Imperial Purple Clothes

January 19, 2011February 1, 2015Leave a comment

The girls are extremely proud of their “royal clothing.” I think the color is quite beautiful and I’m eyeing the last bit of the powdered dye that we have left in the jar for myself someday.

Bluebird and I came up with the idea that we truly need to make these clothes look royal, so we went to the craft store and picked out some gold thread and gems and pearls to embellish the clothing in the near future. I’ll post again when it gets done…I’m hoping that this promise to post motivates me to actually get it done.

I love homeschooling! Let me tell ya, the idea to dye clothes with a six and four year old in attendance is nothing I’d have contemplated doing were it not for homeschooling! But they helped as much as they could and it was a fun experience for us all. We read the Aeneas book in between the timed stirring sessions, which was just so “warm & fuzzy.”

I’m looking forward to all the other projects we have scheduled for the year…we’re getting good results so far!

First Sewing Lesson

January 5, 2011January 26, 20153 Comments

Little Monkey Baby Hat for my Little Monkeyboy

January 3, 2011February 1, 20152 Comments

Oh, the cuteness is almost overwhelming!

Pattern: Little Monkey Baby Hat by Irina Poludnenko

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK in Bark, Doe, Charcoal Heather & Coal

Needles: US 6 DPN

Modifications: Braided earflap tassels instead of I-Cord.

Many months ago, I became aware of this pattern after mentioning at Knit Nite that I wanted to make a monkey hat for my baby boy. Kit found this pattern on Ravelry and showed it me, and I knew I had to make it someday.

I then got the idea into my head that it would make a great Christmas present and strived to make it work, but I ran out of the dark brown color a few days before the holiday and had to wait for it arrive later. (If I had been a little more frugal in my tail ends and done I-cord tassels instead of braided tassels, I’m pretty sure I could have completed this with just one skein of the dark brown…)

Monkeyboy seems to like it. He likes to hold a tassel in each of his chubby little hands and then chew on the yarn.

The pattern is a little crazy; I don’t think I’ll make this again because it drove me nuts. It seemed as though the designer was trying really hard to make the pattern fit onto one page of instructions, and so she’d leave out minor details or type multiple rows’ worth of instructions onto one line. Yeah, you’re still technically able to create the hat, but it takes more mental energy, which isn’t something I’m in excess possession of when I sit down to knit. Things like that in pattern are the little things…and the little things matter!

Liking the yarn. Haven’t done anything with DK weight before, but I really liked how baby-perfect it seemed…sometimes worsted seems just a little too heavy for babies, but this weight is just one step lighter, so it feels like “baby-worsted.” I basically have full skeins left of the Bark, Charcoal Heather and Coal colors and I’d estimate I’ve got half a skein of the Doe/Light Brown color left. And it’s superwash merino! I don’t know why, but I am feeling pretty proud that my little bitty boy has a nice, warm, wool cap for his head. It just feels like I’m taking especially good care of him by clothing him in wool against the bitter cold that’s outside right now. Mommy Success!