A Skort for Catherine: The Monkey Bar Skirt (A Sewing Project)

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When I first saw the Monkey Bar Skirt by Crafterhours I simply knew that I'd be making it.  The pattern is free on Craftsy and super easy.  While my girl spends many days dressed up as a princess and loves ballet, she also loves adventurous play.  And she plays hard.  I like giving her a wardrobe that can take her anywhere.  This skirt, with its attached shorts, (hence skort) is perfect for anything -- princess heels or mountain climbing.

I'm an advanced beginner when it comes to sewing.  I made this skort in less than two hours.  (That's reading through the pattern, cutting, sewing, and clean up.)  I think the second time will be even faster.  The material is Navy Blue Tonal Stripe Cotton Jersey Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee.  It's the leftovers from the blue stripes dress that I made for myself.

Since I was using remnants from a previous project I didn't bother with matching the stripes.  I also couldn't get a waistband sized piece without making the stripes vertical.  Although, in all honesty, I really like how that turned out.  I made a size 5, and it seems spot on "regular" sizes.  I do think that I will lengthen the shorts part next time.

By the way, I totally recommend Girl Charlee fabrics.  I bought a bunch of fabric from them during one of their big pre-Christmas sales and have been super happy with everything.  If you're new to them I'd greatly appreciate if you'd use my referral link, I get a couple bucks for every new customer I send their way.  There are some pretty summer knits calling my name . . . 

I love linking up at all of these places.

Infinity Loop Lace Shell Circle Scarf with Red Heart's Swanky Yarn

I received this yarn from Red Heart.  There are affiliate links in this post. 

When I received this Swanky Yarn in Midnight Blue from Red Heart I knew right away that I wanted to make it into a fun infinity scarf.  It took me a long time to decide what pattern would best show off this yarn's unique bling.  After many searches on Ravelry I decided upon the Infinity Loop Lace Shell Circle Scarf by Accessorise.

The yarn is a basic yarn, but it has one cool feature that really makes it pop!  It has matching oval sequins throughout.  The yarn and sequins are dyed to match, so it is a unified color.  The 62% Acrylic 38% Polyester yarn is soft to the touch.  I was a little worried that the sequins would constantly be catching on the stitches, or just getting in the way, but they didn't.  Every so often one would end up in an awkward part of a stitch, but it was always easy to adjust.

I used an I crochet hook, which is larger than the H hook recommended for the yarn, but after experimenting with the pattern and yarn that's what I thought showed off both the yarn and the pattern best.

The pattern is well written and easy to follow.  There are a lot of pictures included in the pattern.

There are two lengths for this pattern.  I made the longer version.  At first I crocheted the chain for the shorter version, but it seemed really small.  The larger version is perfect.  I didn't crochet as many rows as the patter called for, as I was only going to use one skein, but I think it ended up perfect.  I did add one row of single crochet at the very bottom.  I think that it helped define the scallop edge a bit.

When I first saw this yarn I thought it would be perfect for my sister.  She both loves blue, and I this shade would look great on her, so this scarf was a (slightly belated) Christmas gift for her.


Be sure to check out this week's Yarn Fanatic Party -- link up your own yarn-y projects and enter the giveaway!

Another Crochet Project: Polar Bear Hat

I love how this crocheted Polar Bear hat turned out!  I was heavily inspired by Repeat Crafter Me's free pattern.

I made this particular hat with the intention of selling it, so if you're interested feel free to drop me a line.  Catherine wants to buy it, but I think she needs to learn that she doesn't get all the hats.  (Besides, she already has about a dozen and there's many more in my project queue that are for her!)

The Swirl Hat: Knit with Never Enough Thyme Yarn

I received a skein of yarn to review.  This post contains affiliate links.

I have finished knitting the Swirl Hat.  It is off the needles, ends are woven in, and well, I might have skipped blocking.  (I know, I know.)  Catherine was super excited to model this hat for me.  There are about fifty awesome pictures from our little photo shoot, but I realize that you might not want to see quite that many of my girl, so I tried to limit myself.  (I just love those curls at the ends of her braids!)

This pattern, which is on Ravelry,  was a super easy knit, a great hat pattern for beginners.  I managed to use the magic loop technique, which (in my limited experience) I highly approve of, even if it takes a bit of time to master.  The fun swirl pattern is made with simple increases and decreases in the round, nothing too complicated.  While Catherine looks simply adorable wearing this hat, it does stretch quite nicely to fit me too.

Oh! The Yarn!  I love it.  It's from Never Enough Thyme Yarn on Etsy.  This is one of their lovely fall colorways called "Apple Picking".  (Be sure to favorite their shop and follow them on Facebook-- where they share updates, coupon codes, and even giveaways!)  This yarn was hand dyed beautifully.  The colors really characterize autumn, don't you agree?  It works up very nicely.  It's soft and wonderful to wear.  Overall, just a great yarn.

I love to share my projects at various parties, like these and at the Fine Craft Guild.  

It would be so awesome if you would follow me!

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

I did receive a skein of yarn to review.  All opinions are my own.  As always, I strive for honesty.

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Baby Sophisticate Sweater

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Here is my finished Baby Sophisticate.  I finished it a little while ago, but it was a gift and I needed to wait until the recipient received it!  Overall, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  There are a few minor imperfections, but overall I think it's pretty nice.

My favorite part of this sweater is the collar, I just love it!  That's what drew me to this pattern in the first place.  (In fact, this pattern is one that I've had on my list since long before I figured out how to knit!)

I found some cute little owl buttons at JoAnn's, but I can't find them online.  (Despite their absolute adorableness they are a bear to photograph!)  The yarn is Simply Soft in Ocean.  I really love this particular shade of blue!

Before I started knitting I read through all of the comments and notes on the Ravelry page, something I recommend for any pattern found there.  Many people commented that the finished sweater was rather small, so I both upped my needle size from a US 8 to a US 9 and I split the difference between the two given sizes (0-3 and 6-12 months).

I had Dominic try the sweater on for me as soon as I wove in the ends.  He's wearing it pre-blocking and pre-buttons in the above picture.  The sweater was a little snug on him, so I'd say it ended up being roughly size 3 months, maybe a little bit larger, but not 6 months.

I do really like, and recommend, the Baby Sophisticate pattern, and I think I might even pay for the Child and Adult versions to make one for Catherine and myself!

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

I love to share my projects at these parties and Hookin' on Hump Day.

I Knit a Baby Sweater! (Including a Link to the Pattern)

I've only been knitting for a short while, but I really have been wanting to try to make a sweater.  I must admit, while I really wanted to make one I was rather intimidated.  Nancy, who can be found at Of Wool and Loveliness, suggested that I start with The Baby Boy 5 Hour Sweater.  After looking the pattern over I decided to take the plunge!

Before I even cast on a single stitch I read through all of the comments on the Ravelry page, which I would highly recommend to any beginner.  This really helped me to understand what was going on in the few places where the pattern was a little unclear.  I also looked through a lot of the completed projects and blog posts.

This sweater pattern does not include instructions for buttonholes.  I did know that before I started, but since it was my first sweater I did not want to try adding anything to the pattern.  There are quite a few people who made this sweater and left notes on how they added buttons, so if I make this sweater again I  will add buttonholes.

This is probably more a critique of my knitting than of the pattern, although other knitters had the same issue, but the pattern claims to be size 0 - 3 months and my sweater is clearly larger than the other little baby clothes I've been washing lately.

Other notes: This sweater is worked from the top down in one piece.  (Very clever construction, if you ask me!)  I was able to use only one set of circular needles. Also, another critique of my knitting, it certainly took me longer than five hours to complete.  I'm a newbie knitter though, so I can't hold that against the pattern!

I have to say, I'm a little bit proud of my first sweater!  It looks like a sweater, it should be able to function as a sweater, and I made it!

(Of course, Catherine has now requested that I make her a purple sweater.  If you have any little girl size 4/5 sweater pattern recommendations, I'd love to hear them!)

Tell me about the first sweater you knitted!  Was it for you?  Or for someone else?  Did you (or the recipient) like wearing it?

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

As always, I love sharing my projects around the web at places like these and Hookin on Hump Day and Fine Craft Guild!

Another Crochet Project: The Yellow Hat

I have been looking for a good hat pattern that uses half double crochet.  This pattern popped up on Pinterest a lot last week, so I thought that I'd give it a try.

Like I said in my WIPS post last week, I'm not in love with the pattern.  It is fine.  However, I think that the increases could be staggered a bit more nicely.  I made the 3-5 year old size, but it is a bit small for my three year old.  It fits, but quite snugly.  (I'll be putting together my own pattern shortly, so keep an eye out for it!)

For the finishing touches, I added a few rows of single crochet at the bottom and slip stitched all around.  I then crocheted a rose, using my pattern, to add a bit of "girlyness" to the hat.

What is your favorite crochet hat pattern?  Do you have one that uses half double crochet?

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

I love sharing my projects!
 {Here} and here are some of the places I party: Fine Craft Guild & Hookin on Hump Day. 

I've been featured!

A Crochet Project: My Version of the "Easiest Headwrap Ever"

Check out this giveaway for a hand dyed skein of yarn! (Ends March 16, 2014)

I crocheted this headwrap in less than an afternoon -- even with morning sickness -- so I suppose that qualifies as "easy".  (I even wove in all the ends!)  I think it turned out pretty cute!

I used a bright coral button to contrast with the periwinkle blue.  (The button was from a pack that I got on super clearance at Jo Ann's -- always check those clearance bins -- the whole pack was twenty five cents!)

 

While I enjoyed this pattern, I think I might try my hand at creating my own headwrap, or ear warmer, pattern soon.  They make great projects both because they don't take a long time to finish and because they can use up those random half balls of yarn running around.

Do you like to crochet headwraps?  Do you like to wear them?

Don't I look silly without my glasses?

Pattern Notes

Yarn: Red Heart Classic in Light Periwinkle (By the way, often this yarn can be a little scratchy, but it softens quite a bit after washing and drying.)

Hook: H

Pattern: Jonna is the creator of this pattern, which can be found {here}.

My Opinion and Changes:  Overall I do like this pattern very much.  I followed the pattern pretty closely.  Really the only difference that I did was that I worked the hdc (that's half double crochet, in case you were wondering) the regular way.  Jonna likes to work the stitches slightly differently, but I decided not to do that.  I did also add just a couple of rows to the middle.

 

Rachel: The Philosopher's Wife

Here's some of the places where I like to link up!