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the big to-do pile

big to-do pile

A few things got put on hold over the holidays. Most of them are simple mending projects: fix a hole here, sew a button there. I should mention that the basket isn’t entirely full of clothing. The bottom half is filled with yarn bits for granny squares. The mending just sort of moved in and set up camp on top of them. But in the spirit of full disclosure, there is another pile not pictured that needs the same attention.

I’m making it a goal to finish one project a week. I’ll probably get motivated to do more once I get started, but I want a realistic goal that I can keep. My plan is to highlight each one on a new “Finished on Friday” weekly post. Hopefully, writing it down here will seal my commitment!

I actually completed one project earlier this week. While I was working on the puppy nightshirt, I let the hems down on these and these from last year. Yay for progress!

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my creative space (and a call to action)

sarah london crochet a rainbow granny square

I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can do something for the flood victims in Australia. Something besides just donating money (which there is nothing wrong with, of course). Today Sarah London posted a blanket project that will eventually be “distributed to those affected throughout Queensland and Victoria, providing comfort and colour and as a reminder that there is always a rainbow after a storm.”

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I’m a big fan of squares. Making them helps me find peace, deal with events that I don’t understand, and feel useful in some small way. Back in 2007, I organized a local effort to contribute squares to Mosaic Yarn’s Hokie Healing project. If you are the least bit doubtful of the impact a square can make, go read this. (I’ll wait.)

Pretty powerful, right? In my creative space today, and all this year, I’ll be crocheting granny squares for Crochet a Rainbow. I encourage my fellow crocheters to make a few, too. You can get all of the details on Sarah’s website.

Don’t crochet? Consider bidding on one of the many auctions being held by the crafting community. 100% of the donations listed on Toni’s site go to the Queensland Flood Appeal. (Thanks for the link, Steph!)

stash: I’ll be starting my squares with the yarn from last week’s creative space. (Thanks again, Tana!)

Kirsty’s started up the 2011 Creative Spaces. If you have any time left after browsing through the above list of links, don’t forget to check out the creative spaces listed on her site, too.

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finished: kitty cat hat

hand knit hat

The Kittyville Hat is finished! This was a great pattern and I loved knitting with Noro.

I messed with the color changes a little bit to make sure there was enough pink, red and purple to make my daughter happy. (Yes, I know it’s really dark pink, but I sold it as red, which is her favorite color, so just go along with me, ok?)

Here it is in action:

hand knit hat

She loves the kitty ears and I love that her ears are covered. It’s a win/win! I’m currently working on a set of matching mittens and messing with the color changes even more. Thank goodness for spit and splice wool.

Pattern notes here.

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wardrobe refashion: puppy nightshirt

This nightshirt used to be a pair of pajamas. Repeated washings have caused them to shrink, but instead of getting smaller all over, they got shorter and wider. I tried to convince my daughter they were ready for the donate pile, but the “doggie pajamas are her most favorite.” She asked me if I could turn them into a nightshirt like her Mickey pajamas.

pajamas turned nightshirt

Since they were so wide, all I had to do was remove the elastic waistband, sew the pant legs into a tube, and attach them to the shirt. I added a rolled hem to the raw edge of the waist to match the shirt for a little more ruffle action: pink hem original, green hem mine.

pajamas turned nightshirt

technical note: I had a serious problem with skipping stitches on this project, no matter what my tension, regular or ball point needle, even different thread. When I switched to a muslin scrap the stitches were fine. I figured it must be the fabric so I tried putting a piece of paper tissue under the presser foot. It worked like a charm and the tissue tore away easily. I’m not sure where I first read this idea, but I’m glad I remembered it!

wardrobe refashion: I don’t think the life of these pajamas really need to be extended much longer. We’ve had them awhile and they are well loved. I’m curious how long they’ll last in their new form.

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fave crafts blog hop: finished baby sweater

Every Day is a New Sweater Day from Yarny Days

I did it! I finished the little sweater. I was really pleased with the pattern and my yarn choice. My only wish is that I could have blocked it before the shower. Oh, well. I’m sure no one else noticed.

details: Every Day is a New Sweater Day and Aunt Lydia’s denim quick crochet cotton from my thrifted stash.

Check out other finished projects over at the Fave Crafts blog.

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little blue box bag

blue box bag

Just a quick post today because I’m spending all of my free time working on the little baby sweater. (It’s about half finished. Completing it for Saturday just might be a realistic goal!)

A few months ago when my friend asked me if I wanted her odds and ends of yarn, I told her I’d make her a box bag in return. Of course, now that I’ve received the very large tote of goodies, I think I need to make something else for her, too. Maybe a matching tote bag? Hmmm…

stash: fabric, denim lining and zipper all from my thrifted stash.

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my creative space

crochet cardigan for baby

In my creative space today is a crazy idea. I’m thinking of making a baby sweater for a shower on Saturday. Yes, this Saturday. (I told you it was crazy.)

It also looks incredibly small. So small, in fact, that I dug out one of my daughter’s infant sweaters for comparison. You know what? It is the right size, and my daughter really was that tiny. Oh, my!

pattern: Every Day is a New Sweater Day from Yarny Days. If you are new to her blog, take a moment and look around. Her work is beautiful!

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paper cardinal ornament

cardinal ornament

Winter break + snow day = a very long time away from nature school. The kids will be studying the Northern Cardinal when they finally return and had homework over the holidays: choose either the male or female to study and make an ornament for the class tree. My daughter chose the female, which we learned is not the brilliantly red colored bird usually depicted as the cardinal.

I let her do this mostly by herself. I printed the template on cardstock and she cut out the pieces, colored them and glued them together. I helped her pry them apart so we could add the top feathers, legs and string and then we re-glued them together.

This was another exercise in letting go for me. I resisted trimming the blue template lines that are peeking out of the edges and adding more brown feathers. When I suggested a little more brown, she said the cardinal is “a little bit snowy.”

pattern template: I downloaded Purl Soho’s Simple Sewn Bird Ornament pattern for this project. Since we used paper and didn’t need a seam allowance, I just used the interface template. I printed the original and a mirror image for the other side. Paper, string, raffia all from the stash.

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handknit kittyville hat

hand knit hat

My daughter is wearing last year’s wool hat and mittens. I can’t believe they still fit — not much else from last winter does. With the cold weather officially upon us, I decided to knit a new set for her before she outgrows the ones she’s wearing now.

I started this over the weekend and I’m already picking up stitches for the ear flaps. This is my first time knitting with Noro and I have to say that I really love it. The colors are so brilliant!

pattern notes: This is the Kittyville Hat from Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook. There is a child’s size version on Kitty Schmidt’s website. I’m replacing the devil horns on that link with kitty ears. Finished pics to come soon!

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jingle all the way…

My daughter found a loop of jingle bells at the coffee shop and insisted I buy them for her. They were kind of expensive for a handful of bells and very loud, as well. Thankfully, I convinced her that we could make our own jingle bells together. She was super excited when we found red bells at the craft store. “Red is my favorite color!” I stitched a little loop of fabric with some velcro and tada!

handmade jingle bells

I’ve been purposely slow on finishing this project. Four bells are plenty jingly and loud. I may add on a few more before packing them away for next year. Funny that they don’t sound as loud now as they did when we had rockin’ roll Christmas music playing in the house 24/7.

stash: red upholstery fabric left over from the rollie pollie. velcro from stash.