The Babies Are Coming!

It seems a new wave of babies are making or have made their way into the Clan.  The next generation is on it's way. My nephew who was born when I was 15 years old is now having a baby with his girlfriend.  My son's twenty-three year old half sister who was about six when my son was born is due in June. My cousin's son just had his third child and my other cousin's daughter who was born when I was a senior in high school had a little boy about three months ago. Whew...the babies are coming! I'm very excited about the new arrivals, but it only points out one thing that I'm just beginning to pay more attention to these last few years...I'm getting old(er), because I can remember when each one of them was born and now they are having babies of their own!

But the fun part about babies that aren't yours is you can hold them, spoil them as much as you like and then hand them back to their parents!  The other fun part about babies is all the great baby knitting I can do in half the time it takes to make an adult size item.

Like these great baby sets I've done over the past month:


For my cousin's baby who was born in January
Sweater: "Sock" It to Me (for Girls) by Vicki K. Byram
Booties: Baby Janes by Valerie Johnson
Hat: Eyelet Baby Hat by Brigitte Lang

As soon as I saw this color I knew I had to use it for what I call the Georgia Peach Baby Set for my new baby cousin who lives in Locust Grove, Georgia. I finished the baby booties and hat this past weekend and I was so happy to mail them off to my cousin and his wife just yesterday.

Aren't these Baby Janes the cutest?

With this eyelet hat to match!



For my girlfriend's baby due next week.
Sweater: Beautiful Baby Bamboo-Merino Sweater by Carol J. Sorsdahl
Booties: Baby's Wool-Tencel Booties by Lind Burt
Hat: Baby Squash Hat by Tamara Del Sonno

This one I call the Little Boy Blue baby set. I made this for my friend who is due any day now.  I can't wait to see her little one wrapped up in this set.

too cute!

so tiny!

Currently, I'm working on the Garden Trellis Dress by Susan Boye for my nephew's baby due in May.  I am using Berocco Weekend in Vanilla 5902.  It is a soft comfortable machine washable blend of 25% Peruvian Cotton and 25% Acrylic that is great for both warm and cool weather.

The feather & fan edge gives it a sweet look.

When I am done with the dress I will be adding a Feather and Fan Baby Bonnet by Sandy Davis that uses the same pattern as the edging on the dress and Page 81 booties (pictured below) by Susan B. Anderson
another pair of Baby Janes by Valerie Johnson.

I embellished them with crochet butterflies by Crocheted Sass

Still to come are a zip-up hooded sweater for another cousin's baby who was born about three months ago and for my son's half sister the Precious Bundle Set (pictured below) in a mercerized cotton called Reynolds Saucy

Can be found on e-Patternscentral

Will make the above hat, cardigan and booties set for my
son's half sister who is due in June

P.S.  I just finished the Garden Trellis Dress this evening:

My little grandniece will be styling in her baby sundress!

The complete set:

Embellished with purple crochet butterflies

I Survived Turning 40!

Last week (January 13th to be exact) was my 40th birthday...I know, I know, just a babe in the woods to some and to others (my son particularly) I'm soooo old!  But I have to say that turning 40 wasn't as bad as I envisioned.  Actually, I think I was more upset when I turned 30, but now I'm going with the flow and I'm loving it!!!

To celebrate, I threw myself a wine tasting/birthday party.  It was lovely having my friends and sister sharing my big day.  I even got my friend Debra and her boyfriend to karaoke a duet and they were actually very good.

Reflecting on my life of where I've been and what I've done, I am thankful for: my fun-loving son (who keeps me young), a supportive and loving if not slightly dysfunctional family, and host of really good friends. And then there is what do I see myself doing down the road?  I've discovered that I really enjoy knitting, learning new knitting techniques, patterns and designs, scouring my LYS for new arrivals, and seeing what I can create with the different fibers I find. 

Seeing my creations being worn and appreciated gives me a sense of satisfaction and success, something I haven't felt in a long time at the "day job".  At the "day job" I'm a secretary and I've been in an administrative support role in one form or another for over 20 years and I feel I've done all I'm going to do in this field of work. Oh I'm sure there is more to learn out there, but at this point, I'm really not looking to advance up the corporate ladder.  I'm happy where I am in my life at the "day job", I tell my friends and family that I work to afford my yarn addiction. 

Now I'm at a point where I'm ready to discover more with my creative side.  And that would include, creating my own knit-wear designs.  Five years ago, I learned to knit, at the same time I taught myself (with lots of trial and error) how to read patterns.  Of course that was before I discovered there is a vast community of knitters, spinners, and hookers (those who crochet) out there!  I became a regular at my LYS and anything I didn't understand I asked the experts there or some of my knitting friends.

Lately though, I've been feeling the itch to design.  When I see a particular knit item in a store, I think, I can make that or something close to it.  I have tried my hand at it and feel I want to venture into it a lot more and the two scarf patterns below is what I've done so far, one is a combination seed stitch, with a garter stitch and basketweave stitch along the ends.  What I liked about this pattern is that there isn't a wrong side, both sides are the same.

Seed stitch & modified basketweave design
in Lion Brand Wool-Ease, Color: Wheat
(86% acrylic, 10% wool, 4% rayon)
Model: nephew

Close-up - a copy of this
pattern is available on the
sidebar under *Patterns
by Knitter Mama* 

This other scarf pattern is a men's horizontal ribbed scarf with 4 rows of the garter stitch along both edges:

Close-up of horizontal 2x2 ribbed scarf with garter stitch
edging made with Sirdar Denim Chunky
in Starling (off-white) and Vintage (charcoal)

Same design in Berocco Comfort Chunky
in burgundy and black with matching
2x2 ribbed hat

I used The Knitter's Bible, that has a stitch library section, to create the patterns for both scarves.  While I found these designs simple and easy to create, I would like to learn to make more elaborate design patterns.  So I'm making it one of my long term goals - to create my own designs, but for now, I'm learning new techniques, continuing to learn new stitches and how these stitches when combined create the end product, whether it be a hat, scarf, sweater, shrug, etc, so that I can soon learn to create my own style. And one of the wonderful ladies at The Knittery in Renton, suggested I get my hands on the stitch books by Barbara G. Walker, which I was able to find three of the suggested four Treasury of Knitting books she wrote at my local library and immediately placed a hold on them, so that I can continue to broaden my stitch knowledge and learn how to combine the different elements of knitting to create my own designs and knit-wear.

Great stitch library
section for beginners

Hopefully, some time in the future, I will be seeing my designs featured on Knitty or even in one of the Stitch 'n Bitch knitting book series.

My designing goal: to be published!

So, in closing, I'm looking forward to what the future holds.  40 can't be all that bad, I have lots of friends who have survived it and so will I!  A toast to being 40 and fabulous - it only gets better from here!  And to all you young'ins out there, you will be here one day, so don't knock it until you've tried it!!!

The Ever Fashionable and Sophisticated Cloche

A friend recently asked if I could knit a hat for her mother as a birthday gift.  She sent me a picture of the hat and I thought it was so adorable (see picture below).  After taking a closer look though, I noticed it wasn't a knitted style, it was actually crochet, which for me is no problem, I haven't done much crocheting in the last few years but its like riding a bicycle, if you get on and start pedaling it starts to come back to you. 

The design is ever reminiscent of the 1920's style Cloche with a modern look to it. And since I've been looking forward to playing with this particular style of hat I agreed to crochet it for her.

Design by Diane McGettigan
found on Etsy at Handmade Cottage

When I first came across this hat style, it was in a book on felting. The pattern seemed really interesting and I really liked the knitted design. I had to have it for my pattern collection, so I made a copy to try out at a later time.  Since then I've noticed many people wearing it and I've also noticed some really great designs and colors and everyone who I've seen wearing one always looks fabulous. It is a classic yet very chic style that will compliment any outfit, as you can see from the pictures below:
 

Sarah Jessica Parker during her
photo session with Annie
Leibowitz in Manhattan

Angelina Jolie in Changeling

Leighton Meester on the set of Gossip Girl

Hillary Swank in P.S. I love You

A little history from Wikipedia:  The cloche hat is a fitted, bell-shaped hat that was popular during the 1920s, but was first founded in 1908 and continued to be popular until 1933.[1]  Cloche is the French word for "bell". Caroline Reboux is the creator of the cloche hat.

Cloche hats were usually made of felt so that they conformed to the head.[1] The hat was typically designed to be worn low on the forehead, with the wearer's eyes only slightly below the brim.[1]  By 1928/29, it became fashionable to turn the brims on cloche hats upwards. This style remained prevalent throughout the early 1930s until the cloche hat became obsolete around 1933/34.

Often, different styles of ribbons affixed to the hats indicated different messages about the wearer. Several popular messages included: An arrow-like ribbon which indicated a girl was single but had already given her heart to someone, a firm knot which signaled marriage or a flamboyant bow which indicated the wearer was single and interested in mingling.[2]  Cloches were made of beads or lace for evening wear, for cocktails, dancing or even for bridal wear.

Cloche hats' popularity and influence were overwhelming. Couture houses like Lanvin and Molyneux opened ateliers to join milliners in manufacturing the hats.[1] The hats even shaped hairstyles: the Eton crop (the short, slicked-down cut worn by Josephine Baker) became popular because it was ideal to showcase the hats' shape.[1]

In the late 1980s, inventive models of the cloche, such as Patrick Kelly's version with a buttoned brim, made a minor resurgence.[1]  Cloche hats were also featured in many designers’ Fall 2007 collections; Elle magazine called the cloche hat the "haute accessory of the moment" in its September 2007 issue.[1]  The cloche hat has been worn by actress Angelina Jolie in the 2008 film Changeling.

Following the Cloche's resurgence in 2007, modern versions of the hat have emerged, often reflecting the region of the milliner. In 2009, Violina Couture Millinery of California introduced the demi-cloche, a variant of the cloche which allows more of the wearer's hair to be exposed.

[1] ^ a b c d e f g Vargas, Whitney (September 2007). "Head Start". Elle: 190.
[2] ^ Thomas, Pauline (March 2004). "Hats and Hair Fashion". Hats and Hair Fashion.

I have always admired the classic styles from the 1920's, I believe it was one of the best fashion eras, from  hairstyles and hats, to shoes and accessories.  There has been many updates to the cloche's design as you can see here:

Giving them a more modern look, with different colors and accessories.

 

Symply Smashing & FannyMae
Found on Etsy at Boring Sidney



While the original designs from the 1920's were made with felt to mold to the wearer's head, now-a-days this style is being recreated in many different ways, including knit and crochet. 

Knit design previously found
on Etsy at Counting Stitches

Crochet design found on Etsy
at Handmade Cottage

By using different colors, weights, and blends of yarn you can get varying affects, the above design from Handmade Cottage was crochet using a chunky wool blend in a beautiful charcoal color. 

I can't wait to get started on the crochet pattern, which I just received today along with a skein of Berroco Comfort Chunky yarn in black and a vintage style button designed by Susan Clarke Originals.  So stay tuned, I will keep you posted on my progress.

If I didn't have my knitting to keep me sane...

I saw this t-shirt that said, I Knit So I Don't Kill People and I thought... that is so me! Have you ever felt that if you didn't have a hobby you love that allows you to get away from the craziness around you that you would go on a killing spree?  Well maybe not exactly that far, but there are times when I feel like the people around me are so annoying that I just want to smack them right up side the head! Ugh - particularly the ones who seem to be so helpless when standing in front of the copier machine and you have a twenty page document you have to have ready for the boss in like five minutes and the person in front of you can't figure out how to work the damn machine!  Shouldn't that be a requirement of a person before they are hired?  Know how to use standard office equipment, i.e.: copier, fax, computer, printer? Hmm...just a thought.

Well thank goodness for my knitting, it's allows me time to de-stress at the end of the day after dealing with the daily frustrations of stupid people on the job, raising an oftentimes annoying teenager, really bad drivers in Washington, and everything and anything in between.  Have you ever felt that way?  If I didn't knit, I think I'd probably go stark raving mad sometimes - because people can be so annoying at times and other times even more annoying.

Patterns don't talk back, or cut you off in traffic, or make you do a letter over five times before it's perfect!  I'v found that knitting can bring you a lot of joy and when you finish that handmade creation and see your friend or family member sporting the end product you can't help but smile and think life isn't so bad after all.

And since life can be overwhelming at times for me to keep my sanity I pick up my needles [no not to stab that annoying person in the check-out line who can't find the right card to use to pay for a lousy pack of gum and a gallon of milk] and block out the stupidity around me and bask in my world of colors, textures, styles, patterns, and designs.

Ladies small - machine washable-gentle cycle
& dry-low heat

And with that I just finished another shrug last night - this one was a little longer in the making because I used a less bulky yarn and smaller needle [Berroco Comfort Chunky 50% super fine nylon & 50% superfine acrylic in Beet Root, size 9 needle].  It took a little longer but I think the end result speaks for itself.  What do you think?

I also completed the Fun Fur & Jiffy scarf and hat.  All the ladies at work loved it, maybe you will too!

Me modeling hat and scarf
I'm all set for the holidays!