Last Minute Handmade Gift: the mini sweater

This is the first year in a very long time that I will be spending the holidays in the city. It will also be the first year that I will be spending the holidays with my in-laws. To mark this occasion I decided to break my only one handmade gift a year rule (you all knew I was going to do that anyway, didn’t you?)

The mini sweater ornament is one of my all time favorite holiday handmade gifts. I loosely based the pattern off of ornaments we had growing up. Because I hate sewing in ends with a passion I designed it to be made with no thread breaks and the ends can be used to sew up the sides. My families original mini sweater ornaments all have their initials beaded on the front which make them very sophisticated. But you can leave them plan or embroider something too.

As a little holiday gift to you I thought I would give you all the pattern. Once you get the hang of the pattern each sweater takes about 30 minutes. There is no gauge for this project, I use up the bit and pieces left over from other projects. I usually use a worsted weight yarn and about a size 6 needle. But Bulky is fine too or you can double DK weight. WARNING: this is an oddly addictive project!

Row 1: Cast on 14sts
Row 2: knit
Row 3: knit
Row 4: knit
Row 5: purl
Row 6: knit
Row 7: purl
Row 8: knit
Row 9: purl
Row 10: knit
Row 11: add 7 stitches with loop method, purl across 21 sts
Row 12: add 7 stitches with loop method, knit across 28 sts
Row 13: purl
Row 14: knit
Row 15: purl 10 sts cast off eight purl 10 sts
Row 16: (right arm) knit 10
Row 17: turn purl 10
Row 18: knit 10 jump over to other sleeve and knit 10 sts for left arm (leave approximately 1 ½ worth of yarn between the two arms, this will become the hanger for the sweater- see photo below)
Row 19: purl 10
Row 20: turn knit 10
Row 21: purl 10 add 8 sts with the loop method purl 10 sts of other arm
Row 22: knit across 28 sts
Row 23: purl
Row 24: knit
Row 25: purl
Row 26: cast off 7 sts knit to end (21 sts total)
Row 27: cast off 7 sts purl to end (14 sts total)
Row 28: knit
Row 29: purl
Row 30: knit
Row 31: purl
Row 32: knit
Row 33: purl
Row 34: knit
Row 35: knit
Row 36: knit
Row 37: cast off

the one tricky bit to the mini sweater is the jump over in the middle (row 18). Basically you have created two sleeves with a neck whole in the center of the sweater, by jumping over the neck whole from the right sleeve to the left you are creating the hanger for the mini sweater.

In order to assure that you have enough yarn as you hanger I usually wrap the yarn over my right hand an then pick up the sts on the left needle creating a long loop in between the two sleeves.

Happy Holidays!

Hunter's Quilt

This week has kinda slipped away from me. I can't believe this is the first time I am posting about Hunter's quilt in the making. I am actually working on one crafting resolution number 1: Hunter's quilt.
I actually got a good head start on this one when my sister was in town at the end of the summer. She has an amazing eye for color so any time I can get her to help me pick fabrics I do. It was perhaps our fastest fabric selection ever. In fact we picked the fabric so quickly that we felt like we needed to wander around the store for an extra half an hour just in case we were being hasty.
I am in love this this pattern even though it is one of the most persnickety quilt patterns in the universe. It requires very straight seam sewing and very precise cutting. No sleepy or distracted cutting allowed or these darn seams won't line up. This will be my third quilt in this pattern and I think I have finally got a good system down, sew several blocks then cut them one after another. I use double sided tape on the back of my plexi square to help keep it from skidding. I managed to sew 8 squares this week, actually ten but there were two casualties to sleepy cutting. I think another 10 or so and the top will be done.
I am thrilled with how well it is coming out. I increased the size of the center square (the yellow box in the middle) which is making the whole thing a lot easier.

The Great Gift Exchange

This year my guy and I decided make each other gifts. We have both been toiling away in secrete for the last several weeks. Here are the fruits of our labor.

I made him a series of stenciled t-shirts, with masculine stencils.

And he made me the best thing ever for a yarn obsessed girl like me: a yarn holder.

It attaches to the couch or can stand on the floor. It has a place for spools and balls of yarn. I love it! I don’t think I have ever gotten such a thoughtful and useful gift.