Leftover Mittens

Took me one evening to knit these, the hardest job was to weave in the ends.

The pattern is from here, 

Happy little girl with her new mittens, was so excited to go to kindergarten that she did not have time to pose. 

I knitted the 1 year old size, and had several different yarn leftovers, most of it was though Sandnes smart yarn, the black might though be from Europris.   Only dissapointment was that they hardly used any of my leftover yarns.  I will need to knit more mittens for her, that will also not go with any of her winterclothes. But as I expect them to get lost/ruined this winter I really don´t care. I will make some cute ones to keep at home at some point. 

Project 11 - Orange butterfly

The sweater is a little big, but I decided to let her start use it.  There is nothing sweeter than knitting for someone who adores everything you knit, and refuses to take it off. 

Note to self:

-  4mm needles,
- cast on 120 stitches, knitted 3, purled 2 for 9 rounds.  Then I knitted 24 cm.
- Sleeves: cast on 35 stitches (knitted 3, purled 2 for 9 rounds).  Then I started to increase every 8th row 2 stitches  (one in the beginning of the row, one in the end of the row) until I had 41 stitches (3 times in total).
- do not decrease evenly with this yarn, as it shows,  use raglan decrease or some other organised method
- yarn: Debbie bliss rialto dk - burnt orange
- butterflies might be a big bigger (purled stitches)

Some inspiration.. while a sweater is drying on my bathroom floor

It´s just over midnight and I just finished a sweater for my girl ...    In the most lovely colour (burnt orange - debbie bliss rialto dk yarn)

I have never used this yarn before, and it was lovely.  I imagined that it would grow similar to the Icelandic wool (léttlopi)  but I was wrong and the sizing was a bit off it is therefore way to big for my 2 year old after wash.  So either I wait for 1-2 years until she can wear it or give it to someone that fits in it.

I found some great knitting inspiration on http://shop.nordstrom.com/  

cardigan can be found here

 boyfriend cardigan can be found here

Floral Cardigan can be found here

Confessions of a Copy´cat

I know that I often get inspired by what I see online, in stores on the street. 

I must have seen this at some point... before I knitted the mushroom sweater, not sure though as it was made before I started blogging. 

http://davadottir.blogspot.com/2012/01/nu-som-londonboer.html

And here I was thinking that I had somewhat of an original idea to use the mushrooms from another pattern to make this sweater... well  it turns out that it was something that had been done before...  Rannvá got the same idea, or I got the idea from her.

Well you must at least check out the blog  http://davadottir.blogspot.com , love her knitting.   She just made a  post  with all the lovely things she has made in 2012, and then I saw the pink/brown mushroom sweater. 

Marching elephants

I did not buy another skein of purple, instead I tried again with the same yarn to make another hat with more yellow incorperated.   Not sure how I feel about but the recepient couldn´t be more happier, specially after she requested a monkey hat for her teddy (well sheep to be correct).  I did not comply with the monkey hat request but I did make an elephant hat for the sheep as well, which she loves.

The hat is a bit bigger after wash and much more even.....  I photographed it before wash as it is often not easy to get this toddler to stand still enough to get pictures, but this time around she was so happy with her new elephant-hat that she obliged my request to pose for pictures.  The poses didn´t last for long so the pictures are not so great.

The pattern is the strawberry hat pattern.. originally swedish?  I think that garnstudio.com has a similar pattern and I have seen several patterns around.  And the pattern chart is marching elephants that I found here.  She has already one hat in a similar pattern, the strawberry hat and I love it. as it stays on her head.. covers her ears well , does not go in her eyes but it is getting to small and she needs some hats for this winter.

I´m considering making more hats for her in different colours, and one a little bit bigger as this just fits now. Maybe considering cars as a motive as she loves cars.

I will be finishing the sweater that I started in the girl colours ;)


*Update (mostly for me so that I can replicate it at a later point):  I used Sandnes Smart  yarn, and needles 3,5, casted on 72 stitches, knitted straight until the desired length.  Decreases " knit 6, knit 2 together" repeate through out the round,  knit one round,  "knit 5, knit 2 togheter"  and etc... (always decrease every other round and always at the same place that is one fewer stitches between the decreases). Then when a few stitches are left knit the desired length of the tip.

Boobie Beehive

I made this very ugly beanie this afternoon.... intended for my 2 year old, who absolutely loves it and wanted to go to bed with it on her head.... 

Frankly it looks just like a boob (the dot at the top is a nail... I did not add purple there)!!!    I was using leftover yarn and ran out... so instead of waiting patiently until the store opens tomorrow and try to get another skein in this colour or to just stop at that point and use the yarn for something else..  I did what any impatient knitter would do, I tried to save it by another colour...!!!!  I never learn...

If you want to see how I intended it to look... you can look here ... it is actually lovely

The intention with this hat was to get my knitting mojo back, by making something simple and quickly knitted.

I´m not sure if it is worth another skein of purple to finish the beanie... but as my daughter already loves it, I can´t but help feeling that I need to finish it minus the nipple and let her use it.  

In other news, I have finished one leg and started on the other for the jumpsuit.

Knitting projects that I have started...

I started on this some months ago, no pattern just all from my head and with leftover yarn.  Was planned as a  gift for a friend of mine, who had a baby in april.  But I never finished it, and it is now to small for her baby.

Then I bought white babyalpacasilk from Drops, and planned to make this jumpsuit in all white

Then I had the case of morning sickness/general tiredness during all hours of the day, so no knitting took place for some months.  

But I plan to start on the white jumpsuit soon, I just need to borrow the right size of needles from my mom. 

If I´m expecting a girl I will  finish the started cardigan, but not sure if it will get on top of my priority list if it will be a boy.  I will find out in 11 days time. 

Good-will hunting

I went to the local Good Will this week.....   with all the other crazy people that arrive when the store opens at noon to check out all the "new" stuff.   It was a bit to much for me all these people I like more arriving in the afternoon and to be able to leisurely walk the isles with out any one asking you if you are going to buy the thing you currently hold (and deep down I hate touching things at good will... I at least need to clean my hands afterwards).

I didn´t come home empty handed.....   this beauty came with me

After some spray paint, that I had at home since a spray job I did last summer for a shelf in my girls room.

Trying out some different locations... next to the books?

 Or next to the dresser from good will that I painted...

The doll duvet... with the yellow side up.... was not sold on the yellow with this colour... it is not pink.. it is called peach so it is supposed to be more orange... but I must admit it looks rather pink..

I was planning to sew something in this brown fabric (also used in the banner I showed you here)... but I´m loving the green fabric but I don´t have any more left of that...

I do also have this Ikea fabric at home, that I bought over a year ago..

I was planning to make a beanie bag for my girl to sit on.. but I´m not sure I will ever get around to it as I find it hazzle to find filling for it... and yes I´m lazy and I don´t know where to buy it (enough excuses?)..

I have started on some knitting.... and I´m about to start on another....  Will show you on Monday what I have started on as my girl has her 2´ birthday tomorrow and we have planned a little trip to a petting zoo with her.  As there is national holiday on Monday and official travel/party weekend here in Iceland this weekend we are not attempting to hold a party for her this weekend we will do it at a later date.  She will hate the timing of her birthday for the first years... but I think she will clearly start to enjoy it around 20 when we will let her go to the festivals (am I maybe to optimistic to be able to keep her at home until 20??). But I can´t wait to give her the gifts from us.. and I bought strawberries and blueberries which are her favorites and I will make healthy waffles for breakfast , another favorite of hers.  

Paint job

My brother came this morning and played with my daughter so I had some extra time on my hands....

So this:

Ended up like this:

I got the paint from my cousin, she painted a chair for a nursery and I got the left over paint... lucky me.  I had already painted a small birdhouse intended for my daughters room but ended up in my living room.  And recently a hippo in this colour moved to my living room so this morning on a spur of the moment decision I decided to paint the kitchen chart in the same colour.  

Project 10 - sewing

I´m on summer holiday, and finally decided to tackle some long overdue sewing projects that I had planned ages ago.

I sewed curtains for my little girls room and a doll duvet cover for her.

My dad built the doll bead for my sister, actually it is a teddy bear bed  built to size for a build a bear teddy.  My mom made a duvet cover for my sister, but I wasn´t loving the fabric it didn´t go to well in her room ;)  (sorry mom).

For one side I used a green flowery fabric.

And on the other side I used yellow checkers fabric, that I got for free from my mother in law, she used to sew and sell to stores diaper storage bags so she has strands of some fabrics and she gave some fabrics to me. 

Here you can see better the green yellow fabric that I bought at JoAnns in Florida last year, intended for a bunting that I made last year (see pictures below) and some other projects in her room that I haven´t gotten around to yet. The duvet cover obviously needs some ironing.

Here you can see the curtains..... not a major sewing accomplishment, but I love them none the less... and they were also for free.  I got the fabric also from my mother in law... lucky me :)

And then a close up of the bunting I sewed last year right before her first birthday..  the blue and the yellow checkered ones are from my mother in law.. the brown and the green I bought at JoAnns last year in Florida.

If you look closely on the curtains picture you can also see a glimps of a dresser I bought in goodwill last year and painted in light blue.

When the recipient of the duvet cover woke up from her nap, she was very happy with the results and decided that it needed to be played with right away.

She will be 2 this coming weekend,  I hope that it won´t take me another year before I tackle another sewing project.