Gabriel's Snake Sweater~ 2013

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Here is my latest commission, an adorable snake sweater for (almost 3 year old!) Gabriel.

Yarn is Cascade 128 superwash merino in Lichen.

Pattern is a one-of designed as I went along.

Knit from the bottom up.

With a cabled snake panel in the front.

(eyes are embroidered on with yarn)

Ribbed cuffs allow for growth spurts...

...and the gnomey hood? Is my favorite part.

I think he likes it.

Thanks to mom, Char for letting me take Gabriel's photos and posting them.

Summer Life~ Family Visits

Summer is my favorite time of year. The weather, the flowers, the garden, and family visits.

 My favorite flowers so far this year are my neon-coral geraniums. Delicious!

My girls. 

Eve.

Ann.

 Our entire family still lives in PA (we are in WA), so summer brings a lot of family visits.

First visit was my Dad and brother Jack.

 Visits bring many road trips to local sites, which means a ton of car knitting time!

Our animals are growing fast, and we have fallen into a nice summer routine of feedings and scratches.

My mom and step-dad are here now for a long visit, we have been doing a lot of this...

I always have a mega ton of ideas in my head, this one will not leave me alone. So here is Chad, a sewing pattern I have in the workings. He is still in the prototype/note/sketch stages. I love this part, making variations, figuring out the best way to communicate it onto paper....

My wheel has also been bewitching me lately. Again. I used to spend time with her the better part of every day, so spinning again feels like a warm hug, like going home after a long, long trip.

Off to clean a bit... today is a swimming day, we have invited our friends to come and enjoy our pond...

Wishing you a relaxing Sunday.

xo

reenie

Gratitude~ Three very special Gifts and a very clear Message~

Yesterday was a special, odd, goosebumpy kind of day. 

A normal day, routine, running, chores, meals....

But I received some really profound, meaningful and relevant gifts. 

All in one day.
Sometimes life, routine, and my thought patterns tend to make me feel like I am stuck and in a haze with no clear idea of where I am headed. Foggy, depressed, moody.... stuck.
Then the clarity hits... the inspiration, the passion, and the very clear messages that I just love and appreciate so much.
Here is my story of yesterday...

Gift #1 is THIS...

An early 1940s Singer 201-2. With a direct-drive motor, which means no treadle and no belts.

She is all metal and black and completely GORGEOUS.

I am in love.

I plugged her in and ran her for a bit.... she purrs like a kitten.

She now sits next to my sewing table where my much younger Singer Heavy Duty 

(which now seems, not so heavy duty, in comparison) sits.

A real treasure and a very special gift from our friends Joe and Sally. 

She belonged to Joe's mother, and he wanted to pass it on 

to someone who will cherish and use it, which I already do.

I will call her Betty, after Joe's mother.
Joe sent me a bio of his mom, which I will print out and keep in the drawers with the manuals.

Here are photos of the manual cover and inside front... (click to see larger images).

This video describes the model, takes you on a tour of the machine, 

explaining what each part is... plus tells us that this model was used by 

Rolls Royce in their factories to sew the leather for the interior seats!  

So very heavy duty! Watch out! haha. This girl will sew anything!

I have not sewn on her yet, I am still absorbing her energy.... 

and I have yet to go through the treasures in the drawers in super detail.  So far I have found some lady gloves from the 50s and a gianormous sweater shaver (see it in the drawer? It's mauve and so awesome), plus a lot of feet and parts and notions.  A treasure chest!

 Ezmaralda has given her approval, which is good because she now sits in Ez's spot in the studio. 

The perfect spot to watch the bird feeder and remain invisible to the birds.

She came with a bench too! (which I shall promptly reupholster in a Kaffe Fassett print!)

The top of the bench lifts off for storage.

When I closed her up to take a photo, I discovered THIS... 

A scissors holder on the side! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Perfect fit! 

Just wait! It keeps going!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I received a text from our friend Marty. 

While we were running errands he delivered the second and third treasures... 

Gift #2 is a knitting machine from the 80s(?).  

From Marty's mom Allie (thanks so much Allie!). 

I am overwhlemed by Allie's generosity as well as the parts in this box! hahaha

Time for "Knitting Machine University" (when ever we get obsessed by something around here, which is almost every day, we name it, "______ University").

I need a lesson in knitting machines and it will be an adventure trying to put this creature together, but I am sure if I cannot figure it out, there is someone local who can teach me (anyone???).

There is a Bulky (worsted) part... (I don't even know what the part is called yet, a carriage?)...

and an Intarsia part!!! 

 The ideas I have for this are already overwhleming my brains, haha, 

as if there was any room in there before yesterday. 

BUT... the third gift???

This one did me IN.

Marty brought me my dear friend Ruth's yarn bin.

We lost Ruth in Dec. of 2012 to Melanoma.

I met her in 2008 at a local yarn shop just after moving across the country and missing my yarn friends in PA so very badly. Meeting her was such a gift at a very lonely time.

I still have not gone through this bin in a lot of detail. I saw a "UFO" she had started for her young daughter and never finished.... I had to put the lid back on.

Going through this will require some alone time and a cocktail to toast to our Ruth.

So, the Message sent to me today was a very CLEAR one.

Life is short.

I am on the right path. I love fiber arts. 

I love knitting and sewing and designing. 

 I am so very THANKFUL for these amazing gifts I received today, 

for the time I have to play with them, 

for the ideas they have already generated, and the opportunites they present. 

I do not want to take anything for granted. 

~Gratitude.

reenie out.

xo

Teo's Tomten Sweater~ 2013

 

 My little buddy Teo is growing so very fast. 

He is just 5 months old, yet is a big boy!

This sweater is a 4T~! Of course he has a lot of room to grow in it.

Yet another sweater by the amazing Elizabeth Zimmerman, this customized Tomten Sweater is perfect for a growing boy. (Ravelry Pattern Link)

    

Yarn is Northampton by Valley Yarns, color is Fawn.

5 st/in. on sz. 7  needles.

The custom button band is inspired by and knit from

the Latte Baby Coat pattern (Ravelry Link) by Lisa Chemery.

I decided to make an icord edge, I love how it cleans up the edges of the garter stitch 

and it completed the woven pattern nicely.

Buttons are from my Gram's button tin.

As he grows, we can move the buttons closer to the left edge, to give him 2 more inches around.

The garter stitch will stretch as he grows, and will give the needed length.

Sleeves are rolled up for now.

Back view~ 

My favorite part of this sweater? The hood!

I love the decreases at the back of the neck and the gnomey peak.

Love to see how this sweater will grow with Teo.

xo

reenie

Eve's Zelkova Sweater~ 2013

Eve's new sweater~

Pattern is Zelkova by Kirsten Kapur (Through the Loops!) (Ravelry Link).

You can read about my mods on my Ravelry Zelkova Project page.

Made from  Rowan All Seasons Cotton (60% cotton, 40% acrylic) in "String".

Sz. 10 1/2 needles.

Buttons are from my stash.

  I love how the yoke turned out on the back. Darling.

The original design had 3/4 length sleeves, but here in the PNW, long sleeves work best, so I modified them to be full length, with a ribbed cuff.