Finished Sweaters

I finished Ben and Samantha's sweaters recently, and they were both big hits!

For Samantha's sweater I used the pattern Kindling Season. It was very well written and I enjoyed knitting it. It obviously didn't come out to be a size 6 (damn gauge!), but I was planning to knit her another one for school next year, so it's OK if it only fits for this year. 

The back has a chevron pattern on it - subtle but something more than stockinette! And I love the tall collar. I left off the pockets because I was ready to be DONE knitting it. 

For Ben's Sweater I used Grow Old With Me, and I think it is adorable. It is supposed to have positive ease, and I knit a size 2 - guess he is a big boy! This is one I would definitely knit again when he is older. It was a bit confusing at the beginning with shaping for the raglan, and the collar and then the extra stitches for the button band, but I figured it out. He loves it, and he loves the bike buttons I chose for it. 

He wore it all day the day I finished it, so I consider that a success! Now to finish Ellie's and Henry's! 

KCW Day 5 and Wrap Up

On Friday I managed to finish two more pairs of pants for Samantha, and two shirts for the boys!

Since I had little to no plan for the week, I decided that I should use some of the pant weight fabric I had purchased at JoAnn's last fall to finally make pants for Samantha. I used the After School Pants pattern from Oliver and S and some crazy fabric! (I figure I can only get her to wear these things for so long, right?)





I really like this pattern - easy and straightforward. The dots were a Lisette fabric from a year or two ago. They are a heavy cotton fabric.





The stars fabric just says made for JoAnn's. It feels like a twill of some sort.

I also was able to get the boys matching Sketchbook Shirts made for our family photo. I used a Michael Miller pindot in navy. It was very difficult to see any marks on the material, so I utilized the wonderful feature of tracing patterns on freezer paper - I ironed the pattern pieces onto the fabric and then cut them out!



That makes my total for KCW 4 pairs of pants, three dresses, six shirts, five skirts and one Halloween costume. Not as great as in years past, but many of these were time consuming patterns! I need to make some leggings for Ellie, but I'm taking a week off of clothes!

These were far less fussy than Samantha's Music Class blouse (post to come!), and they look so professional! I wasn't able to get a good picture of them, but they turned out great.

KCW Day 3: Tops

I decided recently that I needed to sew more with knits. I bought a few yards at JoAnn's to try out some different types.



For Ben I used this red and black striped knit to sew the Pauley's Pullover from Sewing for Boys. I sewed the 2/3 size, and it is a bit long in the arms and the body is very wide, but he likes it! This knit was fairly thick and very easy to sew.



For Samantha I used a thin knit to make the Bimaa Cowl. I made the size six, as some of her fives are getting small. However, it is huge! She will have to wear a shirt under it for a while so you can't see her bellybutton from the weight of the cowl! But it is cute, and will fit for a long time. This knit was a pain to sew with - my machine kept wanting to eat it since it was so thin.



I purchased a yard of this cute Lizzy House print on sale a few weeks ago, with the intention of using it for 'L' week. Samantha wore the one I made last year the other day, and I was reminded of how cute it is. And easy to sew up! I really like the way this one came out - I hope she likes it!