Knitting: big blue pouf

blue and gray

My first project of 2014 is complete! I started it on December 30 and finished it up on the 6th.

Pattern: Pouf pattern from DROPS design with modifications, listed below
Yarn: 5 skeins of Loops & Threads Charisma in electric blue and 2 skeins of Lion Brand’s Homespun in lagoon; 2 strands of Charisma and 1 strand of Homespun held together
Needle: 9 mm (US 13)
Modifications: I used different yarn and needle size, so I adjusted the pattern a bit to accommodate. I CO 38 stitches and my short rows were worked to 6 stitches before the end, then 12. I knit in seed stitch instead of garter until it was about 50″ along the center.

I stuffed it with a standard pillow wrapped in a twin size duvet wrapped in a flat queen size sheet. It turned out the perfect height for use as an ottoman/foot stool in front of our new couch! Oh, I forgot to mention: we bought a new couch! Finally. After living in this house for 3.5 years and only having a love seat + 2 chairs, we now have a couch. I feel so grown up.

knitting: big blue pouf

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cozy times ahead

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knitted pouf

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It’s also a pretty great seat for my boys to do their homework at the coffee table.

What’s your first project of the year? Oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m only a week and a half late. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. The kids are finally back in school and so I have a little more time to knit.
Tell me: what’s on your needles/hooks?

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Christmas: the happy card

We are barreling toward Christmas and I just want things to slooooow down. For like a day, at least. Please? We put up our tree, this weekend, and I realized I haven’t bought ANY gifts. I finished knitting one glove, then moved on to deep cleaning/organizing both my living room and office (we FINALLY bought a couch! Another story for another day). I’m still not finished with that, but at least you can see my floor, now! I’m going to be one of those poor souls out shopping the weekend before Christmas. Maybe crying a bit in the car. We’ll see!

Anyway, I say all that to get to this: the Christmas card! In years past, I have taken and edited photos by early November. This year, we were a week into December and I still had no idea what we’d do! On Sunday, I started getting a little anxious about it, so I went outside with my boys and just took a bunch of shots. It was a cold+gray day, but they still had fun and we were all giggling around the yard. This shot ended up being my favorite. It isn’t perfect and they aren’t even looking at the camera, but it so wholly captures their joy for this season!

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Last year, I entered my card into the Holiday Photo Challenge at thepapermama.com and it was great fun, so I’m entering this year, as well. She always has a quirky card to share. I kind of love that her chickens are in her photo, this year. Seriously. Go check it out: 2013 Holiday Photo Challenge @thepapermama! Enter your own card for a chance to win some super prizes.

Here are some outtakes from this year:

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boys-trip
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With a full heart, we wish you a happy Christmas! If you’re on my address list, you’ll hopefully get a card before the big day. If not, consider this your e-version!

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All Things Lovely: Doily Blanket Deal

doilies & love

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blanket boy

The August Break 04

Stack of Blankets

Goodknits package

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Saving an old lawn chair

I bought two lawn chairs last year when Target had them on clearance. Oh, I KNOW you know the magnetic pull that is a 50-70% off sale at Target. They were white aluminum with yellow (plastic) woven webbing and under $10 each. A series of events (rain, summer sun, etc) mixed with a bit of neglect left them in shambles. Like, a guest at my kids’ birthday party fell through one! Don’t worry, they weren’t seriously hurt. Unless you count their pride because…kids. They like to giggle when adult bums go through chairs.

I knew something had to be done. I didn’t want to just throw them away, you know? Plus, my kid secretly asked his grandpa to get him a trampoline for his birthday and HE DID (!!!), so I now needed something comfortable to sit on while I watched my kid jump. My remaining lawn chair quickly started looking threadbare and once one of the webbing strips snapped, I put it away until I could figure out what to do. Buy new webbing and re-weave them? Crochet a hammock-like seat and pray I’m not too heavy for it? No. No, thank you.

Instead, I Googled “DIY lawn chair” and one link led to another until I found myself HERE. Macrame lawn chairs! Brilliant!

Over the next few days, I watched the video several times, made a trip to Hobby Lobby, and got to work. It was more like weaving, in my opinion, but I think the knots you make at the end of each row with the hooks make it macrame. I didn’t have a book, so I just did a really simple weave pattern.

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I used two 100yd balls of 6mm Bonnie Macramé Craft Cord (Amazon link. I used ‘pearl’ & ‘teal’) and my biggest crochet hooks. I had a 15.75mm (US – Q) and a 19mm (US – S) hook. I would suggest two 19mm hooks!

Another thing I would suggest is gloves! My hands were SO sore while working on this. I don’t know if I HAD to pull the cord as tight as I did, but I felt like I should, so that the seat wouldn’t sag under an adult’s weight. You never know who is going to sit in your chairs and if I learned anything from that birthday party incidence it’s that a busted chair is the worst thing a hostess can provide for her guest(s).

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If I would have used just one color, the lovely herringbone pattern would be more apparent. I do like the diagonal stripes, though. The pattern was pretty basic: the contrasting color (beige) went OVER 3 groups – or 6 strands – of the first color (blue), then UNDER 3 groups of the first color. On the next row, you repeat the same pattern, but you shift it over once. After the first few passes across, it’s a really simple process. If it hadn’t been so hard on my hands, the other chair would be done already.

I’m in love. If you have any questions, let me know! Check out the video on the page I linked above. I referenced the video A LOT until I got my rhythm going. Imagine me pausing with my hook in one hand and my head cocked to the side with a “huh?!” face several times. It was a really interesting project as it was something completely new to me!

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See the tattered lawn chair on the other side of the trampoline? Yeah…

Would you save your torn up lawn chair? How so? Ever tried to macrame one?

my view

That’s my view. And yes, my kid is mid-Gangnam style in the background.

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Knitting: a cardigan for Andrew

knitting: a cardigan for Andrew

Pattern: Go Buffalo by Terri Kruse
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (4 skeins oceanic mix, 1 skein mahogany mix)
Needles: US 3
Mods: used a different needle size, so I made the largest size to fit my 5 year old; changed the stripe pattern; added pockets and elbow patches

diptych: cardigandrew

knitting: cardigan, front & back

diptych: pantsless cardigan

diptych: cardigandrew faces

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I think he likes it?

This pattern was supremely easy! I guess the only thing I would change next time is adapting it to work in the round. I’m not afraid to steek, so I don’t really know why I knit this flat. I think I’ve evolved as a knitter to not hate purling so much.

I adjusted the stripe pattern to fit my yarn stash. I increased the amount of blue between the stripes every repeat. The first bit has only 4 rows of blue, the next has 6, the next has 8, the next has 10…and so on! The last 3 have 16. I added the pockets and elbow patches because I had like half a skein of mahogany left over and didn’t want it to go to waste. Plus, they’re stupid cute.

For the pockets, I picked up about 20 stitches and then knit stst for 26 rounds and k2ps for 6. I attached as I went. The elbow patches are your run of the mill “circles” started with 6 stitches, increased by 6 every round to 48. They’re more like hexagons.

This sweater is beautiful and I only had to give up one piece of candy for these photos. Win!

elbow patches for the win!

hug yo'self

pockets and elbow patches