Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Gratifiying

It has been so nice to spend some more time in my sewing room. This week, the girls have been the recipients of new dressing gowns (bath robes).
Everyone is outgrowing their stuff (still trying to figure out how to make them stop growing), so the little ones have hand-me-downs, but I wasn't in the mood to spend loads on new things for the girls. So, I took the dressing gown that Anna's outgrowing, cut larger pattern pieces based on that one, and viola! Warm, fleecy girls. I had the red for Abigail already (I think it was a remnant piece from JoAnn's) and bought the fleece for Anna in one of their recent sales (I don't remember how much it was, but I bought two yards and didn't use it all).

It was terribly easy to put together, especially since I serged the edges, rather than hemmed them. (For the unsure, a serger or overlocker is that scary-looking machine that sews with up to 4 spools of thread and creates that chain-type stitching you find in your t-shirt.) You could easily leave the edges unfinished, since the fleece is unlikely to fray, or you could use a wide zig zag stitch on your machine, or even blanket stitch by hand. Me? I'm all about speed.

I can definitely foresee making these more in the future. Sorry, Land's End and Mini-Boden, I don't think I'll be needing your dressing gowns anymore!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Gooseberry Swirl

Eleanor's hat was so easy and fun to knit. With more of that lovely Louisa Harding yarn, it was a pleasure to make. Of course, with just knit and purl and some decreases thrown in, it was perfect "looks involved but was pleasantly mindless"-type knitting. The only thing is that even though Ellie likes it and has worn it, I never got a picture with her in it. So Dan kindly filled in...
Abigail's hat was different - the swirl pattern was fun and funky (much like the girl herself), and fortunately, very forgiving (also like her). I made a ton of mistakes, but once it's on, not at all noticeable. Thank goodness! Yarn is Lorna's Laces, "Valentine". So pretty!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Anna's Beehive

Basically, I'm on a hat-making mission.
Everyone needs a new hat.
Dan's is done. Ellie's is also done, but photos
need to be downloaded.
So here is Anna's. Also known as the Noro, it's gorgeous. I made some modifications, but it was so fun to make, and the yarn is lovely - wonderfully soft, but really sturdy. Just right for kid heads.
Ellie's coming soon, Abigail's currently on the needles...

Monday, November 8, 2010

Costume day





We celebrate Reformation Day...by dressing up in Halloween costumes...



























It's just so hard to get a good photo
of "wild animals"...

Tuesday, November 2, 2010