WIPS: I Started a Sweater & Poncho/Cape Update

I've taken the plunge!  I have started knitting my first sweater.  It is a baby sweater -- hopefully Porcupine will be able to wear it.  The pattern is called "Baby Boy Five Hour Sweater", which is a pattern that Nancy from Of Wool and Loveliness recommended.  It's going to take me a lot longer than five hours, but that's alright.  Despite the fact that I am on gauge, I am dubious that it will actually end up newborn sized, although only time will tell.  Obviously, it's still pretty early in the knit, but it appears rather large to me.  (There were others who had the same problem when I looked through the various Ravelry notes, but I didn't want to change anything on the first sweater I made.)  How did your first sweater turn out?  Was it wearable? 

I am still knitting away on Catherine's poncho/cape.  I am trying to decide if I want the bottom edge to be a seed stitch, to match the top, or if a rib would be better.  I think I'd prefer the look of the rib, but does it really make sense to have two different types of edging on a small garment?  Probably not.  What do you think?  Seed stitch or ribbing?

I finished The Yellow Hat that I had started crocheting last week.  My favorite part is the pink rose. (Here's the pattern!)  It makes the hat seem equally appropriate for cool spring days as frigid winter days.

I will be sharing this post at the following:

Frontier Dreams with Nicole

Work In Progress with Tami

Yarn Along with Ginny

WIPS

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I'm quite a bit south of the Mason-Dixon line, and we currently have snow!  We are expected to get a lot more snow today, so I will be cozily working on my knitting and crocheting while streaming the Olympics. 

I've been wanting to crochet some hats with the half double stitch for a little while. (Take a Craftsy class to learn this stitch!)  I think the stitch would look nice but I've been having a difficult time finding a pattern that I like.  I found this one, but I don't think that the increases are staggered properly.  (Yes, it is a minor detail, but it bothers me!)  My grand plan is to make one (mostly) according to the pattern and then develop my own pattern.  Do you have a favorite half double crochet hat pattern?

Catherine, in all adorableness, asked me to make matching hats for her and Porcupine.  (I'm 34 weeks along today!)  She then clarified that she wants them to be matching monster hats -- so I will have to see what I can fit onto a newborn's hat.  Do you know of any monster hat patterns that would work well for both a newborn and a toddler?

I've been slowly adding rows to Catherine's Poncho/Cape.  (I really need to decide what I am going to call it!)  This project is certainly a work in patience. 

Please ignore the fact that the yarn is still in the bag, and artfully staged on Porcupine's car seat box.

My daughter is even more of a yarn addict than I am.  We made a stop at Michael's on Sunday to check out the Lion Brand yarn sale going on this week and she wanted me to get Vanna's Choice yarn in every color.  I was the one who had to limit us to a handful of skeins.  She is very eager to learn how to crochet or knit.  I don't think she quite has the fine motor skills necessary yet, but I've started letting her play with a hook and yarn.  How old were you when you learned how to knit or crochet?  Or how young have you taught your child(ren)?

I did finish that poor neglected blue hat that I told you about last week.  It was a Work In Progress for about a year for no real reason.  

{Mint Blue Elegant Hat}

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

I will be sharing this post at the following:

Frontier Dreams with Nicole

Work In Progress with Tami

Yarn Along with Ginny

WIPS: A Giveaway, a Poncho Update, a Neglected Project, & a Pattern

Before getting to the projects that I'm working on this week, I'd like to let you all know about a giveaway that I'm hosting!  The prize is a beautiful Origami Owl Heart Locket.  The giveaway is open to US residents and ends February 10, 2014.

{Enter here.}

I'm making slow and steady progress on Catherine's poncho/cape.  (That's the cream yarn on the right.)  At this point it's lots and lots of knit stitches with the occasional yarn over, so it's great for while I'm watching tv. I'm still hoping that it will turn out nicely, since I threw caution to the wind and am doing my own thing!  Do you like knitting and/or crocheting while watching tv?

The project on the left (blue yarn) is an Elegant Hat -- with some modifications, of course.  The color of this yarn is Blue Mint and I absolutely love it! I actually really enjoy working with Simply Soft yarn and will pick it up whenever I see it for cheap.  This project has been sitting in a box, neglected, for almost a year. (Yikes!)  It shouldn't take me too long to finish now that I'm working on it again.  Please tell me that I'm not the only one who has easy to finish projects languishing away in boxes, please?

I shared a quick child's headband pattern that I whipped up on Monday.  I'd love to hear what you think of it!  (And isn't my model just adorable?)

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

I will be sharing this post at the following:

Frontier Dreams with Nicole

Work In Progress with Tami

Yarn Along with Ginny

WIPS: A New Knit, How do you Wash Secondhand Yarn, Capes, and a Random Factoid

I'm a newbie knitter.  Which means that I have no business trying to modify patterns or do my own thing just yet, but is that stopping me?  Of course not.  We shall see if I end up with a knit win or a knit fail.  My end goal is to make Catherine a little cape (or poncho).  I am loosely basing it on this Easy Peasy Poncho.  "Loosely" is a very key word since I want to simply use the stockinette stitch for the body and it's for a three year old.

How do you wash thrift store or second hand yarn?  I have recently come into possession of quite a bit of yarn that I'd like to clean before working with it.  Some of it is dusty and some of it is a little bit musty.  It's good quality stuff, so it's definitely worth a bit of hassle, I'm just a little unsure what to do.  I don't want to spend days, weeks, or even months trying to de-tangle a massive yarn mess!  (Some of it is on cones, which makes it even more difficult.)  There has to be a way to clean it!

Did you see the cute little capes that I helped make for my sister-in-law's wedding?  Check out the full post!

Here's a random pop culture factoid for you: Katy Perry likes to crochet.

I will be sharing this post at the following:

Frontier Dreams with Nicole

Work In Progress with Tami

Yarn Along with Ginny

A Sewing Project: Capes for Flower Girls

My Little Princess was thrilled to be a flower girl not once, but twice in 2013.  Her auntie, my sister-in-law, just had a gorgeous Winter Wonderland Christmastime wedding.  All of the ladies, including the flower girls, had beautiful capes in keeping with the theme and season.

The flower girl's capes were handmade by the bride and myself.  The bride cut out all of the pieces.  (Which was awesome, because I find the cutting part to be so tedious plus being just days away from my third trimester I had zero desire to lay everything out nicely on the floor.)  Once she cut the pieces I was able to sew the pieces together fairly quickly.

Sewing Notes:

• Unfinished edges of fake fur shed.  Like crazy.  Be warned.
• We did use a pattern, it was Butterick 5809 view B -- the detachable cape.
• We made a total of five capes, four size 4 and one size 2. Catherine's cape is a size 4 and seems pretty true to size.  (At least as much as a cape needs to be.)  
• We ditched the collar that was called for by the pattern and simply added ribbon for a bow.
• I only top-stitched around the collar.  

Here's a picture of the back of the cape mid-dance.  Catherine is a dancing queen when it comes to weddings -- she simply doesn't stop!  (Her hair is tucked under the cape in this picture.)

I am very happy with the end results.  All of the girls looked absolutely adorable.  AND we didn't break the bank!

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Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

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