FO Seeing Double

Look, I made this.....

...and this!

No that's not two photos of the same top but yes they are two identical tops, same pattern, same material just different sizes.  So why would I do this?  Am I just losing it and going slightly mad?  Many people may well argue that is exactly the reason and I guess in a way it is but it's not the whole reason.

First of all I made the top in the first picture.  I carefully measured Miss M, chose the pattern (ottobre 6/2008, number 3, Elly raglan top), drafted it out in her size (74cm), chose the fabric (some lightweight pink knit from Mum's stash) and made it up.  I was feeling oh so pleased with myself at how this turned out until I went to put it on her the next day only to find it was a real struggle to get it over her head.  Once on it fitted nicely although I could see it wouldn't last her through autumn and into winter as I had hoped.  Here she is wearing it.

So in a bit of a huff with myself I sent this top off to a friend for her DD and went back to the drawing board for Miss M.  I really loved the top so decided to try the next size up and drafted out the size 80cm. About this time I also learnt something very important, READ THE CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS!  I'm sure I did this but obviously not because you do NOT add seam allowance to bound edges on ottobre patterns, that could well explain the small head hole on the first top.  With this information in hand I sewed up the larger version.  The only alterations I made this time were doing the neck binding slightly differently, and how I was meant to do it the first time, and doing a smaller hem to give the top added length.

I am really pleased with how the binding turned out although I really should still get out the cover seamer and use that instead.  The fit of the second top is much better as well and it fits over her head fine, phew!
I love the wee bit of shirring across the front of this top and the slightly puffy sleeves.  I'm deciding now whether to make more of these for winter in thicker knit fabric or to branch out and try another pattern.

FO A Baker's Dozen

During my flurry of finishing up long suffering WIPs I finally finished a stack of nappies over the weekend that have been in progress for months.  They were all cut out months ago, then left for a long time finally all being snapped before christmas.  Now they are all done.  Thirteen size medium pocket nappies, some front snap and some hip snap.  Now I just need to find room in the nappy storage to put them :-)

FO: The trial run....

Well the sewing theme continues for a bit here.  I am making the most of having my sewing mojo back and getting a few things made for the kids.
Months ago I bought some lovely knit interlock with monster trucks on it to make Mr A a t-shirt just like one he had spotted in Ottobre 3/2011.  I blogged very excitedly when it arrived and am ashamed to say that even to this day it is still in the package it arrived in, oops bad Mummy.  I am pleased to say though that said t-shirt is now one step closer.  Because the fabric wasn't cheap, and I more than likely only have enough for one attempt, I decided to make a trial run of the pattern first to check for sizing etc and I am pleased I did.  Going by Mr A's measurements I chose to make him a size 98cm with 110cm length, he is pretty tall and slim.  The pattern I used was ottobre 3/2011, number 24, Slim Fit T-Shirt.
My first mistake was not reading the instructions properly when cutting out the top and adding a seam allowance to the bound neck edge which meant when I sewed on the binding there was no way it was ever going to fit over Mr A's head in a million years.  Oops, lesson learnt (well theoretically), do not cut out in a rush of excitement late at night.  Once I had cut down the neck and rebound it the rest of the top went together really smoothly.
Here is the result:

I was really pleased with it, even the binding went on well, and Mr A liked it this morning even if Daddy does think he looks like a little retro boy from the 70's in it.

Excuse the goofy face and pose I interrupted some
important lego making to take this photo.

Although this fits Mr A really nicely I have decided to go up one size in both width and length for the 'real deal' so hopefully he will get next summer out of it as well.  I am also left pondering whether I should be big and brave and drag out my much unloved coverstitch machine from the cupboard to do the bindings on it?  Argh still find my coverstitch pretty scary, lol.

FO: Summer top for Miss M

A week or so ago when I picked Miss M up from daycare one of the teachers commented that they were worried about her skin going a bit red even with lashings of sunscreen and thought long sleeved tops might be a good idea on the really bright days.  Miss M is certainly very fair skinned and I do share their concern about sun-exposure and also know that she loves nothing more than to spend every possible minute pottering about outside.  Of course though on going through her clothes when I got home I realized that all her long sleeved tops were thick winter ones and putting those on her in the middle of summer seemed like some crazy kind of torture.
So what else was there to do but drag out the pile of ottobre mags and start planning a few tops.  Having decided that light weight fabric and a full floaty style would be the key to 'cool but covered' I found a cute pattern with shirring at the neck and sleeves.  The pattern itself was for a short sleeved top but I figured lengthening the sleeves wouldn't be a big issue.  Also thankfully I had grabbed the perfect fabric during a trip to spotlight a few weeks ago when I happened to notice it on sale, woohoo.
Here it is all done.  The pattern is from Ottobre 1/2010, and it is design 11, tunic, in size 74cm.  Apart from lengthening the sleeves the only other alteration I made was that instead of doing 5 individual rows of shirring at the neck and sleeves I stitched them as a continuous spiral.

I will admit now that when I finished this I was in two minds about it, seeing it hanging up it had the ability to go either way, would it be ridiculously cute or simply ridiculous?  Now I must admit I am leaning towards ridiculously cute but you can decide for yourself.

Excuse the mess we were rushing out the door to daycare

Best friend handshake with Daddy

Now to decide whether to make more the same or try something different.

FO Long Awaited Socks

It is my Mum's birthday on Tuesday and I made her socks!  Sounds like a nice simple idea except this ia a story 2 years in the making.  Just over 2 years ago I knitted my Dad a pair of socks in very special custom-dyed yarn for his birthday and he loved them.  So did Mum so I decided to knit her a pair for christmas.  Well suddenly it was christmas and I still hadn't even started the socks so I made Mum this cute bookmark, let her raid my sock yarn stash to choose what color she would like and told her they would be coming for her birthday.

Around about this time I found out I was pregnant with Miss M and completely lost all my knitting mojo for months, so Mum's birthday came and went and there were still no socks.  I did finish the first sock a fe months later but then the project languished in my knitting bag for over a year, oops!
With her birthday coming up again I decided the time had come to finish THE socks so here they are.  ll blocked and ready to be posted tomorrow.  I really hope she likes them and that they fit!  The yarn is Vintage Purls sock in colourway "Dusky Garden" and the pattern is Diamond Gansey Socks by Wendy D Johnson.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

FO Green Goodness

Well before christmas a friend commented on how she loved this cardy that I made for Miss M.  As I had never got around to knitting anything for her gorgeous wee baby boy when he was born I agreed to make her one in the color of her choice.  So here is my latest Baby Vertebrae, pattern by the very talented Kelly Brooker, this time in 4ply (Knitsch sock yarn in colourway 1/4 Acre Dream).  This time I knit the 6m size and used only 90g of yarn so this knit is very economical on yarn.
I will openly admit now that I am not usually a 'green' person, but I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this and adore how the color has turned out.  Of course just to make life that bit more complicated for myself I managed to buy two skeins from different dye-lots so I alternated them throughout the project, not a big deal just lots more ends to weave in at the end.
The finished cardy, this time I blocked it with the ribbing lying 'out' flat to try and stop it folding in when worn at Miss M's tends to do a little.

The cardy

Better idea of the colors

And with permission some truly gorgeous pics of it being modeled by the cutest wee man around.

FO Outfit for Miss M

This wee outfit is something that I have had in the making since I received the knit fabric in a destash many months ago.  Before christmas I went and bought some drill from Spotlight and the idea of the coordinating pinafore and shorts was born.
I used the same A-line pinafore pattern by Carla C as I did for the Cat in the Hat dress but this time I lined it with a lightweight knit (because that was the only thing I had to hand that went with the other fabrics in any way shape or form) and added the flower appliqués to match the shorts.  I was originally only going to put one or two flowers on until 'Daddy' suggested they should go all the way around the bottom and this proved by far the most time consuming part of the whole set.
The shorts were adapted from the Unisex Leggings pattern by Darncat I made the 6m size for Miss M as I wanted them fitted and just cut the length to suit.  This is a fabulous quick pattern, I whipped the shorts up in about 15 mins from start to finish :-)
Unfortunately Miss M saw her new outfit first thing in the morning and she had it on before I had a chance to get any decent photos of it so only modeled pics this time round.  At least I know she likes it though.

I am still loving these wee dresses/tops and I can see a lot more in Miss M's wardrobe in the future.  The possibilities are endless.

Summer holiday

No posts here to a couple of weeks, not exactly a great way to start the year, oops.  One reason for that though is that we have recently spent a week away on holiday.  We caught the ferry to the South Island and spent a week at our wee bach in the Marlborough Sounds.  It is a very special place for me, we spent every single holiday ever there as children and I have so many precious memories of hours spent, swimming, fishing, boating and generally playing on the beach and in the mud.

It was fantastic to be able to take my family over there to experience some of this and both the children had a wonderful holiday.  While we spent quite a bit of time catching up with family there was also plenty of time for simple things like building sandcastles, digging trenches in the sand and hunting for crabs and other sea creatures.

A few pics from our trip :-)

Cruising on the Interislander

Miss M catching up with family

Perfect weather to try out the kite Mr A got for christmas

Breakfast at the bach

A trip to Picton to try out the new remote control boat

Time for a paddle

Checking out the awesome pirate ship playground

Three pirates aboard the ship

Captain A

Bush walk

Playing at Governer's Bay

Ready for a spot of canoeing

In the canoe with Daddy

Yes we do all fit but can't go anywhere with only one tiny life jacket

Evening in the bay

On the beach with Gran and Grandad

Daft girl!

One of the things that really struck me about this holiday was just how much fun the kids can have without us spending a cent.  We only did two things all holiday that we had to pay for and everything else was completely free.  The kids had such a ball with all the outdoor activities, picnics etc.  Now we are looking forward to many more happy holidays there while we still have the chance.