Two Weeks?!

I was just over at Marg's blog to see if there was anything new.  I love that she has me linked in the sidebar...and it shows when my last post was....and today it said "two weeks ago"!  OMG.  What have I been doing these past two weeks?  Ummm....  uhhhh....  ohhhh... I went crazy with crocheting some headbands.  I'm working on some cloth diaper repairs for my cousin.  School has been busy, physiotherapy twice a week.  I don't feel I've accomplished much, but I did do all those headbands.  So I'll get them photographed tomorrow if the sun shines :)

Sweet

I have had a single ball of Plymouth Yarn's "DreamBaby" in this pretty pastels...for ever.  I made a newborn outfit for Megan in 2005 in this yarn, in white, and it's quite possible I bought this ball at the same time.  I know for certain it was before 2009.  Actually,  I wonder if I made that white dress for Lucy (2002)?
What to do with ONE 50gr ball of DK yarn?  It's very soft, no substance at all.  The pastel baby colours did not say adult hat or scarf.  One day recently, while perusing Pinterest and Ravelry, I just decided it would be a little romper dress.

It got off to a fine start.  I made it the length the pattern said, and then decided I didn't want booties, and I did NOT want any yarn left over.  Lately, it seems the trend is to diaper covers, so I thought I would give that a go.

I started with a crochet pattern...but the sizing seemed way off.  Tried again, using the sizing info that I use for my other covers, and decided to crochet hdc in the round.  Got almost to where to divide for the legs...and realized that after that, I'd be working flat.  And hdc looks different flat than it does in the round.  Rip!  Gave crocheting it flat another try, but it seemed to be eating the yarn very quickly.

Gave knitting it a try since it uses less yarn.  I think the first time I was off on sizing, so I started again.  Interesting how different the yarn looks when knitted.  I'm not sure which I prefer though. Got the legs divided and was going along...and I just knew I wasn't going to get it done with the yarn.  Rip!

I then ripped out the last round on the dress, which is a different scallop row from the rest of the body.  Used the yarn from the diaper cover, and did another two rounds on the dress.  Not enough for another round, but I was determined there was going to be NONE left over.

Decided on a headband.  I used a narrow piece of elastic I had, sewed it into a loop about 12" around, and crocheted over it.  Made a little flower with the  last yards.  Not enough for two layers, which I felt it needed, so I grabbed a lilac yarn for the second layer.  Now, I wish I had started with that lilac, and added some details on the dress, to tie it in.  Then I might have had enough for the diaper cover (which could have also had some lilac).

Anyway.  It's done.  Used up that entire ball.  Now, instead of having a ball of yarn in the stash, I have a baby dress in the "sale box" LOL! Anyone need a baby gift? :)

Yarn In:   2576gr
Yarn Out:52gr + 4347gr = 4399gr
Balance: 1823gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $125.91 /160 days = $0.79/day

Simple Things

Every year, my kids' school has a "Spring Fling" and there is a huge raffle.  Something like 59 items/baskets this time.  You can donate individual items and/or contribute to your kids' classroom's theme basket.  My youngest had a theme of "Water activities" so I thought I do a crochet beach tote, great for not holding all the sand from the toys!  And, I also threw in a water bottle holder.  I forgot to buy a bottle of water to put in it, but I tossed in a business card and wrote a bit on the back.  My plan was actually to sew a patch on the bottom part of the strap.  My kids' school is Captain Michael VandenBos PS.  Michael was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force's demonstration team, the Snowbirds.  I also knew Michael in high school!  There is/was an Air Cadet troop that met at the school.  Their crest was similar to the Snowbirds crest, with "VandenBos" underneath.  The conductor of the community band I'm in is involved with Cadets and I saw one day he had this patch on his bag.  I asked him and he said he could sell me a couple for $10 each, and that they're hard to find now.  So, I bought two.

And hid them so well I couldn't find them.

The little circle is one of my TracyKM Designs tags.

The bottom of the bag was annoying me--I was using a smaller hook than I should have, to add some body, and my circle wasn't laying flat.  So I had to redo it with fewer stitches.  And it takes forever to do that base in single crochets!  Then I do a row through the back loop, to form the turning ridge, then a few rounds in single crochet, then a few rounds in half double crochet, then about halfway up in double crochet.  Then I switched to 1 dc, 1 ch (skipping a dc).  This speeds it up.  As I was going up, I also started doing some decreases...I split the bag into quarters and did two decreases every row, alternating front and back and sides.  At the top, I switched to single crochet in each dc and in each ch1, and then back to several rows of single crochet.  Then the strap is 12 sc wide.  I got this width from a free Bernat pattern I've done before.  However...I didn't read that it should have been decreased down to 8 sc!!  The strap seemed to take forever, LOL, but the sc really helps prevent stretching (I've had that problem with the water bottle holders I made with dc straps).

It's a good size bag!  I had quickly popped into Michaels to get the cotton yarn, and got the huge ball of Handicrafter.  I had a 20% off coupon, but the cashier used a 50% off coupon!  Score!  It used 198gr!

Yarn In:  400gr + 2176gr = 2576gr
Yarn Out: 198gr + 4149gr = 4347gr
Balance: 1771gr more USED than bought
Costs: $8.49 + $117.42 = $125.91 /156 days = $0.81/day

Where Did May Go?

I can't believe how fast May zoomed by.  I got only six posts done!  I'm not really busy with TracyKM Designs right now, so creating all those Mosaic newsboy caps, and all the caps for this post, was more of a "make work" project.  She wanted only two hats, LOL.  I made a total of ...15?

 She asked for "two shades of blue, or grey".   I searched my stash, and although I had two shades of blue in Paton's "Decor", they didn't look good together, and didn't look fresh and modern.  I had a grey Decor, but not enough for two hats.  I have some other grey acrylic, but I don't think it's "nice enough" for a new customer's newborn twins.  I trekked off to Michael's, where the only worsted weight yarn that came in two nice shades of blue was LionBrand's "Vanna Choice".  Co-incidentally, it also came in two nice shades of grey.  Just in case she went with one grey, one blue.

 I started with a pattern I've use before from poshpatterns.com.  I did some altering, since the picture she had shown me, the hats were done in double crochet, and the Posh Pattern one in dc goes through the back loop only, I believe.  And I winged the straps.  They were a bit smaller than I wanted, but still looked good.

 I tried to find buttons that would look good on all colours, and not be shiny bright--a big no-no for photographers.  These had a pewter and black look to them.

When I was photographing them, I remembered why I don't like the newsboy caps with buttons.  From straight on, the buttons look like eyes and the bill looks like a platypus.  Sorry!  Slightly longer button bands would have helped.

The client bought the two charcoal ones, so all the others are still available.  They are all NB, with the exception of one of the royal blue ones is more like 3Mos.

What do you think of my new styling ideas for the photos?  Pictures of just hats get boring!

The four balls of Vanna's Choice weighed in at 400gr, and $19.84.  I used 215gr, for an average of  31gr each.  

Yarn In:  1776gr + 400gr = 2176gr
Yarn Out: 225gr + 3924gr = 4149gr
Balance: 1973gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $97.58 + $19.84=$117.42 /153 days = $0.77/day

Where've You Been?

I've been a little busy with life here!  And, doing some crocheting...and, like often, I get a little carried away LOL.  A woman asked for newsboy caps for her twin grandsons coming this summer.  She asked for "grey or two shades of blue".  Pretty open ended...should be easy, right?

Because they were for twins, I wanted two matching yarns--same brand, and to look nice together.  I had both a grey and a blue in Patons "Decor", but felt the blue was too dull.  I had some really dark blues, and I have some grey...but together, nothing looked like "twins".  I went to Michaels and was surprised to see it was challenging to find a yarn with two shades of "nice" blue.  Many were very dark, or more of a turquoise colour.  Or, "Minion" blue (very bright).  Finally, I selected four balls of LionBrand "Vanna's Choice".  I really like this yarn, but some of the balls really split!  I got two shades of grey and two shades of blue.

Before I started though, I remembered I still had some of these hats:

I made them back in May 2013, and the sizing wasn't all exactly the same, and some were way too small for newborn, and some were just barely newborn size.  I had pulled the small ones out to re-do them and felt this was as good of time as ever.  If the client liked them, I could return the other yarn.  If she didn't like them, and wanted solid colours, then at least I had some more RTS items available!  In fact, I decided to rip them all out and start fresh.

I whipped them up--they go so quick!  Though weaving in ends, because the yarn was being recycled, added a bit of time.  But not much.  I decided to get creative and do some more gnome style ones.  They seem popular, so I hope they sell.

The three hats above are all the same hat; I wanted to show how it can be styled differently!

Eight adorable hats.  I sent a sneak peek to the client, and she said she'd prefer solid coloured hats.  Oh well!  At least these are made, photographed, blogged, and in the bin now!

Most of the yarn was recycled from the original hats.  However, I did have some left over, so I made another one.  I'm just going to count this ALL as yarn out for this year, and not worry about what was already counted back in 2013!

Yarn In:  1776gr
Yarn Out: 211gr + 3713gr = 3924gr
Balance: 2148gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $97.58 /145 days = $0.67/day

Water Season

Although you should be drinking water all year round, many people don't carry their water around with them until the warmer months.  I've been on the fence about the sewn water bottle holders.  I like them, and that they're sturdy, and can be tailored to hobbies, men, children, etc.  What I don't like...I'm not a great sewer (as hard as I try to be accurate and precise, it just doesn't seem to happen), and the sizing is not as flexible as crocheted ones.

I had this white and red holder finished last year...but it just needed a button!  I made the strap extra long so it could be worn cross body or on the shoulder, and the button can be placed anywhere along the strap.  Somehow this holder turned out a little wide, which is great for the larger, odd shaped bottles.  Or, you can also tuck other things in with a smaller bottle!

I changed the pattern part way up cause I was bored.  One thing I have problem with is doing double crochet in the round.  I never know where to put the first DC after the chain 2 (or is it ch 3?).  It's really noticeable in the white one, a diagonal line starting from the bottom right of my watermark up towards the left of the holder. 54 grams.

 My niece likes pink and orange, and I knew she needed a new holder.  Although her mom said a "sewn holder because her's broke".  Not knowing the size of her bottle (and the fact that kids often have more than one bottle), I opted to use this cheery yarn, called "Cool Crochet" by Bernat (discontinued of course).  I used it a few years ago to crochet a cardi. I thought it would be good because it's 70% cotton, 30% acrylic, so it shouldn't shrink when washed, and I didn't think it would stretch too much.

 I started with 5 DC for the strap and then at some point increased up to 8, then back down.  But, I realized, that's kind of silly because the shoulder section is different if worn cross body vs on the shoulder.  So I redid it with 8 DC.  And I made a second one for Megan.  35grams each.
I tested it out, and I don't like how much it stretches!!!  I'm going to use some twill tape, and sew it down the backside of the strap, along the edges.  This will mean I don't need to sew button holes, as the button can still go through the strap anywhere.  It's great to have some stretch in the holder part, but not in the strap.  I'll report back later how that works.

I still have some fabric cut up and waiting to be sewn into holders, from last summer.  I like variety.  That's the True Tracy Way!

Yarn In:  1776gr
Yarn Out: 124gr + 3589gr = 3713gr
Balance: 1937gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $97.58 /129 days = $0.76/day

That's How I Roll

I have had one ball of Plymouth's  "DreamBaby DK" in my stash forever.  I bought it at Georgetown Yarn  probably between 2001 and 2005.  I used some in white for a newborn set, I think for Megan in the fall of 2005, but somehow, once I washed it...it wasn't quite so nice anymore.  So this one 50gr ball has been languishing in the bin forever, it seems.

I had come across a newborn crochet dress/top pattern called "Baby Girl Sleeper" though it's not a sleeper/onsie or anything.  I took a screen shot of the dress pattern, and at some point opened it in my Safari browser on the iPad.  I kept that darn tab open forever, and finally crocheted the top.  Then I decided to try the diaper cover since I had a bit left over and I thought a diaper cover would be handy since the top seemed too short for a dress.  I didn't like the crocheted diaper cover pattern, so I closed the window, ripped out the cover, and tried again.

For the second attempt, I decided to do half double crochet...in the round.  Sounded smart, no?  Well, I was at the point to do the leg openings, and I realized, looking at the inside of the cover, that working back and forth in hdc was going to give a different look than the top part done in the round!  Ooops.  Rip!

Started again, with plans to seam the sides.  It was going okay, but I wasn't sure about sizing so I tried to open the original pattern again.  It seems suddenly the pattern is gone from the internet.  Gone.

I didn't think I was going to have enough yarn, so I thought maybe a knit cover would be better, as it uses less yarn, and the different fabric would be a nice change.  I just went with the gauge on the ball band, and got started, planning on 12" around  and using my standard diaper cover pattern for guidance.  Except that my standard diaper cover is designed to go over cloth diapers.  So it's not really all that helpful.  I kept working away till I was almost done the yarn.

Decided it was not big enough--it seemed to come out at about 10.5", and of course, stretching the width shortens the length, blah blah blah...

So I decided to undo the scalloped bottom edge of the top and use the yarn from the diaper cover to extend the length.  I know it won't get too far, but I don't want any yarn left over!

My mother-in-law was over and saw the yarn going to the dress from the cover and couldn't believe I'd do that.  I didn't tell her about the other 2 or 3 attempts I had made already LOL

When I started the dress I wasn't sure I liked the way the yarn works up.  The colour runs are very short so there is a lot of blending, and crocheting really blends a variegated yarn.  It looks so different worked up in stockinette stitch.  I can't say I'm in love with the yarn in either format, but I'm just glad to finally make something, and maybe it will sell.

I Forgot?

Apparently I forgot to write about Mochaccino!  This little fellow was knitted up for my youngest daughter, for Easter.  She did ask for  a Pocket Bunny in the tan and white with sequins, but I really want to be saving that yarn LOL.  I opted for something totally different.  One strand of sock yarn and one strand of a boucle mohair with spandex, I think.

Years ago I had ordered a small amount of this fancy yarn, in two different shades of brown, from www.grandriveryarns.com.  I remember that at the time, I did have plans for it, but I think it ended up being thinner than I thought it would be.  It's nice for this bunny, but not quite as fluffy looking as it is in the ball.

The details are hard to see on the dark bunny.  I should probably have done a darker nose too.

 A simple scarf..I had a few left over from when I made some but forgot and made more, for a previous order.

I did the ears differently this time.  Because they don't have the patch on the inside, of a different colour, I realized I didn't need to knit them two layers (I knit them in the round, but don't stuff).  I did them in garter stitch.  I quite liked them, but of course...Megan asked why they were different!  I also had trouble getting the lower belly shaping right.  I just can't decide between increases or short rows.

This guy has his own video too, a bit of a trial to see what I could do for the background that wasn't music:

You can see all my videos on my YouTube channel :)
Yarn In:  1776gr
Yarn Out: 32gr + 3559gr = 3589gr
Balance: 1813gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $97.58 /126 days = $0.77/day

Green

Back at the end of last year, I got an email from a man, Jason, who found me through my website.  He wanted an old Christmas stocking recreated.  He's located about 45-55 minutes from me though.  I offered to find him a knitter closer to him, but it didn't work out.  And...I'm SO fussy, I'd be petrified that it wouldn't be up to MY standards, which are quite high sometimes.  Like, they wouldn't use the right weight of yarn.
He said he's sometimes in my town to get his motorcycle serviced and he could drop off the stocking.  He was coming to town on the one day I was going on a field trip with the school :(  He did drop it off though, and the fun began!

I searched patterns, and found out it's an old Knit-o-Graf pattern, by Della Fitch, from 1952.  There is a reproduction of the pattern available on etsy/ravelry...but it was slightly different.  I know I can chart this out myself, but it was still neat to find the original details.

 I had anticipated it would have been made with worsted weight yarn, but it measures up at 6st/inch.  Instantly, I think of Paton's "Astra", which is actually listed at 22st/4" (5.5st/inch).  Or, perhaps an old Mary Maxim yarn.  There haven't been a lot of acrylic DK yarns out there over the years.  Pretty much the only other option would be Sirdar Snuggly DK.  For a while, there was Paton's "Look At Me", but I think this was made before that was available.

A trip to Michaels, and I was able to get a very close red, the gold and the blue are also very close, and the pink, I had to go a bit lighter.  The "white" though...I'm sure it was probably originally white, but even after I gave it a wash (I could see some dirt spots), it's not a true white anymore.  Astra (and so many of the yarns) comes in a bright white, and an Aran...which is definitely a cream beige.  Same with Snuggly.  I picked out Loops & Threads "Woollike" in a soft white, and swatched it double stranded.  The colour is right, but the yarn has a bit of a sheen.

I swatched the Astra and got a good match.  I'm pretty certain the original stocking was steamed or ironed, so I tried it on my swatch and it looks very similar.  It has a certain flatness to the stitches.

However....the green.  It seems the current vogue for green yarn is emerald, or pale sage.  This green is a definite yellowy olive.  I went to a real yarn store, and the Snuggly DK options weren't very close. I dug to the very bottoms of my stash and could only find these two.  In the picture above, the darker one looks good.

 But in these two pictures...the darker one is not quite yellowy enough.

I'm not giving up!  I'm hoping to get into another store for a look at some more options.  He wants four stockings made, and I had explained that I while I can probably get a very similar yarn, the shades will probably have to be different.  He was okay with that...but when I get focused on something...I want to know I've tried all my options.  I happened to look at a Mary Maxim email last week, and found they had Mellowspun DK on sale...but the sale was now over...and there appears to be a close colour...

New Video!

It took a few false starts, but I finally made a video showing all the Old Fashioned Teddies that I've made since having a digital camera!

Have your sound on!  I also created a YouTube channel.  I've got all my little videos there.  I might try doing some technique videos someday.  Wish I had filmed me making the Kelly Sweater! I don't often have unique ideas, and Diana Sullivan does such an awesome job with videos, that I sort of feel I shouldn't bother.  If you have any requests though, let me know!

Teddy Bear Picnic!

Back last May, or so, my cousin's wife announced they were expecting their first baby (she had two from previous relationships).  It'd been a while since I made a large teddy bear, so I was excited to start another one.  Then, about two weeks later, I found out that another cousin (his sister) was expecting....TWINS!  The Sisters-in-law were due just a few weeks apart!   

The single baby was going to be a boy, and the twins were boy-girl.  I decided for the single boy, he'd get a brown bear, and the twins would get one in blue and one in rose.  All these yarns are Patons "Divine", which I had used for the twins' big brother's bear.  I loved this yarn for his teddy bear, even though it doesn't show the detail well, it makes a wonderfully cuddly bear.  I'm so disappointed that it was discontinued.  I wish I had been able to go to the Spinrite tent sale last August and stock up.  Maybe this year.  I haven't been since 2009!!!

I got started on the blue one first, early August?  Then, I got swamped by hooded cowls, Pocket Buddies, Toothlesses, and more!  I had planned to have these done by last Christmas, but that blew past!  I got them done last week, and delivered!

 These are a Jean Greenhowe pattern, as mentioned in an earlier post...

I've never done one in a colour before.  They've all been shades of beige, brown, grey, black, white...

This one is a thick chenille, and I believe was made for the cousin of these babies.

 I usually use ribbon for the ties, but I wanted these to be more play-friendly.  I decided to crochet ties using the same yarn, but different colours....

 The boy bears could not have the rose yarn for a tie...so what to do for her?

I decided to bring in the charcoal grey of her older brother's bear.

It worked out nice that I didn't like the grey scarf on the brown bear, so the twin boy bear got the scarf that matches his older brother's bear!

And the brown bear got the blue scarf...though here it is missing, LOL.

 I love this picture so much it's my Facebook profile picture right now!

 A gratuitous shot of the adorable foot detail.  This pattern is written to be knit flat, but I do it in the round.  I'm never sure the foot shaping is going to work, but it seems to.  Although they always seem to have one leg that turns outwards LOL.

This is another one I made, back in 2006, just before I started blogging.  It is a VERY soft and slinky type chenille.  So slippery to sew together!

These were a little tricky to weigh, as I had to stuff the heads before finishing off the back.  Each bear weighed about 313gr, give or take a bit since each head was a bit different.  All together, 939gr, and the scarves were 48gr, for a total of  987gr!

Yarn In:  1776gr
Yarn Out: 2572gr + 987gr = 3559gr
Balance: 1783gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $97.58 /118 days = $0.83/day

Timeless Tuesday

When I first did Timeless Tuesday posts, it was to show items I made prior to the blog.  But I've had the blog so long now...and my cameras have improved so much....

I blogged about this creature here.  I was never happy with the photos, and wanted to reshoot them.  We've been having a lot of rain this week, so in between showers, I snapped these shots.

And, if you're on Instagram, take a look at my page, TracyKM Designs and you'll see a video of my youngest watching Swamp People while comforting this guy LOL.