Rambling Cable Scarf turned infinity

Daughter #2 has wanted to knit herself a scarf ever since she crocheted her first afghan.
Last Christmas she got some yarn for a gift.


Since then she has been working on this scarf off and on as she needed a break from homework or felt more motivated to get it done. And also in between the craziness of moving earlier this Spring.

As the weather has been cooling off here in MN she pulled it out and we realized that the only thing it needed to be completed was to sew the edges together to make it an infinity style scarf, and then block it.  Both of which turned out to be my job.







This scarf pattern is intended to make randomly placed cables through the 3 columns for a "wonky" type look.  No reading of cable diagrams to follow.  I have to say that daughter #2 is not at all random.  She decided that she wanted each column to cable at the same time. So by the time she was finished her project it appeared that she had followed a pattern.





"To each his own" as my mom would always say.





I still think this is one of the best scarf patterns to start learning cables.

Details:

• Pattern here.
• First version I knitted of this scarf pattern.
• 2 skeins of Loops & Threads Impeccable in either Aran or Heather. We threw away the yarn label.  Her next project she wants to make a scarf in Burgundy.  She has the yarn ready to go.  Just needs to decide the pattern and style.
• Finished dimensions 6 inches wide by 100 inches long. (She can wrap it 3 times shown in the picture immediately above).

Can you be a sweat shop when sewing for your own family?

My youngest 2 children do NOT like to wear jeans.
I'm not sure how they are related to me.
I love a good pair of jeans.
Either way, they have to wear long pants some time, especially living in Minnesota.
Daughter #3 is currently 12 and absolutely won't wear jeans.
It is leggings or nothing for her. No lie.

At least my youngest son will unhappily wear jeans if all else is dirty.

But if he has a choice, sweat pants are preferred.

So a week or so ago I de-stashed and sewed all at the same time.
It was like a mass production site in my basement.
It felt great to sew.  I haven't really sat down and done a lot for a few months.
But then I did get to thinking, can you be a sweat shop when sewing for your own family?

Anyway....
After all was said and done I made for her

• 1 pair black sweats
• 2 pair black leggings
• 1 pair red leggings
• 1 pair green leggings
• 1 pair orange leggings 
• 3 pair of blue leggings

Seriously, if she even remotely complains about not having any pants to wear I might have to hurt her.

Another set she wore for her "Anabeth" costume for Halloween.
She is currently super-obsessed with the Percy Jackson series.

My son got 2 pairs of black sweatpants and so he is super happy.  Almost all his other sweats have been turned into shorts because he had either wrecked the knees or they were turning into capris for him.  Not a good look for 9/10 yr. old boys.

Details:

• Favorite girls' legging pattern is Kwik Sew 1591.  It is out of print, so you could try KS 3476 or KS 3958.  The thing I like about this pattern is that there is no side seam.  Front and back are cut together.  Sews up super fast!  Also, the leggings aren't super skin tight.  I don't love that on girls.
• All the knit fabric I used for her was from my stash. However, I can't decide if I actually made a dent in my knit supply or not.  Sad!
• The sweat pant pattern I use most often for the kids is Kwik Sew 2617. I use this pattern for flannel pajamas as well.  It is, of course, out of print as well, but it appears that 3786 is their updated pattern version.
• Black sweat pant fabric from Jo-Ann's.  Use a 50% off coupon as it is a little pricey, but it washes up really nice.

4 Pack of Snowballs Quilt Finished

We spent this past weekend in Nebraska to celebrate our parents' 50th wedding anniversary and while there I brought home 2 quilts I had sent out to Lynn to get quilted that Emily had brought with her.

This quilt was a fun one. It took me a long time from the time I actually bought the fabric, but I just love how it turned out. The layout has turned out to be one of my favorites.





I love how the backing came together and the binding is one of my favorites.  I've got extra of it!!







This quilt may head up to the master bedroom and be added to the rotation at the foot of our bed since hubby likes this one a lot.

Details:

• Snowballs made from 5" square charm packs bought at the thrift store.
• Finished size 65 inches by 73 inches (a little smaller than I normally make since we're so tall)
• Binding attached with this method. I attach the binding to the backside always now.
• Here is this quilt in the process

"Reindeer" Pillows

While rummaging around at SR Harris a few weeks ago looking for something else, which at the moment I can't remember what, I found this fun deer fabric.

It was a total impulse buy, I admit it.  However, I knew I could have fun with it.

I wanted to change it up and make some pillows for Fall.
Hubby and kids hunt quite a bit, so why not have some deer pillows.



They didn't get done in time for that season, so instead they are now "reindeer" pillows.
Technically they are Mule deer--per hubby--and he would know.
But for my purposes it will work for the season.

I added a red button on one "reindeer" and voila! we have Rudolph and the gang.

Braided Cable Scarf

Winter has come to Minnesota.
We received 6 inches of snow on Monday and we are in the 20's for the next 2 weeks for sure.
That means we need to break out all the winter gear, including the scarves, or maybe especially the scarves.

I like knitting with chunky yarns.
Your project comes together so much quicker.
And as one of my teenage daughters said, "Chunky is in."
Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment.








CO 28 stitches with size US 13 needles.
RS: K1, p1, K1, p2 then follow the 18 stitches on the chart as row number indicates (even rows 1-12), p2, k1, p1, k1.
On every WS (odd row) pattern is as follows: K1, p1, k3, p18, k3, p1, k1.

Details:

• Finished dimensions: 6 1/2 inches wide by 68 inches long. (Don't forget to block the scarf)
• 2 skeins Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky in Pumpkin (bought on clearance somewhere).
• Pattern inspiration found here.  The pattern is in Russian but there is a chart to use also.
• Knitted 20 repeats for the infinity scarf.
• Size 13 needles

Weed decor

As I've said before my children have complained about the lack of holiday decor at our house.
I don't necessarily go all out anyway during Halloween, but I do like some Fall flavor in the house.

Near my house is a frontage road to the highway.  Over the past number of weeks as I drove that direction I wanted to see these weeds (the dark ones in the pic below) up close and personal because I thought they might work for a cool vase display.






These white ones would probably make an interesting display too, but I was after the dark ones.

Finally one day my oldest son and I just hopped in the car with a pair of scissors and cut some down.


I gathered them all up in a vase and set them on our piano.
I like it.
The kids have since added some red leaves from our Maple tree out back.





Here are what those weed things look like up close--those little pods dropped like crazy when we were arranging them.  But if we leave it alone they stay put just fine.

A couple other weed options I've noticed around my neighborhood.



And this feather grass something......


I am going to retrieve some of this.



While taking pictures I noticed that I will need something to cut it.  Those stems are thick.
And the feather ends are bigger than my hand.
They were awesome blowing in the wind when I took these pics.
I need to plant some of this at my house too.

Hopefully you can find some interesting weeds around your home to use.....for free.
Enjoy your weekend.
Happy Halloween!

Burlap Wreath

All my Fall and Christmas decorations are in bins at the VERY back of the POD sitting in my driveway.  A couple of the kids have complained about the lack of holiday decor in our home right now, but I am not digging through the POD to get at our stuff.  It just isn't worth it to me right now.

However, the other day while at Michael's I scored a screaming deal---3 - 10 yd. rolls of burlap ribbon for the price of 1.  I think it was $6.99.  Lucky me they had actually left the tag up from the day before and so I got the sale price.  Yeah!

I've been looking at burlap wreaths on Pinterest and while they are probably everywhere, I still like them.  I had decided to just hold onto the ribbon as I knew I had a wire wreath frame also packed away somewhere in that POD. But at the dollar store I happened to see those frames and for $1 I bought another one.  I felt like I need something crafty to do to keep my mind sane.



Here is a backside view of my wreath.



There are plenty of how-tos online, but basically I just took loops of burlap and pulled it through the wire sections until it was as full as I wanted.



I then added some flowers that I already had sitting in a vase and cut them with wire cutters and just shoved them into the loops of ribbon.  I didn't want the flowers to be permanent.  I had some brighter flowers that I thought I wanted, but this turned out more calm and earthy.  For now I am just using what I have on hand. And I may want to change it seasonally down the road.

For now it is hanging in my dining room.  I didn't think I wanted to leave it outside to possibly get ruined.

Details:

• 2 rolls of 10 yd. burlap ribbon
• 1 - 14" diameter wire wreath frame 
• Flowers or other additions to add to wreath.

Despicable Me costumes

This year my girls wanted to do a group costume and this is what they came up with.

Meet Gru's girls.


Edith, Agnes, and Margo from Despicable Me

Love how it all came together.



Margo
Plaid skirt--we made this.
Thrifted jacket and white shirt
Add a graphic tee over top--she already had this
Bought dollar store wire frame readers and popped the lenses out.
Tennis shoes and socks
Hair back in a low ponytail.



Edith
We went with the Ninja version for ease of costuming
Black t-shirt and pants.
Nunchucks ($1 at the dollar store)
Pink striped stocking cap--knitted this up, winging it as we went but turned out great. Based on this pattern.
If you didn't have long blonde hair like my daughter you could easily throw a blonde wig on under the hat.



Agnes
The unicorn is what makes it.
We found ours amazingly enough at the thrift store for $3.
Short overalls also thrift store purchase.
Yellow t-shirt w/ red stripes.  Made ours by painting the stripes onto a Michael's bought tee.
Ponytail on top of your head.  Later on we sprayed her hair black, but it wasn't for this picture.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Friday Finds

Here are a couple of my finds over the last couple of weeks.

After driving by this LARGE dumpster in front of a house at least 2 times in a couple days I decided to stop for this pair of chairs I could see the legs sticking out.  The dumpster was completely full of all sorts of stuff, mostly household stuff, but I just wanted the chairs.

I knocked on the door of the house more than a few times, but no one answered. Since it was in the dumpster I just took it.



Turned out it was only one chair---at least where I could get to.
The other legs belonged to the pedestal portion of a table.
No table top that I could see.



The chair is cool, and so was the pedestal, but I didn't want to think about figuring that part out.
I just took the chair.

Then a different week on a different street and after passing by a freebie pile in someone's front yard about 3 times in a couple days I decided to rescue a hexagon side table with a glass top.



I think I will put a wood piece on the bottom to make another shelf.  There might have been another glass piece there on the bottom, but it is now gone.  I may replace the glass top with wood too, but not sure just yet.  Here is an upcycle option I saw on Pinterest.



Last week hubby asked me if I went to the thrift store every day.
"No, just Tuesdays and Fridays on their 25% off days."
"Oh", he says, "it just seems like you go every day."
Maybe, but really I don't.

Funny thing about him though, the very next day he comes home and says to me, "Do you want a cedar chest?  There is one just around the block with a FREE sign on it."
I grabbed my shoes and off we went.
Now we have another cedar chest--hubby plans to give it to our daughter, which is certainly fine with me.



She was excited about it once she saw it after work and then they were doing some research on it and it turns out it is a Lane cedar lined chest that was made in July 1942--we know this from the serial number underneath.



It still has original paperwork inside attached to the lid--dated Jan. 1944. And the inside looks brand new.



Other than some glass water marks on the top and a slight crack on the inside drawer which can be easily glued together it really is in great shape, especially as old as it is.  Hubby says he doesn't think the owners knew what they had.  Probably not, but that's fine.  We'll take good care of it.

Just wish I knew some of its history.

Fall has arrived

After 3 straight days of 80 degree weather last week here in Minnesota, it appears that Fall has decided to make an appearance--and stay.  This week we are in the 60's and 40's in the morning at the bus stop.  Yep, that's Fall.

Usually I adore the Fall season.
Sleeping with the windows open.
Not needing the A/C or the furnace.
My birthday is less than 2 weeks away.
The cooler weather makes me happy.
The kids get creative and excited about Halloween costumes.
More firepit evenings.

This year it is going to be difficult.
Selling a house is not fun.
And when it doesn't sell in the time frame you would like it is even more less fun.

All my Fall decorations are in the back of the POD sitting in my driveway.



Somewhere WAY, WAY, WAY back there.
I'm pretty sure the Fall bins are up against the back wall of the POD.
That means about 6 layers back--top to bottom.
And unfortunately PODs don't come with both a front and a back door.

So the only decorations I have are these 2 ceramic pumpkins.




I only have these because when we went to visit my parents in August my mom decided to clean out her Fall and Winter bins and she was getting rid of these two.  I figured I could use them somewhere.

I actually looked at the thrift store today to see if I could find something inexpensive to decorate with.  I really don't want to buy new stuff, because I have stuff.  Not a lot, but I have stuff.

So maybe I'll go take a walk and find some fun weeds to cut and put in a container.
That might work.

Stay tuned for Christmas...if our house still hasn't sold by then it will be even more interesting.  The Christmas bins are right next to the Fall bins.

Dandelion Jeans

When talking about "jeans" for daughter #3 we use that word loosely.  She will NOT wear store bought jeans--zip up the front, scratchy on the waist, unable to move, too much bulk in crotch region kind of jeans. That is her description of why she doesn't like them.  She will however wear denim pants that I make for her--i.e. loose fitting, elastic waist, and no butt pocket.

Recently she informed me that she didn't have any long pants for school.  Yeah, it has been a rough couple months around here.   I had bought her shorts for gym class--first year of middle school and all, but they were a bit big in the waist.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to buy her pants that were long enough but skinny enough to fit her body.  So I pulled a couple pieces of denim and chambray that I could find and cut out 4 pairs of pants.  I then tried to make them all a little bit different from each other so that people wouldn't think she was wearing the same pair of pants over and over and over and over again.

On the dark denim I asked her if I could do a little embroidery design.
She agreed.
I only did it on one leg because I didn't think I could duplicate it well enough on the second leg.  And really I was just winging it on the design and idea.  Maybe if I had a white washable fabric marker/pencil I could outline it and do it but she was fine with just one leg fancied up.






Details:

• Thrifted fabric--about $3 for 3 yds. or more.  I got 2 pairs of pants out of the dark denim and 2 pants and a skirt out of the chambray piece.
• McCalls 5135 and lengthened the pants a bunch.  The pattern is out of print.
• Used heavy thread (I think quilting thread) for the dandelion detailing.  I had practiced with regular thread and didn't think it stood out enough.

Double Knotted Lattice Cabled Scarf

I made this scarf for one of my nieces for college.
This is the last one for the 3 that just graduated this year.



She is currently attending BYU-Idaho, where it gets awfully chilly.
Last week I happened to see that they already had had their first FREEZE advisory for the overnight.




Details:

• Pattern found here.
• 2 skeins Red Heart Soft in Navy. (The color is a little off in the pictures she sent me.)

Original Picture source here.

Another cable scarf

I made this scarf for my niece who is a freshman at the University of Nebraksa--go Huskers!!! ( our mom and youngest brother are hardcore Husker fans)

She needed some cold weather team spirit gear.
This ought to fill the bill.

Cast on 46 w/ size 8 needles

Row 1: K1, p1, k1, k12, p2, k12, p2, k12,  k1, p1, k1

Row 2: K1, p1, k1, p12, k2, p12, k2, p12, k1, p1, k1
Row 3: repeat row 1
Row 4: repeat row 2
Row 5: K1, p1, k1,  k4, C8B, p2, k4 C8B, p2, k4, C8B, k1, p1, k1
Row 6: repeat row 2

Row 7: repeat row 1

Row 8: repeat row 2

Row 9: repeat row 1

Row 10: repeat row 2
Row 11: K1, p1, k1, C8F, k4, p2, C8F, k4, p2, C8F, k4, k1, p1, k1

Row 12: repeat row 2

Continue repeating rows 1-12 until desired length and then cast off.



Details:

• Original pattern inspiration here.  I modified it some--adding a side border as well as lengthened out the distance between cables.
• 2 skeins Red Heart Soft in Wine (I prefer a blue/red over an orange/red most of the time).  And my niece has similar coloring to my #2 daughter here)
• Finished dimensions:  oops!! forgot to take them before I packaged it up to send.  About 6 inches wide and probably close to 70 inches as you can wrap it around your neck once.