Argh Me Hearties

I am very late in posting this project, but better late than never :)

In first term DD had a pirate dress up day at school. What a great reason to make her some new shorts and a t-shirt.

Both are from Ottobre. The shorts are Celine Knickerbockers #38 from 1/2008. Easy and straight forward apart from my mistake of putting the fly shield on the wrong side and making it so that the zip doesn't go all the way up. Whoops!

The top isTangerine #14 from 1/2011. I found this to be very short and lengthened it from a size 116 to 122. I would still prefer more length on it, but it is fine for a play top.

To make it a little more pirate-y I stenciled a girly skull onto the front of the top and added a pick ribbon - so cute!

Both projects were from the stash too - got to love that!

Cheers!

My Socks!!

Still on the knitting adventure I wanted to try some socks. So I did. I wasn't ready to tackle sock yarn yet and I didn't have any needles small enough, so I used some BWM Classic 8ply that I found at the op-shop for 75c. Score! There was 120g on the ball, which was enough for 2 socks.

This was a great easy pattern for a sock newbie like me.

Sock 2 is definitely neater and nicer than sock 1, but I won't discriminate and will wear both. I discovered how to get rid of the hole formed at the heel turn (I think that is what it is called?) when picking up the stitches after doing the heel flap. Sock 2 is on the left, sock 1 on the right.

The Kitchener stitch for the toe is certainly neater on sock 2 :) Sock 2 on top, sock 1 underneath.

There will definitely be more socks in my future!

Cheers!

A New Skill

At the start of the year I thought about writing a list of what I wanted to try/learn craft-wise this year. But I didn't. Write a list that is. As I really only had one thing I wanted to learn, and that was to knit. I thought it was beyond me. I tried and tried again on some cheap plastic needles and acrylic yarn (also cheap). It didn't matter how many stitches I cast on, I always ended up with more by the time I had reached the end of the row. I didn't know knit from purl and would just get frustrated.

For some reason, by the end of March I really felt I had to "get it"! So I headed to Spotlight and got good wool and a circular needle (I did have a pattern ready, so I knew roughly what to buy). Casting on and knitting on the circular needle seemed to make much more sense to me - don't ask me why, because it is nothing like crochet. Other than a few hiccups that turned out to be yarn overs (from holding the yarn in the wrong spot) when I swapped from knit to purl rows I successfully made a cowl.

It was about 34C when the photos were taken, not exactly cowl wearing weather, hence the short sleeve top.

It is super soft and squooshy, but I think my needle size was a bit large, so it doesn't seem like it sits close enough to my neck to keep it warm. I may pull it back and re-knit it as I love the wool.

My M1 stitches have visible holes so I am not sure if they were done correctly.

So this has started me on the adventure of knitting.

Soon after, a lovely lady on one of the craft forums I frequent, gifted me her KnitPicks interchangeable needles that she didn't use anymore. All I can say is WOW!! They are fantastic and I am forever grateful. Every time I use them think of her :)

My next project was a beanie. Mainly for the practice. I used some lovely 100% wool from Spotlight and this pattern. I didn't make it as slouchy as the pattern said (mainly because I got a bit bored with all that ribbing).

I also made a few changes (ah the joys of being a newbie, you just do things as you wish! Actually I find it the best way to learn.) At the top, instead of stopping when the pattern called for, and then threading the tail in to pull the circle closed, I kept decreasing until I only had a few stitches left. This has made the top look different, but I now know what the effect is.

In the first few rows I did the same as the cowl - yarn overs creating an extra stitch or two. So my ribs got all out of sync and I now have a funky border - if I hadn't told you, you would probably think it was intentional ;)

It is meant for me and DS kindly modeled it for me.

A nice easy 2nd project - I am hoping to get lots of wear out of it this winter.

Cheers!

There Is Now An 8 Year Old Living In My House

And he still loves his Mummy made presents best of all :)

Sewing clothes for him this year was a little more challenging, as he is tall and skinny, so I need to make sure that pants will fit. So once I had got to the waistband part of his pants I blindfolded him (he was very excited to do this lol) tried his pants on him, marked where to hem them and roughly how much I needed to gather the back of the pants with elastic. Which was a fair bit. He managed to get in and out with the blindfold on and not pin himself once. Then he went on his way without peeking.

A top and pants, both from Ottobre. The top is a size 140, and this should give him enough room for growth and to get him through to the start of the cooler weather next year as well. It is #37 from 4/2010 made in stella from Crafty Mamas.

Pants are #39 from 4/2009 in a size 134. I love the details on the pants - pin tucks in the back yoke, shaped back pocket flaps, and that fantastic shaped front of the pants. Love it! There is nothing boring about this boy sewing.

The other challenge was that this year our Easter holidays were quite late, and I misjudged how much time I would have to sew while the kids were at school. This meant I had to sew when they were at home, but without them seeing (night time is no good as I make too many mistakes). So when it was rest time, I shut the passage door and gave them strict instructions to knock before coming out. It worked wonders and I got everything finished in time.

 Melly & Me - I Come In Peace alien - he is the favourite present and totally loved.

A new camera case to go with his new camera - I used the Keyka Lou pattern again, but changed the straps to make it more boyish, and added velcro to the back pocket to prevent the spare batteries falling out.

And we can't forget the cake - he picked out an octopus as a number 8, from one of the Women's Weekly cake books - they are just wonderful for kids cakes.

Cheers!