January Kid Sweaters (and some sewing!)

 So this is what happens when I get out my button box to find buttons to put on sweaters. My daughter wants to learn how to sew buttons and my son throws them everywhere!

 After the kids were in bed I managed to get the buttons sewn on.

 Baby Sunnyside Sweater adapted to a pre-school size by using a worsted weight yarn instead of a sport weight yarn. I did a test swatch and some math and figured out if I knit the 6 month size and added length I would have sweater that is big enough.

 Perfect fit!!  I used a Knit Picks Swish yarn and dyed it myself with food colouring.

 My daughter has gotten taller recently.  All of a sudden all her t-shirts looked like crop tops . . . not a look I like for little girls. She mostly wears t-shirts as undershirts right now but she needed some new ones. I bought this pattern, Zee'sTee by the Tie Dye Diva in a pattern bundle.  I love it.  Its got 12 month to 12 years.  It has two t-shirt versions.  This yoke version here and a pocket tee.  It has short or long-sleeves.  The yoke version is great for using up off-cuts from other projects.

For my son's sweater I made the Latte Baby Coat By Lisa Chemery a.k.a Froginnette

I made the 12 month size and made the arms and sleeves longer.  For the buttonbands at the front he pattern calls for a lattice stitch.  This time I used a seed stitch.  I only did one row of buttonholes but I think I might need to  rip it back and add the second row because it is gaping a bit.

Still warm enough to layer under winter jackets.  So far this is my favourite baby knit.  What is your favourite knits for kids?

Rainbow Yarn - an Adventure in dyeing with Food Colouring

Have you seen the yarn from YarnInk.  She's a Canadian hand dyer.  I follow her on Instagram and everyday she puts up yarn that I have to resist buying.  I really hope that I'm getting some sock and shawl yarn from her this Christmas.  I gave my husband my list  . . . and he's pretty good at getting me stuff I like!

I keep looking at the Rainbow yarns she does.  My daughter would love a rainbow sweater, but at $27 a skein for DK weight yarn . . . .that's not happening.  So I decided to dye some myself.

I have 7 balls of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes that I had bought to make myself a white sweater.  After making another sweater for myself in Knit Picks Swish Worsted I decided I wanted to save up for a better quality yarn for something for myself.  For kids knits Knit Picks is great.

I wound 5 of the balls into skeins and followed the directions in this Knitty tutorial for how to dye using food colouring.

I got all my supplies organized before my son's nap and I had it ready to go in the oven just as he woke up.

 I left it in the oven until it reached 82 degrees Celsius.  The water looked all clear. 

I let it cool and rinsed it.  Hardly any colour came out.

Rainbow yarn skein yumminess!!  I'm so thrilled with how they turned out.  If I was to do this again I would use a bit less yellow dye . .  . to make it a bit mellower.  For the purple I used Kool aid, which I've done before but I would like to try purple food colouring and see if I get get a bit more variation in the purple.

For a sweater for a 3 1/2 year old girl!!  Perfect.

And I've already cast on  for her.  A pre-school size Baby Sunnyside Sweater. (It's the same pattern as I knit my last sweater, the Lady Sunnyside)  .  I'll have to call them Thunder and Rainbow sweaters since mine is grey.

The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn so I'm knitting the 3-6 month size using worsted weight yarn and 4.5 mm needles.  So far it looks to be the perfect size.  Happy Knitting.

Slouchy Cardigan Pattern by Heidi and Finn

Pattern: Slouchy Cardigan by Heidi and Finn
Fabric: rainbow jersey purchased at Textile King in Toronto

Size:  Cut a 2T in width and a 4T in length (she's 3 1/2)

Modifications:  Lengthened sleeve and shortened cuff.  In the first version I made of this my daughter didn't like the long cuff

So cute!  I love it.  Hopefully I made it big enough that it will fit again in the Spring.  It's gotten too cold here for it now.  I took these photos at the end of September.  I love making children's clothing.  It is so quick compared to items for me! And a bonus too because Heidi and Finn is a Canadian Designer.  I make a point of trying to support Canadian artisans. Do you try to support artisans in your country?

Halloween Costumes 2014: Pattern Hacks

The Pattern Revolution blog had a series at the beginning of October called the Halloween Extravaganza showcasing various Halloween costumes made from everyday patterns.  I loved this idea because it meant I could make a costume with something I already had.  My daughter decided she wanted to be a cat.  First she told me "a black and grey cat".  So I dug some black and grey fabric out of my stash.  For some reason before I started cutting I showed her the fabric.  I got told "No, Mommmy, not THOSE colours!  I want orange and white!"  So I pointed to a pumpkin and said "Orange like this pumpkin?'  "Yes"   "and white like the sleeves on your shirt?"  "No, Mommy!  White like that" (pointing back to the original black fabric).  So toddler translation on colours = orange and black cat. 

I decided to use the Urban Unisex Hoodie from Heidi and Finn .  I haven't made one of these yet for my daughter but I made one for my 7 year  old nephew for his birthday.  I like the pattern because with a quick modification it is fully reversible.  I used orange and black fabric on the outside and added furry little pockets and ears on the hoodie.  I made a size 4 so my daughter can layer underneath it (Halloween in Canada can sometimes mean winter jackets are needed!)

The mitts are self-drafted.  I just took a pair of mittens I had that fit and made a tube.  I stitched the paw pieces on before I stitched the side seam, leaving an opening for the hole.  The paws are made of minky so I didn't bother finishing the edges at all.

A Tutu skirt tail! I just tied pieces of tulle to an elastic.   The tail I made by braiding together some novelty yarn I had in my knitting stash.

 The leggings are a  pattern from Ruby and Jack: Simple Seaside Shorties and Capris.  I made a size 4 and extended the leg length so they would be full length. I made the version with pockets and a ruffle bottom. My daughter will be able to wear these with anything once Halloween is finished.

 And onto Pumpkin Boy!!  He isn't in his full costume but he found this silk play scarf and was wrapping it around himself so I tied it on like a cape and he loved it.  The hat I made for my daughter when she was 6 months old.  The next year I added a couple of rows of crochet around the bottom to make it longer so it would still fit.  And this year my son gets to wear it.  For Halloween he will have on a green fleece outfit that was given to him.

Hat Pattern: Free link through Ravelry: Newborn Pumpkin Beanie   Now that I look at it again I obviously modified it as I made it the first time since my daughter was 6 months old.  I don't remember how I did it at all.

 Ready to Trick or Treat!!

Thanks to everyone else who has been posting their handmade Halloween costumes.  I love seeing all the variety of ideas.    Are you making a costume for your little ones?  Happy Halloween!

Hats

I had a hat sewing week at the beginning of September.  I made reversible newsboy hats for myself and my kids.

Pattern: Reversible Unisex Newsboy Hat   by Butterfly Tree

I purchased both the adult version and child version. The PDF has 1 pattern page to print out.  The sizing is generous.  I made a small for my son and a medium for my daughter.  I made a medium for myelf.  I had to add extra elastic into all the hats to make them tight enough but I think that's great because the kids will get more than one season of use out of them and for my the hat fits nicely with my hair down or in a ponytail. Now I need to start making more for my family who've asked for one.  What's your favourite hat pattern to make?