beauty sleep

I am working on preparations for a certain someone's birthday party this weekend. She will be turning four in a week!
We are doing a pretend sleepover party because certainly the little girls are a twee young for a real one.
We have lot of fun times planned for the party and I made these sleep masks for all the girls which we will also play a game with while they are here. The polka dot fabric is backed with the softest organic cotton fleece.

She has been asking for a nightgown for winter and since the only cotton flannel I had was white I went with that. I added the hearts since Valentine's day is around the corner. The pattern for the nightgown is Butterick B4910 and I think I will get a lot of good use out of it. I chose View D.

moss stitch scarf

I knit this scarf as a custom order this past week for a client on Etsy as a gift for her Mom. Although I don't often do custom orders it was nice to work on something outside my usual realm and to make an idea realized for someone. The idea was a blue/green scarf in natural wool with sparkle. We used merino with angelina in those colors and also some grey tone. The sparkle doesn't show up well in the photos but there are little bits of silver throughout.

I found Abi on Etsy who dyed and spun the wool and then sent it to me for knitting. The scarf measures 9" wide and 60" long. It should be arriving to the lucky lady today.

Have a nice weekend.

toys and treats for me

I can't help feeling like a girl in wonderland every time I take a trip to Parcel.
I think if you click on the link you will see why.
Here a few of the things I brought home with me on my last visit. Most of the ribbons and laces from the bow pins were bought there from a few posts ago.

clockwise from left:

wax paper flowers, millinery fruits, vintage wood polish doll, japanese tin bird pins

short row sweater

Short Row Sweater designed by The Purl Bee knit in Blue Sky Alpaca sport weight.
I used color - natural light gray.
The yarn is lovely for the project: soft and full of drape.
I think it's going to require a little more blocking then I did and possibly a little seaming to keep it lying flat in back.
I had a little issue and had to rip out and redo which wound up making it a bit imperfect.
It is a lovely design and I hope to incorporate it into my wardrobe over long sleeved tees soon.

ribbon bow hairpins

I was inspired by Emma Cassi whose work I adore to make some bow hairpins for me and my girl.

They are a bit romantic and Victorian looking and are so sweet worn especially on her.

-Made with silk ribbon, tulle and various lace trims.

They would be wonderful as a little Valentine treat, don't you think?

*I am close to the end on a sweater I am knitting for myself. I am so excited to finish and hope it fits well. i have quite a few knits in progress and a custom order to start once the yarn arrives.

silk bubble skirt

Here is a little skirt I made for S that will be given to her as a birthday present next month - A bubble skirt made with raw silk.
The silk was a present given to me several years ago by friends after a visit to India. I think I may make one for myself. I also have a piece in pretty pale yellow as well.
The material is stiff, crinkly and so beautiful. It really shimmers. I was happy to start putting it to use after all these years. I lined it with muslin.
If you are interested I could do a little tutorial on how I made it. It's pretty simple and looks equally nice in other materials.

Edit: She found the skit and immediately brought it to her room.

surprise balls

I've become enamored with surprise balls and after nosing around on the internet have settled on this cupcake style to use for party favors for Ms. S's birthday next month. I decided to try it out last night and my first time came out okay and now I know the few tweaks I want to change:

* cut the strips thinner to around 3/4 inch
* use the rotary cutter so they are even
* try to keep them tight, round and a little smaller to fit in the cupcake wrapper like the blue one.

pretty basic changes

Now to find cute tiny little things for all the girls that will attend. I used tiny things I found around my studio such as stickers, fake flowers, a bell, pin, tiny ballerina, a mirror locket and a small wood stamp. Tiny candies, sequins, little animals are some other ideas i have. How about you?
I made two testers so I can get opinions from my kids. She tested hers out already and I will have the boy test his when he gets home from school.

I think they are going to be a winner.

Sunki - a pocket dress and leggings

It had been a while since I had sewn any clothes for S and I was itching to get back to my sewing room after a little break over the holidays. I had purchased this pattern in December by Figgy's Patterns called Sunki. I was immediately drawn to it's lines, the pockets and the sleeves. Of course I also really love the Ikat fabric it was made in. How gorgeous is that fabric? That it included a pattern for leggings too was a nice touch.

This was my first time sewing from Figgy's Patterns and I really give it good marks because the instructions were very clear and easy to follow and the design was great. I made the size 4/5.

My goal was to use fabric I had in my stash which I sort of worried about because I wanted it to be a pattern and not a quilting cotton. When I laid out my pattern pieces on this Liberty of London cord I couldn't believe I had enough. You may remember I used the fabric before when I made this dress. I was happy to use it again and also thrilled that I found a knit fabric for the leggings that went with it because the only other knit I had enough of was pink.

Now I have my eye on the Ofelia pattern and the Bubble skirt in the Figgy's line.
A label is included with the pattern which I placed on the leggings for her.

Things I made July- December 2011

Here is a selection of some of what was made between July- December 2011.

Lots of knitting and sewing, some embroidery, paper flowers but most importantly I finished my cathedral window quilt.

Things I made January- June 2011

It is nice to look back on a year and see what was made. Here are a few of my favorite projects from January-June 2011.

The first half of the year I made three quilts, tried reverse appliqué, combined knitting with fabric and made lots of wonderful items to wear.

clove hood

Happy New Year.
Wow, 2012.

Today marks 5 years since I started this blog.
I still really enjoy it and am grateful to all of you who stop by here.

I don't really have any resolutions this year but, I would love to learn a new craft and I hope to take a class or two.

I recently finished my second Peaks Island Hood. Here is my first. This time I used the colorway, clove in Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair.

I think the cold weather is coming. I am sure it is. Today was actually warm enough to walk around without any knits even up on the High Line in NY.

Wishing all of you the best of everything for the year ahead.