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Rainbow Woollies
I’ll keep this short today (don’t I always?) because I’ve got a nasty stomach bug and my brain is on vacation from the lack of sleep. Taking care of a toddler, being pregnant, and having a stomach bug all at once is not my idea of fun.
These rainbow soakers make me smile even if I’m having kind of a crummy day. I can’t resist anything rainbow, especially when it comes in a wee little baby size. I have yet to lanolize them but once I do I’ll be using them (along with the several others I’ve made over the years) as a diaper cover for the belly baby. I love the way that wool covers breathe, keep my baby warm, and look super cute all at once. If you want pattern details, please visit my Ravelry page!
Everyone nests and prepares for baby in different ways. While I’ve gotten out all our newborn clothes and diapers and started furnishing the crib with fresh sheets, knitting is my favorite way to prepare. I’m constantly amazed at how tiny babies are and how small their clothes are. They take such a small bit of yarn and time but I hope that the love I put into each project makes this baby feel calm and loved in her mama-made clothes.
Happy crafting!
My Nanook
This post has been a long time coming. Two years ago when I had my daughter and spent many wee hours of breastfeeding reading through the Archives over at SouleMama, I came across this beautiful sweater. I knew I had to make one and wasted no time in ordering some yarn from Knit Picks. At the time I didn’t really know what characteristics made up a quality garment yarn so I ordered some Wool of the Andes, Knit Picks’ workhorse wool yarn. I fudged my measurements because I was barely postpartum with my daughter, didn’t do a gauge swatch, then proceeded to spend almost two years knitting this pattern. After spending six months on the lace collar I knew the yarn was going to be too itchy to be the cuddly sweater I was yearning for, but I just couldn’t give up.
After two baths (one in lanolin and the other in hair conditioner) the sweater is wearably soft but still just itchy enough to make it a small relief to take off at the end of the day. I did take a nap in it the other day but I’m very pregnant and have a toddler so there was a healthy dose of exhaustion in that mix. Either way, I love the color, the fit is snug but functional, and the pattern is lovely. It also has the bonus of being incredibly warm and the perfect layering sweater in this very cold autumn we’re having in Germany.
So, first sweater? Check! Onto something else!
Happy crafting.
Skyrim Helmet Hat
Not to be left out, my husband also requested a horned-hat (see unicorn here and dragon here). This one is inspired by the Iron Helmet from Skyrim. I took plenty of liberties with the design but I think the overall effect comes across. Mr. Pickle is wholly pleased with it so I call it a success. Now we just need to scout out a medieval market or Halloween party to wear these funky hats to!
Notes on construction: I freehanded it once again and used Lion Brand Hometown USA for the gray (just barely 2 skeins) and Red Heart Super Saver held double for the horns. Some of the accessories are sewn on using sewing thread, which is new for me but I think it looks a little cleaner than sewing with yarn in some situations. The eye piece can be tucked up into the hat to make it easier for the wearer to see.
This costume-hat-making is so much fun I hardly want to stop! But there’s an impatient baby in my belly who will be making her appearance before long and demands some new, cushy hand-knits when she does. Maybe if the toddler takes a nap today I’ll snap some pictures of those WIPs to share with you all.
Happy Crafting!
Unicorn Hat
Selfies, selfies, and more selfies… because what else would a unicorn do? I was selling at the craft fair this weekend and was so excited when I saw tons of wild crochet costume hats parading through the fair. I just
couldn’t resist going home and making one for myself. The yarn was all from my stash and I came up with the pattern as I went (sorry, didn’t write it down). It took some convincing to get me to take it off last night, but I’m pretty sure my toddler approves because she’s been bringing it to me all morning and demanding that “Mama hat. HAT”. Don’t worry, I’m hard at work on a hat for her today. See you soon!
Happy crafting.
Swing Thing for Little Miss Thing
Hot off the needles is a new sweater for my little girl. There’s a chill in the air that is best kept at bay by handknits, especially mama-made handknits. The main color is a beautiful mystery yarn dyed by my talented mother-in-law and the contrasting purple is Shine worsted by Knit Picks in the color Crocus (I think). Pattern is Swing Thing with a few modifications. I cut out the first section of garter so the neck would be more open and probably did a few more things that I forgot to write down. I’m terrible at record-keeping when it comes to knitting!
I love how it gives the Peppa-Pig-pajamas-inspired-outfit a little bit of a boost in the fashion department. Have I mentioned that my toddler is dressing herself? And that she will only wear two tops, both of them Peppa Pig tops? We’re all about freedom of expression and whacky outfits in this house, but I’m not doing pink laundry every two days so she can wear Peppa nonstop. Luckily this sweater was a hit and she hasn’t seemed to notice that Peppa is not on the front. Whew.
In other news, my husband and I celebrated our fourth anniversary yesterday. And by celebrated, I mean we saw each other for about an hour before bed. But that was enough and it was lovely. Today we’re hoping to go do something fun and silly like bowling if the toddler allows. I’ll leave you with my little love note to him because we’re sappy like that.
To K: A year ago, on our last anniversary, I bought this yarn for socks. I also bought a skein for myself. As you can see, only one sock is finished. It’s orange (because you’re fun, fashionable, brave, and appreciate a good yarn sale), they’ve been pulled off the needles many times by our toddler (because she is), and it’s knit with so much love and so many memories. I took this knitting with me when you had surgery and on so many car trips around Europe. It has certainly been the year of wool for me. In another time of our lives all four of the socks would be finished like they should have been today (or yesterday, but who’s counting?). But this is the time that we are in and all the things that have kept me from finishing the socks are all the things I’ve loved and experienced with you and our growing (crazy) family all year. Here’s to four years of weirdness and passion and to many more. I love you.
Happy Crafting!
Summer Cleaning and Crafts
The last several weeks have been an interesting balance of good and bad news for me. If it’s all right with you, I’d much rather focus on the good news in this space. On that front, I passed my exam, received my certificate, and I’m now a Certified Lactation Counselor! This is a goal I’ve been working towards for over a year now and I feel so proud and grateful to be able to provide a service to women in my community in this way, now with the certification and new knowledge to back it up. For the first time since my graduation from college I feel a real sense of accomplishment and professional worth. It’s nice.
Another good thing is that my husband and I have been working tirelessly at de-cluttering the house and so far we’ve accumulated 7 garbage sacks full of old clothes and items we no longer need! That’s a huge amount of space in our home that is now clutter-free. We plan to drive these up to the thrift shop next week (hopefully after I manage to add a few more bags!). We’ve also acquired a bit of new-to-us vintage furniture for our parlor area and it’s starting to look a bit less like a dorm room and more like an adult residence, albeit the residence of a family of nerds.
While the new fetus continues to gestate, we’ve been working on enjoying family quality time as well as some very important solitary quality time in an effort to bring balance and harmony to our lives. With my solitary time I’ve tried to focus on reading (Momma Zen is bringing me much needed peace) and making. While knitting is still causing me some nausea and can only accomplish it in small intervals, sewing has started to occupy more of my time. I organized three overflowing bins of fabric and turned them into three organized bins. I tidied up my craft room enough that I actually enjoy going in there and sitting at my machine. My skills with the sewing machine are slowly improving and the things I’m making now look better and last longer than the things I’ve made in the past, so that’s something to feel good about. The travel art folder pictured above is for a friend’s son and I’m hoping to make one for my daughter the next time life allows.
Today I worked on some slow stitching and embroidery while listening to the Woolful Podcast. Dandelions are some of my new favorite flowers after reading about their fascinating root systems in this month’s issue of Taproot Magazine. It really got me thinking about what weeds are and what they signify in our gardens. If I didn’t have a swarming, underground nest of yellow jackets wreaking havoc in my garden right now I would go out and see how many dandelions I could bring in for my crafting pleasure…but more about that next time.
Happy making!
I’m back!
You read right, there will be a new baby to knit for next year! Just as I was excitedly picking out little sweater patterns (I bought this one) a cruel twist of fate caused my morning sickness to come in the form of an extreme aversion to yarn. What in the holy heck is up with that? Up until yesterday I didn’t want to smell, see, or touch yarn of any kind. I have never heard of anything so odd or stupid. The overflowing baskets of wool that adorned every flat surface of my living room were hastily stashed in the farthest corners of my craft room and my many shawls were taken down from their hooks and folded neatly into the back of the closet. Instagram wasn’t checked, woolly podcasts were avoided, and the only exposure to yarn that I could stomach was reading the Yarn Harlot’s blog. I could barely think about knitting without experiencing a wave of nausea.
In a way, maybe that break was a good thing. I can sometimes get a little obsessive about things *ahem* and wool was sort of taking over the house…and my life. Creative outlets are a necessity for me and now that I’m a parent, they’ve become an even bigger key to my happiness…but creative outlets shouldn’t cause stress. I was starting to feel stressed that I had so many projects on the go, stressed I wouldn’t finish them before G outgrew them, stressed about getting a new blog post up, and stressed that this blog wasn’t good enough. Things like exercise, cooking, drawing, and reading were taking a back seat to my yarn addiction and that wasn’t making me happy. Over the past month I’ve been simplifying my life and my surroundings, and re-focusing on what is important to me. So far I love where it’s taking me.
Enjoy your day!
Wool in Amsterdam
My family and I went on a rather exciting trip last weekend up to The Netherlands. We saw the biggest tulips I’ve ever laid eyes on – many were taller than my toddler with blooms bigger than my hand! – a chilly North Sea beach, and more cyclists in one place than I could have imagined. Our trip was full of interesting sights like this Michael Jackson statue at a McDonald’s in Best and a good deal of yarn bombing. 
Everything we saw was exciting, new, and memorable…especially on our trip to the yarn shop, Stephen + Penelope. First, let me advise you strongly against driving a car through Amsterdam. It’s a bad idea. Oh, was that obvious to you? Well silly us thought we would save some of our precious time (we only had a little more than a day to see Holland) by driving into the city instead of taking the train for a little obligatory wool shopping. Time-saving was not what went down. Not only did it cost us 10 Euro to park for two hours, but we very nearly ended up at the bottom of a canal in a borrowed station wagon! Parallel parking a long car on a canal without a guardrail is mildly terrifying and I wasn’t even the one driving. Eek! 
Once we parked it was time to meander through the picturesque bicycle-covered streets in search of Penelope Craft Shop. I may have squealed when I saw it. Sorry, not sorry. Even though the legendary Stephen West of West Knits wasn’t there (he was in Germany! Ach, such luck that we would swap countries for the weekend) the shop was just wonderful. I got to see my first Madelinetosh in person (it’s exquisite and vibrant and gorgeous) and meet the lovely lady behind A Pin A Day. Overall I was just happy to poke around in oh-so-much yarn and goodies. 
So what came home with me? I tried to be good but a few luxury skeins happened to hop into my basket. A skein of Madelinetosh, a skein of Malabrigo, four skeins of Icelandic Lett Lopi, some Wrapture wool wash, and two little patterns. Oh, and a shop bag! That one was suggested by Mr. Pickle who thought I had so many projects that another bag couldn’t hurt. I love that man. Not many men I know would drive to Amsterdam, parallel park on a canal, and spend their only hour in the city at a yarn shop. That is love. 
I can’t wait to show you what becomes of all these woolly goodies, but for now I have a pair of wool soakers with a deadline, and they’re not going to knit themselves. Happy making!
Wool Pickle 