Knitting, knitting and more knitting

With the boys in bed at 7 and more dishes done throughout the day, my world has opened up and my me time has been very relaxing.  I need to get this post done quickly so that I can get back to it a few finishing touches need to be made for this weeks birthday gifts.
 I started out with a wallaby for each boys and for uncle zak- so three sweaters completed by the end of october and then my obsession really began.  I finished two cowls for myself.

Then after realizing that my boys were still wearing hats that I knit prior to Asher's birth, I was on a huge hat kick.  I lasted for three months.  I cast on this double knit hat, the hardest knit had I have ever attempted and realized quickly after starting it for a third time that I couldn't do it while having to interact with human beings, so I worked slowly and then gift knitting kicked in and I will soon be picking it back up and hopefully finishing this for my mom before winter passes us by.  The yarn is a fabulous wool, silk blend and the perfect colors for her.

 a skein of green turned into a couple of hats for my boys.

 and a skein of Chroma and 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in gray turned into 5 hats all that look somewhat like this one below.

 A noro hat for me is at the bottom of the stack.

 From hats, I moved onto what I believe is a love affair with peace fleece starting with 5 mittens knit from one skein, green of course for these boys.  I'll share the super easy mitten for any hand pattern next week.

 The biggest sets of projects came below as my nieces model  Reese in her green Bulle.  Oh my, I love this pattern.  It is fun to knit and so cute.  Six have been made so far, though two still need their pockets.  I changed it up a bit by my forth.

They have pockets!  I love pockets, kids love pockets, everyone needs more pockets.

And then there was Audra's birthday coat.  Which may be the niece gift of the next year... we'll see, it has a lot of stockinette, and while I adore the pattern and fit of the garment, I am not sure if I will knit four more.

 This is the Phoebe sweater.  If you have a daughter and can knit, make one.

 And last but not least, River's unfinished birthday sweater.  Although to my credit is was completed for his birthday, but I didn't like the collar, so I tore it out and am re-doing it with a new knitting idea.

Next onto the needles after a few more mittens, a first sweater for the mama around here.

T-Shirt Butchering

 To make Yarn.  I haven't been making yarn all that long, but I think I have figured out how to utilize the cutting techniques to get the most length per t-shirt and leave the least remains: which I am still debating if I can compost.
Steps 1-3:  Lay your shirt as flat as you can.  Fold it almost in half... you want to leave an inch that you will not be cutting and it is easiest to do if you fold with an inch to spare.  Using a rotary cutter cut off the hem.  Then cut one inch in width up to the fold line, be sure to cut the fold line, so you get through the folded hems side.

Cut across the rest of the shirt in one inch increments making sure to not go all the way to the other end, stop within one inch.  To finish this length of yarn put your arm cut in a diagonally across, please reference this awesome tutorial for more detailed photos.  Roll it into a ball.  I like to stretch the yarn out before balling it, makes it curl up on itself and also adds length :)

 Now move onto the top portion of the t-shirt.  Cut off the sleeves and then the chest and back from the collar and shoulder section.  

Next, look closely at the picture below, with the flat section of the chest and back will be cut back and forth, without cutting all the way through to the end.  It will have a bit of a bump in the yarn, but when you stretch it and crochet with it, it won't matter much.

 Connect the pieces of yarn together by cutting a small slit in both ends that you will be connecting.  Lay The one that you are adding on top of the end of your yarn ball.  Take the end and put it through the bottom and pull up through the two slits.  The end should go through the slit of the one it isn't connected to first and for more pictures and details this tutorial is a good reference and what I used when I connect strips of sheets.

Then Cut the hems off the two sleeves and cut them like you did the body tube of fabric.  Attach them to the ball of yarn with the slit technique as above.

Access the remains and decide what to do with them.  I have saved all the main body hems and have them hanging in my house as color inspiration and am trying to think of something to do with them.  The rest sadly I have thrown in the trash-- but so much less than any other butchering job out there.

Then go crochet something.

This Seasons Garlands

I do so love things strung up on my windows, and pinecones are a natural fit for fall and winter decorations and are built for stringing up together. I think in the next month we will be making these again.

For these garlands all you need are pine cones and a roll of thread, I used an old sewing machine color that I most likely won't sew with, it is off brown, didn't know that was a color, but it is. This brown blended in the with pine cones which was nice. All I did was follow the natural spiral of the cone to wrap the string around one and a half times then moved on to the next.

I love the texture of pine cones and the effect you get when piling them on top of one another, the bigger pattern of the whole is pretty phenomenal... so we kept a bowl to stare at.

Happy Fall!

For the Floor

While this project has taken a new shape from my original plans, I am quite pleased with the results. My original balls of "yarn" that I made were used up quickly, crocheting really takes up a lot of material. So quickly I hit the thrift stores for sheets and the boys and I made more strips.

So excited for this to be under my feet. I think we may need a few more sheets to finish it off, but it can be used in the meantime.

A few things about what seems to work best with crocheting rugs. First the Vintage Chica has a tutorial here. Thought it is a little vague I was able to make mine with these loose guidelines. I think you should make the fabric yarn the way this tutorial shows you too. Just cutting left bigger bumps than I liked as VC recommends. If you would like more instruction, Five Green Acres has a pattern available for download.

The Start of Something Beautiful

I patiently waited to have all the material in a box. And have finally begun what I believe will be a project for the rest of winter and into spring. But I am pretty convinced that the result will be worth all the work and waiting and recycling.

I hope to get 30 minutes of braiding in at least 4 times a week and then Ben will start doing the stitching of the braids. Then we can replace the dirty old rug in front of the wood stove with an authentic braided rag rug.

Freezer Paper Stencils

Oh, I continue to have so much fun with this. I did some simple shirts for the boys Solstice gifts and a couple designs with numerous cut out sheets. Love, loving the results.
And my helpers.

The owl, I did the branches separate from the owls and then put some of the cut out freezer paper back onto the painted design to block out the body in order to paint the wings. Layering adds a whole new level of fun to this super simple technique.

Reversible Infant Hat

I have been busy with fiber lately and now need to shift gears to my sewing machine. But I was able to whip up these two little hats. The pattern is free from the Winter edition of Rythmn of the Home, which by the way is a pretty awesome free online magazine published quarterly.

As there is no longer an infant around here, we made other use of the hats-- they fit our dolls perfectly. River was thrilled to have a hat for his baby.

Plus it only took about 15 minutes to crochet and really helped me see how crochet chains and stitches work together in patterns. I know how to crochet, but in its most basic form and I haven't branched out, so I was happy to have a different stitch pattern then typical for me.

Untangling

With Solstice gift preparations in full swing, I am winding us some new yarn and trying hard to untangle the old projects in my basket. Both boys have vests and casting on for Ben's (a second time, as I doubled stitches incorrectly for knitting in the round opposed to making a front and back- 3 inches of ribbing frogged!) should happen over the drive north.

This vest for Asher has been in the works for too long.

We had a cold snap that lasted for a couple of days, nights by the fire with needles clacking and progress is happening.

Fish Prints

We have been busy around here, celebrating birthdays, cooking, preserving and really enjoying our new patio. For Ben's birthday this year we got some paint and fish casts to do some printing and the boys loved having something to paint and it turned out to be a fun family activity.

Our results definitely leave something room for improvement, but for a first run we are pleased.