Tuva

It's Christmas vacation! A time for family, friends and lots of Barclay's Premier soccer (err... football) to watch! Whoever came up with the idea that making teams play on the weekend like normal, plus on Boxing Day and New Years day was a genius! Genius!! And I owe that person(s) a debt of gratitude! There's been sooo much soccer!

And lots of soccer watching means lots of knitting. 

Like this hat. 

 (Free pattern here.)

Nothing too special about this pattern, but in general I like it. I don't love it. In general, I don't think slouches look good on me. But I could use another neutral-ish sort of hat. So, good enough.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and all the best in 2013!

Elephants on parade

It finally hit me today: it's almost Christmas! When did that happen? Oh, right.  When I wasn't paying attention. And suddenly I realized that all these crafts I'd been meaning to finish and meaning to start had to get done NOW. 

Hence the reason I haven't been outside today. 

Here's one of the crafts that I finished. An elephant monkey. Pretty much, I did the same thing as I did for the sock monkey, but instead of using the heel piece to make the tale, I used it to make a trunk. 

I will be the first to admit that the trunk park could use some work. (The elephant looks a little more like Gonzo than I would have liked...) But I love the ears. Hopefully my niece will like him too. Only a few days to find out.

Hope everyone has the happiest of Christmases!

dum-ditty

The last few times my niece M has visited, at some point in time some portion of the family has ended up being in a marching band. We grab whatever we have on hand to make pretend trumpets, cymbals and, of course, drums.

So when I saw this tutorial for a pretend toy drum, I knew I had to make it. 

It couldn't have been easier. I even added an old lanyard so that M can string it around her neck. Thus, making the marching part easier! This is now wrapped and under the tree. I'm looking forward to more parades in the near future! 

Monkeying around

This past Friday, I realized a hard truth. It's seriously, seriously, seriously almost Christmas. Like, the merry holiday is right around the corner and I have not don't my Christmas shopping yet. I've also not finished my Christmas crafts!! Yikes. 

Before the weekend, I didn't have many plans on what to make for my nephew baby G. A hat? Maybe a sweater, if I had the time. But then, I saw the absolutely cutest monkey that my friend Adrian made, and I thought: I can make that! 

Okay, so what I actually thought was something more along the lines of: Well, I can try to make a sock monkey, but I don't think it will ever come out quite as cute as Adrian's. (He's pretty darn crafty.)

Well, look at how mine turned out!

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of him! And, truth be told, he wasn't that hard to make! 

Following these amazing step-by-step instruction, it only took me about 3 hours start to finish (while watching the Arsenal [English Premier] game). Not too shabby for an old pair of socks that were going to get thrown away anyways!

I didn't have a erasable fabric pen, so I used a sharpie. What does it matter? It's on the inside and going to get cut out anyways.

When my monkey was done he looked a little... well... boring to me, so I decided to knit him up a hat and scarf from scraps. I wouldn't want him to get cold. Winter is coming, after all.

The scarf is a simple seed stitch. CO 5. Each row: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1. Knit that pattern until the scarf is as long as you want it.

The hat is a tiny Turn A Square.
CO 48 stitches.
Row 1-4: k2, p2
Row 5-6: k
Row 7: ssk, k8, k2tog
Row 8,10,12,14: k
Row 9: ssk, k6, k2tog
Row 11: ssk, k4, k2tog
Row 13: ssk, k2, k2tog
Row 15: ssk, k2tog.
Done!

Now he just needs to be wrapped up and put under the tree for baby G. Although, I have to admit that I like him so much, I almost want to make one for my niece M, too.

Graham

It's December! I'm sooooo excited about that. Although the month hasn't had quite the auspicious start that I would have liked (I burned my first tray of Christmas cookies. Peanut Butter!), I'm very ready for the holiday season.

Wait... Did I just say that? I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. (Unless you count the $3 thing I got my mother... which I don't.)

This hat - a gift for a friend - didn't quite turn out as I'd hoped. I should have done a longer ribbed edge. I should have read the instructions more closely to realize that the right side, was the inside. I kbs on the ribbing, but it doesn't matter b/c it's on the inside of the hat. Oh well.

But, for a project I could finish in weekend, it's okay by me.

bike helmet earmuffs

Not that long back, a friend of mine came over for dinner. She rode a bike. It was cold out. No. It wasn't just cold, it was COLD. And not only did she ride a bike, she rode it, but wasn't wearing a hat under her helmet. 

Well, that just won't do. Cold ears are the worst! 

It didn't take long for Ravelry to help me find just the thing for her. Bike helmet earmuffs! That way if she doesn't want to wear a hat under her helmet, she doesn't have to! But at least hopefully, her ears can stay warm.

Okay. You know me. I didn't totally follow the instructions knit for knit and purl for purl, but I did base them off of this pattern. I added a button to be attached above the clasp so that the earmuffs won't fall down while biking. That would totally defeat the purpose.

And hopefully she likes them! ... even if the colo(u)rs totally don't match. Well, that's what happens when you use scraps leftover from other projects. (You'll see those projects soon.)

Tail bone

Top 5 things that rock about baby sweaters?

5 - So many great free patterns to choose from. 

4. Getting to knit in colo(u)rs I would never use otherwise.
3. Babies are small, and the sweaters knit up so quickly.

2. Babies look cute in practically anything - even when your sweater isn't perfect.
1. The awesomeness of giving someone a gift to celebrate a little person. By far the best.

Headlights

Oh dear. He looks a little like a dear caught in the headlights, doesn't he? Or maybe he's thinking: "Mom. Why did you put me in this pale yellow sweater?! I'm a BOY."

Well, sorry Jacob darling... But when I made this sweater I didn't know you were going to be male! But here is your baby sweater anyways. But now that my nephew is a little over 2 months old (and big for his age) he fits into it quite well.

This is the sweater pattern I used.
... Honestly, I'd never use this pattern again. Too much sewing. And I didn't like the sleeves or the collar in general. And, seriously, when it's not on a baby as cute as him, the sweater looks pretty horrid. Luckily for me, Jacob can pull it off.

And Jacob? I promise the next sweater will be more manly. (maybe.)

Stripes stripes stripes

It's been awhile. I know. But I'm done another knitting project! For now, this is all I can show y'all. 

The stripes didn't exactly turn out how I thought they would when I bought the yarn, but that's okay. It still made a super cute sweater. Or at least I think so.

traditions

Does two years a tradition make? Is twice of something, enough? Because if so, then stephchows and I definitely have a few traditions. 1) We go on a camping and hiking weekend in the summer. 2) I make her a I've seen and loved from craftgawker for our birthday. 

Last year I made her this bag from and old shirt. This year I made her a skirt!

Okay. Yes. This is also a skirt made from a shirt. Coincidence? Not really...

I saw a bunch on posts via craftgawker and really wanted to try making my own. It was dead simple. Well, unless you take into account that I had to a) sew and b) iron. Two things I don't love doing and am not great at.

The changes that I made:
1) I sewed down the button edge so that the skirt can't be unbuttoned. (No need for an embarrassing situation!)
2) I sewed a band along the top in which to put the elastic. (It's being strategically covered by a cute belt)

And that's it. It was really that simple. Some cutting. A little sewing. And now hopefully Steph will have a lot of fun wearing it.

Cupcakes, anyone?

It wasn't so long ago that I was making other cupcakes for a wedding. 

Well, I'm at it again. This time the favours of choice are chocolate raspberry and ginger. 9 dozen cupcakes down, 4 dozen to go. Phew.
Then I just have to decorate them... Easy? ... Right?

Peach Afghan

If you've been around the blog before, you should be well aware of the fact that I love the Olympics and I love my grandma. I can (and have) watched the Olympics all day. If it's an Olympic sport, I can and will get pretty excited about it. Rowing? Hells yeah! Swimming? Of course. Diving. Did you see that inward three and a half tuck? And don't even get me started on Gymnastics!

So what better thing to do than pick up an Olympic knitting project. A while back my lovely 97 year old grandma was telling me how she was sad she'd never finish the afghan she was working on. Well, hello! Perfect project for me! So this time when she came to town to visit I told her to bring the half done afghan. So here it is:

 I have three afghans in this exact pattern. I love them. I got one when I was born. All my siblings and cousins did. You can't really tell from these pictures, but the yarn is peach. Not my favourite colour... but for grandma I will work on it.

So, here's to many (too many?) more hours of Olympic excitement and afghan knitting.

Hope y'all are enjoying the Games as much as I am!

Cross my heart

Summer is for weddings. Or at least that's the way it often seems around here. And this year there are two weddings at the end of the summer that I'm really looking forward to. One, for my younger brother. The other is for a friend who I've known since I was 8. We went through middle school and university together. (yup. different high schools.) We aren't best-ies or anything, but we've stayed in touch and I truly respect him as a person and am really excited that he's getting married!!

The other exciting thing about his wedding? It's going to be almost completely homemade. The bride's mom is making her dress. The bride's father is weaving material for the groom's shirt. The wedding is going to take place at the family cottage and everyone is going to pitch in for making food and decorations and everything. It makes my crafty heart sing.

So, I couldn't just go out and buy them a card. That would be against the point. A slap in the face. So, I made them a cross stitch card.

 I won't lie. I didn't come up with the idea on my own. I saw this only a few days ago, and just change the idea from embroidering shoes, to cross stitching paper.

It's so easy! What you'll need:
- Paper
- embroidery floss & needle
- ruler & pencil
- cross stitch chart.

So, I just googled "heart cross stitch" and in 0.0 seconds had images of what I was going to put on the front of the card. I randomly decided that I was going to make my grid 5mm x 5mm to make the math easy, and then figured out where the center of the card was and went from there.

If you look at the first picture you'll see that I made a grid of pencil dots that could get erased later. Then, you are off to the races! Cross Stitch and go!

 Some tips. 
- Make your holes in the paper before you are doing the actually cross stitching. Much easier that way.
- I thought that 5mm grid was a little big and would make it smaller next time if I did it again. But it was very easy on the math
- tough paper is probably better. (I've had this stuff sitting around since high school. Waste not, want not!)

I'm kinda looking forward to trying this again!

Lunch bag

I'm one of those people who takes my lunch to work everyday. I like leftovers. I love getting to pack fruit and fruit and vegetables and more fruit to eat throughout the day. For the past few years, I've been throwing my daily snacks into this reusable lulu.lemon bag I got when I bought a pair of pants a few years ago. It was the perfect size. Not too big. Not too small. So it was horribly depressing when it started to die. And sure. I could have just bought another bag... but did I mention that this bag was the *perfect* size?

So, while I don't sew, I really wanted pretty much the exact same bag. So sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. Right? So, using the old one as to get the basic pattern, I made a new one. 

One thing's for sure: with this bright pink and orange material (that was quite inexpensive) I don't think any of the guys at work will be stealing my lunch.

pinkie

It's summer! And... perhaps as you can tell, I haven't been crafting much. It happens. But the garden is being picked. Much soccer is being played (and watched). Weekend trips are being done. And let me tell you, I'm loving it.

But I have been working on a few crafts here and there. A shawl, a teeny sweater, and (the only completed craft) a crocheted necklace.

The necklace didn't quite work out the way I'd hoped it would, so I might just frog it and make something new. But the idea was to crochet around a wire necklace with a magnetic clasp. It worked. ... just the way I did it was a little boring. So I'm thinking about doing scallops rather than just plain sc.
Thoughts?

plain red

It's summer! Which is exciting for a lot of reasons. The garden's been planted. Soccer season is in full swing! (thus far, our record one win, one tie) The sun rises early and I can go out for lovely early morning runs. The days are warm or HOT, and I can wear dresses and skirts to my heart's content. So much great stuff about summer.

But one other thing summer means: I'm super busy. And even when I have some free time, I don't often think about knitting. Makes sense. So, if this blog doesn't get many posts in the coming weeks, don't say I didn't warn y'all. 

But here is my latest, and boring, knit. Just a plain red garter stitch scarf.

Not sure when or if I'll wear it... But it was a good way to use up some scrap yarn.

Hope everyone is having and has a great summer!

Tis the season

Tis the season for...

balaclavas? Not to be confused with baklava. While both are fabulous, only one will keep you hot on a frigid day. So what if it's May. Now's the time to start making yours for next winter!

Because who doesn't need a balaclava? They are great for keeping you warm. (especially when made of wool like this one.) And hiding your identity and... to be honest. I don't know what else.

I made this balaclava for my friend Ad. My bad it took so long to finish and so long to get sent. Ad I hope you like it... and one day it's cold enough that you get some use out of it!! Just not one day any time soon.

Brightness

Mittens, you say? Isn't it spring?

Why yes. It's May. Yes it was 20C outside today. But, yes, those are mittens. (pattern) Mittens that I promised my nephew I'd make him. ... in February.
...
February.
...
Yes. I know. I'm a horrible aunt for only finishing them now. Horrible aunt!!
But look at that! I made him a matching hat. (pattern)

So, I'm a little late. But I'm going to choose to look at it another way. That I'm actually early. Christmas gift anyone?

Sometimes it pays to not get things done on time.

One year

One year.
It can be a long time, or flash by in the blink of an eye. I guess it all depends on your point of view. And this time my point of view was through a camera lens. Err... so to speak.
A year ago today I started a 365Project. I thought taking a picture every day would be a fun way to get better photography skills while documenting some of my life. Well, out of the 366 days in the year (leap day),  I took 337 pictures. Not perfect, but not too shabby.

Here are some of my favourite shots:

Things I've learned?
1) I still, in general, suck at taking pictures. Taking good pictures takes TIME.
2) It's easier and more useful than you'd think to have so many random pictures. There's been tons of times when it's been useful to have a record of my life.
3) Taking a picture every day, in some ways, makes you look at the world differently. I'll notice more little things. The details of them.

So, will I do it again? Yeah. Probably.
At least for another year...

Scraps

Here are the last two things I knit while in Italy. Both were just made from my head using the scraps leftover from the hats.

First, a very simple garter stitch headband, which, surprisingly, I like a lot.

Second, a bracelet, very similar to this necklace. (made from this pattern)

Three by Five

I finished up my Italy modified Turn a Square hat. Here is the finished product!

I really like the stripes! My pattern was:
1 CC, 1MC, 1 CC, 1MC, 1CC, 3MC (3 stripes of CC)
1 CC, 1MC, 1 CC, 1MC, 1CC, 1MC, 1CC,1MC, 1CC, 3MC (5 stripes of CC)
Repeat.

CC = Contrast Colo(u)r
MC = Main Colo(u)r

Italy

If there's one thing you have to have on a trip it's knitting. 

No wait. ... That's not 100% exactly right. It also helps to have clothes. And guidebooks. And shoes. And awesome people to travel with. ... And then maybe if you have all those things, it's pretty important to bring some good knitting projects with you. 

I just got back from an amazing week in Italy (Rome, Venice and Bologna). I still can't believe how awesome it was. My friends and I saw cool stuff, took tons of pictures, ate lots of gelato and had lots of laughs. What more could a girl ask for?

Normally for trips I totally strategize about the yarn I'm going to bring and the things I'm going to make. Somehow that didn't happen this time. I just threw some yarn in my carry-on with some needles and figured I would make something up. 

And that's just what I did!

That's pretty much what happened. I ended up making two hats (one on the flight there, one on the flight back) and then a few random things in the middle. 

The hat above is made based on the turn the square pattern. It's pretty easy to remember the formula. A super nice flight attendant on the flight home would stop each time she came by with something, and check in on my progress or complement me on the colour choice. So nice. I almost wanted to finish the hat and leave it for her. (I didn't have a needle to finish it or otherwise I might have.)

Anyways. I thought I'd also share a few of my favourite pictures I took. These are more things you might not always see photographed, although I did take pictures of things like the Colosseum too.  

I am so glad I went on this trip! And I'm looking forward to going on more!!