Harvest Spice

They're done! These are Large longies for my son to wear this winter. These were also my first attempt at short rows, and they worked great. The back has about an inch extra space to accomodate the tush. I really love the way the yarn self striped, and although the legs don't match color-wise, I like that they are different. Perfection isn't always as interesting, kwim?

I have a lot of this yarn at hand, so next up is a pair of newborn longies to match :) Poor kids, having to match already (can you hear the eyeroll eminating from my husband? He's really not liking the idea).

This wool is a tad scratchier than most I use for baby clothes, but I'm hoping that lanolizing it for use as a diaper cover will soften it up some. Even so, it's not nearly as scratchy as some, and I'm fairly sensitive to wool so if it doesn't irritate me, I don't think it will bother my kiddos. It's Nashua Wooly Stripes (see link below) in Fiesta.

BTW, this is a new pattern for me. I used the Aubrey Doodlepants pattern, and I really enjoyed trying the longies from the top down (usually I do the legs first, then join them and knit to the top). Top down gives some different options as far as the cuff edging on the legs. And while I generally prefer the look of an elastic waistband, I have learned that rib is far stretchier and will accomodate more waist sizes, so until I find a suitable hybrid, I am sticking to rib.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone. The weather is beautiful here...we went to the zoo today and I knitting the whole hour drive up there - divine!

Short Rows Success!

I started a pair of longies last night with the intent to learn short rows. I've seen lots of knitters agonizing over these so I was fairly apprehensive and did quite a bit of research. I finally found a free pattern that tells you where to put them and a great tutorial on making short rows and eliminating the holes that are usually created. I made my first attempt tonight and was thrilled at how easy they really are. The knitting isn't perfect, but I know exactly what I did wrong, and out of 3 sets of short rows, the last one was dead on, no holes.

Sorry, no pics yet. I have about 5" of the body done, so 6 more to go, then the legs...it will probably be a few days before the unveiling. I'm using Nashua Wooly Stripes in Fiesta. I acclimated this lovely yarn a few months back at the big semi annual sale at Bella Filati. They had tons of different yarns bagged together for a discounted price and I liked the orange so I jumped on it. I have TONS, so expect to see lots of orange/ red in the future, lol.

Short Rows Tutorial

Same Knit Different Day: Yarn Over Short Rows

I'm posting this basically so I have it saved for my reference later tonight when I'm agonizing over these! I think I understand the concept, and I've used short rows (without knowing that's what they were) in socks, so I think I can do it, the only question left being, where should I insert them.

Off to do more research....

And to figure out how to make up my own gusset...

A Matching Set

I have been a busy bee this weekend. :)

First up is something I sewed, not knitted. It's a little sundress, size medium but it's supposed to be about 13-16 lbs. The back straps are buttoned on and have 2 buttonholes so you can adjust the length of the straps, then there are two buttons on the back...I have to point those out because I think I found the cutest buttons for the job! The hem isn't quite finished, I have to handstitch it in place and I don't think I'm going to get to it tonight. I also have enough fabric left to make a matching bonnet (another new pattern), so that's my next sewing project.


And here is the finished longies, hat, and booties set.

Here is a closeup of the booties. While they are cute, I'm not sure how functional they'll be. The straps don't seem to want to stay on the buttons (probably should have bought bigger buttons). So while they're cute, I'm not sure I'll make them again.

And the matching hat. This I LOVE. I was supposed to use 10.5 needles (circular and dpn), but the largest dpn I have is 8 and I tend to knit loose so I decided to try it with my 8's. The width around is fine but I should have added a little length to the hat to make up for the smaller needles. I have a little of this yarn left so I think I'm going to try the hat again, just slightly longer this time. The ribbon/ eyelet row I added myself; in the original pattern, there were two roses for embellishment, but I thought this yarn is busy enough on it's own, so the monotone ribbon seemed a nice touch. My husband thought I should have gone pink (the camera flash sort of took out the hot pink highlights) but I'm really happy with the black ribbon.

Happy knitting and sewing,

Chel

Pink Pizzazz Longies

I knitted these this week. The pattern is my own, done on size 7 dpn. I allotted 2 balls of yarn to them but they only took one so I still have a ball to make a matching hat and booties :) They are a size newborn/ small. The bottom of the legs is 4" of ribbing, done so that they are totally adjustable in length. I would imagine they could accomodate a skinny baby for quite awhile, since they expand to 9" in length (for the legs, anyway).

Ok, off to knit some matching accessories!

Skirtie with Undersoaker

Can I just say I'm pretty darn pleased with myself? I wanted to make a skirtie diaper cover, but couldn't find any patterns, so I went into this one completely blind...and I love the results! I started by knitting a soaker in blue with a ribbed waist and ribbed cuffs. Then, with the pink, I crocheted around just below the waist ribbing so that I could have a row to pick up stitches along. I put those stitches on a circular needle, did 3 rows (?), then k2, inc1 around to give a nice fullness to the skirt (this was the part that I was really unsure about...I had no idea how many I should inc by or where I should do it). Then I straight knitted until I was just longer than the soaker. This is where it got tricky again. I only had one skein of pink and I did not want to have to buy another skein to finish this up with. So I tried to estimate how much yarn I had left, etc. Also, I knew if I did a straight cast off the edges would roll, but at this point yarn was becoming scarce, so I did one row purl, then cast off, hoping that would counteract the roll. It didn't work. BUT, I had a little pile of pink still left, so I pulled out my very rusty crochet hook and attempted a ruffle...I was super pleased with how it came out, and I have very little yarn left. After about half way around I started holding my breath in hopes I had enough to last me, and I did, even if only barely. I only wish I knew how well this looked in action, because I am very happy with the way it looks flat!




Here is the undersoaker, which I knitted first


Here I had about 1.5 inches of pink added on

Here is the completed skirtie!
Here is a close up of the ruffle

The skirt lifted to show the undersoaker

And finally, this is how much pink I had left over (had to include that!)

2 Pairs of Pants in 2 Weeks

I finished my blue longies last night! They look really nice, I'm very happy with them. Now I just need to lanolize them today and then wait the 2 days it takes for them to dry, then they're off to their new home!