So much to post!!

I have a ridiculous number of projects and things to talk about, so I need to just get it out there. I've been very busy spending time with my kiddos, being outdoors, watering flowers and plants in our new yard, finding fun things to do this summer, and I was housesitting my mom's place for a month while she spent time with her sister. In my "free time," I have been working on quite a few large projects, as well as lots of little things. Add to that, a very needy little boy who likes to be held every waking moment, and still refuses to sleep through the night, I've been very busy!

One of the cutest reasons to not post

First, I should wrap up about some projects I hinted at a couple of months ago. My mother-in-law loved the brown and navy flower beanie I made for her in January, so for her birthday, she requested a solid black hat, with removable flowers in red and tan. I had a hard time finding the right tan, so it is more of a yellowy cream than a tan, but she liked it. I just sewed the flowers to a barrette clip, and it worked out beautifully. She can wear both together, either color separately, or just the black hat. If I'd had that yarn in white, I probably would have made a white flower as well, but those were the only colors I bought.

Caron Simply Soft black, red, tan

 

The next project I hinted about was the pink elephant. I wanted to make it for our youth minister's new daughter, and since I never get to make girly things, I immediately found my pink stash. I planned to give it to them at their shower, but that was the week Blessing cut his first teeth, stopped sleeping through the night, and rolled over, so he was very high-maintenance that week. I didn't get it completely finished by the following week when I gave it to them, either. I should have sewed toes, eyebrows, a smile, and crocheted a chain tail. I also misread the pattern on a couple of points. It had different wording for crocheting in the back loop, so I did the opposite. Oops. They won't be able to tell, but I fixed this for the next one I made (still needing to be sewn and stuffed for Blessing...).
 

Old Red Heart yarn from Grandma

I am all but finished with 3 sweaters, and have made amazing progress on another one, and just cast on the last one yesterday. The first one is the first sweater I've made for an infant, and it is for Blessing. I believe I mentioned it in a previous post, about the outrageous cost of the yarn and the care of this sweater. I still haven't blocked it, but I think it turned out beautifully. I should have just enough yarn leftover to make myself some ankle socks as well. The yarn is so squishy.

Cleckheaton merino wool in Truffle and Cream, size 6 needles, per pattern

The second sweater is the one I made for Blessing with the leftover yarn from a gift several years ago. I still need to weave in the ends on one sleeve and sew on the buttons, but I think it turned out beautifully.

Yarn Bee yarn from Sue

I had a bunch of girl colors (purple, pastels) that I didn't know what else to do with, so I started a sweater for a little girl in the same style as Blessing's sweater. I wanted to try to steek it, but realized since it was acrylic, that wouldn't work as well as it would if it were wool, so I just just finished it in the round. Of course, it also needs the ends woven in...

Yarn Bee yarn from Sue

The fourth sweater is for one of the twins. I just finished the bottom ribbing Sunday, and obviously still need the sleeves. I should have woven the ends in as I went, but I'll just have to take a day or two to finish that when it's completed. It is going so much faster because it's all in the round, instead of the cardigan, which was all stockinette.

Yarn Bee from Hobby Lobby; Lion Brand Baby Soft in blue and yellow

The last sweater I just started is going to be just like the blue sweater, except the main color will be green. I hoped to have them done by Easter, but that didn't happen, with all the other projects I've had.

I also heard about this thing called a "corner to corner" (or C2C) crochet blanket. I have always liked the Sweet Rolls at Joann's when I went, but never had a use for them, so I ignored them. They had them on sale for 3 for $10 a few weeks ago, which I thought was reasonable, so I bought 4 in two different colors. I let my hubby pick which one he liked better, and he liked the Cherry Twist. I decided to make one of those blankets, but I didn't know how much yarn I would need. I ended up going back to buy 3 more skeins of the yarn, and it still isn't huge, but it is bigger now that I got the other 3. The yarn is warm and fairly soft (although I think Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" is softer), and the colors are beautiful. It doesn't match anything in our home, but we like it. Once again, I still need to weave in the ends. I entered it in a crochet-a-long on Ravelry, so I might be able to win something for completing it.

 

Sweet Roll in Cherry Twist; H hook, 7 skeins

I also sold my first beard since my Etsy site came back from vacation! I only had leftovers, but I had just enough of 3 different browns to make a full beard. I think this is actually the most realistic and beautiful beard I've ever made. I really like how the different yarns made it look like highlights and lowlights. I probably won't ever make another one like it (unless I have only remnants left), but it turned out wonderfully. I hope the gentleman likes it.

I have so much more I want to post about, but this is getting quite long. I'll try to finish up with a pair of flip flip socks I made a couple of years ago. These are the only socks I ever made, and I hope to be making several more this year. I made them with wool I received as a gift, and I barely knew how to knit at the time, let alone, what a gusset or heel flap were. Yet, I finished them both, even though my gauge was way off.

Wool from Cheryl

A week's worth of projects

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any work done on Sam's sweaters as I hoped, but I did have a productive week.

I have a friend whose husband works for the local railroad, KC Southern, and they have a little boy that the twins have enjoyed playing with on occasion. We unexpectedly received an invitation to his 2nd birthday party yesterday, so I was trying to figure out what to get him earlier this week, when I realized I still have some extra Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn leftover from the boys' 2nd birthday train hats. So I spent a couple of days this week making a hat for him, although I misplaced my G hook, and instead used the H. I left out the last increase round, but the hat still turned out larger than I expected, and is huge on the little boy, but hopefully he'll grow into it soon.

Train conductor hat in Sugar n' Cream in Denim with H hook; per pattern, except last increase round, and adjustment to brim to compensate

Storm says, "All aboard!"

The other project that consumed my week was an announcement from our church. In honor of our new music minister, who wears bow ties for Sunday morning worship, the church leadership asked that everyone wear bow ties to make him feel welcome. We don't own any bow ties, but I wanted to participate, so I thought, why not make some with all the extra yarn I've got? I went through all the yarns (Red Heart, very old skeins I got from my grandma) that I didn't purchase but had picked out from my grandma's stash a while ago, but this gold was the only one that wasn't a special blend (some wools and alpacas I wanted to save for special projects), so I used it.

I made little knit bow ties for my hubby, the twins, the baby, and myself. They are all different, although not too creative with the stitches, but I think they turned out cute. I crocheted bands for all the men, and if I'd had more time (I finished these last evening) would have added buttons to attach them. Mine I attached to a hair tie, so I could wear it with a messy bun.

Here we all are, wearing them.

It was a fun little project, and we got lots of cute comments from the church members this morning. I tried to find a semi-fancy bow tie pattern (for free), but everything I found was basically a tutorial for a rectangle (knit or crochet) gathered with yarn in the middle. I doubled my husband's and mine, so they actually look like bows, but I don't think it makes that much of a difference.

That was my week in pictures. I will try to get more done on the sweaters this week, so I can hopefully post the finished photos next week. I also need to tell you about the new needles and how I am faring with them. Until then, happy crafting!

New Year, Same Goals

Happy New Year and a belated merry Christmas! I hope the holidays found you well. Ours were very subdued and lacking in merriment, but we managed to get through without Dad for the first year, which will probably be the hardest one.

I did very little crafting for gifts this year, on account of the events of the last month and having the newborn, who is now 4 months old (today!). My sister-in-law asked over Thanksgiving if I could make her a new set of towels and pot holders for their new house, so I came home and bought that yarn immediately. Other than that, I've not really worked on anything except a sweater vest for little Samuel, which I'll post about in another post.

Lily's Sugar 'n Cream cotton

I've been almost obsessed with watching a YouTube channel about knitting. It is AMAZING!! This woman has posted about everything I've ever seen in knitting, and so many things I've never even heard of. Her name is Staci Perry and her channel is VeryPink Knits. I had seen a couple of her tutorials a long time ago, because she is very good at explaining and demonstrating clearly stitches and techniques.

Staci only knits with wool and wool blends, which I've only ever done twice (a pair of wool flip-flop socks, one of my very first projects, and the sweater for my cousin), and I was inspired to try it. I bought some of the beautiful Cleckheaton wool from JoAnn's, which is, by far, the most expensive yarn I've ever bought. They had a free pattern attached for a baby vest, which I picked up, because I thought if I was going to mess up, it would be for a baby.

I didn't even think at the time about how expensive this baby sweater would be. Nearly $40, plus all my time!! I've never paid more than a few dollars for something my children are going to wear, so this is definitely a splurge. If I hadn't already finished half of it, I should have instead made a scarf or something elegant for myself. Oh well, live and learn.

I'll post a couple of photos of the sweater when it's finished, blocked, washed, and all the "real" knitting techniques are done. I'm excited to see how the wool behaves.

I wasn't planning to buy any new yarn this year, to use up my stash, but I forgot about that when I was in the store. I also had to buy the cotton yarn for my sister-in-law's gift, because I didn't have cotton in her colors. I also had to buy the wool for my cousin's sweater. Other than that, I believe I went the whole year without buying any new yarn (correction--I had to buy yarn for the car blanket this spring...). I still have so much yarn left, and tons of projects queued up (like a stuffed elephant for Sam, baby cardigans for Sam and my cousin's new baby girl, a shark hat for my best friend, more stuffed friends, and my first pair of toe-up socks!), so I shouldn't need to buy any more yarn for a very long time still. I've also asked my grandmother to help me work on and finish up the boys' quiet books (finally!), and possibly even make one for Samuel.

Between all these projects, taking care of 3 little boys and a new house, spending quality time with my mom, and cooking, laundry, and keeping house, I'll have another busy year. I plan to open my Etsy store again in the next couple of weeks, so I can hopefully have some income to fund all my new ideas. God bless you this New Year and good luck reaching your goals!

Thanksgiving fun

It's Thanksgiving, and I finally finished the project I wanted done by Thanksgiving, a few days early even! I called my cousin last week to let her know I should have her sweater done by the end of the week, and we arranged for her to come by to try it on Thursday. 

This forced me to really work hard for a couple of days, as I still had the finishing touches to do, like making the tabs for the sides, sewing them on, weaving in ends, and blocking. I got it done in time though.

Here is a photo of the original design:

Here is a closeup of the cable pattern:

This is the blocking process:

And this is the finished product! I forgot to take a photo after it was done drying (blocking), so I had to run out to the car and have her hold it up before she drove away...

Here is the sweater on, as she intended to wear it:

Blocking the sweater was fun. As you can see, I got a little creative with the process. I didn't have any T pins, which were suggested in the article I read, but I had just enough of the boys' little trains to cover the whole garment. They were the perfect weight to keep the ends flat. I just used a spray bottle and dampened the edges, not even the whole garment. If I had more time, I would have blocked it before sewing it together, and done the whole thing, but she was only available on a certain day, sooner than I planned. 

My cousin loves it! I am so pleased with the way it turned out, and even more pleased that she likes it too. Even though it was essentially a large rectangle, I am excited to have my first knit sweater completed. If you remember, I made a crochet sweater quite a while ago. I think I am ready to attempt a baby sweater pattern for Samuel out of yarn I've had since the twins were born. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought, which is the main reason I've never tried before. 

On a more personal note, my Dad is not doing well. It seems like only a matter of time before the cancer wins, due to an infection it is causing, which is hindering chemo treatments. Please keep our family in your prayers. We are still praying for a miracle, but at this point it's not looking very promising.

Thanks for your time and happy Thanksgiving. I hope you get to spend it with loved ones, and that you never miss an opportunity to tell them how much you love them.

New projects on the horizon...

I love fall. I love the crispness of a chill in the air, the smells of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg wafting from the oven, the colors of the leaves before they fall off the trees. One thing I don't enjoy about fall, though, is the rush to get all things "holiday" completed.

I love my kiddos, and planning for their birthday is fun for me, but between making Halloween costumes, planning a birthday party for two toddlers, baking fall goodies, and making handmade Christmas gifts for much of my family, it is a hectic time.

This year, I decided to do a jungle theme for their birthday, and to give them something they can appreciate for a while after the balloons deflate, I decided to make them animal hats. We had a giraffe themed nursery for them (Sam's is elephants), so I thought I would crochet a giraffe, an elephant, a lion, and a monkey (the extra one is for their cousin, who always comes to the party). When am I going to have time to do this? I still have a sweater to finish, 6 Christmas gifts to start and complete, an infant horse hat to make, a stuffed elephant I started for Sam, and a baby sweater to knit, all before January! In my "free time," I suppose.

I will try to post photos of everything as I complete it, but for now, I need to dig through my yarn collection and get my hooks busy! After all that, hopefully I will get to utilize my beautiful craft area to work on the boys' quiet books.

Wish me luck!

Baby Blessing

I realized after proofreading the last post that I hadn't posted any photos of our new little dude here! I currently have 2 other blogs that I try to post regularly to, and I updated both of those, but I guess in the midst of wrangling 2 2-year-olds and a newborn, it slipped my mind. Here is the official news on Blessing/Samuel:

Let me introduce you to the latest member of our Patterson clan, Mr. Samuel Brodrick Patterson! Weighing 9 lb 15 oz, he made his debut September 2 in the a.m. via c-section and is 22 inches tall! He is precious, beautiful, and his Big Brothers are very proud of him and love him already. More cute photos to come in following posts. For now, good night and God bless!

Craft area

It's finally finished! This is a little belated, as I finished setting up my craft area the week before Samuel came, but for some reason posting about it slipped my mind. I ran across this photo in my cache just now and realized I haven't shared it yet!

It may not look like much compared to some of the fancy craft rooms you see on Pinterest, but I have all of my supplies at my fingertips and a nice clear space to work, so it serves all my purposes. Of course, this is not my yarn stash. I enjoy working on a few different kinds of projects, painting crafts for decor, making jewelry and beading, and the felt seen here. I knit and crochet anywhere.

Now all I need is several hours to cut, sew, and assemble the boys' project. I have had all the supplies for over a year and a half to make and complete 2 beautiful felt books (or quiet books) for the older boys, but it is much more time consuming and labor-intensive than I originally thought. Hopefully, the boys and I will hit a groove pretty soon after my hubby goes back to work where I can find some time to do some crafting and work on them, so I can get them finished before Christmas or before they outgrow them. 

I've still got the sweater to finish, hats to make for the boys' birthday and Halloween costumes, Christmas gifts to make, and a little girl baby sweater to make for my cousin, who is having the first girl in years on that side of the family! After all that is completed (and hopefully I won't be sewing Christmas gifts together on Christmas morning this year!), I'll be able to focus completely on the quiet books for a while. I'm opening my Etsy shop up again in January, so hopefully I'll be done by then, or close to, in case I get orders for some of the new items I'm listing on my site. Big plans for this fall and winter!

As it appears, I've got a lot going on, so I better get busy! I'm getting ready to go grab the sweater and fix the neckline, so I can maybe finish it in time to give to my cousin next week at our family gathering.

Halfway there and an end in sight!

I am amazed at how quickly this sweater is coming together. The Fisherman's Wool is not exceptionally thick, which would normally make for a quick knit, but it is going quickly nonetheless. Maybe it's because I've had a lot of time on my hands to work on it, waiting for Blessing to come.

Here are some photos of it so far:

The top photo is the front of the piece. It is a little narrower than I had hoped, but hopefully after blocking (which will be a new skill to try with this piece), it will lay nicely and be wide enough. 

I made this neckline part of the rectangle of the whole piece, but after my cousin got to try it on, I realized that I should probably taper in the neck just a bit, and make the shoulders a little wider. I will take it out and redo the whole neckline some time in the near future. I would like for it to not curl down like it is now, and hope that blocking and tailoring it a little smaller will fix that.

The second photo is a closeup of the cable pattern I chose. I really like the way it snakes and the multiple pieces, as opposed to just 2 different strands like many cables. I found this pattern on Pinterest and chose #4. It's only 8 rows and then it repeats. I don't plan to use it down the back.

I think it will turn out to be a lovely piece. I bought 3 skeins of the wool, and I have lots left of the first one still, so maybe when I'm finished I'll have enough leftover to make her a scarf or hat, or even some cute armwarmers. We'll see.

If I had to do it over again, I would have doubled the yarn from the beginning and made it just a bit wider. The original sweater was heftier in weight and had some stiffness to it. This one is light and soft, which will be nice, since she'll have to wear something underneath it, and will make it good for fall and spring as well as winter. 

I probably won't be able to finish the sweater for a few weeks, since we have scheduled a c-section for Blessing on Friday. Our little guy will be here before we know it, and our lives will change dramatically for a while. With that in mind, if you are the praying type, please say a prayer for us, that we have a healthy baby boy, my recovery goes smoothly and quickly, and that our transition to a family of 5 is smooth. Thanks for reading and God bless!

P.S. I'll try to post pics of him before too long. I have so many cute projects to photograph him in!

A new project

We finally have everything unpacked and now I'm just sitting around waiting for Blessing to make his move, so I thought I'd get started on a project I have been thinking about for quite a while. One of my Mom's cousins approached me last winter to ask if I would consider making a sweater for her, based on a garment she already owned. I told her I'd give it a shot.

We got together at a family function again this summer (we don't get together with all the distant cousins but a couple times a year) and she brought the sweater so I could get an idea what I was getting into. It's a really pretty vest-type piece, and instead of being a full sweater, it just has tabs on the side. Should be easy-peasy! 

I took it with me, and spent a few weeks looking up pattern ideas before I discovered I couldn't really find a pattern to match what she wanted exactly. She said she wanted "boxy," as this one is very straight, and she didn't mind having a different neckline. I suggested a boat neck, which should be fairly straightforward, because otherwise I would have to do some serious research to shape the shoulders like this sweater. I found a pattern I like, and the cable detail is beautiful for this! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to purchase the pattern on Ravelry, as it's part of a collection or a book, but after studying the photo closely, I think I've discovered a way to emulate it without needing one. I noticed the neckline is basically a bind-off with an inch or two of stitches at each end, and then you just pick up the stitches on the other side. Since I won't be working in the round (because of the tabs on the sides), I'll just make it like a large rectangle with the neck hole. At least, that's my plan.

I then spent several more days looking for wool yarn that would give it the stiffness that she wants and the gauge that I want. After several texts and emails, we finally settled on Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Oatmeal.

It's a little bulkier than I would have preferred, but the other yarns we were discussing I would have had to order online without having an example of, and I really dislike doing that. And I got to use all my JoAnn's coupons to get this...

Hopefully it turns out beautifully, and just what she wants. I started on it the other night, but had to stop a few rows in until I decide exactly how I want to do the cable. I'll pick it up again tonight, after I do a little more scouting online for ideas.

I'll probably post photos as it comes along, so I can document what I did as much as show off. I hope to have it finished before Thanksgiving, but I'll probably have to get together with her a couple of times to check and make sure the fit is good. I would not be surprised if I had to take out the neckline a couple of times to get it right.

I like working with the Fisherman's Wool already, compared to the scratchy Alpaca I used for the purple cowl recently. Maybe I'll make my knot bag out of it...

Until next time!

Catching up--part deux

Getting out some of my projects of late from the boxes they've been packed in, I realized I needed to take some photos of my latest projects. I think this should complete the archiving post I started a few weeks ago, so from here on out, I should only be posting current creations.

Here's the first one:

I Love This Yarn, size 9 needles

This is a project I made over a year ago, but due to my lack of enthusiasm for finishing projects, I had it sitting around waiting for the buttons to finish it up for months. I finally finished it over the winter, but I put it in a place I rarely visit and forgot about it, until I unpacked it last week. It was a fun experiment in knitting short rows, and the variegated yarn really makes the pattern stand out well. It is a loose cowl, and I think it'll look nice this winter. I've got 2 more skeins of this yarn, so I will probably end up knitting a hat and some mittens to match at some point.

Red Heart yarn, size 9 needles

This is a hat I knitted recently for Isaac, whose fair isle hat with the same colors is going to be too small this winter. This one is super-stretchy, so it should fit him for a couple of winters (I hope!).

Purl Bee yarn in Shale, size 9 needles

This is an adorable hat I made for Blessing using this pattern. I had to adjust for gauge since my yarn wasn't as thick as the yarn she uses, but it is also very stretchy and will hopefully fit him for the first couple of winters.

This is the previous hat with a keyhole scarf made of the same Shale Purl Bee yarn. I still have quite a bit of both of these yarns left, so I made the following hat as well, to hopefully use up some of the navy, but there's almost a whole skein of it left. 

I love the way this hat turned out, and I tried to use the jogless stripes technique, but I'm still not convinced that makes a difference. The pom makes this hat!

This slouchy hat is the reason I had so much of the shale leftover. I got about two-thirds of the way finished with it, when I ran out. I had to start a new skein and hardly used any of it to finish. I actually didn't plan to make it quite so slouchy, but by the time I finally finished it, I wasn't going to take it out and redo it. Maybe someday I'll have a ton of hair to pile up inside it like a hairnet...

As I mentioned at the top, anything else I post from here on out should be all-new. I've got a cute little stuffed elephant in the works for Blessing that needs a lot of sewing, and hopefully after some trial and error, will turn out to be adorable. I've also got some hats and sweaters I'd like to use up some yarn for, and some household projects to figure out. I don't know how long it will take to get some of these things going, so it might be a while before I have anything worth posting. I'll probably have some adorable pics of my new little dude in his cute little hats, so keep your eyes peeled for those soon :-)

I'm due 2 weeks from today, if I am able to make it that long, so if I don't post before then, I'm probably quite busy getting use to our new life as a family of 5. Take care and see you on the flip side!

Nothing new...

I really wish I had something neat and exciting to post here, but with the Big Move and unpacking over the last few weeks, I just really haven't had time or the energy to make anything. Most of my yarn is packed up in boxes still, waiting to be unpacked in my new craft area, which also needs some work.

I did manage to get some good work in on my ugly square, using up all the yarns my Grandma has given me over the last year or so, and all the scraps I've been collecting as well. It is getting bigger, but I think I'll keep going until it's about a king size comforter. I've got quite a way to go, and I'm not sure if you can notice a difference from the last time I took photos of it.

My days have been filled with taking care of the twins, unpacking, organizing, and preparing for the baby. Hopefully he'll wait a few more weeks to make his debut, so I can be completely unpacked, get all our pictures and shelves hung, and start working on some other, more aesthetic projects around the house. If I do, I'll be sure to post some photos. Otherwise, it may be a while before I get another post up, as I'll be nursing a little human round the clock and trying to stay awake for the twins as well. It'll be tricky, until we get in a rhythm.

Hope to write again soon, with more to say and show you! Until then, we appreciate your prayers for a short labor and healthy baby boy. Take care and God bless!

Catching up...

I've finally been able to make some good progress on my blankets that I started before Colorado, so I thought now would be a good time to post some photos.

The first blanket is a granny square like the lime and blue one from a couple months ago. The boys have been begging me for blankets since I started on it, so I am thrilled to have finished it. If you remember, this was from the batch of 6 skeins of JoAnn's Big Twist yarn I mentioned. The teal and purple go great with our new decor, and the navy fits in well. 

Big Twist yarn in navy, purple, teal with I hook

The other blanket is a ripple blanket using the same color scheme, but somehow I ran out of the navy before I wanted to be finished. It's a little shorter than I would like, but it should fit the baby for a few years.

Big Twist yarn in navy, teal, purple with H hook; I couldn't get him off it!

I had more purple leftover from both projects than I thought, so I made the cute little appliqué elephant (using this pattern), per my husband's suggestion. I still have lots of purple leftover, so I guess that will be added to my ugly square in the future.

The other project I've been working on lately is the hat for my nephew's dinosaur-themed birthday party this past weekend. 

Red Heart in green and orange with H hook

I found the pattern here, but it didn't make any sense when I started working on it, so I just made the beanie from a basic HDC pattern and made the spikes using her pattern.

I had no idea the tails were going to be party favors, and he just happened to pick the tail that matched *perfectly!* I think the whole ensemble turned out great :-) The best part is, I made all of these projects with yarn I already had on hand!

So that is what has been keeping me busy lately. Well, that, and twin 2-year-olds, sleeping whenever I can, and packing for our big move in July, because we just bought a house! More on that later. I hope your projects are coming along well. I've got a couple more small things in the works for the baby, then I'll have to focus on getting things packed, and unpacked, in time for him to arrive. Toodles for now!