New Shorts

I made a pair of shorts for my little guy, this week. The fabric was way too cute, not to.

I used a free pattern from Oliver+S, called Sunny Day Shorts.

The fabric compliments the back pack I made him, before he was born. This is the back pack fabric.

This is the shorts. Summer foxes, on a camping trip.

I've made lots of shorts over the years, since my boys got two or three pairs, every summer until they refused to wear Mom made shorts. So I thought I would share a few tricks, which I find makes the project quicker and easier.

After I sew each seam, I cut the seam allowance in half, and overcast the edge. I also use the triple stitch to reinforce the crotch seam.

Nice clean finish, and the shorts will easily survive frequent washing. You can see the triple stitch on the right side of the picture.

In turning up the hem, I first baste a line of stitches where I want the first fold. Then I fold the fabric along the basting line, and zigzag close to the edge of the fabric. Then I measure and turn up the hem, and stitch close to the fold. The zigzag doesn't show on the outside, and the edge is nice and flat.

The pattern called for a rather complicated method of adding the waist band. I went for quick and tidy. I sewed the waist band into a circle leaving a one inch opening near the "top" of the band. I stitched the seam allowance open, and trimmed it. I folded the waist band in half, and sewed it to the top of the shorts (making sure the fabric would be right side up, when I turned it up), and overcast the edge.  Then I ironed the waist band up, pressing the seam allowance toward the shorts, and edge stitched the seam allowance to the shorts.

See, all nice and neat! All that is left is to feed the elastic through the hole on the inside of the waistband.

I leave the hole in the back open, in case he grows and I need to put in a longer piece of elastic. Because the seam allowance was stitched down, you can't even tell.

Ready for action!

I plan to make more, but right now, I am out of elastic, in the correct width.

A River Runs Through

After a month with no significant rainfall, today, the sky has opened up.

There is a river, running through my backyard. It follows the path that Doug Dog has worn into the ground as he chases the squirrels along the top of the fence.

The river ends at scenic Hosta Lake.  In case you think I am crazy enough to step out in this, the pictures were taken through the dining room window. I am hiding in the house, with my coffee.

While standing in the dining room, I discovered that my Christmas Cactus is budding.

Silly thing has no idea when it is suppose to flower,

During the hot weather, I have, of course been knitting a winter cowl. It is small and doesn't sit in my lap.

This is my first project in Brioche knitting.  The pattern is Avoiding Exposure by Kate Atherly. It still needs blocking, which will hopefully make it a bit straighter. The only change I made to the pattern was a two-colour long tail cast on.

The yarn is worsted from Feisty Fibres, in colours Fierce and You Aren't The Boss Of Me, You Jerk. The kit was part of the "Tits Out Collective", more information here. some of the proceeds from the kit went to the Nipissing Transition House. If you would like a kit, you can get it here, but you have to buy it before the end of the month.

Weebrawbag

I saw this on Instagram, and decided I needed to make one.

I see Doug is not impressed.

The pattern is available on Craftsy. 

I used the wonderful knitting fabric I found in Almonte.

Back view of the sheep. I seem to have cut off the top of the bag. The casing is a scrap of batik from an earlier bag.  I need better rope for the closure, if I make more. I used clothesline, and it is a bit stiff and rough. Any suggestions on where I can get nice cord this thick? I added tabs to the end, like I do for zippers.

It looks about the right size for socks, a bit small for a shawl. The front pockets can hold tools, a phone or a snack.

It was hard to fussy cut the fabric, and get exactly what I wanted on the pocket, but this sums it up, I think.

Day Tripping

Yesterday, I took a little day trip to Almonte, ON. Almonte is a lovely little town with an artistic vibe.

I arrived home with some Fair Trade coffee, some strawberries, and some FABRIC!

I bought this, plus some beige to make a companion piece to the New Brunswick piece, that I made last summer.

Knitting fabric! How could I not buy a metre of each, to make knitting bags? I love both fabrics, they both make me smile.

I have actually been doing pretty well at shopping my stash. I have been keeping track of fabric in and out and I think I am currently 1.5 m over what I have used since I started tracking. With luck I will be even by next week.

Summer Hats

My grandson is getting so grown up. I was informed recently that he only had one sunhat that fit. Could Nana help? Of course!

I had seen a free pattern on the Oliver + S website. It looked perfect.

I checked my stash for suitable fabric, and found some good stuff.

First up, I have been calling this the Old Guy Fishing Hat.

Bear says it is a good fit!

The fabric is from my vintage collection. It is left over from a pair of shorts, I made for his uncle, probably 20 years ago.

The lining is a grey, that I have used as a purse lining.

I thought this could be his "dressy" sunhat.

The second hat is made from a couple of fat quarters, of unknown origin.

Hey Bear, where is your face?

That's better. I made this one reversible.

The fabric has dogs and cats on it. This one is for everyday, play wear. I followed the directions for the first one, and decided that I would employ some of my bag making skills on this one, so I left an opening in the seam for the cap part, and turned it through the hole, then hand stitched the seam after I turned the hat around. Much easier than hand stitching the entire cap lining to the brim.

Another couple of pictures, that I haven't posted.

This is number three from my winter baby sweater knitting. This one is off to California, on Friday. It has on of Cheryl Coville's handmade buttons.

On Knit In Public Day, I got to teach an interested 5 year old how to finger knit. Nevr miss an opportunity to teach the new generation to knit.

She learned fast. We even found some yarn that matched her dress.

New Beginnings

I have been absent here. I was a Supervising DRO in the recent provincial election. Although I love working at elections, I found the the new technology took as much time as the old paper process. for the supervisor. We still had to pick everything up and take everything back, and they added 6 computers, a printer and a modem to the load.

I did my job, people were able to vote (1600 at my polling place) and the results were reported much quicker than ever before. Of course, after 15 hours of work, I really didn't care who won.

Meanwhile, I did get a chance to take a couple of garden pictures.

My wedding pictures were taken between two old Bridal Wreath Spirea, in full bloom. I have my own now and it flowered for my anniversary, yet again!

I found this guy, enjoying it, too.

My iris are in full bloom. These are in a pot beside the barbeque. Not  sure how they got there, but they are pretty.

This week, I had the great honour of standing in as family for a dear friend who received her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa.

It was a beautiful day. This was the view of the Rideau Canal from the fourth floor window of the Shaw Centre, where convocation was held.

I got the opportunity to meet Spirit Bear.

He was there to cheer on his friend Dr. Cindy Blackstock , as she received an Honorary Doctorate of Law. 

Of course, the highlight of that day was watching my friend receive her degree.

Here are the brand new Docorates, taking their place with the other honoured guests on the stage. Sorry, I had all the undergrads in front of me, so I overzoomed to get the picture. I love their new superhero capes! Wonder Women, all.

Now, I am back to the real world again.

A Little Knitting

With the onset of warmer weather, the outdoors calls. There is also an upcoming provincial elections, and since I was hired to work at it, I have been training and reading the procedures for voting day. My sewing room has been lonely.

I did finish another preaching stole, for Pentecost, but, since I ironed it on the way out the door, I didn't get a picture.

I entered a postcard in the postcard category at Quilts Canada, in Vancouver, and in my rush to get it into the mail on time, I didn't get a picture of that, either.  You are just going to have to take my word for it.

So, all I have to show you is knitting in progress.

A lace sock in a wild striped yarn, because I can! I did take it to a meeting and messed up the cable stitch, however, it is not going to be fixed. Done is better than perfect!

This is a shawl I started, last fall, that I would like to wear this spring, so I have been working away at it. I have turned the point, so the rows are getting shorter, again. I love this ombre yarn, I might have to buy another ball.

After a long winter, nothing is cheerier than flowers.

The crab apple tree is covered in flowers, and the bees are loving it. There is a bumble bee in the picture, enjoying the sweet apple nectar.

We garden in pots since our yard is very shaded. So, the pots are being filled.

Pink and Purple, my favourite.