mary makes merry

Mini KIP

Last night, I got to knit in the evening, at Letizia's, with friends! It was an oasis in the desert, initiated at the last minute. Thanks, Elizabeth, Dana, and Rachel (Rachel, sorry I bugged out just as you arrived.) Those who were swamped with work -- missed you tons! And you have my hopes that the extra time last night means a wide-open, wonderful weekend when you can be Independent of any and all work duties! I hope I can make it next week for our regularly scheduled FirstThursKIP.

Oh, I worked on the little cardigan for Ellie in Rowan 4-ply that I'm making. This is little yarn, but it certainly makes a beautiful fabric.

Cute, easy, meets a need

Would my life be a vast landscape barren of clever, easy makeables without the Internet?

Bottle-cap pincushion; tutorial. I might add side decor later, or just go on to make millions more and make the next ones spiffier.

Toddler added for scale. I'm also knitting a bit, believe it or not. Details soon.

This is what I get for opening Pandora's box today

I learned that there are nine million refugee children on this planet.

http://ninemillion.org

(Pandora, as in www.pandora.com, a site I superlike).

Sunday afternoon on the Island of Need-a-Gift

Thanks for the excellent tutorial, Mariko! It was crystal clear and a lot of fun. And without it, I would never have been able to make a gift for my wonderful sister-in-law just in time for her birthday party this evening.  (The handles are not as odd as they look when hanging on the doorknob.) Hope the weather Saturday was glorious everywhere, not just in Chicago, and that all were able to enjoy it in some way for at least an hour!!

Ancient History: Worldwide KIP

I can't believe WWKIP was almost two weeks ago, but indeed it was. I took Ellie, who had fun showing off her walking skills. I also knit four stitches, so I actually participated. It was so great to see Bonne Marie, Theresa, Julie, Dana, Michelle, and Lynette, and to meet Karen! I would love it if that whole thing happened once more this summer -- I thought the location was great. Thanks very much to our local organizer for a great June afternoon!

Katja

(A days-old post that I forgot to publish...a full report of my joy during the KIP I Didn't Skip coming soon! What a wonderful treat to see dear old friends and meet new ones.)

Katja, from knitty, is a great pattern. First the photos:

I included more than my usual complement of mistakes, but I really like how it looks on Ellie. The big mistake in terms of planning and preparation is that I decided to knit the 24-month size, even though Ellie is only 14 months old. I think I was thinking, "Well, she wears 18-month clothes now, and I want there to be some ease..." It came out very large. But that's all right; I've made a pleat in the back that takes up the excess for this summer, and next summer I can snip out the stitches holding the pleat in place and she can wear it again. My striping pattern is also different -- by mistake, not by design -- but that's all right, too.  Back view:

I changed the edging on the cups and didn't do i-cord straps, and here's why. I started the first cup with the pattern's garter stitch and didn't like my execution of it at all. When I got to the straps, I decided against i-cord because, though Heidi was definitely right that the straps don't do the same job here that they'd do on a halter top for an adult, I knew that look wasn't what I wanted. I'm really pleased with what I did instead. Both the edging and the straps were taken from my copy of the Chickami pattern, which I knit ages ago in this same yarn, Cotton Fleece, and wear AllTheTime. Seriously, at least once almost every week, all through the year. It's fantastic under jackets, and I love the way the armhole edging and straps have held up over time. Both firmed up, so to speak, in the wash, and they're awesome.

So, that's my report. It sure is a cute top, even when it's just sitting somewhere, drying after the wash.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the skirt

Once upon a time, I bought a pair of jeans for Kid E on the sale rack at the Gap. They're very cute, but the snaps along the inside of the legs never would stay snapped. So today I turned it into a skirt (sort of using this site, but not always taking their sound counsel:)

Parade Grand Marshal's sash courtesy of Daddy.

On Friday I made a skirt using this really excellent tutorial that I lovelovelovekisseskisses. If you make one (for a kid or for yourself), yours will look more like it's supposed to because you will not make math errors in the first place, let alone when you "check" your math. I finagled my way through without having to start from scratch, which is good because I was using fat quarters I got in a bundle at the fabric store and couldn't just toss everything aside for Minimoopy parts and start over. Thank you, quilters, by the way, for bringing Fat Quarters into the world. The terms of the modeling contract don't permit action shots in two garments on the same day, but maybe tomorrow I'll put one on flickr.

In other news, I worked on my dissertation today, which, for the record, is a picture-perfect Saturday in June. But I was outside for part of it and have a nice window in our office. Things could be a lot worse. Also am ready to start sleeves for the 1,000 stitch/inch cardigan for Skid-a-ma-rink-a-Dink-a-Dink.