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Fortunately, when I looked closely at the damage, it turned out that it was only the outside of the mitten that had the thumb in the wrong place, so there was only one thumb to move. Yes, it takes talent to knit the entire thing when your mistake is staring you in the face, but I managed.

Unfortunately, closing the hole with a kitchener stitch after removing the thumb looked messy, so I needed to rip the mitten back to the thumb.

Fortunately, I figured out that using the kitchener wouldn’t have worked anyway, as this version of the mitten has short rows worked across the knuckles. Moving the thumb as I needed to would have put it on the other side, making the mitten bend in an anatomically creative fashion.

Unfortunately, that meant more knitting.

Fortunately, I like to knit. And now, we have these. They are squooshy, and warm, and will fit me when my son grows out of them. Though, the fact that my husband can get his giant hands in there doesn’t bode well for J growing out of them any time soon.

I wish I had planned ahead and taken a photo when he first picked them up. His smile was amazing – it had settled a bit by the time I took this one. Both of my kids have knit-gift gratitude down pat.

Details:

This keeps B’s earbuds from being a tangled mess, and also keeps him from appropriating his brothers’ as his own. This is basically a 4-stitch i-cord with a bit of circular knitting at the join. The idea and recipe are from Dorian Starr and can be found here. I used US 0 / 2.0 mm needles just because that was the set closest to me when I started; I’d go up a size or two next time. The yarn is some leftover Patons Kroy sock yarn in colorway 56603. Ravelry link.

I also plied up a big, fluffy skein of 2-ply oatmeal colored BFL that will be a sweater someday. It was hard for me to spin ‘big’ enough to get a worsted weight yarn. It’s quite squishy and pretty, though, so I’m happy. I was without a lazy kate for a long time, and so it took me forever to get from the spinning to the plying stage. My wheel got dusty, I’m ashamed to admit. I’ll have to show you the pop tart box I finally mangled to make a lazy kate sometime.

So, what are you all up to in the new year? I am spinning my Christmas roving now, and working on lined gloves that are much too warm for our mild North Carolina winters. My husband thinks I’m crazy (and he’s probably right), but I’m having fun.

Mostly, I wanted to see whether I could make “real” pants that didn’t look homemade. These pants represent my first yoke, half-elastic waistband, pockets, placket, inset zipper, belt loops, and back pockets. Whew. I’ve made pants before, but of the elastic pull-on variety with no pockets.

My favorite thing about these pants is that the front pockets are sewn down, which eliminates the annoying white bunch of lining that always seems to appear at the top of my boys’ jean pockets. Pushing down the lining when they put their pants on in the morning is not high on the boys’ priority list. B’s favorite thing about them is the gingham lining on the inside of the front pocket. It was a piece of fabric from Aunt Ellie’s stash, and he’s thrilled that it is now his. That, of course, charms me to no end.

I managed the whole shebang on my treadle machines, with the exception of the button hole. I *could* have done it on my Necchi, but I managed to mess up my timing on it, and so brought out my trusty old electric machine for the button hole just to have it all done. B was terribly patient, and claims these as his favorite pants. Consequently, I only have the photos that I snapped in a hurry when they were first complete.

The pattern is from Ottobre Design’s Autumn 2007 kids issue (#39: Boy’s slim-fit pants.) They fit B perfectly. Well, two days after I hemmed them, they were too short again, but that’s not the pattern’s fault. Luckily, I left enough fabric to let out the hem. I can be taught.

In other clothing news, I’ve been playing about with embroidery. Both of these patterns are from Urban Threads. I did them on soft plain T-shirts. I’m lucky that I have boys who want to wear the things I make. One of these days, I’ll get around embroidering something for myself. At least I won’t grow out of it!

The idea with this pair was to continue the ribbing down the front of his foot to see if that would ease the buckling. As it turns out, it doesn’t do a thing! Now we have a different sort of ribbing, but the leg bit still bunches and buckles at the foot. Hrmmm. At least the design change lets me keep the pairs separate in the laundry, though I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. It’s probably a bad one, once he wears a hole in one of the socks.

Details:

I finally finished up this Four Freedoms Gratitude Quilt for them. I won’t be doing another one, simply because it takes me too long to finish one; I’ll leave the quilting to people who can do it faster and better than I can!

These are called Four Freedoms quilts because they’re based on President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, and each of the white blocks in the center has an accompanying quote. The hearts and stars are reverse-appliqued, and the rest of the blocks are all blocks that say “thank you” to our service members.

In other sewing news, I’m currently trying to do my first trousers with a zipper set in. I’ve decided that a zipper foot must be a lovely thing to own; it’s going on my list. For now, I’ve decided to hand-sew the second bit of the zipper in to save my failing sanity. Photos someday, when this blasted set of trousers is off of my sewing table and on my kidlet!

So, to distract you all, here are some pretty socks!

One hint I found on Ravelry that I used for this set is Cat Bordhi’s “Hungry Stitch” method for the ssk lines. Don’t try this on the ssks in the lace section (ask me how I know), but the hungry stitch works a treat for the lines going across the sock in the plain section.

The yarn is Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids in Lilac. I purchased it mostly because it was solid, and I wanted to show off the pattern, and because it was in my mom’s signature color. The yarn was a little less springy than I’m used to working with, and I’m chalking it up to the nylon content (75% merino, 25% nylon.) Still, it was pretty yarn, and worked up well.

Details:

I sewed up this quick tote for a friend’s birthday last November. It was a lovely pattern and quick to come together. It is technically reversible, but with the fabrics I’ve chosen, I think it looks better this way. I used a decorator-weight fabric for the outside just to give it a bit more body. In my case, the decorator weight fabric shrunk down to below the amount I needed for the pattern, so I shortened the handles a bit. Next time I’ll be sure to buy extra to ensure I have enough fabric.

I know there will be a next time for this bag. It’s cute, functional, and easy. What more could I want?

There are pockets on the outside and inside. This photo of the bag inside-out will give you a better idea of its construction.

Details:

Another lizard shirt, this one in blue. This one is made the same way as the first one was.

Rice packets! I put these in my sugar jars and laundry detergent to keep them from getting hard if a little moisture makes it into the jar. They make a huge difference, especially in my sugar jars. Without these little guys, we have to chip the sugar out!

A set of 2×2 rib socks for me. Yarn: Zen String Loopy Legends in Laurie’s Carolina Morning (100% merino wool – 3-ply light fingering weight. Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) dpns

There’s another bat just like Glidey around here somewhere, but he was lost almost as soon as he was completed. Someday he’ll turn up and I’ll get a picture.

Also, imagine a pile of this yarn. I finished up the fiber, but have no photos yet.

May your new year be happy and bright!

-Stacy

I’m operating under the code of ‘better late than never.’ This was the upshot of Halloween sewing this year.

The ghost was an adult-sized costume that I pared down using J’s measurements. Considering I did it on the fly, it came out pretty well. The hood and shoulder area could have used a little more attention, but it worked for the Halloween party and trick-or-treating. It was excellent practice in working with slippery stuff, and I got to use the narrow hemmer on my serger for the first time. He’s wearing his brother’s skeleton costume from last year underneath to look as scary as possible, though the big grin on his face ruins that effect.

Next to the ghost, Mr. Wizard was dead easy (pardon the pun.) The cape went together in a day, and the robe was almost as fast. You can’t see it in this photo, but I also threw together a felt scabbard for his wand, so that he’d have his hands free to play party games and beg treats. The cape fabric did all the work for this costume; I’m glad we found it.

I was silly again this year, and made the costumes in the week before Halloween. Details below:

Ghost

Wizard

The double treadle is so wonderful! I love being able to stop and start the wheel with just my feet, and I’m finding that it is much easier on my back than the treadle action of the Traditional. Keep in mind that I have a bad back – most folks probably wouldn’t notice. I’m spinning nice and slow, trying to get thick yarn, but I know that I’ll be able to spin sock yarn on this beauty with no trouble at all. The only trouble is finding time to do it.

I’ve finished plying the blue yarn I started ages ago, and can’t wait to start in on my sweater yarn. I’m having a hard time working up to a worsted weight, though. After trying for so long to spin thin, it’s interesting to try to move back towards a thicker yarn. However, my spinning needs to wait until after some other time-sensitive things are finished up. Rosie is a great motivator, though.