Weekend travels and knitting plans

We went to visit Ran's sister this weekend. She had a birthday last Sunday and a baby three weeks ago (tomorrow) and we were all eager to see them all.

Isabel was thrilled all week that we were going to visit her cousin and his baby sister and their two dogs.
In all honesty I think she was more eager to see the dogs than the cousins.

We took off early in the morning and arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

The little baby cousin was a teeny tiny little girl with soft, fuzzy hair and big blue eyes.

I told Isabel to go stock up on baby cuddles because we're not having any more in our house if I get a say about it.
She'd pet and kiss the baby's head for a while then she'd more or less ignor the baby the rest of the weekend and focus on her other cousin and their dogs.

I got some crafting done in the car on our way up. I hemmed a dishcloth and finished a sock for Ran and started a sock for Isabel. I finished the heel before we arrived.
Later Saturday night I finished the sock and Sunday morning I finished the heel of the second sock and finished it in the car just as night fell and I couldn't see any more without a light in the car.

I'm going to Knit Night tonight and I'm gonna start a pair of socks for Sofia.

It was a rather prickly yarn so they won't be able to wear them without socks underneath.
I think I'll ask the LYS-lady for a soft strong sock yarn that I can make cuddly socks from.

I'm also toying with the idea to knit and felt indoor shoes for guests to keep by the door.
We have re-organized our hallway and a nice ratten basket with felted shoes would feel really welcoming.
I'm just not sure I can make that many shoes without crying my eyes out with boredom.

I have a few sewing projects planned for Christmas gifts. I think I should finish those first before I start a project like that.

Tumbling

That idea from last week is still tumbling - albeit a little bit more organised by now.

I'm toying with the idea to make and sell stuff, and I'm currently looking into all the ins and outs of starting a business.

I have a domain name figured out and at the time I'm busy working on a budget.

I'm having fun and I'm having flutters in my stomach about this. But it feels right.

Rainbow pencil roll

Ever since I first saw one like this (here) I've been wanting to make one.

Then a few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me if I could make a pencil roll for her girl for Christmas. She asked me to get the pencils/crayons and make something with this fabric on the outside.
Other than that she gave me free range of the design.



A week or two after that my father gave me a box of pencils that he had gotten for some kind of promotion.
There were 15 sets of pencils (!) with 15 colours in each. It fit perfectly for this idea.

I made 2 rainbow insides at once and I plan on making one for Isabel as well. It will probably turn out differently though.

Dreaming

I have this idea tumbling around in my head that I want to do something different with my life.

These are a few links that I thought would be useful to me.

http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/2008/09/17/the-business-of-craft-starting/
http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/2008/07/22/tips-for-choosing-a-website-name/

Changes

When ever September rolls around I get this urge to bake and cook and do preserves and all that domestic stuff my mom and grandma used to do in the fall.
So this weekend I made pear and almond patisseries and a Swedish Key Lime pie.

Now the problem is that my waistline does not actually benefit from all those cakes. So last night at Knit Night I brought the pie with me. It was a huge hit.
It was really easy to make and I will probably stash condensed milk in the pantry because all the other ingredients are stuff I usually have lying around.
It's a quick bake, but it does have to cool to be nice to eat. Downside.

At Knit Night I started on my new cardigan. It's in mohair so when I realised I hadn't started with three rows of garter stitch like I was supposed to, I decided on NOT unraveling it but rather go with it and leave it in stockinette.

Craftwise I have pencil rolls going for Isabel and a friend's girl, and I have a cover for a paperback novel that I'm still mind-designing that I'm planning on giving to my mother for Christmas.
A bread basket is in the works too.
Gonna serge and pre-was fabrics this weekend.

Organising

I used to have posts here - but I moved them to three different blogs instead - I know I'm a sucker for organisation. In my online-life at least.

IRL - this is what my life is ...



My knits can be found at Lattemama Knits
My crafts can be found at Lattemama Crafts
My quilts can be found at Lattemama Quilts

I'll be back with more blog-like posts in the near future.

Candy skirt for Isabel

I designed this skirt to go with the Candy Sweater I made Isabel a few weeks ago.

I did a green ribbing in the waist with YO-eyelets to thread an variegated i-cord through.
I then increased the number of stitches by 25 % and began knitting 1.5 repeat of the structure pattern.
Then I thought about how to hide the increasing and still keep the pattern intact so I did a row of garter stitch and hid the 50 % increases after it.
Then another 1.5 repeats of the structure pattern.



After a second garter stitch row I increased by 50 % all along the front and 100 % along the back to add a little more bounce in the back.

I ended the skirt with 3 rows of green stockinette for a rolled hem.

Isabel liked it very much and it turned out exactly the way I imagined it. I like how it's rather tight around her bum and then flares out.

I want to make another for her in green, because this skirt with the Candy Sweater looks a little busy.

Isabel's Birth Quilt

This is a quilt I made for my oldest girl in 2004 just before she was born.

It's not so much a quilt as it is a patchwork, in that the blanket is not actually quilted. I also finished it using the birthing method instead of putting on binding.

She's used it at preschool for naptime but since she's a big girl now and don't join in on naptime it's now come back home again.


It's made in a windmill design that in retrospect was quite elaborate for a beginner, but I weathered it. I broke two sewing machines and almost my back before I got it made.
In the end I sat for almost a whole day at my grandmother's house and sewed while she ironed. Teamwork.

Alice's Birth Quilt aka Blessings Quilt

The girls' little cousin has been eagerly anticipated and on Sunday evening the parents to be drove to the hospital and delivered a little girl in just under 3 hours.

I was finishing up the binding on the baby's quilt and from what I can gather I made the final stitches just as they got ready to go to the delivery room.


I did a celtic inspired quilting on this one. There was a corner on the template too but I opted on quilting each row individually.
I think it turned out quite nicely.



Instead of putting on batting and backing I decided to use a piece of cotton waffle weave blanket that I had left over from my littlest girl and build the quilt around its measurements.
It made the quilt very pliable and snuggly and I hope little Alice will be kept toasty warm under it this fall and winter.

Blessings Quilt

Our new cousin is due to arrive today, but so far we've heard nothing. BigBrotherCousin was 10 days late so it may be that it will be a while.

In the meantime I've started on a quilt for BabyCousin. It's made from Little Blessings by Nancy Davis-Murty in green, yellow and purple.
I love the little blessings on the green and purple fabrics... "May you grow up to enjoy the little things"

Initially I had intended to make a burpcloth as well, but I'm not sure I'll have enough fabric once the scrappy binding is done.
Maybe there is enough to make accents and I'll fill it up with other fabric scraps. I'm sure I have others that will match in colour tone.

The quilt is basted and I have the thread picked out. Now I just have to decide on how to quilt it.