Sully's Knit Baby Bloomers

Our dear friends Stacy and Brian have what I believe to be definitively the cutest baby in the world, and his name is Sully.  As I probably have a decade before I want to create my own youths, I get to take out all of my pint sized crafty endeavors on him.  So far, they seem to be tolerating it pretty well.

One thing that I really like about little Sully is that he spends a great deal of time wearing only his diaper.  I mean honestly, I think most people would just wear their underwear if they could get away with it with no judgement.  Chicago in the summer is unbearably hot and humid.  Plus, if you already have to bathe your baby and he's only going to get food and spit up on everything why bother washing clothes too?

I figured that such a suave shirtless bachelor could use a little something to shake up his wardrobe without having to inhibit his manly cuteness.  And thus, this diaper cover was created!  For those special occasions when you can pull of shirtless-ness but want to class it up beyond the standard diaper.  Bonus points: it's Chicago Bulls colors.

You'll Need:

2 skeins of yarn in contrasting colors

3.25 mm/ size 3/ size D knitting 16" circular needles

DPNs

I used size 5 DPNs for the legs, as that's all I have, but the same size as the body would be ideal.

I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn.

The Pattern:

The Body:

Cast on 90.  Work in the round until you have about 5 inches, or your desired length from top of thigh (keep in mind the waistband will add to that height too).

To start the leg holes:  bind off 5 stitches, knit 40, bind off 5 stitches, knit 40, turn work.

At this point, we will be knitting a band out of one side.  The other side can be transferred to another needle, kept on your circular needle, or put onto a piece of string or other holding device for the time being.  I kept mine on the other side of my circular needle as it seemed the least work.

On purl side, bind off 1, purl across, turn work.  

On knit side, bind off 1, knit across, turn work.

Now we're going to do ribbing for between the legs.  If you opt not to, just continue to knit and purl until your desired length.  The ribbing gives you more flexibility with how big their diaper is.  If you used a different number of stitches, adjust the ribbing as needed to keep it symmetrical.

On the knit side: k5, p2, k3, p2, k3, p2, k4, p2, k3, p2, k3, p2, k5  (38)

On the purl side: p5, k2, p3, k2, p3, k2, p4, k2, p3, k2, p3, k2, p5  (38)

Repeat this ribbing until the thigh holes are the desired size.  Mine was about 9.5 inches long.  Stop when you're about to do the knit side.

K1, m1r, knit across until you have 1 left, m1l, K1, and turn.

If you're unfamiliar with m1r and m1l, they're a way to add a stitch that I explained here.

Merging the Body:

Starting a purl side row, turn the whole body to face the purl side and line up both sides.  Using a crochet hook if you have one, or another knitting needle, purl through a stitch on both sides.  Bind off as you go.  

bloomers inside out prior to seam 

 when seaming, purl through both front and back sides

 finished stitch

 binding off as you go

finished seam on the inside 

seam from the inside 

seam from the right side 

Leg Holes:

For the leg holes, use a contrasting yarn to make a ribbed ring.  

I used a crochet hook to pull up loops of the contrasting color one stitch in, and every other stitch apart. I then transferred these to DPNs.  If you don't have a crochet hook, you could pick up stitches to bind to using your DPNs, but it might look a little different, and possibly not as neat in the finished product.

 Make sure you have an appropriate number for the ribbing you do.  I did 2x2 (i.e. knit 2, purl 2), so I made sure my total number was divisible by four.

Continue the ribbing- in my case k2-p2- in the round until you reach your desired length and bind off loosely.  Mine were a little longer than 1 inch.

Repeat with the other leg.

For the waistband, use the same method as used on the legs to create loops several stitches below the top.  As before, make sure your number of stitches is divisible by the number of stitches in your repeated pattern.

I used 2x2 rib on the top as well, for about 2 inches in height.

Waistband Tie:

For the tie, I made an i-cord two stitches wide.  Weave this through the waistband.

This is optional, but it's cute, and will help keep your bloomers on if it's not exactly the right size.

And that's it!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

My final product is about 11 inches tall and 9.5 inches wide when laid flat.  

The gauge is 4.5 stitches wide and 6 stitches tall in a 1 inch square.

 a little size comparison

the backside

 the ribbed bottom

On a side note, while researching patterns I found of that people actually call these "soakers", which is weird and kind of gross.  I like "bloomers" much better, so we're going with that.



P.S.  This pattern is now up on Ravelry.

Sully's Knit Dragon

Holy moly has it been a long time.  It's been a week since my last post, but it's been a very long time since my last crafty post.  And this project has been in the works since probably February, so I am very very glad to have it finished finally.  Considering I have two dragonflies, a carrion beetle, a baby blanket, and a set of sunflower coasters in the works, it's about time something made it out of my progress basket.

I made it for the amazingly adorable baby Sully.  Last night Joe and I met up with his parents for dinner, so I decided to get my butt in gear and make his little legs so Sully could have something new to curl up with.  And because his parents are sci-fi lovers, he definitely needs a little magic monster. 

Pardon the fact the the flash brings out his stuffing- it isn't nearly that noticeable in person.  But because I was actually finishing his itty bitty dragon arms in the car on the way over, and then stitching them on while we were doing drinks and appetizers, I forgot about getting some photos to post until we were just about to leave and the sun already went down.  So all things considered, the pictures aren't too shabby.

The pattern can be found here on Ravelry.  It's a free pattern that's a few pages long with lots of pictures.  It's knit in the round on double pointed needles.

The only thing I remember changing from the original is that for the upper arms I cast on 6, did about 8 rounds, then did k2-kfb-k2-kfb, knit about 4 rounds, k2tog around, then tied off.  And I did yarn eyes.

And I could say this is for scale, but it's really because I think it's funny.  

Knit Octopus Squid (Octopoteuthis deletron)

So I mentioned on my American flag post that I'm in the process of working on a new series of knit and crocheted items that are distinctly American.  And finally I am posting about my very first animal!

This is the octopus squid.  And no, I'm not confusing those terms- that's it's real name.  It's also called the oceanic squid, or more technically Octopoteuthis deletron. Now ringing a bell?  Well this little marvel has even graced the Huffington Post and New York Times, so it's kind of a big deal.

These little charmers live between 400 and 800 meters down in the Pacific Ocean and has been found off the coast of the U.S. from California to Alaska.  Because of how rarely one octopus squid floats past another octopus squid they have the funny reproductive tactic of attaching sperm packets to any octopus squid they come across- male or female.

courtesy of MBARI

Octopus squids can grow up to 24 cm, or about 9 inches long.  They have 8 legs- each with a strong hook and photophores at the end.  Photophores are organs that emit light, usually in deep sea animals.  Their photophores have a shutter that opens and closes when muscles contract, making it give off a flashing light (you can watch it here). If you're interested in learning more about bioluminescence, the Field Museum in Chicago has an exhibit called Creatures of Light going on now through January 2014.  It's geared towards younger people, but fascinating for all ages, in my humble opinion. Who doesn't love fireflies?!

courtesy of MBARI

Getting back to the subject at hand, these squids are also notable for their defensive behavior called "attack autonomy".  When attacked, the sink one of those hooks I mentioned above into their attacker and shoot off in a puff of ink, leaving their leg behind.  The leg even continues to glow and twitch after it detaches, presumably to keep the attacker's attention while the squid zooms away safely.  Although you might have heard of a similar tactic employed in lizard tails, octopus squids are pretty special for being the ONLY squid that does this!  Take a look:

credit to Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

This squid leaves two legs behind on the brush- that large one on the front of the bristle, and the small one you see swimming around at the end.  The yellow-ish cloud that comes up after ti's escape is it's ink.

So now that you're totally intrigued in the fascinating O. deletron, here's the little one I created:

the full portrait

 the head shot

Knit Hexagons

I have this thing where I don't buy knitting or crocheting patterns.  I don't understand why I should pay for one when there are so many amazing patterns for free on the internet.  I get really irritated when I find an adorable picture, click on it, and find out they want me to pay $5 for it on Etsy or Ravelry.  It usually ends up in a little bit of cursing like a sailor as I attempt to peruse the World Wide Web for a comparable version that's free. And 9 times out of 10 I find one.  Or at least one I can alter enough to make it work.

It's not just that I'm cheap.  And for Pete's sake I'm in graduate school and am living off of loan money so I seriously need to be cheap. It's also that I don't understand why a PDF should cost that much money.

Those 1 out of 10 times when there is no better alternative I get super disappointed.  But I haven't given in yet and I am damn stubborn, so I'm thinking I'll hold out until my pattern-making skills catch up to my desires.  My inner biologist is obsessed with realistic animal stuffed animals (like this iguana) on PlanetJune and by jove one day I will make my own.

Just this week I was riding home from school and sat next to a lady knitting something itty bitty, so I asked what she was making.  She told me all about these little stuffed hexagons (or "hexipuffs") she was making from scraps and how they very neatly get put together to make a puffy little quilt.  I have tons of scraps! and I love projects I can do in class or on the train! Perfect!


But then I came home and found it on Ravelry and realized that the very cute Beekeeper's Quilt pattern costs $5.50.  I got very grumpy and spent two days mulling over whether it was worth buying it.  Was this pattern really worth caving in for?  And seriously, over $5?!  It's very small and simple.  Plus from what I read on the few blog posts I read (there are hundreds) many people ended up modifying the cast on, the increase/decrease, or the bind off.  I'm definitely not paying it if I'm going to have to change it anyways.

So my decision was made- I was going to make it up.  And if I'm  making it up then I can change it!  So I made mine a little bigger so that I can make fewer of them. Because 450 of those little buggers for just a lap blanket is insanity.  It should be easily changeable for those who want to make it smaller or bigger.

Happy spring!

Happy Easter, Passover, or simply a nice warm spring day from the Charm Hour family to yours.

the pattern used for the nest and eggs can be found here, from the Purl Bee

Modified Stockinette Snake

 I studied biology in college, and totally love (almost)  all things creepy crawly- snakes, frogs, and beetles being my top three.  I even spent a year of college doing research on South African Clawed frogs, and spent a lot of my free time abroad in East Africa looking up insects that I found around camp.  My mom would tell you I've been like this pretty much forever.  I remember once thinking I was ingenious in using a bubble tape gum container to hold my ants so I could bring them inside to play with them and not soon after was shocked to find it empty. Sorry mom!

Joe and I are even the proud owners of not one, but two snakes.  I have a very scared and wimpy ball python named Bruce, whose an absolutely gorgeous pastel morph for those of you who know what that means.  Joe's is a larger iridescent Imperator Boa.  If anything Joe is even more into herpetology than I am, so I am lucky to have found someone equally weird.


So now you can understand how totally thrilled I was when I found this amazing pattern for a knit snake on purl bee! (Which, as a side-note I am really hook-on right now, so there will be more modifications coming your way).

The recipe calls for making it striped with two kinds of yarn, but because I'm impatient as all get out and because I had a yarn that had some built-in stripes I modified it for just one color.  I used an old skein of Caron Simply Soft Shadows that I had around, but I'm not sure they make it anymore. As for the needles I used, they're from my grandmother's collection, and I don't have the faintest clue what size they are.  You could use DPN's instead easily.

Here's the best part of this project:  it's knitted flat!  And you don't have to do any seams or merging or stuffing or anything.  It uses the basic stockinette stitch (knit one side, purl the other) and just naturally curls into itself to make itself round!  It's amazing and SUPER easy.  If you're someone whose only ever done scarves and knitting and purling you could do this!

A very pit bull sweater

As if I haven't posted enough about my little dog, I knit him this amazing sweater recently and I am finally getting around to posting about it.  I searched around revelry and the internet for ages, as most sweaters are for little bitty dogs, and not a beast like mine. So I made some modifications to a sweater pattern for Basenji found on ravelry or the author's original blog post.

Mine fits my dog more snugly as he would shake anything off, and I wanted it to fit under his coat for those super cold Chicago nights. I also added four cables to the back to spice it up a little.  I also eliminated the sleeves.  But use the other ink to compare, or use hers if you prefer it!

Also, because it's very easy to make fun of animals in clothes, let me just say I am not usually a supporter.  But our pit bull has very thin fur and will shiver and get difficult after less than two blocks on really cold days.  This pattern is great in that it covers his belly and neck.  It does the double duty of keeping him warmer and making it harder for him to shake it off.  And he really doesn't mind wearing it!  If you're wondering how to get it on- I put his legs in first then swoop it over his head. Fortunately he's smart enough to catch of that he'd rather deal with it than be cold.

I used what are probably 16" size 8 circular knitting needles, and what I think was Impeccable yarn?  It's a thicker worsted so it actually came out to be a pretty dense little knit.

Football Baby Cocoon

Holy Moly it's been a long time.  School picked up and I have many a project to post!

This is a project I did in early fall for a friend of our who just had a baby. I had seen an etsy listing for a similar hat and baby sack combo and being an inventive (read: cheap) person I have a hard time paying for patterns and an even harder time paying for something I think I could make myself.  So I made it up!  And all-in-all I think it came out pretty well.  It's on the small side- especially for our little one month old chubster- but it's a pretty dang good first try. All of the white stitching was added after with a crochet hook.


Unfortunately, I didn't write down my pattern, but I do have pictures!
(Please forgive the very dirty-looking ottoman underneath)