By Brienne

Collaboration: Winter Layers

At the risk of sounding very dull and very Midwestern - I must report that we are into the dreaded days of winter that never get above ten below zero. We spend our time primarily cooped up indoors,  darting  outside intermitedly to jump cars and to make sure that the chicken's combs remain unfrozen. These days often provide an opportunity to experiment with new ideas, though, this week by way of painting and pattern drafting. 

The Kids Clothes Week blog just announced its winter dates and with that in mind I am busy scheming up some clothes for my littles. I am always trying to think of ways to include them while I'm making things and these textile markers seemed like the perfect way to do it. 

I've been working on drafting a pattern inspired by a ready-to-wear dress and I finished up a version of it that I'm relatively pleased with but it needed something. I tried beading it and thought about applique - dip dyeing? We couldn't really wait. My girl is in desperate need of layers to go over tights and was way willing  to be a contributer.

With that in mind, we got to work making it hers. Both of the kids really enjoyed painting on a new medium and I think the result is pretty cool. I still have to make something from my son's painting - maybe a dolman-style top? His illustration is pretty wide, so it won't work on a flashback tee, which is typically my go-to for a quick fix. 

 For now, she's got a flouncy layer and some wearable art. And I've got some work to do to get the arm shape right and maybe to add some sleeves...

Thanks to Frontier Dreams for providing a space to share. 

 

Winter on the Shore

Everything Old is New Again

It's been hectic. We traveled this week to visit family and weather has been, well - wintery. We made two 10 or so hour car trips in three days. Although the travel was a bit harrowing, our time with family was restful AND I all but finished one sweater


And cast on another...


Our main gift to the kids was carpet squares for their bedroom, which they were actually very excited about.


In addition to the carpet, I did refresh their space a bit, adding a new reading/resting nook - knowing that they would need a refuge after the holiday craziness.


I had also meant to order a toy cash register but forgot and so, on the day before Christmas, I had to improvise. I moved jingling bells from their unreachable spot near the tree and added it to their play stand. I unearthed a set of Irresistible Numbers that I had made a couple of years ago (to use as play money) plus some play food that had also been stored over the summer.






And I found some apples that I had knitted awhile back to round it all out.


We had a small celebration for Hiver's birthday last night. It was good to be home and to be ourselves. If the girl wants to wear a bathing suit on her birthday, even though it's 10 below outside - it's alright with me.


Were your holidays mostly happy or harrowing?

Around Here

Drafting a pattern for a little girl dress - using rainbow blocks. Note to self: must purchase a set of cheap french curves.

Quick sewing for and dressing up the extra bedroom for holiday guests.

Casting on this but dreaming of this and this.

Using glitter (for the first time) and embracing the mess. Oh! The mess...

Vintage Pixie Cap: Part Deux

The Nutcracker Dress needed a cap. I have had my eye on this one with its gorgeous texture and i cord finish. I was prepared to cast it on last week and then realized that I didn't have the right yarn. I did have this red sport weight, though - just one skein and had made Heidi Fierlinger's Vintage Pixie Cap once before.
Here's the little trout then, I think she was around 18 months...

She's all but outgrown the sizing (sigh). And I enjoyed being able to make it for her one last time. I used up some of my stash yarn, which felt good. My ravelry notes are here if you'd like the details. What are some of the patterns that you keep going back to?

Thanks to Small Things for hosting this Yarn Along:)

P.S. The two sweaters that she has on in the photo are here and here.

Sewing: Nutcracker Dress

We needed something special and swingy for a performance this weekend. I knew it would be a Geranium and I knew that it would need some layers to battle the cold temps that we're having. I couldn't wait to try out this fabric by Moda. Once I had decided which fabrics to pair, I got to work on this quick and easy pinafore.The fabric is by Cloud 9. I got it here. To make it extra cozy, it's lined with Michael Miller's organic sherpa. Next, I altered the skirt for the Geranium based on this lovely little dress made by Skirt as Top.

In the end, I'm not totally satisfied with the fabric combo. I had thought about pairing the paisley with a solid navy color but I liked the idea of mixing the prints. The pinafore is a bit thick with the sherpa but it's really cozy and I think that she loves it. Now off to finish up the pixie hat that I am making to go with it. More on that tomorrow!

Many thanks to Frontier Dreams for the opportunity to share.

P.S. My Ravelry notes for her crown are here.

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Cold-style Reading and Knitting the Child Placket Sweater

I'm reading Children of the North Lights with the kids. The story, about the Sami people reminded me of something that I read when I was first pregnant with my son, almost five years ago: Vendela Vida's Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name. There is nothing profound about the writing but I finished it in a couple of nights and enjoyed the escape to Northern Europe. It's even colder there than it is here (minus 11 right now). Primarily, it's a coming of age story about a woman and her mother but it's woven together a bit mysteriously - keeping it interesting. I would recommend it as a quick holiday escape novel.

On to the Child Placket Sweater. My son wanted a dance coverup like his sister's.
The good news is that I found some black, sparkly tights in response to his request for flashier duds. And I produced this sweater.The bad news is that I could only find one of his ballet shoes. Does anyone else feel like they spend fifty percent of their lives tidying up and the other half searching for lost items?


This pattern is an old one that I've made before and I knew that it'd be a good one for knitting on while I was working with the kids because there's lots of stockinette.
Here we are - he's in the sweater here although you can't really see it. We were in Montana at a wedding. He was just over a year old and I was about six months pregnant with his sister. That trip was rough. I remember somehow scraping his little head with my boot buckle on the plane ride home while I was trying to nurse his little fussy self, getting into an argument with my husband, then the flight attendant, who didn't want me to rock him in the aisle - finally realizing that all the while we'd been sitting next to a member from a band that we loved. It was humbling:)






My favorite part was the buttons. They are blue stones - beads that I got from another life and I love how they bring out the little blue flecks in the yarn and in the little guys eyes. The sweater was a bit tough to photograph but you get the gist. The hat he's wearing can be found here.

My ravelry notes are here. Head over here for lots of good reading recommendations and some lovely knitting.

Knitting: The Tomten and the Fox

It's mythologically cold around here. Today the low is -45. Parts of the big lake are frozen. We've got to get outside every day to check on the chickens and our sledding hill. But with the threat of frozen skin being very apparent, the duration of our outdoor excursions is getting much shorter. It is these days that I am grateful that the kids like to read so much. And I'm grateful for rich parenting resources like Sparkle Stories. The stories are endlessly entertaining. My son listened to one story three times last week on one of those cold days. And they are often very funny. Our current favorite is "Woodelves" or "Sylvia as Squirrel" as we call it. I find that the fictional parents employ strategies that are useful to me as well. Did you hear the one about canning and Sylvia making foot sauce? Inspiring folks, Sylvia's parents are - to let her use her feet to help with putting up food for winter.

Currently we are making our way through Sparkle Stories' Advent Calendar series. A printable calendar goes along with the stories and provides a visual clue for each day's new story. An advent story scavenger hunt. Last Thursday, the visual clue was a stack of books. Unexpectedly, my mom dropped by that day with a stack of new Christmas books - magic! One of those books was Astrid Lindgren's The Tomten and the Fox. With a pile of new reading and an indoor afternoon ahead of me, I quickly cast on for this great pattern to compliment our new story. The kids turned pages while I knitted the cold afternoon away.

I've long wanted to do some crafting with peg dolls but this was my first go-round. And I think that I'm hooked. I like this sculptural knitting. My ravelry notes are here if you want the full details.

Many thanks to Frontier Dreams for the opportunity to share.

Mending and Re-reading: Maya Donenfeld's Reinvention

I picked up a copy of Maya Made's Reinvention just as soon as it became available a couple of years ago. I remember pouring over the pages while my daughter teetered around in the backyard and tucking it between my textbooks to peek at during the lecture breaks at my "college for the late-to-bloom".

The book offers a diverse variety of projects from textile printing to sewing with knits. I'd love to make the Toadstool Cottage one day.

What stood out for me the most about the book was the possibility for my own invention. The patterns are complete but spare in an inviting way. The materials are all "rescued" so anyone can find them.

I adore beautiful fabrics and happily support the artists that make them. But, living in rural Northern Minnesota where there is NO fabric shop within 120 miles makes it difficult to source fabric. I have always sewn with thrifted materials out of necessity. Often there is no other option. As a parent and as someone who is concerned about consumption and waste, I was thrilled to find inspiration for really shaping thrifted materials in a sophisticated way. The projects are beautifully made, honoring the found fabrics in a way that elevates them.

Last year, while I was looking for bean bag chairs or the like for my kids I remembered the poufs from this book. The project is way cool involving drafting your own templates using the instructions and learning how to sew in a zipper. I sewed up the poufs during a couple of nap times early last December and they were under the tree by Christmas.

In an unfortunate twist of fate, though, involving my being in the other room tap-dancing (yeah, seriously tap-dancing - more on that another time) and my husband, the kids, the poufs, a wrestling game, plus a cup of coffee ended in the red pouf being stained.

And then there was the attempted stain removal on the part of said wrestling kids, pouf and husband that ended in the red wool bleeding into the white fabric. Into the mend pile it went. Until now! I ended up taking it apart last weekend to wash the white, faux bois part separately and then sewing it back together. The sewing is a breeze. I think that it's the stain removal that kept the pouf out of commission for a year. My son was thrilled to be reunited with his pouf. This morning the poufs acted as a fence in some kind of backyard the kids were creating. And you can see from the pictures of the green and pink pouf how well the wool weathered a year's worth of heavy use. Plus - they fill an essential role as storage for the many extra blankets that we have around here (15 below on Saturday).

The woolen apron is one that I made using the instructions in Maya's book and a cutter blanket that I had been given earlier this fall. One great thing about living in this little place is that most everyone knows that I love to sew. I frequently get bags full of things waiting to be re-imagined left on my doorstep. This pink blanket came from a particularly fruitful drop-off from a friend's mom who had just closed up her antique shop for the season:) What's being rescued from your mend pile these days?