My very first adult sized sweater!

The Bloc Party by Kathleen Dames...

 This was my first attempt at a sweater for ME!

 The pattern has an integrated button band (which means the button holes are on both sides) and so the buttons I am using are interchangeable...kind of like cuff links.

 For now, they are matched to the stripe colours, but I also have a full set of plain white buttons that I can pop in when I'm looking for something a little more subdued.

I did some fun colourblocking...

...and most of the sweater is done in plain stockinette, which I love!

There will be another sweater in the future...in fact, I have already cast on!

What are you working on this week?

Fiber Goodness

Progress has been very slow on the fiber front, but here's what I've been up to.

 The secret knitting: a pair of ankle socks.  It's proving difficult to find secret time to work on these.  Plus I have hit a stand still until I can somehow measure someone's foot without raising suspicions.

Inspired by these socks over at The Purl Bee

 The shawl:  The lace I finished and shared a few weeks back...it's really a pillowcase edging but done in worsted cotton.  The part I'm on now is just a simple crochet back and forth (the only crochet I have learned thus far).  Progress is slow on this one because I have to really watch what I'm doing (#newbie) so I don't dare pull it out in my usual knitting time ---Downton Abbey and such, but it is coming along.  I need it for late April and I think I can do it.  I *know* I can do it.

On the spinning wheel:  Some very minor progress on the spinning.  I purchased an Alpaca, Merino, Bamboo blend from Alpaca Avenue the last time I was in Toronto and progress was slow because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.  Now that I have a project picked out, I think I'll get to it more often.

On the bookshelf:  I'm reading Charles Dickens' ThePickwick Papers.  I'm pretty sure it is the only Dickens I haven't read yet.  I usually love his books, but I can't seem to really get into this one.  Granted I'm only on page 40 or so, and I'm only reading 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there, so it's not really getting a fair chance.

In the shop:  If you haven't seen it yet, I'm one of the March sponsors at Frontier Dreams.  

Hop on over to this blog post to find the code for 15% off anything in my etsy shop during the entire month of March.

Linking up with friends at:
Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft on
Fiber Arts Friday over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Fiber Arts Roundup

I've been so busy making things I haven't had time to share pictures in a little while, so here's a bit of a roundup of some projects I've been working on.

A friend of mine is having a sock monkey themed baby shower for her daughter, so a sock monkey was in order.  I used this tutorial over here since I've never made one before.   Note:  if you are going to try this, get a decently thick pair of socks.  I bought these because they were long and stripey, but they were really quite thin to work with.

She also sent me a picture of some really cute sock monkey slippers that she wanted me to make, but they were crocheted.  I kind of cobbled together a pair of knit slippers using the seamless baby booties pattern as a base and then just added the mouth, eyes and ears.  If I remember correctly, I added extra length to the leg portion of the slippers so I could roll it over like in the picture.

I also finished Diana's hat from Green Gables Knits by Joanna Johnson (of Phoebe's sweater).  I was definitely going to run out of the dark blue so I started adding in stripes of light blue in the decrease section to finish it off.  I love this view of it.

This is how it is meant to be worn...high up on the forehead and all slouchy,

but in all honesty, this is probably how I will wear it...

(very difficult to take a picture of oneself, no?).

When I was blocking it, according to the directions, I noticed a very obvious mistake I made in about the 9th row from the beginning.  I think I will cover it up with one of my big buttons.  I might just knit up another one with a pink (gasp) ball of yarn I bought for another project that won't be happening now.

I also finished up the striped scarf for N, which was supposed to be stashed away for his stocking next year, but it has been so bitter cold that I already gave it to him.  How could I not, when he was tearing the place apart looking for a scarf he could use?

I am much happier with it now that the edging has been added.  It is super thick, and super warm, and he has been wearing it to school and back (but not AT school, since scarves are banned).

Linking up with some friends today:

Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

Yarn along over at small things - although I'm not reading an actual book right now...just blogs.

Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Some little desserts...for display.

I'm still working on the little felt food props to go with some of my dishes at the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market Mercantile.

I had come across these little doughnut pincushions via Pinterest and decided I wanted to make something similar.

The size was determined by the scraps I had on hand...three strangely shaped oblong pieces.  I traced the inside of the packing tape roll to get the outside diameter, and a thread bobbin for the "hole".

 I decided to cut the "hole" a little smaller than I had traced it to allow for how much it would change while stuffing the doughnut.

 I stitched the "hole" first, and then stitched about 1 inch of the outside at a time, stuffing as I went along.  It takes a surprising amount of stuffing to fill one of these tiny little doughnuts.  A good solid hand full I would say.

 Nearing the end of the stitching, I stuffed as much of the stuffing in as I could fit, and  then stitched it shut and massaged the stuffing around to even it out.

 For the icing, I traced the same outside diameter, but then...

 ...I cut it all drippy and melty.

 And repeated the same on the inside.

 I stitched the icing into place with matching thread (In hindsight, it would probably be easier to stitch the icing and beads on first and then sew the doughnut sides together, but this way wasn't bad either).

 Added some "sprinkles"...

 ...and made a few different "flavours".

 I think they will be just the thing for the section of my table that is set up for dessert and tea.

 And I can switch them around as items (hopefully) sell.

In the meantime, we will use them on Wednesday at the Earth SmART Art Show at the school for the picnic bicycle display - photos of which I will share after the event.

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams
                        Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

A fun little sewing project.

This little number has been on my "Inspiration for the school art show" Pinterest board for years, but I hadn't gotten around to making it yet because I didn't know what to do with it after.  Now that I have a recipient lined up for it, I thought it would make the perfect project for this year's show.

If you are new here, every year the elementary school my youngest child attends hosts an art show where the projects are made of recycled/upcycled materials.  As the organizer, I like to contribute a project as well.

Mostly, I followed the directions over here but I don't have an AccuQuilt Go (I don't even know what it is) so I made my own template...

 ...from a cereal box of course.  I drew out a 3" square, marked the middle point at the top, connected to the corners and cut it out.  I think any isosceles triangle will work.

 I cut 60 of the triangles from random bits of scraps and clothes...

 ...and then put set them up in groups of three until I was happy with all the pattern groupings.

For assembly, start by following the directions here.  Tip: She doesn't say what to do after the 12th triangle is attached.  I kept adding in the spaces until I had a group of 5 at the top, with 5 in the spaces beneath that, and another row between the spaces beneath that.  Then I sewed the last 5 together into a "crown" and sewed that into the bottom.  I had to alternate between machine sewing and hand sewing throughout this project as it was very difficult to fit the layers through the machine.

My kids LOVED the finished project.  I believe the term "awesome" was used.  They would really like to keep it, but I have someone else in mind.  If I were to make another one, I think I would add the seam allowance to the outside of the triangle rather than inside the template (basically, make the template bigger) as this was very finickity at times.  Also, I don't think it really matters what shape your triangles are, so long as they are all the same, so I would be interested to try another one with really long, pointy triangles.

Completely superfluous picture of my sewing buddy.

Happy crafting all!

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On at Frontier Dreams
                        Fiber Arts Fridy At Wisdom Begins in Wonder
                        Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Old-Fashioned Games #2

I have mentioned before that I was working on some simple, old-fashioned games to fill the village green at the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market Mercantile in August.  Here is game #2 if you are looking for a fun little activity with kids.

Who doesn't love hopscotch?  For this one, I used a piece of a table cloth that I picked up at the Goodwill, and some leftover seam binding.  I used different colours for each of the sections because I want it to have a kind of patchwork look to it (the time span we are going for at the show is about mid 1800s to 1910).  Plus, I didn't have very much of each of the colours.  My squares are 11", mostly because my tablecloth was only 78" long...I would go with 12-13" if I had an unlimited amount of space.

I made the numbers from seam binding as well, and just sewed them on.  At first I was trying regular numbers, but it was rather difficult to make the 2 and 3, so I switched to the straight lines of roman numerals.

The "stones" are small bean bags made of old children's shirts.  I may or may not add a coloured stripe or circle to the ones that are the same colour.  I haven't decided yet.  They are 3" squares, with 1/3 cup of beans inside.
Note: if you are playing this game indoors, I would stop here.  It won't slip on carpet, and for wood floors, you could just lay it out on those anti-slip mats.

Mine, however, is for outdoors - and it has to last a whole weekend.  I lined the back with a sturdy piece of fabric (that happened to be a futon cover in a previous life).  I sewed it together front to front and then turned it right side out and sewed around the edges a second time.  It should be pretty tough.

Once the front and backing were sewn together, I edged all  around the squares a second time.  It gives it a quilted look while making it less likely to slip around when a child jumps on it.  I plan on adding grommet holes to the corners, and quite probably the long sides as well, so that we can anchor the game down with tent pegs.

In case you are curious, this went together in an afternoon.

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On at Frontier Dreams
                         Hand & Homemade Mondays at On The Old Path
                         The Backyard Farming Connection
                         Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder
                         Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

A simple game with items on hand.

In August, I will be attending the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market that is part art/craft show but also includes family games, costumes, food and drinks, animals and demonstrations of old-fashioned and pioneer skills.  I'm in the process of getting some of the games ready for the village green, and thought I would share the first one since it would be a great indoor or outdoor activity for any event (including an "I'm bored" day).

In keeping with the theme of the event, I have kept it as old-fashioned as possible by using the fruit buckets. Note: If you are making this at home, you could easily swap out shoe boxes, mixing bowls, or whatever you have on hand.

The "points" tags are made of leftover bits of felt and pieces of a ruined wool sweater.  I just drew out some numbers (on paper)  until I was happy with the size, traced them onto the felt, cut them and hand-stitched them onto the front circle of felt.  The backing is a second piece of felt.  The two circles are blanket-stitched together to hide the stitching of the number and make it a little more durable.
Note:  My tags have to be weather proof as the event is held rain or shine.  If you  are using this game indoors, you could simply draw the numbers on to a card stock tag.

The bean bags are made of some old children's shirts.  I found the ideal size to be 4 1/2" squares filled with 2/3 of a cup of dried beans.  With 4 patterns, children can play alone, against an opponent, or even in teams.

I did make some smaller squares (3 1/2") that were filled with only 1/3 of a cup of dried beans.  If I can find one more bucket, I will pair the smaller bean bags with it as a "target practice" or solo play.
Note: If you are using this game last minute, you can easily make quick bean bags using small children's socks filled with beans and tied firmly shut with yarn.

Linking up with: Fiber Arts Friday on Wisdom Begins in Wonder
                         Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
                        The backyard Farming Connetion

A bit of this, a bit of that...

I have finished the first gift for the Winter Solstice/Christmas stash.  Itty bitty little stitches...52" of them...

 ...I finally ironed it at 4:00 a.m. today so that I could make sure it wasn't all twisted before I cast off.

It seriously took me all of January to knit this tie, but I love the finished product, and I know a certain little dapper fellow will too.  Having said that, if I decide to make another, I don't think I will use sock yarn.

February's project is washcloths.  I cast this one on according to the pattern (which called for 63 stitches of worsted weight cotton.  It's huge!   I will finish this one the way it is, but the next couple will be cast on with maybe 43 stitches.  I will pair them up with a pottery soap dish and a bar of fantastic handmade soap. I am hoping to get four of these done this month.

 On the pottery front - the first teapot pod (teapod?) is finished.  N thinks it looks like a genie lamp, but I like it none-the-less.  There will be more - possibly with a shorter spout.  It's still drying.

 Test spoons.

Test pods.  Nothing is glazed yet.

And just because I thought this was hilarious...N was using this work space last night.  A dremel, chisel, a bunch of very sharp utility knives and blades, and a stuffed knit penquin!  One of these things is not like the others.  You may recognize Linda's penquin.

Linking up with: Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

                        Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder