Hoodie

When I was back in the States, I picked up this pattern book of cute children's knit hoodies since it was on clearance for $1.97.  Cheap is good.  Cute is good, too.

With plenty of beachside knitting time last weekend on Bali and Gili Air, I was able to knit up this little hoodie for Zoe pretty quickly.  I like the hem details- it actually has you knit a long hem on the hood, sleeves and bottom, then you turn it under and whipstitch just like a sewn garment.  The edge is really professional and sturdy.  In comparison, though, the placket neck seems a little flimsy.  Oh well.
 

The hoodie in the booklet is knit up for a little boy in a camouflage colored yarn.  The only time my version, knit in Lily Sugar n' Cream "Crown Jewels Ombre", would camouflage Zoe is if she wore it while standing in her great-grandmother Theresa's old dining and living room with their deep purple and green walls.

Stripey Cardigan

Knit up this quick stripey cardigan for baby Alex using leftover scrap yarn.  These three colors, also used for Alex's vest and about a thousand other projects, seem to be never ending.  I am actually done with the blue, but more orange and green still remain.

Used the Little Coffee Bean sweater pattern, knit in the 12 months size, but with short sleeves. I added in a double stripe of blue a couple times to keep it exciting.  I cannot tell you how many additional ends that meant weaving in, but it was worth it.

Sir Knits-a-Lot

 My latest knits:

Another Baby Sophisticate sweater, also known as the Grandpa or Old Man cardigan, this one for Baby Dos, knit in Lily Sugar n' Cream in Poppy with some buttons from the never-ending button walls of Toko Maju at Pasar Mayestik.

This super cute scarf-hat, based on this pattern.  I'm quite proud, this being my first knit-in-the-round project that required decreasing using the double-pointed needles.  Came out pretty cute!  One knitted in Lily Sugar n' Cream yarn in Violet Veil (phew, finally rid of this yarn- got 3 projects out of it, though!), one in Lily Sugar n' Cream in Poppy and one in Bernat Handicrafter in Love (for babies Izzy, Alex and Zoe, respectively).  I followed the pattern for the most part, but skipped the cable, as it is not centered on the scarves when you knit the larger size (weird) and it was just too much going on with the multi-colored yarn.

For the orange and pink ones, I kept the ribbing going all the way around the hat for several inches.  I added a pompom, like the one I put on Zoe's birthday hat, using this tutorial.   Also, as a side-note, I think that the largest size of the pattern may be a little off when it comes to the decreases.  You don't need to knit 3 stitches at the beginning and end of each decrease round... the stitch numbers are off.
 

This massive scarf/cowl/wrap thingy is made from some beautiful yarn that Jennifer gave me for my birthday last year, Cascade Magnum in Lake Chelan Heather, a nice teal color with an aura of bright green throughout.  I wanted to make this cowl I found via Ravelry, but didn't have circular needles big enough to handle this super fat yarn (my local craft store doesn't carry the tools to deal with heavy duty yarn like this), so I improvised and knit it flat.  This thing is like a blanket.  I love the texture of it, though- check out the close-up shot of the seed stitch:

I made Zoe some pink mittens (using this pattern) to match her hat, but forgot to take a photo. They came out a little bit big, but I like the pattern!

Finally, some baby legwarmers for Miss Zoe with the remainder of my pink Bernat Handicrafter yarn.  Followed this pattern:

Latest Toddler Duds

Duds in the sense of clothes, not in the sense of disappointments, although I am a little disappointed with the sleeves on the sweater below.

Kate requested more sweaters for Izzy, and after my success modifying the Super Natural Stripes pattern, I thought I would try it again.  The body seemed to come out ok, but for some reason the arms are kinda fat. Not sure what happened there.  Sorry, Izzy!  Lots of extra space for the gun show, I guess.

Well, despite the strangely large sleeves, the sweater is pretty cute thanks to these heart-shaped buttons that I got at Pasar Mayestik here in Jakarta:

Barbara, on the other hand, requested more pants for Andrew.  I had already made and sent him some Big Butt Baby Pants, so this time I decided to make him some regular sized butt pants.  I used the pants pattern that had used for Zoe's batik and plaid outfit, Simplicity 1894.  I used some cute cotton plaid and seersucker that I also got at Pasar Mayestik.  I hope Andrew likes the preppy look!

Stripey Snappy Shoulder Vest

This pattern is so freaking cute for little boys.  And easy.  I highly recommend it.

I love the shoulder detail, plus I added some detail of my own by making contrasting stripes and ribbed edging.

I made this vest for Amy's son, Alex, after she requested more orange things for him.  I used bits of yarn leftover from various other projects, hence the stripes.  I also overcame my fear of knitting in the round using double-pointed needles- I used them for the ribbing and it worked out pretty well!

I used size 8 needles and made the 2T size from the pattern, but I think it may be a little bit larger then 2T in reality based on my needle choice.

Leaf Panel Cardigan

I had mentioned that now that my knitting skillz are improving that I'd like to try knitting cables.  While this sweater doesn't have cables, it does have this lacy leaf pattern that is somewhat cable-like and quite cute to boot.

I like how this sweater pattern has the removable panel in the front- that way you could make multiple panels with different details on them and switch out when you're bored, or if the panel gets dirty/drooly (here's looking at you, Zoe.).

Made with Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn in Mod Green and finished with cute green shell buttons.

Knit Raglan Pullover

I knitted this cute little raglan sweater for Zoe while flying from Jakarta to Bangkok, Bangkok to Vientiane, Vientiane to Bangkok, Bangkok to Jakarta.  Knitting is so portable and fills the travel time really well. 
 

I used this basic pattern from Sun Rise Sister, but made my own modifications:

- 8 rows of garter stitch on the neck before getting into the raglan increases

- 8 stitches in garter stitch centered in the front of the sweater to make the vertical textured stripe

- 8 rows of garter stitch around each arm and the bottom hem

I think that this sweater would work with a cool cable down the front, too, but I am not quite there yet. Maybe my next sweater!

Made in Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn in "Chrysanthemums" color. I used just slightly less than 4 balls of yarn and used the remainder to make a little matching headband based on this pattern.

Ridged Cardigan

Loosely based on the Super Natural Stripes pattern that I used a few months ago, I knit up this cute sweater for Zoe, who won't be able to wear it for a few years since I made the 2-3 year size.

 

In my version of the cardigan, I kept the top down, one-piece, raglan sleeve methodology as well as the raised garter stitch stripes from the original pattern.  However, I maintained the stripes throughout the whole sweater (rather than just the yoke) to give some texture to the body and sleeves.  Also, rather than pick up stitches to add a separate collar and button band on at the end (remember how wonky my button band was the first time?), I just knit in a garter stitch collar and button band up front: about 8 rows of garter stitch before starting the increases, plus an extra 6 in garter stitch in the beginning and end of each row.

 The pretty yarn is Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn in Mod Ombre. 

Heart Pullover

I whipped up this little orange pullover toddler t-shirt for Baby Izzy's first birthday, loosely based on this pattern, and it came out pretty cute:

However, it was missing something, so, using scrap yarn, I crocheted a little heart (using the medium version from this site, switching colors for the second round) and sewed it on the chest (crookedly).

Loop Baby Toy

Made this cute crocheted baby toy to bring to baby Alex in August... really easy and fast, plus it uses up scrap yarn left over from other projects!

The pattern creator suggests putting jingle bells inside the tube, but I also think you could put something crinkly, too.

Party Hat!

It's almost baby Zoe's 1st birthday (I cannot believe a year has passed that quickly!)... since I can't be there for the party (sniff, sniff), I thought I would send her something hand-made to wear while celebrating (and hopefully shoving cake in her face).

Party hat, y'all!

 

I used this ridiculously easy and quite cute pattern (although I added a few extra rows at the bottom to make it bigger).  I decided to stripe mine to use up random bits of yarn I had left over from other projects (all of it Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn) and to give it some additional personality.

Finally, I topped it with a pom-pom made following this video tutorial.  I didn't trim my pom-pom because I liked the rough, Muppet-esque quality it had.

Lincoln helped, too, trying on the hat (somewhat begrudgingly... can you feel the virtual eye-roll?) at the various stages:

(Zoe, party hat is on the way.  Hopefully it makes it in time!!)

Eyelet Yoke Cardigan for Zoe

On the long journey to Da Nang, Vietnam (how is is that it is so close to Jakarta, and yet I had to first fly to Singapore and subsequently stop off in Siem Reap before arriving in Danang?), I was able to turn out this cute little sweater for Zoe (don't tell her, it's for her 1st birthday!!!).

 It's knit in 5 parts (2 sleeves, 2 front sections and 1 back), which are then connected together by the eyelet yoke... Not very difficult, but something tells me it could be even easier. Somehow there has to be a way to knit the front sections and the back in one piece to eliminate some of the seaming (which I suck at). I haven't quite figured out how yet, but perhaps it will come to me in time.

Baby Sweater: Try, try again

It seems like for every finished crafting or cooking project I put up here I have at least one, and sometimes multiple, failed attempts before I get a success.   This time it was a baby gift for Amy and Adam's impending baby boy using this blue, yellow and green yarn from Bernat.

First, I tried knitting a pullover sweater, based on this cute pattern.  The body came out great, albeit a little curly at the edges.  But it all went to hell when I tried to add the sleeves...  my knitting skillz are apparently not advanced enough to know how to troubleshoot and eliminate the hole that kept appearing in the armpit.  Sigh.

Then I tried to make a baby blanket using the same yarn.  Initially I was winging it, just doing stripes (not unlike the baby blanket Chuck made last year), but I didn't like the way it looked and felt:

Next I tried a blanket based on this "Purely Square Baby Throw" pattern from Lion Brand Yarn, but I think my yarn was too thick.  The blanket was heavy and stiff and draped awkwardly (although I liked the pattern... maybe it would be nicer in a finer yarn):

Ultimately I ended up going back to an old, reliable, fool-proof favorite...  ye olde crochet baby cardigan. 

Works every time:

Latest Kiddie Clothes

Baby Zoe's knitted pink jumper/dress/tunic/top thing was such a success that I decided to make a blue version for her, too.

I also did a little crochet toddler top that she'll be able to wear when she's older, based on this pattern.  Super easy, seamless pattern with a cute shell-esque pattern on the skirt.  

Both are done in Bernat Handicrafter Cotton yarn.

Baby Sweater Bonanza!!!

The Christmas of baby sweaters! Babies, babies, babies, so many babies. I decided to make sweaters for all the babies out there :) I used the same pattern that Meg had used earlier in the year, Everyday is a New Sweater Day. I had fun going crazy with colors, from rainbow to very Christmasy christmas colors. Check them out!

For Chloe: Kate and Dan's baby


For Zoe: my lovely niece


For Izzy: Kate and Kevin's baby


Also for Izzy


For Jack: Nora and Tommy's baby


For Hudson: Tony's nephew