Congrats to Melissa for winning the Headband giveaway! How exciting! Thanks to all of those who entered, and if you didn’t win and just can’t live without a headband, well, come talk to me and we’ll work something out.
(Photo from PhoenixFire Designs)
P.S. I am totally going to make some knitting inspired ornaments for my tree this year!
So, Sam finally fits into some more of the sweaters I’ve knit for him! He can now fit into this brown cabled hoodie I made the summer before last (before I was even pregnant!)
The sleeves are a little bit long, but hey, that’s alright, he doesn’t seem to mind.
Got some mismatched buttons on there, too. I have become too cheap to buy matching buttons for my own kid. Yeah, so I’ll spend $15 bucks on the yarn to make a sweater, but I wont spend the $3 on matching buttons. Whatevs. What’ya think?
So, here is the Vandal Helmet Pattern, as promised!
You Will Need:
Worsted weight yarn, gold or yellow and silver or gray
US Size 5 needles
Yarn needle
Vandal Helmet/Viking Winged Hat
Size approx. 3-6 months *Note- if you want to make it bigger, then just increase the amount of stitches by 8, 16, or 24, etc*
Cast on 64 stitches in the gold or yellow color, join in the round being careful not to twist the stitches.
Row 1: *K1,P1* Rep to end
Row 2: *P1,K1* Rep to end
Row 3: Knit all the way around
Row 4: Knit all the way around
Row 5: *Knit 7, on the 8th stitch make a bobble* Rep to end (bobble instructions at the end of pattern!)
Row 6: Knit all the way around
Row 7: Knit all the way around
Row 8: *K1, P1* Rep to end
Row 9: *P1, K1* Rep to end,
Switch to your gray or silver yarn!
Row 10: Knit all the way around, while evenly decreasing 4 stitches during this row. You should have 60 stitches now.
Row 11-28: Knit all the way around
Row 29: *Knit 8, K2T* Rep to end
Row 30: Knit all the way around
Row 31: *Knit 7, K2t* Rep to end
Row 32: Knit all the way around
Row 33: *Knit 6, K2t* Rep to end
Row34: Knit all the way around
Row35: *Knit 5, K2t* Rep to end
Row 36: Knit all the way around
Row 37: *Knit 4, K2T* Rep to end
Row 38: Knit all the way around
Row 39: *Knit 3, K2T* Rep to end
Row 40: Knit all the way around
Row 41: *Knit 2, K2t* Rep to end
Row 42: Knit all the way around
Row 43: *Knit 1, K2T
Row 44: Knit all the way around
Row 45: *K2T all the way around. Cut yarn, leaving long tail. Thread the tail through remaining stitches, tighten to close.
Wings: (Make two!)
Row 1: In gold or yellow yarn cast on 16 stitches, leave a long tail to sew these on to the hat, then *K2, P2* Rep to end
Row 2 – 8 : K2, P2* Rep to end
Row 9: Bind off first 2 stitches on every other row and finish the row, keeping with the ribbed pattern
Repeat that until you have two stitches left, bind off.
Attach them to the hat, right on the line where you switched from the yellow/gold yarn to the silver/gray yarn.
Making a bobble: (If you have trouble with my instructions on bobbles, there are plenty of Youtube videos which show (in great detail) how to make a bobble. It sounds difficult, but it’s really quite easy!
Knit into front and back, then front and back again of 1 stitch- then you should be working with 4 stitches.
Turn your work and p4.
Turn it back over k4.
Turn your work again and p4.
Turn it back (last time!) , k2tog, k2tog, pass 1st st over 2nd, and you’re back to just 1 stitch.
And there you have it! Please let me know if you notice any discrepancies in the pattern- I wrote it up after making the hat, so it’s quite possible that I skipped a step or wrote something down wrong, so please feel free to leave me any feedback regarding this pattern!
So, I made Sam a lot of sweaters and things before he was born, and I am so excited that now he’s starting to actually fit into some of the things that I’ve made! The Coffee Bean Cardigan fits him now (well, the sleeves are a little long, but oh well!) and so do the matching booties! (I blogged about both here before Sam was born)
He was being kind of a squirrely little model for me, so I didn’t get any great pictures…
And I think he was trying to distract me, like in this next picture, I like to imagine he was saying something like “Oh, look mama, over there!”
But I am just glad to have some warm clothes that fit him now, because MAN it is getting cold out there. There was talk of snow here a few nights back, but fortunately it didn’t snow. I know I should just embrace it, but it’s really hard because we have such a short fall season here. I feel like once I had the baby all the sudden it was winter! Which is ridiculous! It was 95 degrees out the day Sam was born, and he’s only 2 months old and now we’re talkin’ snow?! What! At least now he’s got his handknits to keep him nice and toasty. And he’s wearing the hat I made him in the picture below.
And here is Sam holding the pumpkin he picked out (hah, right) It did have a stem on it, but some little trick-or-treater accidentally kicked it off the porch and it got knocked off. I never got around to carving it, oops. Oh well, I guess I will just leave it on the porch until the snow comes and buries it, like last year.
“Trying to balance what people will pay while trying to make some sort of profit is really a hard call.”
So, I just finished reading this amazing article, Fair Pay For A Fair Day’s Work, written by Vicki, the knitter extraordinaire behind Dover & Madden. (Also, you should check out her Etsy shop. She makes some beautiful stuff!) I would encourage all of you out there who knit, crochet, sew, or do anything crafty, to read this article, because we shouldn’t be making a pittance for what we do (even if it is doing something we love!) For one project that I made last year, I did the math, and with what I had already promised the customer the price I would charge on a particular item that was harder to make than anticipated, I ended up making less than 50 cents an hour, which is ridiculous. I work really hard on the things that I make, most of the time the things that I make are my own patterns, too, which take time and energy to come up with. I don’t want to sound like I am complaining or getting defensive, but I have had several people request for items at a lower price, and I just want to let them know why I have to charge as much as I do.
I think it’s important that people see the breakdown of how things like handknits (or crochet, or sewn, whatever) are priced. I had a talk with a friend a few days ago and she mentioned that “If you charged too little, people would undervalue your work. So in essence, the more you charge, the more people value your work.” (Thanks, Betsy!) This is an especially relevant time to bring this up, with the upcoming holiday season, which is obviously my busiest time for custom orders.
But seriously, if you’re a crafter and have trouble pricing your work (I’ve always struggled with this!) I would highly suggest you read Vicki’s article, she eloquently states what I’ve been struggling to for years. Also, make sure to get your Christmas Orders in soon, so I can make sure they’re out to you in time for the Holidays! I may not have enough time (obviously I’ve got a bit more on my plate this year) to do quite as many orders as I did last Christmas, so please make sure to place them early so I can get a head start on making them.
Remember, feel free to make requests for specific animals, or different color combinations, I’m willing to give just about anything a try! Email me at lexikaye@gmail.com if you’d like to place an order!
I finished the blue and white striped hat. I know I said that when I had my own baby I wouldn’t model things on the coffee canister anymore, but it’s way too big for my lil’ man, so here you go.
Ah, I love making pompoms. Paul and I debated back and forth on whether this hat needed one or not, but eventually I decided that I liked the pompom on the top.
I love knitting stripes. It’s so much more fun than knitting just one color!
So I started making a hat for someone for Christmas, but the farther I got into the hat the more I just wanted to keep it for myself.
I’ve been really into stripes recently.
And now it’s cold enough to wear hats and scarves and all those fun winter accessories, and they’re so quick and fun to make.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much knitting Sam has allowed me to do. I thought that I’d be constantly holding him, but a lot of the time he’s happy as a clam in his swing and he lets me get things done around the house. What a sweet baby he is. Right now he’s singing to his mobile while swinging away. It’s pretty darn adorable.
But now I’ve got to go make a batch of hash browns for a ladies fellowship brunch which I’m pretty excited about. Happy Tuesday, everyone.
So. I’ve actually got something crafty to show you today.
It’s going to be a sweater for one of our friends precious daughters. It’s only like 6 months late… but hey, babies don’t need sweaters so much in the summertime, so I guess it’s right on time.
It’s knit in Cascade 220 Heathers Wool. And I love it. It’s got such a nice variegated color, with soft purple undertones. It’s really lovely stuff.
I am just using a really watered down version of this sweater pattern. And when I say watered down, I really mean it. I’m really just doing one cable up the side and around the hood. Jury is still out on what we are going to do for the back, but it’ll be simple. This yarn is so pretty that I am just going to let it speak for itself.
I made myself a Moby Wrap! Sam and I both like it. Sam falls asleep pretty much instantly when I put him in there, and I get my hands free which means more knitting time for me! I was so stoked to find the exact color I was looking for in the fabric store.
He’s totally conked out in there, and so I pulled up the cover over his head so the bright kitchen lights wouldn’t wake him up. (Just a note, due to some comments- I don’t wear him this way, with his head covered. His face is always visible to mine, I just pulled it close so the lights wouldn’t wake him up, safety first!)
If you’re interested in making your own wrap, basically it’s just a really big rectangle. I bought 5 yards of a jersey knit fabric and cut it down the middle. It needs to be at least 20 to 25 inches wide, but mine is about 30, and that works just fine. I think I might taper the edges like a real Moby Wrap, but I haven’t yet and it still works great, but the knot is a bit bulky. You can also use a serger and make the edges look really nice, but I am lazy and so I just cut it and left it. I think we’re going to get a lot of use out of this wrap!
Finally, a craft related project! I know, right?
So, we’re not really a crunchy kind of family. Yeah, we are cloth diapering, but that’s about as crunchy as I get. However, sometimes I find ideas on other ‘crunchy mama’ blogs that just seem like a good idea.
I know, I know. Ugly yarn, right? But it’s what I had on hand, and since this particular handknit will be generally used and abused on the floor and covered in dirt I wasn’t too torn up about using ugly yarn. Any guesses as to what it is?
It’s a reusable Clorox Ready-Mop pad! I made a few of them in case I need to mop up something while the other is in the wash. There are tons of patterns online, but this is the particular one I used.
And they definitely work better than the flimsy paper-towel-like pads that are expeeeensive. And they’re more absorbent, especially if you’re cleaning up a wet mess!
And you can also make your own cleaner by combining 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent, and 2 cups of water!
Knittybutton 