Just thought I’d share some of the knitting I’ve finished up this year.
Ender’s Game socks
Leftover Yarn Pants
Leftover Yarn Pants
(PS, still have lots of leftover yarn, so will likely be making felted bowls. So if you’re in need of small felted bowls, watch Etsy!)
Lord of the Rings socks
I sat down a month ago and sketched out TARDIS pants. I wasn’t sure I’d gotten the dimensions right, but I think I got them RIGHT ON. These are ADORABLE.
Since I started them, I’ve gotten numerous requests to make the pattern available, which I will be doing as I have time. If you’re interested in being a test knitter, please let me know.
Additionally, I’m HAPPY to knit a pair of TARDIS longies for your little one. The price will vary depending on what you want for yarn, but will be around $70.
I made this sundress for Genna last year, with just the orange and yellow. It was sooo cute, but when I pulled it out this year, it was soooo short, but still fit her around. So, I added the red stripe, after much gnashing of teeth and advice from my knitting group.
This project took me approx 2 months of middle of the night pumping sessions. I kept nodding off, lol.
OK, staying out of my office is really hard for me. I enjoy what I do. I like making awesome products for your families. I don’t like not making awesome products for your families. It’s frustrating to not be working.
Actually, what I need to do is take down my Planning Board, because it’s still got my plans through mid December on it, and it yells at me every time I see it, “You’re behind!! You were supposed to restock Cycle Pads last week!!” (And I’m currently plotting to see if I can’t get enough sneak to the office time to get them restocked anyway… shhhhhh.)
It’s not like I’m on bedrest or anything; I’m not. I’m just not supposed to be doing as much work, and I’m supposed to be resting more, and there’s the ever-dangling-over-my-head threat of You Might Need To Have A Baby Right Now.
But I have been sneaking down to my office every now and again to continue plodding along on Christmas presents. As I posted on Facebook recently, knowing that family won’t appreciate their planned handmade gifts doesn’t give me the money to buy them Big Box Store-ish presents like they actually want. Plus, I really do think that one of these years, I just might wear them down and they will suddenly appreciate the thought, time, and effort that goes into their gifts.
(please note: if you believe you are one of these people who might be getting a gift from me this Christmas, I recommend stopping here.)
Over the last two weeks, I was able to quickly bust out quite a few simple gifts. Actually, these gifts started a few months ago, when I happened across a clearance sale at Hanes.com. (No, I don’t normally shop there, I think I saw a post about it at Want Not.) Zip front hoodies were on clearance for far less than I’ve ever seen plain hoodies ever, even at Target on clearance, and these were the nice Hanes ones. Score! So I bought a hoodie for all the kids on my list, and one for me (I wear a boy’s large, lol), and then some adult size ones for a few adults on my list, too.
I was planning to do some screenprinting, but the process of screenprinting, while not difficult, is somewhat labor-intense for what was going to be REALLY small runs. I ended up switching to Wax Paper Stencils and Appliques instead of screenprinting. As a bonus, this allowed me to work in short bursts, whereas the nature of screenprinting pretty much requires the whole process to be done at one time.
This guitar sweatshirt is for my 16 year old nephew (who plays the guitar) and I also made one for Wally (who also plays the guitar). It’s a reverse applique, so the flames fleece was pinned underneath the sweatshirt before I stitched the outline of the guitar and then trimmed away the sweatshirt fabric from the inside of the shape. Super easy, but somehow seems “cooler” than an actual applique. The butterflies and the flowers are also reverse appliques, and are for a friend’s daughter, and my Miss G. (Genna’s flower sweatshirt also has a more traditional applique on the pocket.) I AM aware that these are really bad pictures.
These two sweatshirts are freezer paper stencil. The rocket for a friend’s 4 year old son, and the Jeep for her husband, who is the proud owner of a new-to-him Jeep Wrangler. (A Christmas present AND a gift to welcome him to the Wrangler club.) On the right is a set of four White Sox luggage tags. They, along with a White Sox travel shoe bag that’s not pictured, are for my Father in Law, who travels a lot and loves the Sox.
And I finished these socks for Miss Genna and the Spider Socks for Mr Wally. (Genna’s socks took about a week. Wally’s? The entire month of October.)
And these four little pairs of socks for the new baby, and for a friend’s baby for Christmas.
I’m NOT posting the details of what I made for a friend who I KNOW reads this blog, lol. So I’m all done with the sewn items. Now I need to learn how to make paracord survival bracelets! I’ve still got some knitting that I’m working on, as well – a sweater for the baby, a pair of socks for my doula (just the toe of one sock remaining), and possibly one for whoever shows up to watch the older kids while I’m busy having a baby. Um, and because some idiot (*ahem* me) made needlepoint Christmas stockings for everyone else in the family, I have to track down a nonugly needlepoint Christmas stocking kit that does not feature Santa and get that done, too. Fortunately, the baby won’t know if he or she doesn’t have a stocking for Christmas this year, but I don’t see me having MORE time to do needlepoint once he or she is born, so I’d really rather do it now.
Remaining giftless are all of my brothers in law, who are all really hard to decide about. I have trouble with men’s gifts in general, I’ll be honest. DH is not helping at all with ideas, and since they’re boys and he’s a boy (and two out of the three are from his side of the family), I’ve generally put him in charge. This means that they usually get Best Buy gift cards, and thus the most expensive gifts out of any. We’ll also purchase some sort of small toy for my 5 year old niece, and I’m kicking myself that I wasn’t focused on this need when I hit the clearance aisle at our local Giant Store to find a few small goodies for my own kids (foam bath letters and a suction cup bath mirror for $5!).
Even with all the other fancy-pants knit wool soaker patterns out there, one of my all-time favorites remains the 1932 wool soaker. This simple ribbed soaker is easy as pie to make – the biggest hurdle is boredom from all of that ribbing! I wrote about it first a while back when I made my first soaker with the pattern.
The pattern itself has been adapted by a kind lady on her blog from an old pattern printed by Lux soap company – she adapted it for modern yarns and needles.
About 3 years ago, I decided to make another adaptation of this pattern – into knitting in the round. It makes it seem to go a bit faster, though of course, it’s the same amount of knitting. For the soaker pictured, I used Peace Fleece in worsted weight along with some solid pink worsted weight from my stash (unlabeled!).
So here goes, my first published knitting pattern.
1932 Soaker Adapted for Knitting in the Round
#5 circular needles
#5 DPNs
Worsted weight yarn, 1 skein
gauge: 5 st./inch in k2p2 ribbing
CO 104 stitches
Join to knit in the round, being careful not to twist stitches. Place marker to mark start of round.
Complete 8 rounds in K2P2 ribbing
Make one Eyelet round: *k2 yo p2tog* repeat to end of round.
Continue in K2P2 ribbing until piece measures 6 or so inches total
Slip 52 stitches onto a stitch holder or waste yarn.
Knit remaining 52 stitches back and forth (flat), continuing in K2P2 pattern, for another 8 inches.
Graft the stitches on your needles with the stitches on the stitch holder using kitchener stitch. Or, for a decorative line across the back of your soaker, knit the two rows together, then bind off in pattern. Honestly, I find grafting in ribbing to be such a hassle, that I went for the second method. I like the way it looks, though you may not.
Pick up 52 stitches around one leg hole using DPNs. Knit 10 rounds in K2P2 ribbing, bind off loosely. Repeat for other leg hole.
Make an I-cord to thread thru eyelet holes.
And that’s all there is to it.
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