Happy Owlidays!

I hope everyone is having or has had a lovely holiday! I am calling mine an owliday, as I saw one of these fly over the window and land on the roof of my mom's home as we were opening gifts yesterday. It was absolutely beautiful. My mother has been telling me that she has owls, and from her description of the call and from the one I saw yesterday, I can tell you definitely that it is a Great Horned Owl. My absolute favorite!

Which makes the animals that I made for my kids even more fortuitous!

Here is the Snowy Owl I made for Badger. It has barred feather marking on it's head and back. I will be publishing this pattern on Ravelry next week.

Here is the sweet little Horned Owl I made for Rose. The pattern is Owlets from the Roman Sock Blog. Mine came out a little shorter and fatter than I intended, but it is so sweet and soft.

So happy owlidays, everyone! Hoo!

Make your own ornaments!

Two knitted stars, an elf hat, a short-row pickle, a mini sock stocking, and a double-knit Norwegian Star snowflake.

An African Flower motif stocking, 2 crocheted stars, a curved crocheted pickle, a lace snowflake, a lace heart, and a little elf hat.

Starting November 26th and 27th, I will be teaching 10 different ornament classes. There will be 5 each of knitting and crochet (being fair to the various needle arts.) Above are the samples I created for each class. Call or visit The Knitting Nest in Austin Texas to sign up. Different ornaments will be offered on different days - knitted ones on Friday the 26th, and on Wednesdays thereafter; crocheted ones on Saturdays starting November 27th.

Escape the house, make your own ornaments (or gift toppers.)

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.

If Vikings had lived in Austin or Nashville

If Vikings had lived in Austin or Nashville, maybe they'd have had armor made of wool felt (like cowboy hats) riveted with pearl snaps (like western-style shirts.)

Here are loads of pictures of all of the projects that I have been working on for my son Badger's 7th birthday. I think that I've been working for about 2 1/2 months total. mostly mornings before he woke up and in little fits and starts while riding in the car or sitting in waiting rooms.

The first thing that I worked on was a large dragon. It is 18 inches tall and about 24 inches long. The fabric is a VIBRANT orange batik that I had in my fabric stash.

It has really lovely wings.

And a lovely smile. The crown just seemed right somehow. I cut a crown out of some red wool felt from the felt stack here at home, and embroidered it with yellow pearl cotton and red metallic embroidery thread - which was a bear to work with. Badger picked the colors for the crown and the gold mylar thread for the centers of the button eyes. He thought that I was making this dragon for his Grandpa Bob, who also likes dragons. This bit iof subterfuge was necessary as it was really hard to hide a large orange dragon. He was very generously making all sorts of design choices so that is Grandpa Bob would really like it. I fooled him.

Badger picked a button from the stash to make a center jewel for the crown. My husband, Matt, helped to remove the metal shank on the back and I glued it on with craft glue.

Badger received the dragon as well as a suit of knit chain mail (hood and hauberk) first thing in the morning. As you can see, he is still waking up. I found both patterns on Ravelry.

The new look for baby fashion this fall is apparently chain mail. With cloth diapers. This is Rose, not Badger.

Badger is not so sure about the look.

The chain mail hood (called a helmet in the pattern) is shaped with short-rows like a sock heel.

I had to make the neck of the hauberk larger because Badger has an enormous head to house his enormous brain.

I made a buckler-type shield for him - also out of wool felt.

Blanket stitched on the edge in pearl cotton. It just made it look less plain.

We used a large, heavy button from Germany for the center boss.

And it has both an arm and a hand strap. To be useful.

Next I worked on a helmet. Finding a pattern for a helmet that was even remotely realistic was impossible. So I made my own. Actually, I made two. The first one was for a 15th century helmet called a sallet. Because I was insane. The one in the Wiki image with the lobster tails was the original idea.

I made a pattern and then made a paper 3D model. It was ok, but it had buckling on the top, as well as flaring at the bottom. This was an issue. I knew that the wool version would do the same thing. Wool felt does not lend itself to a fairly round smooth look without seams - not so smooth in that case. I could have blocked and steamed it, but I knew that I was going to have an inner layer with heavy interfacing which would not be as malleable as the wool.

I asked around for help with the geometry of the thing, and was put in touch with an armorer that knits. Can you beat that for cool? He was a big help, and his suggestions let me know that there would have to be many more seams than I wanted.

So I looked for something still a little complex, but easy enough for my simple head to figure out. I took a lot of measurements of Badger's head, and added a bit for ease and room to grow. Then I sat with pencil, large eraser and a load of drafting tools and came up with a second pattern. I found some images of the Gjermundbu Viking helmet and someone else's metal version of what it could have looked like. I chose for safety to omit the top spike. My brother sent a link to a Swedish museum pattern for a Viking 6-panel hat. I adapted it using Badger's measurements for a 4-panel helmet. I had two days total to do the helmet, including Badger's birthday itself.

The back had a chain mail piece, so I knitted more mail.

We used pearl snaps instead of rivets. The backs of these are all covered in interfacing and more felt - so no metal bits touch skin.

The outside layer of the helmet by itself.

The inside layer had 2 layers of very stiff and heavy interfacing. I didn't want his helmet to crease or dent.

It looked like a small tent when it was done.

Next came all the hand stitching. The bottom rim is attached to the inside and outside separately. Then the mask part was attached on the inside and outside with invisible ladder stitches. I had whip stitched it in pearl cotton beforehand. The top straps cover the seams and reinforce the helmet . Side pieces are attached with more pearl cotton, using a figure-8 stitch that looks like a herringbone pattern.

The top of the helmet. The pieces were also attached with simple whip stitching.

Happy boy received his helmet after dinner. I also cooked special Gluten-, Dairy-, and Soy-Free cupcakes and a layer cake with homemade chocolate icing. And brown rice and sorghum pancakes for his dinner - he requested pancakes, bacon and eggs for his birthday.

Yes, I am completely out of my mind.

Home-made Love

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Taking time out of my Knitting Olympics event to spread the love.

Keeping busy.

Well, its been a month. Lots of making for the holidays, lots of making for the cold weather. The next sweater begun. Computer crashed, photos lost, some found.

It was a busy, frantically busy holiday season. We had decided to make everything for everyone on our list. Good idea - but we could have used more time to execute it. Got everything made, finally. Two things were late, but only by a few days. I thankfully have an understanding family.

I had to jump right from that to making all kinds of cold weather clothing for my kiddos. It got down to 10 degrees here - in Austin, Texas! I lived in the Midwest for 14 years, and never got used to the cold. I moved back down here, and it's cold. They are now fully outfitted in polarfleece and wool.

Our computer crashed. It has taken a few weeks to get up and running, and I am thankful that I had put so many photos on this blog - it was the only copies that I had left of some. I have had so little time to write, but so much desire. Thanks for your patience.

The next sweater has now been started. Above, you see the progress on the yoke of the sweater (it is knit from the top down) Technically, little bubbles stitches (or blister stitch depending on your reference book) is not terribly difficult - just laborious. But, as Rose likes to wear necklaces , she will have a sweater that looks like it is covered in necklaces. I'm using a really soft Pima cotton blend yarn, 2.75 mm needles (one of the two size 2's, and losing my eyesight. It's some tiny knitting.. You'd think that knitting lace would be harder -but no. Knitting tiny yarn is harder when knitting plain, or just not as interesting - I'm not sure. We'll see how it turns out.

Fuzzy Pickles (or - I am easily amused.)

As you see, I am easily amused. I knit not one, but two of these pickles out of two different batches of handspun. Same colors, blended slightly differently, the first made out of a singles, the second 2-ply. The first was done on size 1 needles, the second size 4. One is a gherkin, the other a big dill pickle. Both have short rows and random purl stitches. Now, why should you have a pickle ornament? Well, its supposedly traditional in Germany - however people from Germany never seem to have heard of it (read here for myth debate); but mostly its just funny. A fuzzy pickle just seemed extraordinarily funny to me. Here's how you make one:

Short-row Pickle:

Materials:

• 25-50 yards of green yarn in your chosen weight (one whole skein will give you lots.)
  I used handspun wool that I blended and spun myself.
  

For large: light worsted/ dk-weight yarn (thick and thin yarns make for bumpier pickles)
For small: fingering weight yarn

• Set of 4 or 5 dpns (you will only use 4 total)

For large: I used Size 4 (US) 3.5 mm
For small: I used Size 1 (US) 2.25 mm

• Stitch marker
• Yarn needle
• stuffing (fiberfill, wool, cotton balls, etc - something light.)

Gauge (largely unimportant - you'll just want it tight enough so that the stuffing doesn't show):
For large: 5.5 sts/in.
For small: 8 sts/in.

Notes: Adding random purl sts makes a really nice bumpy pickle. If you use a thick-and-thin yarn or slubby handspun, purling into a thick stitch makes for a very satisfying bump. Also, this pattern uses short rows to make the pickle curve - a good practice piece for short rows if you've never tried them, especially short rows in the round. For a tutorial click here. Just remember to pick up and knit your wraps or you will have holes that the stuffing will show through. Adding dill seeds to your stuffing material will make it pickle-scented.

Directions:
Cast on 3 sts.
Work 2 rows of I-cord.
Row 3: Knit into the front and back (Kf&b)of all sts. (6 sts.)
Spread sts over 3 dpns.
Row 4: Knit all sts. (6 sts.)
Row 5: Kf&b all sts. (12 sts.)
Row 6: Knit all sts. (12 sts.)
Row 7 Kf&b all sts. (24 sts.)
Row 8: Knit all sts. (24)
Row 9: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.
Row 10 : K all sts.
Row 11: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.
Row 12: K all sts.
Row 13: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.
Rows 14-16: K all sts.
Row 17: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.
Rows 18-29: Repeat Rows 14-17 3 times.
Row 30: K all sts.
Row 31: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.
Row 32: K all sts.
Row 33: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.
Row 34: K all sts.
Row 35: K 18, wrap&turn (w&t), purl 12, w&t, k to end of round.

Stuff pickle lightly, but firmly enough to maintain shape

Row 36: K2tog all sts. (12 sts.)
Row 37: K all sts.
Row 38: K2tog all sts. (6 sts.)
Row 39: K all sts.
Row 40: K2tog all sts. (3 sts.)

Finishing:
Break yarn , leaving a 12" tail, thread tail through remaining sts. and secure. Used remaining tail to create a loop for the pickle to hang from. Laugh self silly. Place in a washed pickle jar to confound family.

Braving Black Friday for Malabrigo! (Or yarn drugs.)

Well, last week was my birthday and my family all took pity on me and gave me yarn money. I think they all realized that I needed a fix. I have it bad - a skein here and there, some for a sweater for my daughter, some just knit into fingerless mitts (a modified version of Fetching - made longer for my long hands.) I will eagerly admit it - I am thoroughly addicted to Malabrigo Yarn. I used that lovely bit of birthday money and used it for NINE skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in the Velvet Grapes colorway (see top photo.) The bottom photo shows the Fetching Mitt in Pagoda.

Now, as long as I have been knitting, I have never knit a sweater just for myself. My daughter has 4, my son 1, I have a shrug or two, everyone has lots of accessories, and I have 2 shawls - but a sweater seemed downright decadent. I debated for a week whether to go ahead and get something special for my birthday, or split what I had and buy some less expensive yarn for myself and some for each of the two kiddos. I really agonized over it, thinking that the act of knitting things for my kids would be gift enough. I stayed awake nights wondering if I'd be a selfish person for wanting a really nice sweater for myself. I know - there are more important things to worry about in my life as well as the world around me. I have a thing - I feel really selfish for not sharing with others, even my own birthday presents.

But this is Malabrigo! It calls to me, and I am weak! For the first time ever in my whole life I went shopping on Black Friday. To buy Malabrigo. First thing in the morning. For a spanking new shipment. Granted, central Texas doesn't provide many occasions for toasty knitwear, but I often wear sweaters instead of a coat. I'm justifying my behavior by saying that the best gift for my kids will be a warm, happy and contented Mama. And I am not knitting the sweater(Mr. Greenjeans, but made longer) until January.

The rest of November and December is knitting, sewing, and crocheting fest. We are making everything for family this year. It is a decision which was based both on the desire to put ourselves to really work for the ones we love as well as a financial decision - my husband having been laid off for the last 10 months. We haven't got the budget or the desire to go out and buy cartloads of mass-market toys. But we have time and I've got yarn and fabric stashes to plunder.

(Oh, and you meet the nicest people from Minnesota when you drop in the yarn store early. Hello! it was so nice to meet you. Yay!) (I also heard about a possible volunteer opportunity teaching knitting at a local middle school - double yay!)