Category Archives: Children
Longies… again.
Alright, so I made another pair of longies. Actually, I started these when we were on vacation in July, and then hibernated them for a bit while I waited for another skein of yarn – this particular pattern just EATS up yarn. It’s the Itchy Fingers pattern, which I’ve used once before. Both times, even though I follow her directions as far as measuring, etc., the end result is really kind of big. I felted these down a bit, but they’re still really roomy.
The yarn is Philosopher’s Wool. (Well, the brown is just leftover Paton’s Classic Wool.) I love this stuff. It’s got some lanolin left in it, plus it’s just kind of yummy. You can see that it kind of fuzzed up on me when I washed it – I should’ve turned it inside out, but I forgot.
I improvised the design on the legs. I knew my next project to cast on was going to be a hat for Randy in stranded two-color work, which I’ve never done, and I wanted the practice. Happily, the stranding turned out to be much easier than I realized.
Making them Longer
Genna’s getting TALL! But I’m not ready to give up some of my favorite knit soakers yet. They still fit her fine around, they’re just too short!! So I’ve taken two of her soakers – one a pair of longies and one shorties – and just made them longer.
They are not works of art, but they ARE functional. I’m sure I could have done something fancier, but I wasn’t really going for fancy. Just functional.
Do you have knit soakers you’re not ready to give up yet? Making them longer is sooooo easy. Just grab yourself some circular needles and pick up the stitches all around the cast-on top. Because you’re going to be knitting UP instead of DOWN, the stitches will be one-half stitch off, but that’s OK! Just follow whatever ribbing pattern the waistband already had, and don’t worry about that half stitch difference.
Personally, I like to add an eyelet row to every pair of knit soakers. If you’re the same, go ahead and add one. (for 2×2 ribbing, you’d add an eyelet row like this: k2, yo, p2tog)
And voila! You’ve just given yourself another several months in those soakers!!
Wee Knitteds – Using up Leftovers
Been trying to use up a bit of leftover sock yarn – actually, it’s the Monkeypal I love so much. I hate to have these tiny little balls of leftover yarn sitting around, you know? So these tiny wool soakers are ADORABLE. What I’m going to do with them, I have no idea. They’re so easy to make, and fast (about an hour), I’ll probably make a few more. The pattern is here, and here’s the Ravelry project page.
And these little socks were fun to make. High-Energy Baby Socks, they’re called. Apparently named after the pattern developer’s friend’s baby, who was nicknamed High Energy Fetus. Anyway. Simple but with fun details around the top. I knitted these up mostly at the pool during our week at Okoboji, watching Wally and Daddy playing and holding a napping/nursing Genna. PS – tried nursing discreetly while wearing a bikini and knitting? Yeah, not so much. Ravelry project page.
These socks are a pattern I made up myself, based on the other two baby socks patterns I’ve used. It’s ribbed throughout, with a simple heel flap, knit top-down. I knit it on size 3’s, wanting a slightly bigger size than I was getting on size 2’s, and I’ll be honest – that was, I think, a mistake. These socks kind of slide right off of her. They fit will around the foot, but they just slide off for some reason. Grrr. But they are awfully cute, and if I put legwarmers on over them, they’ll stay up, right?
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Then I also whipped up this sock for our DSi. I thought it would use up the rest of this yarn I inherited from my mom, but, um, there was more there than I thought. This particular pattern, though, was awesome. It’s knit in a tube, flat. I’ve read how to do this several times in several different places, but this pattern was the first to use words in a way that made sense to me. As I read it, I finally understood how this works. Ravelry project page. Pattern. NOTE: if you decide to use this pattern, on the line where she explains how the ribbing words, she says:
Slip Stitch Pattern (ribbing): k1, bring yarn to front, slip st purl wise, purl 1, slip sts purl wise, bring yarn to back
She means “…purl 1, slip st purl wise…” ONE stitch. Not stitchES. There were some questions about that in the comments on her blog (linked above), but I don’t think she understood what was being asked.
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And then I used the same pattern, a felted it a bit, to make this pouch for the IPod Touch. And then I used up a bit more scrap making this little pouch with the same pattern, adjusted to give me a flap to fold over and snap.
Knitting
And now for one massive knitting update post. Most of these were knitted either at Okoboji in June or in Utah in July.
Ottobre Designs soaker, made with my own adaptations. Peace Fleece yarn. (Okoboji)
Longies made from the 1932 soaker pattern. Moda Dea Cartwheel yarn. (Utah)
Itchy Fingers pattern. The math is a bit nonsensical at the beginning of the pattern, but I really, really like these shorts. Moda Dea Cartwheel yarn, paired with some solid pink from Knitpicks. (This was actually done at home.)
Belladonna Designs nighttime shorts. I was very disappointed in this pattern, which I paid for. The pattern has no gauge. What the…? Yeah, so they came out too small. (done at home before Utah.)
So then I just redid the pattern a bit to suit me. Love it now. Peace Fleece yarn. (Home before Utah.)
I’m not super thrilled with these shorts, though it’s the yarn and not the pattern, I’m sure. The fabric just isn’t thick enough. Spare Ribs Shoaker. Patons Classic Wool Merino. (Home before Utah.)
Aubrey Doodlepants pattern, a really basic longies pattern that’s a standby around here. Patons wool yarn again. (Utah)
Two Summer Sundress
The Two Summer Sundress. This is such a ingenious design – I hope it really works out the way it’s supposed to. This dress is supposed to last two years – the first year, with the straps crossed, the second year with them straight. We’ll see.
I made three total, but didn’t get a picture of the dress I made for my niece Joey. The ones pictured are for my friend’s daughter Liv for her 5th birthday later this month and for Genna for next summer
I’ve never sewed on my knitting before, and I’ll admit it was a bit scary at first. I did Genna’s dress first so if I messed up, at least it wasn’t a gift for someone else’s kid, you know? But it was super easy to do, and I didn’t screw it up too much. Now I just hope that they fit all the intended receipents!!!
Genna’s Hat – so very disappointed
Alright, I’m so very disappointed in this hat that I knit for Genna.
It’s such an odd shape. Several of the reviews on Ravelry mentioned this, too, but I of course thought it wouldn’t happen to me, right? It’s too big around, and not deep enough. This picture was taken several months ago – see how it’s baggy around her face? But it fits her OK front to back. We thought she would grow into it.
This is from last week. It’s still baggy around her face (yes, still pinned, but it’s pinned as tightly as it can go). But it’s too short front to back now. And it’s only JULY!
I thought about just fixing it, but I’m all out of that yarn and don’t want to buy more. So I think I’m just going to start over. I might make the same hat, but just change the pattern to make it smaller around and longer front to back.
Pillowcase Dresses Tutorial (no images)
Pillowcase dresses are SO SIMPLE!!
Yes, you can start with an actual pillowcase, but you don’t have to! In this case, I just cut some fabric, about twice as wide as she is big around. (So I measured her around the chest, and doubled it.) Sew up one side seam. Now you have a tube, right?
You can either hem the bottom (and you pick which side is the bottom, since when it’s just a tube, either side could be the bottom!) or you can add a length of seam binding, or make a decorative band with another fabric, whatever.
Once you get the bottom hemmed, focus on the top. Lay the dress out, you can put the seam in the back or on one side. Cut out armholes. Like this:
After the armholes are cut, you’ll see only ONE straight part of the fabric that’s not hemmed, right there, top front and top back, between the armholes. Make a casing out of each of those little flaps, just about 1/4-1/2 inch deep.
Now, you need to hem the armholes. You can just hem them, or you could use seam binding. I personally recommend seam binding.
Next, cut two lengths of seam binding long enough to thread through the casing and tie over each shoulder. I recommend sewing the seam binding closed for this purpose.
And you’re all done. Easy peasy.
If you want pictures, post here and I’ll take some and put them up.
