CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO: Knitting

November 13, 2013

A few little nothings

Maybe it was the rough day finally looking up at 4:30pm but I felt the sudden urge to take a few pictures and write this entry. Of course by then I had exactly 10 minutes to capture the last of rays of sunlight. Daylight savings is not kind to the procrastinator. It's been all up and down at La Maison Lanvers and seeing Finn sick, in pain and clutching his belly all day is just heartbreaking. We are all better now, which is a huge relief for everyone. Hence a little frivolous posting...

baby hat for Quitterie

First and foremost I finished Quitterie's white baby hat. It is much larger than I anticipated but her little head is certainly growing. It is made of the most wonderful Cotton-Wool mix from Rowan. Very special and never itchy. It only took one 50gr skein which means I could probably make another smaller version pronto. I always feel that any present needs a custom bag, and sometimes one is already there waiting for the perfect gift, convenient! The pattern and my Ravelry notes can be found here.

This strawberry Liberty of London print is just lovely, I might have to make a diaper wallet with the leftovers.

baby hat for Quitterie little Liberty bag

Moving on now to the little things we picked up during the veteran's day sale at the thrift-store. Books mostly, an English deco book and a collection of Nature Science books for children from the 60's by Dr. Glenn O. Blough. The illustrations by Jeanne Bendick are to die for, so are the titles: Not only for Ducks, the story of rain. The concept reminds me of an uber popular independent French nature gazette called La Hulotte. It is written by a former elementary school teacher who is also an exquisite illustrator. It is completely possible that most of my plant and wild creature knowledge came from those pamphlets. They have a facebook page ! it feels all wrong but I am liking anyway!

Thrifted nature science book from the 60's

The little house was unpainted but strangely compelling and cheap ($.99). I am giving it the usual treatment of grey paint. At this stage only the first coat is on. The little gilded box came from a closet somewhere in the house. It was still Ikea meeeh and as I was considering letting go of it the idea struck to make use of the pot of gold used for the bamboo frame. It's considerably more regal now and Finn thinks it's "very beeeeautiful!".

thrifted little nothing and a gilded Ikea box

Posted at 06:13 PM in Baby, Books, FABRIC, Kids, Knitting, SEWING | Permalink | Comments (4)

January 01, 2013

Boot toppers

We woke up to a very clean house after yesterday's effort and an evening spent goofing around at Fat Cats bowling and night glow mini golf. I am absolutely horrible at both these activities but Finn and I make up for lack of skill with giant whacks and gutter guards.

Back to the clean house, potentially be the best way to start the year, without visual clutter I feel so optimistic and can actually relax enough to sit down and knit a pair of boot toppers.

Boho Boot topper

Ravelry Link Here

In the winter I wear skirts with wool tights and these black Frye boots almost everyday and standing at the flower shop it seemed like a good idea to put a stop to the drafts going down my calves. This pattern is really easy and even teaches you how to cable with a step by step tutorial in case it's you first time.

Boho Boot topper

The second topper is half way done so I might try the Boot Candy pattern next, if I can figure out the modification for worsted weight yarn...

Posted at 02:54 PM in Knitting | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 30, 2012

Hair: Cut

So long Rapunzel, the nest of knots had become too much to bare every single day. Each time I ran, swam or simply slept (how do like that irregular verbs!) a world of pain was certain. In case some of you missed the grammatical joke, I grew up in France, where it also took a world of pain to cram these english verbs in my head, which was also at the time sporting long lengths... there is a pattern here somewhere. Photos were requested by faraway friends and here is the undeniable proof that despite (too) much attachment to the locks they are pretty much gone (cries a little):

It's blurry, which lessens the cringe factor on my end it comes to posting this sort of things on the blog. and already it's enough face time and let us move on to hand time.The pairs of fingerless mitts bellow are destined for K and J, they are aware and you can find all the details here and here if you are so inclined...

Tara gloves

Before we part for the day, let's have a fantastic retro Franco-German moment, since much like here between the two party they seem to be struggling to get along lately. Here be the proof we should all get along, isn't Francoise Hardy perfect? Except for the cigarette of course, that is unfortunate...

Posted at 06:53 PM in Knitting, macarons | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

November 27, 2012

The Return of The Nisse

Remember the nisse? He was my first pattern for this blog and so popular too for a little while until Maileg shut us down with not so subtle threats. I must admit to have been saddened and rather turned off from their the company adorable image ever since (except of course for the brief lapse during which I purchased a 5 ft tall elf advent calendar...). But it's time to put all this brooding behind and maybe sew up some new friends. After all they cannot prevent me from using my own pattern at home... Cue the helicopters with tiny elves wearing camo descending on the house!

Untitled

The first order of business was giving this long fellow some clothes. He is destined to travel back to the European north and settle in Köln, Germany where I hope he will delight and watch over a little boy. After taking him out of storage quickly came the realisation that he was naked, very much so, and his long limbs made him appear more insect than pixie.

Untitled

First the entirely improvised sweater, knit in Noro Retro, a blend of wool/angora/silk. I took lots of mental notes and wrote an easy pattern for it on Ravelry. You can find it here.

Wearing a sweater only made the bum more bare and I had to sew up some linen pantaloons, trim them up... and finally knit a scarf (cascade ecological). Finn is completely enamored with him so I am off to start the sequence again with my last prototype.

The pattern for the wreath behind the elf should be available on We All Sew very soon.

Posted at 04:25 PM in Holidays, Kids, Knitting, SEWING, We All Sew | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

November 08, 2012

Tara Gloves, for A.

Tara Gloves

Knitting is making a comeback at our house, where I am trying to make a dent in the disorganized pile that is labelled 'yarn stash'. This little pattern from Getting Purly With It comes locally from Blazing Needles, but it is available on Ravelry as well. The knitting is easy and fast, which is nice after the cabled mittens of last week.

Tara Gloves

A's birthday is in December, which frankly is a bummer, so today I decided to pretend it's not and gift those to her early. She has a new born and should be happy for the finger access and the warm wrists...

Tara Gloves wrapped for Ambre

Pattern: Tara Gloves by Getting Purly With It

Yarn: merino kid by Shibui knits

needle size: US 7

Posted at 01:22 PM in Knitting | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 06, 2012

Chevalier Mittens

We just spent a long weekend in sunny Orange County, where we took advantage of the classic "come-to-our-fabulous-resort-for-cheap-and-all-you-have-to-do-is-attend-a-90-minutes-sale-presentation". So worth the bother in this case but I don't think we'll do it again. If here we are raking leaves by the bucket, there you can dive in the pool at 8 am and be completely fine. Amazing climate, amazing vegetation... and lots of time on my hands to finish these big cabled mittens. The pattern is free on Ravelry, Chevalier Mittens by Mari Muinonen.

OrangFlower had provided a line by line play of the chart, but it still took me 4 tries to get them done! now a few more pairsareor in my future. This pink one is flying to Queens, NY where S. lives on a street with a functioning mail service!

November knits

Needle size US 5, magic loop.

Quince & Co Lark, Sorbet, two skeins.

Posted at 12:11 PM in Knitting | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

October 25, 2012

Happy Solitude Cowl

The combination of the cabin and the Fall makes knitting a necessity, and somehow all kinds of WIPs are coming out of the woodwork... The Happy Solitude cowl by Veera Malimaki was one such project and it was an excellent one to start with, being so quick and all! Why on hearth couldn't I finish it last winter? Don't answer that...

Posted at 09:14 AM in Knitting | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

March 19, 2011

Dahlia

Going on the loom

After a little digging around I found the perfect companion to Karin's dahlia yarn. It will be going up on the loom this weekend and hopefully turn out as a scarf. These jewel colors make me smile every time. Mood uppers in stranded form.

Posted at 10:51 AM in Knitting, weaving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)