hatched

here's the latest batch of baby clothing...

hand in (city) glove

no it's not like any other love...




although we're currently in the midst of a little heatwave, the weather should be turning cooler soon, which means it is getting to be about time to break out the knit accessories.



i've been pretty into these glovelettes for a few years and i guess i am not the only one. i've been seeing lots of patterns for them popping up on the internet. i based my pattern on one i found in a weird intro-to-knitting book for kids that my mom had. i experimented and modified the pattern a lot until i found something i was happy with. now i have a system for making these in short, medium, long, and extra long (length). pretty soon, you will be able to get my pattern and learn how to make them via a how-to video starring moi on a brand new website. (ooooh, exciting.. or scary..) but until then, you can just buy them from me. i have a few pairs all knit up and ready to go, and i am putting them up on the chez-sucre-chez etsy store. if they arent there when you click over, they will be soon. i'm doing work on the site and i intend to have it all complete and open for business by october first.

(these pink ones are my special little kj extra smalls)






stay on my arm you little charmer.

happiness runs in a circular motion

i was afraid of circular and double-pointed needles for a long time. it just seemed so complicated, especially the double-pointed needles -- having to use FIVE needles, instead of two?!? ugh, i was quite content with keeping it simple with the good old-fashioned straight needles.
but i am happy to report that i am well over that fear and i've now embraced these knitting supplies. (doctors' needles on the other hand, continue to terrify me.)
inspired to expand my repertoire of knitting skills and try new projects, and by the beautiful green alpaca yarn that i have in my stash, i knit up some baby "harvest hats." fall is coming and the acorns are dropping from the trees. that is where the idea for these came from. i used a pattern from the first "stitch and bitch" book as my template, and then adjusted to make them a little more fun.

here are all of those complicated knitting tools in place: you start off with the circular needles, and then switch over to the double-pointed needles and use stitch markers to help you keep track of where you need to decrease stitches.



and here are the finished products. not so bad...




(if anyone knows where i can get a funky vintage baby mannequin head -- please let me know.. i tried ebay -- nothing good on there... it's difficult to make these hats look as good as they would on an actual baby head.)