mmmm, malabrigo

Haley, my awesome local yarn shop owner, introduced me to Malabrigo Chunky for this hat a while back. I believe she described it as "yummy" to knit with - or maybe I'm making that up - but it really is the best word for it. Malabrigo is soft, squishy and wonderful to wear. The colourways have such subtle and irregular changes of colour that it makes almost impossible to choose just one skein. This colourway is called Polar Morn, a lovely blue-gray that I again have to give credit to Sadie for picking. I had held up this and a brighter salmon option for her advice and she hardly paused. She pointed to the Polar Morn, and she was so right.

The hat is a slightly modified Ariosa Hat by Hannah Fettig (a free pattern). I started with 63 stitches, made a deeper band and then increased to 72 stitches. My cable section was only 14 stitches with 3 purls on each edge and 8 stitches in the centre. I didn't love the pinching effect in the original pattern's cable so I did a straight up cable instead. But otherwise I followed the decreases and finished it off with a big pompom. Two skeins made this hat and a pair of Instant Mittens with absolutely nothing to spare. Hmm, maybe the 30% off Boxing Day sale at Knitomatic is my chance to pick up more Malabrigo?

On the reading front, I finished up Galore by Michael Crummey, and it was another great East Coast read. Set in Newfoundland the story spans generations of families living in a tiny coastal village. It begins with the discovery of a man from inside the stomach of a beached whale. He is alive, mute but instantly accepted by the local wise woman (known as Devine's Widow). Intriguing, right? Man, I love these stories from Newfoundland.

If you need a moment's pause from the hectic lead-up to the coming holidays - I know I sure do - visit Ginny's Yarnalong for more knitting and reading inspiration.

loose ends

December is a funny time of year for posting. Suddenly I'm making things in every spare moment I've got, but I can't share any of it because the intended recipients visit this little virtual space regularly (or, in the case of the 7 year old, she looks over my shoulder quite a bit). And the kicker is that I have forgotten almost every year to take photos of what was made after I have gifted it. What can I say, I love wrapping just as much as I love making and I'm a forgetful photographer.

Anyway, before I dove into the holiday knitting list I had an urge to tidy up my sordid corner of wool and half-done projects that lurks behind the chair in our TV room. The vest above has been knit for AGES and was simply waiting for me to weave in the ends. How does 10 months go by before I get around to such a small task? Crazy. This is the other test version of my Toddler Snappy Shoulder Vest, but sized for a 4 year old (okay, that's why I've been lazy...Milo has a while before he will even wear it). I used Dream in Colour Classy for the body and some scrap Rowan All Seasons Cotton for the saddles. A more conservative colour combo, but the grays are nice. And this is going to sound bonkers, but Milo doesn't seem to have many vests these days (this from the obsessed vest knitter) so finishing this up made me excited to make a couple more in the 2 year old size. Which is on the list, after all the holiday knitting.

But for now, I'm working on a Big Snowy Owl for Milo. The 2 year old may look over my shoulder, but thank goodness he can't read!

little bits of knitting

Lately my knitting has been all about adult-sized sweaters, so I have had very little to show. But luckily a friend is about to have a baby, which means I got to do some newborn knitting. I'm pretty sure it's the best kind of knitting. I mean, who can argue with something quick and utterly adorable?

The little hat shown above is knit with Willow, a bulky yarn that is a merino/cashmere blend. It's quite soft and the palette is very suited to babies. I didn't follow a pattern - and I may have overdone the pompom size - but overall it should keep the new baby's noggin' warm.

As for my reading these days, I just finished Come, Thou Tortoise which I loved. It turned out just the way I was hoping (resulting in tears of joy, and I'm not even kidding) and I was thinking about the characters for days after I finished. The voices of the characters were so comical and quirky, making them incredibly loveable. And in my non-fiction world, I've been working on The Servant Leader and so far it is really resonating with me. The books I read for my work life always take me longer because I read them in small moments on the subway, but even at 2 pages at a time this book is powerful. And the knitting sitting on top of my books is the finished, now-blocking sweater that's been on my needles all month. Hopefully I'll have pictures of that next!

More knitting and reading inspiration over at the Yarnalong.

crossover crazy

I do not need more hoodies. 

And yet, I keep making them. I'm up to three now - there's a black fleece one too but I know black is pretty impossible to photograph (and I've been wearing it the most, meaning it's always covered in cat hair). It took a couple of tries to get the crossover hood just right, but now it's working and it seems foolproof even when using different fabrics. The geeky sewer in me loves the resulting shape of the pattern piece because it has this great swooping line. The gray hoodie was my first, and the inspiration for the front pockets is from Norah Gaughan's Kaari sweater. Although I'd like to knit it someday, I prefer the stiffness the pockets get when it's made from jersey (but don't get me wrong, it's great knit too). The pocket design is fantastic - they hit at the perfect spot and it feels so right to plunge your hands in there. The overall body for these sweaters is still from my basic-but-altered t-shirt pattern from Wendy Mullin's Sew U Home Stretch. It works every time - her book is so worth the investment!

For a bit of contrast I tried gingham bias tape to edge the hood and pockets on this navy version. It might be a bit too much, but I like the idea of having different bands of colour, especially around the hood. I guess I'll just have to try another sweater to really work out the ideal combination.

Because everyone needs a closet full of hoodies, obviously.

purple forever

At age seven, there is no way I can knit something for Sadie without her choosing the wool. So on a recent trip to Knitomatic, she spied a VERY BRIGHT purple Cascade Luna cotton yarn that she fell in love with (after I had shared my blasphemous opinion of not liking Cascade, no less). I had lots of other options at home and I'm pretty sure we were there for some other reason, but she was just smitten. And she's a clever girl who knows my weakness: I am easily convinced to purchase wool.

We had already picked a hat pattern for her - Little Pip's Acorn Cap by Kyrie Mead (Ravelry link because I can't seem to get her personal link right now). It's a very fun pattern with bobbles and it suits a solid colour wool nicely. I had tried one for myself in tweed but the bobble pattern effect was completely lost. Sadie has been wearing hers non-stop even on our lovely warm fall days, and although I still had a slightly icky feeling while knitting it, Sadie tells me it's very soft on her forehead.

Score one for neon purple.

resourceful

We were having a shoe dilemma, but a dilemma like that is always a fun challenge around here. It means we get to brainstorm ideas and start searching for bits and pieces that may end up as a shoe shelf. Armed with measurements we spent a few weekends looking around our favourite second hand and antique places in the city (so, Queen & Roncesvalles, Guff etc. in Queen East, Dundas Street West...if you live in Toronto, I highly recommend checking out Smash). But we came up empty handed and realized that we'd probably have to make something.

At this point I forget how the idea actually came together. Jay always has house-salvaged wood lying around waiting for a new purpose, so that part was easy (the pieces he ended up using were once a shelf, circa 1923, from our basement). The sides were more of a struggle to figure out but we knew that a wood + metal combo would suit the space, which is beside an old rad and under a wooden console table (the picture above is deceiving - I had to move the shelf to a new spot to photograph it, it's just too dark where it really lives). Luckily we somehow remembered these black metal grates Jay picked up at the ReStore years ago. We've been using them decoratively on shelves but we actually had 4 - the perfect number for a two level shelf. So after maybe an hour of work, Jay had the shelf built and all our shoes finally had a home.

Organization sure feels good.

skinny minnie

Life got in the way of blogging last week so I missed including my last bit of sewing for KCWC. Truthfully, it wasn't the most exciting project but it was very practical. At 7 years old (umm, when did that happen?) Sadie has long enough legs for the size 6X, but her waist is teeny weeny. Not surprisingly, I've been having trouble getting pants that fit her because to make sure her ankles are covered means the waist - even if it's elasticized - is ginormous. I've had two pairs of cords sitting on the sewing table for ages and she needed them made wearable more than she needed a new sweatshirt (which would have been more fun, I mean look at how great Trula's hoodie is). But sometimes practical just has to win. I had some striped jersey that worked with both purple and pink, so after a little cutting and a few lines of serging, Sadie had two new pants to wear.

Verdict: easy solution, happy girl.

more for milo

Sadie has very distinct tastes these days, so sewing for Milo is much easier. Less to think about and the only pattern I ever have to consider is stripes. In the last KCWC I made Milo a hoodie and I dress him in it every chance I get. Making another seemed like a no-brainer decision. I was totally inspired by this awesome jumper in the Flickr pool so I added some graphic lines to the sweatshirt body for fun (they aren't ribbon though, just scraps of the grey jersey). I used the same pattern as last time which was drafted from a raglan sleeved hand-me-down (thanks Jill!). It's roomy enough without looking too big so he should be able to wear it for quite a while.

I also finished up a t-shirt that has been sitting on my table half done since July. The hold-up was choosing the colour for the bands. I probably could have decided on the red in my sleep, but I think making decisions this summer was a particular weakness for me. The black striped fabric is the very last of a thrifted man's t-shirt which has made two other pairs of shorts and various bands for things. It's such a good way to buy knit fabric - $3 ended up making 3 garments for the kids.

And I want to thank everyone for their super kind words about Milo in my last post. He's generally a very funny little guy but that photo just captured an image of him that makes my heart melt. In a hilarious contrast, here is the full photo of the image above. I've cropped it for the KCWC purpose, but his rockstar hair is so him I just had share. Happy Friday!

snappy cables

 

Anything that can be knit in one day certainly deserves to be called Snappy.

I was so excited when I came across this free, yes free, hat pattern (Ravelry link). It's perfect for someone new to cabling (like me) because you get just enough practice with the cable needle and a quick reward that is undoubtedly cabled. Oh, and amazingly cute. I mean, could a toddler look any cuter? For Milo's hat I used Debbie Bliss Rialto Chunky which was pretty dreamy to knit with. The blue/gray colour is perfect for my little guy, though there have been some comments from the husband peanut gallery about me dressing Milo like a girl. Boys can pull off cables, right? This quick hat was well timed for KCWC too since there are very few garments that can be knit without dedicating the entire week (or month) to the endeavour. And Milo needed a hat for the fall...well, sort of. I think what I just wrote is called Knitter's Justification.

Before Milo's version, I did make one for myself using Malabrigo Chunky. This wasn't as dreamy to knit with (the Rialto just glides) but it was still pretty nice and I'm quite happy with the colour. After trying to add aqua or pink or purple to my life, I accepted that gray just works better for me. The wool was chunkier than the Rialto so I went up a needle size and used the same stitch count as Milo's which worked out and the fit is pretty good. And a great bonus to the whole project is that I now have a nice photo of me with Milo, as taken by the burgeoning photographer Sadie. (It's the unfortunate fate of the family photographer to never be in any photos with the kids.)

During this cable craze I have been reading Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay by Beverly Jensen. The first half was wonderful, but I'm not enjoying the second half as much. Perhaps I'm so addicted to Canadian East Coast stories that as soon as the characters left New Brunswick for Maine I just wasn't as keen to follow them. Oh well. I have another East Coast novel lined up next which gives me just enough impetus to finish.

For boatloads of knitting, reading and sewing inspiration visit today's Yarnalong and KCWC's Flickr group.

kcwc: fall edition

Thanks to Meg at Elsie Marley, yesterday marked the beginning of another Kids Clothing Week Challenge. Lucky for me I have just started a vacation - the kind that involves Jay and the kids doing their normal thing while I stay home all by myself and make stuff. It's selfish, but oh-so-heavenly. I'm trying very hard not to write a list of what I should make during my two weeks, but instead I hope to simply head downstairs and sew for a while until I've had enough and then move onto knitting. Like I said: heaven.

Hopefully knitting counts for the challenge though, because the first garment I've finished is another Girls Cap Sleeved Sweater for Sadie. I started this two weeks ago but actually finished and took photos yesterday (thank you Canadian Thanksgiving!), though the weather was far too warm for Sadie to wear wool. I used Araucania's Milodon which, while not great to physically knit, looks quite amazing when knit. Sadie seems really pleased with her new sweater and the flecks of purple. I did modify the sleeves by making 3 pairs of decreases and then adding a 6 row ribbed cuff. It makes a cute sleeve with more shape than the last version I knit. It's a great pattern overall and a really wearable sweater.

More sewing and knitting to come - but for now I'm off to see what great things have been added to Meg's Flickr group. Talk about inspiration!