A reversible hooded fleece poncho

On the way home today I thought I'd stop at the fabric store and buy some cute fleece to make a poncho for my kiddo.  It's getting cold here and we were running errands, and in and out the car a bunch.  Well, carseats and big fluffy coats don't play nice with each other.  (Seriously, you don't want your kiddo wearing a fluffy coat in their carseat.  Not just because it is difficult to buckle, but not wearing the coat is safer if there were an accident.)  So, I bought a yard each of some cute fabric, thinking I'd make a no sew one like I made for myself last year.  Last night I added a seam and snaps to the neck hole for the baby, since I'd like to be able to wear it and not have my back get cold if I'm not wearing a baby.  I was thinking about that poncho and that it is made with 2 big rectangles.  Surfing on my phone for patterns in the parking lot didn't work, so I just bought the yard of each and called it good.

Then I found this reversible hooded poncho, which is super adorable!  The only problem was that I didn't have enough fabric to make that big, 23 inch radius, circle.  So I made 2, 19 by 30 inch rectangles in each fabric.

I folded my fleece long ways, not the usual way, and that gave me enough space to cut out the hood pieces.  I followed the hood directions as is, including making sure my bird pattern was upright on the hood.

Sew the short end of one rectangle to the long end of the other.

Then, with right sides together, I sewed the short end of one rectangle to the long end of the other, and repeated for the other side of the neck hole.  I did it again for the second layer.  You have to do them separately.  Then I put the rights sides of both body pieces together.  The seams of the rectangles will not line up, but the whole pieces will.  Line up the two corners.  I decided I didn't want fringe, so I sewed the two sides of the bottom edge together, turned it right side out through the neck hole and stitched around the edge again, just like on the hood.

Then I jumped to step 5 and put the hood between the body pieces.

My finished measurements are neck to point: 25 inches, neck to side (along short edge seam) 18 inches.

Yep, still knitting, a sweater this time.

I've been doing some larger projects lately.  My latest project is a stranded colorwork sweater.  It is Kelly's Ski Sweater from Knit Picks.  In this picture you can see the detailed pattern on the chest of the sweater.  It looks funny with live stitches sitting on that cable needle, because that is a steek.  I will (gulp) cut that open and pick up stitches for the collar.  This is my first project with steeks so I'm nervously looking forward to that part.

This is the whole body of the sweater.  It doesn't have arm holes.  More steeks, I will cut those open and attach the sleeves.  It looks like a lot of the same pattern on the body, but it is a simple pattern and went pretty quick.  After the first repeat I didn't need to look at the pattern except to check how many inches further I was supposed to knit.

Here is the three needle I-cord bind off on the shoulders.  The patterns says to knit the sleeves before joining the shoulders, but it also says to join the shoulders before cutting the steeks, so it doesn't matter if I switch that up.  I figured with the toddler and cat around, the fewer live stitches just chilling, waiting for me, the better.

Movement Double Knit Scarf

This is something that has been in the works for a while.  A few of you may have seen me carrying it around and knitting it.  Well, exciting news is here.  Knit Picks published my pattern on their website today, and it is available for purchase and download!

Here it is, my Movement Double Knit Scarf.

It is a fun cozy project to work on this fall/winter.  I've only worn it for the pictures so far, but I'm looking forward to wearing it more as it gets cold.

The double knitting was fun, and I already have a few more double knitting ideas to work on.

Beneath The Tree Starts tomorrow!

You don't want to miss this!  And check out http://www.beneaththetree.info/ for more information and a map.  It's such a fun event and so many people worked very hard.  I'm at house #6.  I'm working there Friday afternoon and then I'll be touring the other houses.

Beneath The Tree Setup 2013

I am happy to be selling at Beneath The Tree again this year.  Look for my vanilla extract, liquid soap, and bar soap in the kitchen, and a selection of my fiber art in the dining room.

Setup went smoothly and it was great to chat with the designer and hostess.

There are only 3 more days to the big event!  I am volunteering at house #6 as well, so I hope to see you on Friday!