Christmas ornaments

As we all discovered last Christmas, Derek and I like to make Christmas gifts. This year, Derek used one of our masks in our office as inspiration for the girfts he made for his brothers.

First, he carved the faces out of some scrap soft wood we had. He got a little roughed up in the process (we really need a vice!), but the product was, in my opinion, excellent. Then he painted them. When watching him do this work, I realise just how meticulous he is. When Derek does something, he does it perfectly. He stayed up hours agonizing over whether or not there should be dots or lines in a particular spot. My reaction was, "it doesn't matter! just DO IT!" And he would sigh, turn to his work and examine it some more. I guess that says a lot about both of us!

He then put little bits of wood into the holes for eyes and painted them. When they were all dry, I broke out my wooden beads and fancy embroidery floss (as seen below), and finished them off with tassels and loops to hang from the tree.

Dress/tunic

I found this pattern online and loved it. I decided to make it for my friend Sandra's little girl Eva. It's knit in a denim yarn, which acts like denim: it's durable and washable. And when you wash it, it fades a little, just like your favourite pair of jeans. What a great idea to knit something for baby in something so easy to care for! The front is knitted in a ribbing in two colours, and then I just drew the cream coloured yarn through, which makes a smocking effect:



I like to knit up outfits with hats, so I dug out a pattern, adjusted the sizing for the kind of yarn I had, and made this little hat.



The pattern is called "grow with me" because the outfit can be worn as a dress, and as the little girl grows, it can then be worn as a little top. The straps are adjustable, so that helps, too. I'm glad it grows with the child because at the rate that little Eva grows, it may not last!

Funky little sweater and hat

Once, when I was riffling through my mother-in-law's knitting patterns, I came across the pattern for this little hat and fell in love with it immediately. It was too late to make it for my babies—who were no longer babies—but I knew that I had to make it. I brought it home and held onto it for a while, so that I could figure out who would be lucky enough, and just weird enough, to like this hat for their kid.

When I found out that my sister-in-law's brother and wife were expecting a baby, I knew that this hat would be perfect for their baby. So I broke out my giant bag of yarn, a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law, and found the right colours. I had so much yarn, in fact, that I decided to make a matching sweater. I took the basic pattern from another sweater and designed the colours and bobbles to match the hat. (Those little circles are actually bobbles that stick out like mini pompons.)

As with all other baby patterns, these two things knit up fast and easy. This was one of the more fun things to knit.

Socks

This is the first pair of socks I've ever made. I knitted them with two circular needles, instead of the traditional four or five needle method. The yarn is self-patterning, so all I had to do was knit to get this neat effect.



I knitted them for my friend Gen, who has always had a penchant for interesting socks. I drew her name last fall for our Christmas exchange, and immediately thought that if I were only ever to make one pair of socks, they should be for her.

Multicoloured sweater: finished product

Well here it is. This sweater has a little hood that you can't make out in these pics. It took me about 10 days to do. The yarn is coarser than it seems, so it knits up quickly.

I love the feel of these chenille and plush yarns, but I don't think I'll be using them much anymore. They feel fantastic but quickly lose their shape, especially with a long piece like this sweater. It's cute on Maïa, and I love the colours, but I think very soon it will be big enough to fit me! A little disappointing...

Multicoloured sweater

Back to school shopping has always been a highlight of the end of summer for me: that wonderful feeling of slipping on something new and pretty and slipping into new experiences. And I've discovered that back to school knitting is just as fun.

When I shop for Maïa (I rarely shop for clothes for Solanne since she gets all of Maïa's hand-me-downs for now), I try to find pieces that are all of the same colour family so we can mix and match and have dozens of outfits without breaking the bank. This year, I somehow forgot my strategy and ended up buying clothes from two distinct colour families: the pink/eggplant/brown mix and the blue/grey/green mix. When I realised that I would likely only have time to knit one sweater before fall arrived, I couldn't decide if I should go with the pinks or the blues.

A visit to my local yarn shop solved my problem. I had found this pattern on the web and knew exactly what yarn I wanted–if not the colour. When I asked the owner of the little shop where I could find this yarn, she told me it had been discontinued. I was heartbroken. But all was not lost: she directed me to another yarn. I loved the colour she had in stock, but since it was red, it was obviously all wrong. I told her I'd be back another time with a different pattern; I could choose my yarn then. Meanwhile, I just browsed through the colours and textures, which, by the way, is my idea of paradise. I admit it: I'm a yarn geek.

Anyhow, within moments, the woman returned with a ball of yarn, and I knew this was what I wanted:




She steered me to some other colours in the same yarn, but I was already sold. This was the perfect colour combination for all the clothes in Maïa's closet. The picture doesn't really do it justice: there are pinks, purples, blues, greens, and brown. I couldn't have designed a better yarn if I had tried. The best part of this yarn is something you can't see: it is likely the softest stuff I've ever worked with.

This Italian nylon plush yarn knits up quite quickly: I started the project on Thursday, and I've already done both front pieces, and I've started on the back. I'll post a pic of the finished product when I'm all done. I can't wait to wrap my little girl in it.

Cat hat

I'm still working through all the yarn that my mother-in-law and mom have handed down to me. Some of it is just little bits, which are perfect for smaller projects such as hats. I was going through Sandie's (mom-in-law) patterns and came across this great pattern from the 70's: it's a winter hat that pulls over the head and protects the neck... and it has cat ears! I knew this would be perfect for Solanne.

I scrounged through my collection of yarn and found the perfect stuff: a blue yarn (which will match with her mitts) with a red thread going throughout (that will match with her red snowsuit). She loved it right away... and so did Maïa. In fact, Maïa wore it for an entire day (with Sol's permission), until I noticed she was stretching out the face opening. I have promised her I will knit one for her, too. As soon as I finish her sweater...

This project knitted up quite easily within two days.

Boat neck sweater

I knitted this little sweater for Solanne early in the summer. It's knitted in 100% cotton, so I thought it would be a nice light sweater for the summer months. Turns out we had a rather hot summer, so she still hasn't worn it. I hope we have a gradual change in season so she can actually get into it!

Solanne's mother's day card

This is the Mother's Day card that Solanne made for me this year. The round-mouthed figure on the left is me; the one on the right is Solanne, and we're holding hands. There is a sun between us (note the rays shooting out of it). And there's also a cat with whiskers coming out of the side of its head and four feet coming straight out the bottom. This is easily my favourite element.

Solanne & Maïa, by Solanne

This is a picture drawn by Solanne. It is a representation of Maïa and Solanne; Maïa is the bigger figure, Solanne the smaller. They are holding hands.

One can observe Solanne's deliberate drawing of the line straight across the face. In this particular drawing, the mouth on the Maïa character didn't originally span the entire face, so Solanne lengthened it (note the right side of the mouth).




This is Solanne's representation of Derek. The lines across the bottom half of his face are meant to be his beard (which, of course, is obvious).


My favourite part of Solanne's drawings is the eyes, and it's not just how they look. I love the way she creates them. She presses down, with great purpose, on the marker (or crayon or chalk) for a good three second lapse. And she does the next one, just as methodically. And voilà! It's done. No great embellishments, no movement. Sheer simplicity.

Finished: horse sweater

This is the sweater that I designed and knitted for Maïa. The basic design is from a Rowan book, but I designed the horse & hearts pattern. Maïa really likes it. I did actually finish it on the first day of spring, and I'm finally posting the pics!

In the works: horse sweater

I've been planning this sweater for a while. I bought a book of beautiful Rowan children's sweaters last year, when I started getting serious about knitting. I also decided I would try higher end yarn.



I found these two yummy colours, and fell in love with them and the pattern they accompanied. The yarn is a cotton DK (double knit: it's a weight of yarn). It's one of the cheaper kinds, though still not cheap. It's not nearly as forgiving as the acrylic blends. If the tension is off, it shows—the tension being how tight or how loose one knits. So if some of my stitches are a little looser than others, it shows. This isn't a problem for blocks of colour (for me), but it does become a concern when I'm knitting with more than one colour.

The original pattern for this sweater actually has a little heart and the word "sweetheart" on it. I thought Maïa might prefer having a horse sweater, so I designed this:



I hope she likes it...

I hope to have this sweater finished by the first day of spring (so that she can wear it all spring and on the cooler summer days). We'll see, however, how that pans out. I've been busy with work lately, so I've had very little time for more fun stuff!

Solanne's faces

This blog has seen a number of creations by Maïa; now it is time for Solanne to shine. Until recently, Sol's designs had been rather undecipherable. But starting at Christmas time (Christmas Eve to be exact), Solanne has been drawing faces.

The second image is particularly striking as it recalls Edvard Munch's The Scream. I'm proud to see that she is as up on her art history as is her sister.

Christmas cross-stitch

Last year, we decided for a number of reasons to make most of the Christmas presents we were giving to family. I knitted a sweater for my mom and a scarf for Naomi. Derek carved and painted a fish sculpture for Nick. We painted and decorated frames that held our family portrait; we gave them to family (shameless self-promotion!). We even got the kids in on it: they painted little wooden ornaments for everyone.

The one craft-gift I am most proud of, however, is the one I made for Ken, my father-in-law. Almost two years ago, I was having a conversation with Ken about kids and about the empty nest. I mentioned how I could understand enjoying having your kids be all grown up. He looked at me, a mother of two very small children and said something very ironically, in that way that he has of being serious and silly all at once. I laughed and laughed. I immediately had a vision of a old fashioned country cross-stitch with his thought stitched on. So very heart-warming. I planned, then and there, to make it for him. (Just a little side note, there are a number of times that Ken has said things, usually ironically, that are quite memorable and quotable. This is one of the best.)

So here is my creation. I'm glad he enjoyed it! (we made and painted the frame, too)