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My camera was very opposed to this exact color of red. I had to mess around with the saturation a little; hopefully it looks close to right. Anyway… Yay! I have finally seen for myself what this Wollmeise craze is all about. I have to say, I don’t really understand it. It’s nice yarn, but I definitely still like Cherry Tree Hill Supersock the best. It’s been my favorite sock yarn for a very long time.
There is also a new nightgown for Edda. I used this pattern, but left out the sleeve elastic. The fabric was some kind of stretch knit material that I found in my mom’s fabric bin. She’s wearing a 5T in this dress now! That’s the largest size. She has had so many of these dresses in the last 3 and a half years… It’s sad that we’ll have to move on to a more “big girl” style.
*sniff*
She had to take a milk break halfway through our photo shoot.
Maybe a new purse is in order. You know, now that she’s a big girl and all.
I’ve also been working on a new winter sweater for Walter. It’s almost done!
(Edited to add: I found out that there are more sizes for the “sweet little dress” patttern now! That makes things a little emotionally easier for me.)
Meet Mr. Dog and Mrs. Rabbit. I made them using instructions from Miyako Kanamori’s book Sock and Glove.
Edda LOVES these two. Technically, the dog is Walter’s and the Rabbit is Edda’s. But Edda has pretty much taken over ownership of both.
I sewed a little knitting pocket (for taking projects around) as a birthday present for a friend of mine. I really liked the method that I found here on gussysews.com. This may very well be the most commonly accepted method for sewing a zippered pouch, but I am too much of a novice sew-er to know if it is or not. I just thought it was neat! The zipper ends up fully enclosed between the outer fabric and the lining.
Making this little project really made me want to sew more. I don’t do it very much because it is so difficult to take everything out and put it all away every time. Plus, I am always worried about one of littlies getting a pin in the foot or mouth or pulling the iron over. I am considering moving Walter into Edda’s room and taking his room over as my new sewing area. Seriously considering. I just can’t decide if it would destroy all sleep forever, because sleep is something that I consider to be more precious than sewing.
It’s hard to believe that I have to get out this much stuff to make a dress for a 12″ baby doll.
Edda’s birthday is on Saturday and I have decided to make her some clothes for her new baby doll that she got for Christmas. For those of you that would be interested in such things, the doll is a Corolle Calin (amazon link). My mom gave it to Edda, and it has been an instant favorite. I like that it smells sort of nice, has SHORT hair and a soft body. This means I don’t get interrupted every fifteen seconds to make the dolls rigid arms and legs bend into the right position (like the ones with hard bodies) and I don’t have to un-snarl giant, baby doll rat nests out of its hair (like the long-haired one I made). Edda likes it because it has a pretty dress and hair she can brush. (but not tangle. the no-tangling is very important.)
The sewing pattern is Mccall’s 4338. So far, so good….
I still haven’t finished writing up Walter’s birth story… I may not post it. I’m torn between trying to be honest (I hate it when people try to make it sound like birth should be painless, cuz it’s not) and trying not to sound whiney. Also, maybe it’s too embarrassing to share that kind of thing with the whole world… I’ll just have to think about it some more.
And, in closing, I want you all to know that this blog will not be turning into a blog that’s only about my kids and the occasional sewing project. I am still knitting. I hope it will make a blog appearance soon. (It’s a fawn-colored, bottom-up seamless yoke sweater for Walter from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Without Tears. It’s also finished.)
I was sifting through my photos and I found lots of unblogged projects, so I decided to do some catch-up posts. This cute, little jumper is from McCall’s 5918
I modified it slightly, making view F without the bow and adding buttons. Also, I didn’t sandwich the ends of the straps in between the yoke front and the casing, I just sewed them down on the inside so that I can more easily lengthen them when it becomes necessary. My little girl is a tall one.
This is the first time I’ve sewed something for Edda that she realized that there is a connection between me sitting at the sewing machine and working on stuff and her getting new dresses. She got really excited near the end of this project and kept begging me to let her “Wear dress!” She loves the birds and flowers of this print. I must say… I love them, too. 
Oh, and there’s still no baby, by the way.
Edda has been desperately needing some new sleepwear. It’s getting down into the 40′s at night now and her shorts and t-shirt that she slept in all summer are too chilly. This is the second flannel nightgown I’ve made her and she’ll be getting some polar fleece pajamas later this month. The neckband is a little weird and loose, but it’s not too bad. I’m still learning this sewing stuff.
(Pattern: Mccall’s M5965)
Nightgown: Yes.
Jacket: NO.
Though, to be fair, I should point out that the jacket is made of a very itchy-scratchy wool (Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool) and I haven’t lined yet so it is rather uncomfortable, I imagine.
Patterns: Simplicity 3586 (sewing), Drops b14-25 (crochet)
As you may have guessed by our title today, I have been pretty busy lately. On labor day, we drove up to Skytop Orchard and stocked up on apples (Honeycrisp. Delicious and great for baking.) and fed a lot of goats. I have been making a lot of apple things since then. We still have enough apples left for about 5 more apple cakes or a few quarts of applesauce, but I’m thinking it’s time for something different. Fortunately, there seems to be no shortage of lovely apple recipes.
My mom’s church had a big rummage sale last weekend and I got to sift through the stuff the day before and pick out some things to buy. I found a great knit top that I’m planning to make into a dress or skirt for Edda and a wool sweater that has a little moth-eaten but I’m pretty sure that I can still make these awesome slippers out of it if it turns out to be felt-able. I also found a nice, handknitted lace shrug that is almost Edda’s size! It’s acrylic, but very well-made. The stitches are very pretty and even… somebody put a lot of care into making it. It makes me wonder about the history of handmade things that end up in rummage sales. I hope none of the things I make ever end up there!
I feel like this post is getting a bit out of hand… we’ll wrap it up quickly with just one more photo.
This is a sweater that I’m making for MYSELF. I’m really jazzed about it, actually. I haven’t knit a sweater for myself since the first sweater I ever made. And that one wasn’t really a success. This one seems to be going a lot better. I must have gotten better at knitting in the last three years… Haha. What a surprise.
The yarn is a new one to me: Bamboo Ewe by Debbie Stoller’s Stitch Nation. The color is “eucalyptus.” I think it’s a little darker and greener in real life, but my camera doesn’t seem to capture it just exactly right. I’m going to have to wait until after the baby is born to try this on because it isn’t maternity-sized…. it’s going to be so hard to wait! At least it will still be hot around here for a long time. (ugh)
The pattern is the very-popular percentage system sweater from Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman. (Seamless yoke sweater, maybe? I always forget what it’s called.)
I just finished make the cutest little curtains for the new baby’s room….. and they are about 5 inches too short. They are just too short for me to make them work. They are not short enough that it looks like it could be intentional. I’m very upset about this.
I’ve been experiencing a sort of sewing revival (I think I mentioned it in my last post.) I have now made two little bunting/sack things, a blanket and a “crinkle square” for the new baby. Edda always loved crinkly things when she was younger, so I hope this baby does, too! I also made two pairs of p.j. pants for me and Ryan and a red dress for Edda. I’m a little obsessed.
No photos of the p.j.’s or the crinkle square, I keep forgetting to photograph things! You can kind of see the crinkle square in progress in the photo below. The blue bunting has a little doggie head below the zipper to cover up the hole for the seat belt strap. I was trying to modify the pattern so I could use it in the carseat, but I’m still getting the hang of modifying things so it wasn’t pretty. It still looks a little odd, but it’s better.
I have been knitting, too, but not as much. I finished a pair of stripey pants in a newborn to 3-months size. I used a bunch of leftover knit picks stroll sock yarn from other projects. I think these will be very comfy and cozy! I don’t know what I was thinking with all those narrow stripes, though. Weaving in all those ends took absolutely FOREVER!
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