sweaters one and two

 There is a third, as well. One for me that I finished last night. But it's drying at the moment, so no photos. Now that it's done Will is hinting that he might like another as well so I may end up making yet another sweater this winter (oh darn, more knitting!) But here are numbers one and two. The boy's and the girl's.

Evelyn had a lot of say in her sweater. She chose a pattern - which was unavailable so I had to wing it - and also chose the fiber for me to spin. Last year's sweater is still sitting in a "to work on" basket since she won't wear it as it is. Cardigans that button at the top, while adorable in my opinion, are not her thing. I'm thinking of adding a zipper to see if that works. But this sweater, with all her input, has been a success.  Like the red felted vest, it's the perfect layering piece for her. Light and thin but also warm. Which is important, of course.

Briton wanted a sweater that was essentially the same as last year's, which he wore and wore until it got slightly felted and he had a growth spurt and it no longer fit. I upped all the dimensions from my notes last year to size it up. I wish I'd only increased the length and not the width because it's a little wide, but he loves it as is (although he keeps wearing it inside out for some reason)

And now? Well before I start any more sweaters (because I have the fiber to spin for this one in addition to the Will request) or hats or fingerless gloves or anything else, I need some slippers. My Snugs have so many holes in the soles that they are pretty much unusable in this weather. So it's time for a new pair of slippers for mama. Anyone 

foxy the fox scarf

My favorite Christmas knitting, this one. I realized yesterday that in the run up to Christmas I made two sweaters, two pairs of cabled, wee-teeny needle fingerless gloves, one fox scarf and six and a half pairs of slippers. The half is the one slipper I knit for Will before remembering that someone else was getting him slippers. Although I'll finish the other I think. When it's -19 degrees in the morning (burr) you start realizing that there can never be too many slippers. The bummer of it, however, is that I took almost no pictures of my knitting. The gloves and the slippers have all gone off to their new homes with out a single shot of them. Ah well. The sweaters I'll show you later but the fox, she deserves her own post.

Not long after I finished her bunny slippers, Evie announced that she wanted a fox for Christmas. Which was really knitting kismet because the slippers had led me to this fox scarf pattern, and I was looking for someone to knit it for.

Because she wanted an actual fox, and because I thought having a fox that was a play thing as well as a scarf was a good idea for the cold winter weather, I modified the pattern a little to make it more stuffed animal-like, seaming the body and tail, stuffing the tail a little and adding a second pair of legs (which are not seamed but roll nicely to form leg-like legs). The body is unstuffed so that it wraps nicely as a scarf. The head and tail tuck under one another perfectly to keep Foxy in place.

She is a hit. And goes wherever Evie goes these days. Out into the snow, up into bed, off to school. With whiskers to match if she can finagle it. Will thinks he needs his own, except in grey so he can have a silver fox. I might have to do it too.

finished and begun

One sweater down and...two to go. But I wont think about that right now. In fact, it might just be one sweater to go. I think this year Will might be getting a twined (and therefore very warm) hat with earflaps instead of a sweater. I'm sure he'll need one by December. But who knows, maybe I'll knock two more out between now and then. 

Evelyn's sweater was inspired by this kit, which was unavailable (and not in English) so I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's Seamless Yolk Sweater recipe from Knitting Without Tears as a base and figured out the striping as I went. In the end I decided to make the sleeves short because she wears the little blue vest I knit her as a layering piece all the time, so it seemed like a good idea to repeat the shape. Also, I didn't think I'd have enough white for long sleeves. I'm still contemplating knitting some long arm warmer tubes and stitching them into the sleeves so that it looks like a two layer sweater, but for now, I'm happy with it as it is. I wish I could have her try it on but that would ruin the surprise a bit, wouldn't it?

In case you're inspired to knit something similar, my Ravelry notes can be found here. Both yarns were skeins that I spun on my wheel. The orange and pink is Falkland and the white is Kid Mohair, which was wonderful to knit with.

Briton's sweater is at the beginning stages. I'd hoped to spin yarn for it but moving got in the way and so I went with some yarn milled in Southern Vermont that our local yarn shop sells.

He really, really wanted green and gold (my little Oregon Duck!) but they had no solids in either, so I found two (just two) skeins of those colors combined and am using it for thin stripes against a backdrop of some rugged looking grey. Although the yarn isn't as soft as what I used for Evie, it isn't itchy and it feels very warm, so it should be good for my boy who likes to leave his jacket places and just wear a sweater. I'm following the notes I wrote up for last year's sweater, the only change being that I've increased the cast on number by 5% and will go from there.

Anyone else starting (or working on) their winter holiday knitting? I think I might need a new sweater myself but haven't found any that I LOVE so far. Suggestions?

stripy

The stripy sweater grows. I've made it up to the armpits which means that I need to sit down and figure out how to plan out a round yoke. I'm hoping that after the great steek affair, it won't be too bad. It's knobbly and slightly uneven and definitely hand spun, but I like the effect. More importantly, so does she. Evelyn keeps checking on the progress of "the pink and purple and orangey sweater."

The white stripes are made of kid mohair which has the peculiar habit of feeling vastly different at different points in the spinning/knitting process. When it was just loose fiber it seemed billowy and soft, like a cloud. While spinning it it felt slippery and kind of prickly at the same time. While I plied the yarn I thought it might be too stiff but now that I'm knitting it it's lovely. Soft and silky and bouncy. I want to knit all sorts of things with it which will be difficult as I'm running out quickly. Time to order another bag.

The colored yarn fascinates me. I love watching it change as the stripes progress, orange and then purple and then orangey pink and so on. Most of the time the color has handily changed right about the time a stripe ends so that each stripe is its own unique shade. Love.

I'm impatient to have all the unpacking done. Inpatient to have it all in place, all put away, so I can sit down and knit without feeling like really, I should be doing something else. Ah me. We'll get there. I keep telling myself we will get there.

sweater beginnings or christmas knitting, the summer edition

I know it seems early to be thinking about winter sweaters, especially when half the country is broiling away, but sweaters, as I've learned (remember Will's Christmas/Valentines/Spring Break Sweater?) take time to knit. So if I want to knit three before December, it's time to get started. In fact, I think I started Briton's in May last year. So really, I'm behind. Whoops.

courtesy of Ravelry

This time around I'm starting with Evie's sweater. Since last year I made the colossal mistake of believing that anything pink would be fine by her and we ended up with a sweater that she wont wear, I enlisted her help in selecting a pattern. After some perusing through Ravelry she chose this sweater, which, unfortunately, only comes as a kit. In Danish. But the idea is pretty straight forward and armed with my trusty copy of Knitting Without Tears (which just happens to include directions for a round yoke sweater) I think I'll be OK.

The plan is to use two of my handspun yarns, the colorful one I chose for the purpose, knowing it would be about as Evelyn as it could get with all that pink plus all those other colors. The white is a soft mohair that I just finished spinning last night which seemed like a good foil for the brightness of the pink. I'm hoping it will be a good combination. And that there is enough of the white. Although on the plus side, I can always spin more. One of the benefits of spinning.

So it's official. I've started my Christmas/Solstice knitting. Christmas in July, right? Briton's sweater, which he has very sweetly requested be EXACTLY like the last one (although since the last one still fits he has agreed that it can be green and green instead of another blue and blue, for variety) and Will, well, he might get a hat. Or socks. Or another Spring Break sweater. We shall see.

Anyone else crazy enough to be knitting Christmas sweaters in July?

a good christmas

Very merry indeed.
The sweater fit (yay!)
The dollhouse suitcase was a hit (yay yay!)
And Santa managed to both find a unicorn at the last minute when he suddenly realized that the one that was ordered never arrived (yikes) and also to make (make!) a one of a kind Ninjago without staying up too too late on Christmas Eve. Whew.

perhaps i am a city mouse after all

Although not in the long run, I'm sure of that.

We are currently three quarters of the way through a road trip to the midwest, via friends back in Charlottesville for one blissful day (miss you all!) and now a stop to see Will's family in Kentucky. Hysterically (or maybe it's just sleep deprivation) all four of us - well, five actually since the dog should be counted here - have had a "we are not in the city anymore!" moment.

On the view out the window in New Jersey -

Briton - "Are we in Africa?"
Me - "No, we're in New Jersey."
Briton - "What is that out there? It looks like the African Savannah."
Me - "That's grass."

Upon exiting Manhattan at dawn over the George Washinton Bridge -

Will - "Wow, is it me or did it just get dramatically brighter out there! The sun just suddenly came up!"
Me - "No, we just aren't driving in between buildings, so we can see the sky."
Will - "Ahhh, you're right!"

While discussing the possibility of playing in the backyard at Will's Grandparents house -

Evelyn - "Can we go to the park back there?"
Briton - "That's not a park, that's a yard. But behind the yard is the Common, like Bowling Green."
Evelyn - "OK. Can we go to the park back there?"

There was also a moment where I thought we had veered out of the town we are visiting this evening, only to realize that the lack of a bazillion lights was just because it's, you know, a suburban neighborhood.

And also. The dog didn't want to pee in the grass at first. She kept looking for sidewalk.

We've also had a difficulty with needing to stop and only being able to find a Walmart at that critical moment. Which has led me to spend some time, across a few states, perusing some of the quality gifts on offer.
"Style with Comfort!" So true.
While the name, here, was the initial selling point for me, now I'm leaning toward "zippered back hatch" as the best part of this particular item.
But if neither of these two floats your boat, I picked this paper up on route and noticed that it has some holiday gifts on offer as well. Would you prefer a "Just Busted" T-shirt or coffee mug?

Ahhh, road trips.... So much fun, so many miles.

baking

I've been spending part of the mornings, in between multiplying fractions and explaining the many uses of the dash, making goodies. Candies, some from a list of recipes I inherited from Will's dad, who inherited them from his mother, and some that are just favorites of mine.
Yesterday I pulled them all out from their various cupboard/fridge/freezer hiding places, along with one of my fruitcakes, cut into cubes, and boxed them up, ready to give out during a little (big, long, seeing lots of friends and family) trip we'll be taking in the next few days. Cranberry bark, truffles, rum balls, fudge and of course, fruitcake. Yum.
Now if I can just stop myself from nibbling on them.
What's your favorite holiday cookie or candy? Where did the recipe come from?

a christmas mission

Last night, we went on a very important mission. Two important missions, in fact. We've been waiting and waiting until Daddy had enough time to come with us. Waiting so long that little hands had lost their first version of the letter so we had to write a new one at the last minute.

The escalator, which started out shiny and modern, became older and narrower the higher we climbed. Up, up, up to the eighth floor of Macy's where there is a very special mailbox.
And then, into the long line, past a miniature village and dancing bears and a talking tree and where the (over the top - hey, there might be a talent scout in the audience!) elves danced and sang and wound the kids up into a frenzy until at last, there he was.
Evie was a little scared at first. After watching A Christmas Story, she didn't want to get pushed down a slide with Santa's boot. But of course, the real Santa would never do that. The real Santa would say that of course she wanted a unicorn, he knew that she loved them. And he would not flinch when Briton blurted out the longest gift spiel ever (Iwantalegoninjagodoubleswordredspinnerthatdoesn'texistandthreecardsthatdon'texistbutthatyoumakesothatI'mtheonlyoneintheworldwhohasthem.)
It's good to believe.

advent calendar: a tutorial

The day after Thanksgiving, Evelyn bounded onto our bed at 6:03 in the morning and asked "Is today Christmas?"

It's become a bit of a routine.
What we needed, was an Advent Calendar. Actually, we needed a Last-Week-of-November-Plus-Advent Calendar. Not a problem. Last year I made no fewer than four Advent Calendars for various articles, some of which could be changed to add a few extra days. So after day two of way earlier than we need to get up on a four day weekend mornings, I got out our bin of Holiday decorations and found that.... I'd left them all in storage.
All of them. Even the old ones that we'd had for ages. I'm sure that, back in the spring when I was sorting things to be stored and things to go to New York, I assumed I would be making more Advent Calendars anyway. Or maybe I was just packing-crazy by the time I hit the Christmas things. Who knows. Either way, we needed a new one.

I know, I know, just go get a chocolate open-the-door thingie. Kids love those! I love those! They always make me think of this moment during the first season of Vicar of Dibley (What? You don't know that show? Run! Run to Youtube and watch them all. But go to the bathroom first otherwise you might pee your pants laughing) And I will get one for each of them, just as soon as I get myself to Trader Joe's. But I'm a crafty girl, and I like to have crafty things like DIY Advent Calendars.
The theme of this year's Grimm Family Advent Calendar is USE WHAT YOU HAVE. Because, even in it's pared down form, my craft supplies overrunneth at the moment. And I'm going to be hitting a Hobby Lobby within the next 30 day to stock up on more, so I need to make room.

Last year I made little packages for filling with holiday candy using magazine pages sewn into tubes. Despite the fact that I never made the homemade candy to go int hem, I've wanted to find another way to use the idea since. Plus I love Christmas Crackers, and these remind me a little of them, except without the bang. Maybe next year I'll figure out how to add that to the mix.

Magazine Tube Advent Calendar

You'll need:

24 pages from a magazine or catalogue. I used non-peopled pages from the latest Anthropologie Catalogue for this but anything with a bright colors or holiday pictures would be perfect
Sewing Machine - you only need to straight stitch, so don't panic here. In a pinch, you could even use tape. Stickers, candy, little plastic animals or toys - I had lots of things from the dollar bin hanging around
String of 34 Christmas lights Ribbon Tags numbered 1-24 * Hole punch

Roll one of the magazine pages roughly into thirds, but don't fold. Pinch one end flat and stitch straight across, leaving about 1/2 inch seam allowance. Fill with treats and then pinch the other end shut the opposite direction from the first and sew. This gives it a cute little twist and distorts the image so it just looks bright and colorful instead of like a page from a catalogue.
Repeat with the remaining 23 pages. Punch a hole at one end of each tube between the stitching and the edge of the paper.
Thread a tag and a tube onto a 6 six inch piece of ribbon but don't tie it. Once they are all be-tagged and be-ribboned, hang the lights around a doorway and tie each package just above a light. The light will help keep the tubes evenly spaced and in place. I kept my tubes on the sides but you could go all the way around as well. FYI, the pompoms over the door are just Styrofoam balls with cupcake liners glued on. Super easy.
I had planned to let the kids take the right package down each day but I like the way the whole thing looks so I'm thinking we'll just cut the bottom off and let the treasures tumble out pinata style.
What do you do for Advent? Chocolate doors? Candles?

* The Tags were also DIY, but you could use ready made, stickers, or just open one package a day. I used my Silhouette to cut both green and red tags and also cut the numbers out of the green ones. Once they were all cut, I glued a green and red together with plain old glue stick.

** Be careful with the lights and paper combo. No fires please.

little knitters

We have little knitters in the house. Little hands making Christmas gifts for each other and for others. After some internal debate about the whens and wheres and hows of teaching them to knit and some advice from a friend, I scooped up some knitting looms that someone offered to me and have set them working.
Briton has already completed one project, a hat for Eliza that he made from one of my small balls of self dyed, spindle spun yarn, and is now working on another project for his sister. He's a little faster at it once he gets going, but Evelyn is pretty efficient at it as well, and she's a bit more dedicated to her task. Her project is bigger. A grown up hat for a grown up person she wanted to make a gift for.
I used to love finger knitting and spool knitting - of course, my spools were actual spools, with nails hammered into the end - and I sometimes find myself looping over a row for them when I find it sitting, abandon for some other project. Because it's still fun.
I never knew what to do with all those yards of cording that both finger and spool knitting produced (although I spotted some in a knitting store the other day sold as yarn, so there's an idea) but these looms make something more substantial, which is nice. Both kids seem to find it gratifying to find, at the end of a few rounds, that they are actually getting somewhere (bulky yarn helps!) So I'm hoping this interest in handiwork is a growing trend around here.

Did you spool knit as a child? Do your kids knit or crochet? How did you get them started?

when in New York

I still forget, sometimes, that we are living in New York. I mean, I don't forget, but I get, complacent, I guess. Or just used to it. And then something will happen, I'll be standing in a park somewhere and look up to find the Empire State Building (otherwise know around these parts as the Entire State Building if you are speaking with Evelyn) looming overhead. And I suddenly think, wow, this is New York! I wonder if people who have lived here a long time feel this way, if they suddenly realize, every now and then, that everything around them has been in a movie or a book or is some kind of icon in American culture.
On Thursday, before putting the turkey in the oven or cleaning the house for our guests, we went to the parade. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And even though I know it's here, it still seems odd to be able to hop on a subway, pop up right in front of the Sonic Balloon as it passes by and still be home by lunch.

Or to be able to wander down 77th street the night before (ok, wander might not be the work, jostle, would be better) watching them inflate Mr. Koolaid and Sponge Bob. I think both kids almost fainted when Santa went by at the end of the parade. Evelyn has switched her writing and coloring theme from "I love my family" to "I love Santa" and has a substantial stack of illustrations to deliver to the big guy when we go see him at Macy's
Be forewarned Santa, much, much art is heading your way.

on the christmas list

Well, now it's really official, I saw trees for sale outside a Rite Aid this morning. It's Christmas time.
Last night I sat at my knitting group and was amazed by the woman next to me. In planning for Christmas, she had a spreadsheet set up with who was getting what handknit item, what yarn would be used, (color coded) which days she would be working on them and when each needed to be shipped by. Holy Cow. I'm a list girl, but compared to that, the scrawled notes in the back of my calender look pretty pathetic. So, as with the sweater, it's time to get cracking.

I read something yesterday on SimpleKids that, I think, is the perfect philosophy for planning gifts for my kids. Four gifts.

Something they want
Something they need
Something to wear
Something to read

Brilliant.

I always start off thinking that I should get more gifts for them, more things, and then by the time Christmas morning rolls around I look at the piles of gifts and realize that maybe I could have scaled back a bit. Over the past few years we've tried to focus more on special, handmade if possible, gifts, but this sums it up so nicely for me. It's a good reminder.

I've got the wear and the read for both kids already (which, hey, means I'm halfway there, sort of!) The need, I'm still deciding on, but it will probably be winter gear related since we are a bit lacking in that department, and the want, well, Briton eats, sleeps and dreams Lego's, so that's sorted. But then there is Evelyn.
Evelyn is hard to shop for. Not because she doesn't like things, she likes everything. She just doesn't really want anything. She wants things in the moment, when we pass them in the store, but unlike Briton who has always had something that he's dying to get, Evie is pretty content with what she has. Which is fabulous, I'm not complaining. But it means that when I want to find something special for her, I have to dig a little deeper.
I pinned this onto my Evie and Briton board on Pinterest a while ago. It's so sweet and it seems very Evie (and Eliza) and I've been wanting to make it since the moment I clapped eyes on it. So when, during our adventure in bench toting, I found a vintage suitcase as well, I snapped it up.

Will is helping design the rooms (naturally, I can't wait to see what he comes up with, hopefully something I can sew) and I found some fun wool felt and fat quarters at Purl Soho when I was last in there, so now all I need to do is get going on it, without her knowing or seeing or peeking. Which, in a wee little apartment, is proving to be a little difficult. I think we are going to have to have some gift making days in our homeschool schedule.

Tomorrow I'll be prepping for Thanksgiving as we are having a house full (apartment full?) of Will's fellow students, none of whom has experienced Thanksgiving before. I wonder what they will think of Pumpkin Pie.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving All!