Quilting and Knitting

I've been quite busy lately. My biggest project right now is organizing and designing the kindergarten class quilts. Yes, I have volunteered to head the project!

The kids have been studying water and ocean themes in class. I thought it would be a great idea to have each child create a painted sea creature that would be scanned and then printed onto fabric.


We did a test print from one of Wren's paintings he brought home from class. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

The process is quite simple. Cut an 8 1/2" X 11" piece of freezer paper, iron your fabric on and trim. Then you can send that right through your printer. I was surprised to find that HP has detailed instructions on how to do it. Now I get to print out about 50 of them! Wow, I've got a lot of work ahead of me. I'm trying not to worry about the fact that I've never made a quilt before! Luckily, there are many other parents who are helping and some of them have quilting experience.


The rest of my extra time has been put to use knitting socks. I finished Violet's and started on some for myself. I have been holding onto this yarn for years, it feels so good to finally knit with it. I really love how toe up socks knit up. Can't wait to slip my feet in!

The Trouble With Bamboo Sock Needles...

Yup, totally snapped.

I'm attracted to the aesthetics of bamboo needles, that is what I usually buy. So that is what I went for when I started my sock class. I noticed how fragile they were as soon as I started knitting, I felt like I was going to break them while I was knitting! I've never felt that with the larger sized bamboo needles. Well, it happened. Not while I was knitting, but in my bag.


These are my new indestructible needles, the addi Turbo Lace. Not only are they strong, they claim I will knit faster! They are quite nice, the joins are smoother than the bamboo, which seems to be more of an issue when knitting with tiny sock yarn. Smooth needles also seem to be essential with smaller yarn. I've used size 17 metal needles and had horrible trouble with the yarn slipping off.

All this rambling on about knitting needles! I'm really just happy to be knitting socks, something I've been wanting to do for years.

Happy Solstice!

And I'm happy to say that my camera has returned! I'm busy finishing up the gifts and trying to stay warm. There is an unusually large amount of snow in Portland, OR right now. I'm very thankful for heat and a fully stocked kitchen!

I just have time to show some of the pictures I've take since the camera returned.


I bought four of these crocheted snow flakes at a craft bizarre, now I'm wishing I would have gotten three times that many!



This is one of my faves, a sweet little hedgehog.


Here are the kid's advent trees.


More stenciling.


We have such an abundance of drawings and paintings by the kids, we decided to use it for wrapping paper. Shown with gift tags from the black apple.


The house for Violet. I still need to sew on buttons, doors and such.


I was going to make Wren a little house too, but he is obsessed with the creatures from this book. I've made sock moneys and glove monsters, now I've ventured into the world of Stupid Sock Creatures! So very fun.


Stocking stuffers for the kids. Pattern from Mochimochi.


I finished one sock! The second one will have to wait until after the holidays. Can't wait to finish it and start on a pair for me though.

Hope to stop in at least one more time before Christmas. Until then, don't forget to enjoy these last few days until the New Year.

W.I.P. It Up

Freezer paper stencils. Butterflies from Lotta, dandelion by Leethal, praying mantis by Denny.


These are the guts to the little houses.


I'm finally learning how to knit socks! This toe up pattern is designed and taught by Chrissy.


This is Violet's new do. Ah, she looks so old now!

I also made the kids cute advent button trees from a tutorial by Diane, but I can't get a decent picture to show.

And I can't forget to tell you about the coolest Christmas Digest by Diane and Katin! I got mine yesterday and I'm totally enjoying all the whit, humor and craftiness. You should go and buy one. Thank you guys!

I Am Super Ninja!

I've been wanting to make a pair of fingerless gloves since last winter. Lucky for me, I found the greatest pattern and yarn from Leethal. And double lucky, she lives in my town!

I bought a knit mitt kit with recycled yarn that was retrieved from a sweater and then dyed. They are a super quick knit and as you can see, I've already worn them in from wearing them practically every day.

There is so much more than yarn at Leethal, she sews and prints many wonderful things. I bought Denny a button up shirt that was "made new" with a cool block print camera design. I just love the totally reasonable, totally unique things I found. You can follow Lee on her blog called dostuff!

My Favorite Hat

This is not only my favorite hat to wear, but also to knit. I went c-razy at Christmas time and knit about 5 of them for presents. It is the Cabled Newsboy Cap from the Stitch 'n Bitch Nation.

What I love about this hat is that it looks great on everyone! Seriously, me, my mom, my sister-in-law (actually two of them), my daughter. Everyone.

I also love how fun and quick it is to knit. Don't be scared by the cables, these ones are easy. I was once afraid of cables, but I took the plunge and I'm glad I did. I am better visually, so I asked my friend Chrissy if she could give me a quick tutorial and voilà! If you don't have someone to show you, I found a couple of links here, here and even a video here (the model is wearing my favorite hat!).

Some thing you should know before embarking on this pattern, there is a type-o that is not included in the errata for the book. Once again, my friend Chrissy came to the rescue. In the Shape the Top section of the pattern, it should read 'Cont as est, working 1 less st before/after decs and maintaining cable every 4th rnd to 72 sts, ending with a rnd 1'.

I have also used the brim from this pattern and incorporated it onto other hats I have made.

This hat was commissioned by Wren. "I want a fire hat that is red and orange with a brim like yours." This boy knows what he wants!