Home's Jewels

Baby Gifts

>> Friday, February 17, 2012 – On the homefront, On the needles

I like to knit gifts for babies and have a tried and true pattern for booties, but wanted to try a new one with thicker yarn. This is now my new favorite. It can be knit using Magic Loop Method and it is knit top down to the 2 needle bind-off at the end. Such a cute pattern! Baby Booties Without Seams (top down)

I also found a new pattern for hats. This is a very practical pattern and I love that it is so stretchy, that it will grow with the baby. I read Ravelry reviews that it lasted one baby until the age of 2! That makes sense. Ribbing is not always the most fun to knit, but combined with a cute pair of booties, it's such a cute gift idea. This hat, too, was knit using Magic Loop method. I am still undecided on ties - perhaps i-cord.

Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby Hat

Both of these patterns can be knit with worsted weight yarn.

Getting in Shape

Dealing with chronic pain is not fun, so I've been researching stretching exercises to help build core strength, in addition to deep tissue massage. Finally, I am at a point where I can start exercising again. Here are a couple of programs I've been doing:

I began this program a couple years ago and didn't complete it, but did have fantastic results. I started out by only being able to do 6 modified push-ups. Gradually, I got to the point where I could do 35. Now I've started again and hope to complete the program. Into Week 3, I am able to do over 100 pushups broken up in to 5 sets. It's amazing how good my upper body feels after doing pushups. Doing pushups also helps with core strengthening. If you've never done push-ups before, give it a try. If I can do it, anyone can.

The next program is not high impact - but a slow way to get into an exercise routine which is just what I need. ACE's Kick-Start Workout. I didn't want to go straight into my old exercise routine which is a lot of cardio, but build up to that level and that is just what this does.

If nothing else, I am being proactive in getting my body in better shape and hopefully strengthening my core will help with the chronic pain issues.

Honey Cowl: Done

>> Monday, February 13, 2012 – Off the needles

Finished the Honey Cowl with Madelinetosh Tosh Dk in Mansfield Party colorway. Normally I'm not into pastels, but the vibrancy of this yarn makes me happy. I like both sides of the cowl - the long stitches is the right side, but the "wrong" side reminds me of the linen stitch and is equally nice. This was pretty tight around my neck before blocking, but loosened nicely after blocking. I might do another one with worsted weight yarn for those really cold months.

On the needles. . . .

>> Tuesday, January 31, 2012 – On the needles

Life seems to be zooming by and I find that I upload my knitting projects on Ravelry.com and my sewing projects on MySewingCircle.com, but have forgotten about this poor old blog. Let's see if I can catch up. This cowl is a great knitting project for traveling, sports games, and when watching tv - very mindless knitting.

I fell in the love with Madelinetosh's Mansfield Garden Party colorway the first time I saw it on this Honey Cowl Pattern. I highly recommend it. It should be completed soon - woohoo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The little boys and I made turkey softies for Thanksgiving. The pattern uses their hand print for the body of the turkey. I have paper hand prints of the older kids, but they remain stuck in boxes stored away. This is a neat idea to use their hand prints on fabric to make a softie which can be used in centerpieces year after year. Love it!

I got it the idea from this site: Bella Dia

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The making of a TNT top: New Look 6735

>> Tuesday, October 25, 2011 – Sew what?

What a process, whew! This had previously been my favorite TNT top pattern, but the pattern was misplaced. I forgot that the pattern had been altered quite a bit to become my favorite pattern. So, I bought a new pattern and the following are my working notes:

Fabric requirements: 1-2/3 yards 60-in. wide for 3/4 length sleeve
1-1/2 for short sleeve

1st top = hot pink = Made Size 16. Shaped to 18 at hips. Added 4-1/4 in. in length (because I'm TALL). Turned out way too big!!! Back to the drawing table. Neckline was too low - revealing my bra when bending over. Gap in back neckline, wrinkly back and too loose under armholes. Wadder! (This knit is a rib knit with not much recovery - bad choice!)

Way too loose in the back - gaping neck, excess under arms


Too long, too big, way too low in front especially if I bend over

2nd top = green top: Redrew neckline, raising it about an inch, went down a size. Still loose under arm, still gape at back and neckline. This was another rib knit with poor recovery.

Still too big in back

This fabric was horrible to work with - a cheap knit rib. Never again!

3rd top = orange multi 3/4-length top: Ok, this is a success! (cotton blend knit)

In addition to raising the neckline about one inch (from before), I altered the neckline again because felt the neck opening was too wide.
Took in 1/4 inch width from armholes.
Pinched a tuck in the back neckline about 1/4 inch to solve the gaping neck problem.
Reduced the added length from 4-1/4 to 3-1/4 in.. Previous adjustment was too long.
Added 3/8- in. width to neckline binding piece.
Decreased length of binding piece by total of 2 inches.


Finally a winner! Made 3/4-in. sleeves, fixed the gaping back issue, the excess under arms. Yea!

Pumpkin Patch

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Playing Around Home

>> Sunday, October 16, 2011 – Bunny, c, On the homefront

Fantastic bike trails nearby

Sweet Brothers

New Kind of Fun

>> Sunday, October 02, 2011 – On the homefront

Our new home is located very close to a river. Dh bought a used boat off Craigslist and are taking advantage of the beautiful weather. It was 75 and gorgeous today. While they are boating, I think I'll head downstairs and do something productive in the sewing room.

Move and File Boxes

>> Thursday, September 22, 2011 – homeschooling, Knitting

Wow, it's been a while. In June, we moved to WA state. Over the past few months, we have sold our home in Oregon, moved into a temporary apartment (8 people in 1200 SF), and moved again to our new home. We love the home, the neighborhood and are trying to get adjusted and back on some sort of a schedule. Do all of the boxes ever get emptied?

One exciting thing about the home is the unfinished basement. It will be divided in half: sewing room for me on one side and workroom for the boys on the other. I'm thrilled. I'll post more on that later.

I just found out about these file boxes and wanted to pass along: Staples has document file boxes on sale for $5 each (picture below). They are check size, but I will be using them for other purposes.

One will be for homeschooling (to help me organize lapbook projects). I will store each week's items into a section. The other one will used to hold my circular knitting needles - 1 section per needle size.

The dividers go all the way to the bottom of the box (unlike others that are open), so you won't lose anything between the divider sections.

How Cooks Are Born

>> Sunday, April 24, 2011 – Bunny, Mama loves, Pearly Girl, What's cookin'?

Pearly and Bunny reading through smoothie recipes to see if we have all of the ingredients on hand.

Margrathea

>> Monday, April 18, 2011 – Knitting, On the needles

I had so much fun knitting the Boneyard shawl, I decided to knit another one. I love to learn at least one new skill whenever sewing or knitting. This is the first time I've knitted a real lace pattern and used a chart. It is amazing how a single strand of yarn can produce an beautifully detailed lace design feature. It amazes me the talent of designers and also it reminds me of the Master Designer. Knitting makes think deep thoughts - kind of the same way when I get lost playing the piano. I think that's why I like it so much. It's a quiet and personal time of reflecting. I need that in my rat race of a life.

This pattern is Margrathea by Martina Behm. I loved the pattern. I am using Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Winter Wheat colorway using my Addi Turbos US #4. I will probably change to Knit Picks interchangeables in the same size when I get a chance to purchase them - really like sharper points when knitting lace.

I discovered a mistake in my knitting about 2 inches down from where I currently am working. It’s not completely obvious unless you are really looking at it and after thinking about it for a minute, I have decided to keep it there. Even though I am normally a perfectionist, considering this is my first chart/lace project, and also keeping in mind how the Amish always leave or incorporate one mistake in their quilts “because only God is perfect”, I will leave it there. I’m okay with that. Knitting is a wonderful time to think deep thoughts and with this one mistake, I will remind myself that life is full of hurdles; we can make mistakes in life and still have something unique and beautiful in the end.

Boneyard Shawl

>> Tuesday, April 12, 2011 – Off the needles, On the needles

I wanted to take a knitting project for the San Francisco choir tour, so I selected a pattern that would be very easy to do in case of interruptions (with 60 students, this was a given). This pattern was great - very easy. My favorite was the yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Cove colorway. YUMMY! It feels good to have needles in my hands once again. It blocked beautifully. I made a few revisions by adding eyelet around the edge. You can find my notes on Ravelry with my user name: homejewel.

San Fran!

>> Thursday, April 07, 2011 – Mama loves, Mama Stuff, Pearly Girl, Traveling escapades

Pearly and I spent 4 days touring San Francisco area with her choir. I am their accompanist and "choir mom". We had a great time. They sang at Southern Oregon University, Chico High School, Pier 39 in San Francisco, and also at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA. I especially enjoyed the Alcatraz tour. What a fun time with my daughter and 59 other students (and 10 chaperones).

Finished Knitting Project

>> Sunday, March 27, 2011 – Knitting, Off the needles

I finished the Chalet Brioche Cowl after a rough start. You can read my review on Ravelry. Here is the pattern link. I like it - it's a bit funky, but it is sure nice and warm to wear around the neck on some of these bone-chilling mornings. This is my first experience with Malibrigo - yummy!

Brioche!!

>> Thursday, February 24, 2011 – Knitting

Still around, still working on the house, putting excess into boxes!

In my idle time waiting for children to get done with music lessons or in between volleyball games, I have been taking my knitting with me. I found a pattern using the Brioche stitch. It's quite an easy stitch once you figure it out.

The pattern I was using is called Chalet Brioche (Ravelry link) and was giving me fits until I contacted the designer and also read up on various websites and looked at youtube videos. BTW, I cannot find any Continental style knitters demonstrating Brioche with audio. I may have to do my own video to upload because in my Google searching, I found quite a few others who were stumbling with this stitch. I have detailed notes on my project page explaining what worked for me on Ravelry.

Anyway, here is progress and I really like it. The stitch is extra thick, so the perfect stitch for cowls, scarves, cold weather attire.

Head Spinning

>> Thursday, January 20, 2011 – Brown Eyes, c, Mama Stuff, On the homefront, Orange Boy, Pearly Girl

That's what I feel like lately. I realized lately that there is not one room in our home that is "finished". We've had lots of remodeling going on, windows replaced, carpeting, flooring, trimming, drywall, granite countertops, you name it, and now I begin to paint so we can get our house on the market. It's a bit of a challenge doing the single mom thing during the week, but we're doing okay. The unemployment is still 10.6% in our area so I am thankful that my husband has a job.

As if our life were dull, Pearly is busy occupying herself with more volleyball. She has grown and is now 6'3-1/4". Yes, every 1/4-in counts! She is thrilled. She is on two teams. One is a club and the other is the private league that she has played on for years. The club is a special treat. The coach has really taken her under his wings and wants to develop her. He's had one-on-one training with her and videotaped the session so she could see the details in slow motion and fine tune her skills.

Aside from volleyball, Orange Boy and Brown Eyes are also on local rec leagues playing basketball. They both love that.

In the meantime, I take special pleasure in seeing sights like this - Caboose decided he wanted to sleep in the closet of the newly carpeted room. Can you believe this is my baby? He's almost FIVE. No way!

If I can get the boys' room painted, I will be rewarding myself with some sewing time!

Home Happenings

Life seems to be going at such a fast pace. This is the kind of activity that has been consuming me lately. I've been accompanying daily at the local high school. I used to accompany only my daughter's class, but lately have been accompanying as needed with another choir and it has taken a good bit of time.

In other news, my husband was laid off last year in February. In June, took a 6-month contract job located 4 hours from home (coming home on the weekends). A week or so ago, he signed on with this company as a permanent employee. We are very thankful to have permanent job status, but sad in that it means we will have to leave what has home for over ten years with so many friends, family, and memories and move four hours away and start over. This will no doubt be a challenge for us a family, but in Oregon's economy (with more than 10% unemployment and not much hope for improvement in his field), it made sense to take what was available. Four hours is not too far from family.

So now we begin the process of decluttering and preparing our house to put on the market. Life is never dull, is it?

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New Version of Kwik Sew 3740

>> Sunday, November 21, 2010 – Sew what?

I snagged a gorgeous sweater knit at JoAnn's (amazing sweater knit from :::gasp:::: JoAnn's ) and decided to try and revise this great top pattern to a dress length as I have also done with another TNT pattern, Kwik Sew 2694.

It's quite easy to add length to make a dress from this pattern. I simply measured how much additional length needed at the bottom of the top and then figured out how width was needed. In this case, I used my previous dress from Kwik Sew 2694 as the guide. I measured 15.5 inches from the fold and then drew a straight line angled down from the bottom of the bodice to my new dress length. Voila!

This took 2 hours from cutting to completion. I will probably make this again in a solid next. If you haven't given this pattern a try, I highly recommend it.

Burp Cloths

>> Saturday, November 06, 2010 – Sew what?

I had a baby shower to go to for two lovely mamas from church. I ran across this online tutorial for making burp cloths. I've only used white cloth diapers for burp cloths and after making these, I have to say I almost had an itch to have another baby. They are adorable and so easy to make.

The instructions have you cutting out the fabric and then washing. I think it is better to prewash the fabric first so you don't have to deal with all of the frayed ends on each piece. I was able to easily get 6 burp clothes from 2 one-yard pieces. If using a rotary cutter (by far the easiest way), make the 17-inch cuts going lengthwise (parallel with the selvage edges) and the 11-inch cuts going horizontally from once side of the selvage edge to the other. This will be my new standby for baby shower gifts. It is so simple and practical.

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