Potholes in Paris

This woman is doing her city some service in her own special way. I love it.






{via here}

Little Peanut Hat

I've held off from posting this project for a while, because I wanted to make sure it was first seen by the people it was intended for, and not some random blog visitor (of course, you are all precious in my eyes...did not mean to disregard you that way).  It was a special gift for a very special someone.

I love knitting baby hats- not because they're smaller, and therefore a quicker knit...they certainly aren't!  (Do you know how hard it can be to figure out the proper gauge to make a hat small enough to fit an itty bitty head?  It ain't easy.)  Rather, it's the simple fact that this little piece of warmth is going to keep a little person nice and cozy at their first moments in the great wide world.  After visiting my friends Joe and Kristine, and holding their beautiful new addition to their lives, with his tiny yawns and his tiny hands curling over his dad's finger, I was more than thrilled to offer a small, handmade gift that will hopefully be of use during his brief newborn stage of life.

Congratulations, Joe and Kristine!



materials:
100% baby alpaca grande, Plymouth Yarn
100% pure new wool, Tahki Yarns Montana

xo  j

DIY Tools of the Trade

As knitters, we are constantly pining for the ability to, one day, live a self-sustainable life.  We imagine huge afghan throws covering our bed; our kitchen drawers filled with handmade dish cloths and homemade foodstuffs filling our refrigerator with the basic ingredients growing in our backyard.  The clothes on our backs are hand sewn with care.  Some of us even imagine going as far as gaining carpentry skills (me with a table saw, perhaps?) and constructing our own furniture- heck!  our own houses! Built with our bare hands, blood, sweat and tears.  Can you imagine one woman doing all of this?  Well, if you can't, you shouldn't be reading this blog!  (Seriously.)

However, if you find yourself in pursuit of self-sustainability, there are some tools out there to help get you on your merry way.  I let out a (very small) squeal when I came upon this article via DesignSponge.  There are 20 gadgets in all, which doesn't make for too large of a list- maybe attainable by the end of this year?  Maybe next?  It depends on your budget, but I'd say that some of these are quite inexpensive and well worth the investment.





One of my most recent (and long-running) DIY projects has been an old computer desk.   It's mid-transformation at this point, so you'll have to use your imagination until I can give you the finished product.  However, I will say that any of the above tools would make this project 10X easier.  Nonetheless, it's satisfying to recreate a piece of furniture on your own...or anything, for that matter!

I guess this is a call out to women everywhere- don't be nervous about getting your hands dirty!  There are plenty of projects around the house that we are more than capable of completing.  We're not just designed to knit and crochet...



(Anthropologie knobs...because you gotta give your refurbished furniture a little extra swag.  Stay tuned for the finished piece, sooner rather than later hopefully.)

xo  j

{top two photos, courtesy of My Life Scoop}

persistence mitts

FINALLY... these fingerless mitts are done. For me, these gave a brand new meaning to the whole "if-at-first-you-don't-succeed" adage. I can't even COUNT how many times I tried to finish them: at first, I started using Paula McKeever's Cafe au Lait mitts pattern (with the crosshatch lace stitch, found here), but the wool I was using just kept sliding off my DPNs... over and over and over and OVER again. Each time, I found myself unraveling the entire project in a fit of knitting rage. (I'm sure many of you have experienced this at least once, yes?) After an estimated 15 attempts (and about two weeks of precious craft time), I finally switched to a simpler pattern with my trusted Sugar 'n Cream - in a pretty, almost spearmint-y color - and that made all the difference.



I ended up casting on 30 stitches onto three size 7 DPNs, knitting 4.5 inches of k1, p1 ribbing, keeping the main section (with thumb gusset) in plain stockinette stitch, and finishing off with more ribbing. (The ribbing at the top serves a practical purpose too - it stays a bit looser than stockinette stitch, so your fingers are free for cozy tasks like reading or sipping a cup of coffee.)

A great video tutorial for creating a thumb gusset can be found here. (It comes in parts - watch them all!)

<3 N

We're Auctioning Off a Slouchy Hat for Robbie T!

To all of our loyal followers, I have a very important announcement! We are participating in a facebook auction for Robbie Tesmond (click to read his story!)

We would love your support in this effort to raise money in the hopes of providing little Robbie with a new lease on life.  We're auctioning off a Baby Alpaca Slouchy Hat.  The bidding started at $5.00, and it is currently at $7.00.

The bidding is taking place at the facebook link provided above (oh, and HERE)! Please make a bid and help Robbie live to see many more birthdays to come :)

BIDDING ENDS ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16TH!!



xo j

Springtime Washcloths

I loved making these washcloths- sweet and simple designs, made with Sugar N' Cream 100% cotton yarn.  I was especially pleased with the haphazard pattern that emerged from the speckled colors in the yarn and the not-so-symmetric square of each washcloth.  Sometimes it's best to let the yarn do it's own thing.



*A little "behind the scenes" secret?  That coffee pot is my grandfather's....brought all the way over from Italy.  Pretty snazzy, huh?

xo j

A sheep.dog Hat on the Sartorialist?

Okay- it's not necessarily a sheep.dog hat, but it does resemble my most recent project pretty closely...don't you think?

 

xo  j

Do it for Yourself

This hat is very special to me. Not just because it's made from some of the SOFTEST yarn you'll ever run between your fingers (100% baby alpaca, softer than a baby's bottom).  Not because it's a nice, natural, neutral tone that matches with every outfit you can think of.  And not because it makes my head feel cozier than an evening curled up with hot chocolate and a blanket while watching countless documentaries via netflix.

No.  This hat is very special to me, because it is made for me!



I usually don't knit things for myself.  The only knit items I tend to keep are the lone sock that is still waiting for its mate to arrive (and that ain't happenin' any time soon, because I'm currently socked-out), and the pieces that I just can't bring myself to give to any decent human being.



However, I don't deny the fact that it is a good idea knit items for yourself every so often.  This isn't something you should feel guilty about in the least bit. Your work is art, whether you are willing to admit it or not.  Therefore, it should be cherished.  It is easy to knit one-too-many things and lose sight of the fact that your endless hours of stockinette stitching and knitting in the round is valued by another person.  However, when you give yourself that freebie every once and while, it brings back a little bit of pride to your being.  When you walk down the street with that carefully, hand-made hat on your head, it gives you a sense of accomplishment that you can secretly show off to world on your own accord.

"Where did you get that hat? I love it!"

"Oh!  I made this hat, actually.  And no.  You can't have it...but I'd love to make one especially for you, if you'd like."

Oh, and if you're interested, here's the blog where I found the FREE pattern.  I'm particularly enamored with this blog, so I'm extending a fair warning to you all- it's addicting.  Enter with caution.

xo  j

Socks with a side of Cake

Of course, I chose to go home to Pennsylvania during one of the coldest weekends on record. Oregon and I drove up on a Thursday night, and Friday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. Thus, knitting and baking experimentation were in order!

Knitting and baking are the perfect couple. They are food and warmth together- the bare necessities of life. Sometimes, they even like to make it a threesome and include reading...

I recently finished the book My Life From Scratch. It was delicious, to say the least.  Along with memories of a sweet-laden childhood (something I can identify with possibly), Gesine Bullock-Prado gives new meaning to putting your heart and soul into the art of baking.  Armed with my parents' roomy kitchen and a warm fire crackling in the fireplace, I baked the best carrot-cake (wo)man has ever laid eyes on.  It was Gesine's recipe, the same recipe she used for her sister's wedding cake ("sister" being Sandra Bullock.  yes. her.)

With a slice of spongy perfection in orange-stained hands, and my toes thawing from another frigid dog walk, I sat down on my parents' couch and started knitting my first pair of socks.









Where did I get this pattern, you ask?  I bought it at a quaint little store in Doylestown, Twist Knitting and Spinning. When I got to the front counter with my purchases (birthday gifts from Mommy-dearest), we struck up a conversation with the sweet lady manning the store.  I was tempted to ask her if she had knit the sweater she was wearing (she was so nice, so I'm assuming she did).  While she was putting my yarn skeins into convenient little spools, she was telling us how she believed that at least 99% of knitters are good people- how they are always so patient in the store, and there's never a negative iota of energy in that space.  She didn't have to say a word, though, because as soon as I walked in, it was like walking into a place where time stops.  Hours go by as you browse through pattern books and try to lay your hands on every plush, soft skein of yarn. Women would saunter through the door, projects in hand, along with some goodies to share with the rest of the gang, and sit down on the plush sofas to talk about their children, grandchildren, and life in general.  Not a negative iota in the room.

Dear Lady at the Counter with adorable sweater that you probably knit yourself, I agree.

xo  j

To-Do List: Duck Booties

[caption id="attachment_91" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="via http://lauratwilley.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-booties.html"][/caption]

Adorable?  Yes.  Impossible?  I hope not, because I cannot get over how crazy-cute these duck-style booties are.  They are $40.00 on Etsy, but I'm going to make them instead, because a).  that is not $40.00 worth of yarn and labor, and b).  I'd much rather make a million of them and give them away to just about every woman who has a bun in the oven.

xo

j

Baby Hats on the Fly

These little guys were whipped up in a jiffy before our client had to leave town this past weekend. Suffice to say, we did a pretty stellar job creating two identical hats (for twins!) with matching patterns and colors, while knitting in two different locations and unable to see what the other was doing.  

To create a soft, cozy feel for our hats, we used Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller brand yarn in Bamboo Ewe (55% bamboo viscose, 45% wool) in Beach Glass and Mermaid.

xo

j

ice cream necktie! (neapolitan style)

This is an all-garter-stitch tie knit with more Sugar n' Cream yarn. I began at the skinny end. For the gradual increases in the front of the tie, I used the 'make one left' mode, which I learned from knittinghelp. [Basically, it involves slipping the connecting loop between right and left needles onto the left needle, and then knitting into the back of it]. Towards the bottom of the tie, choosing a way to decrease became a bit tricky; all modes of decreasing make some type of mark by slanting either to the right or the left. To try and even everything out, I used the slip-slip-knit method in the first half of every row (which slants to the left, or into the center of the tie), and the knit two together method in the second half (slants to the right). The result? A Neapolitan flavored ice cream necktie. Mmmm.

A very special thanks to our handsome model! :)

<3 N

Yarn Highlight: Sugar N' Cream

I am loving Sugar N' Cream yarn by Lily. Yarn that is 100% anything (cotton, wool, alpaca, etc) can get kind of pricey. However, I try my hardest to steer away from synthetic yarns, since there are all sorts of things in them that probably aren't the best to drape on a baby's heads or teeny feet. I love this Sugar N' Cream yarn because it's 100% cotton, and it only costs a little more than a dollar per skein. Right now, I'm using it to make some tester socks. Although its smaller than your average skein, you're still getting a decent bang for your buck, while going au naturale at the same time.  N used it to make an adorable Moleskin protective envelope for me as a Christmas present.

winter blues

This was a Christmas present for my mom! (She's on the right ^.) It was a really fun scarf to make. I used what's called the "faggot stitch". After casting on a multiple of four + 2 stitches, knit 3 rows in garter stitch. During the third row, decrease by 2, so by the fourth row an even multiple of four stitches is left. Then, it's simply knit 1, yarn over, and knit 2 together, over and over and over and over...

The key for this scarf is to use a type of yarn that is easy for knitting two together. The first time I tried this pattern, I used a fuzzy, complicated sort of yarn, and the results were not as great as I'd hoped. This mixture of blue/brown/white is a nice and easy cotton blend -- thin enough to show the holes from the yarn-overs (great for lacy-like patterns).

Total time: 10 hours

(Special thanks to our model!)

<3 N

american chullo!

I made this hat for my most AWESOME cousin ;). [This is just the big-people's version of the adorable baby hat J posted a couple of days ago.] I was inspired by the Peruvian "chullo", which usually is a little taller, is made of alpaca fur, and has little alpaca pictures running all around the sides of the hat (see this page). I used two 8mm bamboo straight needles and Lion Brand "Wool-Ease" yarn. It's classified as a beginner's hat, since it uses the straight needles instead of circular/double pointed. (Basically, you knit the two ears separately, then attach them in between extra cast-on stitches that begin the main part of the hat - which ends up looking a bit like a curvy triangle. The curvy triangle can contain any design you wish -- be it alpacas, a contrast stripe, or cute little stitch-dots, like J's baby hat. The last step in the hat is to sew the sides of the curvy triangle together with a classic mattress stitch.)

The whole pattern is a bit long to explain here, and it in large part depends on the size you want, the type of yarn, and the size of needles you use. If you're curious and want to try making one, just shoot us an email at sheep.dog.designs2@gmail.com. :)

Total time: 6 hours

<3 N

a cozy for your thoughts

 

Hello fellow knitting enthusiasts!

This is a knitted cover for a moleskine journal. I got the idea for this while looking at "Rickshaw" products - they have beautiful moleskine "folios", but I found them to be a bit bulky for my taste. This cover fits medium journals best (3.5 x 5.5 inches), and slips on snugly to dress up any treasured book of thoughts :).

I made this one for one of my bestest buddies (who happens to be the co-author of this blog, J!). I used only one small skein of Lily "Sugar-n-Cream" yarn (100% cotton, found here) with 5mm bamboo needles. I cast on 20 stitches, and then alternated knit 5, purl 5 for 5 rows, next switching to purl 5 knit 5 -- creating that checkerboard pattern you see in the picture. I knitted a rectangle 20 stitches wide and about 15 inches long, then simply folded, stitched up the sides and top (with a slightly lighter color for a border, as well as an increased loose length of yarn for fastening to the button), and sewed a decorative button in the center. Ta-da!

Total time: 5-6 hours

<3 N

a hello and a hat

Welcome to sheep.dog!  We are so thrilled to be a part of a community of creators.  The idea for this blog began as a means of us being able to keep track of our creations, one stitch at a time.  However, it has quickly evolved into a slew of exciting plans that will begin to spread their wings over the next few months.  Please keep an eye out for more details as we develop our craft and build our own Etsy shop!

N (my partner in crime!) gave me the pattern for this hat.  Little did I realize that the pattern was for needles three sizes wider than mine, and a completely different type of yarn.  I had a leftover skein of wool yarn (Tahki yarns brand, Montana, 100% pure new wool) from a scarf I had knit my boyfriend for Christmas, and its softness inspired me to use it for a baby hat as a gift to my cousin and her soon-to-be baby boy.  I wanted it to look like a snowy mountain atop his itty-bitty head.  The wool itself is a natural brown/grey, and it needed a slight pop of color, so I borrowed N's light cream yarn (brand unknown) to give it the snow effect.  The pom-pom on the top is my favorite.  My intention was to make it more dense, but it came out looking like a snowflake, and it was the icing on the cake!  After three attempts at attaching those teeny little ear flaps to the base of the hat in an orderly fashion, things finally came together and voila!  I only wish I had a little baby boy to put it on myself.  Maybe Oregon (my doggy) would like one?

If you ever have questions about our designs, let us know!