very happy kid to have so many people who love her.

Her brother Badger made her some lovely rice-filled bean bags and a bag to keep them in. I found some fruit fabric and some coordinating leafy fabric. Badger helped design the bag and bean bags, Mama sewed, Badger filled them. Badger also picked out the really bright ribbons and threaded them through for drawstrings.

One last minute gift was a green gnome hat. I figured that she might also like something special to wear for her birthday, seeing as her brother got a full suit of chain mail and some armor. I adapted the pattern from an adult size witch's hat pattern I found on sale for less than a dollar. Like the helmet, I sandwiched a layer of heavy interfacing between two layers of wool felt (only one layer, not two like the helmet.)

I thought she might like some flowers on it, but might want to change flowers or add other decorations; so I made the flowers removeable. I found the pattern for wool felt rose hair clips at the Purl Soho blog: purlbee. I made Rose one at the same time I made two rose buttons for her hat. The leaf is my pattern, though.

A nice simple button on the back - securely stitched on.

Buttonholes cut and stitched in matching pearl cotton embroidery thread. Now she can put on whatever she wants. Her comment was "It's so nice." Balm to my sleepy heart.

Her dad and I conferred on his gift. He was originally going to carve her a bowl and spoon out of wood. However, Rose as a tendency (being 2) of hurling her toys around the house with glee. For her brother's sake especially we decided to make her a bowl and spoon out of wool felt. Dad did some of the design work, Mama made the pattern and did the stitching. I think I will put this up as a tutorial in the next few days.

Here is my next project this morning. Rose currently really likes pink. She had her own piece of the pink fabric on the right and she likes it so much that she takes it to bed, and wears it folded around her wrist as a bracelet. I got some more yesterday to make her a skirt that she can twirl in. The fabric on the left will be gathered pockets. I will be sewing a lot in the next 2 weeks. I designed some knitting needle cases, and a local store will display them during a yarn crawl. I will show off the fabric next week (It is full of birds and trees.) I am also thinking of doing more with some lovely dressmaker themed fabric I saw the other day - hmm.

And because 11 veggies seemed like an odd number (literally and figuratively), I made Rose a chili pepper. Also, because it was funny. Again, I am easily amused.

Raccoon revisited

Friendlier baby raccoon hat. A sticky-outy tongue is always good.

Intarsia. Not for the faint of heart.

Well. the baby raccoon hat is done, scary eyes and all. This was my first intarsia project - made my own chart and everything - see previous post. Mostly, intarsia is not hard - unless you have 7 bobbins of different sections of color on the same row all at one time. Knowing me, you might not be surprised that I did a complicated pattern for my first time out. I did cheat a little, however. The center nose stripe and the nose are done in duplicate stitch.

I might change the eyes to buttons, but the scary embroidered circles are growing on me. It is sized for a 9-12 month old. The ears are gathered and tied, and are possibly the sweetest part. And the whole thing is only 5.5" tall. That is a lot of detail on a teeny hat.

Lesson learned: though the technique of intarsia is fairly simple, your first project using it should be uncomplicated and larger for goodness sake. Seven bobbins on something only 37 stitches wide is ridiculous.

Cute, though, isn't it?

The insistant hat.

I didn't mean to. It was looking at me. It kept calling me, "knit me, knit me, knit me." I kept turning away; it kept waving its bead-like fibers at me. I would hear it in my sleep, "you know you want to." I dreamed of little purses, little mitts. I hid it in the bottom of my project basket. It peeked out of the basket's handle. I told myself that I was only going to wash it, to set the twist. I washed it. It leaked lots of purple-tinged dye. I hung it to dry and set. It waved at me as I passed it in the hall. I took it down, put it back in the basket. It whispered "hat" and I was done for. I immediately saw my daughter in an aurora-striped woolly hat for the winter. I started it Friday night and finished it Saturday at noon. I tweaked the pattern so that I could have enough for a stem on top. The hat wanted it.

This is the handspun that I made recently. Half merino wool and half soysilk, it spun up "sticky." The color progression was interesting, but the fiber did not want to slide past itself. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about how it knit up as well. It is noticeably heavier than wool alone, and has a less-soft hand. It has a slight sheen from the soysilk, but has less elasticity as well. The hat came out well, but I don't think I'll spin more of this voluntarily. Besides - I have a soy allergy and I think this stuff gave me a slight rash. Thankfully, Rose has no problems.

Basic Roll-Brim Beanie Pattern

This is the pattern for the hat that I make the most. I took the best of about 7 patterns that I liked and tested it for every size listed. I have made it in stripes, ridges, plain, etc. I've even tie-dyed one. Fits newborn-large adult. If you make one, let me know! Featured in an earlier post as Badger's Beanie. (Pardon the really basic pattern, but I wrote it originally for a very beginning knitter.)

Pattern for Roll-brim Beanie (knit in the round)

Notes:

• Gauge: 4 sts./in. (Row gauge is not such a big deal in this small project.)
• Suggested needle size 7, or as needed to maintain gauge
• Sizes: 13", 15", 17", 20", 22.5", 25" (newborn, older infant, toddler, lg.child/sm adult, med. adult, lg. adult.
• Hats will stretch quite a few inches, and rolled brims allow for some growth.
• I cast on using the long-tail method, which I recommend as it gives a neat and elastic edge.

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn - approx. 90-150 yarns depending on size. 100-120 yards will do all but the largest size.
• Needles: 1 16" circular and one set of 5 dpns (double-pointed needles) except for the 2 smallest sizes which will have to be knitted on dpns only, one 12" circular and dpns, or likes socks on one long circular using the magic loop method, or on 2 circulars.
• Stitch marker
• Yarn needle

Instructions:

1. Cast on 50 (60, 70, 80, 90, 100) sts., place marker, and join making sure the stitches are not twisted. You will slip the marker at the end of each row.
2. Knit in plain stockinette for 18 (20, 24, 28, 30, 32) rows.
3. First decrease row: K8, k2tog until end of row.
4. Knit 2 (2, 3, 3, 3, 3) rows.
5. Second decrease row: K7, k2tog until end of row.
6. Knit 2 (2, 3, 3, 3, 3) rows.
7. Third decrease row: K6, k2tog until end of row.
8. Knit 2 (2, 3, 3, 3, 3) rows.
9. Fourth decrease row: K5, k2tog until end of row. (Switch to dpns on this row, placing joins between dpns after a k2tog st. Knit with 5 dpns or on 2 circulars to reduce the tension on the joins between the needles. This will help prevent laddering between needles. You will have to slip your stitch marker to after the first st, or place a point protector on the back end of the dpn after the last st. of the row to keep your place.
10. Knit one row.
11. Fifth decrease row: K4, k2tog until end of row.
12. Knit one row.
13. Sixth decrease row: K3, k2tog until end of row.
14. Knit one row.
15. Seventh decrease row: K2, k2tog until end of row.
16. Knit one row.
17. Eighth decrease row: K2tog across row.
18. Cut yarn, leaving an 8" tail and, using a yarn needle, pull tail through the remaining stitches twice. Pull tail through center to the inside of the hat.

Finishing:
Weave in ends, trim, and roll brim to desired length.

Badger's Roll Brim Beanie

Man! 3 days and done! Badger's roll brim beanie is finished. Check out the decreases on the top. Mmmm, swirly. I made this out of Swish worsted superwash merino yarn from Knit Picks. The colorway is called Lava and is so pretty. I was concerned when Badger picked out the yarn that it was going to be a plainish gray heather. Its a beautiful almost brownish purple with sparks of burgundy, gold, blue, and green. The images on the website and in the catalog don't do it justice. So now it's onto another make and make-do project (this one secret until after mid-November - its a present!) I did, however, get to overcast a large pile of fabric for all of the sewing. Yay!

Hat Junkie

It's an illness. I'll be the first to admit it. I am a hat junkie. Instead of doodling, instead of making swatches of new yarns, I make hats. I just can't stop. This is just a small sampling of the many hats I've subjected my children to. Mind you, Badger's come up with at least half of the ideas for his hats himself. There are many that are also mine, but many, many more of my children's that I haven't even posted yet. Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Badger's Watch Cap

Yay! It's done and I'm already on to his next hat. Man! He looks like a snaggly little longshoreman. (You can see a small part of my stash in the background.) Badger is a hat kind of guy. I started making him a pile of hats when he was 3 and now that he'll be 6 tomorrow - a new hat! You can check me out on ravelry for pics of others that he has (name: badgersmama) including a squid, pineapple, turtle, bee, and many more.

Make and make-do: going slowly....

Well, I've finished the ribbing on Badger's hat. Man, I do not like 2x2 ribbing. Three inches of it, ugh. However, it's just 88 stitches around, so at least it's not a sweater. I think the pokyness of the project is more due to the fact that it is black yarn more than that it has a bunch of ribbing.
That being said, I feel a bit discouraged that a project that should take 2 days at the most is taking a week or so. Granted, Rose has been keeping me up until or past 4 in the morning. But looking at the list that I am trying to get accomplished this year, I am wondering if I was being over-ambitious. Me? Over-ambitious? When has that ever happened?

I really wonder how other crafty mamas get stuff done. It seems that I can only get anything done after every single person in the house is asleep - which means that I get very little sleep. Morning comes and there's breakfast, playing with children who do not like to play independently, lunch, errands, chores, dinner, showers, bed. Craft time? It makes me feel a little guilty trying to carve out craft-time by myself. DH Matt does so much of the housework, for which I am GRATEFUL. However, I spend my day and evening being crawled over, shat upon, covered in toys,nursing every 2 hours, being read LEGO facts to, and having bananas spat upon me by children who I love with all my heart. Full-time Mama-dom is tiring, frustrating and heart-rendingly lovely at the same time. It can also be stultifyingly lacking in the time to create for one's self. Would I change it? I might change the 4 a.m. bedtime.

Progress?

Well, I am working on a hat for Badger. He wanted a black watch cap so that he could match his Lego guys. Ribbing, lots of ribbing. But it will be easy-peasy after that.

I also finished a new steering wheel cover that I crocheted from some suede-type chenille that was in my stash. So, stash used up and $20 or so saved for making the cover instead of buying it. And the yarn was gift yarn besides (rubbing little hands together.)