Accidental Heirlooms, pt 1

I have never made anything that could become an heirloom. (Possible exception - maybe my wedding shawl?) Generally, I make things so that I can use them in my everyday life. I'm not always super practical about it (see last post about superwash yarns...), but neither do I make tons of special occasion things that get used once and then put away. That's what I've always assumed one did with heirlooms, because how else would they last for generations? As it turns out, heirlooms don't have to be delicate fancy creations.

When my son was born I received some things that have turned out to be heirlooms, even if they were never intended as such.

Here's the Bean in a sweater my grandmother knitted for me when I was a baby, on a quilt that my other grandmother made for me. I wore the sweater (easy care acrylic, definitely washable) as a wee thing and I used the quilt on my bed throughout my childhood. He'll grow out of the sweater too quickly, I'm sure, but the quilt should last a while yet. Who knows if these things will pass down to another generation, but for now I'm glad to give them to my baby from his great-grandmothers.

A little sewing

Has it been a month since I finished anything? Apparently. I finished a few things all at once in the last few days, but at the moment I only have pictures of one - and for a change it's a sewing FO.

The Divided Basket, by Anna Graham aka Noodlehead

I've been meaning to make this for ages, and I actually cut out all the fabric a few months ago but stalled because I didn't have the fusible fleece and fusible interfacing required. Then, when I finally went out to buy it my local fabric shop was out, so I stalled again. But! Finally I got all the bits together and it was pretty quick work once I got started.



I didn't do the optional outside pocket, and I did the fabric handles rather than the covered handles.

Even for a novice like me this was pretty easy, but I had a few difficulties. First, attaching the divider to the lining was super fiddly and I felt like my hands/fingers were way too big to maneuver it all. It worked out in the end, if a bit wonky. Then, the instructions say to fuse interfacing to the fabric first, then fuse the fleece to the interfacing for the exterior of the basket. Fine, except my fusible fleece simply would not fuse to the interfacing. I had to get creative with some extra sewing and it shows through to the outside in some areas. (If you squint you can see it in the seam in the photo below). Next time, I think I'll pick a stiffer fabric to begin with and just skip either the interfacing or the fleece. (I used quilting cotton for this one.) I can see myself making more, since storage is something I desperately need.



When I found this pattern I thought it would be great to store my knitted shawls/hats/gloves etc by the door, since at the moment I just dump them on a tiny table and they fall off onto the floor and it's a mess. Alas, I think this basket is too small for that task - I underestimated how many shawls I have, haha. There are lots of ways I could use it in my house, though. Maybe diapers, as featured in the pattern photos. Or other baby sundries. Or yarn/knitting - I can always use more places to put that stuff.

Anyway, I'm pleased with this. It's a bit wibbly, but it'll do.

2016 Crafting Goals

I'd like to say that 2016 is the year I'll get back into blogging in a committed way, or the year I try National Sweater Knitting Month again, or something of the sort. However for a number of reasons I think this year is going to be chaotic and I don't want to over commit myself and then feel bad later. It may be I'll have loads of extra knitting time, but it's also likely I will be sleep-deprived and never have any time to myself. There is a lot of unpredictability in one small package heading my way in early May and I'm not sure how anyone in my household is going to cope with it. (This is me announcing my pregnancy, btw. Open-fronted cardigans FTW!)

Me last week at 22 weeks

I’m going to set a few hopefully achievable goals nonetheless.

1. Knit one sweater for myself
I'm already finding it easy to focus entirely on baby knits - So small! So quick! So cute! I want to make sure I take time to make something for myself, even if it is only one thing.

2. Knit socks for my mom
She's due a handknitted gift this year and she requested socks, so socks it is. I think I can manage a pair of socks before the end of the year, but I guess we'll see!

3. Sew something wearable (for myself or for the baby)
I have attempted to sew a few wearables so far in my short sewing career and none have turned out to be particularly useful to me for various reasons. I like to change that this year and maybe even sew something for the baby.

So, there are my goals for 2016. Notice how I didn't say stash down...

Outfit Along update

There are only a few days left in the official Outfit Along, and as expected I'm not going to finish my sweater on time. But it's cool - I got my skirt done!


Modeled shots to follow at some point. I swear I ironed it, but the hanger makes it bunch up more than it should.

The pattern is the Alder Skirt by Imagine Gnats. This is the first time in my adult life that I've made a garment from a pattern. I had a few false starts and my cutting/sewing accuracy could be better, but oh well.

Problem the First:

The first time I sewed it all together the pockets gaped horribly. I have a suspicion that the pockets are suppose to gape a bit in View A, but it is hard to tell how much since most of the pictures of that view include hands in the pockets. In all likelihood, slight errors in cutting and matching made mine even worse. I decided I didn't want balloon pockets, so I had to undo the side seams and move things around until they didn't gape so much.

Problem the Second:

When putting the elastic in for the waist, it seemed like I wouldn't be able to put it on over my hips. This was made worse by the rejigging I had to do for the pockets. I contemplated trying to install a zipper, but decided that might be too much for my tiny brain to handle at this stage. In the end, I can juuuust barely get it over my hips, so it's fine. I can always fall back on putting it over my head.

Here it is with my Cria cardigan in progress:



(strange shoulder lumps are from the skirt hanger)

I'm at the endless stockinette body stage, and it seems like it will last forever. Ah well - it'll be worth it in the end!

Outfit Along: getting started!

The Outfit Along hosted by Untangling Knots and Lladybird started at the beginning of the month, and I somewhat impulsively decided to participate. I'm going to make a skirt rather than the official dress pattern, and I'm making a different cardigan as well. This will be a chance for me to try sewing a garment from an actual pattern, as well as work through some stash yarn I've been meaning to use for a long time.

Here are my materials:



The fabric is more turquoise than it appears. I will be sewing the Alder Skirt - it has an elastic waist so I don't have to attempt zipper installation on a garment this time. (Though now that I've made a few project bags with zippers they are less scary than before). It also has pockets! Pockets are awesome. If all goes well, this will be extremely wearable. I'm excited.

The yarn is Double Kiss, an alpaca-wool blend. I will be knitting Cria by Ysolda Teague - another eminently wearable design that I've had queued for years and years.

I have been a bit concerned about the two together, wondering if the fabric is too summery to go with the cardigan. Alpaca and wool are quite warm, after all. I already decided against some other fabric in my stash that was an even more summery print, but I think this will work for autumnal wear. To be honest, I might also find myself wearing alpaca in the summer given Edinburgh's famously crap summers...

WIP Wednesday: things other than knitting

I've been doing some non-knitting things lately, so I wanted to show my other hobby WIPs this week.

First, I've become slightly obsessed with the idea of growing things since we moved into our new flat. A few weeks ago I bought one of those grow-your-own-herb kits, and I'm pleased to report that I haven't killed them yet!



I've got parsley, basil, and chives sprouting cheerfully on the window sill. Hopefully I can keep them alive long enough to reap some delicious fresh herbs this spring.

I've also been sewing - although I got a sewing machine the Christmas before last, I haven't used it much other than for some hemming and repairs, and a few small projects. Now I've got the bug, though.



Above, you can see most of the bits of my tweed handbag. I've actually sewn it all together since I took the photo, but I still need to attach the handle. I bought the tweed when I went to Harris last summer and dithered about choosing a bag pattern for ages until I finally settled on the Simply Stylish Bag by Lisa Lam. It's relatively simple as handbags go, but it's the most complicated thing I've sewn so far, in that it involves many layers, and interfacing, and magnetic snaps, and pockets... so I'm pretty pleased that it mostly worked out. Some wonkiness involved, but that's to be expected. FO photos coming up once I get that handle attached.

I'm linking up with Stitch-Along Wednesday this week. Click the link to check out more WIPs.