Explorers Vest

For Mr. A's 3rd birthday, I made him the Explorer's Vest from the Book Little Things to Sew by Oliver + S.

I left off the buttons because the vest will most likely be worn open and besides, he can't do buttons yet.

It's size 3.

 Bampaw decided to call it an Adventure Vest and using Quark, designed a little tag that was ironed onto a pocket.

Getting carried away with iron-on transfer paper, we also copy/pasted a Smokey badge. His dad loves anything Smokey the Bear so we know he'll enjoy this.

On one of the pockets, I put a little strap to hang a bug finder box.
The d-ring comes in handy for hanging a compass.

I got carried away in a toy store and bought a bunch of "adventure" items and attached them to lanyards and a big carabiner.
There's a plastic Swiss army set, a flashlight, a drink bottle, a whistle and a compass.
My guess is he'll play with these and not bother much with the vest :)

The lining sure suits the vest.

The vest turned out well and I hope he finds it useful when he goes on an adventure in the woods.

Baby Cardi's

Having finally learned how to knit I figured I ought to make a few baby cardi's to have on hand in case someone has a baby. Mostly, I wanted to practice.

The first one is called Baby Sophisticate by Linden Heflin.  It's a free download on Ravelry. I think the pattern is absolutely adorable. An old-guy sweater for a new-guy.

It's size 0-3mos according to the pattern.
It was easy and quick to make.

It's difficult to get a good photo on an overcast and dreary day.

Anyway, I used brown buttons hoping to emulate vintage leather bound buttons. Wood with a black tint button might look nice on this cardigan as well.

Being a new knitter, I had a few questions which I was able to answer for myself. A sign that either:
A) I'm talking to myself or
B) I'm grasping knitting terms or
maybe a little of both A) and B) :)

The first  question I had was; when working on yoke part of cardigan where it says to continue working in st st until yoke measures 3.5(4.5)" does that mean from the cast on edge or from finishing rows 3 & 13 3(4) times.
The answer is it's from the cast on edge and if more st st rows are required it won't be many and will be hidden under the armscye.

Second question was making the collar section where it say's to start at the bottom left edge.
Does that mean the baby's left or my left?
The answer is it's my left as I look at the sweater.

The third question was the w&t steps starting at row 5 on the collar.  If I bring the yarn forward for the w&t wouldn't that mean I should continue in a p st?
Nope.
Just bring the yarn forward, turn and then adjust the yarn and continue in k st.
Oh, and use markers to help find those last 18 sts.

I couldn't figure out the bind off as per the authors suggestion and just did it the way I was taught.

Yarn used was Bernat Alpaca, (15s X 20r) colour Stone, 5mm circular needles.

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The next baby cardi was also a free download from Ravelry called Garter Yoke Baby Cardi by Jennifer Hoel.

Once again getting a good photo is proving difficult.

I usually choose solid coloured yarns but this time around, used a variegated yarn from Cascade Yarns, Cherub DK  (22-24st X 4") colour 512 Lilypond and used 3.5mm circular needles.

The pattern say's it's 6-12mos but judging by Baby Sophisticate, I'd say it's more like 3-6.

Again, it was fairly straightforward and quick to make.
However there were a couple of knots in the yarn that I didn't discover until mid-row in two areas.  So there are a couple of glaring flaws in the stitches on the front and on the sleeve.

When it came to the raglan shaping beginning at rows 9 & 10, I copied the following from a comment by the author on Ravelry:

The raglan shaping will add 8sts every odd row (one m1 on either side of the k2 that forms the front and back seam of each sleeve).

Row 11: sl1, k10, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k8, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k22, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k8, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k11 (76sts)

Row 12: sl1, k11, pm, p2, pm, k10, pm, p2, pm, k24, pm, p2, pm, k10, pm, p2, pm, k12.

Row 13: sl1, k11, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k10, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k24, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k10, m1, pm, k2, pm, m1, k12 (84sts)

Row 14: sl1, k12, pm, p2, pm, k12, pm, p2, pm, k26, pm, p2, pm, k12, pm, p2, pm, k13.

Note how the m1, pm, k2, pm, m1 is consistent regardless of the number of stitches elsewhere.

I didn't use the i-cord button band as per an option in the instructions, using a basic garter buttonhole band instead. I need more practice doing those. Lots more practice.

Sunny Dress

About a month ago, I downloaded a free pattern from the sewing blog Sew Very. It was the bloggers first pattern and she was offering the pdf in 3 sizes for people to try out.

Well, this morning I cut out the pattern and made a Sunny Dress.

It's an a-line sundress with a little frill collar.
The instructions, which are very good, appear on her blog along with photos.  Overall, it was a very easy pattern to make and fun too!  I really enjoyed making it.

I made size 5 and since the chest measurement is an inch wider than required I cut the back elastic less and took in a deeper side seam.

If this fits (and I'm sure it will) I will make more Sunny dresses.
There are no buttons, zippers or anything fiddly.

Go to Sew Very to get the download and try it out too.
On Monday August 11th, she is going to feature some the Sunny dresses other sewing bloggers have made. There'll be lots of good ideas, I'm sure.