Christmas Crafting

Christmas dresses for the girls.
Pattern: Antonine by Citronille
Fabric: Frou-frou

Two tunics and obi belts I made for myself, and a decadent Christmas eve dessert.

 

Christmas hats: the Holiday Lights Tam which I started for myself about 6 years ago and which, when I finally finished it, came out far too small for my head, and a purple earflap cap for Maisie.

 

A Christmas present commission for my friend's husband.

Easy unisex cowl by Jenifer Rank

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay silk blend

Needles: 6

Moth Hole Repairs

I was devastated to find numerous large, gaping moth holes in my Celes shawl.  I didn't take pictures of the damage before I set about trying to repair it with some extra yarn, a tapestry needle, and zero know-how.  I really just faked my way through this, trying to secure the loose ends and simulate the eyelets of the lace as best as I could. 

Up close, my fixes aren't pretty to look at, but I have found when I wear the shawl I can't see them at all, it takes ages to even find the spots where the holes were.  I also reblocked my shawl when I was done fixing it, and it is almost as good as new....

Summer Stitches

I haven't been keeping up with posting all of my finished objects this summer, so I'm going to do it in one fell swoop here.

First, on the knitting front: I finished my Pas de Valse cardigan.  It needs to be blocked in order to be long and loose and drapey enough on me, but here is my sister modeling it:

 

Then there is Eloise's cardigan:

I decided to sew myself some drapey, cowl neck jersey tees and tunics, based on a Gap t-shirt that I love. These versions were inspired by the gap shirt but also informed by the tutorial at one Avian Daemon.

None of them fit exactly as I had hoped, but I think they'll all be wearable.

In addition, I've been wanting to make a 3rd spring ruffle top by Rae since I made the first ones three years ago.  

 Then, there's a little project for my nieces, an adorable bunny rabbit made from a kit from Posy. 

And finally, Michele and I made this cake of le petit prince for my dad's birthday.

Maisie's Cardigan

Pattern: Little Ancolie by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Yarns Merino Silk Lace, held doubled

Needles: US 4, 5 

This was a sweet, fun little knit.  I modified the picot edging so it wasn't so pronounced by only casting on 2 stitches instead of 4.  Also sleeves are short instead of 3/4 because I ran out of yarn.  I blocked the heck out of this thing to make sure it would fit Maisie, and fortunately it does!

fo: slouchy hoodie

Well, I finished all but the hood of this cardigan last July and posted about it then, and then added the hood in November, but didn't post.  Finally I got around to snapping some photos of it.  But the details about the sweater are in the earlier post here.

Sassymetrical Cardi

Yarn: Malabrigo Arroyo, 2 skeins
Needles: US 6
Started: March 8, 2013
Finished: April 4, 2013

Pinecone Cowl

 

Pattern: Pinecone Cowl

Yarn: Knitpicks Galileo, 1 ball

Needles: US 6

Obviously some blocking is in order

While blocking

Circular Needle Holder

I have been wanting an organization system for the mess that is my stockpile of circular needles.  The needle roll I made a couple years ago is not very effective: my needles were constantly exploding out of it and/or getting hopelessly tangled with each other.  So I followed instructions (more or less) on some blog, which I can no longer find.  Honestly, the needles still look rather like a mess. But at least they are organized from smallest to biggest and it is possible to extract the needles one at a time.....

Hair Clip?

 

This was supposed to be a shawl pin, made of polymer clay following  this tutorial.  My friend Christine and I attempted this project together.  Our first versions got burnt to a crisp in my toaster over because I forgot that my toaster uses Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.  Brilliant.  I used Christine's leftover scraps to make another smaller one, and it came out way too small to be a shawl pin, but was just the right size to be this hair fastener. 

Slouchy Beret

Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Dolce
Needles: Size 10 (and 8 for ribbing)

Made some modifications for a slightly skinnier yarn than the pattern called for, but this beret came out a bit smaller than I had hoped.  It also took up way more yarn than I expected.

Legwarmers

Pattern: Super Easy Legwarmers by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Cascade Eco Alpaca, 1.5 skeins
Needles: 8
Same yarn I used for my toasties, in a lighter gray.  There were kind of a tedious knit, but they are very cozy to pull on with sweats, and I have even wore them out over tights with boots and a skirt...so they're useful!

Patchwork lampshade

 I spent a long time looking at images of patchwork lampshades on the net before I figured out how I wanted to do mine.  I basically sewed 1 1/2 inch wide strips together to make a large rectangle of fabric, and then adhered the fabric to the lampshade material (cutting the material in the proper form to make the shade was the worst part), cut off the excess fabric, and glued the edges down on the inside of the lampshade with craft glue.  You can see my sloppy fabric edges on the inside when the lamp is lit, but oh well.

Cowl

Pattern: Rasta Neckwarmer
Yarn: Malabrigo Rasta, 1 skein
A birthday present for Blandine...a very quick and easy knit, with a beautiful result.  It took me just a couple days, and then another week to get around to sewing on the buttons.

Armchair Reupholster

I've been wanting to tackle furniture re-upholstery for a while now, and managed to get around to doing this armchair over my Christmas vacation.

Before

During

After, minus the seat cushion, which was the most tiresome part of the whole project!

This took the better part of 3 days, and the seat cushion took another entire afternoon, but it was a VERY satisfying project.  My only regret is that it has to live with someone else until I move back to the US, but Michele and Eloise are happy to provide a home for it!