ikea hack

I love my Ikea bags - you know....those HUGE blue bags that you buy every time you go to Ikea to bring all that stuff you don't need home? You know...this one:



This bag has many uses as I am sure you know. Great for luggin' laundry back and forth to the theatre or schlepping it down to the laundry room in our building. Also, good to keep in the car for those trips to Sam's Club or Costco or any other store where there aren't bags. Also FABULOUS for show-shopping ....Great for the gross quantities of stuff.

But what about smaller loads of laundry such as baby stuff? Or little shopping trips? I still wanted my ikea bag but it gets so cumbersome when it is only half full. I thought to myself...hmm i really like the size of these Giant Pea Pod bags, but how tacky to carry around a grocery store bag, not to mention it is just plastic and not tarp like my Ikea bag, hmmmm.....

So 30 minutes and 59 cents later I had these:



OOOOOOHHHHHH! AAAAAHHHHH!
Papa bag, Mama bag and Baby "knitting project size" bag.



i guess i can now say:



gratuitous baby picture:

It's Harry Potter Time!

(title of this post sung to the tune of “howdy doody”)

yes there is knitting - see below :)

Well just a bit less than 2 hours to go and the final installment of the HARRY POTTER books will be out and about on the East Coast. Those of you overseas have already obtained (and most likely devoured) your English copies of Deathly Hallows. (Can you believe that the German version won’t be out until OCTOBER!!!!!!????)

I know that it is the final party at the stores – but Fritz is picking up our 2 copies (1 for me, 1 for him) later in the day while I am at the yarn store. And I probably won’t be reading HP until Sunday, as I will be spending the very late evening watching BUFFY the MUSICAL!!!!! So cool I tell ya! (Yes I am that strange). In case you did not know, there was a BUFFY THE MUSICAL episode (season 6 of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) and they are performing it around the country ala` ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. They currently do this with SOUND OF MUSIC as well. I am so excited!!! Can’t you tell?

If I am lucky the baby will sleep long and hard on Sunday so I can read all day poolside.

Last Sunday was great! After swimming, the baby did this:


So I did this:

And made this:


Pattern: ala sweater wizard version 3.0/raglan cardigan sweater/knit flat
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton in Willow
Needle size: US size 7 (4.5mm)
Gauge: 4.25 stitches per inch (2.5cm)
Finished size: 20”

Isn’t he cute in his little man sweater? It just took one day! I love aran weight yarn!
It took me all week to find the perfect buttons and then do the button placket. There are 2 extra stitches on his left side which bug me just enough that I do not feel like ripping it out and re-doing it. It took me 2 tries to get the buttonholes exactly where I wanted I know that there is a mathematical way to figure out buttonholes – I teach this in my Finishing Class- but I am “artistic” (read: crazy) and was being ueber – specific. It also took me all week to find the perfect buttons. I went with tiny little stars…so cute.

I plan on working through a few more stash items before casting anything new on...yeah..i am sure i have said that before....

Blue Beauty

This lovely top is a gift for Meghan, the scenic artist who painted the mural in the baby’s room. She wouldn’t take cash, but she would gladly take knit/crochet wear as payment.

Pattern: Blissful by ? in THE HAPPY HOOKER
Yarn: Rowan Damask 6 skeins (I think)
Hook: G for the shell skirt and F for the bodice
Changes to the pattern: since it was a bit big and overlapped at the back, I used snaps as closures at center back. Instead of a halter, I used ribbon and lingerie findings for the straps.

And it looks great on Meghan (who was covered in paint and not willing to be photographed all schmutzig)! The skirt part was fabulously easy to make – the “feather and fan” type repeat on the lower half was so much fun to make. And that was done in no time….it was the bust cups that drove me crazy!!!!.

I checked for errata on the Knit Happens home page found that, yes, there are errata, but it is WRONG WRONG WRONG. When you have 78 stitches and decrease 4 stitches you cannot still have 78!!!! Argh!! Oh the frustration of this pattern!! I had to do the left bra cup 3 times to get it right. At first I thought it was me, so I ripped out. Then I realized that the pattern is not written the way I was taught to read patterns. For example: In crochet, you chain a certain number of stitches at the end/beginning of the row to create height for the next row. This chain counts as a stitch. So, if the pattern reads:

foundation row: Chain 21
row 1: In second chain from hook, single crochet to end. 20 stitches.
row 2: Chain 3, double crochet in each single crochet to end of row. 20 stitches

What this means is that there are 19 double crochets and 1 “chain 3” which total 20 stitches. (Make any sense?) Okay – this is how every other pattern I have ever made is written. Apparently not this one! So frustrating. The pattern was written so my row 3 above would total 19 stitches, not counting the chain 3 as a stitch. Get it?!?!..No? Oh well…I tried. Just add one to each row and it will be fine…..

So obviously problem with the pattern. But it is very pretty, no?

Baby Potter

So I had to do it! In honour of the 5th Harry Potter Movie "The Order of the Phoenix," Max really needed a boy wonder bib. And with the final book being released next week, he will wear this again I am sure :)

The lightening bolt was enbroidered by me by machine. I have become very attached to the free form embroidery aspect on one of the machines at the theatre and have been very much inspired by Kristin LaFlamme's Needle Doodles. I don't have the finess that she has but Iam starting to learn the basics and plan for more little images on bibs ('cause babies drool..a LOT!!!)

Hard at work...

Oh my it has been almost a whole month since I last posted!

What has been happening you might ask? (and if you didn’t, I will tell you anyway)

Well the cute boy has been at DayCare *sigh* and he is FINE!! Am I fine? Well I am not crying this week….He is so happy to be there because he is so cute and loved and how could you not love this face:




How do you people with Jobs and Crafts and Kids find time to blog? I mean I thought crafting and working made it hard enough – though I admit the blogging forces me to finish…sort of….okay maybe not all.

But there has been some finishing happening. My Mom almost finished this very cute sweater for the boy:



Pattern: Baby Kimono by Kristin Spurkland in Interweave Knits Summer 2005
Intended size: 20” which says newborn, but I think it is more like 6mths (22”) – my mom knits loose
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton Colour #? (lost the ball band)
Needles: size 3(3.25mm)
Changes to pattern: Closure is left over right (boy baby) and used snaps instead of ribbon for closure (again, boy baby)

So easy to make! Okay, all I did was one sleeve and put it together. As you can see I added a bit of grosgrain down each “button band” and sewed snaps instead of buttons. And used a fabulous Pirate Button purchased at the store as decoration. I like snaps and zippers best for baby sweaters since they hold better than buttons possibly torn off by little hands. Of course that does not mean that I would not use cute buttons if I found them!


And there has been a lot of swimming going on:

Maxim with Julie Anne hangin' out in his coolshades at the pool!