loom knittin

When I was little I used to spool knit like crazy. 

Now, I want to venture into... LOOM KNITTING!

I'm not really sure how it works, but I've seen several neat patterns. A trip to Stitches and Scones may be in order... though a trip to the yarn store is always in order. However, I can't buy any more yarn. I cannot, and I shall not! Hold me to it!

Things I Want to Make

Sewing: 

Laundry bag (with appropriately sized pouches for detergent bottle and quarters)

Dish cloths and hankerchiefs

Scarf holder

stuffed turtle

A quilt! (someday)

more to come

Renate in her dress!

It fit her really well, and she wore it today until she pooped on the onesie she had on under it. Silly baby.

some dolls and a hat

I was cruising the Purl Bee website (one of my favorite knitting/sewing blogs) and they posted this little gem: 

www.purlbee.com/hand-sewn-felt-dolls

And the site of the woman who makes them:

www.mimikirchner.com/blog

I really want to make some for my nieces!

Some of the dolls border on the creepy, but that's kind of my thing. And I could knit little outfits for them! :D

Speaking of knitting, here is the hat I knitted for my still-in-utero niece, Olivia Jane:

It's just a basic flat-knit baby hat with a seed stitch brim (no pattern) in a really soft acrylic (possibly an acrylic/wool blend?) from my stash. I embroidered her initials (and her nickname, OJ) with a bit of stash wool. 

Next up: A little hat for her that looks like a little orange on her head, to go with her nickname. My other niece, Renate, has an apple hat. I've also thought about doing an olive hat for OJ, but that would be less cute. I suppose I should make one for my nephew, too... what fruit should I make?

Renate's dress

Finally finished, seamed, and blocked Renate's dress!

sorry for the crappy photo quality--sometimes for just one picture, photobooth has to suffice.

The colors are super wonky in this photo-the blue is actually a bright, almost greenish teal, and the purple is a bright royal purple. 

I made it in the 6th month size so it will probably be big for her when she comes home for Easter, but hopefully she can wear it pretty soon.

Pattern is from www.knitty.com/issuespring09/patttopaz.php

The suggested yarn is a really nice, flowing-colored wool (Malabrigo) which I think I will use when I make this dress for my other niece who is due very soon, Olivia Jane.

This may be difficult to believe, but I took something of a knitting hiatus for a few weeks. (I ventured into sewing, however, so my hands were still busy [and getting pricked to bits, I tell you what]).

Anyway, this is my foray back into knitting: Knitty's Topaz baby dress, for my 3 month old niece, Renate! Patt is here: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring09/PATTtopaz.php

This is Renate and I.

This is the back of the dress, unblocked, so I had to use some props to keep it from curling. I have the front done to just past the colorwork section. I'm using cascade 220 in a bright teal and dark purple--this photo doesn't really show the true colors. The pattern suggests malabrigo, a single ply semisolid yarn, and I can see why: it would be really beautiful with flowing colors.

Renate's dress matches Kara's birthday hat! (pattern: Lee Meredith's Vortex from Knitty)

Random shot of my little corner under my loft: knitting baskets, yoga mat, gatorade, camera bag. favorite things!

The view out my dorm room window on a springy day.

enjoy the beautiful weather!

Spring break sewing

So, I fail at blogging again. I guess I just don't know how to get started--how do I get people to read my blog? I guess not posting is not a good way to start.

So, recent crafting:

I made a skirt from a sweatshirt using an XXL ball state sweatshirt and with help from leethal's tutorial: http://leethal.coloredlights.net/zine/?p=106

My mom thinks it looks funny and I shouldn't wear it in public, but I like it. A good lazy day at the dorm skirt.

I went to goodwill and bought (among other things, I'll save that for another post) a set of twin sheets, and loosely followed this tutorial: http://www.lisaclarke.net/2008/04/14/i-like-my-skirts-fast-and-cheap-a-tutorial/ to make a very swingy skirt. Like the url suggests, it was cheap, but for me, not fast: it was really my first garment-sewing experiment, save the snip and stitch skirt above, and I had a mishap with the elastic- it got stuck in the hem casing and I could not get it out, and didn't want to rip out the stitches. Luckily, my mom brought home a pair of forceps from work and I fished it out. Crisis averted.