DD's FIRST Ever Completed knitting project and sewing project together!

DD is so proud, and with every right to be! She knitted her first square, with very little help from me. It is about 5"x 5" and has become a small pot holder (she can't wait to add it to the linen drawer). She even chose and sewed on the fabric by hand with very little help. I am so proud of her.  She is also the photographer of her project, and we have posted it as a finished project on Ravelry Olympics. Way to go! She is already talking about making it's matched mate.

 Pattern:
In case you are interested in making one too, it was made with worsted weight yarn and 6 mm needles.
Cast on 18 stitches. Knit all rows until  square. (aprox 20 rows) Bind off. Iron out on low heat to block

Fabric back:
Then we sewed on a square of fabric. The fabric was cut the same size as the finished square. We ironed the edges under on the fabric and did a blind stitch to sew it onto the knitting. DD also added a "flower" to the center. with two pieces of yarn sewn through all layers and tied into a knot. We cut the ends short and frayed them.

Hooded Wrapped Poncho "recipe" Part 2

Embellish it!

There are so many ways you could decorate this wrap. The dollar store here has quite a variety of iron on or sew on sequins and embellishments and glass beads. But I raided my Grandma T's craft stash which I inherited and pulled out a skein of mauve wool yarn and a tatted dragonfly pin she had made and some vintage glass crystal buttons

 

Crochet Edging

Blanket stitch around the entire poncho, (every raw edge) with your yarn and darning needle. As you add new yarn and gain tails, leave the tails to tie in as you crochet later. I also blanket stitched around the neck to sew the raw edges of the hood and poncho together.  If I find my missing yarn, I would use this blanket stitch to attach the collar to.

Crochet Directions: with a size J hook

Starting at the point of the wrap, Single crochet along the curve of the wrap and around the entire bottom of the poncho. As you come to the place where the fronts and backs meet at the arm pit/elbow, single crochet decrease right in the corner.As you come to tails from your blanket stitch, work them into the single crochet stitch.

Row 2: ch 4 and skip first single crochet. *Double crochet in next single crochet st, ch 1, skip next single crochet* repeat from * all the way around, doing a double crochet decrease at the armpit/elbow. Finish to the point of the wrap end, ch3 and join to last single crochet.

DON'T TIE OFF if you want to use crochet as an embellishment such as mine.

ch 100 or more stitches, until you have a string long enough for you to play with and design on your wrap end. Tie off.

Lay the chains (ribbon or braid if you would rather) flat on your wrap end and design a pattern. Pin it into place as you go. Decide where you might add buttons or sequins or other embellishments as you pin. Sew the chain into place as you would ribbon and sew on your embellishments.

Pin your brooch at the front on your shoulder. Sew ribbon ties to the hood if you wish. And you're done! 

If there is ever a part 3 to this, it will be for the collar...(now to find that silly yarn!)

Hooded Wrapped Poncho "recipe" Part 1

Some people love ponchos' for some it is traditional wear, for others it's the warmth, but for me I always look like I paid a visit to Omar the tent maker and asked him to sew me a sweater, I just don't look good in them.  But I LOVE their warmth and I hate how I am always dropping a wrap or shawl...you cant work in them.But I had a vision of draping beauty. I was originally going to try to knit the entire creation, but I get distracted easily and large projects get left on my needles for extended periods of time. So I found a fleece blanket at the thrift store for a couple of  dollars and pulled some wool yarn and crystal buttons out of my stash. What do you think?!  The shawl that never falls off!

Here are my basic drawings I used to design the pattern (Click on the drawings to see them in full page)

I never got to making the collar, I wanted to knit or crochet it, but one of my balls of yarn has mysteriously rolled away into a hidden bliss.

To make this it helps if you know how to.....
Sew a straight stitch and zigzag on a sewing machine
sew on buttons


Materials
One personal  size fleece throw or 1.5 m of polar fleece
Matching Thread
One favorite bulky sweater to trace for pattern.
1 Shawl pin/brooch
Embellishments of your favorite kind, buttons, braid , sequins, ribbon etc
1 average size skein of worsted weight or double knit yarn
Darning needle 


Directions 

Fold your fleece in half the longest way possible. At the far left side, lay your favorite comfy sweater on to the fabric, with the neck line at the fold of the fabric. Fold the sweater arms in onto the sweater, from 2 inches below the armpit.

 

Sewing Instructions

 

Turn right side out and try it on!  Place a pin at your shoulder that the wrap end covers to hold the wrap in place.

To sew on the hood, mark the center back of the hood and the center back of the neck and match. Pin into place all the way around and sew

Now you are ready to embellish your wrap on the tail. Part 2 will be the crochet edge instructions.

Hello, Again

wow, it's been a long time since posts. My life did a dipsy do and a flip upside down. I will spare you all the details, but I will be returning to the workforce and am deciding shortly what to do about the childrens schooling next September.
In the mean time, I will leave you with this link to a cool craft I plan to do with the children as soon as spring gets here. I love spring, the smell of the wet ground and the bright colors of the plants. This is a terrarium project, I think we will make a fairy garden for ourselves!
Terrarium 
I think we should make this chipmunk to go with it!