Two things happened in April- my beloved Grammy passed away, and I finished the Switchback Sweater. When I got the news that she had passed, I decided that 1.) the sweater needed to be completed in April and 2.) that a rebranding was definitely in order. So the Betty Cardigan was born. Betty was a fierce and sassy woman with a quick wit and clever hands. She was giving and warm and suffered no fools. This sweater is like her, and is a great tribute to her. The finished cardigan is warm and inviting and makes you feel accomplished when you are wearing her. The shawl collar was a bit fussy until I got the buttons on. Once that happened, it began to behave. The pattern was very easy to follow, even when I decided that I knew better than the designer (spoiler alert- I didn’t) and had to get myself back on track. I was incredibly leery to knit an all-over colorwork sweater with only one Ravelry project. Let me repeat that, there was only One Completed Project on Ravelry. Generally, I will read all of the project notes (unless there are a bajillion completed projects) and make decisions on whether it is a well written pattern or not, before I purchase it. I will also only purchase it if there are a good amount of completed projects that vouch for the pattern. For some reason, I just jumped into this one headfirst. I am incredibly happy that the sleeves are knit first. That gave me time to adjust to the main pattern, and it is generally my least favorite thing to do. If you knit the sleeves first, once you are done with the body, you are done with the sweater. I got to steek. I mean what more is there to say. Steeking is so terrifying and efficient, I simply love it. I need to incorporate more steeking into my knitting. I followed Suzanne Bryan’s tutorials on figuring out the button band, and hot damn that woman knows her stuff! This is the very best button band/ collar I have ever knit. I don’t even mind the shawl collar. Note to self- always add a knit stitch to the bottom hem of button bands. So if the pattern calls for a k1, p1 rib, do k2, p1 for the first 3 and last 3 stitches. It helps the bottom hem not to roll under as much. I am so happy with this sweater that I have decided to leave well enough alone and not try to cut in pockets. Even though they are my most favorite thing, I don’t think they would add anything to the look of the cardigan. They may even take something away from it. The sweater is huge on me, and the sleeves are too long. This will be a great feature when I am freezing my ass off at the dreaded camping trip. There is so much amazing and wonderful about this cardigan.

I would love to lie and say that the sweater is flawless and everything went 100% to plan, but this is me we are talking about. Of course there were mistakes. I messed up the body pattern and didn’t realize it until about 3 inches up. There was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to rip back and pray that I wouldn’t loose stitches. I only did it over about 20 stitches, so I dropped them down and fixed the color pattern. This would have been an amazing fix if I hadn’t royally screwed up and twisted some stitches, had a super long leftover float, and maybe had more of the correct color yarn to work with so that the stitches weren’t so tight. I thought that it may block out, but nope, it’s front and center, right across the middle of my shoulders. I notice it 100%. Ms. H says only I notice it, so I am going with that, and will try not to fixate on it. The sleeves are too long because I decided to modify the pattern. The pattern instructs you to knit 6″ cuffs, so that you can turn them back. I didn’t wanted doubled up cuffs, so I only knit 3″ and I forgot to deduct the excess 3″ from the over all sleeve length. I also had a bit of a challenge knowing how to follow the pattern at the neck decrease. I was always supposed to begin and end with the main color, but I would forget or it would leave too big of a gap between the Moss and the Cloud. I don’t think it is noticeable at all, so I am going to ignore it. My final blunder was that I ordered really nice buttons. I found them on Etsy and ordered them right away. I waited days for them, and was so delighted when they finally showed up. I snatched them up and ran them to the cardigan to see if the color worked. The color was great! I started placing them on the button band, and had them all laid out, ready to sew on. I wanted to give them a little test with the button hole. They didn’t fit… They would in no way go through the buttonhole. Not even with a bit of force. I had ordered the wrong size buttons. This was incredibly annoying. The very nice buttons were sent to my stash for a future project, and I was sent to Joann’s. The buttons aren’t the most vintage glam, like the others, but they compliment the contrast color and they do the job. Note to self: You are not in control of the world. A 1 1/4″ button will NEVER fit into a 3/4″ buttonhole, no matter how much you want it to.

I would absolutely recommend this sweater pattern. If you are comfortable with colorwork, garment making, or you are ambitious to give them a try, this is a fantastic place to start. It looks super complicated, but the pattern is full of spoon-feeding. One of the greatest things of all time is that I only have one ball of Moss left. What started this whole journey was wanting to use up a large quantity of Wool of the Andes yarn in the color Moss, that had been in my stash for-ev-er. Now, I only have one ball left!!!! That will totally be thrown into a charity hat or something of the like. I am so excited that I accomplished my stash-down goal! Using it for color work did exactly what I had hoped it would. While I love a good green, Moss wasn’t the color for me. Pairing it with the Cloud gave it softness and depth. The Midnight Heather gives it a rich pop of color. I am glad that I didn’t go with something more feminine. The color combo gives it an old school richness. A lady of the manor library look, that I love. I showed it to the Father and he asked if it was for him. I had to kill his dream immediately. I reminded him that I offered to knit him a sweater last year and he declined. He said he wouldn’t wear a wool sweater, that it would be too hot. Well, sorry love, but you can’t have this one! I mean, I know he is directly responsible for my existence, but come on… So she is done, and she is beautiful and I love her. She brought great happiness in a time of sorrow. I am proud of myself for completing this complex project and for tackling something that I was intimidated by. Way to go, me! Thank you, Betty. You brought out the best in me, in so many ways.

Loves,

M

Hello, April!  Good-bye, April!  Dang, that went fast.  I got a bunch of stuff made- some successes, some failures.  I did a lot of making but most of my time was spent on baby knits and my one big project. 

• Finished Makes:

Flax sweater by Tin Can Knits.  I knit this for the Accountant’s baby in size 0-6 months

Mignon Sweater by Loop London.  I knit this for the gift basket, it is one size fits 0-6 months

Headband with a twist by Mirella Moments.  I knit this as my only charity knitting for April.  I am ashamed, and will now make up for it in May.

The Betty Cardigan (formerly the Switchback Sweater) by Rachel Brockman.  This is 99.5% completed, but I am listing it as an FO.  My buttons are ordered and have been shipped.  They will be sewn on the day they arrive.

All the tie-dyes!

Beeswax Candle(s)

• New cast-ons:

Vanilla socks for me

Shik’is Cowl

• Works in progress

Jameson sweater

Knitting my memories (may be re-vamped, stay tuned)

White denim skirt

Lawley skirt

Dooney & Burke handbag repair

• Goals for next month:

Work on sewing the Lawley skirt

Sew a Luna Tank out of the pink bedsheet.  Use only a sewing machine with zig-zag stitch this time, instead of the overlocker.

Try making more candles

Another round of tie-dye for Father’s Day gifts

Finish the Jameson sweater

Make the March and April Yummy crate recipes (which arrived incredibly late due to production issues)

I didn’t sew in the month of April.  The entire month of April.  I didn’t even pull out my sewing machine.  I want to remedy that in May.  I want to keep practicing and making mistakes and fixing them.  I want to open up my wardrobe, both in me-made and in style.  I also want to try making more candles.  While candles are easy enough to purchase already made, I can’t do scents, and don’t particularly like the smell of unscented candles burning.  Buying beeswax candles is rather expensive, so I figure I need to figure out my life and get better at making them myself.  The tie-dye was very fun, and we will definitely be doing it again in May for all of the Dads.  I love seeing my girl be creative!  While I worked on a lot of projects, and different crafts, the main thing that took my time and attention was the Betty Cardigan.  There is a whole separate post being written about the renaming and the whole knitting process.  It is just waiting for my buttons to arrive, then I will hit publish.  That cardigan was a lot of work and I am so proud of it!  I am also on a tightening deadline for baby knits.  I got one soon-to-be here baby knit done, now I need to get another one going.  The Mignon cardigan came out cute, but not really what I wanted.  So instead of it going to the intended recipient, it will go into the gift basket, for now.  I was completely pitiful about my charity knitting, and again, that needs to be remedied in May.  I am now in love with the Headband with a Twist pattern.  Super easy and very usable.  This will be a great pattern for when I don’t have enough yarn for a full hat.  I would really like to finish my Jameson sweater this month, since it has been in the WIP bucket for many moons, but I won’t hard-stop myself.  I also want to start looking for a new big project.  I am thinking that it may now be time to start on the Paris Toujours shawl.

April was an interesting month that had high highs and low lows.  The beginning started out great with Spring break and all of the fun that I Feebs and I had.  I very much enjoyed my time with my girl and our special crafty time.  I got to do a fun virtual Crafter-noon with the HBs.  We had Easter with egg dying and a mini egg hunt in the house.  I also got to have my night away with the female O.  I had the best time!  We did go shopping…  Boo…  But I bought a bunch of clothes necessary for adulting.  I have stepped up my work attire and have been putting more effort into my work appearance.  Aside from shopping woes, the weekend was fantastic.  I am absolutely determined that we do this again.  (I hope she does too…)  Last weekend, The Husband and I went to a lovely wedding in Bodega Bay.  The vibe of the wedding was gorgeous, very welcoming and happy.  The weather left something to be desired being that it was on the coast, outside, at night.  It was cold A-F, but totally worth it.  The bride and groom were radiant and so happy.  On our way home from the coast, we stopped in Petaluma for breakfast and found a hidden gem.  We stopped at Della Frattoria.  OMG Becky, the bread.  All of the bread!  It was heavenly and we will certainly be going back!  Feebs and I have slacked on our Yummy Crate cooking, but that was mostly due to the delay in receiving them.  We will work on it more in May.  The low point of the month came with the passing of my beloved Grammy.  She was the one that taught me to knit and the love of making things with my hands.  She was also my last remaining grandparent, which I realize that I am so lucky to say at my age.  She lived a long, full life and I loved her very much.  She leaves a very big hole in my family.  In May we will celebrate her life and remember all of the good about her.  She was a woman worthy of one hell of a celebration! 

So that was April. All in all it was a positive month, if painful too. I am so excited to tackle Me-Made-May! I may have to sit down and ponder another pattern/ crafting pairing post. I know I still have the Lawley skirt and the overalls to go, but it never hurts to dream or reprioritize. See you in the next post.

Loves,

M 

Well, I gave it my best and failed spectacularly. I had saved a couple of food jars and removed the labels. I purchased new yellow bees wax. I dusted off my candle making stuff (wicks, holders, measuring cups, etc.) I watched YouTube tutorials on making jar candles. Everything was good to go. Except it wasn’t, and they turned out really bad.

Things that went wrong:

1. I think the wick was too big for the small mouthed jars- they cracked as they set and then when I burned them they tunneled down very fast.

1. I poured the wax at too high of a temperature for all 3 jars. The one that came out the best still sunk in the middle causing uneven burn (you can see it is sunk in the picture on the right.)

Ideas for next time:

• YouTube: Bramble Berry- How to make bees wax candles, tips and tricks from a professional candlemaker

• Use jars with a larger mouth

• Let the wax cool more before pouring into the jars

• Buy a variety of sizes of wicks

• Use glue dots to secure the wicks in place prior to pouring the wax

• Use two clothes pins hold wick in place while it sets

I think I will try to melt down the two tunneled candles and try re-pouring the wax into a larger jar. We will try this again, another day. We will not be defeated!

Loves,

M

Spring break was here a couple of weeks ago. Since I have a J-O-B (which is necessary but quite inconvenient), I was not able to take the whole week off. Feebs and I did decide to take that Thursday and Friday off, though, and have a special girls only couple of days. We did all manner of fun crafting things like painting rocks for the garden, going to a paint your own ceramics place (that was a rather expensive endeavor!), and tie-dye t-shirts. I had never done tie-dye before. Feebs did a shirt earlier that week at her camp, and had a lot of fun doing it. We decided to head to Joann’s and pick up a kit. We bought 3 shirts, one for each of us, and one for The Mother, for Mother’s Day. We got home, and thank all that’s holy, I had a spare shower curtain. (Note to self: Ikea has plastic shower curtains for like $2 a piece. You cannot put a value on having your counters/ tables/ deck/ etc. protected. It is priceless and worth every penny. Stock up on them while you have young, creative kids!) We put it down and mixed the dyes. Since I had never done this before, I watched a YouTube video on the process. I really wish I had heeded his warning about wearing rubber gloves through the whole process. The picture was taking 3 days later, after several attempts to remove the color from my skin (dish soap, nail polish remover, and Mr. Clean magic eraser).

Things to remember for next time:

• Squeeze as much water out as possible after soaking
• A little dye goes a long way- squirt some onto the desired area, and work through with your fingers
• Do Not over-saturate the section with dye- it will puddle in the bag
• Learn how to make the desired patterns with the rubber bands
• Do not set out in the sun to set- colorful condensation will result and it will puddle under the cloth
• Even if the kit says it’s not necessary, use a color fixative, or at least vinegar, to set the dye
• Do not wash the garment right away
• Wear gloves!

The end results were fairly good, considering we’d never done it before. Once we got started we realized that we had A LOT of dye left. We decided to go all out. Feebs and I both gathered up all of our old white-ish dingy pajama and work out shirts and dyed them. We even did a bonus shirt and a canvas Trader Joe’s bag. In total we dyed 5 shirts for Feebs, 5 for me, 1 for The Mother, 1 bonus shirt, and the canvas bag. There was some definite color bleed, since we didn’t realize the excess color would puddle, but they still came out pretty cute. We will do better next time.

Loves,

M

We have a completed body!  It has been completely knit, underarms seamed, ends woven in, and it has been steeked.  Last night I reinforced the steeks and cut it straight up the front.  I don’t know why steeking is so satisfying, but it really is.  I love the practicality of it.  Tonight, I will wash and block the whole thing.  I am hoping it will be fully dry by Friday.  I watched fabulous tutorials from Suzanne Bryan on YouTube.  I watched both the button band and the buttonhole tutorials.  I think that if I actually sit down and do the math, my button band will look really nice.  I am determined to rip it out and start over if I don’t think it looks good.  I really liked her vertical buttonhole and will use that on this sweater.  I still need to buy ribbon to sew over the raw edges.  I am also still pondering if I want to cut in pockets.  The jury is still out.  I feel confident that it will be completed well before the dreaded camping trip deadline.  I am almost done with this sweater!

Loves,

M

The days of March went very slow, but the month flew by.  I had some making struggles this month, mostly due to wrist and elbow pain.  It really slowed down my knitting progress.  That being said, I did finish a couple of projects, and made a huge dent in my Switchback sweater.

• Finished makes:

Calliope by Espace Tricot, 3^rd size in Juniper Moon Farm Stargazer. 

Flax by Tin Can Knits, 2-4 year size in Schachenmayr Baby Smiles Super Soft (deep stash).  This was knit for Ahleena.

March charity hats, 80 stitch hat and 70 stitch ear warmer.  I really slacked on my charity knitting this month.  I was having issues with pain and didn’t want to work on something that I knit fast.  I did finish 1 hat and 1 ear warmer.   

See & Sew B6613, size 6 years

Simplicity 8027, size 6 years

DiBY ABB Tee, size 8 years

• New cast-ons:

The Switchback sweater

• Works in progress:

Jameson sweater

Knitting my memories blanket

Lawley skirt

White denim skirt

• Goals for next month:

Sew the Lawley skirt

Cut out and sew the Kwik Sew K 4138

Make up more jar candles

Finish the body of the Switchback sweater, block everything before steeking

Sew a Luna Tank using the overlocker

Make every recipe in the February Yummy Crate

 I have so much nerve to still have the white denim skirt on the Works in Progress list.  I finally got organized and sat down to sew it, a few weeks ago.  I took one look at the darts that needed to be sewn and balled the thing up, pattern and all, and put it in a basket.  This will have to be dealt with later.  I don’t mean to give up on projects or indulge in my start-itis, but I seem to have some kind of block against this skirt, so I am just going to shelf it for now.  I did end up using the food fabric and making the girl her jams, as you may have seen in an earlier post.  I am happy to have that fabric out of my stash.  I cut out the Lawley skirt, and probably have enough of the seersucker fabric left for a tank top of some kind.  I bought a bias tape making kit, so that should help me with future projects.  I think I will omit the drawstring on the Lawley skirt.  I don’t like bulk at my waistline.  I figured that between knitting and a lot of data entry at work, that I have been causing myself some wrist and elbow pain.  I have stopped the fast- knitting projects (anything straight stockinette), which is why I didn’t finish all my charity hats this month.  I think the little flax sweater was the knitting culprit.  Working on the Switchback has been less impact because it is all over color-work, and I knit with both hands.  This makes me slow down and use different motions.  I am also vetoing myself from bringing my knitting to work.  I need to stick with only knitting at night and on weekends.  I am getting an itch to start thinking of my next knitting pattern, seeing as I am about 65% done with my Switchback sweater.  I am holding out, though, so that I don’t get distracted by the shiny new knitting projects.  I was on a bit of a sewing kick last month, and I want to keep it going.  I didn’t make any yarn or fabric purchases, but I did buy a pack of yellow bee’s wax.  I have been saving food jars so that I can make some more candles.  I have all the stuff, so I really need to use it up.  My allergies won’t tolerate any scent of any kind, so if I want to burn candles, then I need to make some.

March, overall, wasn’t a bad month.  It was busy, but that is normal.  We finally finished up the weeds and back yard work.  We still have big gnarly plants to dig up but may wait till we are ready for a deck.  Now we get to shift our attention to the front yard and getting that cleaned up and tidied.  Right now, it is baren waste land.  We gave our powder room a little face-lift, which turned out very nice!  I like the color and the fact that it’s clean looking.  Sister #3 finally came to see our house, and it was a delightful visit!  I always enjoy spending time with her.  I end up laughing most of the time, even when she isn’t trying to make me laugh.  I also got to have dinner with Sister-in law #1.  It was such a nice evening.  The food was good, and the company was better.  (Note to self- those fish tacos are worth going back for.)  We took Feebs to see an interactive play in Walnut Creek.  It was for Jack and the Beanstalk.  She had a blast, and wants to see more plays, which thrills me!  Maybe I will finally have a theater buddy.  We met the O’s and the F-S’s at a park, one Saturday.  I got to snuggle a baby!  It was amazing and I didn’t even regret the baby elbow that resulted from it.  The little S-man is adorable.  Mid-month we had a minor incident with our truck and that has made it very obvious that we need to stop talking about it, and actually buy a commuter vehicle for the Husband.  We will keep the truck and it will probably run for another 100,000 miles, but it can no longer be a primary vehicle.  This has started a discussion about fully electric vehicles and the best value for our money.  I detest making big purchases, but in this case it is necessary.  Feeb’s February Yummy Crate did not arrive in February.  It did not arrive until March 23.  I was in contact with the company asking about the delay and was told that they have distribution issues.  The company was great about it, but it was still frustrating.  We haven’t yet made the recipes, nor have we received our March crate.  We may give Cheesy & Melty crate a try this weekend.  I am happy to report that I have scheduled a lunch with Sister #2 for May.  I am so excited for that!  I think that about sums up the lovely month of March.  I already have a full calendar for April, and it is only the first day.

Loves,

M

I’m getting there!  I have two sleeves and a lower torso.  The knitting is slow due to wrist and elbow pain, but I am really enjoying this knit.  The sweater is going to be enormous, and I have no regrets.  Stranded Chart 1 was very clear and easy to follow.  Any mistakes made were completely user-error.  I am still not terribly happy with the color contrast.  There are a couple of places that I feel the lighter colors don’t do the pattern justice.  According to Ms. H, only I see it and I need to get over myself or she will jack the sweater from me when it is done.  I have about 5 more inches to complete, plain, before I begin the center and raglan decreases.  Since I have a not so charming relationship with button bands, I am going to start watching YouTube videos and reading forums on how to knit them without the weird scrunched up look on the bottom hem.  I also want to up my button-hole game.  I am thinking that I may buy a pretty ribbon to sew over the steeked edges.  I am contemplating making it a larger ribbon that will also reinforce the buttonholes.  I think Katie of Inside #23 did a quick tutorial on adding ribbon to a button band.  I will have to ponder this. 

So, let’s get organized- Things to research:

Button bands and buttonholes

Shawl collars

Cut in pockets

Reinforcing button bands with ribbon

Reinforcing steek panels

Loves,

M

I think now is a good time to document the patterns that I turn to when I have a gift to knit.   I have knit these patterns multiple times and find them easy to follow.  None of them use a large quantity of yarn and the recipients have always seemed happy to receive them!

Accessories

• Coffee Sweater- Allison Griffith (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/coffee-sweater).  These are amazing for last minute, inexpensive gifts.  They are also fantastic stash busters.  For Christmas, one year, I picked up travel mugs, the Husband’s hot cocoa packets, and an assortment of teas.  Each sleeve took me about 1 1/2 hours to knit.  In total, each gift cost me $5.  I made 7 for my staff and 5 for the Husband’s co-workers. 

• Gramma’s Dishcloths- P.J. Allen (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grammas-dishcloth-grandmothers-2nd-favorite).  These are knit using any worsted weight cotton yarn.  You can buy a million different colors from Knitpicks, Michael’s, or Joann’s.  These can be made for a gift bag for bath time (scented soap, body wash, and some scented candles) or a prissy dishwashing kit (cute dishwashing gloves, fancy pot scrubber, and decorative dish soap container). These gift bags are great for housewarming gifts.

Wearable accessories

• Everglade Hat- Woolly Wormhead (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/everglade).  This pattern comes in 4 different sizes and uses one average skein of worsted weight yarn.  It is easy to knit, warm, and pretty.

• One Beer- Thea Coleman (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/one-beer).  Thea Coleman always puts out a great pattern.  This hat is easy and has a simple, non-gendered look.  It is all knits and purls with a few decreases thrown in.

• Land of Sweets cowl- Helen Stewart (https://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittyGoodness/land-of-sweets-2).  You can do anything you want with this pattern.  It was designed to use up yarn advent calendars, so it is excellent for stash-busting.  I have knit 3 of these as gifts, so far.  I love the percentage system that Helen Stewart uses in all her patterns.  I find this to be a very simple and Zen knit, that can use any weight of yarn.

• The Snuggle is Real cowl- Maxim Cyr (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-snuggle-is-real-2). I am addicted to this pattern, both for gifts and for me. They are warm, unique, and are easy to knit. The mosaic knitting looks complicated, but it is really easy to get into a flow. Bonus, you can easily match the colors to your spouse’s motorcycle!

• Vanilla socks, following FLK heel instructions for size (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel). I use this method for sock knitting for all of my sock-knit-worthy people. I actually have the cardboard cutouts for Feebs from 18 months to her current old age of 7, and still collecting. I also keep them for the Father, the Husband, and the female O, since they are the most sock-knit-worthy people in my world. If you are a fan of short-row heel socks or haven’t found a preferred sock heel yet, definitely give the Fish Lips Kiss Heels, and pattern method, a try!

Baby knits

• Flax pullover- Tin Can Knits (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flax). To be perfectly honest, I am not quite sure how many times I have used this pattern. I have knit at least 3 for Feebs, 4 that I can remember as gifts, and I have modified and spruced up the pattern most times that I have knit it. It is a beginner-ideal sweater pattern that knits up quickly. The one pictured is a 2-4 year old size and was completed today. I started it two days ago. Yeah, it’s a fast knit!

• Bean & Olive- Drea Rene Knits (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bean–olive). This is the sweetest sweater if you want a fun baby knit. For some reason, I always struggle with the yolk increase rows, each time I knit it. There is NOTHING wrong with the pattern. I just seem to have some kind of block on non-standard increase methods. Even when they are fantastic and practically invisible increases… My bad, not DRK’s.

• Stacked stag-horn baby sweater- Stacey Cilia (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stacked-stag-horn-baby-sweater-dk-weight). This has been my go-to baby boy sweater for several years. While I am not a fan of bottom-up construction with sweaters, this is such a cute and quick knit. I always forget how quickly the little sleeves knit up.

• Mignon cardigan- Loop London (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mignon-2). To be honest, I have only knit this sweet little cardigan one time, so far. I loved the pattern and the mommy-to-be loved the finished sweater. The reason that it made it onto the Go-To Gift Knits list is that I have every intention of knitting it again for future babies.

• Tweed Baby Blanket- Jared Flood (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tweed-baby-blanket). Again, a pattern that I have only knit once. But again, a pattern that I fully intend to use again. The center was a very quick knit. Picking up the 1,000,000,000,000 stitches around the border was a bit of a slog, but once that was done, the blanket was completed in no time.

• Chevron Cherub Wrap- Lisa Siefert (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chevron-cherub-wrap). This has been my go-to baby blanket since I started knitting baby blankets. It is very quick and can be fancied up if desired. The first time I knit it, I followed the pattern and did it in stockinette. I learned that was not my jam due to the rolling that all good stockinette foists upon you. I have since always knit it in garter stitch.

For some reason, this seems to be a big year for life changes for the people that surround me. I know a lot of soon to be married people, homebuyers, and family expanding people. Now is the perfect time to start cataloging these and planning for the upcoming gift-knit projects.

Loves,

M

This month I have sewn garments for Feebs. I was wanting to use up some fabric in my cubbies, and had my eye on eliminating the food flannel. That fabric was turned into some pajama pants using See & Sew B6613. I have used this pattern for her jammie pants several times and have always used size 6. Since I am a complete heathen, I cut out my patterns, so it was never going to last past size 6. My girl is 7 now, and getting too tall for the 6- 6X size. She still has a little waist though and can fit in her 6- 6X size clothes. To fix the situation I added about 3.5 inches of cuffs using the same fabric in the opposite direction. This worked great and now they will last her at least through the fall (I hope).

Last, and oh my god, certainly least is the DiBY ABB Tee. The pattern was so easy and self explanatory, so do not take any of the horror of the outcome as anything against DiBY.com. The was my first time sewing with jersey material, and my first time sewing a garment on my overlocker. IT CAME OUT SO BAD! I won’t even tell you everything I did wrong, because this would be a few pages long. Instead, I will tell you some of the challenges, new techniques, and positive outcomes.

Challenges:

1. I used a ball point needle and the fabric was still chewed up by my sewing machine
2. Even though I know how to drive both automatic and standard transmission vehicles, I could not figure out how to gently depress the pedal on my overlocker, so it went way too fast
3. I absolutely could NOT make the pocket look right and even, so omitted it
4. I was very careful not to stretch the fabric at all when I was sewing/ overlocking, and all of the hems are still ruffled.

New techniques:

1. I decided to use my rotary cutter and mat, generally I am a scissors kind of person
2. I sewed shoulder, side, and arm seams with my overlocker
3. I used a recycled cotton jersey bed sheet to make this, and was my first time sewing knit fabric

Positive outcomes:

1. Feebs likes it (most important)
2. In the end, I did end up with a shirt
3. I learned to pay close attention to where the blade is when using the overlocker, especially when sewing around curves

Notice, I am only showing a 30,000 feet picture of this shirt? I have decided that this is not a project that I want to document up close. I really feel like any future project I make, like this, will be a vast improvement. I am also going to call myself out for being sloppy and lazy (and just mildly frustrated and tired) on the neckband. I did not follow the directions and mark the front, center, and side quarters. I decided to just eyeball it. Note to self: you do not have an experienced eyeball. While you know how to fudge knitting, you do NOT know how to fudge sewing. Follow the directions, lady!

Loves,

M

I knit a swatch.  And by swatch, I mean I knit the sleeves.  So far so good.  There is contrast between the Moss and the Cloud.  Not as much contrast as I would like, but it is definitely there.  I think the Midnight Heather will really pop against the body colors.  I have made my first error.  The pattern for the cuffs is 6 inches of ribbing, so that they can be folded over.  I am not a fan of folded cuffs, so I opted to knit 3 inches of rib instead.  By doing this I should have shortened the sleeve measurement by 3 inches, which I did not.  As a result, I will have exceptionally long sleeves, which I don’t mind.  Going down from a size 8 needles to a size 7 was a good idea.  The sleeves are snug (thanks to my very tight color work knitting), but not too tight.  I think the overall fit will be good.  Due to some soreness in my wrists and elbows, this is taking much longer to knit that I thought it would.  I am taking more and longer breaks with knitting.  I need my limbs to stay active and able, till death do us part, so I am trying to take it easy.  I hope to start the body this weekend.

Loves,

M