Knits and Stitches

I Am Working Away

2008-03-29T11:33:00.001-07:00

Long time no blog! I have actually been working a ton, but mostly for other people. Pant hems are not so interesting to blog about. But here are a few things that I have managed to make for myself. Appreciate that these photos were taken by my four year old. I think that I have a budding artist on my hands! I got "Sew U" for Christmas, and I was inspired to make a few things for myself. This is the first one I have finished. I think this skirt looks a little like an apron, but it's fun and springy. This sweater I didn't knit, but I added the zipper and the embroidery.

"Olive" Dolls and New Laundry Bags

2008-01-03T22:58:00.000-08:00

So, no knitting right now, but I have been doing some sewing! These are the cute "Olive" dolls that I made the girls for Christmas. I think Sylvan's came out particularly cute with the tutu. :) And these are the new and desperately needed laundry bags I made while I was procrastinating recently. I decided that they could be cute as well as functional, so I made them out of some of the fabric that I had left from Sylvan's curtains. I just have to say that I love ricrac!

Flip Flop Socks!

2007-12-23T20:50:00.001-08:00

I finally finished something that I can actually put up! I have done a bunch of Christmas craft things, but I keep giving them away before I remember to take pictures. But, here are my lovely flip flop socks. I've been wearing them a lot. I am totally getting addicted to handmade socks. I'll try and take pictures soon of the "Archie and Olive" dolls that I am making for the girls for Christmas. They turned out so cute!

My Life and Stuff

2007-11-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

So, I don't know if you have heard, but my life is unbelievably bad right now. My husband has asked for a divorce. I am looking at being a single mom of a six month old and a three year old, and I am currently unemployed. And I got the stomach flu for Thanksgiving. On the up side I have an amazing family that has rushed in to help me out, and I have great friends who have offered everything from legal services to more meals than I can eat. That said my knitting has been a little erratic. I made a tiny comfort blanket for my baby which I don't have a picture of. I made a Christmas hat for a friend overseas that I also don't have a picture of. I have started a Christmas scarf and hat out of some lovely Malabrigo, a pair of tabi socks, and made plans for several things, but nothing is even close to being done. So, what I really want to post about is all the lovely new blogs I have been reading. This is from a pattern from WeeWonderfuls a super sweet blog with a totally cute store that I want everything out of. The other site that I am currently obsessed with is called Sew, Mama, Sew! and she is doing this amazing 30 days of gifts to sew. She has tons of easy sewing ideas for great gifts with tutorials, and patterns. She also has a store where you can buy super cute fabric! Amy Butler and all kinds of other amazing stuff.

Sweater is Done!!

2007-09-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

My red sweater is done! My red sweater is done! and when I wore it to church on Sunday everyone admired it, and would have placed orders if I had the time fore it! It's so nice to feel like my crafts turn out well. I love the Drops site! Every pattern I have used from there has been lovely. I wish I had a better camera, but you can see it at knitting on Weds.

Other People's Knits

2007-08-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

So, I thought since I don't have any photos of my stuff, that I would post some pics of the cute knits that I have gotten for Ember. These are the super cute matching socks that Suzanne made for us. The beautiful bonnet that Chauntel made. And then Ember was done modeling! (This is a hat that my friend Brenda in Colorado made) Maybe another day I'll have more pics including some of Ember in the dress that I made. :)

Downs and Ups

2007-08-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not actually sure if anyone is still reading this blog, but I am going to keep posting anyway. :) Life sort of imploded for us in the last month or so. I feel like all I have been doing is crying lately. Crying in the grocery store, crying at church, crying at home. It sucked. Maybe I should have anticipated it, since this year Peter and I both turned 30, had our 7th anniversary, and our second child. Everything was sort of touch and go for awhile there, but I feel like now we are at least moving toward reconciliation and healing, and maybe now I can stop crying. :) We are seeing an excellent therapist, and our excellent pastor, so that should help. I also just have to look at my kids to remember things aren't so bad. My baby is beautiful, and is laughing all the time now. There is no one that can make you feel more like an awesome stand up comedian than a three month old baby. She is in some danger of being smashed flat by her sister's over enthusiastic kisses, but in general we all just love her. On a lighter note I finished the body of my sweater and almost one sleeve. I am shooting for Halloween as my finishing goal instead of Christmas. :) I think I may do socks again next. I really love the simple wool ankle socks that I made last year. I may try some tabi socks to wear with my ever constant flip flops. I am trying not to feel guilty for not working on the nursing wrap, but it's still just too much for me right now. I think that I am also going to take the plunge and put some stuff up on Etsy. I think that this first offering will be a little random, since it will just be all the projects I have laying around in my sewing area. I am excited at the prospect of starting to make some unique things just for this site though. I will keep you all posted about what is going on with that.

Funny

2007-07-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Peter found this and said it reminded him of me :)

HP and Other Things

2007-07-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

So, no real progress to report. I missed knitting this week, and last week I tried to go, but it sounds like we all missed each other. I am still knitting away on my red sweater. I figure I'll have it done by the time we actually have cold weather here (like maybe December). :) I turned 30 on July 15th, and has a little celebration with my sweet sister, who flew out from Aspen to celebrate with me. She is awesome. We went to tea at the Biltmore, and it was delicious and so fun! If you like tea at all, or just want to be girly, or what to pretend that you are British make up a reason to celebrate! I highly recommend it. We also went to Aqua Nail Bar to get mani/pedis, and that was great too. They don't do acrylics there, so it wasn't stinky at all! and very reasonably priced. Peter and I also got to have a date to go and see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! we got a baby sitter for Sylvan, and the baby came with. Ember slept through most of it, and we had a great time! The movie was good too. I also ended up buying the new book, even though I had intended to be frugal and wait to get it at the library. They had a book display with glitter and balloons right in the front at Ralph's the day it came out. Somehow, that just tickled my funny bone so much, that combined with my desire to read it, I just had to buy it! I'm not actually done yet, because Peter really wanted to read out loud together. We have been enjoying the communal experience. I think we only have one chapter left. I have been reading other things at the same time, so that I don't go totally crazy waiting. Peter also keeps hiding the book from me while he is working. :)

Baby Viking Helmet

2007-06-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Another amusing submission from Boing Boing via Peter: Knit your own Baby Viking Helmet Instructions. I particularly like the fake blond braids!

Starting All Kinds of Things

2007-06-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

So I stared my lovely nursing shawl, and ended up throwing the yarn and needles across the room. I have set myself a daunting task. This is the intarsia border pattern that I have created for myself (imagine the florecent green part as a darker red, it was just easier to see this way): I think I have to wait until I'm getting more sleep to tackle it. I have also started this jacket: The yarn it's shown in is really ugly, but I'm using the knitpicks bulky in wine. It's really simple knitting, but that's good right now. It's circular from the center back, and I have been wanting to try that for awhile. If this one turns out well I might try this one, which I love, but is not simple knitting. It's in alpaca, so I need to save my pennies. :)

Jumping on the Visiual DNA Bandwagon

2007-06-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

This is Sylvan's (who knew she liked coffee so much?):

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

And this is Mine:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

And Peter's:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

She's Here!

2007-05-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

Ember Isabelle Stradinger has arrived! She was born on thursday May 17th at 8:20pm. She was 8lbs. 6oz. (exactly the same as her sister), and 20.5 in. long. If you want to hear the whole story check out my Mommy Blog

Humorous Adult Content

2007-05-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

So, Peter obsessively reads Boing Boing, and he found these things that I thought my crafty friends would appreciate. These beautifully embroidered "sweet and dirty" shirts are pretty funny: Here's the article and a link to the site they are from. The other article is about an amazing toilet paper wedding dress competition! Cool dress, don't you think?

A Few More Things, and No Baby Yet

2007-05-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to do a little embroidery on this sweet little suit for the new baby. I was looking for a special first gown, but there were none to be found in Ventura, so we settled on this organic cotton suit with a little personal embroidery. My mom and sister and I searched high and low, but I think it's between seasons or something, because we couldn't find a thing. I like how it turned out though. :) This is a dress that Sylvan and I collaborated on. I was thinking that it would just be a simple little summer dress made out of this fabric with Popsicles we found at Craft Essentials, but Sylvan had other ideas. She decided on the length (it is in fact shorter than she really wanted), and added the bows and the sleeves. So as my sister said, it looks a little like a crazy 80's prom dress. I think that it may end up in the dress up clothes, but you may see it around town first. :)

Nesting Projects

2007-05-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

So, still no baby. My mom is here, and we have been running around getting last things. Right now, she is off doing all my laundry! How lucky am I. :) Here are some of the things that I have finished lately. Some fur mittens for Sylvan. She is totally obsessed with all the weather that we don't have here: snow, and lots of rain. :) So, we have several umbrellas, hats, and mittens. Two dresses for the new baby: And a quilted sling. There are a few other things, but these are the hightlights. :)

Lots of Lovely Things

2007-04-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I just realized that most of April has vanished, and I am now "full term" which means that the baby could come any time in the next six weeks (not an exact science). I have finished all my work projects, and have been nesting like mad, which mostly means starting projects like crazy. The pink dress is almost done, and I will get to make the hat next. :) I really love the Drops patterns. I went to BB's and got some lovely and amazing alpaca to make my nursing poncho. I couldn't resist it with the sale and all. So, we will see if I can make something lovely for my self out of them. Sylvan also found something for the new baby: She insists that it should be a pillow, and that the car buttons are necessary. :) We'll see what I can do with it. I also have all this other yarn that I bought thinking that I might use it for baby things. I still think that it's fun, but it feels to bright to knit with right now. I feel like I have been dropped into a lake of calm. Peter says that he can remember this happening the last month or so last time too. We are just waiting now, and knitting, and sewing. I have sewn a bunch of things, so maybe I'll post about those tomorrow. I also had a lovely baby shower today, and got all kinds of wonderful things. I will try and get some pics of that too.

Alpaca Love

2007-04-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

I love the Misti Alpaca Sport weight that I got for the baby set I'm making for the new baby! I want to knit only in alpaca. This is the pattern that I'm working on, and here is a picture of my progress.

Slow as Molasses

2007-03-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

So...not much happening here knitting wise. I did finish the bag for Sylvan at knitting last week. I've decided to hang on to it as part of the gift I'm getting together for the day the baby is born. I thought that I would make a little activity bag for her. I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of it though. I am finishing the booties with a little scalloped edge all around, but it's not done yet. I ended up inventing the scallop pattern, because I couldn't figure out how to do the backwards crochet they suggested. I also bought some really sweet light pink alpaca for a baby set, but haven't had the oomph to start it yet. Maybe, I'll just pet the new alpaca and wait for inspiration. I could do a gage swatch...

Picture Problem Fixed

2007-03-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the picture of Sylvan in her dress, looking super cute if I do say so myself. Here are the booties and beach bag too. And finally, a funny picture of Peter in his sweater.

Yarn Issues

2007-03-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

So this is a picture of the unbelievably cute Sylvan in her idea of a good outfit for shopping for party favors for her birthday party on Sunday. Well, actually there seems to be a problem with my pictures uploading to blogger right now, so I'll have to do the picture later. She is wearing that dress that I knitted for her when she was like 18 months old. It fits her now. :) It's made out of some kind of mercerized cotton, and I was noticing that suddenly all the ends of the yarn seem to be comming undone. Is this a common problem with mercerized cotton? The dress isn't actually falling apart yet, but I can see that it won't last for ever, if I can't figure out a way to keep it from unraveling. In other news I washed Peter's sweater, and discovered that you shouldn't wash the knit picks Swish superwash in warm water! It got all the extra dye out, but it also made it pill like crazy! So I'm not so happy with the yarn choices I've made right now, but I am hopeful my future projects will turn out better. I have now started two other projects. I have the baby booties from the Drops pattern almost done. I just need a contrasting color of the Tahki cotton to make the little border. I have also started a little beach bag in sugar and cream for Sylvan. She was feeling like I was making everything for other people, and so I thought that it would be fun to make something small for her. I will try again later with the pictures!

The Sweater is Done! and Peter Knits

2007-03-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

I have finished the green sweater! and I think that Peter actually likes it. You'll have to excuse the poor quality of my camera. We'll have to see if he actually wears it. :) I also have to figure out how to wash it. I can't decide if I should block it before I wash it, since I'm going to machine wash and dry it. Peter decided to take a turn knitting. He made one of the tiny sheep from the Debbie Bliss Knitted Toys book for a friend's birthday. Isn't it cute?

The Home Stretch

2007-02-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

So the infamous green sweater is almost done. It's actually together, and I'm just finishing the yoke. It just looks like a sweater for a man made out of spaghetti, but I swear that once I block it it will fit my patient husband. I am so excited that it's almost done, that I have actually started planning new projects. There are so many things that I want to make: curtains for my office, a drape/headboard for our bed, baby things (see post below), a nursing poncho, etc. I have a crazy elaborate plan the poncho, becuase I woke up one morning having dreamed about it, and now I must make it. I want to make it like a really big scarf, but with cool buttons to attatch on end to the side to convert it to a poncho when I want. I think that I want to do it in black, but do intarsia poppies along the end with the button holes, and maybe a graduated stripe along the bottom edge from a really dark burgundy to the bright red for the poppies. I'm still in a conundrum about the yarn though. What I really want is to find a lovely lace weight alpaca in the right colors and knit it with a double thread, so that I can have some fun with the graduated stripe and not make the whole poncho too heavy, but the sensible part of me says that I should make it out of something like the Red Heart Soft Yarn since that would be cheaper and washable. This is a little crazy since I only have 2 1/2 months left before my due date. I can only blame it on hormones, and start as many things as I can and hope that I finish some of them. :)

New Look

2007-02-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

I just spent some fun time playing with the new blogger template tools. So ta da! new blog look. :)

I still Love the Drops patterns

2007-02-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

I just got sucked into another hour of browsing the New Drops Patterns and the super cute Baby Drops Patterns. I particularly love that they are free, and so I don't feel like I have to buy a whole book for the one pattern that I will knit. I'm actually getting excited about knitting baby things. Partly, because I know that I will actually be able to finish them quickly. I could really use a feeling of accomplishment after the sweater that will not end. Here are some of the ones that I am considering for my baby projects:

Still Knitting that Sweater

2007-02-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

I think that sweater is going to take the rest of my life. So, I figured instead that I would post some pictures of Sylvan and Me with our new cute haircuts. We have been trying to convince her that a haircut was a good idea for awhile now, but she wasn't convinced until I got one while I was away. We are still twins for now. :) The one on the left is the before picture of Sylvan, and then the middle one is the after. I think that she was more excited about the sucker that the stylist gave her than the cut. :)

Frustration!

2007-02-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

SO, I just need to gripe a little bit. I am actually loving knitting the two sleeves at once, and it has been relatively easy, BUT in the last two days I have had to rip out the same four inches twice! and if you think that that is a pain with one sleeve it's horrible with two. It's like a twisted IQ test to try and get them both back on the needles. I had to do it once because I had misread the pattern, and the second time because I had twisted the threads. I feel like this sweater is never going to get done!!! I am hoping though, that I will get it very nearly done this weekend as I am flying to Colorado. We shall see. If things get too bad I may just flush it down the airplane toilet, and someone in Utah will get a wooley surprise.

Christmas Presents

2007-01-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

So, I knitted about a gazillion Christmas presents, and didn't take pictures of any of them except the hat that I crocheted for Sylvan. Sadly, the day after this picture was taken, my dad took Sylvan to the Marina and there were these crazy winds, and whoosh! hat lost forever into the ocean. I am still knitting away on Peter's sweater. I am now working on the sleeves, and am very proud of myself for figuring out how to knit the two sleeves at the same time. I found the instructions in Knitty Fall 2006
I tried to take a picture, but I couldn't get it to come out, so you'll just have to wait for the finished product. :)

New Projects

2006-10-30T14:46:00.000-08:00

I got a big box of yarn from Knitpicks last week, and now I'm well into Christmas knitting. These are the two projects that I have started-- These are the tulip socks also from Knitpicks. In an autumnal color palette. Another Christmas present. I havn't done any color work this complicated before. It seems to be going well though. This is going to be a sweater for Peter. It's my first attempt to knit him anything, and I really hope it turns out well. It's just a simple ribbed raglan. The yarn is the Swish Superwash wool in Jade.

I Finished Something!

2006-10-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

I finished this little t-shirt for Sylvan. I really wanted to feel like I had actually made something, and I found this at the bottom of my knitting bag, and it actually turned out pretty cute. It's just sugar and cream, but I think that it will wear fairly well. Sylvan is such a ham. She keeps posing with her eyes closed. This is her new "smile." :)

My Latest Project

2006-10-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

HI! I am actually still alive and working. I have just decided to break down and use the Blogger image uploader for simplicity's sake. Which means that I'm not waiting for Peter to figure out what I'm doing any more. I'm still feeling the morning sickness, and am totally exhausted. I am so looking foward to the second trimester. :) So anyway, this is my latest project. I was feeling really good about it until I realized that the beautiful cable in the back is off by about an inch. So now I am facing ripping the whole thing out!

Beautiful Parker, Stupid WEBS

2006-06-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

I will add my voice to the haters of WEBS club. I finally got my needles after two months! I won't order from them again, but I will start my super fun cabled sweater as soon as I get home. Here are pics of my beautiful nephew, Parker Blue Williams. We're going to see him this weekend, and help out the fam. I have started the baby sweater from Weekend Knitting for him. I am about half way through, so I should be able to finish on the drive down to Laguna Beach tomorrow. I am putting blue buttons on in honor of his middle name. I wonder if blue will be his favorite color, or the one he loathes?

Parker Blue
Yawn

The Bag That Was a Sweater

2006-06-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

Ha! Sylvan actually took a nap, so I am a blogging maniac! I also finished my bag that I brought to knitting, and cleaned my house. I am amazing! So here is the bag that was a raglan sweater. I am all about recycling clothing this week. :)

Sweater Bag

The Hat That Was a Skirt

2006-06-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

I confess! I haven't knitted a single thing this last week. Thursday night knitting was the first time that I had even taken out the needles all week. I did get the sleeves for my tie dye sweater cast on though. I felt very virtuous casting on both sleeves, but the truth is that I just can't face knitting the same thing twice. If I knit both sleeves at once it doesn't seem as much like doing it twice. I have been sewing instead. I made Sylvan this hat, as part of our on going negotiations about what she will wear. It started life as a skirt with shorts underneath. She wanted to wear the fleece pants my mom made her to the beach, and I wanted her to wear shorts. Unfortunately, all her shorts are too boring. She agreed to wear the shorts under the skirt, because they were pink, but not the skirt. So, in desparation I cut the skirt off. She decided that since I was using my sewing scisors, I must be making something new for her, and so we ended up with a hat made out of the discarded skirt. I've also been working on three different bags. One of which I took to knitting, and put an edge trim on. You'll have to wait for pics of those until they are done.

The Pink Hat

Pattern for The Smock

2006-05-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've had several requests for a pattern for the smock that I made, so this morning I wrote one up. Just click here to download it: SMOCK

Our First Mother Daughter Project

2006-05-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

Sylvan picked out this fun Thomas fabric at Craft Essentials, and I made her this little smock. I wanted to try smocking on the sewing machine, and this was the perfect opportunity. It turned out great. She doesn't like dresses right now, so it's a "shirt."

Thomas Smock

Tye Dye Yarn Cardi

2006-05-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the pic. of the long sweater in process...

tye dye yarn cardi

I'm Back!

2006-05-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on a drops pattern for a long sweater, made out of the yarn that I dyed at the tie dye party. I am struggling with the pattern a little bit, because part of it is in cm, and parts are by counted rows, and some how it's not working out quite as smoothly as it's supposed to. Mostly, I think that the sleeve openings are larger than they should be on the body, but other than that it's looking amazing. I will post pics later. I am also going to over dye a bunch of the yarn that is yellow with a deep red that I bought. I'm hoping it will be something that I can use for Sylvan.