Black Is The New Black!

Happy Friday-- Today I'm posting as part of the Shades of Me series put on Welcome to the Mouse House and Petit a Petit and Family. There are only two rules-- you have to put together an outfit in your color, and you have to sew something for yourself.

 I elbowed quite a few bloggers out of the way to snag myself a spot on the 'black' list, since that's what I wear anyways

 The main sewing I did for this outfit was refashioning the pants. I had picked up a pair of pants that fit perfectly, but were too long and too flared for my taste. (anyone's taste really). Here's a before:

I also made the hat and gloves just for this challenge. Most of the families hats are piled into our "It's freezing outside" bin that sits next to our front door. The hats are shared by the whole family, so it's nice to have one that's just for me.

 The hat is crochet with this beautiful faux-knit stitch. I love how the fabric is much thicker (I would say double or triple the thickness) of a knit hat, but it still has a streamlined look. The fingerless gloves are a simple 1x1 rib. You can get a no-knit fingerless glove tutorial here!

The bag, of course is the Tulika Tote.

The scarf is my absolutely favorite part of the outfit, and the only thing really has any color (sorry!). I wrote a little about making the scarf last year . It's gigantic, cuddly and cozy and I just love remember all the heart that went into it. I did weave in each and every end just for these pictures though!

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Thank you so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out the other contestants (their outfits are so much cooler than mine!) , and enter the HUGE giveaway! Just click the name to visit each blog.

Handmade Confession: Linda of Sewburbia

I'm excited to introduce Linda today! I stumbled across her blog Sewburbia ages ago and just fell in love with her style, photography and creativity.

Speaking of creativity.... her sewing always looks perfect. Check out these adorable pillows she made from scraps.

 And I love her fabric choices-- this is what she has planned for her next quilt.

And my Australian Readers are in luck... she also has a fantastic shop where she sells blankets like these! Love! 

And now that you've fallen in love with her too... let's hear what she has to confess to.... 

Take it away Linda! 

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Thank you Palak for inviting me to share my Handmade Confession!

When it comes to sewing, there are a million things I can happily confess to:

Like sewing the top part of kid's pants together instead of the bottom leg parts.
Or never using pins or changing needles.
Using the hand wheel on my overlocker/serger when going over bulky seams 'cause I hate rethreading it when invariably the lower looper thread breaks.
Using pink ball point pen or the kid's colouring pencils instead of chalk for marking.
Or basically giving up and saying that'll do instead of re-doing.

But my deepest, darkest, handmade secret is:

My Big Basket of Unfinished Knitted Objects.

You see, I started knitting about 6 months before becoming pregnant with my eldest son (super early nesting) and I amassed a HUGE stash of yarn. With my new found skills I started on one project after another, finishing things properly, knitting for friends' babies and my soon-to-be baby. Then my first son arrived and I only had little snippets of time to knit. If I became bored of one project, I would start a new one, then I would be distracted by a new pattern and start to knit it too. Suddenly I had zip lock bags of little projects all over the house, in old handbags and totes, complete with their needles and instructions!

Then I bought a sewing machine (and along with it came instant gratification), so those slow projects never had a chance!

There would easily be over twenty unfinished projects in that basket, in various stages of completion, most of them just waiting to be sewn up and blocked, or just a sleeve or band not yet finished. Funnily enough, all of them are girl patterns and I have two boys...

Well, I'm happy to say that taking that photo has inspired me to finish a few of those almost done baby cardigans that were destined for babies that are now all school aged.

In the end it took only a few hours over the weekend to finish knitting or sewing them, drying them on towels took much longer. Looking at them, I guess they're not really all done are they? They still need buttons!

And if you're wondering what I'm going to do with these cardigans once the buttons are on, they're going here to charity.

Thank you Palak for letting me share my Handmade Confession! And now to finish the rest of the box...

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I hope you get those buttons on this weekend! Those cardigans are too cute not be worn. I can certainly relate to unfinished knitting projects sitting around for years! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and get some time to finish a UFO or two. But before you start knitting or sewing, head on over to Sewburbia and visit Linda-- you won't be sorry!

Welcome To The World!

Earlier this week my husband's cousin had her first baby. We are beyond excited and happy for them. Somehow saying "Congratulations" means so much more looking from this side of parenthood. I've lived the joyous, exhausting, amazing and incredible trip they are embarking on and I wish them the very best from the bottom of my heart.

Since they live out of state, I sent them a little handmade something a few months ago.

 They decided to keep the gender of the baby a surprise so I selected mostly neutral colored hats. You may recognize some from the Newborn Hatstravaganza.

I also threw in a definitely boy hat... (Based on the bubble gum pattern)

 And a girly one....

But I had a strong feeling it was going to be a girl, so I also included a crochet flower pin that can girl-ify any of the hats.  I simply sewed the flower to a clippy with a needle and thread. The clip can be attached to a hat, outfit or even put in her hair when she's a bit older.

So this masculine Everything Hat ...

is transformed into a sweet, tiny cloche.

I was lucky enough to see a few pictures of this newest arrival on Facebook yesterday. I was right-- She's A Girl! It took me a bit to realize that her adorable little head was in one of my hats. I felt so honored that a little piece of me is with that precious little one. Congratulations again Sonia and Amit!

For the rest of you; thank you for letting me wax on about newborn hats and knitting in the middle of June. Stop by tomorrow for a dose of sewing and another Handmade Confession!

DIY Rainbow Knitting Needles

A tutorial! Just in time for Mother's Day!  This is another craft to either do with your kids or on your own. (Believe me, the kids make more mess, but they are also more fun).

 I love these colored wooden knitting needles from Knit Picks, but couldn't justify the price-- especially since I'm not a huge fan of wooden needles for anything but double pointed needles. I've come across a ton of tutorials for making knitting needles from wooden dowels... so I thought, why not make a few colored ones with the kids?

Supplies:

The supplies for this project are pretty simple (and inexpensive, thank goodness!) I picked up 1 quarter inch wooden dowel at my local home improvement store. 

I also had the following on hand:

• Kitchen Shears/Pruning Shears
• Sandpaper (steel wool or even a green scrubby from your dish rack will work)
• Pencil Sharpener
• Kids Watercolors or food coloring
• Beeswax or Olive Oil

Let's Get Started! 

First, using either kitchen shears or pruning shears snap your dowel into 7 inch pieces. I was able to get 6 equal length pieces  and used the leftovers to make a cable needle.  

Now, for the fun part! Grab your watercolors and kids and let them go to town. As you can see, my supply of water colors was very low, so I supplemented from my stash of food coloring. 

 If you want a little more control over the colors, try giving your kids just 1 or 2 colors to play with. But really-- you can't go wrong with project like this.

 Finally, hopefully, you'll have a few dowel peices that look like this. Let them dry while you clean up the kids.

 Using your pencil sharpener, sharpen each end of the dowels.

 Once they are sharpened, sand any rough edges down with the steel wool, and wax or oil the needles. I used this non-toxic wood wax recipe from Amber Dusick. It was easy to make, and I just buffed it in with a paper towel. I continued buffing until absolutely no color came off onto my towel. If your kids are a bit older, they can help with this part, as the wax is all natural.

For the ultimate test-- I was a worried that colors might bleed onto white yarn. I knitted what felt like a mile of stark white icord and no bleeding!

Now all that's left to do is to curl up on the couch with some yummy knitting. I cannot say enough how warm and fuzzy these knitting needles make me feel! Just knitting with them reminds of the fun we had making them. The needles are smooth enough that I find myself reaching for them just as much as my bamboo clover DPNs, but still grippy enough that I can also use them for straight knitting without worry of anything falling off.

And that tiny cable needle is my absolute new favorite-- it's small enough that I can hold it in my free fingers so it's always there when I need to cable.

Please do let me know if you all try this-- I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. And if you have a mom that knits-- how fun would it be to get these needles with some kid-dyed yarn? You could even wrap it up in an fun crushed tomato can!

Don't miss the next fun tutorial-- subscribe to MIH today!

Newborn Hatstravaganza Wrap Up

I hope you all had as much fun as I did this week with these hats. If you did end up making a hat, I'd love to see a picture (and feature it on the site, if you like).

Just to do a quick wrap up, here are the patterns we did this week.

The world's quickest  newborn hat-- the Bubble Gum Hat.

 The Pixie Hat-- which has an option to be made with just the knit stitch. No purls or decreases required.

The Bliss Hat-- I have to admit, I think this is my favorite.

 And... the Everything Hat... perfect for little boys, and those of us who don't like to follow patterns :) I love how this pattern is extra thick around the ears.

 I did get a request for a tutorial on making these flowers, which I'll try to share in the next few weeks. After a bit of fiddling, I think I've found an easy, simple way to make them and still have nice, rounded petals. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll be taking the week off next week (um, to recover), and I"ll see you back here for the last week of March.

The Everything Hat-- Free Pattern

I didn't forget about the boys!!! Today we have something a bit different.-- the everything hat is less of a pattern and more of a recipe. It's a little bit of crochet and a little bit of knit. The fun part of this hat is that after the top portion of the hat is knitted, you can choose whatever crochet stitch pattern you like to make the bottom of the hat.

 I used a combination of single crochets, half crochets, and mini puff stitches, and I really like the texture of the brim. I think it would be perfect for a little boy!

Materials:

Vanna's choice Yarn
Size H crochet hook
Size 8 circular knitting needle
Yarn needle for finishing/weaving in ends

Gauge: 

2 inches = 8 stitches knit

  

Directions:

• Cast on 50 stitches.
• From this point forward, we will be working in a continuous round. Work in stockinette (all knit stitches) until work measures 3 inches
•  Decrease Row 1 : place marker. *knit 8 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (45 stitches remain)
• Decrease Row 2 : place marker. *knit 7 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (40 stitches remain)
• Decrease Row 3 : place marker. *knit 6 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (35 stitches remain)
• Decrease Row 4 : place marker. *knit 5 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (30 stitches remain)
• Decrease Row 5 : place marker. *knit 4 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (25 stitches remain)
• Decrease Row 6 : place marker. *knit 3 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (20 stitches remain)
• Decrease Row 6 : place marker. *knit 2 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (15 stitches remain) 
• Decrease Row 6 : place marker. *knit 1 stitches, k2tog* 5 times (10 stitches remain) 
• Using a yarn needle, pull yarn through stitches to close top of hat. 
• Now for the fun part! Using your crochet hook, half double crochet around. You should have 50 stitches. 
• Now choose any stitch or stitch pattern and continue crocheting around the hat until the crochet portion of the hat measures an addition 2.5 inches. I ended up using half double crochets with a mini puff stitch border. (I also through in a row of single crochet here and there.

Finishing:

• To finish this hat, simply weave in the ends and enjoy!

I hope you all enjoy this pattern-- if anyone needs any help/ has questions please let me know. I am so in love with this little hat and would love to know if any of ya'll try it. If you do-- please leave a comment or contact me!

This post is part of our Newborn Hatstravagnaza Series! Check out the other posts in the series:

• The Perfect Pom Pom Tutorial
• Yarn Dyeing... With A Toddler Tutorial
• The Bubble Gum Hat-- Free Pattern!!!
• The Pixie Stix Hat-- Free Pattern!!!
• The Bliss Hat-- Free Pattern!!!
• The Everything Hat--Free Pattern!!!

While you are here, you can also look at my knitting posts, tutorials and free patterns!

Tomorrow we are going to have our series wrap up. If you liked this pattern, please consider Subscribing (using RSS), Signing up for Emails, or Following using Blogger.

The Bliss Hat-- Free Crochet Pattern

Now that we've warmed up with some simple crochet and knit hats, let's try our hand at something a bit more complicated! This hat made from a variation on the blanket stitch. The blanket stitch is most often used for making (you guessed it!) blankets, so its normally worked flat and back and forth. We are going to mix it up today by working the blanket stitch in the round.

It makes a neat slanting pattern that's a bit lacy, but still would be plenty warm. I went a bit crazy with this, and made bunch of hats in quite a few sizes (that light pink one is for me!)

Although all the colors I've used here are traditionally feminine, I think this stitch would work for either a girl or a boy.

I love the way the brim looks when It's folded up. I couldn't find a name for this stitch pattern worked in the round, so I'll just call it Bliss!

The yarn I've used here is Caron Simply Soft from my Consumer Crafts box last month. I fell hard for this yarn-- it's extremely soft and comes in bright colors that are sometimes hard to find in wool. It's also washable, which is a big plus for baby gifts. I do find that it's splitty when knitting with it, so I stick with using it for crochet.

The Pixy Newborn Hat -- Free Pattern!

Today's hat is another super simple hat-- but this time it's knit! The Pixy Hat (made with the bulky weight yarn I hand dyed with my toddlers) is a simple cylinder that sewn across the top to make a cute pointy eared hat. The hat below has ribbing, but the pattern includes an option for a rolled brim-- meaning that you could make the entire hat using the only knit stitch. No purling or decreases! I've added tassels, but you could easily use pom poms or leave plain.

Materials:

1 skein bulky weight yarn
Size 8 needles, or size needed to obtain guage
Yarn needle for finishing/weaving in ends

Gauge: 

8 stitches = 2 inches
8 rows = 2 inches

 

Directions:

• Cast on 40 stitches
• Rolled Brim Option: Knit every stitch for 5 rows.
• Ribbed Brim Option: Work in knit 2 purl 2 ribbing for 5 rows.
• Rows 5-35: Knit every stitch!
• Once you've finished 35 rows, use a 3 needle bind off to  close the top of the hat with right sides together. Weave in ends and turn right side out. You are finished!

Finishing:

I used a crochet hook to chain 10 at each corner and added tassels to the end of those chains. These would look great plain or with pom poms as well.

This post is part of our Newborn Hatstravagnaza Series! Check out the other posts in the series:

• The Perfect Pom Pom Tutorial
• Yarn Dyeing... With A Toddler Tutorial
• The Bubble Gum Hat-- Free Pattern!!!
• The Pixie Stix Hat-- Free Pattern!!!
• The Bliss Hat-- Free Pattern!!!
• The Everything Hat--Free Pattern!!!

While you are here, you can also look at my knitting posts, tutorials and free patterns!

I'll see you back here tomorrow for the rest of the Newborn Hatstravaganza series! To make sure you don't miss a thing-- consider Subscribing (using RSS), Signing up for Emails, or Following using Blogger.  

The Bubble Gum Newborn Hat -- Free Pattern

Yay! We are starting our week of newborn hat patterns this week! I've decided to start off with the world's simplest crochet hat. Since we use a bulky yarn, it's incredibly  quick to make-- only 12 rows. If you are primarily a knitter-- give this hat a shot. It's wonderful to be able to make something in just one sitting! Introducing the Bubble Gum Hat:

This is an extremely simple pattern and is great for a first crochet project. Since this pattern is aimed at beginners, the pattern is written out in plain English-- no confusing abbreviations!

Yarn Dyeing... With a Toddler (or Two!)

Check out my Newborn Hatstravaganza starting on March 11th for free patterns for the newborn hats you see in this post. New here? Subscribe (using RSS), Sign up for Emails, or Follow using Blogger to make sure you don't miss a thing! 

 I'm so excited to bring you guys this tutorial. Although there are a million billion kool aid yarn dying tutorials out there, I want to share how we tweaked it to involve my two little toddlers. These photos were taken last October when my kiddos were 3, and 1.5, so even the littlest of kiddos will enjoy seeing the transformation. If you don't happen to knit or crochet, I still think it's a worthwhile thing to do with your kids. The resulting yarn could be used for pom poms, wrapping gifts, or just general crafting. As a bonus-- you can dye a small item (like a newborn hat) if you are in a pinch and don't know a baby's gender yet.

This tutorial will cover how to make a variegated yarn as well as a few tips on safely dyeing with small kids around. (and yes, you can still follow all the steps if you don't have a toddler.)