cafe coffee baby pullover progress

As I'm sure many of you experience, some weeks are crazy, filled with errands, long hours of working multiple jobs, running from one place to another, traveling to visit friends and family, etc. Last week was like that for me, but this week has been very restful. And it's only Monday! :) 

I'm sitting at home on my couch listening to knitting podcasts from Never Not Knitting and admiring other knitters' projects and working on my Cafe Coffee Baby Pullover. I will posting a pattern once it is finished. This was one of those projects that I had all intentions of following a pattern for, but in the end, I only really used the pattern I found to figure out how many stitches I needed to cast on and how to establish raglan sleeves. In the end, I actually created my own way to make sleeves because when I reread the pattern, I wasn't remotely following it. So, out of that mistake, I'm getting design my own baby sweater. 

But in all reality, it's more like a toddler sweater. Maybe a really big baby could fit in it, but it will probably be more suitable for a 1-2 year old. Its relaxed fit, machine washability, loose neck, and soft fabric will be perfect for a messy, adventurous toddler who has more opinions about his clothes than a non-verbal infant would. It could be worn with a t-shirt and toddler jeans (why is anything in a small version instantly so much cuter?) or with khakis and a button-up shirt for a fancy day :) or whenever toddlers have "fancy" days. 

Cafe coffee baby sweater

Yesterday I finally unpacked and organized my yarn. I decided I really wanted to make a top-down raglan baby pullover. I wanted it to have stripes. I only had two yarns that were the same weight, so I decided to take the plunge and stripe beige and gray. As I worked on it today in the library, I was pleasantly surprised about how everything was coming together. I made a mistake with the increasing for the sleeves, so I just redesigned them. Also, for being a fingering weight yarn, this project has gone by very quickly. When I finish it, I'll post an outline of my pattern with a link to the original I based it off of for reference. :)

For whatever reason, this sweater reminds me of quiet afternoons in a cafe drinking coffee. Maybe it's the warmth of the beige from the wood floors and the cool gray of the metal stools. 

The contrast of the beige and gray has made the gray look like a dusty blue. It really shows how color context changes how we perceive the warmth or coolness of a color. Do you have any favorite baby projects or gifts?

gift yarn

Buying Christmas gifts can be hard. What on earth does this person want? What will not be shoved guiltily into a closet to collect dust? What will I probably forget about so that I don't feel bad that my gift was relegated to the closet? 

Buying yarn for knitters is also hard. 

It's like buying lingerie for a friend. Which, in fact, I did receive this year. My lovely roommate introduced me to the world of lace panties this Christmas. 

So for several Christmases, I have received no yarn. Although it's something I will definitely love and use, most of my family has shied away from that gift. 

Until now. 

My grandmother gave me a lovely wrapped box. When I unwrapped it,  the box says "Holiday Bless This Home Tray." I thought I had a new serving tray for the apartment that I'm going to get next July. But when I opened it, I was amazed to see seven gorgeous balls of Willow yarns, which I have not used before. 

And the dreaming begins. What will I make? I have so much of this color-shifting yarn, which, by the way, is machine washable. :) I have four balls of a dusty, desert rose color way and three of a blue, green, purple color way. I'm thinking of a circular vest that spirals outwards. 

Any suggestions? What are the best gifts you gave this year? Do you give your knitting friends yarn or yarn related goodies?

gray cabled hat (finished)

I finished the gray cabled hat about five days after I started it. It is so rewarding to be able to start a project and not have it drag on forever. I loved working with the Quince and Co yarn, which helped keep me motivated.

It turned out beautifully and my friend, Alyssa, loves it. It will help keep her warm over Christmas break in New York. :)

How are your Christmas projects going? Happy Christmas!

the beginning of the gray cabled hat

A few weeks ago, while going through my winter hand knits, my roommate requested a gray hat. I sent her a few different patterns that I found on some lovely knitting blogs. She picked the 3am blue cable hat from Smariek Knits. 

On Black Friday, I went to Warm N' Fuzzy and purchased a light gray skein of Quince and Co. Osprey yarn. It was the best Black Friday ever, going through a yarn shop with very obliging knitters chatting about their Christmas projects. 

Osprey is 170 yards of worsted weight, three-ply 100% American wool. It's a blend of Merino, Roulette, and Columbia wool. It's durable, soft, and squishy. Look at Quince and Co.'s website! It's beautiful! It's like a woodland walk in rows of squishy hand knits and gorgeous trees. All of their yarns are named after different birds. Their thicker yarns are named for bigger birds and their thinner yarns are named for the littlest of songbirds. Among the yarns are Owl, Puffin, and Chickadee. All of their yarns are produced entirely in the United States in a mill in New England. The story of how the company is very sweet and definitely worth reading.

Pictures of the finished hat will follow soon. Happy Knitting! I hope all of your Christmas crafting is going well. Merry Christmas!

Finished In Threes Baby Cardigan

I wove in my ends and sewed the buttons on the In Threes Baby Cardigan that I posted about here and here. The pictures don't do the buttons justice. They are pale mother of pearl buttons, white and pearly pink. 

It can now go in my completed pile of baby sweaters for my aunt. 

Happy Knitting!

Blog Roundup

As my life has been a bit crazy this week with moving from one city to another with the process of packing to go to third city this weekend, and fourth (and final) city next week to move back onto campus for the college semester. Because crafting has not really been happening this week, between packing, visiting the art museum with my lovely sisters, and hanging out at the pool with my aunt and cousins, I wanted to share some of my favorite blogs from around the internet. Some of these blogs I've followed for a while and others I've only just discovered. 

Never Not Knitting is my favorite knitting blog. Her podcasts include her knitting projects for her patterns, her difficulty with traveling to book signings with her six year old and her one year old, and beautiful photographs of her projects. Even though many times she won't release full details because of her knitting is often content from her books, everything is artfully and tastefully done and exciting to watch progress. Her theme song for the podcast is the best! Her botanical knits are stunning. The Oak Grove Fingerless Mitts and the Seedling Beret are some of my favorites. 

Fresh Modesty is a new blog I stumbled upon because of her sewing blog, Working with Eager Hands. She has two e-books about sewing with jean fabric and sewing modest swimwear. Her navy lace dress and her chevron maxi skirt are some of my favorites of her sewing projects.  

Stilettos and Diapers is a another new blog I came across recently because of her maxi skirt tutorial. Her recipes for clean eating and her DIY section are probably my favorite sections, but her fashion posts are cute as well.   

Simple Simon and Company is a great sewing blog written by two moms, liZ and Elizabeth. They sew mostly for their adorable children, write great tutorials, and take gorgeous photos. Some of my favorite tutorials of theirs are the Morton Salt Girl Dress and the Easy Maxi Skirt. They write beautiful posts about the Art of Homemaking. "We would do well to slow down a little, focus on the significant, and truly see the things that matter most." Dieter F. Uchtdorf. 

Sewing in No Man's Land is another one of my favorite sewing blogs. This seamstress is married to a foreign service officer and she blogs about her sewing, kids, DIY projects, and adventures of finding fabric and materials all over the world. She also has great tutorials for sewing for kids. 

Made, another great mom sewing blog, has some of my favorite sewing tutorials and technique instructions. She's also the author of Fabrics A to Z, which is a great resource to understand fabrics and how they will behave in certain projects and how you can use they to show off their strengths.

Go look around for some great crafting, sewing, cooking, and fashion inspiration!

Please comment with your favorite blogs to read (or your own). :)

Happy Thursday. 

Another Trip to the Scrap Exchange

Today was another beautiful cloudy day, perfect for heading over to the Scrap Exchange for another perusal. I collected more of their information and took tons of pictures this time. I spent more time noticing and examining things even if I didn't have any plan to take them home with me. Because who doesn't love an interesting time? 

The woven floral mural outside the front entrance is made with pieces of trash, old markers, and ribbon woven into a chicken wire fence for some great three-dimensional art. 

This hexagon bag is really sweet. It's fully lined and pretty thick, so nothing you carry is going to make it look lumpy. It's made from an old quilt. Aren't the colors beautiful?

A welded metal tulip (art for your house or garden, perhaps). 

Reclaimed clay pottery.

There was a set of china from the area that the Scrap Exchange sells products from local artists that focus on creatively reusing materials. The set of floral china had lawnmowers, 18 wheelers, violins, and telescopes drawn onto them (Reinvented Pottery by Rebecca Newman from Granville County). 

A tower of hand knit and crocheted baby caps (presumably from recycled yarn). 

Welded metal fish with keys, washers, and silverware. 

This was one of my favorite pieces in the artist's section: a scrap quilt. 

This was one of many interesting bins. This blue bin is filled with assorted puzzle pieces. 

There are tunnels between the aisles at a child's height made from old film canisters, plastic boxes, and ancient computers.

Their collection of stamps is great. Lots of selection, most of them are brand new. The stamps on the left were some of my favorites that I thought could be cute for card making. 

The fabric section is quite inspiring. So many possibilities! So much to try! Everything from 75 cent fat quarters, to gorgeous rolls of decorating and knit fabric for only $3/yard. I got two pieces of knit fabrics to make some more maxi skirts. Pictures of those will follow. 

The steamer trunk is filled with large fabric scraps. The trunk even has a name and old address written on a tag on the side (the address is in Pennsylvania). 

 

I am pretty convinced you could build a house almost entirely from material found at the Scrap Exchange. There are windows, mirrors, chandeliers, pieces of wood, strange things seeking new purpose in life, and tiles.

Over an archway leading to the room they use for hosting crafting birthday parties is a group of mannequin legs wearing hand knit leg warmers in all these different stitch patterns.

 Being around other artists and artisans who create and craft from recycled materials is always exciting. It encourages me to look beyond what something is now and think what could this become? I would never have looked at a key and thought, I should weld this to a metal fish. Or looked at antique china and thought I should draw a lawnmower on this.

For your own exciting, creative discoveries, you should stop by the Scrap Exchange. They are constantly getting new donations and changing what is on sale, so everything is always rotating. 

Happy Crafting!