I recently knit this green and grey sweater for a baby girl--my good friend Tanya---is soon to be a Grandma! so I rummaged around my yarn stash and came up with this yummy wool/cashmere yarn and knit this little sweater. I love this pattern--so quick and easy. I have to admit, the instant gratification of small knitting projects like this is quite satisfactory....because they take so little time to finish. And mostly my life seems to be: "so many projects, so little time..."

THE YARN MADE ME DO IT ;-)

Lilly's Sweater

 Well, it is sooo hard to get a toddler to hold still for a good photo...but here is little Lilyanna wearing her wool sweater I knit for her...looks very sweet on her..huh?

 I love this easy and quick knit-from-the-top-down pattern...and will be knitting more of these soon since I have some grandbabies on the way...think I will make some of these out of pretty and colorful WASHABLE wool....

Newborn Sweater and Booties

I love these two colors! knit with nice organic yarn for a Southern California baby girl. This was a fun project using 2 of my fave patterns.

I cannot count my day complete

'till needle, yarn, and hands meet....

Handmade is Better than Store Bought

Since my youth in the 60's I have believed that anything handmade is superior to anything commercially produced or "store bought." I still believe this, and that is one reason I continue to create useful crafty items for myself, family and friends.

I love knitting baby sweaters, hats, scarves, and socks...

and partly I like knitting for the process--I just plain enjoy sitting and knitting.  But part of the pleasure is also seeing  someone wearing and enjoying the finished knitted item.






And I also know that the quality of the knitting and the quality of the yarn one rarely sees in a "store bought" knitted item (especially socks!). I like that whatever I create is very good quality and will wear and last a long time.

I remember once showing my Grandmother--in the '70's---yarn I had handspun and was knitting into a vest. She asked me why I would go to all that trouble to spin yarn when I could just buy yarn? She was  knitter--but not a spinner--so she understood why I would knit a vest...but didn't understand why I wanted to spin yarn. I don't remember what I answered--but I know now that it was partly the process of spinning (very relaxing!) and partly the quality of the yarn..and partly the satisfaction of learning an ancient skill.

People are always asking me if I sell my knitted items;
mostly I don't sell them--I prefer to give them away.
I am not a fast enough knitter to make any real money selling what I make...and  I rarely make anything with the idea of selling it...I usually knit something for a specific person....

                                                         
or for myself. I enjoy picking out the yarn that I feel matches the person I am making the item for and that fits the project. Socks for my sister? ah! she would love these colors...

I have set a new goal for myself---for this winter. I want to knit enough pairs of socks for myself that I can get rid of ALL crummy "store bought" socks, and only have hand knit ones for myself. Of course, this means knitting pairs of socks in a variety of weights and fibers..from wools to light weight cotton.

Seems a worthy goal...and one that fits with my conviction that hand made is best.

Scrap-busting 7 hour toddler sweater!

Meet little Lilyanna's spring sweater! This pattern is called the "7 hour Toddler sweater"--can't say I made it in only 7 hours --but it sure didn't take long. I used up some nice wool/alpaca worsted weight "scraps" of yarn I had around...all I have left to do is find the perfect button to go at the top and sew it on. This is knit from the top down and the only seams to sew were the arms--so simple!


now, back to knitting those socks...

Organic Cotton baby sweater

I had planned a long post about the benefits of organic cotton vs non-organic cotton---but in the interests of time, I'm just now posting this baby sweater and skipping the info about organic cotton. This is the first sweater I have knit for the new Grandbaby (expected in late August)....of course I have more knitting planned and yarn already in my stash for several projects.



This sweater looks big here--but is actually newborn size. The pattern (yes--I actually followed a pattern for this one!) is from this book

and the yarn (which I managed to get fairly cheap off EBay) is Bernat Organic Cotton. The colors seemed a nice gender-neutral to me, since whether he/she is a boy or girl will be a surprise ---(which I am pleased with. ...I like this kind of surprise!) This knit up quickly--but it took me awhile to get around to sewing all the parts together and weaving the ends in---seems the finishing always takes more time. I used some nice mother-of-pearl vintage buttons from my button box to finish it off.

Now I'm knitting a newborn size hat to match....

Ruby REpurposed Handbag

Another one! This one is also lined, and has some nice fellted crocheted lace on the closing flap. The back of this bag is a lovely felted multi-colored Fair Isle stripes--the front a scrumptious ruby color. Created out of recycled felted wool sweaters--and fully lined with cotton fabric. The inside has small pockets for keys, cell phone, and other small objects. The strap is made from the same striped sweater as the back of the bag. I also use some lightweight Pellon fusible, between the wool and the cotton fabrics, to give some proper stiffness to the bag.

detail of closing flap

lining, with pockets

the back of the bag

Orange is the New Black

Sweaters from thrift stores---washed in hot water in the washing machine, then dried in a hot dyer--PRESTO! wool felt! which I then cut up and sew into handbags. This one is orange and green in honor of FALL season---plus, I love orange. I lined this, and added pockets inside for your keys and cell phone. The handle is braided sweater strips, just the right length for a comfortable shoulder bag.

This shows the lovely lining fabric--the handbag flap is lined with a brown sweater.

This is a back view of the handbag---just slightly different than the green striped front---with an orange horizontal side strip.

Sweaters "Repurposed" into handbag

I buy wool sweaters at thrift stores or garage sales--throw them in the washing machine and dryer---shrink them to the max--and then have nice, heavy wool felt to create handbags with. This bag is large--I wanted a bag I could carry all my usual purse detritus and a knitting project and a small sketchbook and maybe even a paperback book to read. Seems I'm spending quite a bit of time lately on the bus or BART, and since I like to knit or read while I travel, and needed a roomy bag that would carry everything. On this bag I also created a large closing flap on the front---and sewed on crocheted granny square (from another unfinished project.) I used the buttonholes from the sweater on the lower flap edge as a closure. The handle I made out of strips I cut from the sleeves of the sweater--then I braided the strips---this makes a nice sturdy handle.



And I lined the bag--isn't this fun lining material? I thought this fabric complimented the greenish tweedy wool nicely---and I also made some functional pockets inside for keys and cellphone---the two items I am always digging around in the bottom of my bag for. Took this bag out for a spin today and she got her first compliment!

Sweater WIP

sweater front

This is one of those projects I have had going for several years--a gift for my oldest daughter---and every so often she gives me some flak about "just when are you going to finish my sweater?"...as you probably could guess---I'm making this one up (as I go!) and using up scraps and bits of yarn I saved for years---so much of it is primo silk/wools and angora that costs too much to buy now. I was a handweaver for years, and saved left over yarns from weaving projects, so I have included mohair, wool, silk and angora yarns in this cardigan. And whew! all those ends are going to be a pain to weave in at the end...



sleeve and half of the front

And now she wants me to create a hood for this sweater, and I plan to edge the front and create a closure (with buttons) with a crocheted edging. I'm thinking about lining this sweater---so I can avoid weaving in all the ends---is this cheating? what do you other knitters think? I guess I'm going public with this too give myself the push I need to finish this project--which has been languishing in my WIP (wip = work in progress) pile for too darn long.