Labor of Love

My cousin Shauna is having her first baby next month (a girl!) and I wanted to knit something fabulous for them. I wanted to use my favorite yarn of the moment, Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton in Strawberry (not-too-light baby pink) and Walnut (rich chocolaty brown) stripes. I started out on a 36" size 10 needle, because that's the size I use for my hats that I knit with the same yarn. And I started with same-sized stripes. Well, first I ditched the stripe pattern and went for a 4-inch pink stripe and a 2-inch brown stripe. Then I decided that I wanted to use a smaller needle, so I switched to size 8. Finally, I settled on a 3-inch pink and 1.5-inch brown stripe pattern (or something like that, I kind of forgot to measure - I just counted rows, which were 14 pink and 6 brown). I had cast on 190 stitches, which was about 42" (it was almost square before washing; after the wash and dry it took on a more rectangular shape).

Well, by this time I had about two and a half weeks until the baby shower, so I really had to knit like crazy. And I really did, in the mornings, after work and on the weekends you could find me in my rocking chair knitting away. I finished at 2 am on Friday night (or Saturday morning, to get technical), then woke up at 8 on Saturday (the day of the shower) to finish weaving in the countless loose ends (dang stripes!) and to throw it in the wash. And with no time to spare, I took some photos and kissed it goodbye and wrapped it up. The final product: a super soft, machine washable (and dryable!) handmade, one-of-a-kind baby blankie. Shauna loved it, and I hope the baby will too.

I'm an Etsian!

I am pleased to announce the opening of my Etsy shop! Check out http://schmelanie.etsy.com to check out my wares! I only have newborn baby hats for now, but I'm hoping to soon offer hats for older babies and toddlers.

I Got Skills

Let it be known: my knitting skills far surpass my sewing skills. But I still love sewing . In the midst of a knitting frenzy, I decided to take on a couple sewing projects to give as Christmas gifts. One was quite simple and straightforward: a roll-up knitting needle case for my sister. This merely consisted of four panels stitched to form a pouch with a flap, then pockets were stitched onto the pouch to separate the pairs of needles. The challenge here was stitching straight lines. Lots of 'em. While the pattern instructed to draw on the lines with a ruler, I relied on masking tape to guide me (much easier if you ask me). I happened to be talking with my mother, who told me to just let my machine guide the fabric, and it should stitch straight with very gentle guidance. Mind you, I have had no real instruction in sewing. I had a quick lesson from my mom when she gave me the machine for Christmas a few years ago, but beyond that I am self taught. This tip about not over-guiding the fabric proved priceless, and after that my stresses dissipated. Then, ta-da! A very cool knitting needle case, which my sister loved. I can't wait to make one (or two - another one for double points) for myself!


The second project was far more challenging: quilted potholders for my mom. These turned out great, but the road to greatness was a tough one for a while. When I sew, I usually have to read the steps of the pattern out loud to myself several times before I figure out exactly what I'm supposed to do. Let's just say I did a lot of talking to myself with this project. Furthermore, I was fretting because when I did the quilting, the layers (two layers of cotton batting between fabrics) got all caddywompus and I was worried about the edges. Crisis was averted, though, with the addition of the bias binding. Bias binding was another new technique for me, and even though it didn't turn out perfectly, I tought it was still darn good. At the end of all this, I had two really cute custom potholders, not to mention a newfound confidence in my sewing skills.

Happy Birthday Bob!

Bob is the single biggest fan of my baking. Bob is one of the couriers at the lab I work at, and I guess you could say we have a special relationship. I make fun of him for being old, he pretends to be deeply offended; this is the basis of our special friendship. Anyway, Bob is a hound for treats. If there are cookies or cupcakes, he'll have two or three (and sometimes pretend it's his first). Well, the first time I made black-bottom cupcakes for work, he just about cried with joy, and he's been raving about them ever since. When he says things like, "those cupcakes will change your life!" and "if I were about to be put in the electric chair, I would want your cupcakes as my last meal", how can I resist baking for him? Now that his birthday has rolled around, I'm making his favorites once again.

Black-bottom cupcakes consist of a chocolate cake with a dollop of cream cheesy goodness on top. I have decided to abandon the dolloping method for next time, and instead squirt it into the batter with a pastry bag set-up. I think this will achieve more of a "peeking" effect of the cream cheese on the top (as opposed to taking over the entire top of the cupcake) and having more of a filling effect (like a Hostess cupcake - one of my favorites!). This batch tasted darn good, but I was disappointed with the way they looked. I still garnered compliments though; one co-worker deemed them the best cupcakes I've ever made and Bob surmised that "they were made by an angel in Heaven". That's it - Bob gets cupcakes for life!

Here is the link to the recipe I use:
Black-Bottom Cupcakes from Every Day With Rachael Ray February 2007

Birthday Bauble Bracelet

My mom is like, a master of beading. Seriously. She has an amazing eye and does awesome work. I hope I get a piece (or two) for Christmas. Now, I enjoy beading, but I don't seem to have the creativity necessary for putting beads together in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. I'm very good with patterns though; I achieve much better results when I am told exactly what to to. Perhaps that's why knitting is my forte (except, as you already know, if I attempt to deviate from the pattern). A while back I found a pattern for this fabulous piece called Bauble. Bauble looks very intricate and labor-intensive, but it's really just a long (about 4 meters) strand of beads that is knitted, and then grafted to create a bracelet. My mom's birthday was on Tuesday, and I thought she would just have a fit over this, so I made it for her. Sadly, at finishing, I snipped the wrong end of cord and nearly ruined the whole thing. I could not complete the grafting step properly, so I just fudged the seam, but it's not easy to tell unless you're a real perfectionist like myself. I did show it to my mom in its incomplete state, then brought it home to fix it. She's so excited to get it, and I can't wait for her to have it. I mailed it off today, along with Ayana's sweet little hat. Oh, the joy of giving the perfect gift!


By the way, here's the link to the pattern:
Bauble: Knitty Spring 2007

Babies on the way!

With the imminent arrival of numerous babies (people at work, my cousin, friends), I have decided to whip up some baby hats as gifts. Of course, I struggle to find the perfect pattern, and the one that I really like is for a 6-12 month old knit with a super-bulky yarn. Now, I have a heck of a time changing up patterns (i.e. yarn changes, needle size, garment size, etc.), so I am experimenting a bit with this pattern to get it just right for a newborn-3 month old baby. After contemplating colors and fiber, I chose this Lion Brand Organic Cotton in a creamy color and Bernat Cottontots in a dark pink. Both are 100% cotton and super soft. I loved the effect that knitting them together as one strand produced. But alas, it turned out too big for a baby, and instead of ripping it out and starting again, I'll send it to my sister's three-year-old buddy Ayana. But first, I think I'll add some ear flaps with i-cord ties to finish it off. And before I try getting the size right again, I'll buy a baby doll as a sort of head model - hopefully I can find one at the thrift store or the swap meet.

The creative wheels are a-turnin'...

If I had a buck for every time I uttered the phrase "Hey, I could make that!", I'd have enough money to feed my habits (craft habits, that is). When I'm shopping or thumbing through a magazine, this phrase almost always makes its way into my head. If I spy a knit hat or scarf - "I wonder if I could make that..."; baked goods at Starbucks - "I could definitely make that."; a cabled turtleneck sweater - "I wish I could make that". Ok, so my skills are not quite advanced enough for sweater knitting. And wouldn't it be easier and cheaper, and wouldn't I curse a lot less if I were to just buy said sweater at Gap? You betcha. But that wouldn't be nearly as fun and satisfying. So, I invite you to witness my messes and successes at being a self-proclaimed domestic goddess. I promise to not swear.