Baby Pinafore

I've been really into making items for babies lately.  I think that I've been drawn to small projects that I can work on during my lunch break.  I also have been loving projects that finish quickly, use up bits of yarn, and are simply "totally adorable."

Recently I finished making a sweet little pinafore.  I used some yarn that my mom got me from Jo-ann's.  It's called "Breeze Self Patterning" by Jo-ann's Sensations.  It has nice long color changes that created a pretty rainbow look to this dress.  

This dress seems very easy to customize to make larger sizes.  In fact, I saw a pattern for larger sizes on Etsy and Bernat also has a free pattern for child-size dresses.  They all look like the same dress, but in different sizes.  Honestly, just change your initial chain length and it should be pretty easy to customize.  I think that you would add or subtract multiples of 4 to get larger or smaller sizes.

Some people on Ravelry have added a decoration to the front of the dress, but I left mine plain since the yarn is sort of busy.  I'll definitely be making this pattern again!  It could definitely be made in a few hours.  Great last minute baby gift!

FO: Puppy Hats

Not too long ago one of my favorite blogs, Repeat Crafter Me, posted a new free "Puppy Hat" pattern. This pattern has a very high cuteness factor!  I love this blog for a few reasons 1) it's loaded full of great  ideas and patterns (she is the creator of the Owl Hats that I've made so many of), 2) it's well written and fun to read, and 3) she let's you use her patterns as you wish as long as you give her credit.  I absolutely love that because then I can use her patterns and make things to sell--perfect!

So far I've made two of these puppy hats.  One in child size and one in the smallest size (0-3 months).

Pattern: "Puppy Hat" from Repeat Crafter Me

Yarn: Both hats are made from Vanna's choice yarn--oatmeal for the puppy part and other colors for the accents.

Size: The blue hat is made in child size and the pink hat is 0-3 months.

Hook Size: H, 5.0 mm for both hats.

Notes: Love the pattern and everything about it.  Super quick and super cute.  You can make a few of these in a day.  My only problem was that the child size hat fit my head....and I don't have a tiny adult-sized head.  My gauge was spot on, so I'm not really sure if I had some other issue.  Good thing is that children's heads grow--so it will fit my friend's nephew perfectly at some point.

FO: Sweet and Swingy Dress

My friend Alyson is expecting her second baby in March--a girl!!  I'm so excited for her family and their upcoming addition.  I've been crafting away making a few things just for the occasion!  I've known Alyson and her family since I was in the 6th grade...so for like 18 years (WOW!)  I'm actually going to be in her sister Alexandra's wedding in October as a bridesmaid :)...Alex and I are yarn buddies and have been pals since we met in our 6th grade class...but I'm getting off topic.

Pattern: "Sweet and Swingy Dress" by Ellen Gormley which is available in the May/June 2009 issue of Crochet Today!

Yarn: TLC Baby Solid in powder pink with accents of Patons Beehive Baby Sport in Big Girl.

Hook Size: H, 5.0 mm

Size: According to Ravelry, this pattern runs REALLY small.  Since the baby isn't born yet, I figured that this wouldn't be too much of an issue and picked the 12 month size to make.

Notes: I have to say that I don't think this is a dress sized for a 12-month-old.  I don't have a baby to compare it to, but it just seems small...which is perfectly fine because the baby will only be a few months old this summer and maybe it will fit perfectly then!  I really loved making this dress.  The way to do the accent crab stitch around certain areas is genius!

I decided to add a little flower to the front of the dress.  I did this for two reasons-- 1) the back of the dress is identical to the front and I wanted to tuck my ends and start the accent colors on the back of the dress to make any finishing less noticble and 2) I wanted a little more detail and I didn't like the look of the three rounds of detailed edging on the bodice of the dress.  The flower is called the "10 minute flower" by Boomie and can be found for free online.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the English instructions.

What would I change if I was do make this again (which I will be doing)?  I would either make one shoulder have buttons so that it would be easier to put on/take off of the baby or try and incorporate a slit and button hole on the back of the dress.  The neck line is stretchy and wide-ish, but I just would feel better knowing it would be easy for mommy or daddy to dress the baby.

FO: Baby Bibs

You'll see in the coming posts that I've been busy making a bunch of baby items.  It seems as if a lot of my friends have been asking me to make them stuff or having babies!  Here is one of my favorite patterns for a handmade bib.

Pattern: "I-Love-Stockinette Baby Bib" by Laura Treadway which is available as a free Ravelry download.

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in plum and berry.

Needle size: US 7

Size: As written, no modifications.

Notes: I really enjoyed using cotton-ease for these bibs.  I love the way that they turned out.  The drape is nice and they really don't curl that much.  I've used Knit Picks comfy worsted before, but I've found that they really curled a lot.  Also, I did not slip any edge stitches on these bibs and I think that might have helped them to not curl? Just a thought.

FO: Shades of Yellow and Green

My first project of 2013 (which took me just over a week) was a baby blanket.  My friend requested a ripple baby blanket in gender-neutral colors including yellow and green.  This is what I came up with.

Pattern: "Shades of Coral" by Jan Eaton, found in the book 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns

Yarn: Mostly Vanna's Choice and Vanna's Baby and a little bit of Lion Brand Pound of Love.  I picked greens and yellows first and then added beige and white to round out the colors.  I like using acrylic for baby items because of its softness, durability, and how easy it is to care for.

Hook size: I, 5.5 mm.

Size: I measured the blanket agains the quilt I used to have in MY crib as a baby ("Quilty").  Although I didn't record the finished dimensions, this blanket would be called "crib-sized" so it will won't be out grown for a while (if ever).

Notes: This was a really great and fast project.  I actually began at the end of December (12/30) and finished it by January 9th!  I tucked the ends in as I went along, so that I didn't have to worry about them after it was done.  The border is one row of single crochet.  I didn't do any adjustments along the top and bottom ripples as I made the border.  I'm very happy with this project!

FO: Crocheted Flower Motif String Bag

I came across this pattern when I was looking for Christmas gift ideas.  I actually made the pink bag for one of my friends, but we've yet to seen each other for the holidays, so I might just end up with it for myself.  The pattern is a really nice pattern (although I found that some of the counts were off).  It's free and quick (took about a week of off and on crocheting) and easy!  I definitely recommend this one.

Pattern: "Crochet Flower Motif String Bag" by LisaJedi Gwinner and it's available as a free Ravelry download.

Yarn: The pink bag is made using Knit Picks Cotlin yarn in Cerise and took about 1.75 skeins.  The green bag is made using Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in colorway 017 and took about 1.5 balls.  Both I had in my stash--the Cerise from my spring/summer crocheted cardigan and the Hempathy from my I-91 Shop Hop vacation.

Hook size: F, 3.75 mm

Size: The size was as written in the pattern.  My only issue was that I ended up with more loops in the final round than the pattern states.  I think I had 111 or something like that.  Really, it's not a big deal because all you're doing is the top edging and then adding the handles.  This happened both times I made the bag.  To compensate for this difference I just recalculated where to place the handles of the bag.  Easy peasy :).

Notes: The bag holds WAY more than you think it would.  Seriously this bag is awesome!  You can see that I have a few boxes of cereal in the first one and I think some cans and whatever else I had in the kitchen that I could stuff into the bag :).  The green one is now being used as my "stuff carrying bag" for yoga--which is working out really well!  My towel and clothes are all sweaty and gross (eww but AHH) when I'm done with class and the meshiness of this bag allows it to dry really easily.

FO: Dallas Cowboys Football Hat

One of my friends saw the football hats that I made last year and asked me if I would be able to make her daughter a Dallas Cowboys themed football hat.  Here's what I came up with.

Pattern: "Football Hat"by Brenda K. B. Anderson available in the 8th issue (December 2011/January 2012) of Knitting Today! (aka Your Knitting Life).

Yarn: I actually had trouble finding yarn that seemed to suit the Dallas Cowboys colors.  My friend said that it would be ok if I had to use navy, so that's ultimately what I ended up with.  A lot of the blues were too bright and a lot of navys were too dark.  I ended up using Loops and Threads Impeccable in Navy and Vanna's choice in Silver Heather.

Needle size: US 7's for the ribbing and US 8's for the rest.

Size: Adult size with my usual modifications--2 extra rows on the ribbing (done in K2,P2) and two extra rows on the top stripe before and after the decreases.

Notes: My friend's daughter wanted braided tails, so I cut twice as many lengths of navy as of silver and threaded them through the bottom of the ear flap and then braided them.  I was braiding with two navy sections and one silver.  I'm very happy with the final product as is my friend! I hope her daughter likes it just as much.  This is a great pattern to make (I've made 4 of them so far).  My only issues are that the ear flaps curl, they are thin, and the laces detail is a bit of a pain to sew on.  Other than that, I totally recommend it!

Happy Super Bowl!

Christmas gift recap! [FINALLY!]

Ahhhh, finally I have the time to present all of my finished Christmas gifts!  This past Christmas I decided to make as many presents as I could.  I get such enjoyment out of making gifts and it's also a good way to save some money!  I believe that I made something for each person on my list--definitely a successful holiday!

I knit a cowl with carved wood buttons for each of my bosses.

For Sean, I knit a scarf and hat set and also made a Sheldon the Turtle in Giant's colors!

I added the year to to bottom of Sheldon's shell so that Sean will always remember which Christmas I gave him Sheldon.

For my cousin Kyle, I crocheted a rocket pillow.  He told me and my mom that this was one of his favorite Christmas gifts--which means a lot to me, coming from a 6 year old, especially when he got different video games and electronics from Santa and our family!

For my mom, I finally finished the ripple crochet blanket that I started 2 years ago!  It was worth the wait--she loved it!

I also made a vest for my mom....but it came out a little large and looked like armor on me!  I think she ended up giving it to a friend who it fit better.

And as usual I edged a couple of dishtowels for my mom and even monogrammed one too!

I also made my mom a snowflake fridge towel and one for Sean's mom as well.

I also made another fridge towel for Sean's mom as well as two crochet-edged towels!

And....I made a bunch of crocheted ornaments for Sean's mom as well. She loved them all.

For my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dan's cats I crocheted 3 cat toys and stuffed them with catnip!  They were a big hit.

And last, but certainly not least, I finished Matt's sweater!!  It looks so good on him and he loved it!  I'm happy I was able to finish it and give it to him this year!

It was definitely a busy holiday craft season, as I'm sure you can tell, but it was wonderful!  I love giving handmade gifts to my loved ones!  I'm already thinking about next Christmas--because, you know, it's never too early to start!

Tada! Pumpkin Pi!

Halloween didn't go as expected in NJ this year, due to Hurricane Sandy.  At work we were all going to dress up in Halloween costumes, which really sounded like such fun!  Remember I had that great idea to be a Pumpkin Pi?  I made little pumpkins and sewed them onto a black shirt in the shape of Pi!  I was THRILLED!  I even made one for Matt. 

Unfortunately I still haven't really gotten a chance to wear it.  I put it on for a very short amount of time on Halloween, but didn't wear it all day.  I really only put it on to take a picture or two and feel a bit "Halloween-y."

I had even made myself "whipped cream" to wear on my head :).

So...what I've decided to do is wear it for Thanksgiving!! I mean...you eat pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, so why not wear some Pumpkin Pi?!! :)

Hoot!

I absolutely love making baby hats lately--especially ones for my friends' 4 month old son.  So far I've made him a football hat and a theta hat.  I learned the other day how much his mom loves owls.  So of course I immediately thought I should make him one of the cute owl hats I've seen everywhere.

I decided to make Sarah Zimmerman's crochet owl hat because it looked so cute and had excellent directions! (Oh and as a side note, I adore her blog, Repeat Crafter Me.)  I really cannot wait to make more of these hats!!  I decided to make the 3-6 month size and was very careful about my gauge (I'm usually a tight crocheter).  For the eyes I used vintage buttons that my Baba (grandma) had.  I love the way the hat came out.  It seriously is one of the cutest things I've made!

FO Friday: Care Bear

Two Sundays ago one of my friends asked me if I would be able to make a Care Bear that was purple and that had a purple ribbon on the tummy.  He told me that the husband of one of his friends recently lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and that he wanted to give her a bear like this, but couldn't find anything online.  I got really excited at this request for a few reasons.  For one, I felt like I would be making this bear for a really good cause.  Secondly, I had a pattern for a Care Bear already that I had really been wanting to make.  Finally, it would be purple...and you know how much I love purple.  AND I love to help out my friends.

I made very few modifications to the pattern that I had.  The only things I did differently were the eyes (I just used buttons rather than fiddling with the felt) and I did not add the head tuff because it looked odd on this bear.  I also used a different heart pattern for the nose and the heart on the bottom.  I got some ideas for the ribbon on the tummy from other online patterns and then sort of made my own up as I went along--basically you just chain a large amount, figure out where the middle of the chain is, work double crochets up until like 1 or 2 chains from the middle, then make 2 or 3 double crochets in the next chain, more in the middle chain, and then the same number on the other side of the middle...and double crochet your way to the end of the chain.  Really simple.  I whip-stitched all the appliques to the bear and that was it!  I'm really happy and proud of the way it came out.  I hope that it brings some comfort and love to the woman receiving it.

Blocking makes all the difference...

Remember my Summer Vest? After I wrote my FO post about the vest I decided to see if I could block the vest to make it stop rolling and give it more flow.  I used wet blocking and stretched it out on a big beach towel using my blocking wires.  It surprisingly dried over night :).

And the result?  PERFECT!!

Matt's Yoga Mat Bag!

Back in July I introduced my best friend to hot yoga...and of course he loved it! (Seriously it is addicting...if you haven't tried it yet, I really encourage you to go take a class.)  After his first class he was so excited about yoga!  I had made myself a bag for my mat a while back.  Matt asked me if I could make him one as well in blue.  So I searched my stash and I found some organic cotton by Patons and got knitting!

Here's the finished product.  I made his strap shorter than the one I made for myself and also a bit wider since it will stretch due to the weight of the bag.

Just for reference...this WIP picture shows the color most accurately :).

FO: Summer Vest

In the middle of July I knit myself a summer vest in an orange color.  I'm super happy with the way it turned out.  These photos are pre-blocking, but after it was blocked it REALLY opened up and no longer rolls (and is much more flowy).

FO: Spring/Summer Cardigan

Back in the beginning of July I finished crocheting myself a spring/summer cardigan.  I found the pattern free online from DROPS and I used Cotlin yarn.  I'm overall very pleased with how it came out.  It was a very quick project to make!  I think it might be a slight bit large, but that's ok.  Without further ado, here it is!