My Basement!

Man, I really miss writing this blog!  The Internet diet we were on sucked, especially since it happened during March Break (Ontario's version of spring break).  Then there's been sick kids, doctor's appointments, and the 4 day Easter weekend.  I'm also trying to get back on track with my other blog.  Some days I really feel tied down to the computer :(

I know I am very lucky to finally have my own work space.  When I first started machine knitting, I used my antique dining room table for over a year.  Then I had a desk for three years.  Then we moved here and I was able to have my own space, and of course, have expanded my yarn and machine collection to fill that space.

That means though, when something happens to my space, it's a complete disruption in my creative life.  And that's another thing that's been messing with my life lately!

 Another leak in the basement.  We had the first one about 8 months after moving in.  We wondered why there was water damage on the bottom of the bar when we moved in.  Then we found out!

The bar was taken out and the wall repaired, though left unstudded.  We were going to do some cosmetic work in the basement, since it was already "finished".  Then my husband started fixing somethings and he couldn't tolerate the poor (and unsafe) job that had been done and it's turned into a total gut.  Bit by bit though.

I've had my studio space fairly well organized, though a little cluttered since it was also serving as storage space.  It tended to be cold and a little damp down there, with not a whole lot of natural light.  We've toyed with the idea of moving my space to my son's bedroom upstairs and making him a bedroom downstairs....but I'm not ready for a teen hermit :)

One day in early March, after a warm spell, I was down in my area getting some yarn.  I noticed that the laminate floor was pouffy and raised in areas near an outside wall.  It had the same look as when the drain pipe came off the furnace and we had a little river.  And, even worse, if I stood in one spot, my foot got damp!
I cleaned up, and moved things around for when Rob got home.  This was not on our agenda for quite some time, but you can't leave a water leak!

 First he cut a hole in the wall to see where the leak was.  It wasn't where he thought it'd be!

 I encouraged him to take up the floor and he had to start over by the back wall (inside wall).  The drain area seemed fine, so it wasn't a back up.

 However, the previous people had put cardboard under the laminate, and it was wet and moldy and smelly.

 The cardboard came up and we found plastic duct taped to the floor.  There was water under the plastic.  And boy, was it stinky.  This is only a small area of water damage, but I couldn't stand the smell.  I can't fathom what a whole flood would do!

 All the wet floor was taken up, and the rest of the lower wall removed.  We found this area that had been patched with tar.  We left it for a day, and sure enough, there was a river soon!

 They had only "fixed" the lower half of the wall, but the crack went all the way to the ceiling!

 Rob had to grind off the tar (smelly!), put in these plastic "nipples", and fill the crack with expanding foam.

 Well, this is where the crack meets the outside!  See the little bit of tar (I don't think that's the right word) they had painted on?!

 Once the foam hardens, the nipples are cut off and the crack is cemented over.

Once this job was done, Rob finished up framing a storage room and most of my bins moved there after I sorted stuff out.

 This is MOST of my yarn.  I didn't include the yarn in the six bins in the cubby unit (the black bags are the yarn that was in the open cubbies).  Also not included is all my cone yarns and my yarn that was already upstairs waiting for work.

I ended up with 6 of those big (86gallon?) bins, and yarn piled on top of them too.  I culled some out, hoping to sell it on kijiji.ca but no takers.  Not stuff I really want to give away free though.

I can finally get back to business down there, though I don't even know what I want to do first...there's so many things I want to do (especially after fondling nearly ALL my yarn!).  There's also some sewing I want to do.  I feel a little overwhelmed.  So, I bought two 50gr balls of cheap yarn at a discount store.  $2.26.  LOL.

Yarn In:  100gr + 5092gr = 5192gr
Yarn Out:  1504gr
Balance:  3688gr more brought IN than out
Cost:  $2.26 + $155.71 = $157.97/93 days = $1.70/day

While I am at about half of what I brought IN compared to last year (much of that was a donation), I am at way less for output.  Partly because I haven't totalled up a bunch of stuff yet, and I've been making a lot of little hats that use only 40-50gr each.  Need to do some more big stuff!

Blankie

Back in the fall, when I went with the other ladies from my machine knitting group to "Peter's Knit and Sew" in Toronto, I picked up a ball of James Brett Marble Chunky.  I want to get more boyish items in my inventory.  I love this yarn.

 I needed a mindless knit, so I decided to handknit this as a circle blanket, working from the center outwards. 

 This is one ball, though I wish I had a second so that I could match up the colours and use both yarns at the same time to get thicker stripes as the blanket got bigger.  However, I think this probably would have been more frustrating and not worth the effort, LOL.  It's not a huge blanket, but it'd be a good size for a baby, and then as a "lovey" to be carried around.

This yarn is two ply, both plies are the same colours.  Sometimes they align so that both plies are at the same colour at the same time, and that's okay, except for when both plies are the beige.  I didn't like that for some reason--too bright?  The yarn has a slight sheen, and is very soft.  I highly recommend it!

I counted this "yarn in" last fall, so that's great, although I did just buy some more Bernat Mosaic...two balls, 200gr...$14.17....

Yarn In: 4892gr + 200gr = 5092gr
Yarn Out:  1304gr + 200gr = 1504gr
Balance:  3588gr more brought IN than out
Costs:  $141.54 + $14.17 = $155.71/84 days = $1.85/day

I also just got some small bits of yarn donated to me by my mother-in-law...

Quiet

Although I've been quiet here, I have been busy making things.  Not a whole lot finished, and ready to show, but I've been keeping busy.  As well, we somehow blew through our internet usage limit this month.  So, today, I took my middle girl and her best friend to the library so we could use their wifi/computers.  I've brought my laptop, but I don't have any pictures on it.  I did put a bunch of pictures on a usb drive so I could post on my other blog, LOL.  I never know if my laptop is going to work, so I also brought my tablet.  I figured I can always write the post and add pictures later (that's how I did the last 3 or 4 posts--I was able to get the laptop to work, and I wrote the posts while watching TV, then added the pictures later at my desktop).  Anyway.  Just wanted to let you know I'm still here :)
You can always get sneak peeks on my facebook page:  www.facebook.com/tracykmdesigns 
I'll be back later this week with actual photos and a real post!

Custom Crochet

The photographer I've been working with has a partner who ordered some custom hats at the start of the year.  I haven't shown them because I've been hoping for her pictures, but recently she sent me an email with a picture and asked about getting a custom hat or blanket to match the picture.  The blanket in the picture was crocheted in a chevron pattern, and the earflap hat was done in thick stripes.  She loved the colours, and the stripes, but decided on just the hat.  I went stash diving and found 3 out of four colours, though I wasn't overly thrilled with them.
So I went to my favourite yarn store, Value Village, LOL.  Nothing in the yarn section (not surprised), but while browsing around the sweaters, I turned around and saw this little boy's sweater:

It had three of the four colours, but was missing the green--the same colour I couldn't find at home (I had some Paton's Classic Merino in the right shade, but it's too delicate).  So I headed to Michaels and found a green, though I wasn't 100% happy with it.

I unravelled the sweater.  I wish I knew it's story.  It was obviously handknit with love, and looked like it hadn't been worn.  The brown in the body was different than the brown in the sleeves--different dye lots?  Then the placket had been done in one of the browns, and the collar in the other.  Something was very odd with the cast off---the last two inches were cast off in the opposite direction.  The yarn was finer than I was expecting--it looked like a worsted or DK in the sweater, but unravelled, it was much finer looking.

I started with the yarn doubled (except the green, which was a worsted weight) and rows of half double crochet, one row per colour.  I pretty much had it done, but was not happy.  I swatched and swatched and started again, but still not happy.  Swatched some more. 

The end result was two rows of hdc in white, then one row in a colour, matching the colour sequence to the original picture (I couldn't find my styrofoam ball, and this was the only thing in the house that is close to the right size/shape LOL).

My colours seem a bit darker than the inspiration photo (and it doesn't seem as white as I was hoping--it did look white when it was the sweater!), but that could be because of editing of the original.

When I crocheted the first one, I cut the yarns with each stripe.  What can I say...I had swatched and thought that was the right design!  Add to the fact the yarn was originally from a striped project....and then I doubled it.... when I unravelled it, the small balls ended up even smaller.  So, the final result had quite a few ends to weave in.  Then I changed the earflaps.  I was able to use up lots of small pieces to make the braids though!

In the end, I was pleased with it.  It was something different for me--I would never have picked those colours, or chose crochet.  It's fun to make something specific for a client, although it makes me a little nervous too!  It's one thing to have a general idea, and run with that, and it's something else to try to totally match a picture.  I definitely won't shy away from it though!
The yarn from the sweater was already counted.

Yarn In:  4892gr
Yarn Out:  1244gr + 60gr = 1304gr
Balance: 3588gr more brought IN than out
Costs: $141.54/66 days = $2.14/day

More Sweetness

One of the other items I got at Value Village to unravel was this sweater.  I loved the multi colours and textures in the yarn, as well as the gold thread.  There's a lot of yarn in this sweater,  610gr (already accounted for), as well as three nice, large buttons.  Scroll back a few posts and you can see a picture of the sweater.  I don't think it had even been worn, because these hats softened up a lot once washed.  These hats barely took any (40gr each)! 

 The first one seemed a little narrow, so I crocheted a ruffle around the face. 

 Little detail on the ties.

 Close up of the ruffle and yarn, with it's many textures and colours.

 I made a larger one, without the ruffle.  This one still fits on the newborn head, but can stretch up to a 6 month head!  I found the perfect flower when looking for ribbon to use for ties.  It has both a pin and an alligator clip, so it's removable.

After finding out how soft this yarn actually is, I'm going to make a hat and cowl for myself.  And fingerless gloves.  My old ones are looking a little ratty!


Yarn In: 4892gr
Yarn Out:  80gr + 1244gr = 1324gr
Balance: 3568gr more brought IN than out
Costs: $141.54/65 days = $2.18/day

Newborn items may be quick to knit up, but they sure don't make of a dent in the stash!!

Sweet!

I bought this scarf at Value Village recently and knew it would be great for a spring/Easter hat! 

The colours reminded me of the "panned eggs" you get at Easter, in the bright pastel colours (can something be bright AND pastel?). 

It's  a pretty simple little hat, I actually knit a little swatch, and cast on 32 stitches.  I love how tiny newborn things  are, especially when knit  in a chunky yarn!

Could it be any sweeter?

I'm still searching for something in the middle of the bow.  I love how the ribbon has the holographic silver edge, to match the silver metallic thread in the yarn.

I'm going to whip up a diaper cover, I think in white, and use this yarn to make ruffles on the bum.  Sweeeeet!

Yarn In: 4892gr
Yarn Out:  33gr + 1211gr = 1244gr
Balance:  3648gr more brought IN than out
Costs: $141.54/64 days = $2.21/day

Finally Finished!

I should start a new series, "Finally Finished Fridays".  LOL.
These two Baby Surprise Jackets go back to last summer.  I'm not sure of the actual dates, but I made the pink/white/blue blanket in early October, and I know I was in the early stages of the brown BSJ when we went to Peter Smith's store in Toronto around Oct 9....I think I was working on the pink/white/blue one during the summer and that's why I made the blanket in early October.  Whatever, they took way too long to finish up.  It's a quick pattern that CAN be made in a week (I think that's what the group does for a KAL), and it's a great pattern for doing stripes because you're working the sleeves at the same time as the rest of the whole body, so you never get to the sleeves and run out of yarn and they don't "match".  However, when you're using up yarns, you do end up with a ton of ends to weave in.  And then buttons to BUY and sew on.  So, it all adds up.

This yarn is a very old Sear's yarn which was in the huge donation I received last year.  I still have 70gr left.  Booties?  The jacket is 154gr (with buttons, so lets round down to 150gr).  Garter stitch eats up yarn (the blanket weighed 234gr)!  There is a stockinette version of this pattern online, but you need the original pattern to understand it.  I tried sewing the buttons on using one long strand of yarn, but it appears that they loosened up after being washed, so I'm glad I washed it, but now I need to go fix that.  It will also get steamed.  I'll be putting it on my weebly site later this week (or today, we'll see how the day goes!).
Something weird happened when I made the button bands.  The pattern has you make the holes on both sides, so that you can decide after which side you want the buttons on (for those that still follow the girls on one side, boys on the other "rule"), and it helps to line the buttons up with the holes.  Well, I had just about all the buttons sewn on and then realized that they weren't lining up with the buttonholes! So I had to close up some, and judge where to put others.

 I found a bag of brown yarns, along with a small amount of camo and some odd balls of black, so I thought a boyish version would be nice--I don't do enough boy items.  This fellow weighs 188gr including buttons (so lets say 180gr).

 This sweater is a great example of why you should wash items before gifting/selling.  The yarns have been hanging around for a long time, before I even started.  Then the project was in various bags, taken many places (including beaches), etc.  When I washed it, a LOT of ends popped out!  This might freak out a new mom if she's a non-knitter!!  Also, there was some pilling and fuzziness, so I need to clean it up a bit.

Not sure if you can see how there's a variety of different brown yarns there, along with black and camo.  Fun.  It'd be nice paired with brown or black pants, or a cute, custom made pair of itty bitty camo pants!!

I also bought a ball of novelty yarn for a potential custom order, but she didn't like the price :(  I returned one ball that I bought for it (a plain, solid colour I know I can pick up alternatives if it ever goes ahead), but kept the novelty yarn cause it was on sale, and will come in handy at some point.  But can you believe I actually returned yarn?!

Yarn In:  4807gr + 85gr = 4892gr
Yarn Out:  881 + 150gr + 180gr = 1211gr
Balance:  3681 gr more brought IN than out
Costs:  $138.16+$3.38 = $141.54/63 days = $2.25/day

Got to get that "cost per day" back down!!  Of course, I am making some money now (not a lot!), so I guess it's okay for that to be a bit higher than last year.  Next post--a baby blanket!  Then a couple little infant hats!

Gone Fishin'

A little while ago, I was asked by a photographer to make a fisherman outfit.  She showed pictures; wanted a cream bucket hat and blue pants, and some wee fish.  I searched my stash, I wanted to use cotton for authenticity.  I didn't have anything that worked, but what I did have in both colours, was some Red Heart "Washable Wool".  So yes, I made a newborn "Tilley" hat in wool.  LOL.  This wool has a nice construction though, which gives it an sort of cotton look, but is very soft and durable.

 I made the pants on the SK155, using the same pattern as the Tom Sawyer pants.  Funny how this odd shaped piece, combined with one done in reverse, can be turned into pants!

 I sewed a piece of twill tape to the outside of the hat and fed a length of yarn through it, coming to the inside at the back.  I wish I could have done grommets and snaps too.  Grommets are a little tricky because you don't want to snip the yarn, so it needs to go between stitches--pre plan and use eyelet holes.  The hat is a little over sized, as a sunhat should be.  Plus, I think it's adorable when daddies plop their favourite hat on their tiny lads!  The hat is crocheted.

The fish are a free crochet pattern from Red Heart.  I didn't stuff them, but tucked all the ends in (and a few snips more of matching yarn).  I didn't want them puffy, but this little bit did help give them a bit of squishiness.
I can't wait to see this set on a real baby.  I was rushing to get these pictures, and it was cold out!  We went from a dusting of snow to a huge storm that evening and the next day, over 12"/30cm of snow.  It was coming down at about an inch an hour!  Definitely not fishing weather!

I didn't make the shoes, but what an awesome match!  Jennifer is so talented!

Interested in having your own little fishing set?  I can't use the exact yarn again (discontinued), but send me an email and we can work something out!  TracyKM at yahoo dot com!

Facing the Truth

Ooohhh.  Scary title!

Facing the truth about just how much yarn has come into the house this year already, despite saying I'm only buying for confirmed projects!  I've got so many ideas running around, and so little time, but I've just got to buckle down and get this tally updated!
I was scrolling through my blog last night, and was having trouble figuring out what yarns I've already included, so I'm going to itemize things a bit better today.  I can use my tablet to look back at my blog, while using the desktop to do the writing!  But it appears I need to take some pictures first!  And upload them!  And my uploading program is not co-operating.  And now Blogger rotated one of the photos...
Let's back up and look back and what's come in earlier this year:
Jan 14:  Elann.com order; $21.17; 200gr
Jan 25:  Value Village; yarn 461gr (sweaters not included); Michaels' Vanna's Choice; 200gr; $23.96
Jan 26:  Grey and Peach sweaters, 581gr; $13.54

And yarn out:
Jan 31:  266 gr mini blankets
Feb 20:  40gr Hershey set

So, yeah.  I'm a bit behind.  I'm sure you're assuming I've made more than just 3 mini blankets (on a knitting machine), a ruffle scarf, and a newborn hat/diaper cover set!  I've got more to show--some I've been hoping for "real" photos before posting.  What else is there?
Fisherman's Outfit:  174 gr
Green and Pink textured stocking caps:  151gr for pink one (green one in last year)
Striped crochet earflap hat:  40gr
4 pairs tiny "ballet slippers":  18gr
Beehive Slouch hat:  100gr

All that adds up to only 483gr.  I've got other projects I'm currently working on (such as those Baby Surprise Jackets that needed sewing up and buttons...).  But at least now I can update my Confessions, and blog later about the actual projects.

Now....for the yarn that has come IN the house....eeeekk!

 A trip to Value Village resulted in all these bags of Paton's Classic Wool (in boring colours, $1.99 a ball!) (775gr) and two balls of Lopi (165gr), and one ball of a glittery, white fuzzy yarn called "Madonna" by "Laines Pierber" (50gr); the ball of beige Vanna's Choice was from Michaels' (100gr), and the balled yarn on the right was a sweater I unravelled (610gr).  $37.17

The sweater also had 3 or so nice large buttons.

Another trip to Value Village and I found this cute, Eastery scarf that I'm unravelling (158gr), a bag with unlabelled yarn (233gr) in white and grey that might be more of the Sear's "Giselle" that I used for a lot of blankets last year.  I want to do twin girls "opposite" hats (one in pink with a grey bow, and one in grey with a pink bow).  I found another ball of raspberry Giselle when I was cleaning up, and know that I can get two to three hats out of one ball.  The grey yarn at the bottom of the middle bag is really nice, a crimpy yarn with bits of pastel colours in it.  I don't recognize it at all.  The bag on the right (354gr) is filled with a pretty light turquoise (not blue like this picture, there is definitely more turquoise to it), fine weight yarn.  I can't tell if it's dirty, faded, or a "kettle" dye (although I do see a few yellow spots that look like dirt).  A quick burn test reveals a burning hair smell that didn't flame up much, burnt out quickly, and left ash....wool!  Can't wait to knit this up!  Just, please don't ask when :)  $11.27

And last, but not least--6 balls of Bernat Mosaic (600gr).  A quick run-in to my mom's little "V&S Stedmans" (more than a dollar store, less than Wal-Mart, LOL) and I found these in their decent yarn section.  They've been selling bagged yarns from the Spinrite tent sales, but these were the only colours of Mosaic left.  But for $10 a bag, how could I turn them down?!  $22.60

Oh, yeah, that wasn't "last".  Here we have a little boy's sweater that I unravelled for the yarn (220gr) --I needed light blue, soft orange, white, and light bright green (which is Vanna's Choice (100gr). It was darker than I wanted, and an hour after giving the hat to the buyer, I found the perfect light green at Wal-Mart). $8.51

Total weight from this update:  3365gr.
Total costs from this update:  $79.55
Yarn out from this update:  483gr

Let's combine this with the previous totals:
Yarn In:  3365gr + 1442gr = 4807gr
Yarn Out:  483gr + 398gr = 881gr
Balance:  4807gr-881gr = 3926gr more brought IN than out
Costs:  $79.55 + $58.61 = $138.16/56 days = $2.47/day

And I have to go to Michaels' tomorrow for at least one more ball of yarn...
As much as this seems, last year on Feb 27, I had 10 466gr in, due to a donation, and had spent $2.62/day!  Wow.  I thought for sure I was way above last year!  The big difference is that this year, I'm making a bit of money :)

Updates

I've updated previous posts with some new pictures!

http://tracykm.blogspot.ca/2013/01/itty-bitty-blankets.html

http://tracykm.blogspot.ca/2012/12/sharp-dressed-man.html

http://tracykm.blogspot.ca/2012/11/christmas-is-coming.html

You really need adorable babies to bring these little items to life!

Quiet

I was reading someone's blog on the weekend (which here, included Monday) and saw in their links list that it had been two weeks since I posted.  And, that last post was a total "I don't have time/energy to post what I really want to post so here's a little brainless filler" post.  I have been so busy and scattered lately that finding time to take, download, edit pictures, weigh yarn, etc, and actually write a post is a little daunting.  I don't know how some women do it---you know the ones....running a successful home business, looking after young children/homeschooling, blogging every day, reading other's blogs, Pinterest addiction, conquering cancer....and they still have time to be creative.  Do they ever sleep?!  I can not give that up, LOL.

But I am behind in blogging (though I've been waiting for the "real" photos from my photographer clients)...and I just turned my head a little and saw a big dust bunny under the computer.  Sigh.  I feel overwhelmed with trying to keep my website and FB pages up to date with photos, and of course, as soon as I go on FB, I get sucked into some weird time-warp.  Two weeks without blogging is just way too long though--especially after having had a 2-3 times a WEEK routine.  Onwards.

And then one morning I heard this guy out back.  Spent too long trying to get a good photo!
And then I think I have everything under control, and a client sends a request for a custom order, ASAP due to the baby arriving 3 weeks early.  But it was so cute, how could I say no?  The mom's name is Hershi, and wanted a Hershey kiss outfit.  After having a hard time finding light gray for the mini blankets, I didn't even bother trying to search out new yarn, and just used what was left from unravelling the Old Navy sweater.  I was able to use many of the small balls/butterflies of yarn since in such a tiny item they could actually do a few rows.  I'd link to the pattern, but I'm not totally happy with it.  The hat starts at the top, and there's no stitch counts in the pattern, so I never know if I'm doing it "right".  My first attempt was a little off, so I tried again and got more of a point.  However, the pattern has you increase for only 7 rows, ending with what appeared to be 28 double crochet, using a 5mm (H) hook, for a 15" hat.  Now, when I made the striped elf hat, I started with 40 or 42 DC, for a smaller hat.  There's no gauge listed, but how is 28dc going to be 15"?  That's like, just under 2dc per inch.  And, some of the increase rows did not work out evenly, meaning that although it seemed to say dc in two sts, 2 dc in next st....you ended the row with a single dc at the end.  So, I just went with my gauge and kept increasing until I got to around 40dc....then ripped it back because the shape wasn't right...

I didn't want to fuss around for buttons to make an adjustable diaper cover, (and there were some issues with the cover from the fedora set), so I just did a simple pull on with a drawstring waist.  Basically the same pattern I had used for the machine knitted ones, but her crochet version (Dandelion Dreamer, I think).
The photographer was making a ribbon for the top of the kiss.

Isn't that adorable!! Click on it to get the larger version!  The blanket is the mini-blanket I showed last month.  I saw that glass when I delivered the outfit, and I have to say...it's not all that big!  Babe was about 4lb at birth (so even if she brewed another 3 weeks, would still have only been a tiny peanut at 5 1/2lb).  Go visit Jennifer's website too, or her Facebook page!

And look at that....I now have 9 minutes before I have to leave to pick up kids for lunch, and I still wanted to do all my yarn totals--because even though I haven't been blogging, I have still been buying LOL.  Perhaps this afternoon?

Yarn In:  1442gr
Yarn Out:  40gr (Hershey Set) + 358 gr = 398gr
Balance:  1044 gr more brought IN than out
Costs:  $58.61/51 days = $1.15 per day

Ohhhh...those totals are so way off.  Bought 600gr ($22.60) during this past weekend, and a huge bag of Classic Wool at Value Village a few weeks ago...and another sweater that I ripped apart....Definitely, this afternoon I have to update all that!!  And there's my alarm saying to wrap up and go get the kids!

Something Old but not Blue

Way back in September, my entire extended family was going to have a photo shoot done.  The colours chosen was red, navy and cream.  The weather in September can be very unpredictable, and I had one navy shawl, so I thought a red shawl might be a good thing to take along.

 

 

I wasn't too happy with it, I really rushed and there were some issues.  It's the standard tuck pattern, card 3 or 7 I don't know, with needles out of work...I've used it before.  I didn't weigh it cause I thought I might just rip it apart after the pictures.  I still might.  I know I can do a much better job, and a red stole is not something I'd need very often anyway.

 I couldn't decide how to treat the end needles.  I liked the little scallops that were forming, but I had problems with stitches dropping, etc.

I don't know.  Keep or rip?  I do like red, but it feels a little too strong.....