Sometimes Brown is Grey

Sometimes you set out to knit a brown sweater with a blue stripe for a four-year-old and miraculously find yourself holding a grey sweater with a blue stripe for a three-year-old. The truth is out. But no matter, I still love this sweater, thoroughly enjoyed making it, am so pleased I got to gift it, and (as usual) learned a ton in the process.

This is the second sweater I've made following Elizabeth Zimmerman's raglan technique found in Knitting without Tears. The first one was a success. My main mistake here was trying to surprise Peanut at Christmas. That meant making it without having him try it on during the process. And here I shake my head at myself. What was I thinking?! Next time, no knitted sweater surprises! I'm not entirely happy with how I planned the stripes either (not much at all). Better planning would have probably put the color jogs under the arm instead of up front. Next time, I also think I'll start the cuff a bit larger than Elizabeth recommends. Styles have changed just a wee bit since 1973 and I think a slightly wider sleeve with a nice snug k2p2 cuff to keep it out of the jam would be just fine.

There were a lot of things to love about this project. The pattern itself - the seamless raglan - is so fun to make that it's addictive. Once you get the arms joined and start decreasing, it's just too exciting to go to bed at a decent hour. This was also my first project with Garnstudio's new Big Merino. I like Garnstudio because they make a reasonably priced yarn and it doesn't pill. While we were in Chicago, I tried a couple of more economical wool yarns from the US (Knitpicks varieties and Cascade 220) and found that they all pilled like crazy. Not cool. My Garstudio Merino projects (including my favorite Peanut hat and a cutie vest) haven't pilled at all. They are also super soft and have great stitch definition. There are two downsides. The yarn can split while knitting and there aren't enough colors in the Big Merino. It's new this year, though, so I'll wait until next season and see what they do!

Here's a link to my Ravelry project page for knitters.

So yes, sometimes brown is grey and large is small, but knitting is always one of my favorite things to do!

Made in 2012

I have a thing for lists - lots of lists for reason and no reason, all the time. My favorite lists are the ones that are the dream lists. Books to read, places to go, things to do, things to make. In 2012, I had a "Make 2012" list. It was a long list and it kept growing. Let me count - 51 items. All sewing or knitting projects. Many for kids, some for me, some for others. It doesn't cover everything I actually made, but here are the items I got to cross off this year:

• Scarf for Peanut (match papa's) this one got lost recently, poo
• Wool pants (lined) for peanut
• Patchwork bags (games)
• Dolls from old sheets for D (5!)
• Skirt for me (Sew U pattern)
• T-shirt pattern for me
• Apron for Peanut
• Pants for Pumpkin
• Sweater for Pumpkin
• Pajama pants for Peanut
• Bibs (TAA)
• Pencil roll
• Pumpkin pillow
• Button pillow
• Peanut sweater
• Peanut socks
• Sweet baby cap for Miss. C
• Apron for Pumpkin
• Apron for Miss Z
• Apron for Peanut (yup - two in one year)
• Pajama pants for Peanut
• Clothes bag for school
• Bag for card game

That's a tidy list. With a few ravelry links and links to older posts for the very curious. I'll be working on the Make 2013 list soon.
What did you make in 2012? What are your dreams for 2013?

Checking in

It seems that I've been away from this space for a while. Well, the plan is to start attending more regularly to share a bit of what we've been up to. Things are actually settling down a little bit in our lives. Kids go to bed easier and earlier. But perhaps more importantly, I promised myself to start working on me again after Pumpkin turned one. We passed that milestone a couple weeks ago, so the time is now! For now, a bit of catching up...

I've made some big changes in the way I cook - most of which involve enthusiastic use of our freezer. My research on-line turned up mostly batch cooking (meals in the freezer), up to a month at a time. That wasn't what I was looking for, so I've been working on developing my own system. The goal is to prep meal parts that I can put together to make fresh meals, but in less time. I've developed a few tricks over the past few weeks and will share more in the future.

I've also done some making. Here's a peek at a couple projects.

These bears (there are five) were made from a friend's favorite childhood sheet. It's my first foray into designing and crafting stuffed animals/pillows. The best part was Peanut helping me stuff them and telling me he was filling them with clouds.

There's an elephant costume in a drawer that never made it to a good picture. Must fix that soon - but believe me, it's fantastic. Mainly because of the little elephant wearing it!

Pumpkin got a beautiful wool dress of her very own - just in time for the weather to get really warm here in The Netherlands. It will make a wonderful vest next year. It's the Little Sister's Dress by Tora Froseth in Cascade 220. I modified the pattern successfully and must post notes on Ravelry.

I also revisited an old pattern of mine with new ideas. It's basically a drawstring backpack. Works up in a snap and made a cute handmade birthday gift. I love how much a little bit of lace added to this project. Must keep that in mind for future projects.

Beyond that - Peanut is heavy into writing. I'm trying to keep up with him. Got myself copies of The Write Start and Playful Learning in order to try to keep up with him. Pumpkin turned one. We like to say she's developing a personality. Standing up, making her wishes known, and still giggling like crazy once in a while. She and her brother have started playing together and it's wonderful to see how much fun they have.

And so life goes on - whether I'm writing about it or not. I've missed this space and this work. I'm looking forward to being around a bit more... ta!

My Creative Space

We're surrounded by boxes. In fact, another 32 arrived today. We have one book case and about 30 book boxes. Sometimes it feels like the only thing we're making around here is the biggest pile of packing paper ever – to re-use... because we'll do this all again before too long.

In the meantime, I'm using this little space as my cabinet of wonders. Wonderful things to use. Wonderful ideas to contemplate. Wonderful hours coming up to tide us through what will certianly be a long, grey, wet winter. Taking a moment in my day to peek in here reminds me that the boxes are temporary. We are in-between. We are getting there – and don't forget to enjoy the journey!

Go see more creative spaces!

My Creative Space

Last week, I showed off my little traveling bag – but the real secret is inside. This is the little bag full of big surprises. I made it last spring using the Weekend-away Travel Bag pattern from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. The stitching on the outside was inspired by this skirt I saw on the always entertaining Myrtle and Eunice blog. It's made with IKEA linen and quilting cotton, so it's very light weight and squishy. It was a bit fussy to make – I'm not sure I agree with her method for putting the lining together – but it came out nicely.

And it is big. I mean really a big bag. I fit loads of stuff into this bag and can still open it wide enough to find what I need. Don't you love the mushroom print? So adorable.

This is what I fit into the bag – plus the occasional folded-up, written all over, printed out pattern. There are a lot of knitting needles. Someone who lives in my house asked me once why I keep buying more. We sigh, we shake our heads – they'll never understand. Anyway, I think I've used just about everything here at least once. Except the gray yarn I bought to darn socks. Darn socks. The red square thing is my Pinocchio tape measure. You pull the nose. Who doesn't need that?

What's in your bag? What are your essentials?

Go see more creative spaces!

My Creative Space

I've finally worked up the courage to attempt a Pembroke vest for Peanut. It's a lot more fun and less frightening than I thought it would be. The cable work requires attention, but isn't actually too difficult. Placing a marker at the beginning of each pattern section makes it a lot easier to avoid – or find – mistakes. The shoulder shaping on this back piece is impressive. It's a nicer finish than a straight shoulder. I'm curious to see how it will fit.

This little bag has been my creative space on the road. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling just to look at it and realize how much promise it holds. When we were packing up in Chicago, I put together the tools that seemed like absolute necessities for sewing and knitting, my two Elizabeth Zimmerman books, and Cal Patch's pattern making book and figured that would keep me covered and busy until our shipment arrived in the Netherlands. Two months and a bit down the road, no regrets yet. Between what I can borrow, get on-line, and buy along the way, I've been very happy.

Somewhere, some day, I dream of my own space – a beautiful sunny room with big working surfaces, a comfy chair, and a wall of inspirational images and ideas. But that will just be a luxury. It doesn't actually take much to make a lot. All the stashing, stocking, oohing and aahing are often more distracting than productive. The making time is what counts – it's probably my most valuable space. It's carved out between kids and husband and family and friends and moving and cleaning and cooking and everything else. For now, I'll concentrate on that.

Go see more creative spaces!

Sitting Pretty

Here's another little finished project and a funny picture to go with it. The picture shows the men in our family doing what they do best - building with Legos and generally acting silly. Peanut, despite any evidence you might have seen here to the contrary, rarely looks at the camera for a picture. He also rarely sits still. Capturing as something other than a blur is always a bit of a triumph. Building Lego constructions is probably Peanut and Papa activity number one. There have been quite a few Sears Towers (the real name)constructed after dinner. They tend to come complete with several helicopter pads (of course) and parking garages far above street level (double of course). These constructions must remain in place for at least 24 hours in order to permit proper appreciation by the whole family.

As for the project, you may notice a little rabbit in the Lego chair. We call her Nijntje. Her English name is Miffy. I knew nothing about her before living in the Netherlands, but Peanut has prompted quite the education. The books are lovely with bold illustrations and rhyming, rhythmic text. Our doll version is based on this pattern, using appropriately colored yarn we were gifted upon our departure from the Netherlands. She's my first stuffed knit object and I'm sort of satisfied how she came out. I'd probably use smaller needles next time just to get a more solid surface. This one shows all the loose stitches between needles. Otherwise, a success.

Spring Surprise Sweater

We are actually expecting an addition to our family this month. January was the month of preparations and one of the nicest parts was making a baby's first sweater (Peanut had one, too).

It's a super simple raglan cardigan using this pattern by Carole Barenys. Of course, only now that I'm blogging to I realize she has her own website. Anyway, it's knit up with Knitpicks Andean Treasure, which feels so very soft and nice. It was a bit bulkier than the pattern called for, so despite making a newborn size, it's probably closer to a 3 month size. No problem, then we'll get more than two weeks wear out of it! It's been blocked since this picture and there are also finally some buttons in the house for it, so it will actually be a finished sweater by the time Pumpkin arrives!

Ripping for Progress

This weekend, I frogged five skeins worth of knitting on a February Lady Sweater. It was a relief. It was becoming more and more apparent to me that however much I might like the pattern, it wasn't going to be a sweater I actually wore much. Here's a picture of how much work I'd already done.

How did this all come about? On Sunday morning, instead of sleeping in, I found myself out of bed writing about aesthetics and values. More specifically, the challenge of bringing them together. My values lean towards the homemade, the found, the thrifted, and so forth. My aesthetics (at least the pictures I like to look at) are challenged by the crafty look. I prefer something sleeker, more refined and modern without going for all white and chrome. It's taken me a long time to not feel like being pulled in both directions was a problem. Suddenly, it feels like an opportunity. What it will lead to... we'll see!

As for the sweater, I like the idea of the February Lady Sweater very much. The combination of the garter stitch yoke and full lace body are a bit too folksy for me, though. The swing shape is nice, but I tend to wear A-line skirts or wide cut slacks (given that I can fit into them). Experience has shown that swing on top of swing equals one chubby looking me. So, I'm thinking about a redesign. Updates will follow.

Polar Expedition

This weekend we went to the Polar Adventure Day at the Northerly Island hosted by the Chicago Park District. They promised hot cocoa, sled dogs, and ice sculpture and they delivered. One of the nicest things about the event was that they weren't selling anything. There were no booths, crafts, vendors, food, etc. Just a nice outdoor experience. The Northerly Island is just south of Adler Planetarium. To my surprise, it's a relatively unused public park area right on the lake. Most folks probably get to the museums and figure there isn't much more to see. I'm glad we had an excuse to go a bit further.

Peanut had a great time. He got his first taste of hot cocoa, which he loved. There's nothing funnier than a toddler nursing a coffee cup. He refused to let anyone else hold it as long as there might be liquid at the bottom. Getting a picture without chocolate mug in front of his face took some work. It wasn't only food, though. We also saw some animals, including a barn owl that he's still talking about. I've been making up animal stories for him at nap time and night and one is about an owl family. His eyes are even bigger now when he listens. The other animal that made a big impression was the hedgehog, also related to a story we've been reading, The Happy Hedgehog Band. The adults were a little more taken with the ant eater, but that's not particularly polar, is it?

My favorite discovery was a set of three beautiful metal sculptures dancing out on the snow covered peninsula. We were bundled up in layers and thermals, but these ladies by Dessa Kirk made me think of spring. The Chicago winter isn't as bad as I expected, but thoughts of trees budding and green shoots of grass are starting to invade my imagination, nevertheless.

My hat is one I made (quickly) for myself after losing one earlier this winter. It's made from Malabrigo worsted, a yarn I would live in if possible. Details here. Judging from the pictures, it should be called the Conehead Hat!

Ukulele Red Raglan

Peanut totally understood when Mama put him in his sweater and asked him to stand still for a picture. Then he decided that he wanted a picture with the ukulele and took the whole photo session to a new level.



This sweater was made using Knitpicks City Tweed DK in Romance. The color is lovely (papa picked it!) and it was nice to knit up. It looks like it may be starting to pill under the arms a bit, which is a disappointment. A wash and block to set the yarn a bit better might help stop the piling, though. Update will follow. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Raglan pattern in Knitting Without Tears with very few modifications. Her neckline is for adults and Peanut's not quite there yet. I took the measurements not from Peanut, but from a long sleeved shirt he has that fits particularly well. Details on Ravelry.

And another picture just for fun.



It's a wonderful feeling to make clothes for Peanut and watch him wear them and enjoy them. Every successful project makes me more excited and anxious to start the next! Have two more projects on the needles now. Sneak peeks coming soon!

Holiday Hats

Made a couple of Sinterklaas hats for nephews in the Netherlands over Thanksgiving. They were so much fun to make. First of all, they're made with amazing "treat" yarn, Malabrigo Worsted in Charrua and Ibiza colorways. I've read a lot about how lovely this yarn is and it turns out, they're all right. It's wonderful. To my delight, each hat only used a bit over half a skein, so there's enough left for more fun.

The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Maltese Hat from The Knitter's Almanac. I skipped most of the garter stitch rows and went straight into the short rows for the ear flaps. The short rows are also wrapped. This kind of cunning construction always delights me. The only change I'd make in the future is casting on two extra stitches for the front and then knitting them together in order to close gaps at the front corners.

More pattern details on Ravelry here and here.

Red and Bold - a hat

Made another Sweet Norwegian Baby Cap, this time for a good friend here in Chicago. It's a tad small on my model, but here you can get a peek at how it came out.

This is a fabulous pattern, and really any yarn or combination looks great. I love this look with striping at the bottom and just the variegated yarn at the top. It shows how effectively the solid color makes the variegated pop as well as taking advantage of the variegated as well. This is my first project with yarn from Knitpicks and it was a pleasure to work with. It doesn't have the exquisite softness of a more expensive (twice the price) yarn, but it's still very nice. I used Stroll Sock Yarn (navy) and Stroll Multi (Riviera) for this one.

I love that Peanut can model for me and take directions, too. Look out the window, look at my foot, etc. Don't be fooled, though, we had a couple dozen goes before managing a good clear shot.

He's getting a sweater next. It's always so exciting to start a new project. Here's what got accomplished yesterday

That's just about half of the body. The rest will take much longer as I actually stop to eat, drink, and breathe while working.

Warm hands and puzzles

I'm feeling particularly triumphant about my latest knitting project. Made mittens for Peanut and not only do they fit, he loves to wear them. The weather has gotten surprisingly warm here and he's still wearing them, so we had to leave them at home.

These are made from some Mirasol Hacho 100% merino yarn I picked up in Oslo last winter. I bought 10 skeins and planned to make a sweater for myself, but it tuns out to be too colorful for my taste in big pieces. It is fabulous, though, for smaller projects, including this iPod Touch cover. The pattern is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's 36-stitch Gloves in Knitting Without Tears. This books is fabulous for inspiration and generally encouraging you that you can knit anything. It's also fun to read and funny, which continues to surprise and delight me. My changes included sizing down for Peanut, using a smaller gauge, and adding the cable on the back. The details are on my Ravelry page.

We did not bring many toys with us for this year in Chicago. In fact, what we brought was books, a teddy bear, mouse, a game, and a couple puzzles. The puzzles are nine piece interlocking puzzles drawn by Dick Bruna. He writes the Nijntje/Miffy books and Peanut enjoys them a lot. I do as well because they're mostly written in verse, which is fun to read. We picked up the puzzles at a thrift store. After cutting the pictures out of the box, the box was tossed and puzzle pieces stored with pictures in a provisional plastic bag. This weekend, they got some serious attention from Peanut and mama. Peanut spent over an hour sitting at the kitchen table putting together the puzzles over and over again. Mama took a bit of time to make new bags for the puzzles.

Not a lot of sewing has happened around here since Peanut is still able to wear the light cotton pants I made last spring (and probably forgot to blog about). It was nice to sew even a little bit again and especially nice to be able to share that a bit with him. Sharing being pressing the reverse lever together after countless choruses of "why don't we touch the scissors?" and "needles are sharp!" We're both learning.

My Secret Plan

You may recall a certain slightly pointy hat recently made for Peanut's birthday. What I didn't tell you was that Papa got a matching hat.

To my amazement, I managed to convince him to put it on for a couple pictures. It came out well for a light-weight hat. He's not a fan of warm hats on account of ridiculous metabolism that means he always thinks it's warm when I'm freezing. Chicago winters may change his mind, but only time will tell. Hopefully, he's more likely to wear a light hat and at least stay a bit warm!

The detail on the top is my favorite part. It took three tries to make the ribs meet like this and it turns out it doesn't show particularly well with this yarn. No worries, I feel a bit triumphant anyway. Details on the hat are on my Ravelry site.

So what do you think - annual matchy matchy Papa-Peanut hats for their fall birthdays?

Rather busy

We've been keeping busy around here - both Mama and Peanut. There has been some painting.

This project was made possible by a very thoughtful gift from an artist friend. These Melissa and Doug Spill-Proof Paint Containers are fantastic. Peanut can pick them up, put his brush in, and pull it out on his own. It's got a funnel shaped opening that makes it easy to put a brush in and out, but nearly impossible to spill.

We're also learning to do more cooking tasks together.

Someone once suggested letting kids use an egg slicer to cut mushrooms. They were so right. This task was a huge hit. Peanut went through nearly a pound of mushrooms cutting them all on his own. He was completely consumed by this project and so proud of himself, too. This little find may be a major factor in our determining our menu for the coming months.

I'm also getting back to knitting.

This project was inspired by the Rib-A-Roni a hat I saw on Ravelry. It might have been better if I had actually followed the pattern, but I didn't. Saw the picture and then kind of went for it. It turned out ok except for having a bit of an unexpected peak. He likes it and wears it. That's plenty for me.

And just for the record - I'm not much of a photographer and Peanut does smile, just not for pictures!

What have you been doing?

The Reward

 

Today we took a walk in the woods. It wasn't far, a kilometer or so, but our peanut walked the whole way on his own - and loved it. He concentrates mostly on his walking right now. Going up and down are especially exciting. It was a beautiful outing for me, though, a moment when one of my visions of parenthood came true on a lovely, warm spring day. Let's take a moment for warm, gooshy, nice feelings here.


>moment<


Now, for those of you who are wondering if I'm still doing any crafting, the answer is yes. His pants in the picture on top are mama-made, as are his hat, gloves, and pants in the picture below.



The hat is the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. It should fit next year as well. It's terribly soft and most cute when it slips sideways and nearly covers one of his eyes. You can see mroe information on my Ravelry page.

The gloves were a 10-minute project that turned out super. Cut out four thumb-less-glove-like shapes out of some thrifted fleece, sewed them together. Cut out a "string" the length of the material, tacked string to gloves and voila - gloves. And he wears them happily! I think it's because they are soft and he can move his hands easily and still grasp things.

The pants are a pattern adapted to fit cloth diapers, so it's got a super roomy and high buttocks area. The tweed was a thrift store find, someone's left over fabric. I like to imagine there's an old man out there running around in matching pants. Tweed on the skin seemed a bit rough, so they're lined with some quilting fabric that my sister sent me a couple years ago. The cuffs started out higher, but he keeps getting taller. With some luck, these will still work in the fall. We'll see.

Knitting for Good

Knitting for Good!: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch by Betsy Greer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A friend gave me this book over the holidays and it helped me see my crafting impulse in a couple of new ways, which was great. One new perspective is that of crafting as a way to subvert consumerism. If I make my own bag or socks or sweater instead of buying, the result is a totally unique item that I get to take complete ownership of. This helped me understand why so many of the items in the stores are just not quite what I'm looking for.



Betsy Greer also talks about the meditative side of knitting. This part truly spoke to me. I've been known to spend hours on the couch knitting and watching TV in order to clear my mind. Sewing projects begun on a rainy afternoon could last through meals and breaks without me noticing the time at all! Now that there's a baby in my life, the TV is off but the knitting and sewing continue and it helps me find a little bit of peace in all the new madness.



I may never achieve the activism that Greer aims for and describes in her book, but I have started to realize that my crafting might be a worthy undertaking on its own, and not just a silly past time!

Project Gallery

Haven't had much to do lately but hang out around the house with little to do. However, the sewing machine and knitting needles have been busy and I do believe the folks at the sewing notions stall at the market are starting to recognize me. So, here are a few projects I've finished since my last (long ago) post.


This is my first ever knitted sweater, a "jacket with seed stitch bands" from the Debbie Bliss Baby Knits for beginners book. I used Drops Alpaca yarn in a burgundy. The pattern was easy to follow and the yarn (after a soak and block) is nice and soft. It's not particularly thick, but this 3-6 month old size will probably be perfect for a North Carolina Christmas trip. Aside from knitting it up the right size, my biggest concern was getting the seams right. The book was a big help there with clear directions and illustrations about all kinds of different knitting seams.


Somehow in the past month, I've managed to lose my knitted iPod cozy, so I decided to make a new one. This one pretty much imitates the agenda cover. Putting a buttonhole in the bottom for the cord means the iPod can live right side up this time, which is nice. Looking at the screen just got a lot easier!


This is a sleep sack for a much older baby, he's a year old already! The zipper is one meter long, so you can imagine how huge it is. It was a nice challenging project because I worked up my own pattern based on another sleep sack and then had to figure out how to put it together with lining and whatnot. The results are satisfactory and as long as I never show a close-up, you will all believe the work is fairly good as well! The main material is a fleece blanket I found second hand and the lining is fleece. The knit binding on the sleeves and neck were quite a challenge. The neck I did the hard way, ironing the binding to measure. The arms I did the easy way, attaching the binding to the inside and then just folding it over and pinning it. Not only did it take a lot less time, the outcome was actually better. Nice to discover a shortcut that works!

I also made tremendous progress on the baby blanket, which is now mostly complete and blocked. It won't get a border until after the baby arrives and I know if it's a he-baby or she-baby, though, so no pictures yet!

Crafty Weekend

It happened again, I had another crafting weekend. Also did some cooking worth sharing, but I'll start with crafts. It all started on Saturday when F allowed himself to be cajoled into joining me on an outing to Bergen. That would be a small town about half an hour north of Haarlem (not in Norway). Why did we go? To visit Finlandia Import, a great yarn store that I read about on this blog. My expectations were fairly high, otherwise it wouldn't be worth the trip. To my delight, Finlandia Import is a super store and Bergen is cute as a button. Not only did I find great wool, the owner also told me about a website with thousands of good free knitting and crochet patterns available in several languages! Bought a lot of wool and made a couple of swatches right away to test gauge and color combinations. Here are the results:



They're a little more curled up than I hoped, but the colors are fairly accurate thanks to sunlight. I thought one combination looked much more retro than the other - what do you think?

While I waited for swatches to dry, I got out the sewing machine to do a couple little projects. One was a request (or maybe it was an order of the military type) that has needed fulfilling for a while. Here's how that one turned out:



I've made several bags following this pattern. It's super simple and allows for plenty of variation and imagination. I was quite pleased with the outcome, especially the handles. It was my first adventure with making handles for a bag and they turned out much better looking than expected. They look like they'll achieve a nice balance between sturdy and soft. Webbing handles on bags can rub bare shoulders raw, so I try to avoid them.

My other sewing project was a pair of booties. Actually, there has been quite a bit of booty making happening lately and this weekend I finished off all three pairs:



The orange pair is based on the magic slippers pattern. I added a rolled top to them so that a tie can be added later if necessary. The polka-dot pair is reversible and they were a sewing challenge! The pattern is good, including telling you when it's going to get difficult. I wouldn't try it again with corduroy, everything just got too thick. But they are adorable. It would be fun to make a bigger pair (like for me!). The pattern for the black and white pair (still need buttons) is from Saartje Knits.

I'll take a break from the sewing machine for a while in order to do "real life" things. But not to worry, future projects have been planned and added to the schedule already!