Okay, I know I promised you a cocktail, but this procrastinator has to finish her mother's day presents, so drinking is going to have to wait. But don't worry, here's a nice easy project in case you (like me) waited until the last minute -- it won't take long, and afterward we'll get back to that cocktail!




Freezer Paper Stencil Silhouette
I'm not going to go into too much detail here about either the freezer paper stenciling because there are lots of other great tutorials out there on those subjects. I referenced this one and this one.

First, gather your materials: freezer paper, pencil, craft knife or small sharp scissors, iron, fabric paint, a digital or print photo of your subject in profile, and something fabric to print onto. I'm making reversible tote bags with Skip to my Lou's tutorial.

Because I'm a bit too lazy, I didn't want to print out my photo so I chose the easy way: I opened my photo in photoshop, cropped it and zoomed in until it was the size I wanted -- about 4" high. Then, using the Pioneer Woman's free photoshop actions, I hit "define and sharpen" a few times until I had a nice distinct profile.



Next I cut a square of freezer paper a few inches larger than my image, held it up to the screen, and very carefully and very lightly traced it in pencil. Hey, presto, you've got a light box! If you try this lazy woman's method, please don't press too hard with your pencil or you'll damage your screen.



Now clean up your tracing lines: simplify the hairdo, add details (eyelashes, hair bows, etc), and make a nice curved line below the neck.



Carefully cut out your design. I've found it's easier to move the paper rather than the knife when cutting curved lines and fine details. If you cut carefully, you'll be able to use both the positive and the negative pieces as stencils.



Next iron your stencils onto your fabric. It's also a good idea to iron a piece of freezer paper onto the back of the fabric to keep the paint from bleeding. Make sure your iron is set to a dry setting, but high heat is okay.

Paint using fabric paint. I like the Jacquard brand; I get it from my local art store but it's also available all over online. If you're painting on a dark background, it's worth searching out Jacquard's Neopaque line. Use a foam brush or sponge and dab the paint on. Now test your patience and let the paint dry to touch, recoat, and allow to dry completely overnight before peeling off the stencil.


here's the positive image...


and the negative image

After a bit of sewing, you've got a beautiful homemade gift, perfect for those doting grandmothers to show off at the market. Now if I could just figure out how to get one to Finn's Oma in the Netherlands today...

Fabric Flower Garlands

My beautiful little sister Leandra is getting married here in June so there's been a lot of gardening, crafting, building, and cement pouring happening these last few weeks. We had a little party for her over the weekend; all the girls got together to help her get a start on some of the decorations. It was really just an excuse to try out potential "signature cocktails" but we also got a little (easy!) crafting done. I wanted to feature one of the projects here: these little fabric flower garlands. They're super simple to make, require almost no sewing and (just like my sweet sister) are so pretty and joyful. So grab a bit of fabric, some ribbon, and a needle and thread and let's get started.



First: cut a strip of fabric as wide as you want your flowers to be. Fold it up, lay something round on top (a jar lid or drinking glass works great) and trace a circle.



Cut 8 to 12 circles out, don't worry about being precise here.



Grab one circle and fold it into quarters so that it makes a little point.



Run your threaded needle through the point of the folded circle. Don't worry if you don't have matching thread, it won't really show.



Keep adding folded circles, just like stringing beads on a necklace, until you've got 10 or 12 circles together.



Tie off your string, fluff up the circles, and like magic you've got a flower! Now make a couple more flowers in lots of beautiful colors.



Attach the flowers to ribbon with a little "x" of two stitches.



Now hang it up and get ready to party!



Stay tuned for a recipe for the chosen cocktail...

What I've been up to

There hasn't been much crafty posting here, but there has been a fair amount of crafting ("fair amount" considering the traveling and parenting that's also been going on.) I find that when my crafting time is limited, it can be really nice to use a tutorial. No second guessing or starting over or craftfails -- and lots of nearly instant gratification.  I've been using some wonderful free tutorials and patterns from the internet and it's been so easy and rewarding. So here's a linky lineup in case you're in need of a quick crafty fix too.

Cooking
Well, not exactly cooking, but playing with food. I've been making my own chai latte mix (like the one from Trader Joe's but better!) loosely based on this recipe. I gave jars of it away as stocking stuffers at Christmas and it's been a big hit.

I leave out the instant tea (ew.) but the recipe still calls for non-dairy creamer (scary stuff.) so I'm thinking about trying this recipe which calls for sweetened condensed milk instead (I can get a nice organic version at my local grocer.)

Sewing
For my dear friend Beth's birthday, I made a reversible tote bag from Skip to my Lou. I made mine a wee bit bigger and finished it off with an apple print with an appliqued leaf.


I put a few goodies for Beth's beautiful baby Jonah in the bag: a ball from felted wool sweaters and a flannel crinkly square using an old baby wipes package...  The crinkly square especially is perfect: it only took about 10 minutes to make, saved an old diaper wipes package from the garbage, and (most importantly!) it was such a hit I had to make Finn one too.  It's become my go-to last minute baby gift.


I've also been whipping up a bunch of these super easy wool pants for Finn.

They're made from the sleeves of adult-sized felted sweaters and they seriously only take a couple of minutes to throw together. Wool is a perfect material for diaper covering as it's naturally antibacterial and absorbent without feeling wet. Plus you can add fun and easy (no unraveled edges) appliques. I'm kicking myself for not keeping all the shrunken sweaters I've sent to the Goodwill over the years!

Knitting
I've been knitting too, several as yet unfinished projects -- and these ones are (almost) all for me! I'm making a simple sleeveless cardigan, the Shalom Cardigan from Involving the Senses.
Finn's helping with this one:


Also a Burberry-inspired cowl (every girl needs a little luxury, especially if it's homemade and $720 less than the Burberry version.)


And I'm finally attempting an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern, the Baby Surprise Jacket), just in time for Finn not to fit it at all.


And I haven't cast on for the last project yet but I just had to show you this yarn: Malabrigo Merino Twist, isn't it beautiful?

I'm thinking some sort of slouchy beret for myself. Perhaps the Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret or maybe the Grace Lace Beret. Do you have any suggestions?

Any other good (quick and easy) tutorials I should be looking at? What are you working on?

Acorn Cap Pattern

This little acorn cap is worked in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, so it is soft and warm, and perfect for covering your little one's ears on a blustery day. This hat is knit in a berry stitch adapted to work in the round, and the decreases for the crown shaping are integrated into the pattern.

Materials:
Size 8 DPNs
1 skein Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (I used a tan color, #300029)
Tapestry needle

Gauge: 4" = 5 pattern repeats and 30 rows
Finished size: 15" unstretched. Just fits my very large six month old.

Abbreviations:
CO = cast on
DPNs = double pointed needles
PM = place marker
P = purl
K = knit
tbl = through back loop
K2tog = knit 2 together
K3tog = knit 3 together
P2tog = purl 2 together

Pattern Repeat:
Row 1: *P3, (K1, K1 tbl, K1) in next stitch. Repeat from * around.
Row 2: *K3tog, P3. Repeat from * around.
Row 3: *(K1, K1 tbl, K1) in next stitch, P3. Repeat from * around.
Row 4: *P3, K3tog. Repeat from * around.



Directions:
CO 72 stitches across 4 DPNs and join to work in the round, being careful not to twist work.
Work in pattern for 30 rows. You will have 108 stitches after finishing odd rows and 72 stitches after finishing even rows.
Row 31: *P2tog, P2tog, (K1, K1 tbl, K1) in next stitch, P3. Repeat from * around. 72 stitches.
Row 32: *P5, K3tog. Repeat from * around. 54 stitches.
Row 33: *K2tog, P3, (K1, K1 tbl, K1) in next stitch. Repeat from * around. 63 stitches.
Row 34: P1 *K3tog, P4. Repeat from * to last 6 stitches. K3tog, P3. 45 stitches.
Row 35: *K2tog, P3. Repeat from * around. 36 stitches.
Row 36: *P1, K3tog. Repeat from * around. 18 stitches.
Rows 37-46: P all stitches.
Row 47: P2tog around. 9 stitches.
Cut yarn, thread through remaining live stitches. Weave in all ends.


photo by Leandra


Acorn Fairy illustration by Cicely Mary Barker
There's a bit of a resemblance there, no?

Christmas Wrap-Up

So it turns out I was a bit over ambitious in my Christmas plans. Apparently I was too busy sunbathing in Baja to knit much. Who knew that working with wool while covered with sunblock, sand and baby slobber would be rather unappealing and tricky? I did get a few projects done, however, and now that we've finished up our third and final gift-giving session, I'm finally at liberty to divulge what ended up getting made.

Among the little knit projects that made it onto (and off!) my needles (Toasty, Thermis, Turn a Square, Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, Fetching, Plum Blossom Mittens, and a seed stitch eternity scarf of my own devising) there was one stand-out pattern. A pattern so quick, simple, and fun that I ended up making seven (!) pairs, two of them finished Christmas morning.  And only one pair was for me. They're the felted slippers from French Press Knits, and they are a little bit of magic.

They start with a few pieces of oddly-shaped knit work


Which, after a little seaming, become grossly over-sized slipper-shaped oddities
 

Which, after felting


and finishing become adorable house slippers!


From start to finish, I can make a pair of these in under two hours, including seaming (and there is a lot of seaming but it's of the "just sew those two pieces together any which way" variety that can be done while your baby is chewing the other end of your work.)  So after making my own pair, I whipped up six more pairs for gift giving.  I gave them out pre-felted with the idea that we'd have a felting party after opening presents on Christmas morning.  



Another lovely feature of this pattern is that they travel well.  They were made in Mexico, finished in California and I'm now wearing them in my sister-in-law's house in Pau, in the southwest of France. They pack well and stand up to getting shoved into a suitcase. And they look great with my new skinny jeans which is handy because, despite being told that all the cool kids are wearing skinny jeans, I've yet to be brave enough to wear them out of the house.

No Peeking!

Two wonderful things happened yesterday: the rain arrived and Finn finally started napping. It was the perfect opportunity to get started on my crafting for Christmas gifting.



I'll mostly be knitting and crocheting this year so I can take advantage of those sleepy nursing sessions to multitask. I've got a lot of recipients on my list, so I've got to start early and focus on small projects, mostly hats and mittens and the like. Here are some links to things I'm considering making (note to family: now's the time to stop reading...)


Toasty from a friend to knit with
Garter stitch + knit in the round = perfect movie watching knitting


Mosey from Knitty
I want these for myself!


Fuzzy Lamb from Lulu


Zippy Wallet by Noodlehead


Give a Hoot from Kelbourne Woolens


Turn a Square by Jared from brooklyntweed


Dinosaur Play Mat from Craftzine
It folds up into a volcano shape for storing.


Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Strands of Me


Danica from Knitty
I've never tried entrelac and I'm embarrassingly excited about this one.


Mushroom Business Card Holder from Wee Folk Art


Calorimetry from Knitty (once again!)


Fetching from (you guessed it) Knitty



Fabric Dollhouse from UK Lass in US
This reminds me of a wooden version my little sister had.


Chunky Button-Up Neckwarmer by Susan Flockhart Designs


Plum Blossom Mittens from Valley Yarns
Not free, but it's only $1.99 for the pattern



Dainty Earrings by Julie A. Buldoc
Hello stocking stuffers!



Trypdisc Earrings by Tossed Cookies


Jofus and Lally by Vintage Ric-Rac

Plus I've got a few ideas of my own (stay tuned!)  Whew, this is starting to seem a bit overly ambitious...  I better go get crafting!

What are you working on?