A few girlfriends and I got together and did some tie-dying!
A few onesies for Sam-
a tshirt for me!
A scarf (Not tie-dyed, just dyed! It was white linen)
And a few kitchen towels.
It’s so much fun- we had a blast and I am pretty sure I have an addiction to tie-dying now!
I saw some Baby Legs online, and thought they were really cute, but I didn’t want to pay $14 bucks for basically a tubesock.
So, I took a pair of knee socks that a hole in the heel and I cut the feet off of them, and voila! Babylegs!
He was being really squiggly! I couldn’t get a good picture of him!
They are handy for when we are just hangin’ out at home, and this way we don’t have to take any pants off when we are changing diapers!
I think they look pretty cute, although Paul thinks they look kind of dorky. I think I’ll make some more out of socks that are really worn in the heels or toes.
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!
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!
I carved a pumpkin this weekend.
Well, two pumpkins, actually.
This is for you, Charissa, a real life Disney Princess!
Ok. So this might seem a little random, but I was wondering if any of you out there would be willing to test knit some patterns for me. You know, just to see if there’s any glaring mistakes and things like that. Since I made them up, I might not explain them very well, things like that. I’d be willing to give you the yarn to work with, if you didn’t want to use up any of your stash of yarn.
Patterns needing testing currently are of my Elephant, Turtle and the Ewok.
It wouldn’t be a big deal if you couldn’t finish them, but if there was anyone out there who wanted to give it a try, that would be super helpful for me! You can either just leave a comment here, letting me know which pattern you’d like to try, or email me at lexikaye (@) gmail (.) com and I can send you the pattern.
So I tried a strange experiment the other day while knitting up my Ewok. I needed some off-white yarn, but all I had was pure white. So, I threw my yarn in a pot and brewed it with some tea.
I know it looks like pasta, but it would not be an enjoyable dinner.
I probably should have left it in there for just a little longer, it could have used a bit more color, but it accomplished the job just fine.
Oh, and please don’t mind the dirty kitchen….
Yesterday Paul got some fabric markers and decided to draw on the back of one of his sweatshirts.
(Paul drawing)
(Preliminary sketching)
(Outlining the sketch, right. Original, left)
(Paul wearing the finished product)
Pretty cool, no? He wanted to have a hoodie that had the Grumpy Joe Vandal on it. Joe Vandal is the U of I mascot, and apparently back in the day (I’m not sure how long ago) the logo had a grumpy Joe Vandal on it, but you can’t find it anywhere so he decided to just make one!
So for todays DIY we’ve got something that might seem a little strange, but I made one and I like it, so I thought I would just throw it out there in case anyone else is interested in it.
Get out your wool (it should be a natural fiber, only)
First you just knit yourself a long rectangle, about 1/2 wider than your bar of soap. I put a little cable in mine, just for fun.
Then measure it up to your soap, make sure it can wrap all the way around it.
Then simply sew it into a pocket, drop the soap in, and sew up that open end.
and here you are:
And since it’s made out of the wool, it will slightly felt in the shower, and it makes good suds!
Knittybutton 