Tuesday, August 30, 2011

turn a square




My firstborn baby start Kindergarten one week from today and every year I knit him a new hat. It seems this year that Autumn might come soon as the weather has already started cooling off a bit so it might be getting worn pretty soon.

I chose these two colors a few months ago at my local yarn shop. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight and I always love working with this yarn. The pattern I chose is Brooklyn Tweed's Turn a Square. This pattern is meant for an adult but changing the yarn weight from worsted to sport and the needles to 3.25 and 3.75 mm resulted in a perfect hat for my boy and, he likes it too.

When he finished preschool he asked for a cape. I never showed it to you but I put a video of him riding his Daddy's skateboard wearing it up on flickr the other day. The project was fun and he really likes it. Since he doesn't show any strong interest in superheroes yet I thought a cape with his initial would be just right.
You could see it by clicking here.

-In other news we fared Irene okay - we did lose power but got it back after 20 hours. Unfortunately, our water supply is not right. We had to boil then lost water and now we have it back but is not safe. We also had a lot of water (6") in the basement and are waiting a while to test out our washer/dryer- hopefully they are fine. Mostly we had pulled what we could high enough and finally the water is gone. We had to wait for the power for the sump pump to work.

Friday, August 26, 2011

sencha




This is my new blouse in beautiful peach silk dupioni. The pattern is Sencha by Colette Patterns and it has been on the desk for awhile. I hesitated because I had bought this fabric back in the Spring to be made into a dress for my daughter but I didn't have anything else to try out this pattern with so after giving it some thought I decided it would be nice to use it for me.

The pattern is wonderful as are the directions to make the garment. It was a bit fussy to sew the sleeves and get the middle keyhole to lie flat which only seems to lie flat after pressing but, I think it worked out okay. And, it definitely peaks my interest in trying more Colette Patterns in the future.

The color is so pretty, very flattering and easy to wear with neutrals. I had not considered it for myself and I was surprised by how much I like it.

The buttons up the back are vintage champagne pearl buttons.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

completing the thought



Do you remember the vintage cotton and lace dress that haunted me on vacation? I never told you that I went back and bought it. I just couldn't let it slip by....it spoke to me.Today she is wearing it for the first time and I snuck in a few photos. It's gorgeous isn't it?

One day last week S and I played a game that just came to me and I thought it would be fun to share it. I start a sentence and she finishes it.
I want to fill a journal for both her and M with these sentences because it was so funny to see what she would come up with.

Here is she said that day after the ....


I am...3
I have....blue eyes
My birthday is....February 6
I like....pink flowers
I love...Aunt Sue
I don't like...boys
I like to....fight with boys
I sleep....in the night
I go to....the playground
I eat...broccoli, wrap and macaroni
I love...Lillian
I love...dolls
I play...with dolls
I yell...at Matthew
I throw...a baseball
My favorite book...is Olivia
I like...snacks at Ms. Peri's school
My best friend....is coffee
My best friend...is Gwendolyn
I think it is funny....when you do something funny
I laugh....at Scarlet
I cry when....I cry like a baby
Hello Kitty...blinks her eye
Tea tastes like....hot sugar
Apples taste like...fruit
Clouds are....red
Frogs like...to go in ponds
My best friend is....Mommy


So funny...her best friend is coffee???? And we have never read the book "Olivia" though she has seen the TV show. Thought my favorite might be "tea tastes like hot sugar."


Sunday, August 21, 2011

classic gray sweater




A new baby boy named Zachary was born into our family this summer. My nephew, Andrew had a boy and I really wanted to make something classic for him so I knit this pullover sweater. I have knit this before- for Matthew, Scarlet and also for my nephew, Brandon all in different wools. This time I chose Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn which is 50% alpaca and 50% wool making it nice and warm. I purchased the yarn in Princeton last weekend when we were visiting for the day at a yarn shop called Pins and Needles. I debated about color for a bit but really gray is exactly what I wanted and it will be one of those go to pieces I hope for the baby to wear this Winter.
I plan to post it this week for them.




Speaking of babies.. this tiny newborn bunny rabbit is in our front yard at the moment. I think it got separated from its Mama and It can barely hop. So cute. Oh, and now he/she has just scurried over to the berry bramble. Scarlet is beside herself with joy.





Wednesday, August 17, 2011

blue sashiko sampler



I just completed a new sashiko sampler. I have two more of this exact pattern and am wondering if I could turn it into a table runner. What do you think? Maybe with some batting and backing?

I might wind up sewing them into pillows which is what I always do with them. It would be nice to have or give a matching set of pillows don't you think? Another possibility would be drawstring bags.

I have done several sashiko samplers and I really enjoy working them. If you have never tried sashiko and you like quiet stitching and embroidery it is pretty simple to learn and the patterns are beautiful. White thread on navy cloth is the most traditional. I didn't have any white sashiko thread so I used blue and like the effect of two together.

Monday, August 15, 2011

blue dress





This blue hand knit dress came off the needles over the weekend. The pattern I used is called Big Sister's Dress which also has a little sister version by Tora Froseth.

I used the color Bird's Egg by Quince and Co. in Chickadee which was a nice match for the pattern. It's a simple knit but with the pretty yoke has a nice texture and design element. I added the floral shell buttons as a decorative accent. I knit this in size 4 and it has plenty of growing room which should allow for wear for several years.



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

japanese schoolchildren



I based this dress around the print in the middle which depicts Japanese school children. Prints like these are difficult to incorporate into garments with borders because you are always cutting off part of the image but, I think it looks cute despite this disadvantage

The dress is the Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress and I have made it before. Last year I made it in a linen/cotton blend in a size 2 which Scarlet can still wear so I thought I would go ahead and make it in a bigger size to wear down the road. I cut out a size 4 and when I tried it on it was big so it will fit next summer which I had hoped for.

Yes, this is the back view and It still needs a few tweaks as I made this in a bit of a rush before vacation.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Cape Cod Part 2



There is still so much I could say about Cape Cod but. I think I will just leave you with some photos of some of my favorite places we visited there.





Scargo Pottery - nestled up a long woody path next to a lake this is one pretty place with many beautiful pieces of pottery.




Edward Gorey House
- what can I say.... I love Edward Gorey. The first floor is a museum and there is a scavenger hunt to find A-Z of The Gashlycrumb Tinies. An older beautiful fat white cat roaming around was Scarlet's favorite find at the museum.




The Heritage Museum- Beautiful gardens, an old indoor carousel to ride, a carousel museum, a vintage car museum, a kids exploration and discovery center.




An herb farm we found while driving. Gorgeous natural gardens with very nice gardeners, chickens to feed and all sorts of herbs lining the shelves inside the store.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

pop rocks






I visited Purl Soho in Spring to use a gift certificate I had received for my birthday. That is where I saw a skein of this bright pink yarn.... I know bright pink but, I was really drawn to it. It is a gorgeous soft and lush color by Madelinetosh and a perfect name for the little candies it is named for.

Do you remember Pop Rocks? I have a memory of walking in the summertime with my friend Christine and and maybe another girl and wondering if we should drink our coke and pop rocks together...will we die like Mikey? Ha Ha!

I knit this in size 18-24 months but planned for it to be bigger though I didn't expect it to be quite as big as it is. I think it will have to sit through this coming winter until the winter of 2012 before Ms. S can wear it.
The pattern is Korrigan and those cables are really beautiful designed. More details on my Ravelry page.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Cape Cod Part 1


Some photos of the vacation home we stayed at for a week.

So you may have guessed that the house the children are playing in front of from a few posts back was the house we stayed in. I blogged a few times from there and it was the first time I've done it away from home. I used blogsy. A few quirks with the photos getting cut off but otherwise it worked out okay.

The white house is what the children called our vacation rental ( so grand! ) and the house is situated in Orleans. We were a little more then 3/4 of a mile from the bay. I know this because it was my jogging route that I did almost every day. I would run to the bay and back. I don't run outside normally so I didn't go quite as far as I do on the treadmill in the air conditioned gym. Though different from what I am used to it was nice to run along a pretty street and one day I was joined by a tiny yellow bird flying alongside me.

The bay is where we hung out a lot because it is such a great beach for kids and warmer then the ocean. When the tide moves out there is a huge stretch of wet sand and pools of water to play in and you can walk a long way out before getting to the water. In these pools of water are fish and crabs for the kids to catch (and let go) in their nets and Matty even caught a eel one day. The wet sand makes a perfect place to build castles and moats and molded sea animals.

The home was a old home (not sure what year it was built) and it had an addition. We had plenty of room to stretch out and a great outdoor space to play around in.