FOs: Baby Hat and Mittens

It has been so long I've forgotten how small and quick baby knits are. This was a welcome change to some of the items I've been working on lately.

One of my co-workers has a daughter who learned to knit last year. She is a very motivated young lady and when she was invited to a baby shower for a family member she decided she wanted to knit a little scarf. I was asked to knit the matching hat and mittens, with the yarn she had picked. We work well together! =)

I found this free pattern and made some modifications. Miss N knows garter stitch (knit all stitches) so I did the hat in only garter stitch. I also skipped the cable detail.

The end result is cute, but so tiny. I measured again and again and it is big enough for the size I wanted. Still hard to believe babies are this small. I am crossing my fingers that the ear flaps are positioned right. The pattern didn't say exactly where to place them.

I also made one other modification. I have to admit, I despise pom-poms. I was eager in the past and actually have a collection of metal washers that I use to make them. Still, this was not a relaxing adventure. I made the one for the top of the hat and the two little ones for the hat "ties". Then, instead of four more (ugh!) for the mittens I crocheted six chain stitches, joined in a circle, then crocheted 12 double-crochet stitches in the circle. I cut the yarn and joined the little circle to the end of each tie. It looks so cute, even though the photo didn't come out.

Keeping my fingers crossed that Miss N likes these. :)

FO: Hunter Hat

Oh, what we do for the men in our lives. I've become friends with a new man who loves to hunt. We were chatting the other night and I mentioned how I had orders to complete but that I was, at that moment, knitting a hat for myself. Typical him, I was called a slacker (so, that will be my "slacker hat" forever more). I laughed, especially when he asked what I charged for a hat. I said I'd think about it, finally deciding he has to pay with lunch.

 So, until then, I've been knitting with Wool Ease. I started with ribbing and waited for an idea. Ravelry turned up some unexpected patterns for deer. I found this basic one and this, shall we say, "racy" one.

I couldn't help myself. I combined the two, flipping the images, so I have deer prancing around the 120 stitches.

The pattern came together well, but somwhere along the line I mis-counted and one of the deer isn't quite right. I have perfectionist tendencies in some things, but for this I just worked it out. Also, as any fellow knitters may notice, I'm still trying to perfect carrying yarn. The strands aren't pulling in too much but it still isn't perfection. I understand many people use both hands when stranding, but I don't think I can do that just yet. I'll have to think and try again another time. Still, not bad, if I do say so myself.

As I was knitting and thinking how large it looked I remembered the character from the Fat Albert cartoon. I used to watch that all the time, but I couldn't remember Dumb Donald's name. What do you think?

 

FO: Doll Sweater and Socks

White, white, white! It goes with everything! Who could resist this cute sweater with picot edging and 3/4 length sleeves. The body of the sweater has butterfly eyelets. The little bracelet is just a ponytail holder with a flower button sewn on. Simple white socks complete the outfit. No pattern, just my mind...except stitches from the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework.

WIP: Hot Pink 18" Doll Sweater

Fabric that is black with hot pink dots. Hmm...what can I make to go with that?

Well, I cast on and knit the flounce from the other sweater. I'm knitting this in the round as I normally do (on either sz 6 or 7 needles). The yarn is Bernet (I think) baby yarn. The color in the photo doesn't come close to the wonderful vibrant pink.

The plan is to knit a sweater and hat combo.

WIP: Auntie's Arctic Afghan

This is one of my favorite projects. I cast on for this a long time ago (two plus years) thinking I'd use up some of the mill end yarn I had collected (so hard to pass up). I'm using size 13 or 16 needles and double stranding. The yarn is mostly Lion Brand Homespun. When I started this I had been watching a lot of craft shows and had seen a quilt in the log cabin pattern. I figured I could do that.

The photo is just the huge pile of yarn. I'll unfold it and take a better picture soon. In the meantime, rest assured that the blanket which is only about crib size at this point weighs about 10-15 lbs. It is WARM!

WIP: Red Sweater for 18" Doll

This red sweater is from a pattern book sent to me by my doll lover friend. I never would've thought it, but after making one and having to frog it (rip it out) I actually thought it was worth the time to block this one as the directions say. This is the very first time I have taken time to seriously wet block anything. It is a foreign concept for me.

Red sweaters tend to sell well. This one has a really cute flounce edge at the hem and sleeve cuffs. I also have a matching scarf made and pinned to block and a hat on the needles.

I'm using Caron Simply Soft on sz 5 needles.

FO #2: Green Hat for Me

I have a wonderful hat pattern that I've been waiting to make, but I forgot before I cast this on. I've been waiting to find the perfect green yarn for that one (wool blend most likely). In the meantime, however, I've had a hair crisis so I need more hats.

I crocheted a chain to measure around my head then cast on stitches pulled through the crocheted chain. I'm using Caron Simply Soft in an amazing dark green (Dk Sage 9707). When I took this first photo I had seed stitched about an inch and had the beginnings of a 4x4 ribbing. I planed to do some simple cables and who knows what else. The color, for me, carries it. Redheads and green go hand-in-hand.

I knit for a while in the rib pattern and started to cable. It went well and then I thought I'd try something, which turned out horrible. I'm not an adventurous knitter yet, but one thing I've learned only through reading the blogs of others is that frogging is a necessary evil and can be accomplished without ripping the whole thing out. So, I was brave and pulled the needle out, carefully pulled stitches (as I begged my children to be quiet for a few minutes), and got the needle back in. I was off and was able to figure my way to a decent finished project (which I am wearing as I type this):



WIP: Dawn Doll Dresses

I'm sure that looking at the blog you may be rolling your eyes and seriously wondering over the sanity of a grown woman who knits doll clothes.

I didn't set out to do this. In fact, I only knit some clothes for 11" dolls for my nieces then put the extras online to sell. When I did that some people stumbled upon the listings and asked me to create for some other dolls. One such doll is Dawn.

There is a now annual convention for lovers of this 1970s era tiny doll. Each year there is a theme and most often a doll given away. I've knit items now for three years, in line with the convention theme. This year is a masquerade ball theme. I've got a few ideas floating in my head and have started a tiny little formal gown:

Gotta keep this under my hat for now. The yarn is Red Heart crochet cotton. It is very thin to knit with, which is appropriate for the scale of Dawn.

WIP: White 18" Doll Outfit

I've decided it is time to make a serious commitment to blogging about my craft. I love to write and to knit so I may as well merge the two. Also, this will be a way for me to look back and realize what I'm doing and hopefully what I've accomplished.

Here's one WIP (work-in-progress):

White doll sweater for 18-inch doll (on needle at bottom). My loyal customer noted that when she paired my last white sweater, hat, and scarf with leggings and boots that it sold in only three days. White is hot and has sold well every time. So, on the needles (short, straight sz 3) I've got a sweater with picot hemline and a butterfly eyelet pattern. I have matching socks. The yarn is a soft baby yarn (Bernet Softee Baby in White).

So far so good!

FO: Doll Dress for Lizzy

Woo Hoo!! Friday, January 7th I completed my first finished object (FO) of 2011. That feels good!

We attended mass on Christmas Eve and were thrilled to make new friends with some members of our Decon's family. It is a long and complex tale, but I knew of the child who could not take her eyes off the dolls my daughters had taken with them. The adults chatted for a few minutes after mass and I promised to provide more information on my doll clothes.

Instead, as is somewhat typical of me, I came home and dug out a doll I had stashed away (for a craft fair-to-be) and started to knit a dress for that doll. I finished Friday for delivery on Sunday. I even was lucky enough to have a pair of shoes stashed as well.

The colors in the photo turned out horrible. I need to remember to use only black or white as a background, instead of this green one. Anyway, the dress is a hot pink with turquoise accents. I had asked Lizzy what her favorite colors are and she said pink, blue, and yellow. Always fun to keep the recipient's likes in mind.

One down...many, many more to go. I finally put up a shelf I've had set aside and I filled it with all the yarn my doll lover has sent me. I've been supposed to use it to make her sweaters. Supposed to...hmm...not doing so well with that. It's funny, because I've sent her quiet a few things, but obviously far from enough. So, with the shelf up and overflowing I think I'll have even more motivation to keep working on things. Wish me luck!

Mittens

Finally took the time to download some photos from my camera. Presenting....dat dat dat da...Mom's driving mittens:

Well, almost. This was right before I sewed the lining to the outside and fitted them together. Not only are they a wonderful shade of blue, but the yarns are magnificent and I even got to be "green". The outside is the Soy Wool Stripes yarn in denim (if I remember correctly) which is a very soft, fuzzy wool. The inside is Caron Simply Soft (one of my favorite all around acrylics). Then, the leather for the palm was salvaged from a jacket I used to wear but long ago was sent to the scrap pile due to holes.

Like I said, I think Mom likes them. In fact, I think I saw her wearing them the first Monday after she received them, as she went to warm up the car and drive to work. I can't help it, I'm proud of these as I saw a problem and devised a way to solve it. Crafting to do it made my left and right brain happy. Who could ask for more?

Ponies

I admit that I'm far behind where I should be taking photos and posting. I finished the hat for my Dad and the mittens for my Mom. I think I even have pictures. Mom has worn her mittens and, I think, loves them. Two thumbs up for that! I'll try to get the photos uploaded soon.

In the meantime, lest I totally give up on posting all together, I'll put up a picture of one of my other new obsessions. Last year sometime, or even earlier, I purchased some ponytail holders on Etsy. I loved that the shop owner made ones appropriate for adults as well as kids. I generally have medium to long hair and pull it back probably 75% of the time or more. So, I loved the ones I purchased. They are thick, "ouchless" elastic ponytail holders with the decoration being a covered button. The fabric can match anything.

I thought about how much I love the ones I have and figured that I could do it. So, for the girls' this summer I made them pillowcase dresses, made matching dresses for their dolls, and made ponytail holders to match. It was fun and now I'm hooked. Tiny scraps of material make wonderful things to accessorize.

I wanted to try and sell some and for the first time ever display possibilities worked out for me. I don't know how, but I thought to use my business cards. So, without further delay...here are my very own ponytail holders:

Two sizes and a bunch of patterns. I have a stash of rounds of fabric and elastics. I even bookmarked a website to buy the buttons in bulk. Ahh...to have the time to pursue my creative dreams.

Well, I'm off to knit some more on a doll sweater I promised. Gotta get moving on productivity.