Table Runners Turned Seat Covers

Does this look like a seat cover to you?  It doesn't to me, but that's what my sister uses it for in her car.  The monkey fabric is actually that waterproof stuff that you can find at craft stores.  It's a bit difficult to work with, and I found that I needed to put the regular material on the bottom while stitching with the sewing machine.  I machine quilted this time, instead of hand-quilting.  It's easy-peasy, so why did I take for-ev-er?

Um...yeah...no excuse for the tardiness.  Sorry Min.  Hope your Rav and you like the new "seat covers."

Two Baby Blankets - Divided Squares Pattern

Both of these blankets were knitted using a pattern called divided boxes. Unfortunately, I do not remember where I found the pattern. It is an easy pattern to follow.

The pattern is done in multiples of five stitches, and I add on additional stitches for the border. I like to make my border in seed stitch. Here is the pattern itself:

Row 1: (Right side) Knit across
Row 2: (K1, P4) across
Rows 3 and 4: (K3, P2) across
Row 5: (K1, P4) across
Rows 6 and 7: Knit across
Repeat Rows 2-7 for pattern


This one was done using a single strand of Bernat Softee Baby in Funny Prints.


This blanket is for one of the two little girls born to my friends this November (there were actually four babies born in November for whom I need blankets). I used two strands of yarn, one is Bernat Softee Baby in Baby Pink Marl, and the other is Red Heart Hunny Yarn in Pink Blush. Two strands are used because the Red Heart yarn is not very stretchy, and I do not care for how it lies on its own. As the Hunny yarn has been discontinued, this is the last of my stash, so lucky Baby A.

I think I have already talked about why I use Softee Baby so much, but in case I have not, it is because the yarn can be washed and dried.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the photo in the background of the picture featuring the pink blanket–it is of the Golden Gate Bridge, and was taken by my sister, Mindy, of Mindy Metivier Photography.

Baby Hat and 30 Day Song Challenge

Just finished this hat for Mindy Metivier Photography. It was made using Aracuania yarn in Rehue Solid Color 1. This particular yarn is hand dyed in Chile.


Fiber content on this yarn is 75% baby alpaca, 18% silk and 7% polyamide. It is quite soft.

Day 02 - Your Least Favorite Song
My Humps by The Black Eyed Peas

It's not the beat, it's the lyrics.

Got It Right This Time

Here's the hat my sister was hoping for last time. The pattern is from the String Or Nothing blog, and the yarn is the Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride in Jaded Dreams. Since the yarn is 85% wool and 15% mohair, it is pretty stiff, and the top of the hat sits up on its own.

Maybe it will appear in a photo by Mindy Metivier Photography.

Baby Hat in Organic Cotton

Surprise, surprise, this newborn-sized hat is for Mindy Metivier Photography. It's made out of Lion Brand's Nature's Choice Organic Cotton Yarn in pistachio, using size 6 (16-inch circular) and size 5 (double-pointed) needles. The i-cord tie is only about three inches, and next time I will make it longer.


The hat with the brim rolled up.

My pattern:

• Cast on 60 stitches. Join in the round, and work 6 rows of K3 P3 ribbing.


• From row 7 on, knit until hat measures 4.5", including the ribbing.


• Row 1 of decrease: *K4, K2tog; repeat from * until end (50 stitches remain).


• Rows 2 and 3: Knit all stitches.


• Row 4: *K3, K2tog; repeat from * until end (40 stitches remain).


• Rows 5 and 6: Knit all stitches.


• Row 7: *K2, K2tog; repeat from * until end (30 stitches remain).


• Row 8: Knit all stitches.


• Row 9: *K1; K2tog; repeat from * until end (20 stitches remain).


• Row 10: *K2tog; repeat from *until end (10 stitches remain).


• Row 11; *K2tog; repeat from * to end of round (5 stitches remain).


• Knit the five remaining stitches, but do not turn; instead slide the stitches to the opposite end of the needle (from left side to the right). The yarn will be on the left, but pull it around the back so it's on the right, and knit each stitch again. Repeat until i-cord measures desired length. As you pull the yarn from left to right, behind the knitted piece, the i-cord will close on itself.


• Bind off and weave in ends.

Heart Hat and Blanket Square

Here are two knitting projects I recently completed. The first is a newborn beanie in red, with a duplicate stitched pink heart. I used Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe yarn.


And here is a purple blanket square, made with Sensations Angel Hair yarn.

Both items may soon appear in photos by Mindy Metivier Photography.

Mindy Metivier Photography Casting Call for Newborns

My sister, Mindy, just went to Texas for a photo-mentoring session, and she learned some new baby posing and soothing techniques. So that she can put these new lessons to practice, she is offering free photo sessions for five to twelve-day old newborns.

Visit the Mindy Metivier Photography website for more details and photos from her mentoring session.

Happy Birthday

Can't say that I remember when this happened, but my sister, Mindy, was born on this day, 30-something years ago.

Happy birthday, Min! Did you have your spaghetti dinner?

In my family, you get to pick your birthday dinner, and it's been many years since Mindy's had anything else but my mom's spaghetti. If I was at home, I would make her some cupcakes. Next time, next time. Hope you enjoy your annual subscription renewal to National Geographic Traveler, and a new addition to your photo props inventory (obviously, it's not a secret).

How Today is About Football and My Sister

I'm a little distracted by the BCS Championship, so about all I can manage right now is to talk about two things: 1) the BCS; and 2) Mindy Metivier Photography gift certificates.

The BCS. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I always want to watch the national championship. This year especially (for reasons unknown even to me), I wanted someone to take down the SEC. Maybe it's because I have lived in California since 1996, or maybe it's because I've been brainwashed by all my Trojan and Bruin friends and I cheer for the Pac-10 when my Bows aren't in it (they're never in it). Whatever. I was pulling for the Ducks.

So much so, that the neighbors probably think I'm nuts.

Yes, I yell at the TV.

Well, the yelling is over. The Ducks lost. Ugh.

Silver lining. Silver lining.

Oops, sorry, it's something I've been hearing a lot lately.

So today's silver lining is that soon you will be able to buy gift certificates to Mindy Metivier Photography. How is it silver-lining? Well, even though Oregon lost the BCS today, it is also the same day that my sister announced that she will soon have gift certificates available for purchase. That's good for her, so by extension, I'm thinking it's good for me.

Silver lining. Right.

The Last Baby Blanket of 2010

Here's a blanket, made by special-request! It was a little weird making a blanket with two different football teams (this was for a two-team household), but that is mostly because I struggled with matching the fabric. It seems to have turned out okay though.


An up-close view so you can see the hand-quilting I did, and so you can see my team, the Colts.


This is just so you can see a bench that has appeared in photo shoots by Mindy Metivier Photography. By the way, this blanket was made in California and Hawaii.

My First Bunny Hat

I finally made a bunny hat! It was made using Dark Horse FA-30 Hot Pink Yarn. This was my first go-around with this brand of yarn, which is 50% Nylon and 50% Acrylic.

The Dark Horse Fantasy yarn line is quite soft, which make it quite nice; but it's also quite slippery.

The ears aren't perfect, but I don't think that rabbit's have perfectly symmetrical ears in real-life...hopefully my sister doesn't mind. We'll see how they do in a photo shoot.

Baby Pods (Formerly Known as Cocoons)

In case you are interested in seeing what my baby pods (a.k.a. "cocoons") look like with a baby in them, visit my sister's blog to see them in a photo shoot. You can see more of them if you view the slide show!

Hopefully these will begin making an appearance on my very own Etsy page sometime in the near future. If I only I could find the time to build up inventory!

For now, just check out Mindy Metivier Photography online.

Sewing Questions Not Yet Answered

A little over a year ago, I blogged about the struggles I had with using using double fold bias tape to make a square neckline. Included were some tutorial-type photos because I could not find step-by-step instructions on the internet.

You have no idea how pleased I have been to see that it's been helpful for other sewers.

Sorry, I just had to say that because I appreciate all the comments people have left for me. Which leads me to today's post.

The following two comments were left for me in October:

I am a 13 yo. seamstress, and I like to sew jumpers. I made one, (with a square neckline), and it turned out fine. Then, I made another with the same pattern, (I made the pattern) , and I ended up with funny wrinkles at the corners. Where did I go wrong? The first time I used cotton/denim, and the next I used 100% cotton material... Any tips?? Thanks!
October 21, 2010 11:04 AM

How do you do corners without getting scrunchy? also- how do you thread and use a serger? Could you write a post about that? Thank you!!
October 21, 2010 8:23 PM

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond, but I've been a bit busy lately, and I also haven't really been able to come up with what I think is a suitable answer to either question.

In answer to the "funny wrinkles" and "corners without getting scrunchy" questions—I have another question. Do you have any photos of these wrinkles and scrunches? It would help me if you could send me photos (please reference the blog in your subject line). I don't think it was the material you were using since both are made out of cotton. My guess is that you somehow pinched the fabric under the bias tape, or that fabric was pinched at the "v" part.

And now we've arrived at how to thread a serger.

How did you know that it's been more than a decade since I've actually used a serger? We had a serger at my grandma's house, and I remember failing miserably at trying to re-thread it. The first place I learned to use a serger was in Mrs. Iki's sewing class, and we never changed the thread without just tying the two colors together and letting the machine stitch until the new color was threaded all the way through. The best I can do is share with you two Google finds:

• Diane Bossom's Serger Place Serging Guidelines—this one has a lot of tips and has an improvement on the method I used in Mrs. Iki's class
.

• eHow.com has a video, but I can't make any comments on how informative it is.

Thanks for asking the questions. I do wish I could give you better answers, but send me some photos and I'll see if any of my resources can provide more help. And you know, my photographer of a sister was actually the one who was better with a sewing machine. Yes, that's right before there was Mindy Metivier Photography, there was a seamstress who made a lot of clothes.

I've Been Knitting

Here's a bunch of stuff I recently finished for my sister. Most of the pieces are cocoons, and hopefully they work for her photo shoots, and the babies are snug. There is one blanket square mixed in.


A cocoon in pumpkin.


A cocoon in yellow.


A cocoon in fig. In person, the yarn looks a little darker than it does in this photo.


The blanket square. This one is already in Hawaii. The other pieces will soon be on their way.