Finished Projects Parade: Part 2

My next piece of Christmas knitting was a Christmas vest for J. I like to do simple Christmas outfits that can be worn throughout the winter so this year J got a pair of red corduroy pants, a white shirt, and a green vest (designed and knitted by me). N got a pair of red corduroy overalls and a white shirt.

I found a simple toddler vest pattern (FREE), but did one fancier cable in the middle instead of two simpler cables on the sides that the pattern called for. The back is plain stockinette. I also did 2 x 2 ribbing instead of 1 x 1 ribbing. I picked up stitches and added the neck and armpit ribbing after the rest of the vest was complete and sewn together. It was an easy knit and went quickly with worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles.

J's Cabled Christmas Vest
Pattern: My own (Adapted from Lion Brand Free Knitting Pattern Cable Vest)
Cable pattern: Braided Cable from Vogue Dictionary of Knitted Stitches
Yarn: 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore (25% Wool/75% Acrylic) (1 skein=100g/3.5 oz/200yards)
Needles: Size 8
Vest size: 3 years/26 in. chest (pattern includes 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years)
Gauge: 17 st x 24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

If anyone wants more details about this project, just leave me a note in the comment section and I will get back to you.

Finished Projects Parade: Part 1

As you know, I made quite a few Christmas presents this year but didn't have time to blog about most of them once they were finished. The final few weeks before Christmas were like a race to the finish line. I am happy to say that I managed to finish all the knitted, sewn and crafted gifts in time. Well, I finished the last knitted one on December 26th but as I was planning to mail it after the holidays anyway I consider that on time.

Anyway, I am finally getting around to blogging about the finished gifts. Although I should be writing thank you notes for all the wonderful goodies the boys and I received, today I will be blogging instead.

The first gift I finished was this knitted Hello Kitty purse for my niece L. She's 3 and fell in love with Hello Kitty after her mom bought her some Hello Kitty underwear--funny, but true. I decided I wanted to knit her a purse with Hello Kitty on it, but couldn't find a pattern so I made one up. I used the chart from a dishcloth found here and the general purse construction of the cabled purse from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (Raveled here). I had some difficulties with intarsia in the round, but eventually found some help online and the purse turned out okay. My colorwork is not great, but the purse itself turned out pretty nice. The construction of the purse itself was very easy. I knitted a lining and picked up stitches for the handle. I ended up picking up additional stitches and doing a second handle because the first one felt too flimsy when I filled the bag full of Hello Kitty goodies (most from the dollar bins at Target--I love the dollar bins at Target.)

I love the knitted lining. So simple yet it really adds a lot to the purse--and especially important for hiding the ugly back of my colorwork.

Hello Kitty Purse
Pattern: My own
Chart: from Knit Diva's Hello Kitty Dishcloth pattern
Purse design inspiration: Cabled Purse from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Pink Heather (Lion Wool-Ease, 1 1/2 skeins)
All other colors are various worsted weights (Wool or Wool/Acrylic blend) from my stash
Needles: Size 7 16" circular and size 7 doublepoint needles (for the handle)

I cast on 90 stitches (45 for the front and 45 for the back). I knit 5 rounds with pink and then started the chart. I just centered Hello Kitty on the front 45 stitches. It ended up that there were 8 stitches before the chart began and 5 stitches after the chart (before the 45 stitches for the back). I did intarsia in the round which isn't really in the round at all. Here are some links to explanations of this method if you want to try it (here and here).

To do the simple knitted lining, you knit the purse until it is the size you want (I knitted 5 plain rows after I finished Hello Kitty), then you purl a row for your turn row. During the turn row, you put your stitches for the handle on holders. I did 4 stitches on either side for my handles--so there were 82 stitches (41 for the front and 41 for the back) left to be knit in the round for the lining. Then you just knit in the round until the lining is long enough to fill the inside of the purse. You then turn it inside out and do a 3 needle bindoff. Then seam the bottom of the outside of the purse. Then all that is left is to rejoin your yarn to the stitches being held for one end of the handle and knit the handle (I did 4 stitch i-cord). Once the handle is a good length, you graft it to the stitches being held on the other end of the purse. As I mentioned, I then picked up four additional stitches and knit a second handle.

Anyway, my niece really liked her purse and all her Hello Kitty goodies. Just wish I had gotten a picture of her with it. Oh well. More finished objects to come soon!

Movie Monday: All I Want for Christmas Edition

We had a wonderful Christmas in Virginia with my family. Now we're busy trying to get settled back into life here in Texas--unpacking our bags, undecorating the house, putting away all our new goodies, and cleaning up all the mess that accumulated in the pre-holiday chaos. I have lots of blogging to catch up on--pictures from the holidays, details about knitted and crafted gifts, other life happenings. That will all have to wait for now as the mess that is my house is finally at a point that it is driving me CRAZY! For now, I will just leave you with this little video of N. I guess we didn't really need to buy him anything this Christmas...look at how much fun he had with this wrapping paper!



Happy Monday, everyone!

Happy Holidays!

My mom, J, my sister, my dad, my niece L and my nephew M (being a reindeer)

B and N joined the silly group!

My sister in-law, myself and the grandbabiesThe whole crewMy parents with all their grandbabies.


What a happy holiday it has been for us! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

7 Months Already!

N turned 7 months yesterday. I can't believe he's that old already. My how time flies. He's growing up so quickly.

N's crawling now. He still prefers to roll, but when it's necessary to get to what he wants, he will crawl--usually four or five "crawls" and then a lunge toward what he wants. It's pretty funny to watch.

N also has 4 teeth now--the two middle ones on the bottom and on the top the tooth to the left of the two middle ones and the tooth to the right of the two middle ones. The middles ones are on their way, but not through yet.

Anyway, here are some pics of my little 7 month old cutie.

He was so proud of himself when he finally got to the nativity sets.

An adorable knit for a great cause

Anny of anny purls and Jujube and Lolo has created another great pattern for another great cause.

This time she is trying to raise money for MOST's Holiday Adopt a Family Program. As their website explains:
The MOST Adopt A Family program is an annual effort by MOST volunteers and donors to provide assistance to multiple birth families in need. During the 9 years MOST has conducted this program, Adopt A Family has helped almost 200 families and 1000 children. 100% of donations designated for the MOST Adopt A Family program is given to the families.
Since my brother and his wife have triplets. This cause made me stop and think about the financial burden families with multiples face, especially when their children have medical needs. I realized not every family is as blessed as ours.

The pattern is for an adorable sweater (sizes 3 months-24months) complete with precious pockets and finger puppets. You could add the pockets and finger puppets to any knit project. I think they might be cute on a simple hat. Anyway, you must check them out to see how cute they are. The pattern is FREE with any DONATION to the MOST Holiday Adopt a Family program. Anny's patterns are always very user-friendly and detailed. She has a great eye for detail and her patterns are as adorable as her two children she knits for.

Please at least look at this pattern and if you can't resist it, make a donation to this cause.

Top Ten Tuesday: Numbers Edition

Had to share this adorable "Holy Smore" that my nephew and niece made me. Isn't it great? Reminds me of my neighbors back in Ohio, my smore buddies. Miss you!

It's been a long time since I've done a Top Ten Tuesday. This week I thought I'd do one, but do it a little differently. This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is
Top Ten Numbers in the Countdown to Christmas

10: The number of gifts I still need to make before Christmas (2 knitted gifts, 1 sewn gift, and 7 crafted gifts).

9: The number of days until Christmas.

8: The number of reindeer ornaments J and I made to give as gifts.

7: The number of books J owns about the Christmas story. (This is a simple and straightforward telling. The pictures in this one are beautiful.)

6: The number of hours sleep I got on Sunday night (not enough).

5: The number of hours sleep I got last night (really not enough).

4: The number of errands I planned to run today while J was at school. (I didn't run any of them because school was closed due to ice.)

3: The number of "boys" in my life who are making this Christmas extra special.

2: The number of flights it will take to get to my family in Virginia for the holidays.

1: The number of reasons for the season that really matters. Thank you, Baby Jesus! (Does anyone else think of this movie when they hear that?)

Happy Holidays, everyone! Off to work on some presents.

Edited 7:27PM