Easter Dress Number Two

Ruthie is not good at posing yet. She is a little too busy to want to hold still long enough for even the fastest shutter speed! Oh well.



I modified the Junebug Dress tutorial for her dress.



I like how it turned out, but it's a bit tight on her - I think I scaled the pattern down a little more than I needed to. Hopefully it still fits over her head in a week!

I scored some great duck cloth at the fabric store. All these were less than $3/yard! I can get two bags out of each yard, and I bought ten. Twenty bags, here I come. These are for the quiet activities for kids during my church's Sunday morning services. Mostly it's coloring pages and books. I am going to add pockets for crayons, I think. Here they are, all cut out and ready to sew.



Spring is in the air now in Minnesota. I started some seeds indoors and even planted lettuce and peas outside already!  Here are some little kitchen herbs in a mini loaf pan. Aren't they so sweet, reaching for the sunshine?



This weekend is my knitting retreat with my knitting peeps. SO excited! I'll be working on a little baptism gown for a sweet baby girl.

Now back to rereading Harry Potter. I'm on book five. I know, I know. It is a weakness.

Cabled Baby Cocoon - Free Knitting Pattern

As is often the case in my life, a photographer asked if I could make a photo prop based on a photo she saw. I thought I could, and here is the result. It is knit on straight needles and looks much more complicated than it is. This would be a good introduction to cabling if you have been nervous about giving it a try. 








Cabled Baby Cocoon

Materials:

Yarn: approx. 1 skein bulky-weight yarn (I used a little less than 1 of Bernat Roving)

Needles: US 15 straight needles

Notions: 1 cable needle, row counter, darning needle for weaving in ends, two large (1-3/8" or larger) buttons

Abbreviations:

C4F: Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle. Let hang to front of work. K2 stitches, then K the two stitches off the cable needle.

YO: Yarn over

K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together

The pattern is broken into three parts: Collar, Body, and Toe.


Pattern:


Collar:
CO 50 stitches. Work in stockinette stitch for 14 rows.


Body:
Row 1: K3, P2, *K4, P2* repeat from * to * until last 5 stitches, end P2, K3
Row 2: P3, K2, *P4, K2* repeat from * to * until last 5 stitches, end K2, P3
Row 3: As Row 1
Row 4: As Row 2
Row 5 (cable row): K3, P2, *C4F, P2* repeat from * to * until last 5 stitches, end P2, K3
Row 6: As Row 2
Row 7 (buttonhole row): K1, YO, K2tog, *K4, P2* repeat from * to * until last 5 stitches, end P2, K3
Row 8: As Row 2
Row 9: As Row 1
Row 10: As Row 2
Row 11 (cable row): As Row 5
Row 12: As Row 2
Row 13 (buttonhole row): As Row 7
Row 14: As Row 2
Row 15: As Row 1
Row 16: As Row 2
Row 17 (cable row): As Row 5
Row 18: As Row 2


Toe:
(Note: As you begin working the decreases, continue knitting and purling as established in the Body of the pattern. As you decrease the pattern with change slightly--for example, you will only have one purl stitch instead of two--just keep going, knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches. You will switch to all K stitches on the right side and all P stitches on the wrong side near the end.)
Row 1: *Work 8 stitches in established pattern, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row
Row 2: Work in established pattern to end

Row 3: *Work 7 stitches in established pattern, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 4: Work in established pattern to end

Row 5: *Work 6 stitches in established pattern, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 6: Work in established pattern to end

Row 7: *Work 5 stitches in established pattern, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 8: Work in established pattern to end

Row 9 (this row, switch to all K stitches): *K4, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 10: P 

Row 11: *K3, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 12: P 

Row 13: *K2, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 14: P 

Row 15: *K1, K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Row 16: P 

Row 17: *K2tog* repeat from * to * to end of row

Break yarn, leaving a long tail. Weave tail through all stitches still on the needle, slip off needle, and pull to close bottom. Sew bottom seam together up to about 2" from bottom buttonhole. Weave in ends. Sew two buttons in places corresponding to buttonholes. Find newborn and take cute pictures! 


This pattern is for personal use only - please do not sell finished projects you make with it. Thanks!

easter dress number one

Clara's Easter dress. I just need to shorten the straps a smidge and even out the pettiskirt underneath. I suck at sewing with tulle. 

It has ribbons that cinch in back, peek-a-boo style. The pattern is from here. I think I might add a felt flower to the front.

Ruthie's dress is coming along and I think I will sew Oliver a shirt or maybe a vest. We'll see how ambitious I am feeling. 

springy

source

Ah, well, what can I say? It's been warm out and I haven't touched a craft in over a week. Today though I am going to finish up some Easter dresses and maybe make a couple new dolls. I am also getting my materials together for my knitting retreat in a couple weeks. I'm making a baby baptism gown for a friend of mine. Should be fun!

Time to go back outside and dig up some dandelions!
Kristy

My little model

 

I tried to get Ruthie to model a bonnet - she is not a fan! Ha.



The pink beads she is holding is a little wooden necklace I made for Clara. She had bunny day at preschool today and they took pictures! Maybe there will be a good one and if so, I'll post it on here.

I'm busy making bunnies and dolls and a few little dresses and shirts for the kids. It feels like spring here and I think some new clothes are in order!

Tuesday Thoughts

Having a husband whose love language is words of affirmation is sometimes hard for me. A Facebook friend had posted something she did for her husband's birthday and I thought it would be perfect for Ben. I sat down with the kids and we came up with 33 reasons we love him.



One of my resolutions this year was to bake bread instead of buying store bought. I have always dabbled in homebaked breads, but this year (three months now!), I haven't bought a single loaf of any kind. Not to brag, but I am finally getting the hang of a nice, fluffy loaf. I bake them in two loaf batches, twice a week, slice and freeze until I need them.

 

By the way, I never realized how upset I would get when my kids don't finish their sandwiches. "Do you know how long it took Mommy to make that bread!? EAT!"

Some of you saw my new Facebook page. Please like it if you want! I posted this little test bunny, and I plan on listing some in my shop by Friday.

 

And last but not least, I have been working on the test bonnets in various sizes and they will be listed in the shop first thing tomorrow morning. Sizes available will be 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months, and 2T-5T.  They will cost $5 and you will have to answer a few questions about the fit on your child. A great deal and very helpful for me! They are all the same two fabrics. It will be first come, first served, so check back for that!

 

I decided to maybe try to make a little money off my hobby this year. :) Usually I am just giving everything away (and there will still be plenty of that, don't worry!).

Cheers and happy birthday to my sweet husband.

Giveaway Winner + Bonnet Testers

Random.org made my decision. The winner is #11: Barbara!



Congratulations! Check your email for more info. Thanks everyone for sharing and commenting.

I'm off on a women's retreat for the weekend. My first weekend away from all three kids! Good luck to my husband--he's going to need it. :)

Soon I will be asking for testers for my bonnets. I wrote up the pattern for a lot of sizes and I need appropriate heads to check if they are okay. I have the following sizes I need to test:

3-6 months
6-12 months
12-24 months
2T-5T

I have one bonnet of each size made and will be listing them as testers in my Etsy shop for $5 each--basically just covering shipping and a meager portion of supplies. In return, I have a tiny questionnaire for you to fill out about how the bonnet fits. Sounds like a great deal, right? Check back next week for that.

Please leave me a comment or message if you are interested in being a tester. Thanks!