Double Knitted Totoro Mittens

I wanted to try double knitting technique so I decided to knit a pair of mittens for my 4-year old.  I found a great pattern on Ravelry (you need to set up a login account to access this pattern but if you're a knitter or crocheter, you really should sign up coz there are so many interesting patterns available and even forum if you need to know more about a certain topic/technique, what a great place!)

My first attempt was not so good.  It might look pretty alright from outside....

.... from the front....

..... and the back....

..... but inside was wrong! It was supposed to be the knitted side on the inside as well but as you can see from here.... it was very "purl-ed".... =.="

So I learnt from the mistakes made, and mind you, it was quite a lot, I made my first pair of double knitted mittens!  And I wasn't the least afraid to flip over one of them to show you that I've done it correctly!

Ok, maybe not totally correct coz the yarns were wrapped wrongly in some areas and the decreases are not done properly and those horribly done kitchener stitch... but after agonizing for 2 weeks, yeah that's how slow I was in knitting these! I think I'm allowed to be proud of myself for a short while!

I agree that grey was a better color for Totoro but I only had a small amount of it which was just enough to make 1 mitten, so I used green instead which I think looks ok, or maybe it's because I'm so used to it now!

Double knitting means that you're knitting 2 fabrics at the same time, which makes the mittens thicker.  However, these mittens are more suitable for autumn in Sweden, since we all know how tough winter can gets.  The happy 4-year old wore these mittens and accompanied us to go groceries shopping today and they do keep his little hands warm since winter is late this year.

We had a green Christmas this year which is very weird.  Sitting home where it's warm and toasty and the sun shining outside, green grass and birds singing, for a moment I thought it was summer! Has the weather God decided to skip winter and launch straight to summer?!

Enough ranting about the weather, on to my next project - Fair Isle knitting!!

Saving her modesty!

Remember this post? Well, Barbie has been wearing her tunic for some time now and every time I looked at her I would tell myself,"Man, she really needs to put on something more!"

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore so I cast on again to knit her something to cover up those legs!

Well, it does look alright.  Except that....

her bum is still hanging out in the freezing cold! Arggggghhhh! I tell myself that it doesn't matter since this part doesn't show when her tunic is pulled down.  So I left it as it is.  But it's like having a small splinter under my skin and I just cannot get it out of my head.  I know the "hanging-for-their-dear-life-on-half-the-bum" kinda pants is very popular among teens but they're not allowed in our family!

So I have no choice but to take them off, and have them back on my knitting needles again.....*sigh*

After a few more rounds of knitting and muttering under my breath,"Who has got a figure like this?"  "It's just impossible to make anything fit properly!"  "Bet she must suffer from some sort of chronic pain."  "Her waist is so small, it's totally disproportional!"  "Her figure is just abnormal!"  (Yeah, I suppose I was annoyed.... *rolling my eyes*) I ended up with this.

Ok, the waist line doesn't fit her waist but who cares? At least now she's decent!

And when I pulled down the tunic.....

yeah, you can't tell the difference.... =.="

Cladonia Shawl

Remember this WIP?

Now it's finally done! Woohoo! My very first shawl!

I really need to make more time to take a proper picture.... but trust me this shawl looks great! (Even though I used some left over yarn, and ended up having to buy more of this "left over" yarn... 

>.<") 

This is a purchased pattern from Ravelry by a designer named Kirsten Kapur.  I have another of her shawl pattern which I can't wait to cast on! But I really need to finish mittens for my 4-yr old princess, double-knitting is soooooo confusing! But this will come as a new post once I'm done. ^.^

This was very fun to knit and the instruction are clear and easy to understand.  This will not be the last one coz princess has already ordered one in lavendar/purple! :D  And I think this will make a wonderful and warming gift as well.  I just wish that I can have more time to knit...  It is tricky to be very accurate with the stitches when I have a 2 yr-old who needs my attention every 10 seconds.  And since there is a lace pattern at the end of the shawl, I need to focus and concentrate more (you know, counting stitches and stuff) and there had been many times when I was in deep concentration, a 2 yr-old decided to jump on me and in the process causing many stitches to drop (OMG!)! And after picking up the dropped stitches (or at least I tried, I gave up counting after some time, it'll never be the same number as what was stated on the pattern ever again.... *sob*), I totally forgot where I was in the pattern.... =.="

Before I get the chance to block this, my princess has already worn it to school =.=".  I think I'll just spray water and iron it gently.  I have a 2-yr old running around everywhere and I don't want to risk the possible injuries he'll sustain if I leave a big piece of shawl to dry, pinned down to shape in lots of PINS!

Any knitters out there who has the same problem blocking their finished works properly with small kids running around? Any tips to share? 

Barbie ready for winter!

Thank you to my dear friend Lina, who pointed me to this awesome website Sticka till Barbie, which means "Knitting for Barbie" in Swedish.  My princess and I were drooling over all the pretty clothing and accessories and having a conversation that went something like this....

Princess: "Mommy, can you make this one?"

Mommy: "No.... too complicated."

Princess: "How about this one?"

Mommy: "Too complicated."

Princess: "This one then?"

Mommy: "Too complicated."
........

This went on for awhile, to the point when I thought that I shouldn't teach my girl to admit defeat without trying, so we agreed on pattern no. 382 and I told her that I'd try my best and we'd see how it turns out.  And it turned out pretty ok! ^.^

Except that it was just a little bit too short..... well, I want to bring out Barbie's super long legs.... ok ok I learnt my lesson to not be so lazy and measure stuff instead of just "eyeball-ing" them.... :P

Hmm.... maybe I can knit a pair of wrist warmers and some thigh-high boots/socks for her to compensate...

Crochet Aviator's Hat

Saw a lot of these on the internet and wanted to try one myself.

I didn't follow any pattern (I would usually avoid following patterns if I can, too lazy! :P), just crocheted a beanie that fits my youngest prince, added the front and ear flaps, crocheted 2 big "buttons", sewed them on and finally did an edging to give it a more "finished" look.  I think it turned out alright. If I make it again I'll need to move the ear flaps a few stitches back and make them wider. And it looks so cute on Prince C!

However, trying to take a picture of a toddler who's constantly on the move with my dummy-proof digital camera turns out to be a mission which I think even James (Mr. Bond, that is) can't complete! After taking several pictures of some blurry "object" with a tail of blurri-ness trailing behind (coz he was running!) and a couple of Houdini-s (he was in the frame when I raised my camera but by the time I pressed the button, he was gone....), I decided to change my model!

On to my next project! ^.^

iPod Cosy

Just another idea I have been thinking about for awhile now....

Can you tell what it's for? (Ok, pretend you didn't read the title of this post yeah?)

It's for the iPod shuffle or nano! What? Again? Well.... I have no idea why I'm always thinking about the iPod... maybe it's because the older kids are using them quite often? :P

And I made an extra pocket for the earphones!

I've knitted an i-cord (nothing to do with Apple I swear!) so it can be worn around the neck.

Looking at the last picture now I can see several areas where I can do it differently.... oh well, time to finish my WIP and probably revisit this again later! ^.^

WIP (Work-In-Progress)

Like all crafters who cannot settle with having just one project on hand, I usually have about 2 going on at the same time.  I started this one when I was knitting the hats for the kids...

Can you guess what this is? (ok, there is no prize for making the correct guess but it's fun!)  Now I'm waiting for more yarns to arrive to continue.  

Not sure how this will turn out, will update again once it's completed, stay tune! ^.^

Winter is coming!

Last year during the winter, I knitted a hat for my princess....

And in the beginning of autumn this year, I knitted more....

Seems like I have problem stopping with just one! :P

Dorami Keychain

Made a Dorami keychain for a good friend's birthday.  Hope she'll look pass my crude work and be able to sense all my good wishes instead!

Happy Birthday dear!

Granny Square Cushion Covers

My mum has been here since July and she'll be here for 3 months till October ('coz that's when the weather gets too unbearably cold for her).  Having mum here is great! She's helping with almost everything and we have fun doing stuff together and having small fights to spice up our otherwise super boring lives! :D

The problem is that Linköping is a small town, well, coming from Singapore, it IS small in comparison.  There is nothing much to do here and no where especially interesting to go to as well... okay, that's not so fair to say that... there are many things to do if you're into nature and the great outdoor but being typical Singaporeans, our greatest interests are finding new places to eat and window shopping.  Therefore, in order to keep my mum occupied (yeah, other then helping me with housework, preparing meals and fussing over the kids...), I got her to pick up the crochet hook again after many many years.  And thanks to internet, I'm able to teach her new ways of crocheting and some new stitches.  She almost broke into tears when she found out that I've become so domesticated! Okay, I was exaggerating, maybe she was just tearing up because of the onions I've asked her to help me chopped...

Being someone who is bored out of her mind all the time a crafter, I have a loooong list of projects I want to try, and crocheting cushion covers is one of them.  So I bought some yarns, showed my mum how to start a magic ring, told her the pattern, type of stitches to use and how many and told her "Now, crochet!" left her to finish the project. Except for some problem with changing of colours, I think she has done a great job!

Front

Back

And when she's done with one, she's eager to do another one....

And when she's done with the second one, she felt that she has had enough.... "...but mum, I have 3 cushions....", so she ploughed forward to finish the third one! :P

And I couldn't wait to try them on my cushions (which are kinda old and lumpy...) and to my horror, my 1-year old hooked his tiny fingers through the gaps in between the granny square and started lifting the cushions like weights!  >.<"

Hmmm... looks like this pattern is not so toddler-friendly, need to come up with a better pattern! =.="

Bean Bag for Baby

I promised a dear friend that I'll make her a bean bag for her new born little girl. All four of my kids have had bean bags when they were newly borned. The two smaller ones still have them, even though they are now 1 and 3! ^.^ The bean bag acts as a added weight on the baby's tummy, so they will not jump (ok, not literally since they're so small... but you know when I mean!) so much from sudden loud noise or when they're changing position while sleeping. I find that when I wrap my new born with the small hands bound tightly at the sides and a bean bag on the tummy, the baby sleeps better and longer. Hopefully my friend will find this tip useful so that she can gain a little bit more time to do other stuff.



So here it is! A bean bag filled with green beans and lots of love! ^.^





And since it's for a little princess, I can go crazy with girly decorations! Ok, I did control myself...



For a sweet heart...





And since it's for a princess, I HAVE to add in some lace!





I hope this bean bag will bring comfort and security to the little princess, so that she can sleep better. It's a tough job having to grow so fast in her first year, she needs all the beauty sleep she can get!

iPod Shuffle Cuffs

2 of the bigger kids received en iPod Shuffle each on their birthday last year. Since then, they've been walking around carrying the tiny thing either in their hands or in their pockets. When I saw that, my creative lightbulb (a really small one!) lit up and I made this!

A cuff for the wrist with a small bag...

...especially dedicated to put the tiny iPod Shuffle!
And it keeps the wrist warm! (well, kinda..)

And of course I made two!


And on to the next project...

Simple Shorts

Here in Sweden, we don't get to wear shorts so often. So the moment the temperature hits 20 degrees, we can't wait to dig out whatever shorts we have! ^.^ The 2 small babies in the family only have 1 pair of shorts each, so I decided to make some on my own!

It's not that difficult to draw your own pattern. Get a pair of shorts that fits and fold it into half and trace it on a piece paper, remember to leave seam allowance, do the same for front and back, cut it out and there you have it! You just made your own pattern!


Then I put the patterns on a big over-sized t-shirt which nobody can wear (don't ask me how we got it!) and cut them out. Next, sew the 2 front pieces together at the crotch and do the same for the 2 back pieces. After that, sew up the sides to join the front and back pieces together. This is my trial version which I hand sewed... except for the stupid mistake made in cutting the fabric, it looks quite good!


And I made another one for the youngest prince from an old blouse "donated" by a dear friend! ^.^


Added in a pocket just for fun!


Not forgetting a special touch...


Add in elastic bands and it's done!


And don't forget to iron them to give them a more "professional" look! :P

Our Ugly Brown Door

We live in a rented apartment where there is nothing much we can do when it comes to renovation. It's an old apartment and when we moved in about 3 years ago, there were already plenty of holes on the walls, stained wallpaper and dents here and there. Anyway, that's just the apartment, it's the people living inside that makes it a home. So here we are 3 years later, still quite happy living in here, though it is getting a little bit tight since the family has grown. But there is one item that gets at me like a small piece of stone in my shoe. The main door. It's brown, looks dirty and absolutely not welcoming at all.

I've been trying to make it look friendlier or cozier. So during Christmas we hang up wreath and put up Chinese New Year decorations at the start of the lunar year, but what about the period in between? After looking at the ugly door for some time, I just had to do something. And this was what I did!

I cut out some letters from a cardboard box, painted them...

While waiting for the letters to dry, I brought out my crochet needle and tried to crochet a heart without it looking like a circle...

After a few times, I think I kinda got it...

Once I'm satisfied (actually it's more like I have had enough and decided to just stop :P) with the heart, I pulled out my sewing machine, dug out an unused piece of lace and sewed 2 rings on both ends.

I also crocheted a small stuff heart to hang on one end...

Once the letters are dried, I glued on more lace...

Done! Untidy though... :P

Then I cut a small piece of cardboard and glued it behind the crocheted heart to make it less flimsy.

Finally it was just to glue the letters and heart onto the lace with the 2 rings!

There! Now I have something "home-y" to hang on my door!
It may not look very well-made (Well, if only I bother to measure and align the letters properly before I glued them on...!) but now I have something nice to look at, instead of the plain and brown door!^.^