Sunday, November 28, 2010

Silas Robin Hood Jacket

Can you imagine how excited Silas and I both were last Monday when the snow began to fall? Silas was into it, because he's a kid and loves the snow: Me, because I knew I'd be able to get some pictures of him wearing his new cabled sweater in the falling snow!

This is the Robin Hood Jacket from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots. I've had this book for most of Silas' life and have wanted to make this jacket for several years now.

Posing for pics, before the storm:
Cables and seed stitch together: you can't really go wrong.
Things I did differently: First of all, this pattern calls for bulky yarn, but swatching in bulky yarn was a disaster. The sweater would have been big for me if I'd proceeded with the yarn type called for in the pattern. Instead, I went with Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted. It ended up being the perfect yarn for this project.
I made the body of the jacket two inches longer than called for, and also lengthened the sleeves (he's inherited my monkey arms, so a little extra length is a good thing). It appears he'll be able to wear the jacket for several years. Woo-hoo!

Instead of binding off and then sewing the top of the hood, I kept the live stitches and used Kitchener stitch to create a much flatter seam.
Other than the issues with gauge, this is a wonderful pattern. Once you get the swing of it, it's quite simple. As is the case with cables, they really do most of the work for you.
I don't think I've seen the end of cabled jackets. My husband wants one now too. And I think I've been meaning to make one for myself for several years now...

December is usually a big crafting month, so I'm gearing up for that. I will be posting pictures of some felted fingerless mitts I made for my son's preschool auction. After that, I've got some super secret felted objects I'm working on for Silas. Stay tuned!

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Hermit Crab Costume



For previous Halloweens, I've basically chosen Silas' costume for him. But this year, he knew what he wanted to be months in advance: a hermit crab. So, I got to work, made felted claws which are really just elongated and pointier mittens, and then crafted a hat with googly eyes.
There wasn't really a lot on Ravelry or the Internet to go on in terms of patterns, particularly for the hat, so I made it up as I went along. I had all the yarn in my stash already (brown sheep lambs pride), so it was also a low cost costume.

The costume was a joint effort with my husband. He took a bike helmet (same one we used to turn Silas into a turtle his first Halloween) , and used papier mache to sculpt it into the shell you see below.
This last picture was taken weeks before Halloween, when I had just finished his mitts and hat. He was very excited to be a hermit crab and would grab my hand and gently pinch it. "See mommy, I'm a nice crab!" Yes indeed.