mittens!

Nothing says Fall like a pair of new mittens! When I was at Midwest Stitches I was on a mission to find some soft and bulky yarn to make Bella's Mittens. I picked up a few skeins of Debblie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky yarn. I love that this is a cashmere blend yarn that is also washable--perfect for mittens.

getting ready for fall

Dianne Rupp's Sewing Everything Workshop is perfect for a beginner who wants to get the details just right. She guides you through laying out and cutting patterns, choosing the right machine and many other helpful tips. Over the summer I bought some great Scandinavian fabric from IKEA (yes IKEA!) and went straight to Dianne's book to make an envelope pillow. Her instructions are so clear this project only takes about an hour!

baby blanket

We recently found out that good friends of ours are expecting their first baby this Spring. The minute I found out I knew I wanted to give them something hand made. I just finished a swaddling blanket using directions from the purl bee. I love all of the vibrant colors and patterns from the echino collection so as soon as I found the directions I ran over to the needle shop and bought myself some overpriced fabric (but so worth it) and some contrasting cotton shot. Instead of adding a running stitch border I closed the 3 inch gap on the side with an invisible stitch.

sexy vesty

I really enjoyed making this vest as it was a challenge for me. I thought I would post additional information on converting the pattern notes into a pattern. Follow the pattern notes from Canary Knits until you get to the neckline. My additions are included in red and are for about a size small (CO 140 stitches). Canary knits' pattern notes are included in bold black font.

Notes:

**Added an inch to the body of the vest based on comments from others who have completed this project.

**After completing the body of the vest I added a lifeline before working on the front and back.

Begin Neckline:

Knit 27 sts, k2tog, k1, turn work, purl back to beginning of round. On EVERY right side row, decrease this way until there’s 26 sts left for this section (this is the right-front panel). [I wrote this out below]

[Neck and Armhole insert] Start with 30 stitches

1st Row: K 27 sts, k2tog, k1 (-1 sts) 29 sts

2^nd Row: Purl

3^rd Row: K 26 sts, k2tog, k1 (-1 sts) 28 sts

4^th Row: Purl

5^th Row: K 25 sts, k2tog, k1 (-1 sts) 27 sts

6^th Row: Purl

7^th Row: K 24 sts, k2tog, k1 (-1 sts) 26 sts

8^th Row: Purl

Now increase 1 sts at armhole side on right side 5 times. (READ AHEAD)

When these increases are done, cast off 5 sts at beginning of row for armholes. [I wrote this out below]

[Armhole insert]

1^st Row: Increase 1 st, K26 (+1 st) 27 sts

2^nd Row: Purl

3^rd Row: Increase 1 st, K27 (+1 st) 28 sts

4^th Row: Purl

5^th Row: Increase 1 st, K28 (+1) 29 Sts

6^th Row: Purl

7^th Row: Increase 1 st K29 (+1) 30 sts

8^th Row: Purl

9^th Row: Increase 1 st K30 (+1) 31 sts

10^th Row: Purl

11^th Row: Cast off 5 stitches K 26 stitches

AT SAME TIME: continue doing the neckline decreases until there’s 15 sts left on the front panel. Knit these 15 sts until the armhole measures 8 inches. [I wrote this out below]

[Work Left Front]

1^st Row: Purl (26 st)

2^nd Row: K 23, k2tog, K1 (-1 st) 25 stitches

3^rd Row: Purl

4^th Row: K22, K2Tog, K1 (-1 st) 24 stitches

5^th Row: Purl

6^th Row: K21, k2tog, K1 (-1 st) 23 stitches

7^th row: Purl

8^th Row: K20, K2tog, k1 (-1 st) 22 stitches

9^th Row: Purl

10^th Row: K19, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 21 stitches

11^th Row: Purl

12^th Row: K18, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 20 stitches

13^th Row: Purl

14^th Row: K17, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 19 stitches

15^th Row: Purl

16^th Row: K16, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 18 stitches

17^th Row: Purl

18^th Row: K15, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 17 stitches

19^th Row: Purl

20^th Row: K14, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 16 stitches

21^st Row: Purl

22^nd Row: k13, k2tog, k1 (-1 st) 15 stitches

Knit these 15 sts until the armhole measures 8 inches.

Second front panel: Work the same as the first front panel, but in reverse. So, for neckline decreases, you would knit 1, ssk, knit across to the end. [I wrote this out below]

[Work Right Front]

1^st Row: Purl (26 st)

2^nd Row: K 1, ssk K23 (-1 st) 25 stitches

3^rd Row: Purl

4^th Row: K1 ssk K 22 (-1 st) 24 stitches

5^th Row: Purl

6^th Row: K1 ssk K21 (-1 st) 23 stitches

7^th row: Purl

8^th Row: K1 ssk k20 (-1 st) 22 stitches

9^th Row: Purl

10^th Row: K1 ssk k19 (-1 st) 21 stitches

11^th Row: Purl

12^th Row: K1 ssk k18 (-1 st) 20 stitches

13^th Row: Purl

14^th Row: K1 ssk k17 (-1 st) 19 stitches

15^th Row: Purl

16^th Row: K1 ssk k16 (-1 st) 18 stitches

17^th Row: Purl

18^th Row: K1 ssk k15 (-1 st) 17 stitches

19^th Row: Purl

20^th Row: K1 ssk k 14 (-1 st) 16 stitches

21^st Row: Purl

22^nd Row: k1 ssk k13 (-1 st) 15 stitches

Knit these 15 sts until the armhole measures 8 inches.

Back: Rejoin and work until piece is 1 inch from join. Now increase 5 sts each side, to match front panels. When these increases have been worked, cast off 5 sts at the beginning of next two rows.(armhole cast-offs should match the front panels). Follow the armhole insert instructions above for this section again. Knit these sts until back measures 2. less than the front panels. Now put centre sts on a holder, leaving 15 sts at each side.Continue working these 15 sts until back panels match front panels in length.

Follow the remaining pattern notes. THANK YOU Canary Knits for a great pattern!

do it yourself fabric bulletin board

I never thought I would be a fan of Martha Stewart, but lately I can’t help but be drawn to her book “Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts.” This is one of the most beautiful craft books I have ever seen and I feel inspired every time I open the book.

Ever since I bought my sewing machine I have wanted to create a sewing area and creating an “Ideas Board” will help bring together the space. I was particularly fond of her ideas for making bulletin boards out of homasote and fabric. Apartment therapy also has some great ideas for homasote bulletin boards.

Homosote is made from recycled paper and it can be easily found at your local hardware store (I found some in Chicago at Menards). All you need is a fabric, a staple gun, and homasote ( My final dimensions were 32 inches by 43 inches).

knitting project bag

The purl bee is easily my favorite blog on knitting and sewing. They always use the most amazing yarn or fabric and the projects featured are creative and thoughtful. Since I started to learn to sew one of the projects I have wanted to make was a knitting project bag. The directions on the purl bee are simple and the end product looks great. I have already about 3 or 4 of these bags!

spring is here

I had admired the Gatherd Cardi from the 2008 Knit 1 Spring Issue for quite some time. What better way to kick of Spring than with a cute cardigan?

I ended up using Lion Bran Cotton Ease for this sweater and while I loved the pattern I was less than thrilled with the yarn. Update: My cat ended up chewing a hole in the cardigan so I recently frogged the sweater to make sexy vesty as I didn’t want to the waste the yarn. More to come on sexy vesty including additional pattern notes