Bebe Jacket - Part 1

This little gal, she likes to quilt (and to sit upon quilts). She curled up behind me today in the floor and snoozed while I worked on part of Bebe's jacket.

It's a free form process and I'm still not in the habit of taking photos as I go. So far it's been... cut out tissue paper pattern, try tissue paper pattern on dog, make another tissue paper pattern, cut 5" and 3" random strips from not-quite-scrap fabric, arrange, arrange again, stitch pairs together vertically, pin, stitch together horizontally...

Iron the windowpane, just like Miss Audrey taught me.

And, voila, a pieced fabric for the top of a cozy dog jacket!

(Slightly rumpled here from behind tied on the Bebe dog for size.) It's bigger than the finished product and will be trimmed into nice curves later. I hope it works. :crosses fingers:

Meanwhile, Judy the Pocket Beagle says that she would like one in yellow paisley, please ma'am. She pulled the fabric out of the stack herself! 

Dog Gone Cute

Is this seersucker dog collar by Pecan Pie Puppies not the cutest thing you've seen all winter? The felt flower snaps off for ease of care (and dog napping). Bebe would love this!

Pop Tart Knitting and Who Says Jo March didn't have a Checkbook Cover?

Do you know what's fun? Knitting a pop tart cell phone cover for your niece. This tutorial was just too cute to resist: Putting the "Art" Back in Pop Tarts. It was my first try at intarsia (where you've got a block of a different color worked in) - pretty obvious from the way the icing is piled up thick on top (it's not supposed to be). Also had to free wheel parts of it, since my niece's phone is a different size. I went with the dimensions off the Verizon site, said a little prayer and - whew! It's a perfect fit!

Also fun is dreaming up a checkbook cover for ActuallyLaura's birthday. I used some vintage lace, pink floss and a Martha Stewart font that she had been using earlier in the week on some beaded gift tags.

It's not as hip as I had hoped, but it reminds me of something straight out of a Louisa May Alcott novel, and that is a part of Laura too. :) I forgot to take a picture of the back! It has a little stitching like this: * X *. Hugs and kisses! Finally got the hang of French knots with the help of my new book. :) Those things have been giving me trouble for nigh ten years...French knots - thou are conquered! 

Presto, Chango!

Ask my niece. Sometimes it's nice to have an aunt who knits.


Like when your Aeropostle sweater suffers a terrible disaster and one whole sleeve is ravelling off, rendering the thing completely unwearable. (Forgive the self-photography!)

Rip, seam, frog, knit, purl, knit.... (I love frogging. It just sounds so funny!)

And this is what you've got!

Easy-peasy sweater to sweater vest transformation complete. Sank you, sank you....

Since I haven't done much in the way of picking up stitches, the arm openings are a little tight. However, I think the result flatters me better anyway. Hehe! Is it a bad seamstress who tries to talk her clients into lettting her keep the clothes? ;) I'll be keeping an eye out now for thrift store sweaters in similar condition. Shucks, I should've done a tutorial! Well, we learn, right?

The Tale Of Peter Rabbit (And His Quilt)

There was a notice in the newspaper last week about the "Make A Blanket Week" for Project Linus. All Laura (that's my sister) and I had to do was go to a church right down the street and pick up a free kit.

 
As most of the fabrics are are donated, we were afraid that the prints were going to be pretty cheesy. Among the herds of cattle (seriously - cattle print!) and 80's florals, I picked out a Beatrix Potter baby kit. (Laura got this super duper cute dalmatian/plaid kit. Read about it here. Oh, wait, she hasn't posted it yet! Well, read about it there soon, anyway. ;) )

I love Beatrix Potter, but I don't know that I'll ever use them in a quilt of my own, so this was a fun opportunity. The binding was some that we had in the closet. Also - a word about flannel backings. Awesome soft, but I'm very glad that this one needed to be washed because it shrunk like crazy! If you ever do a Project Linus comforter/quilt, wash and trim first. The top and the bottom are not necessarily the same size.

Lots of lovin' and prayin' and stitchin'.

Finished up just the night before (adding seed stitch finales to the swirls because things just didn't feel stuck together enough).  There were some super yummy refreshments at the church where everyone returned their projects and a lady told a few stories about the children that our blankets would be going to. Overall, it was a really fun project, I want to do it again and so should you!

(This post has me all nostalgic about watching 'The Tailor of Gloucester" over and over again every winter. Oh, how I loved those little sewing miceys and their big skirts!)

Project Linus Has Inspired Me

I want to be a Baby Cuddler! 

And making Lifebooks for foster children sounds like a really good way to use the journaling/scrapbooking skills the Lord has given my family to help others. I want to do that too!

Out of the doing and into the done.

Miles of yarn and picked up stitches later. . .(I had counted the gauge entirely wrong and had to add whole inches to either side of the big pieces - hey, it's my first big project!) . . .the bag is finished!

Drying on a cardboard box form:


Felting is so cool! There was a seam here. Do you see a seam? Do you, do you, huh? I am so totally trying this again! Slippers, anyone?


It came out a reasonable size. Handles are a wee bit long, but I'm hoping they'll fit the future owner.


Did I mention that there is a special, not-in-the-book feature in this bag? When it came to picked up stitches, I, um, forgot the sides, so my brilliant mommy tucked the extra inside and we have an interior pocket!

Knit one, purl two.

Mama and I are working on a felted diaper bag for the Little Nephew who will be arriving sometime in September. Would you believe this is my first time trying a seed stitch? I like it!














Another new technique. Forgive the Red-Hat Lady colors. The pattern was really fun and easy! The motif is from Knitting for Baby: 30 Heirloom Projects. (as is the bag pattern.) I'm working up the courage to knit the "Nordic Snowflake Pullover". That would be TWO new techniques: color & circular yoke. It's for 12-24 months, so I've got some time. A new circular needle might help. (Ours have been inherited - they're plenty old, plastic and kinky!)