Pants-tastic!

I am a recycling jeans-ius! This is a fun, cool, and super easy way to stretch a few extra months out of those old jeans that your kids worn out but haven't outgrown yet, and recycle some that they have. All you need is heat bond (and an iron, of course), a marker, scissors and some old pants.
I cut a large piece of fabric out of some old jeans, and ironed the heat bond sheet to the back before trimming the edges. This way, the heat bond isn't wasted or accidentally ironed to the ironing board. I'm clumsy like that, so I try to think ahead.
Then, I just did a Google search for silhouettes, printed them and cut them out (or you can just freehand, which is what I did with the splat), traced around them on the back of the heat bond with the marker, cut this shape out of the heat bond fabric, and -after checking to make sure the design would adequately cover the hole in the pants we are trying to save- ironed said shape to aforementioned pants. My children now are certain that I rock.
Thing 1 got the splotch, Thing 2 got the bat.
ETA: After a few washings and dryings, the patches did start to pull away from the jeans in certain spots. Maybe it was just the type of heat bond I used, maybe I didn't heat it well enough during the initial bond, whatever... just letting you know it may happen, so it might not be a bad idea to add a running or blanket stitch along the edges of the patch once it's ironed on.




And I had another pair of jeans to recycle, so I made this little cutie... I just cut the fabric into strips and crocheted the jeans-yarn into a bowl. It looks even better filled with Mrs. Meyers laundry and dish soap samples.

Trinity's Top

OK, I made this for my niece (and wrote the pattern) about 3 years ago, so pleasepleaseplease, imaginary readers, excuse the terrible pattern writing. etc. The size is about a 5t. I think it only used 2 balls of Sugar n Cream. If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to comment below. Thanks.
eta: Trinity is super petite, so these sizes probably run small.

Trinity’s Top
Size 3T (4T,5T)
Materials:US7 straight or circular needles
Size H crochet hook
1 (2, 2) balls Lily Sugar n Cream worsted weight yarn -100% cotton (I used ecru)

Gauge:5st=1 in, 6rows=1 in

Notes: all inc are k in front and back of st. YIF is slip sts with “yarn in front” - Hold it there a little loosely, it will tighten up quite a bit when you make the bows.
The top that I made was actually a little shorter than I had intended, if you want to make it longer, add a patt repeat (or half a repeat - only 5 rows) to the bottom before BO - but I suggest having another ball of yarn handy just in case you need it.

Bodice-3T
Cast on 5 st
Row 1: k2, p1, k2
Row 2: k2, inc next st, k2 - 6 st
Row 3: k2, p2, k2
Row 4: k2, inc next 2 st, k2 - 8 st
Row 5: k2, p4, k2
Row 6: k2, inc next st, k2, inc next st, k2- 10 st
Row 7: k2, p6, k2
Bodice -4T( 5T) CO 8(10) st.
Row 1: k2, p4(6), k2
Row2: k2, inc in 1st st, k 2(4), inc next st, k2 - 10(12)st
Row 3: k2, p6 ( 8 ), k2
Row 4: k2, inc next st, k4(6), inc next st, k2 - 12(14) st

By now, you should have a small area of stockinette st and an emerging garter st border. All WS (odd numbered) rows should be worked as *K2, p (#of st to garter stitch edge), K2*. All RS (even numbered) rows should knit all st, increasing the third and third from last st, until you have 22 (24, 26) st on your needle. BO.

Make another triangle in the same manner as above. When you have finished the second triangle, cast on 5 st, then pick up 40 st spaced evenly across the bottom of both triangles on the RS. CO another 5 st. Turn to the WS, and begin waist band.

Waist band
Row 1: p across (wrong side)
Row 2: k across
Row 3: k across
Row 4: k across
Row 5: p across
Row 6: k across
Row 7: k across
Row 8: k across

Bottom
There are 50st on your needle now. The first and last 5 will be worked in garter st. So -
St Pattern is a variation of little butterfly worked in multiples of 10 over 10 rows, and will be worked over 40 sts, 20 rows

Row 1: k10,*sl 5 WYIF, k5*, repeat from * to last 5,k5
Row 2: k5, Purl across until last 5. K5.
Row 3: Rep row 1
Row 4: Rep row 2
Row 5: k5, [k7, insert tip of needle under both yif’s, k 1- being careful to draw st around yif’s, K2], repeat across until last 5st, k5

Row 6: K5, *sl 5 wyif, k5*, repeat from * to last 5, k5.
Row 7: K5, Purl until last 5 ,st, k5.
Row 8: Rep row 6
Row 9: rep row 7
Row 10: K5[K2, insert tip of needle under yif’s, k1, making sure to draw st around yif’s, k7], repeat until last 5, k5.
Work pattern two times total (3 times for a longer top) , finish with picot bind-off below.

Finishing :
Picot bind off (thanks to Marnie MacLean for showing me how!)
This will create the ruffle at the bottom, just do a regular bind off if you don’t want the ruffle

K2, pass 1st k st over 2nd k st, *place remaining st back on right needle, CO3, BO4, k1, pass st already on needle over new st*, rep from * until only 1 st is on needle, cut yarn, pull through remaining st, weave in tail.

Straps: Make one at the top of each bodice triangle and at either end of waist band

pick up 5 st.
Row 1: k all
Row 2: k2tog in back of st, k1, k2tog
Row 3: sl1, k 1, psso, sl last st, psso
With crochet hook, pick up last st on needle and chain st for app 6-8 in. Cut yarn, pull through last st tightly. Weave in all ends, block.

Give to your favorite little girl, and enjoy!

Raving About Ravelry

Seriously, how cool is this site?
I resisted the lemming-like urge to join the first time I heard about it, for longer than I thought possible. Eventually, though, I followed a pattern link through to Ravelry.com and was denied access because I wasn't a member. So, I bit back my pride and applied for an invitation, and joined. Big surprise, I love it!
It is any crafter's heaven. The only thing that comes close to being half as cool is Etsy - which I have to avoid like the plague because it is a time-suck of epic proportions! I could easily spend a whole day doing nothing but looking at Etsy and Ravelry... and who said computers were supposed to make our lives easier??
Anyway, Ravelry has inspired me to try to organize my knitting, yarn and various projects, much to my husband's delight. He has quietly and kindly lived with random balls of yarn, needles, hooks, and UFO's floating around the house and cluttering up the side tables, and has never once been mean about my endless need to create and my contradictory inability to complete any projects. I am tidying up tables, tallying and inventorying and making excel spreadsheets... he's beside himself.
The only downside to Ravelry? I now have a knitting queue I could not possibly work my way through in this lifetime. And that's not even with all the patterns I want to knit, just the ones I think I could actually find the time, patience, and yarn for. If only all my problems were like this, life would be grand.
That's all the time I can spare for you, blog, I have Ravelry business to attend to!

School is NOT out forever!!

No matter what Alice Cooper tells your children, it's not true.
And so begins another school year. Since I have only two kids, it was a very short jump between sending my first one off to school and sending my last one off to school... and I have reached that very emotional, empty-nest point. #2 is starting Kindergarten, and I have to admit, I'm having a bit of a breakdown.
I'm trying to be excited, because he is, and I don't want to dampen that any, but I'll probably cry. Thank goodness he goes in the morning, I can drown my sorrows in coffee and have myself all put back together by the time he gets home.
Well, back to school time is just as hectic and stressful for the parents as the kids, so off I go - between sorting clothes to see how bad the latest growth spurts are going to affect the budget, buying school supplies, trying to set up my Ravelry account and knit some gifts for a baby shower next month, I'm swamped. (Not really. I just need to get off the computer and make dinner. The children need to eat in order to fuel the next growth spurt, you know!)
More soon, with some pictures, too!!

I is hukt....

I don't know what is so fascinating about dozens and dozens of pictures of cats and dogs with captions that seem to be created by graduates of the Hooked on Phonics reading program, but there is something, and it has grasped me firmly around the ears and will not let me look away from icanhascheezburger.com, or its sister sites, ihasahotdog.com and punditkitchen.com (that one is my current favorite, having temporarily overloaded on funny but completely annoyingly misspelled kittehs and goggies).
I mean, seriously, it's just a cat. Or a dog.

Or a politician...
Somehow, I have become completely absorbed in the bukkit saga of the lolrus, the rift between ceiling cat and basement cat, and the fact that no one seems to give their poor cats a cheeseburger, and they only give their dogs annoying hot dog costumes, rather than the actual hot dogs they desire.
Hoomans iz stoopid.
Help me, please.

Really?
Over a year since my last post?
REALLY?
I'm not a very good blogger, I suppose.
But I suppose we all figured that out, already.
I'm not a very good gardener, either. Although I have learned that
A)Poison ivy is not as easy to identifyas I thought it was, and
B) it is not easy to get rid of, either. Oh, and also
C) when tearing suspect vines off the side of your house, avoid rubbing your eyes, unless you want to end up looking like a lopsided Cabbage Patch kid. :(
I may have to go to the doctor tomorrow, this is misery.
It does, however, give me plenty of time to catch up on things that I have been neglecting, like housework, knitting, reading, and blogging.
More soon, most likely.