TWEEDY STRIPEY

 These pictures are sort of embarrassing, but let's just go with it. I knit a sweater!

I read a book called Overdressed: the Shockingly High Cost of cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline as recommended by Elise on her post about making her own clothes. I love a book that kicks me into action and I was about half way through this book when I started knitting this sweater.

What really motivated me wasn't the knowledge of sweatshops, I knew about those and buy a lot of my clothes second hand and try only buy new what I must. But as I was reading this book I realized the things I was buying in thrift stores weren't vintage, they were H&M. As the book points out, the quality of most clothes today is bad and I'd have to keep buying new (or new to me) clothes that would only hold up a few washes. That's waste too.

And secondly, most clothes today are plastic. I try to avoid plastic in my home, yet I'm walking around wearing it?

So, now my new year's resolution too (I think it's OK to make resolutions all year long) is to make clothes for myself. I don't know what I'll make or how many or how they'll turn out, but I'll try! I'm thinking a few more sweaters, a couple of tops and t-shirts for the summer (I'm not making my own jeans.)

The pattern is Tweedy Stripey by Leslie Weber. It was great for a first time clothing maker! Very straight forward and easy to follow. Although, I did completely mess up the stripe pattern. Still, I'm very fond of my sweater. It's loose and long enough to wear with leggings. It's wool and very warm, but the short sleeves are very practically since it seems I'm constantly washing hands, faces and butts. 

DIY Very Easy Baby Bow Headband

Truthfully, I didn't think I'd be a one to put a bow on my baby girl. We mostly stay pretty genre neutral, but here we are. I had some yarn left over from my cowl and I thought "beige isn't too girly, right?"

This bow takes both very little materials and very little time to make. All you need is some yarn and a pantyhose. That's right, a pantyhose. It makes a perfect headband for a baby, because it's soft and very stretchy. It's comfortable and doesn't leave a dent.

Sorry for the weird plant photos, it's so rainy and dark and by the window was the only place with any light, but  to make the band, just cut a about 4 cm wide piece out of the thigh portion of a pantyhose.

And stretch!

For the bow cast on 11 stitches.

Row 1 "knit 1, purl 1" repeat until the end, turn.

Repeat row 1 for 10 cm. Bind off.

Place the rectangle you made against the headband and wrap yarn around the middle binding the bow and the headband together. Knot together the ends and weave them in. You're done! Put it on your baby and go "

Baby Cardigan

I've never actually liked knitting, mainly because I keep dropping stitches. When crocheting you only have that one loop to worry about, knitting there are usually dozens. But recently I decided to give bamboo needles a go, and they are a total game changer! They are a lot stickier than metal needles (but not in a bad way), so the stitches don't fall off. So weirdly, I've actually enjoyed knitting! Huh. So much so, that I've knitted Em three cardigans.

I'm by no means an expert or even that good, but it's been really nice to craft something after a long break, so I've just enjoyed the process.

And it's fun to learn new skills! First thing I learned was that I knit very loosely. I've since invested in another set of needles in a smaller size.

The pattern is Little Petunia by Drops Design. Yes, all three cardigans are the same, just in three different sizes.  Patterns on their site are so great because they are available in many languages, including Finnish. They also have videos demonstrating different parts of the pattern, such as how to pick stitches from the edge, great for a knitting novice such as myself.

I used Novita Nalle yarn which is 75% wool 25% polyamide. It only took about one skein per cardigan. For buttons I picked wooden ones.

I've since amassed a huge collection of knitting patterns to try next. Pinterest is great for this. I've also rediscovered Ravelry. Mainly patterns for baby clothes and toys. Baby clothes are a great beginner project since they are so small, they are fast to make, even if you have to stop to look a video every once in a while.

Here are all three. I think they are pretty cute in all they wonky glory. To think I learned to like knitting!

Quick Crochet Tip

I thought I'd share something I've used since I started crocheting. This is ridiculously simple, but I'll share anyway. 

If you need a stitch marker (and let's face it, if you crochet something that involves counting, you do) use a hair pin! 

Just a regular hair pin. It works perfectly.

• It's easy to place 
• It's easy to remove 
• It stays put
• It's lies flat so it doesn't get in your way
• It's cheap
• And you likely own one already!

Obviously, this works for knitting as well!

Flower Blanket

Going with the blanket theme, this is what I’ve been working on lately.

 

Pattern from Coco Rose Diaries (scroll down).

This is the third blanket I’ve started this year. Here are the first

and second.

I’ve noticed I much prefer making household items (like blankets) to making something to wear, just as I prefer thrifting household items to thrifting clothes. Not sure why, but I’m just going to roll with it.

This project is much like the granny square blanket: made in small instalments and then sewn together. I love it for the reasons I told then, but on the flip side there is also about a million ends to finish.

As for the colour choices, I love colourful things – just not on me or in my home. So while I loved the pretty pink and orange original, I tried to stay true to my nature and went with white and grey.

Chevron Blanket

I really loved the granny square blanket I made, but my boyfriend keeps hogging it. The chevron seems to be really in right now, and after seeing several patterns for knit blankets I decided to make one for myself.

Black and white FTW!

The pattern I used is from here (in Finnish), but there are several similar patterns around there. This for example. I loved this pattern because it’s so easy. It might not look easy, but it is. Just knit stitches all around with decrease or increase every tenth stitch on the right side. This was so much faster to make than the granny square one, just a few weeks.

My knitting was much tighter in the beginning and then became looser. Also the blanket is quite heavy and it also started to stretch a bit towards the end. So, one end ended up being a bit wider. A bit annoying. Still, it’s very soft and perfect for watching TV on the sofa and maybe it’ll shrink if i wash it? Maybe.

Speaking of TV, we just started watching Once upon a time. I like the fairy tales, the bf likes Robert Carlyle, perfect for both.

Pinwheel Pillow

I spend the Christmas at my parents. For some reason, I didn’t take any craft projects with me and had hard time coping with having nothing to do with my hands (except eating chocolate). So, my mother lend me with some yarn and I promised to make her a pillow with those.

Here it is, Mum!

The pattern is from here.

Banana Cosy

What is this..?

Why, it’ a knitted banana cosy!

Yes, indeed. A knitted banana cosy. A knitted cosy for a banana. A cosy for a banana, knitted.

For this banana.

This banana was in my bag yesterday, all day. It didn’t get eaten, as you can see, a lot of chocolate did, but that’s beside the point. The point is, the banana is still in one piece, thanks to the cosy.

It’s a bit brown, but it didn’t get pierced on a pen or something. And if it had, the cosy would have protected my bag.

Anyway, brown bananas are the best! The best I tell you.

I declare this experiment a success!

Fingerless Mittens

It's starting to get pretty cold in here...

So, I decided to knit a pair of fingerless gloves.

I'm a very inexperienced knitter, so there are quite a few mistakes. The reason I chose black yarn is that it's pretty much the only colour I wear, but now it's also good because my mistakes don't show so well!

I'm going to wear another pair of gloves underneath these, since it's already too cold to expose your bare fingers to the weather outside.

The pattern (in Finnish) is by Elina Aro and is called Polysemiakämmekkäät.

Well, at least they are almost the same size!

Apupupu

This is a campaign by the Finnish Red Cross. Actually was, but I'm a little late as usual.

Apupupu, which must look like a crazy word for foreigners, means "help bunny". They are meant for traumatized children.

Here's a link to the pattern. It's in Finnish, but apparently the Australian Trauma Teddy is similar. So, if you'd like to help, you can make that one.

The Finnish campaign ended last Christmas (did I mention I was late?), so I hope they still accept these.

Aww, let's hug!

Black and White Striped Scarf

I've wanted a scarf like this for awhile now.

I'm allergic to wool, so I had to think of something else .

 

The first version I tried was made out of cotton; it looked the way I liked, but was too heavy to actually  use.

So, this one is made of acrylic. It's light and soft.

The bow brooch is from here.