Halloween and more

I've been busy since "the sweater"

I made 3 Halloween Costumes in honor of Katie's favorite Sesame Street characters.
2 sweaters for a friends daughter, I'm working on a sweater for that friend and I did this diaper cake for an old friends baby shower!

Next up are some Christmas Presents and baby stuff - I just can't stop!
Happy reading... sorry I haven't posted much lately.. I've been very sick with a cold and this pregnancy has me WIPED out - but I will try to find cool stuff to post soon!

It's FINISHED

And I'm exhausted and have decided to take a break from knitting for awhile as I estimate this sweater took probably 100 hours of my life - It's beautiful and I'm sure it will look great on Morganne, but I'm tired and remember again why I like Crochet better. It's faster and WAY less stressful!
Now, on to some scrapbooking as I am VERY behind and need to put together some books before I have baby #2 so that I'm not uber behind!!!!

Princess Sweater Update

My life has become this sweater. Not necessarily in a bad way... it just has. It's fun to work on it -it's just that it is such a large project that it is daunting so it feels like I NEED to be knitting every spare moment to make sure I finish it.
It's WAY easier than I thought it would be when I first started reading the pattern. The skirt is completed and I have gathered the stitches at the waist and am now going to be doing the actual difficult part which involves double pointed needles and knitting in the round. (neither of which I have done yet)

But, I'm ready for it! And excited to see what it comes out like. The yarn has been discontinued (as is usual when I start any project) and you literally cannot get it anywhere... so let's hope the 4 skeins I have left is enough to finish the top! If not... I will have to get craftier than I have ever been... Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thanks for listening.


My bitch for the day is......... I absolutely hate when people park in two spaces. I mean... really? Your car is so precious that you need to take 2 spaces so that no one touches it... then maybe you should leave it at home and take public transportation and just look at it instead of drive it. I find it ridiculously obnoxious!!!!

Thank you for reading!!

Morganne's Princess Sweater

Aunty Steph picked out a wickedly adorable pattern for a sweater coat for me to make for Mo Mo and it has subsequently taken over my life. Every spare second I have - I spend knitting this sweater.

It's been a week and so far this is all I have - it's time consuming... but easy (if that makes sense) and so far looks GREAT!!!!

It is worked from the bottom up, so I am working on the skirt part first - then will make my way up to the shaping for the top. We hope to make it go to past her knees... and hopefully I have enough yarn to do it as it's discontinued and the gauge isn't working out exactly - even though I did do a swatch which I usually NEVER do...

Will post more as it gets bigger:)

New Cardigans

I'm in love with this pattern. I found it on Ravelry.com and some brave soul explained how to alter it to make an adult version... so Katie and I have matching sweaters...

I still have to work on mine a little - as the size isn't quite right and I want to add some length to the body of it... but Katie's turned out PERFECTLY!!!!! I love it and plan to make many many more in all different sizes and colors:)

It only took me about 4 days to complete both of them... but I am getting faster as I repeat the pattern and getting more daring in playing with the shaping. I might RIP our the entire top of the green one in order to add the pretty shell design to the body so that it's longer for me... which makes me sad but I'd rather have it be right than have it done.

Katie's is in a soft white yarn that cost me like 4 dollars for the whole skein and I have some left to make a hat or something. And mine took 3 balls of really soft, really bulky yarn that cost $3 dollars each. Which is really not that bad cause they are both machine washable:)

LOVE THEM!!!!! Can't wait to make more. I am about to embark on my most complicated project yet... a super fancy sweater for my favorite little princess, Morganne... so I will be focusing on that for awhile... but might do a few small projects like this in between that one so I can catch my breath a little:)

I also had a request to make a Kindle cover for a friend - so I am going to try to make her something snazzy:) But that should be quick... so I will do that before I get the yarn for Momo's sweater!

Thanks for reading!

Bitch for the day.

ASK versus AKS - nothing annoys me more than listening to people speak and say I had to AKS someone a question - it's A S K - UGH!!! I get even more annoyed when it's people who make ridiculous amounts of money like sports stars, etc.... GET A LANGUAGE COACH!

Hugs and kisses to you all!

It's been awhile

Sorry everyone... (and by everyone, I mean the 3 of you that read this:) It's been awhile.
I have been busy spending lots and lots of money - although my goal was to save lots and lots of money - it just kind of happens!!!!

Katie needed a little table and chairs, and a toy box, and a new dresser. We needed a grown up dining room table and some new storage for our room... so I have spend WAY too much money in WAY too short of a time which has taken away from my crafting!!!

But!!! I have 2 new finished projects to share.

These are the most adorable baby booties I have ever seen and I went out and splurged to get the yarn to make them and I LOVE THEM!!! Crocheted Mini Uggs!!!! There is a matching hat that I haven't made yet... but as the yarn is discontinued I think I will just make a bunch of the booties so people can buy them for baby showers because they are just so darn cute!!!!

I also finally finished the sweater I was knitting for Katie... It took me a while on and off but I finished it and it's really cute. I just need some buttons that I love to complete it. It's a bit big for her... but it'll be GREAT for the winter:)


My next project has to be for my niece Morganne as she is starting preschool in the fall and we want to make her something extra special.... We have a bunch of patterns we like... but I gotta figure out if the one we really like is something I'm capable of making.... it seems kinds complicated but I'm gonna check it out - maybe I need a challenge!!!

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/karilfuge/snow-queen-sweater-coat

Hope you liked my latest work - I hope to craft more and spend less over the next coming weeks so maybe I will be posting more often again with fun, yummy projects:)

Bitch of the day - My DVR got full because we had bunches of stuff taped that were really long... so it deleted shows... which would be fine for a normal person but we had some stuff on there that we hadn't watched that had been on there for like MONTHS - and didn't realize it was erased until it was way too late.... So... I think DVR's should TELL YOU when they are going to erase your hard earned - recorded shows.... that way - it won't come as a surprise to you, 3 months later when you go to watch the shows you were saving for a rainy day!!

Thanks for reading:)

3rd order Completed

I am so happy to say that I am shipping off my 3rd order today! It was for 2 poncho for 2 very adorable little girls!!!

The first one is the original pattern with a very thick yarn that will be warm and makes the hood keep it's shape. It's absolutely adorable on a child... but Katie refuses to wear it for pictures, so until I find or have a new model.... these dolls will have to do:)

The second one is a hot pink one made with a MUCH lighter yarn for warmer weather. I had to do some serious adjustments to the pattern because:

1) the yarn was SOOOOOO much thinner - therefore I had to use a HUGE hook which made it
much more lacy looking and took WAY more time to work with (crocheting is usually fast
for me, but this was very slow going because of it's lacy nature)

2) Because it was for an older child, I had to adjust the pattern to make the neck opening, and
hood longer as well as adding length to the bottom. This was my first real attempt at
adjusting a pattern on my own for crochet and I was VERY happy to find that I was not as
scared as I thought I would be to be playing around with the math, etc... The thought of
adjusting a pattern used to terrify me, but I found it to be very rewarding.

After all that, I have to say - it's probably my favorite project to date - I like the way the fabric lays and I love the color!!!! Of course, I just found out that this yarn is discontinued, which means I am going to have to pay top dollar to get more of it... BAH for discontinued yarns!!!

Now, my next project is another "cereal" scarf - which should take me 2 nights of watching tv to finish.... so message me and let me know if you want anything cause I have time now that my ponchos are done:)

Happy SPRING!!!!

Bitch for the day - I hate Miracle Whip - I think that if you eat Miracle Whip instead of Mayonnaise that it is your civic duty to let all of your guests know in advance... because there is nothing worse than biting into a sandwich to find a Miracle Whip surprise!!!

I hope you are all enjoying this fabulous weather!

Updates

So... I am happy to say that so far I have made 4 apple covers, 3 scarves, 1.5 ponchos (I'm working on the hood of the 2nd one now) and have another order for my fruity cereal scarf in que. I also have to make my niece a hat as I promised her one the last time I saw her. I think I might try to make her brother a wool vest or fun hat for next winter too:)

I also have a standing order for my Alabama Family for College Football hats - I Just gotta find the Perfect Yarn and perfect pattern for the Paynes so that they can sport them once football starts up again:)

Thanks for all the support everyone! It's been so much fun so far and I can't wait to make more stuff as time goes on!

I will post more pics once I get my camera situation sorted.... right now the quality is terrible on the one I have.

Have a great week!

Baby Stella's Homemade Gifts

A very dear, old, friend of mine had her baby shower this weekend and I decided to make her baby some homemade gifts as well as giving her some practical things from her registry:)

Here is her Diaper Cake - It has different size/brand diapers in order to give the mom a little taste of all the different diapers out there, because I know it's important to try many brands to find the right fit for your baby. (different babies fit better in different brands)

There is a receiving blanket on the base, a pair of shoes, baby mittens, washcloths, and booties pacifiers, and a fun teething/music toy for a stroller on the top.

I decorated it with mini baby blocks and diaper pins, yarn and ribbon and then wrapped it up with cellophane wrap. I think this is a GREAT gift for baby showers because it can be used as a centerpiece and then taken home to decorate the baby room until it is disassembled and used for diapers later:)

Then I found this ADORABLE old fashioned baby bonnet pattern and thought that for a spring baby - it would be perfect in a baby soft pink yarn because it wouldn't be a super warm hat, but would be nice for spring time weather.

I have successfully completed my first 2 orders. Some apple covers for a friend back home and 3 scarves for a family of ladies down south. I will be sending them out in the mail tomorrow.

My aunt just ordered 2 of the "conehead" ponchos for her granddaughters and I will start on those during naptime tomorrow.

Let me know what you are interested in and if you have ideas for items because I can use different patterns than what I'm showing on here - so if you want a hat - but not one that I'm showing, let's chat and we can find a pattern that works for you:)

Here is my bitch for the day - Kathy Ireland at the Oscars last night looked like a TOTAL robot - I mean, seriously... whoever auditioned her and said - wow, she's a natural and should be in front of the camera interviewing people live was CRAZY!!!!

Happy Monday all!!

How it all started

After college, I decided I needed a hobby. For the life of me, I can't remember what prompted this - I just know that I became a woman obsessed and went to the library and took out multiple books on knitting. That's how I taught myself - by looking and following pictures in books.

I don't suggest this to anyone - it was AWFUL. (ask my husband) Trying to follow a one dimensional picture while holding multi-dimensional yarns, needles, etc..... was difficult to say the least. There were many tears and lots of frustration - but eventually I did it. I haven't stopped since.

Well, that's a lie - I've taken a few breaks from knitting and when my mother in law gave me the book Friday Night Knitting Club to read - it renewed my desire to knit and that's when I started making things more complicated than scarves.

So, I'm a knitter - because in this craft - you are labeled by what you learned first.

If you knit - you know that a lot of patterns call for some crocheted feature - probably an edge or border. So most knitters know a little bit of crochet for this purpose.

That began my next adventure - trying to figure out crochet. When you add crochet stitches to a knit project, it's easy because you don't have to start from scratch - so I learned all the crochet stitches that way - my problem was starting a chain stitch and not getting a twisted, ugly, tight, misshapen edge. So, I gave up that dream.

Then I decided I was being ridiculous. My library actually has a crochet group that meets every wednesday and I went to that one day and have been back almost every week since then. I haven't really learned much from the group so to say, we kind of all meet and chat and show off our projects - but it gave me the courage to try again and in the past 3 months I have been a crochet machine. Meeting with other people who know how to do it gave me the confidence I needed to start complicated patterns and try new yarns.

That brings me to this blog. I have decided to open a "shop" of sorts and make and sell handmade knit and crochet items to family and friends and I figured this was a good venue for reaching anyone with internet access who doesn't have Facebook. I am concentrating at the moment on scarves, hats, washable toys and small items - but will post new things as soon as I finish them.

I will post pictures of all the new items I create - along with prices and estimated completion time. Some items take much longer than others and that will really determine the price points, etc...

Please feel free to post and share this blog with friends. I plan to put up pictures and posts about crafting as well as posts for just bitching! Stitch and Bitch is a book about knitting and I think the term is just perfect for this blog!

So, happy reading - please share your thoughts with me. You can email me at inigometcalfe@gmail.com to place orders and ask for special items. I am open to trying all kinds of patterns and love working with all kinds of yarns.

I hope you enjoy this process as much as I do and that it can be a group project of sorts:)

Puff Stitch Scarf - $15

$10 - Un-lined purse (I tried to line it, but my sewing skills are LACKING)

$15 - Chunky Scarf - this is my favorite yarn to make scarves out of - I get compliments on mine all the time - however the yarn is discontinued - so I have bought a bunch of it to make scarves to sell and if there is enough interest, I will buy as much as I can so that people can have them. It's very bright and people always comment that it looks like cereal (big fruity pebbles I think someone said)

Adorable, VERY SOFT, old fashioned baby bonnet - $12

Washable brown hoodie sweater and soft hat I made for Katie.

Newborn baby jacket $20 when finished with a matching hat.

Toddler ruffled brim had on the left - Baby ruffle brim hat on the right.

P.s. Here is the bitching part - LOST - I feel like I'm watching the same actors from the Lost I watched in the beginning only in a BRAND new show - I am irritated that there are 11 or 12 more hours that I have to dedicate to this show in order to find out what happened... ugh.