Wee one is also ready for the season with her new Santa hat! I picked up the pattern and the yarn at Morehouse Merino when I was at Rhinebeck last year. (So sad that they closed their "Sheep's Clothing" store there - definitely a factor in my last-minute decision not to go this year.) I spotted the kit in my stash a couple of weeks ago and promised myself I would get it done by December 1st, so wee one could have a whole month to wear it. Like all the Morehouse patterns, the hat was very simple to knit and yet totally adorable. The yarn is deliciously soft and snuggly too.

Now I've just got to work on getting her to say "ho, ho, ho!"

A big, little dress for wee one. This dress is from Tina Givens' "Zig Zag Girl" pattern with some fabulous Alexander Henry fabric for the skirt. I'm trying to improve my garment sewing by trying out different dress patterns and styles for L. I liked this pattern because of its unique shape and construction. I think this oversize, kaftan-thing is sort of Tina Givens' style. Many of her patterns are like this (I really like the back on this one) and she herself is dressed like this in all the pictures I've ever seen of her (like this one). The finished garment is cute - I LOVE the fabrics together - but I wouldn't exactly call this dress a success.

First, the pattern was a little trying, with fabric requirements being underestimated (by half!) for the size I made (small) and with instructions similar to the laughably brief steeking instructions in a Dale of Norway pattern (Dale: now just sew and cut - Givens: step 1: sew binding to neck - you might want to make bias binding... 'nuff said, right? uh, noooo). So many of the instructions were so vague that I often had to just go from the pattern picture to guess what to do. I sewed up the entire thing once and only then did I "get" what I was supposed to have done, so I took it apart and resewed it a second time, finally producing a dress that looked and fit like the one in the pattern pic. I was already skeptical during the sewing about how this dress would really look on my gal, but it wasn't until after finishing the whole thing that I could stand back and really think about how I would change it. First, I think I'd prefer gathering or shirring instead of the pleating at the waist - it just emphasizes that potato sack look too much. Second, I remember being surprised at how short the bodice piece was when I cut it out. I ended up using bias binding to hem the bottom of the skirt so as not to lose any length there but next time, I'll definitely add on an inch or two to the bodice piece. And finally, I personally would lose the kimono-style v-neck and do a standard crew neck or gathered neck.

And so that's just what I'm going to do! I stopped by the fabric store this morning to pick up a bit more of the bodice fabric. I've already picked out all the seams. I can start resewing tonight. Even though it's frustrating to think that I will have sewn this thing three times, I feel like I have learned a TON about what I can do, what I like and what I want to put on my little girl. I'm confident I'll like the new and improved version and that having sewn this will help me make even better clothes for her in the future.

(UPDATE: check out the final version of this dress here!)

Now, there is one thing I already knew I liked on my little girl: pink ruffles.

While the zig zag dress was, well, zigging and zagging, I sewed up another pair of ruffly cords for wee one (again from Pink Fig's Bella Pants pattern), but this time with an even bigger ruffle! For an extra fancy outfit, I paired it with her ruffliest pink dress. I love it! I know it's a lot of pink and a lot of ruffles but she's not complaining (and she vetoes outfits at least once a week!). She likes getting a little gussied up and decked out. And it is the holidays, after all.

Today, wee one's getting even more dressed up, way up on top, with her "i heart" hat.

This one was really fun to make (and has got me thinking seriously about some of the cutie patootie fair-isle patterns in Nursery Rhyme Knits, a book I couldn't resist buying when I spied it a few years back, but never really thought I'd make something from. Maybe next year...). The pattern is from one of the sets in Small Sweaters, and the yarns are all leftovers and scraps from other projects - mostly Rowan pure wool, Cascade 220 superwash and Rowan cashsoft. Despite my having changed the gauge and the scrap nature of the project, I think the pattern and the colors came out pretty darn good. My favorite thing is the purple pompom on top. That is by far the best pompom I've ever made! I worked so hard on it. (Proud of me, Dani?) The pink matches wee one's winter coat perfectly and the band has a facing inside, so it's extra warm too!

I heart fair-isle. I heart making hats for my daughter. I heart knitting.

but a stranded hat is delightful
and since you wanted to know
i'll let it show, let it show, let it show

Meet my new favorite sewing book, Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing by fabric designer, Anna Maria Horner. I do love it! Even with that silly punny title. It's informative (it begins with over 50 pages of "sewing school" with answers to questions I swear I have asked my sewing machine dozens of times!), it's beautiful, and the projects are faaaabulous!

So I open up the projects page, and as if this book is written for exactly someone like me, the first project is a storage cube - not just any storage cube - it's holding yarns!

I'm still in the middle of my yarn re-org and I could seriously use some cool yarn storage cubes. How did she know? The very next project is another must-make. Now, I know every one of these new trendy sewing books has a pin cushion pattern, but this one's also a mini-storage case.

I swear, she must have been to my house because I have that exact little pile of threads and notions on the corner of my sewing table! She also knew that the bare patch of wall over my sewing machine is calling out for pattern number three, a pretty fabric-covered magnet board for hanging notes or photos.

Again, somehow, this one speaks to me more than the other fabric noteboards I've seen in other books. Maybe because it's so simple - just a delightfully practical way of using some special fabric. (Pssst.... the pattern for this one is being offered for free through Amazon.)

There's also bags (check out an amazing version of the taxi tote bag on her blog!), a super chic apron pattern, cute and creative pillow patterns (look over here for a free download of one!) and, my favorites, the prettiest girl's peasant blouse ever (love the trims!) and a totally rad little girl's skirt.

Get out! It's like she's seen my girl too and knows exactly what I like to put on her! Uh, yeah, I pretty much want to make everything in this book. Don't you?!

Another new sewing book I just got my hands on is amy butler's little stitches for little ones. I actually won my copy through a fun "Handmade Holidays" giveaway at Sew Mama Sew (love that blog!).

Even if you're not a sewer, I'm sure you've seen the name Amy Butler in the Rowan publications. She's one of THE names that is practically synonymous with the Rowan brand. She designs fabrics, patterns, everything. She's profiled everywhere. She's like the Debbie Bliss of quilting! Now, I've resisted most of the Amy Butler hype through my first year of sewing/quilting pretty well. I own a couple of fat quarters of her fabric, but none of her books or patterns. But after seeing this book in person, I had to share with you just how delightful it is.

First, I feel the need to point out how similar these two books are. I mean the actual physical books. They are the exact same size and shape. Both square hardcovers, both with a spiral binding inside and a big stiff pocket in the cover for the pattern pieces. The instructions in both books are accompanied by quaint hand-drawn illustrations and diagrams. Even the chapter openings look the exactly same, with full page close-ups of prints from the designers' own fabric lines. Apparently, this is THE style for these hip, new sewing books. And why not: it's pretty; it's practical; it's charming.

And charming is just the word to describe the contents of this one too.

The book opens with this adorable snuggle wrap blanket, sort of a quilt version of one of those hooded baby bath towels. How sweet is that?! It almost makes me wish my wee one were still that small. Almost. Then I think about how she sleeps 12 hours straight through the night these days and I snap out of that. Speaking of sleep, up next in the book are these awesome kimono-style pj's.

That Amy Butler has got style! And these projects are really very simple to sew. I love that the fabric designers are becoming pattern makers - they seem to be willing to make simpler patterns that rely more on the fabric to give them their "wow". Check out this beautifully simple dress:

It is all about that fabric!

The book also contains several fab bag patterns (oh, if there's one thing Amy Butler can do well, it's bags!)...

...along with stuffed toys and lots of practical items for the nursery (like a crib bumper, a changing pad, even a cheeky monkey laundry bag). I simply adore this book. The only problem (and this is something Amy Butler could not have foreseen) is that I had my baby two years too early! I don't have a baby to sew any of these things for. The nursery items in the book are the kinds of things my almost 2 year-old has already outgrown and the clothing sizes top out at about 12 months. Still, I think it could become a great resource for sewn gifties for friends' babies-on-the-way, sorta like my sewing equivalent of Itty-Bitty Hats. Good stuff.

Well, I hope I've tempted some of you knitters out there thinking about straying to start sewing! Like last year's Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew, these books do feel like they're introducing a new way to sew. No more fold out patterns on crappy paper with inscrutable directions and frumpy little pictures. The new sewing rocks!

Okay, okay, back to knitting tomorrow.... (promise).

Today is Nikolaus in Germany, when German kids wake up to find treats and little gifts in the boots they left out overnight. It's such a nice little pre-Christmas celebration. Along with the advent calendar goodies, the boys have quite a pile of tiny gifties already! I have had so much fun selecting things for the advent calendar so far (I've been tweeting all the advent calendar goodies!). I even had fun jumping in as an emergency Nikolaus, since the package my mother-in-law sends every year, full of German treats, didn't arrive in time. So, inspired by all this fun gift-giving (and also by last week's giant blog Giveaway Day organized by Sew Mama Sew, with over 100 blogs giving away handmade items), I decided to have a little giveaway of my own.

Nikolaus would love to give you a copy of my book, Charmed Knits!

AND he'll also throw in a House Hat hand knitted by me. You choose the House, the style (beret or beanie), and the size, I'll knit it up and Nikolaus will take care of the delivery.

To enter, just leave a comment to this post (try to leave just one comment please - my comment function runs crazy slow, so give it a minute - no exaggeration - to let your comment load). Comment by the end of Sunday and I'll draw a name on Monday! Readers from outside the US are welcome to participate as well (if Nikolaus can get over to America to bring gifties to my German kiddos, he can send a book and hat to wherever you are!).

Good luck and happy Nikolaustag!

UPDATE: I've already selected a winner. You're still welcome to comment, but the giveaway has ended. Thanks for playing along and sharing all your traditions. :)

The winner of a copy of my book and a hand knitted House Hat (from my Nikolaus giveaway this weekend) is.... Eileen! Eileen, send me an email (my email address is in the sidebar on the left) and let me know what style hat you'd like, what size, and what House colors you'd prefer. Also let me know if there are any allergy concerns or fiber preferences. Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone else for participating and sharing your holiday traditions in the comments! The boys shared their Nikolaus tradition by bringing in goodie bags to all their classmates today. We had so much fun packing them up this weekend with oranges, sweet treats and holiday pencils.

It's 2005 all over again! I'm knitting a Clapotis in some practically vintage yarn from Sunshine Yarns. I'm teaching an advanced beginners class at my LYS where we're making Clapotis wraps. It's such an awesome pattern to learn a little bit about shaping and pattern reading. And nothing can compare to the thrill of dropping those stitches!

I had two skeins of this beautifully blue circa 2005 Sunshine Yarns worsted and thought it would be just enough to make a scarf sized version of the wrap. After knitting this far, however, I'm not sure that the wool is soft enough to be a scarf. So, I'm on the hunt for something fine and fluffy to carry along with it to soften it up. I'll let you know tomorrow what I come up with!

After spending way too much time in the yarn store trying to find a suitable yarn to carry along with my blue variegated to soften up my Clapotis-in-progress, one of my students said, I really see that yarn more in mittens. I have to admit, she was right.

I came home, grabbed Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, pulled out the other end of the skein and knit up a glove. I've never knit a glove before. (I'd always considered making 10 fingers some sort of knitter's version of the Sisyphus story.) But it turns out I actually needed a new pair of gloves and this yarn really did want to become a pair.

The moral of this story (and something I should have learned years ago): sometimes you just have to listen before you start knitting.

After making wee one's fun turtle top in the fall, I had enough of the aweseome Alexander Henry turtle fabric left over to make another. Wee one and I decided that a turtle top would be a great gift for her best buddy, Kaya's second birthday.

Wee one's version was all bright and ruffly, but Kaya's tastes are a little more muted and little less girly, so I did the sleeves in green and put elastic in at the neck and wrists instead of shirring them. It's still got a lot of the fullness and style of wee one's shirt, but it has a very different look overall. That Pink Fig Olivia Top is pretty darn versatile! I can't wait to try a version with shirring at the bottom.

I took a little break from sewing clothes for wee one to catch up on my block of the month quilt blocks. First up, the final two blocks of my 2008 block of the month.

November: Dolley Madison's Star

December: California Star

Now I've got to get working on the setting squares. In the shop quilt, the twelve star blocks are set among log cabin blocks in an asymmetrical pattern. It's very pretty, but I really can't stand the asymmetry, so I'll be making perfectly symmetrical courthouse steps blocks instead. Hello 1 1/2" strips of everything!

My 30's block of the month quilt started in May, so it's still going strong. I did three blocks for it last week.

September: Kansas Star

October: Green Mountain Star

November: Morning

I adore all of these. This quilt shop has done such a lovely job putting these together. The piecing has been really interesting and fun as well. In the world of block of the months, there's a lot of the same patterns that come up over and over and it gets a little repetitive after a while, but all but one of these has been new to me. And those fabrics... swoon.

After finishing glove number one in a day, I've slowed down the pace a bit. Glove number two (now being knit directly from the unfinished clapotis!) only needs three more fingers. I don't think I could have made it through ten fingers at a "real" glove gauge, but with this worsted weight yarn, it's been just fine. I'm surprised to find how much I'm enjoying it. And I'm definitely looking forward to wearing new gloves this weekend.

While I was making hands, I got the boys to use their hands to make Christmas cards. (It's pretty late for Christmas cards, but we haven't managed to get ANY cards out for years, so I'm counting this as a huge success!)

I found a fun make-your-own-cards kit from made by hands, complete with blank cards, hundreds of punch out shapes and glue stick. The boys had a blast! They were very creative, making all sorts of snow scenes and Christmas trees. I made the little footprints card for wee one, since pop-outs and glue are a little too difficult for her. But she won't be left out of the fun - she and I will be making a few more cards with a sticker card kit from mudpuppy.com later today.

First it was my favorite cashmere sweater. Then it was a winter snack for some moths. Now, it's a dress for wee one.

Ta da! I managed to transform that old sweater into something wee one can actually wear! I felted it several times in the washing machine until it was about the right width for a toddler dress. Next, I pulled out some pattern pieces from the Pink Fig peasant-style tops I've been making and used them to cut out the body and sleeves. I kept the side seams and hem of the original sweater, just cutting into the sweater body for the armhole openings and neck, and did the same with the sleeves, even keeping the original ribbed cuffs. This allowed me to cut off almost all of the moth holes. There was still one moth hole on the lower front, so I stitched over it several times, then added a couple of pretty felt flowers right there. For the flowers, I used leftovers from wee one's elf hat as well as Amy Karol's clever method of creating the flower embellishments.

This is all a total experiment. I have no idea what will happen to the neck, the embroidery, the shirring after further washing. But it's a success so far and I certainly don't have any problems reworking it after a wash if necessary. Best of all, it is suuuuuuper soft. Wee one is pretty snuggly to start with, but now she's positively snugglicious!

We're in the midst of our first major snowstorm of the season right now. The kids were let out of school early, the emergency shopping has been done and now the snow is falling fast. The boys are so excited to get out and play in it! For now, we wait and watch.

Inside, I have my own snow to look forward to...

Tilli Tomas's Flurries yarn! It's the most beautiful soft pink merino with glass beads - I couldn't resist it at my lys. (There's even a sweet baby hat pattern for it!) While it snows outside, I'll be knitting this into a new hat for wee one.

Let it snow!

Instead of making gifts, I spent way too much time this weekend making Elf Yourself videos of the kids.

Too funny!

I'm not making that many holiday gifts this year and still I'm waaaay behind! This is the first handmade giftie - and it was only partially made by me. It's for a friend of the family, who became a first-time grandparent this year. (I made the itty bitty football hat for the grandbaby when he was born.) For Christmas, I'm sending the grandpa a pair of Kaya's Kloset booties to give to the baby (look, there's no way I could make those things as well as Johanna does, so I didn't even try!) and a store-bought picture frame (wait for it, I did do some crafting here...) with the inside mat covered in the same cute baby boy fabric as the shoes. Matching baby booties and grandpa brag photo frame - what could be merrier?

When B opened the big lego set from his wish list, he exclaimed, "yeah, baby! grandma, you got me the present I wanted! this is an awesome present!" And it only took one present for wee one to figure out this whole Christmas gift thing. After opening her first gift, she ran back to the tree saying, "mooooore."

Wishing you all a happy holiday filled with all the awesome gifts on your wish list and moooooore.

I totally forgot to photograph! Luckily the recipient, my mom, was kind enough to send some snapshots of my holiday handiwork.

Yummy placemats! These Farmer's Market fabrics were too delicious to pass up in the store. My mom loves good food, so I thought delectable placemats would make a great gift for her.

To make them, I layered the six fat quarters I'd bought on top of each other, placed a placemat of ours on top and cut out the overall placemat shape through all the fabrics. I wanted to mix and match the foods on each placemat, so I drew up a simple patchwork design and, keeping all the fabrics layered on top of one another, cut the large rectangle into smaller rectangles and squares according to my design. Then I shuffled up the layers, so that no fabric appeared twice on any one placemat. I pieced the individual parts together, sandwiched (hah, another food word!) the tops with batting and a neutral foodie backing and sewed them up pillowcase-style. Once I had them turned right-side out again, I quilted in the ditch of the pieced fronts and top-stitched around the edges.

They're bright, bold, and were lots of fun to make. Now mom can have fresh fruits and veggies all year round!

Eileen's Gryffindor house hat (from my Nikolaus giveaway) is almost done! It's been just like old times, knitting with those oh so familiar maroon and gold yarns again, following the very first pattern I wrote for the book. It's a shame that the sixth movie is coming out in the summer - no hats, no sweaters, no scarves. I'll have to come up with something new....

Wee one's Tilli Tomas Flurries hat has become a crown. After knitting up a little swatch, I thought the yarn was so special that the hat had to be something special as well. With all the sparkly beads in the yarn, I decided it would make a delightful princess crown. I found a free crown hat pattern through Ravelry that I loved the look of. The crown points are easily constructed and the join between the crown brim and the hat body is nice and smooth. I'll be leaving out all the textured stitchwork on the main part of the hat since my yarn has plenty going on already with the beads.

I tried the brim on wee one this morning and she gave me a pretty little smile when I slipped it on her head. She likes the sparkles.

Like the ones in her new sparkly slippers from Johanna!

Continuing my Twelve Gifts of Christmas theme, I present the third handmade gift of Christmas - placemats for best buddy, Shannon.

This Alexander Henry fabric reminded me of Shannon, who loves brown and has lots of lovely, lovely brown linens in her house. I only see Shannon in pictures these days since she moved away from Boston, and most of the pictures are of her darling girl on her brown and blue patterned playmat. This fabric looked like it would be right at home there near that playmat, and a little homemade something from me is as close as I can get to being there myself.

This fabric has a wonderful graphic pattern of squares, which I quilted over. Then I added the binding using the same chocolate brown fabric that's on the back. I opted for machine-applied binding (as described in Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts) because they're not really heirloom quilts (heck, they're for eating off of!) and I wanted to finish them this year (I'm still pretty slow with the hand-sewn binding). I made two regular sized placemats and one small one for her little girl. Awwww.

Sing it with me... the third gift of Christmas my crafter gave to me: three patterned placemats, two (well, four) foodie placemats, and a picture frame and a pair of booties!

This is the one I'm most proud of. A sweet little top (from Oliver & S's Swingset Tunic pattern) for Shannon's baby girl.

main fabric is "heat wave" from Marcus Brothers fabrics

This is an awesome pattern. Seriously, I can't imagine being disappointed by anything made from one of these Oliver & S patterns. I'm still pretty much of a novice garment sewer, so this one took some serious time for me, but even when I couldn't quite get my head around how something was supposed to work (like the lining and placket in this top, which are very cleverly constructed), I just followed the instructions and it came out looking perfect.

back button placket

I can't wait to make wee one some of these for the summer. And I can't wait to see it on baby Annabelle!

And since it is new year's eve, it seems fitting to reflect back on the crafting year just coming to an end. I began this year's craftiness with a baby hat for a wee cousin and am ending it with this precious baby dress. It was a year that included less sweater knitting, lots of hat knitting, more quilting classes and projects begun, and a surprising new passion, inspired by my girly girl, for sewing ruffly little girl clothes.

Here's to another year of making what you love and loving to make. Happy new year to you all!