Buzzkill

I have made many things for the people I love. Mittens, blankets, sweaters, animals, etc. I am fortunate to have a family that not only embraces my handmade items...they ask for more. So it's really a shocker when something gets...well...I'm just going to come out and say it...rejected.

Owlie when he was just finished. He's little bear's favorite

Flashback to last January. Below zero temperatures, wood floors, little feet. The situation was just screaming for cute toddler slippers. And, as luck would have it, I had been eyeballing this adorable pattern by Bekah Knits for quite some time. I ran out to a local yarn shop and purchased what I needed to cast-on. (I ended up choosing Spud & Chloe for this project. It is such a workhorse yarn and washes up like a dream.)

Since the slippers would be toddler-sized, I figured that I could get 2 pair of slippers done in a weekend. Yeah, right.

One of the truly great things about the finished slippers is that, when knitted with the Spud & Chloe yarn on the smaller needles required for this pattern, the resulting fabric is seriously thick and dense. These slippers are built to last. Unfortunately, the process of knitting that firmer fabric made my hands get really sore (not usually a problem for me) so I could only knit on them for a little while before I needed to take a break. Needless to say, this made it impossible to finish quickly and it ended up taking me a month to get them done.

But, I am a loyal soldier in the handmade army. Deep in the trenches of the never-ending toddler slippers and I was going to come out victorious...by hook or by crook. So I pressed on and finished them. The blocking was also a slow because they took days and days to dry due to their thickness. (Pro tip: I stuffed them with cotton socks to shape them during the blocking.) Eventually they were finished. And they turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!

Slipper-y cuteness.

Of course, I popped them on my three year old to get some photos for my Ravelry page right away. As soon as they were on his feet, he gets riled up and starts running...wood floor....slippery knit bottoms...you get the picture. Luckily, I had seen a solution for this problem addressed by another knitter on Ravelry. She had put stripes of fabric puff-paint as treads to give the bottoms some traction. I did it too. Awesomeness. Here is my finished project ravelry link.

Detail of the puff-paint traction.

So, at this point, I was feeling pretty good - the long knitting process was done and the technical kinks worked out. There would be no more cold, little feet in our house! Or so I thought...

Yeah, neither of the kids will keep them on their feet for more than 5 minutes. I kept them in the living room, trying to coax someone into them here and there for about a month. Eventually, I gave up and put the rejected slippers in the kids' closets. All that trouble for naught. The only saving grace is that it's not as painful to have your work rejected by a toddler. Maybe next fall they will have a change of heart. :)

–Cassandra

Irons in the Fire

This weekend was two solid days of ADD. I couldn't seem to find a project that would hold my attention and that's just not (normally) me. Maybe it's because I'm excited about all the projects in my head... or maybe I'm overwhelmed with the stuff that really needs to get done. All I know is, I have five things in motion and none of them are near complete. To top it off, bouncing from project to project created an interesting comedy of errors.

Lets start with the Toddler Moc-A-Socs by Bekah Knits that I am making for the two littles:

This slipper pattern was calling to me from my Ravelry queue. It was the siren song of the "perfect little project" that would break the monotony of the large one I am working on. Friday, on my lunch hour, I ran to the nearest yarn shop and picked up some gorgeous Spud & Chloe yarn so that I could get started right away. I was motivated and ready to bang this small project out quickly. Ah...the best laid plans...

After dinner I got out my fabulous swift and ball winder and started winding the yarn. Yeah... halfway through the hank of yarn, the ball on the winder flies off and everything is a tangled mess. I thought, "hmmm, must be a fluke" so I just wound the rest of it by hand and set up hank #2. Again, flying yarn ball. And guess what happened on hank #3? You know I had flying balls of yarn everywhere. I'd like to point out that I have successfully used this contraption many times, so I'm sure it's user-error. Frankly, it better be user error or my love-affair with my swift and winder will be over.

Sadly half-hand-wound ball of yarn.

But, I wasn't daunted! I was going to cast-on as soon as everyone was tucked in bed. I went to get all of the supplies I needed and realized that I did not own a pair of #2 straight needles. Wa-wa-waaaaa. Another delay.

I finally got correct-sized needles on Sunday morning, thanks to my fabulous errand-running husband, and cast on Sunday night while watching TV. I knit two rows and decided that I was too brain-dead to start a new project successfully. So here is where it sits:

Yes, this will be slippers.

I have to admit, my enthusiasm for this project is waning a bit after all this. It's hard to stay upbeat when it seems like you're being thwarted at every turn. But, I will not be swayed. My kids feet are cold so I'm going get these done - eventually. (Hopefully before spring.) On a positive note, when I was feeling too beat to start the slippers, I was able to add a few inches on to my Vineyard Wrap during TV time. So, you know... I got that going for me.

Vineyard Wrap at 17 inches.

In addition to these two knitting projects, I worked on three sewing projects this weekend as well. Because this post is getting a bit long, I'll share those with you later this week. However, let me leave you with this... even an experienced seamstress of nearly 20 years (that'd be me) can still manage to cut out pattern pieces upside down. And the comedy of errors continues...

–Cassandra

It's Chilly in Houdini's Room

With all the holiday projects waiting to get done, yeah, what do I do this weekend? I start something that has nothing to do with the holidays... a duvet cover for my 19-month old, Bogart.

In my defense, his room is really chilly and I just can't let my kid freeze. I was zipping him up into a sleep sack, and it worked great - until, after a week, he became Houdini, magically getting out of it without even unzipping. This child never ceases to amaze me. It's too bad too, because the sleep sack was really keeping him toasty.

Last winter, I found a twin-sized down comforter on sale. The plan was to cut it in half and make two crib-sized comforters out of it (two sections that were 42" x 64" each). I completed the one for my older toddler, Finn, (yes, I have two...) - Sesame Street themed of course. And now that Bogart is older (and cold) it's his turn for some goose-down goodness.

I began by spreading out the twin-sized comforter on the floor. I measured the length and marked my center point where I needed to cut. I then did my best to sort of "clear the way" on the cut line by moving the feathers off to each side as best I could. I marked the center line with a pen and then marked another line 1/4" on either side of that line. Those new lines are my stitching guides. I sewed a straight stitch along both of those guides and then cut down the center line. By sewing those seams first, you save yourself from a "feather explosion" when you cut. There will still be some rogue feathers, but it is quite manageable. To finish it off cleanly, I sewed some white single-fold bias tape along that raw edge.

I also want to mention a neat little trick I learned (years ago on TV) from my dear friend, Martha. I took some extra bias tape pieces (about 8 inches long) and tacked them in at each corner to make ties. (See photo.) The inside corners of the finished duvet cover will also have bias tape ties. This way you can tie the comforter into the duvet and there is no slipping around. Works like a charm.

I bought the fabric for this project quite a while ago. I knew I wanted to do a "woodland theme" in Bogart's room, but I wasn't sure where to start. When I was shopping at my favorite fabric/yarn shop, Stitcher's Crossing, I saw the perfect fabric to use a jumping off point. (You can see it peeking out of the fabric pile in the photo above.) It's from the "Frolic" line by Wendy Slotbloom. I chose three designs - this, this, and this - to make the duvet. Of course, I have big plans for the rest of the room, all inspired by this fabric.


















 Yesterday, with a cup of hot tea by my side, I got out paper and pen to measure and plan my duvet design. This project is a lot of straight stitching and hemming, cinchy. Should be finished in the next few days. Let's hope it turns out as cute as it is in my imagination! I'll post the finished product as soon as it's done.

- Cassandra