A Bit Of Fun for Little Halloween Costumes

Ah, the fall has finally arrived to North Texas this week and it has been a wonderful relief.  I have been busy knitting especially since the holidays are going to be soon upon us, but I have not blogged in a little while and for that I apologize.  However, you should see a few projects starting with this post.  

A couple of weeks ago I finished this project for one of my friends at work.  We were looking at patterns and a picture came up of a minion hat and she asked me if I would make one for her nephew.  They are planning for him to wear it at Halloween.  It looked like a fun project so I said of course.

This project was intriguing, because it used not only knitting but also some crochet.  I haven't crocheted in a while so it was fun to try and remember how again.  I used some lovely yarn I found online from Knit Picks.  

I used their Brava Worsted Yarn in Canary, Black, Cobblestone Heather and White.  It is an acrylic yarn knitted on size US 8 needles. 

I am now off to knit the next costume project...you know Halloween is upon us!

Cold Weather Project.....

My sister asked for me to knit baby Frieda a new scarf, hat and mittens set for her winter coat this year.  She had an adorable Jackie O style jacket from the 60s.  It was a salmon color and as so adorable on her.  So I was busy trying to find an ideal pattern for the project.  The only thing I found was an adult pattern that I adapted for her.

Below is what I came up with.....

Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash, color 910A

The pattern is called a fish trap after the nets that fishermen use to trap the fish.  The look is classic just as the coat is so the two look good together.

On to the next project.......

Summer 2012 Projects

I know its been a while since I updated my blog.  I have been a busy knitter and have posted some pictures below of the projects I worked on during the summer of 2012.

This is a dress that I made for my niece Frieda.

This is was made with Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton DK, 100% cotton, Color 668, 50g.

I made two of these dresses for Frieda and Natalie.  The girls are 6 mo. apart in age but they are similar in size. 

Strawberry Top by Marina Hayes made with Katia Monaco 28 and Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo 126, knitted with size 7 circular needles

 Both of these projects were fun to knit and as the girls grow they can be used as shirts later instead of dresses.

More to come...I have a few projects yet to update you on, before I get to my current projects......

The 18 Month Dress Project from H E C K .....

Remember the blanket project from a while back.....it was the one for my niece that was supposed to be done when she was born...  Well there was a dress that was supposed to go with it.  This dress was started and ripped out several times before I gave up on it and put it aside for a while.  After I finished the blanket my best friend and fellow knitter and I worked on re-translating the dress pattern to better explain the reduction of stitches with regards to the diamond pattern.  Below is the finished project:

Now of course we wanted to have a picture or two of Frieda in the dress but trying to get her to slow down can be rather difficult.  So we ran around with her trying to capture her in the dress as you see below it was fun......

It fits!!!!!!!!!! and she looked pretty happy running around in it....whew.....A successful project completed.  One thing I learned from this project was patience, patience, and patience......and when in doubt rip it out and start over after you have given yourself time to work on other projects ;-)

Project is worked with Plymouth Baby;Pattern is Sandnes Lanett 0812 Baby 0-4

Yet more Lembas Bread....

Ok I couldn't help it...I had to put in a Lord of the Rings reference...after all it wouldn't be winter without it playing on someone's TV. 

I have completed another pair of socks.  This pair is for miss Frieda in her favorite color.  I found this yarn at my local yarn store The Woolie Ewe last summer when it first came out and picked it up just for her.  I have since finished her dress and plan to add accents to the dress with the left over yarn from her socks. 

Since its the holidays and these socks are for a special little girl...they had to have a little bit of sparkle ;-)

I used Louisa Harding's Jasmine yarn in Color 25.  Yarn is made from 48% Cotton, 39% Bamboo, 10% Silk and 3% Polyester. I used circular needles size 3 mm.

Dad's Little Helper....

When I finished the socks for my dad around Father's Day, I had some yarn left over.  I thought it might be a good idea to use it on another pair of socks.  However, I knew I didn't have enough for an adult sized pair of socks so I thought my niece should have a pair of socks that matched her grandfather's socks.  That way they could match.  See Miss Frieda loves her grandpa so much and is always following him around so I thought this might work...besides Doby has a pair of socks why not Winky...because you know Winky needs socks too....;-)

Now Doby and Winky have matching socks.

I used leftover yarn from Knitpicks Felici yarn color Goth self striping yarn.  Knitted on a 3.0 mm needle. for a baby sock size 5-7.

New Babies

Well this spring I was visiting with my family and my sister comes to me and says a friend of ours is having a baby.  Of course this makes me really happy because babies are the best in my book.  I started thinking...what should I knit for this baby.  Of course my sister already beat me to the punch and asked me to knit her a camel.  See her husband is from Libya and the camel is very important to their way of life and they really wanted one for the babies room but were having a difficult time finding one.  So I said I would see what I could do.  I began my search of the pattern enriched environment called the Internet....I was not finding anything that I really wanted to use as a pattern for this project.  So I kept searching.....  One day I was at my favorite yarn store looking for patterns of camels and not having any luck when I decided to ask one of the ladies there.  They said oh yes we have a pattern let me go get the book.  Unfortunately the book was out of stock but she said if I would buy the book she would make me a copy of the pattern and then I could get started on it right away.  So I did....

The completed camel for Kaden.  I even knitted a little heart on his chest.

View of the camel from the front.

View from the other side.

Kaden was born on Tuesday October 4, 2011.  Katie and Nezar are so excited to have Kaden here finally.  The new family is doing well and should be coming home soon.  Another baby project was actually completed before the baby was born. ;-)

The pattern used was from Toy Knits by Debbie Bliss.  I used Plymouth Yarn's Baby Boutique yarn color 08, 05, 04, 07.  The fiber content is 50% Microfiber and 50% Nylon.  The camel turned out pretty good and definitely cuddly...but I might go with a stiffer yarn for a standing stuffed animal because this yarn is a little too soft for a stable camel.

Now I am off to knit another project....hmmmm maybe more socks ;-)

There isn't anything an aunt won't do for their niece.....

One day last spring my niece came up for a visit and saw a hippo at the local yarn store. She really wanted it and so she picked out some yarn from my stash and low and behold three days later, I made this hippo. Now mind you my niece at the time was not even a year old but she is a girl who knows what she wants.

Hippo Front View

Hippo Back View

Hippo Standing

Of course I had to do another view of its backside standing

She did have to wait for the hippo until Easter but she liked the finished product.

Pattern was from Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.  Unfortunately the yarn was not identifiable because the cats tore the label off of it and I couldn't find it.  It was worsted weight.

OMG....I can't believe its finally done!!!!!

When I picked this beautiful baby set for my unborn niece little did I know it would become the project that was doomed from the very beginning....

It was my first ever cable knitting project and I thought well it might be a little complicated but heck I can get through it.  I am a smart woman and  I like challenges. 

So, I was working on the dress and had the skirt completed and started the bodice of the dress and this is where things went severely wrong.  I tried and tried to complete it but when it came to the decreases it was nearly impossible because nothing matched.  So I let my trusty friend take a look and see where I kept screwing up.  Even she was cursing the pattern before she was done.  So, while she was working on the dress I decided to work on the blanket.  Well that turned out to be just as confusing.  We were ready to scrap the whole project and pick a different set when....

We get the brilliant idea of sitting down with the pattern and rewriting it in Texas English.  It worked....I started the blanket again around Easter of 2011.  Of course my niece was approximately 10 months old by this time, because she was born while I was working on the bodice the first time through.  So what began as her baby set is now her toddler set.  I finally finished the blanket around July 4, 2011.  I was never so happy to finish a baby blanket in all my life....

Finished Blanket for niece

Border detail

Corner detail

Another full view of the blanket

And now to finish the dress.....

more to come.......

Project is worked with Plymouth Baby;Pattern is Sandnes Lanett 0812 Baby 0-4

Cool Yarn.....bought on Sale

Well, one day I was at my favorite little yarn store in Plano, Texas called the Woolie Ewe and low and behold there was a yarn sale. Of course I am not one to pass up a yarn sale by any means. So while I was looking I found this really cool cotton yarn. At the time I didn't have a project to go with it but I figured I would find something when the time was right. So while I was looking at patterns for dresses to make for my niece I found a use for that cotton yarn. The project was started on my way back from my niece's 1st birthday and became my new car project. It took me a couple of weeks but it was completed over the July 4th weekend.

Completed Front of the Dress Size 12mo-3 yrs

Back of dress

Knitted Rose

Lace Detail at the bottom of the dress

Close view of the dress with the rose as a broach

I also knitted the rose one evening at mom's house while I was watching a movie..I figured she could put it in her hair or use it as a broach.

The pattern was Emma's dress pattern from KnitPicks.com. Knitted with Jarbo Garn super soft cotton color 8866 Party 85138