Hairpin Lace Blankie

This blankie will put your babe right to sleep! Probably. Well, maybe.

 Haipin Lace Blankie

After seeing a few hairpin lace baby blankets, I was very motivated to make my next babe a sweet sleepy blanket. I have to say that I love love the end result of this project! That said, I now see why hairpin lace isn't everywhere. Though it is beautiful and easy, it is very time consuming. It's not just for baby blankies though. There are some beautiful hairpin lace scarves among other things. I will share the few tutorials I found most helpful when learning it and pass on some hard earned tips to perfect it... if indeed you are obsessed with the details... also known as perfectionist... like me... ahem.

Basics: Hairpin lace is a kind of crochet. It's made in long strips with a loom and crochet hook. Though it's a little awkward to use the loom at first, it got easy quickly. After the strips are made they are woven, or crocheted, together. Then the edges are finished. I used Simply Soft yarn for my project. I love the sheen of the yarn with the lace look. And I used grey. Love grey!


Joining tips: I discovered, after much trial and error, the easiest way for me to weave the strips together. I got a very stiff neck and shoulders from trying to bend over the blanket on the floor or table top... and it didn't work to do it in my lap. I had no lap at the time as I was quite pregnant! It did work very well to sit on a chair at my dining table with the blanket and strips on the table top in front of me. When weaving the strips together, there is an important trick to ending up with a square/rectangle shaped blanket. You can see (picture on the right) that you use a hook to pick up loops to weave together. When starting to add a strip do not always begin the weave from the left, or always start from the right. You have to alternate or you will end up with a very wonky diamond shape. So when you join your first two strips together begin the weave by picking up loops from the strip on the left. When beginning to join the third strip to the second, begin the weave by picking up loops from the strip on the right. Alternate the beginning loops as you go, drawing from left then right then left etc. Hope that makes sense. It's difficult to explain.

This girl LOVES to snuggle!

Finishing tips: I did not want tassels on the ends of my blanket so did a bit of research. I was liked all the finishing possibilities and tried several on my blanket before I decided to weave the side edges and sc with a triple strand of yarn on the ends. Single crocheting on the ends turned out to be a little more work than I thought it would be, only because I had to untie the threads holding the loops together and arrange the loops how I wanted at the end, and hold them there while I crocheted each in place. This has to be done one row at a time or it will start to unravel. Tedious! But in the end I thought it was worth it.

Links:
-Especially good for those who need the visual! A youtube video showing how to crochet the strips for hairpin lace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exkDF2oiPR8
-Hairpin lace tutorial showing how to crochet hairpin lace strips, weave them together, and finish with woven sides and tasseled ends: http://weefolkart.com/content/hairpin-lace-instructions
-A few different ways to join the strips (another youtube video but not great quality) None of these are really innovative but it did help me begin to realize the possibilities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqV0arafa4E

Hope that inspires or helps... or amuses... or something!

Easy Sew Wool Diaper Covers

There's nothing quite like a really really good diaper cover that's really cute and looks like you spent hours, and hours, and hours, knitting it. What makes it even better is the fact that really I just found a large $4 wool sweater at the thrift store and will get 5 sewn covers from it! And it doesn't take as long as knitting covers, or even crocheting covers.

I've been wanting to find an easy fool-proof non-pattern for sewing wool diaper covers. After looking at many, many... many sewing instructions for diaper covers I've been discouraged. Most patterns are ones you have to print out to use, and I can't help but wonder if the pattern will be right for my super long tiny thigh baby. And I'm positive they'll be wrong for my 38 lb 2 year old! Another type of pattern is one that says something like, "Start forming the leg curve" or "just freehand a shape like this." *Sigh* I get the feeling that if I just started chopping until I got the shape just right it would fit nothing but my 6 year old's doll in the end. It would be like the hair cut that just wasn't straight... until it was a bob. I'm a little perfectionist like that.

So, as I usually do, when I can't find what I want, I created it. I took inspiration from the Easiest Crochet Wool Soaker, decided rectangles were perfect for sewing as well, and created my own non-pattern. I found that I like it much. Extra fabric in the crotch region is great for a little extra absorbency in the right spot. It's very easy to customize! Very good for getting the most out of your sweater! Very forgiving. I don't know about you, but I don't have a serger. For anyone that's had trouble sewing thick knit sweater material with a plain old sewing machine, this one's for you! The lines are straight and the cuffs actually take advantage of the tendency of the material to stretch under the foot. I hope you find it useful!

Easy Sew Wool Covers
(also known as soakers)

To make this custom fit you can measure your baby, or one of their good fitting diaper covers, first. Measure:

1. Around the largest part of the upper thigh

2. Around the hips (over the kind of diaper you'll be covering... prefold, fitted...)

3. The rise (over the diaper you'll be covering... from above the diaper in the front middle-usually belly button level, go between the legs, to above the diaper in the mid-back.)

If you don't have a baby on you at the moment ;) or you're sewing for friend, family, or expected, here's a bit of a guide I've developed in my own search for this info. It's really hard to say what will fit one baby because they are all so different! Some are super skinny, in between, or super chubby. In addition, there are tall and short babies and those with huge mongo thighs and those without. Since a knit sweater is usually pretty stretchy hopefully it will last a while! And... when in doubt I go a little big. One thing for sure about babies... they grow! And one thing's for sure in sewing, you can always take it in. :) My cover here had 9 inch thighs, 14 inch hips, and 16 inch rise. It fits my 3 month old (maybe 12 lbs now), looks like it won't fit too much longer but would have probably worked when she was born too (8lbs 5 oz).

Diaper Cover Measurements
Newborn Small Medium Large XL
Hip: 13-15 14-16 15-18 18-21 19-22
Rise: 12-14 14-16 16-18 18-20 19-24
Thigh: 6-8 8-10 10-13 11-14 13-17

Tips: I've found a wide, long zigzag stitch does best at not getting wonky when sewing thick knit material like sweaters. Try it out on a scrap piece first! If you feel like the long wide zigzag stitch is not strong enough you can sew it twice. It can also help to not sew too close to the edge of the material. In general, ease and push the knit fabrics under the foot of the machine while you sew it. Do not stretch it through or it will get very stretched out and ripply at the edges. But... I do instruct you to stretch out the cuff material when sewing it on to get a good fit around the thigh.

1. Cut out 3 rectangles.

The large rectangle (body of the diaper) will be the rise measurement + 3 inches by 1/2 of the hip measurement + 1 inch. The 2 cuff rectangles will be 2 inches by your thigh measurement (no worries about seam allowance on this. You will stretch it.) 

2. Fold the cuffs in half lengthwise and pin to the center of the long sides of the body. Raw edges all facing out like below. Stretch out the cuffs as you pin them on... but don't stretch the fabric for the body. See the difference below in the width of the ribbing below? 

Mark on the fabric with pins the top and bottom of your thigh measurement so you know where to start and stop sewing. Below you can see that I left the ends of the cuffs sticking off. Don't worry about this for now.

You can see again here that while it was going through the machine, I stretched the cuff fabric while easing the main body fabric underneath. Sew it with your foot right at the edge.

3. Now, fold your diaper in half, right sides together like below. Pin sides and the ends of the leg cuffs. If you'd like to do a side drawstring like I did leave 2 1/2" un-sewn at the top of one side (location shown between blue arrows below.) Sew down each side with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. When you get to the top of the leg cuff, turn, and sew the 2 ends together.  After sewn, trim the extra edges of the cuffs.

Now, the fabric that you didn't sew together, go over the edges separately with zigzag stitch so they won't fray.

4. With your diaper cover still inside out, fold down the waist 1 1/2 inches and sew.

You're basically done. You can just as easily add elastic and sew up the opening but I like the side drawstring too. I crocheted the actual drawstring from some wool yarn by chaining until it was the length I needed, about 100. Ok, 101, because I do obsessively count everything and... yes... not so much an estimator... Then I turned, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each ch after that. Thread your drawstring through the top and tie and you're done! Side note: I love the off center stripes on this. LOVE!

Oh, unless you want to embellish! Then you could cut out a cute little dinosaur for a boy and sew it on...

Or a very sweet flower for a little girl!

She's looking at me like: "Mom, it's not time to sleep! Why am I in my crib?! It's time to eat!" But she's a very good little girl and humors Mama and sucks on her fingers while I use her as a model. Adorable! Now I'll really go feed her. :)

Oh, and something else, I would not be adverse to making these for sale. If anyone is interested just let me know.

Beans

As part of my daughter's science studies we put some dry beans I had in a wet paper towel in a jar. About a week later we were much impressed to see their growth. They are thriving. Roots are implanting into the paper towel and are tangled together. There are baby leaves starting on the green tinged bent stems. My daughter was excited and wanted to put them into the ground. I had briefly felt the same looking at them. But I told her, these seeds are not likely appropriate for this climate. Even if they did, by some chance, do well and grow into large plants, they would take precious space and nutrition from our other plants that we planned and have growing in our garden already. There is also no way to know if they would produce beans that would be fit for eating.

There is a parallel to this in my life. What do I want to spare my time for and expose my thoughts and soul to? Whether it's harmless, fruitful, or a invasive, is it worth planting? I've found myself rejecting of late things that seem full of life, exciting, with much potential. I'm finding a mere affinity isn't enough reason to sow a seed in my life. Purposeful living can be brutal.

Anyway, I encourage you this Spring to start some seeds like this and let your kids study them as life begins. An experience like this is worth more than pages and pages of some science textbooks. Oh, but use seeds that you've planned to grow. ;)

I know this is a different post for me. I'm frequently spoken to by nature like this and really want to start a nature journal. For now I dumped this tidbit here. Enjoy!