New Stuff in my Etsy Shop

It's very strange for me to have no custom orders floating around.  I've been working on some really cute stuff for friends and family that I'll be posting shortly, but until then, enjoy the few things I've made and put in my shop!  I've changed the eyes on the owlie skirty.  I like these better.  I also like the way I did the eyelashes, and may change the way I do them on monster bums too.  Also, I really like the dark sock monkeys.  I'm tempted to keep the shorties for my little guy.  If they don't sell before the weather starts to cool down, I think I'll take them down and keep them for myself.  Yes, I do smile at my baby's bum wandering around my house decorated by the monsters and monkeys I've made for him and for my nephews who've lent them back to me.  Enjoy!  All of these are made with 100% wool except for the owlie skirty which is alpaca wool blend, and all are size medium large fitting from about 12-24 months.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Hello Kitty Revisited

Every time I've worked on these, the theme from Hello Kitty goes through my head and I say "Hello, Kitty" in my head to myself :)

I LOVE the colors on this.  They remind me of rainbow sherbet, which at the moment is one of my favorite pregnancy cravings.  Sooooooo yummy!  I'm gonna have to text my hubby and make him bring some home tonight. I can't wait to see if the mama will send me some action shots of this one!

Introducing Livvy!

This is my beautiful new niece! She was born just yesterday and I guess my sister had to try on her going home outfit to make sure it would fit since she was just a little smaller than expected; 6lbs 15oz and 18" long. I think she's so sweet! And has the most perfect mouth a baby's ever had. Of course, I made the ladybug skirty :)

Hoot-Hoot Skirty

This was inspired by this hat. The more I look at it, the more I like it. It's made from washable yarns as the mama who ordered this uses AIO's and pockets (cloth diapers that don't need a cover) and didn't want to have to worry about accidentally putting it in the washer or dryer. The main colors are in Berroco Vintage, which is about 40% wool, and the rest acrylic and nylon I think. It's VERY soft, and even though the label says to lay flat to dry, I put a swatch through the dryer and it came out just beautiful. The other colors are a variety of superwash wools from Karabella, Tahki, and Dale of Norway.


 Addy decided she wanted to model for me today and didn't care that these are too small! She really likes the little flowers....

The Giving Tree

What is there to say about this one? Lots actually! I tried a new way of making the waistband, with a picot edge on top and a drawstring threaded through a tunnel instead of through eyelets. I totally love the look. I'll definitely have to try it again!

I actually knitted this one twice. The first time, it was too narrow, so I pulled it most of the way out, at which point I realized that I'd misplaced my pattern, so I had to draw it again. Curse. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to knit. I'm not entirely satisfied with the girl, but I guess I just have to keep trying to accept that yarn is not as easy to sketch with as a pencil, and it's just not going to work exactly how I want it to. I'm thinking of trying needle felting sometime soon to see if I can get the detail I want.

I was going to add an apple on the bum, but the skirt is long enough that no one would ever see it, so why do it? :). I'm thinking maybe I'll still add it before I send it off... we'll see.

The darker green on this is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, again, my favorite yarn. The color is discontinued but I found a place that has at least a bag of it (bags usually come with 10 skeins) and since I've already used it for two (make that three if you count the hat on the gnome I just did) soakers, so it might be worth it to try to stock up. My pocketbook will have to give it some thought.

Birthday Skirty

I LOVE this skirty. If the girl I made it for doesn't appreciate it, I'm keeping it until I have a girl! It's lovely lovely alpaca, my favorite color, and really, I don't think there's much I could do to it to make it cuter. If you disagree, well, that's your own choice, but I love it :).

Owl Skirty

I don't think this one could have turned out any cuter than it did. The mom sent me a pic of some fabric she was having made into a shirt, and I did my best, and you know, I think it was good enough this time :) I can't wait to see pics of it on the little girlie!

I *heart* TRADES!

YAY!!! Someone who wanted something other than black! Now I've got to post this on Etsy so people can see that it's just as cute in something other than black, and MUCH easier for me to knit.

My boys love to play with the girls next door, who just happen to be 4 and 3 just like my boys :). When we're outside I often take my knitting out while I'm watching them play, and the girls think it's really fun to try stuff on that I'm working on. This skirt is sized for about a 3 month old, and it's a real testament to the wonderful properties of knit fabric (and particularly the resilience of wool) that both of those girls tried on this skirt and it looked like a really cute mini on both of them! It may not have fit a diaper underneath, but at least it'll still be usable after potty training! Or during! It could a really cute skirted capri pant for a little girl. They were trying on a monkey skirty yesterday. I'm thinking next time they try stuff on, I'll have to take some pictures. They're really cute.

I traded labels for this skirted longie. I'm quite excited about it. I can't wait until they get here! I've wanted a label for a while so that people remember where they got their soakers from. I love doing trades. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who want to do trades with me don't make things I need or want, and vice versa :(. But when it works, it works great!

Olivia's

This soaker was inspired by this picture. I'm totally AND COMPLETELY in love with it! I'm in love with the little pig, I'm in love with the soaker, the heart and stars, everything! It's even made out of my favorite yarn.

When I have a girl someday, I'm definitely going to make one for myself!

Music Skirty

This skirty was a lot more work than I thought it was going to be, and believe me, I thought it was going to be a lot of work. Surprisingly, the difficult part was NOT the music around the skirt. I know, right? Totally looks like that took me many many hours to do. In fact, I think it only took 2, maybe 3 to embroider all of it. No, the thing that gave me a massive headache was the cute design on the bum. First I tried to embroider it on, but that was just... not pretty. I really don't understand how people get away with duplicate stitches for large patterns. I can't do it. There must be something I don't know that they do. I'm going to have to consult a master knitter and see if I can learn. It would make my life considerably easier if I could easily duplicate stitch some patterns, like this one. I got it all but finished and decided I needed to redo it, so I had to actually cut off the top part, pull it out, re-knit it with an intarsia pattern, and then sew it back onto the skirt. And that whole process, especially the sewing back on bit (you have to mark REALLY CAREFULLY where center front is on both pieces!) had to be repeated at least twice to get it right. I'm still not completely satisfied, but it's much better than it was before. I think it's acceptable. There's still so much I need to learn about knitting. I learn something new with almost every soaker I make. I wonder if I'll ever get beyond soakers or if this is just what I'm going to knit from here on out? I think I need to make a point of doing something else, just to keep me limber. Maybe I'll start on that vintage crocheted christening dress pattern I got off of ebay a while ago? Who knows, maybe someone I know, (maybe even me!) will have a girl who'll want to use it someday soon.

Easter Skirted Capris

The scrappies in the next post go with this skirty too. Or at least I hope they do. The mom said she loved them, but I haven't actually seen how they look together. I'll have to see if maybe she'll send me a pic.

I've had MANY compliments on this one. And you know, it wasn't even difficult to make. The hardest part was probably making the wave pattern for the grass. The easiest part? The yarn... ahhhhhhh the yarn :). Yarngasm. Oh yes. The purple is 100% baby alpaca. I'm not sure there's anything softer or more luxurious than baby alpaca, except maybe brushed baby alpaca, which is very fuzzy and wouldn't work for a soaker, so I'll probably never have the chance to work with it. :( Although I might have to buy a ball just to pet when I need some comfort.

I think I did put another butterfly on the bum of this one... I can't remember now. Oh well.

The green yarn is a blend of wool, cashmere and microfiber. I wonder how it would hold up as a soaker? It wasn't quite as nice to knit with as the alpaca, but then nothing is, but it was very very nice. It's a little pricey, but I would definitely like to add it as an option if it works. I'll have to design another soaker for Addy :).

Butterflies & Flowers Skirted Capri

Before I start complaining, I have to say that I really love how this one turned out. If I had a baby girl, I'd definitely put it on her. And I totally love that I figured out (inspired by a WAY TOO BUSY soaker I saw on Diaperswappers) two color linen stitch as a cuff option. I think it's my favorite looks wise. It just looks cool.

But seriously! The woman asked for a fairy and some butterflies and dragonflies. I couldn't for the life of me come up with a not cutesy fairy for a pair of soakers. You wouldn't think it would be that difficult! I scoured the internet and found lots of good inspiration pics for fairies, and then I dug in. I tried intarsia and fair isle. I tried embroidery. I even tried tracing a pattern on with fabric stabilizer and then embroidering over it. I think I spent quite a bit more money than I made on this one just trying to get the design right. In the end, the fairy proved to be completely elusive and I was left with butterflies and dragonflies, and even though they turned out really cute, they aren't what I'd envisioned, and even though (as I said at first) I totally love the way these turned out, I'm disappointed. I feel like I failed. Maybe I'll do it again in fingering weight yarn and see if I can get that darn fairy to cooperate. With a fine enough guage I could probably find a cross-stitch pattern that would work beautifully. I wonder if I have to go all the way down to fingering weight or if Dk would work? Hmm... sounds like I've got some work to do.... after the 10 orders I have on my waiting list. And the several soakers I owe my sister. And the blanket I owe my other sister. And the pants I promised my 4 year old....

Skullie's Can They Get Any Cuter?!?!

Have I ever said how much I love purple? I do. I LOVE purple. I love this purple in particular! If you click on the pics and zoom up close, you can see how the yarn is heathered with bits of turquoise and hot pink. I LOVE it :). And I totally love how these turned out. Okay, so maybe the skullie is getting a little easier to make. I'm still not wild about using black yarn (it's really hard to see what you're doing if you're not in full sunlight) but seriously... they are super cute.

I added a little skullie on the bum of the longies this time. I thought it would be a cute detail, and make them cuter to wear without the skirt. I had to pull it out a few times before I got it right, and I'm still not sure it's all the way there. However, when my sister saw it, her face lit up and she totally thrilled over how cute it was, so I guess I've succeeded :). Thus begins the love part of my love/hate relationship with my most popular soaker... the Skullie. Who knew that all I needed was some purple?