Picture Day!

My life is crazy right now - busy at home, busy in the garden, busy with friends, and extra-super-busy at work. Whew! I need a vacation from my life. LOL

Anyway, because I'm so busy, today is going to be Photo Thursday (something I just made up). Hopefully, my nutty life will provide you a few minutes of entertainment today. Enjoy!

- Alex

Enjoying a gallery show in the neighborhood.

Having (many) good dinners with friends.

Trying to decide about siding and windows for my house.

Attending cool charity events with awesome people.

Going to conventions.

Dealing with my bees building crazy comb. (An experiment gone awry)

Marveling at my hive.

Meeting cool people (at conventions).

Attending graduation parties and EATING. 

And eating...

Enjoying my peonies and my bees (who are enjoying my peonies).

Visiting the company's "Corporate Art Sale". 

Having a sleepy, allergy-ridden Sunday.

Visiting the company warehouse to prep for another trip.

Wishing I had the time to just sit and knit (maybe next winter!)

Abandoned Baby Birds

What if I told you that you could knit something quick and completely adorable PLUS it would help tiny abandoned baby birds?

(not my actual knitting but LOOK HOW CUTE!)

My friend Melissa turned me on to a nest knitting pattern put out by our Dane County Humane Society's wildlife service. Knitted nests are the perfect cozy place place for abandoned babies to grow or even for nursing a sick bird.

(my actual knitting)

These nests are knitted with doubled or tripled cotton or acrylic yarn so they are really sturdy and washable. For my nests, I used some (leftover from a sweater) Rowan Cotton Jeans from my stash. I had two 50g balls and was able to make a nest from each (with very little left over) when knitting with the yarn doubled on size 6 dpns.

This pattern is so spot on. The bottom sits completely flat and the stockinette sides curl over just right to form a stiff nest with just enough give.

I went ahead and tied a nice knot on the bottom. This way it will be sure to hold up through a washing.

Folks who live here in Dane County can drop their finished nests off at the Humane Society. And for those folks outside of our area, I'm positive your own humane society, wildlife rescue, or Department of Natural Resources would have a use for these as well. A little research will most likely prove fruitful. I can vouch for this nest pattern though, it knit up beautifully.

Knit on friends,

Cassandra

PS - When I say this was a quick project, each nest took me about 3 hours. And that is with talking or TV watching going on at the same time. 

Sweater Drama

I've got a real problem with sizing lately. Between the debacle with the tunic for me and the sweater I'm going to tell you about today, you might start passing some judgement on my skills.

I recently finished one (of the two) holiday sweaters for my boys. Wait...what? The holidays were almost half a year ago. Yeah, well those cables took me longer than expected. Plus, I've been distracted by a lot of drawing in the past year. I'm sort of on a drawing bender (please refer to title of blog for explanation). I'm shooting for new sweaters for next holiday season :)

It looks like nothing is wrong from this angle. Just wait.

The pattern I chose to knit is Mariah by Janet Szabo. Ms. Szabo has a lot of designs in her collection (one more beautiful than the next btw) and so I'm assuming whatever went wrong was me, not her.

Anyway, one is finished, and it's not perfect. I realize now that I chose the wrong size for my boy (or maybe my gauge was off, but I actually don't think so). Even though I took the proper measurements, the whole thing is way too wide. If I knitted it longer in the arms and torso it probably would fit me!

Woo, this is one wide sweater.

The actual knitting part of the project was great. I loved the cables and as always, it was a thrill every time I saw them emerge from nothing. Knitting cables is magic. If you've never done it, you should. They are actually not as hard as you'd think, but you do need to keep your wits about you.

There were two things I did to make the cable knitting process as foolproof as possible on this project. First, I sliced apart the pdf cable instructions and created my own all-inclusive cable chart to work from. I couldn't handle remembering if I was supposed to be looking at chart A, B, C, etc. Also, I always kept a lifeline in my knitting...because unknitting cable stitches is one of Dante's circles of hell. (For those who don't know what a lifeline is, see this video. I actually use dental floss for this because it's easy to slip in and out without disturbing the texture of the yarn.)

Anyone with a pet bird will know who frayed these pages.

In my defense on the neckline, I did extend the saddles a couple inches on each side to try to minimize the neck a little, and it still turned out rather huge. This sweater is borderline Flashdance.

Want to know the craziest thing of all? My little one loves it. He wears it all the time, even to school. So, that is sort of a win because I've knit sweaters that fit him beautifully that he never requests to wear. I think part of his attraction might be the color. It is golden-yellow dreamy! The yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Tumeric. I never got tired of that color when I was knitting. Never!

Now, here's my dilemma. Do I charge ahead and make sweater #2 from the same pattern? Or do I try something else? I better make my mind up soon. The holidays are only 7 months away...

Cassandra

"You're Soaking In It!"

Remember that old TV commercial for Palmolive dishwashing liquid? A woman is getting a manicure and complaining about how hard the dish soap is on her hands. Madge, the manicurist touts the gentleness of Palmolive and, when the customer objects, Madge says "You're soaking in it!" and the woman freaks out and pulls her hand out of the soak. 

While knitting isn't quite as hard on your hands as hand-washing dishes without gloves, it is very drying - especially if you knit with wool. One would think that the lanolin in the wool would actually condition the fingers but, in my experience, it doesn't help much.

So, keeping lotions in my knitting bags has become a necessity. Cassandra made (you read that right), MADE, this awesome solid lotion. You can make your own by following her recipe, found here. 

As much as I love my Cassandra-made solid lotion, my all-time favorite hand cream is No-Crack. Crazy name, I know. But in the rough Wisconsin winters, hands crack all the time. I used to get deep, painful fissures in the sides of the index fingers and, occasionally, on the tips as well. It took me a few years to figure out that, between the cold weather, the forced-air heat, and my age, I could no longer get away without treating my hands better.

No-Crack actually works and has a really interesting origin story. Made right here in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, No-Crack started as an experiment. This copy is from the Duluth Trading Company website (where you can buy the product, of course):

One summer's day back in the 1940's, a woman walked into Hebberd's Drugs in LaCrosse, WI and asked for "bag balm" – a thick, greasy cream that farmers rubbed on cow's udders, to keep them from getting chafed and sore from all that squeezing and pulling. She explained she wanted it for her hands, not her cows. Enterprising young pharmacist Arthur Hebberd, the owner's son, said they didn't carry it, but he'd see what he could whip up.

Arthur Hebberd, creator of No-Crack Hand Cream

Arthur liked to experiment with different concoctions – deodorants, perfumes, shampoos and such. Now he created a hand cream. Next time the woman came in, she tried it. "It's too greasy," she said. "I couldn't use it during the day."

So Arthur developed a new kind of non-greasy hand cream that people could use as often as they needed to, without having to wipe away messy residue. It was a rich, heavy cream, made from lanolin, allantoin, mineral oil and other ingredients. He gave it a simple name: No-Crack® Hand Cream.

Arthur sold the company in 1993 and the two guys who bought it vowed (and kept their promise) to continue to produce the hand lotion just as Arthur had created it. They've added to the line - producing various scents - but I tend to always revert to the original "Unscented Day Use" cream. The "super" and "night" versions are a little too greasy for me and I find the day cream to work for all purposes.

So, if you need a really hard-core hand lotion, I highly recommend No-Crack. It's available in various places online. Happy knitting with soft hands!

- Alex

Where You At?

Hello kittens!

Have you been wondering why I have been so tardy with my posts lately? All I can say is that there's lots of creative irons in the fire, and of course real life always finds a way of intruding on my time here. But never fret...we (the royal "we") are creating. Here is a snapshot of some of the creative work that I've been up to the last few weeks....

Baking potica. Over and over...it's so hard to perfect.

Started a girly quilt for my daughter.

Knitting cables, and more cables. Just a sleeve and a collar left!

Working on a new look for this space. Keep watching for it!

There's been a whole lotta making, and not too much communicating. I don't know if it's the -15 degree weather or what, but I've been kind of introverted lately. I'm so happy to sit in the house and pick up any number of projects I have in-process and quietly work. I can't be the only one with this antisocial affliction? Can I?

– Cassandra

PS-Alex sent this link to me last night. It's truly amazing. Check it out!

Not-So-Epic Fail

Recently, Cassandra entertained you with a the story of a project that was not as successful as she'd hoped. Of course, all failures teach us something and, in this case, Cassandra learned about accurate measuring and the value of knowing someone who is a size or two smaller than you who would really love that handmade "mistake". 

I'm here today to share my not-so-epic failure (of which there have been many but this is the most recent.)

As you may know, I've been knitting a lot of Yoda hats recently. And, because I'm a person who prefers to finish one project before I start another, I waited WAY too long to get going on a scarf for a friend's birthday. So, at his party on Saturday, I showed up with a 1/3 knitted piece and the promise that it would be finished soon. He seemed to like the color (it's his favorite) and, I'm pretty sure he'll be happy with the finished project. 

So... how is this a failure, you may ask?

Well, what happens when you rush is that you really don't think things through all the way. And here's where I failed (and learned stuff):

I didn't have enough yardage in the skein of choice to do the entire scarf so I decided to embellish with some stripes of a coordinating color. However, while I chose a great color in a complementary yarn type - the main part is alpaca and the stripes are merino - I allowed myself to believe that the sport-weight alpaca and the DK weight merino were close enough to "blend".

As I was working on the piece, I started to question the decision of using two different weights. But, as I mentioned, I was in a hurry and I thought, "hell, who's going to notice??"

Also, because I was in a hurry, and I wanted to show it to my friend at his party, I wove in all the ends at the stripes. *facepalm*  I can never take it apart now... 

My dear friend, D, who will always be honest, looked at it and said, "This doesn't look like something you'd knit. It's just not as good as your usual work." Ugh. And, of course, the alpaca is long discontinued so it's not like I can just go out and buy more.

Needless to say, I'm going to finish what I started and hope that my friend sees the love that I knit it with and will graciously overlook the failure in my work.

Keep calm and knit on, friends.

- Alex

Size Matters

I've been knitting hats. Lots and lots of hats. It started with the Baby Yoda hat (and kimono) that I made for a friend's new baby. Then, I loved the pattern so much, I made it again for a 1-year old and another for an adult.

One-year-old Yoda. Not too enthusiastic.

Sizing patterns has never really been my strong suit so I went online to try to find a size chart for heads. Unsurprisingly, I found one that I've been using and (so far) it has been wonderfully accurate. Of course, it stands to reason that some people have big or small heads and this won't be perfect for everyone but, if you want a good, average size, it works.

When in doubt, have the person measure their noggin and then you can make it to fit them exactly.

This is where you start. Adjust for fit (like if you want to cover the ears).

Bev's Country Cottage (www.bevscountrycottage.com) has size charts for hats, socks/slippers, sweaters, blankets, and even baby measurements. This is a treasure trove - especially if you like to create your own patterns. The only thing that's missing is an approximate number of stitches to cast on in order to reach the diameter you want. I'm working on capturing that, using average sized yarn (DK/Worsted) and needles (US7-8). Once I have a fairly good list, I'll post it here for download. Or... If anyone already has this, please feel free to put the link to it in our comments section.

I may be hat-girl for a while so I apologize in advance if my crafty pursuits get kind of boring. :)  It's winter and hats seem like a good endeavor.

Knit on!

- Alex

Baby Yoda

Leave it to pregnant friends to reignite one's knitting bug. "Makers" can't seem to help themselves when it comes to babies. Itty-bitty hats, sweaters, quilts, and more, all scream to be created for the new person entering the world. Perhaps it's because a hand-made gift is truly made with the recipient in mind and is, usually, tailored just to them.

Take, for example, my current knitting project - the one that brought me back from a looong knitting dry spell. A friend is due any day now and we know it's a boy. As Christmas was ramping up, I discovered that her husband is a bit of a Star Wars fiend, as was evidenced by his home-made Star Wars nativity scene. One which his wife was concerned would cause consternation among the neighbors (in fact, it didn't).

Day time (awesome)

Night time (MORE awesome!)

Being a pretty loud-and-proud geek myself, I was thrilled by this turn of events. I provided many suggestions of ways to improve on the nativity scene and was happy to learn that her husband liked some of them. And, of course, my plans for a baby gift were impacted as well.

Off the needles came my original gift idea (a baby balaclava which is slightly weird but super-practical)

Baby balaclava pattern is a free download at Ravelry.com

And... on went the new. 

Seriously. How cute is this??

I love, love, love this pattern. The hat knit up in one night and, while I chose to make a kimono rather than the bunting provided here, the bunting is very original and adorable. The pattern for the set is $3.99 on Ravelry.com. 

The kimono I'm making is the Miss Sadie Baby Kimono on Ravelry.com. It's knit in one piece and then seamed.

This is a finished one... my almost-done one is below.

Here's where I'm at with mine:

Note the appropriate linen color

Ears still need to be attached

Welcome to the world, Baby Yoda!

- Alex

Holiday Distractions

I don't know if it's because Thanksgiving was so late this year, but boy December is moving fast. Barely enough time to get the shopping done...cookies and outside lights have fallen off my to-do list...but the house interior is decorated! Picking my battles. It feels good.

Of course, there was still plenty of making going on this past weekend...because you know, I will sacrifice most things in order to work on a project or two. Along with some knitting, my weekend creativity consisted mostly of...

New pajamas for little boys.

3 batches of Potica. (not my recipe but click the pic for more info)

Home-made pizza...mmmmm.

What is not pictured are the dust bunnies in the corner, baskets of laundry to fold, and the fridge that needs a good cleaning out. Hopefully I'll be getting to those this week, unless...well something distracts me. Something like the gorgeous new colored pencils I got from my Secret Santa last week. I just know they are itching for me to draw with them!

–Cassandra

Friday Finds: Woodland Knits

Ya'll know that I love love love woodland critters. So you can imagine the squeal of delight I let out when I got a look at Stephanie Dosen's new book Woodland Knits. The patterns are inspiring and gorgeous. I've been a fan of Stephanie's knitting patterns for years and am so glad that she finally was able to put a collection together in book form.

I think my favorite pattern from the book is the Woodland Hoodlet:

To see images of the patterns included in the book and even more cute patterns to purchase, check out Stephanie's website.

Happy weekending everyone!

–Cassandra

Randomness

I've returned to the land of the living...still getting both feet back on the merry-go-round...but much, much, better. As part of the process of reacquainting myself with the world (I know I've sort of "checked out" from everything for the last couple weeks) I was perusing my camera roll on my iPhone last night to see what making I've recorded while in my pneumonia haze. I think sharing the randomness of my sickness journey is a nice place to start this Monday morning.

Making strudel with Grandma a couple weeks ago.

Little pumpkin pies for the pre-k class Halloween party.

Too sick for anything but TV and knitting simple hats and mittens.

Little Bear wears his new hat indoors and out.

Super-secret family recipe baking yesterday.

Last night I dove back into the cables. I'm on the mend.

Pretty heavy on the baking and knitting. So curious. But, I've been doing some dreaming and sketching about some bigger sewing projects. We'll see what comes of it now that I'm back in the saddle.

–Cassandra