I forgot one of the best cakes (Thanks for reminding me Gadabout Knitter)! The dragon cake that my MIL and SisIL made my son for his 2nd birthday. So here it is....
The wings and fire are made of fruit leather - pretty clever I thought.
The party was Mighty Knights themed, and the dragon cake wasn't the only dragon at the party.
I created the "fabricy"part of the costumes for the human and animal guests, firebeard made the wooden shields.
Highly accurate armor, don't you think?
While I pride myself on my ability to master nearly any craft I really set my mind to, I have not yet mastered food craft. More specifically, I have not masted the art of making food beautiful (although I can decorate a mean cookie). I simply don't have the love of food craft that makes it's mastery possible. My MIL however, makes beautiful food, and I have been extremely negligent in sharing with you all the the beautiful cakes she makes for my kids on their birthdays, but no longer. Today I will share her beautiful cakes. Most recently, she made my son a Top Gear Cake for his 5th birthday, representing his favorite Top Gear Challenge - killing a Toyota. The cake depicts that Toyota perched on the top of a building, right before the building is demolished. (By the way, Top Gear is a British car show that tests the merits of cars in a variety of wacky scenarios). In this picture, my son had already removed the Toyota from the top of the tower because it was afraid it would be hurt.
Here is the truck on top of the tower block, waiting to be demolished.
My daughter wanted a simple dinosaur cake for her 6th birthday.
My son's 4th birthday was a lego party, so my MIL made a giant lego with a sheet cake and cupcakes.
For my son's 3rd birthday, my MIL made an incredible monster truck cake, complete with jumbo doughnut wheels.
I have also made a few cakes that made the cut, and I am including in this post. The first of which is a Halloween themed cake I created for my daughter's birthday.
My favorite part is the tiny peanut butter skulls.
My daughter also had a reptile themed party where I made an ice cream turtle, and a snake cake.
All of this talk about cake has inspired me to go eat lunch, I hope you have been inspired too.
When I saw the Soho Smocked Dress from Modern Top-Down Knitting, it was love at first sight. I had to knit that dress, but that much good quality yarn doesn't come cheap. I began searching for good, affordable yarn, but I didn't have much luck. That was until, quite by accident I came across Little Knits.
I ordered a full bag of Nashua Creative Focus Superwash, and paid just over $20 for the bag, that's about 75% off. I suspect the yarn was overstock or something similar, because there was a limited color choice. The yarn came in about a week after I placed my order - not bad for a trip from Seattle to Florida - through the cost of shipping was a bit high.
Overall I couldn't be happier with my purchase, and I would encourage anyone looking for good cheap yarn to give them a look.
A few years ago I had my husband cut a few biscuits from some smaller logs he was felling so that I could use them for coasters. I really love these coasters, but it is difficult to make them perfectly level. They always seem to wobble on the table. Finally, I had had enough, and I decided to make my own version from scraps of felt. Now you can do it too.
After my mosquito fear mongering a few days ago I decided to make a few pairs of play pants for my son (otherwise know as a human mosquito magnet).
I make these pants from up-cycled men's dress shirts I find at thrift shops. A men's size large is usually big enough for a full length pair of kid's size 2T or 3T pants. The material is light weight, still fairly durable, highly washable, and cheap. Best of all, my kid's think they are comfy, and the elastic waistband is easy for them to take on and off for potty breaks.
Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath, size small
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Black
Needles: US 7, 4.5 mm
Made For: Fire Beard
Notes:
As I stated in Ravelry, I was not convinced that these mitts would fit when I started this pattern. Fire Beard is in no way small, but according to the pattern, he needed the smaller size mitts. I eventually decided to trust the designer and cast on for the smaller size, which ended up giving Fire Beard a very snug fit that he really likes.
Despite the fact that these mitts use less than one skein of worsted wool, these took me FOREVER to knit. I just didn't find the pattern that interesting, and I kept putting the mitts down in favor of more interesting projects. As a result, a project that should have taken me a few nights took months.
When a dressmaker wants to make a fancy pattern using the flat pattern method they usually begin with a sloper or block. A sloper is a basic pattern without seam allowances, made to fit the measurements of the person who will be wearing the fancy pattern. Once a sloper is perfectly fitted it can be used to create a lot of different clothes by changing the details, like the length, or neckline, and adding fancy stuff life ruffles.
Why would a knitter care?
Knitting schematics are basically flat patterns. If a knitter has a perfectly fitted sloper, and knows the measurements of that sloper, then the knitter should be able to adjust the measurements of the knitting pattern to match the measurements of the sloper, and get a perfectly fitted garment. Interested yet?
I am currently adjusting a pattern to fit me based on a sloper, and I plan to tell more about it once I get a bit further into the pattern, so stay tuned.
Pattern: Madge by Jillian Moreno
Yarn: Handspun by the Gadabout Knitter. The fiber is by the Yarn Wench in Wild Rose.
Needles: US9, 5.5mm
Pattern Modifications: Added rib band to lower edge of hat. Otherwise knit as written.
Gadabout Knitter gifted me this handspun over a year ago, and since I had been trying to find the perfect pattern for it. I wanted a pattern that would show it to its best advantage, as it was truly beautiful handspun. I believe the beauty of handspun lies in its imperfections, as opposed to the cold perfection of machine spun yarn. When I found the Madge pattern, I felt it could do justice to the yarn.
The hat created by strictly following the Madge pattern as written was very shallow. I had expected this, as many knitters on Ravelry had found their finished hats short as well. I decided to lengthen the hat, by adding a horizontal band around the bottom of the hat, similar to that on the Side Slip Cloche in Boutique Knits. I knit a 1x1 rib band slightly longer than the circumference of the hat, then increased the ribs to create a ruffle. I picked up the stitches of the band before the ruffle on the underside of the band, knit the band a bit longer, then recreated the ruffle. I don't know if this was how the ruffle was knit on the Side Slip Cloche, because I have never seen the pattern, so it may have used a different method.
I love the way this hat turned out! It is one of my favorite knits to date, and I would not change a thing about the way it turned out. I am already thinking of knitting a 2nd for my daughter.
Pattern: 75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts, by Jeanne Stevenson
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Velvet Grapes (approx. 63 yards used)
Needles: US 7, 4.5 mm
Notes: The yarn used in this project was left over from the Pauline Bonnet. I was worried through most of the knitting, that I would not have enough yarn, but I ended with an excess. I could easily have embellished the mitts as I had the Pauline Bonnet with the left overs.
Additionally, the mitts turned out rather big for my hands (women's size small/medium in gloves). Firebeard could, if he so desired, wear these mitts himself. Had the mitts been knit to fit me, as intended, even more yarn would have been left over.
If I make these mitts again, I will reduce the size significantly. I might also increase the length of the cuff, as it is rather short.
I would consider knitting these again, if I had about 70 yards of Malabrigo leftover after a project, as this pattern gives a very practical use of a small amount of yarn. However, I will rewrite the pattern to fit my hand first.
Pattern: Pauline by Kristen Hanley Cardozo
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted, in Velvet Grapes (approx. 70 yards of the single skein used was leftover after completion.
Needles: US 7, 4.5 mm
Size: L/XL
Notes:
Pauline is a pretty, yet simple knit bonnet. While it is not a complicated kit, it's construction is interesting, and it did not leave me bored. The main portion of the bonnet was knit during a long afternoon, the remaining embellishment worked in spare moments during the following days. I found it difficult to find a round surface the correct size to block the bonnet on, but it was eventually accomplished. The embellishment was blocked flat, then added to the hat. It has since curled up, and it may become necessary to sew the embellishment down in additional places.
The hat is very comfortable and warm. It's low sides cover my ears, keeping them far warmer than traditional beanie hats. In addition the Malabrigo is extremely soft, and a joy to have next to the skin.
In conclusion, I would heartily recommend this pattern.
I have several other FOs awaiting their own posts, so you are likely to see a few more posts of this type in the future.
It occurred to me that this craft blog has not seen enough crafting lately. Don't get me wrong, there has been plenty of crafting going on, just not enough showing up here. So here is the first of the back log....
Blued Steel Socks
Pattern: Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula by Amy Swenson
Size: US Men's Size 12
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints
Needle Size: US 2
These socks were knit for my husband, who has very big feet. Knowing my tendency toward 2nd sock syndrome (and knitting a 2nd large plain sock seems like torture to me, halfway through the first), I decided to try to knit these at the same time. I knit these 2 at a time on magic loop, and I felt the knitting went very well. I did have some trouble when it came to the heel however. I couldn't seem to knit the heel neatly, even after several attempts, and finally decided to make an afterthought heel which turned out well.
By the way, you can see how well the Cascade yarn has held up, because I forgot to take pics of the socks right after they were completed, and the above pics show several month of wear.
1 hour + 20 inches of elastic + 10 whip stitches + 9 (yes 9) yards of tulle = 1 happy fairy princess in a giant tulle tutu
I used Grosgrain's simple tutorial, and recycles the tulle from my Halloween costume (I was a ghost). Voila! A happy munchkin.
Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls designed these wonderful dolls I made for my kids this Christmas. These are the Olive and Archie dolls. The pattern for both dolls is only $15, and it comes with a number of patterns for accessories for the dolls.
I chose to make these dolls for a few reasons. First, and most importantly, one of the dolls was a boy. I looked for quite a while before finding a pattern for a normal looking boy pattern. Most of the boys were elves, fairies, or the like, and this doll was just a normal boy. The second reason was the doll accessories. The accessory patterns are not typical of most doll patterns. Instead, these dolls come with patterns for backpacks, sleeping bags, snow suits, and even a cat.
In the above picture the dolls are wearing winter outfits I made for them while the kids were sick after Christmas. The kids were worried their dolls would be too cold to play outside after the kids got better. Archie's sweater and hat were made with a felted wool sweater from the thrift store, and Olive's hoodie, skirt, and boots were made from a pair of pj's my daughter had outgrown.
During 2009 a very good friend got married to the love of her life. For her present this Christmas, I wanted to make her a symbol of their new love. Since she loves the stars almost as much as her new husband, I decided to embroider her a constellation depicting a beautiful love story. However, there is a reason for the phrase, "star crossed lovers." All of the constellations I could find depicting love stories were horrible tragedies. So, I change direction a bit, and embroidered their birth signs. After all, they are meant to be together, it's in the stars.
One of my best friends is a new doctor, who still wants to change the system and make hospitals a healthy place for patients. During his annual Christmas visit last year he was incensed that doctors in many hospitals were required to wear ties. After all, a doctor's tie is an exceptionally good at spreading disease. Ties are at just the right height to get coughed on, they fall on patients during exams, they are not changed between patients, and compared to other clothes they get cleaned infrequently. A doctors tie is probably covered with disease! Over the past year, with the mental image of a tie crawling with disease, I decided that this Christmas the good doctor would receive a tie with a visible representation of what was already on it. The disease tie was born....
On a black silk tie I embroidered 4 visually distinct, and rather scary diseases. Here are some closeups;
Next time you visit the visit the hospital, avoid the ties.
I finally got around to putting up my formula for increasing evenly across a row, check it out. It is on the Knitting Math Page.
Three in a row that are all about fiber! I know, I found it frustrating too. That is just how things popped up in alphabetical order. I promise the next 2 will not be fiber related.
On with the show:
Angora fiber comes from the Angora rabbit, a group of domestic rabbits bread for their long silky “wool.” Angoras come in several arbitrarily defined breeds, based on their physical appearance. The most common breeds in the US are the English, French, Giant, and Satin (the English – my favorite – are the smallest and look most like giant cotton balls).
Regardless of their breed, angoras produce a very fine, extremely light weight, and warm fiber. In fact, Angora fiber is only 10 microns in diameter, far finer than even cashmere. Like Alpaca, it is also 8 times warmer than sheep’s wool. It will even keep you warm when saturated with twice as much water as sheep’s wool can hold. As a result of its warmth and diameter, angora is often blended with other fibers like wool or silk to reduce the yarn’s density and increase its wear-ability.
Angora fiber can be harvested thru traditional shearing or clipping methods, but the fiber also sheds in tufts and can be painlessly plucked from the rabbit during grooming. The best part is that the plucked fiber is also considered the highest grade. This fiber can then be spun directly off the rabbit, and washed after it is spun.
Angora yarn is known for being extremely fuzzy and somewhat delicate. While this is often true, it is the result of using low quality, short fibers that have not been spun tightly enough. Since angora has little crimp and the individual fibers are smooth, angora must be spun rather tightly to get a structurally sound yarn. Correct twist, combined with higher quality, longer staple length fibers yield a strong, stable yarn.
I have been trying to find an excuse to get an English Angora for a while now, but using it’s fiber to enhance my stash is not a viable excuse so far. Here in Florida it is simply too hot to wear more than about 5% Angora fiber on even the coldest days. Even one bunny would produce more fiber than I need at my current knitting rate. Maybe if we move farther north……
Alpacas are South American domesticated herd animals that come from the same scientific family as camels. They look a lot like llamas, but they are smaller, much friendlier, and most of them rarely spit on people. Alpacas are also pretty easy on the land they graze, making them a pretty “green” fiber option. They have been described as cuddly investments, but I think they are just cuddly.
Alpacas come in two varieties, Huacaya and Suri. Huacaya are the far more common variety. Their fiber tends to be shorter, and has much more crimp than that of the Suri. The Suri has longer, silkier fiber with very little crimp.
Alpaca Fiber is the “wool” harvested from an alpaca; much like wool is harvested from sheep. In fact, alpaca fiber is similar to sheep’s wool, but it is warmer, smoother, and lighter weight per unit of fiber than sheep’s wool. Alpaca is also lanolin free, making it safe for those with lanolin allergies. Good quality alpaca is fine and soft at only 18 to 25 micrometers in diameter (the finer the fiber the softer it generally feels, and alpaca is very fine). Baby alpaca is particularly fine, as alpaca fibers get thicker as the animals age.
Alpaca fiber is as much as 7 times warmer than wool, drapes beautifully, takes dye very well, and is not prone to pilling. On the other hand, it is more slippery and less flexible than wool, and stretches underweight. Alpaca is also heavier than wool in heavier gauges because it has less crimp than wool and is more slippery than wool it has to be spun very densely.
What do I knit in alpaca? Since I live in such a warm climate I knit only whisper fine lace in alpaca, as everything else is too warm. If I could, I would beautifully fine draping sweaters and cardigans. Alpaca is lovely.
I have been working on a project tutorial for you all, but it is taking me a while. It has allowed me to do a bit of thinking however, and the current tutorial in the works inspired the Knitting ABCs. Today.....
is for Acrylic
Acrylic yarn is a synthetic yarn made from a polymer of about 1900 monometer units. At least 85% of that polymer must be acrylonitnile monometer in the US to be called acrylic. The yarn is made by dissolving the polymer, then extruding through a spinnerette, which spins what it extrudes.
Although acrylic yarn often resembles wool, it doesn’t need to be taken care of as carefully as wool. Acrylic yarn is machine washable, and dryable on cool settings, and unlike wool, moths hate acrylic. It is also much lighter weight than that other favorite machine washable, cotton. It also tends to be inexpensive compared to natural fibers and other synthetics, and is safe for people with wool allergies.
Acrylic is very susceptible to heat however. Steam blocking acrylic will “kill” it, getting rid of all of its bounce back. That is not really a problem though, because acrylic doesn’t really block anyway. It can also irritate sensitive skin, or in the case of really cheap, plastically acrylic, all skin. Additionally, it is not as warm as wool or absorbent as cotton.
What would I make with acrylic? Something I have to wash, a lot, and needs to be lighter, and cheap. What do I make with acrylic? Almost nothing. Just about the only things I knit in acrylic are gifts that I would rather knit in wool, but I know the recipient would machine wash.
Do you have a suggestion for the Knitting ABCs? Let me know by leaving me a comment.
Sew Mama Sew is having a Sewing Machine Month, kicking off with this meme. I found this interesting, and thought you might too. Here it goes;
What brand and model do you have?
I have a Singer Feather Weight 221
How long have you had it?
I have had my machine a bit more than 5 years.
How much does that machine cost (approximately)?
Feather Weights are antique machines, and the cost varies greatly based on the condition of the machine; however, you can generally find a machine in good working condition that doesn't look perfect for about $500 on e-bay.
What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
I sew almost everything! Clothing, home dec objects, and craft items come off my machine the most though. I like to sew practical objects that are also pretty, and reuse or restyle fabric and trim as often as possible.
How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?
I would say that my machine gets about 5 to 10 hours of sewing a week. Sometimes that is very light work, stitching up kids clothes in quilt weight fabric, and sometimes it is much heavier work, like making bags in home dec weight fabric.
Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?
Most of the time I think I take my machine for granted, because she simply works. My machine is not fancy, and cannot do any of the cool things that the newer models do, but night and day, stitch after stitch she works without complaint.
What features does your machine have that work well for you?
My machine is a straight stitch only machine, so it doesn't really have much in the way of features; however, my machine has accessories that allow it to do many of the things the modern machines can do. Many of these accessories are available on-line at really low prices. So far my favorite accessory is my buttonhole attachment that was about $10 on eBay.
Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?
My machine does not have a zigzag stitch and I wish it did, because it would be much easier to sew knits with a zigzag stitch. So far I haven't been able to find an attachment that will make it zigzag either.
Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!
My machine was given to me by my grandmother on the day of my wedding. It had been her machine since the day of her wedding when it was given to her by her mother. I hope to one day give this machine to my daughter or son on the day of their wedding continuing this tradition.
Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?
I would definitely recommend this machine for anyone that is beginning to sew, or needs a good machine that doesn't cost a lot. Why? Again, this machine is simple, and it simply works.
What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?
After having a machine with a lot of cool features that completely died after about 1 year of use, that most important feature to look for in a machine for me is durability and serviceability.
Do you have a dream machine?
My dream machine, at the moment, the the Husqvarna Viking Scandinavia 300. It is one of their lower end machines. I am very impressed with Viking's continual commitment to strong durable machines.
Do you sew? What kind of machine do you use? I would love to see your answers to these questions. If you decide to do this meme, please let me know.
Crafting a Life.
Welcome to Gerwerken Crafts, Home of the Hang Your Hat Podcast, and information about DIY, crafts, home improvement and much more.
