Summer Hat

It's sometimes difficult to sew something for yourself, but now I had a good reason to do just that. My head is pretty big so it's kind of hard for me to find store hats that would fit well. So I made a dark greyish hat for the summer with some Ikea cotton fabric with a leaf motif. The original pattern comes from a magazine, but I made so many mods that it hardly resembles the original anymore.

Striped Pants & Teddy Hoodie

One of the lovelier sides of being a crafter is definitely the joy of making presents for friends and their kids. One of my best friends has a little boy who is only five months younger than my boys, and I often sew him the same things I sew for my kids (just because I know that his mom will declare her love for all things hand-made she sees my boys wearing!). So this time it was his second birthday, and a pair of striped pants and a "furry" teddy hoodie were the presents.

The pant pattern I drew myself, and the hoodie pattern comes from Ottobre (4/2007). It was a slightly tricky pattern, but let me say that after the third time it got a lot easier ;) I really like the round pockets in the front, and how they accentuate the striped jersey.

Grab Bag

I saw this pattern a while  ago and immediately thought it was something I just had to make. However, once I'd finished the bag, the first time I used it was in the funeral of my dear uncle, and now I always tend to think of him when wearing the bag. It's kind of a bitter sweet reminder of a good person.

Handmade Presents

Amazing what one can do when enjoying the benefits of parental leave. This Christmas, I bought only a few gifts and the rest I made myself. Sorry for the bad pictures, I grabbed them at dusk on Christmas Eve...



Fingerless gloves: knitted with Novita Mambo, I made two almost identical pairs. Pattern is here, really fast and easy to make.



Beaufort hat: a fairly easy job, nice cable-like pattern without actually having to make cables. I had to ravel the crown decreases the first time (way too small). Another inch in length, and it was a success. The yarn is Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran.

 




Twiggy Bobble Hat: I made it with moss stitch in order to hide the gaping holes that result from the bobbles. The yarn is Schoeller + Stahl Limbo Superwash.

Retro Hats

Again it happened that the shops didn't carry any nice hats for the autumn. I made both of my boys their own fleece hats. I drew the pattern of one well-fitting cap that we already had. The material is again micro fleece. The second hat has even more retro colors, sorry that the pic isn't so great.

Corduroy Crawlers

I have a weird (and wonderful) affinity for corduroy. I love wearing corduroy trousers myself, and I had the brilliant idea of making a pair for the boys as well. The pattern is from Ottobre Design. The ingenious part of these pants are the fleece knee pads for better crawling. And they have cute little pockets on the back side, made of a vintage Marimekko bed linen my mom had stashed away. The fabric is really worn out on some spots, but some parts are still like brand new. Old Marimekko fabrics always have wonderful, bright colors even after hundreds and hundreds of washes. Love it.

Mini Shawl

I’m making a Mini Shawl with two very different yarns; Novita Mambo and Rowan Cork, 2 + 2 rows of each. Using two yarns makes it easier to follow the pattern, no need to remember which row I’m on. Also like the striped look, wrong side looks fun as well.

Jackyll & Hide

I found this pattern on Knitty a long time ago, and thought immediately it'd be perfect for my brother. This autumn I finally had time to make one! There wasn't enough of the white yarn (Grignasco Cover), so I added the black neck part. My brother was very happy with it, and has reputedly used it in the Chilean mountains (the hat can be rolled up if you don't like the intimidation mode).

Dotty Hoodies

Hoodies were needed in the summer, and when I couldn't find any good ones in stores... The fabric is a dotted jersey from Myllymuksut which was great to sew. I even made the buttons myself, but I must admit that the fabric was a bit too thick for the job. The pattern is from Ottobre (4/2007).

Highchair Cushions

We have two solid-wood highchairs which desperately needed cushions (too slippery for the small bums)... I explored the cushions TrippTrapp makes, and then ended up drawing them myself. The padding is a 5 cm foam mattress, which I halved like a pancake (horizontally) with a knife. The fabric is Ikea's dark gray-olive green heavy cotton. The cushions are attached at the back and under the seats with Velcro, it works surprisingly well. And best of all, the cushions fit the colors of our kitchen!