Pockets!!

I've been working night shift for a few months, and my wardrobe at work consists of hospital-issue ciel blue scrubs (shirt with one chest pocket, pants with one back pocket) and a navy blue jacket (two front pockets).  Last month I switched to days and evenings, which is a bit of a busier routine.  Pair that with the lack of so-tired-should-be-asleep-this-time-of-night chill that accompanies night shift and I'm way too hot at work for the jacket.  Well, that decreases my pocket capacity by about half.  Where the heck am I supposed to put all this essential stuff?!

As I was mindlessly sewing another project I'm working on (I have to sew 124 cones together out of sail cloth--don't ask--it's amazingly tedious) my brain had the chance to wander, and it really took off.  Finally I had to stop mid cone and go eyeball exactly what I had in my sewing box to see if my thought might come to fruition.  What did I find?  A scrap of navy blue Sunbrella.  About a third of a gorgeous cream-colored hide of lambskin.  A roll of 1 1/2" webbing.  Velcro.  Hmmm...

So I laid out a pile of pens and some other junk, trying to replicate what I pack around all day at work, to come up with the size I needed.  I cut out one large rectangle of fabric, and hemmed two ends.  This would be the inner pocket.  I cut out another rectangle of fabric of the same width, a fair bit shorter, and hemmed those ends.  This would be the outer pocket.  I put them together and sewed a few seams in them to hold my pens and scissors.  

Then the fun part.  I cut a heart shape out of the lambskin and used seam stick tape to tape it onto the outer pocket.  I tested the width of my zigzag stitch on a scrap first to make sure I could make this happen, then oh-so-carefully and meticulously sewed the heart onto the canvas.  Adorable!  

Sewed the velcro onto the webbing and the webbing on to the canvas, and finished the edges up with strips of leather.  Voila!  All my stuff, neatly packed away in a pocket around my waist.  All my essentials are at hand, and I'm no longer over heating for the mere sake of the stuff I have to carry.  Cute, huh?

I already have an order to make another one for one of my fellow nurses :)

Heart applique.

Oh how I love seamstick.

My hearky machine.

Boyfriend Gloves

Well, the Christmas and birthday rush was over and Valentine's Day was looming.  My sweetheart hasn't received any hand-knitted projects from me in a while, so his turn had come.  I bought this yarn for its natural, undyed, undulating color variegation and its supreme softness.  It is the same Cascade Yarns Eco Duo that I used to make the Cabled Earwarmer Headband.

 I wrote this pattern up copying down my scribbled notes.  If you find any typos or mistakes, I will not be surprised, and would be ever so grateful to hear about them.  Please don't hesitate to comment or email.

Needless to say, he loved the gloves, and I love them possibly even more than he does.  Another pair, this time for myself, is now on my ever lengthening project list.

Happy knitting, happy warming.

Pantone Color Border

I bought a set of 100 postcards at Blick Art Supplies a few weeks ago. The postcards feature Pantone's iconic color chip design in 100 different colors (and 100 different names). They were so cool and for $20 I had to have them. Instead of sending them in the mail, I taped them up onto my wall to create a colorful border for my incredibly high walls (I'm lucky enough to live in an old building with high ceilings). I measured the length of my wall beforehand so I knew how many I could fit in an even border. It turned out I only needed 78, so I didn't include the browns, grays, and blacks. $20 for an awesome Pantone color border? Anyone can do that.

Cabled Earwarmer Headband

So, the Cascade Yarns website has a TON of free patterns. That's where I found this one: Up to My Ears in Cables. I used Cascade Yarns Eco Duo (70% undyed baby Alpaca and 30% undyed merino). It's as soft as anything and lovely to work with. A really soft, subtle natural stripe emerged as I was knitting, which accents the pretty cable really well. Joined it with the three needle cast-off for a really pretty, nearly undetectable seam.

Happy warming, happy knitting!

Knitpicks Victorian Lace Scarf

So I'll start this post off with a story of being in the right place at the right time. The moral of which is that accidental felting isn't always as disastrous as it may initially seem.

I found a pattern for a belted cardigan/jacket that I really loved. I perused my yarn store all afternoon looking for the perfect yarn for it (but, which wouldn't break the bank, with my 10-skein requirement). I started the sweater in November and just finished it about a week ago. I had a solid three months of on and off work into it. When it finished it was just *this much* too big, so I thought I'd casually just throw it in the washing maching and felt it down a little. Well, after the 5 minute check, some hollering and cursing ensued as I realized that my huge investment in yarn and time had just been felted out of my size range. (There's a lesson for you). I was so disappointed, but stubbornly determined to make the best of it. Who doesn't love a too-small sweater, anyway? It was hanging on the back of a chair when a friend of a neighbor stopped by. She was drawn to the sweater, fascinated that I had made it myself, and sufficiently sympathetic to my glum report of its shrinkage. She asked to try it on, and loved it. It fit her like it had been tailored just for her, and she was completely enamored. She offered to buy it, and when I doubtfully told her how much I'd spent on the yarn (it is NOT a cheap endeavor to make your own clothes), she promptly offered me double my cost. Well, turns out my mistake with one sweater provides me enough yarn for two sweaters. How lucky was that?

I've always made really warm, cozy scarves, and they're great from November to January. But now it's February and the days are getting warmer. (Seriously!) I've been wanting to make an autumn/spring scarf for a while--something not to stiflingly hot on less than frozen days. And of course, you now know that I have a thing for infinity scarves.

I'm still going through this lovely home-spun wool that my friend gave me and I've been saving this one ball for a special project. It's super soft and I love the color (nearly everything I own is blue) and the gentle variation. I found this Victorian Lace Pattern on Knitpicks.com and fell in love, deciding to just join the ends with a three-needle cast-off, leaving me with not a traditional scarf, but more like a cowl (it goes around my neck just once).

If you look closely at the middle photo, you can see where I knit one row out of order...! Normally I'd have torn that row out and fix it, but I didn't happen to notice it until I saw the photos on the computer. Well, who can blame me? I was watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while I was knitting this up and was understandably distracted.

I love how this turned out, feminine and delicate, and perfect for that in-between warm/cold weather.

And now my knitting fund is replenished, so I better head downtown and buy some more yarn.

Lacework Headband

I used up some left over yarn from another project to whip up this headband/ear warmer. I am terrible at making knit patterns and since you may want yours wider, smaller or bigger - I'll just give you the general stitch pattern so knitters can customize! I used size 8 needles, casting on 13 stitches, and Lion brand Wool-Ease yarn for this gauge. After casting on, Row 1 is K1 *yarn forward, K2 together; repeat from * to end. Rows 2, 3, and 4 are K to end. These 4 rows are repeated until desired length, cast off, and then ends are sewn/weaved together. I am excited about this machine washable yarn because I wear the headband running in the cold February weather! It keeps all my hair out of my face and my ears toasty.

Quick Children's Scarf

My niece turned 7 last weekend and I made her a scarf that knit up quickly and was very inexpensive. I usually prefer using expensive and luxurious yarns - but for this little girl who likes to run around and play hard I went with a machine washable acrylic (yet, so soft!) yarn. I worked in a 2x rib stitch (K2, P2, etc.) and it knit up very quickly, it was done in just a few hours.