A Very Warm Hat

  I wanted to get a little experience with stranded knitting to build up my confidence. I'm not a brave knitter, I take forever to get round to trying a new skill. This hat was for my sister Mrs B. Her birthday was back in March. One day when we were out together over Christmas, she mentioned that the last hat I made for her wasn't warm enough. I decided she needed an nice, bulky, warm, hat. The pattern I used is called Chance of Flurries and is free. I knit it up with Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky in white, and Mirasol Yarn Sulka in raspberry. Alpaca is supposed to be even warmer than sheep wool and less itchy. I bought myself some pom pom makers, because this hat needed a big pom pom! I've not had much luck making pom poms before, so it was totally worth the purchase. I got my little Miss I. to model the hat, and then sent it off to England. She was having a funny five minutes while I took the photos, so they make me giggle a little.

For the love of Harry Potter

 While back in England over Christmas, we took a trip to the Harry Potter Studios, just north of London. This is something I had been really looking forward to. I love Harry Potter, and in my dream world, I would have a career making costumes for theater and film. I really enjoyed all of the studio tour, but especially seeing the costumes and talking to one of the staff about inspiration behind Luna Lovegood's costumes.

Hufflepuff Uniforms

Slytherin Uniforms

Hermione's and Krum's Yule Ball Costumes

Some of Luna's costumes.

 I came home determined to make house scarfs for my two oldest birthdays. I've been meaning to make them for ages, but always put them off for some other project. So here are my Slytherin and my Ravenclaw. The pattern is from Charmed Knits. Now I just need a Hufflepuff scarf, and my youngest needs a Gryffindor. My other half is a muggle, or just doesn't wear scarfs.

Haircut Cowl

  I got 10 inches cut off my hair back in January. My neck felt kind of cold after that. I know, I should have probably waited for warmer weather, but I was inspired by two of my sisters and a niece who gave their hair for cancer victims. I was kind of sick of my hair anyway, and so I went for it.

I bought the yarn for this cowl back in April of 2013, so it was time for it to get made. The pattern is called 'A Very Braidy Cowl' and is available as a free Ravelry download. I made one for one of my sisters a few years ago.

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The yarn I used is Debbie Bliss Cash Merino Aran in Mustard. I ordered it online from Webbs. It is nice, soft, and warm.

I think my little Miss M. is planning on borrowing it when she can.

I'll be back with more to share soon.

Shrunken 'Garden Trellis Mitts'.

 I'm calling these shrunken because I had been gifted one fifty gram skein of Classic Alpaca yarn. I wanted to use it for this pattern. I knit one and a half mittens following the pattern before it became obvious I did not have enough yarn to complete the pair. So I frogged them both and began again.

 I knit one less row of ribbing at the beginning. I then knit four pattern repeats instead of five. I knit only five rounds of ribbing for the cuff. This left me with enough yarn to complete two mitts. all was well in my world.

 I gave these to my sister, Miss C, along with her Jolly Robins, for Christmas. I forgot (or just didn't have enough time) to take any pictures of them. She very kindly took pictures of them for me. She knows how I like to document my hand made things. Looking at the pictures, I realize I really should have blocked them, but with all that frogging and re-knitting, there wasn't the time. Hand made Christmas can be a crazy life to live.

Your Personal Penguin

 Did you ever read any of Sandra Boynton's books? I have to say I'm rather fond of them. I decided my youngest sister's two little boys need their own personal penguins for Christmas.

 I found this free pattern for 'Cheerful Holiday Penguins" here. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn and size US3 needles. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease, which is aran weight, and size US5 needles. So obviously they turned our a little bigger the original penguin. As with the Owl Ornaments I made, I felt like these little guys needed some feet. I knitted some i-cord and shaped them into feet. I just used yarn for the beaks and eyes, because my two little nephews are still very young, I didn't want them to choke on buttons or beads.

I love them!

Starry Night Mitts

 My Mum requested a pair of long, black, sparkly, fingerless, mittens for Christmas. I wanted to just use this pattern. I had made them for her before in pink and white stripes, but I didn't want to buy yarn online if I could help it. My local yarn shop did not have the right kid of yarn, but it did have some 'Berroco Flicker', which is mostly alpaca, with a silver sparkle throughout.

 I started out following this pattern, but the yarn just wasn't right, so after knitting one mitten, I frogged it. I went up from size US4, to size US6 needles. I decided to knit them quite a bit longer. I didn't like the thumbs, so I did increases instead. I didn't bother with the folded cuff either.

The yarn is super soft and warm, and the mitts are nice and snug, and look great. Mum has informed she has received compliments on them. So despite the problems I had, I'm very happy with them.

Oh Christmas Tree

 I went home to England for Christmas this year. It had been 15 years since my last Christmas in England, so it it was some what exciting. I spent many weeks in the run up to departure knitting my heart out. I wanted give hand made presents to my family. Today I'm sharing with you the tree ornaments I made.

There were six owls, three white and three grey, for my sister Mrs M. The pattern is called 'Seamus the Owl' and is available for free from here. I added feet, because I thought the would be comically cute. They are knit up in Lion Brand wool-ease, as are all the ornaments I knit.

 There were four more 'Jolly Robins' to make it six for Miss C.

These mini mittens were for my sister, Mrs. B. I made six pairs of them, each pair was slightly different. You can get the 'Mitten Ornament' pattern for free from here. I think the possibilities for variations with these are endless. They are so cute, and remind me of a old movie called Mr. Krueger's Christmas.

I plan on making a couple of each of these for my own tree eventually. I love how they all looked together on the tree.

Little Miss M's Blue Bird Skirt

 I'm back with more bad photo's of things I've been making! This time a sewing project. I was going to make a dress, but I decided a skirt would be quicker and easier. I may not have been right about that.

This skirt is for my middle child. Blue is her current favourite colour, and this fabric was in my stash.

It's a McCalls pattern, but i can't find a link to it. I had to add elastic to the waist band since like all my kids, Miss M is a skinny little thing. She's happy, I'm happy. All is right with the world.

I'll be back with all the things I knit for Christmas presents soon.

Go, Go, Garther Yoke Cardi

 I really don't have the skills or the camera to take good photo's, so I apologize. It's always hard to photograph black as well. I think this cardi looked way better in real life.

 The pattern is called Garter Yoke Cardi and is available for purchase from Vogue Knitting. It's a pretty popular pattern, so if you are on Ravelry, I suggest you check out what other people have done with it.

 I made it for my sister, Mrs W. She turned the big 30 so I wanted to make something she would really love, and get a lot of use out of. She wanted it in a neutral colour. I knit it up in Cascade 220 yarn, which is 100% wool. Hopefully it won't end up accidentally in the washing machine, because it will felt. Of course if it does, she could always turn it into a really warm pair of slippers, she has great sewing skills!

 I made the sleeves full length for her. She had mentioned that she finds it hard to get sleeves long enough for her super long arms. I wanted to add a little interest with the stripy buttons and the tape measure button band.

 It's hard to get sizing right when knitting for someone else, especially when they live 4000 miles away! I find it hard getting the sizing right for me, so I'll just keep practicing. I'll be back with more finished projects soon. Happy New Year!

Hand Made Halloween 2014

 I spent a lot of time putting together my families Halloween costumes this year. It was really fun. I do love it when it all works out.

 My other half  and I are Hiccup and Astrid from 'How To Train Your Dragon'. Admittedly, neither of us have the hair for these characters, but it is fun anyway. The fake fur for the vest/waistcoat and boots, was a mess, and making shoulder armor for me was tricky. I am really happy with how my Fimo scull buttons turned out.

 Little Miss I is Batgirl. I saw this image on Facebook a while ago, and knew immediately that I wanted to recreate this outfit for my youngest. I found the perfect jacket at a thrift store and painted the bat on it. Also I painted an old pair of boots yellow. I had to sew a hat, cape, and utility belt. I probably spent the most time on this costume, and I think it's my favorite. I love doing something a bit different.

 Little Miss M wanted to be a Sheriff/Cowgirl. All I had to make was her vest/waistcoat. I found the hat and shirt at a thrift store, and someone gave us the boots.

 My oldest was 'Steve' from the game 'Minecraft'. This involved cutting up and taping boxes to the right size, and a lot of painting. The head took almost three hours. it's not the most comfortable costume, but he loves it. His 'diamond' sword is bought. I got sick of cutting and painting in the end and saw this on sale at Walmart.
 They had a great time at my in-laws Halloween Party, and we've been the the 'Trunk or Treat' at Church already. Tomorrow is time for the real thing.
 I've moved on to the beginnings of making Christmas presents. I should have a couple more things to share soon though.

Yellowstone Mittens

  Three pairs of mittens, for my three little monkeys. We went camping in Yellowstone for Labor Day Weekend. Something my husband I liked to do before we had children, and we lived over this way. I remembered how cold it got at night, so I decided wool mittens were in order.

The pattern was a free one that you can find here. I wasn't crazy about the way it was written, but it has lot's of sizes. I love the longer cuffs, and overall I think they are great mittens. I used Ella Rae Classic Print for the girls and Ella Rae Extrafine Heathers for the boy. I knit his on the drive there, which was great, because it made it go by fast.

Sadly we got rained out of Yellowstone. We made it through one night, but we were very wet. We will just have to go back next year, because it's such an amazing place.

Herbology Socks

 Last year I bought myself 'The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits' magazine from Interweave. This is the first of the projects from it I have completed. It won't be the last! I love all things Harry Potter, and the knits in this magazine are beautiful.

These socks were designed by Rachel Coopey. You can read her blog here. Her sock designs are amazing! There are two more of her sock patterns in the magazine that I will be trying out in the future. These are the 'Herbology Socks'. They have tiny, little, cables and lace. On the first sock I messed up a few of the cables and didn't realize until I was quite far along. At which point, I decided not to fix the mistakes. The second sock appears to be perfect, but don't look too close. The yarn I used came from a yarn swap, but didn't have a label. I believe it is 'Knit Picks Imagination', that has sadly been discontinued. I used this yarn for my 'Hermione's Everyday Socks', and I really like it.

 I love how they turned out. I'm sure they will get a lot of wear this winter. I've got a couple of other finished projects to share with you soon, I just haven't photographed them yet. See you soon.

Mr. and Mrs.

 Exactly seven days before before my sister, Miss C's birthday, I realized it was exactly seven days until her birthday! Not really the best thing to happen, especially when we live on the other side of the world from each other. Last minute gifts are extremely hard to do. I'll blame it on moving and summer busyness. Luckily I had bought the pattern and yarn for these cute Jolly Robins months ago, with the intention of making a few for her.

 I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn and size US 5 needles. The red breasted robing I knit flat and then I had to seam. I'm not very experienced with knitting intarsia, so even when it's simple, it scares me a little. I don't really love seaming, so my second robin I knit in the round and skipped the red breast. Female robins are plain brown in the real world, so she's the other half of this couple. I decided to add a little bit over-stitching when she was done though, I felt she was missing something without it.

 I packed them off to England  five days before my sisters birthday, and you know, they were only three days late. Not at all bad considering the times I've sent things more than two weeks before they need to get there, and then they still get there late! She says she loves them, but she needs more, so I'm going back to work.

Fernando

 My youngest sister recently had her second baby. My name suggestion was Fernando (we are Abba fans in my family). When she didn't go with it, I decided I needed to name the bear I made for him Fernando.

The pattern is called 'Flat Ted' and is by Zoe Mellor. It's in her book 'Knitted Toys: 25 Fresh and Fabulous Designs'. I love the look of her toys. It's just a shame she wants you to knit everything flat. I knitted as much of this bear possible in the round, so I would have less finishing to do.

 I was gifted some yarn that was just meant to become a bear. It's Rowan British Sheep Breed Fine Boucle.

It was a little tricky to knit with, but looks so good. I had a hard time making his face as well. Something I need to practice. I love how this rather large bear turned out.

Hopefully he will enjoy and long and happy life with my new nephew.