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1.12.2016

Another Plaid Mini Marthe and a Cowl

A couple of months ago, I was at JoAnns looking for plaid flannel for Jude's Christmas pajamas.  Alongside of the flannel I chose for Jude was this cream plaid flannel, which I felt was begging to be made into an Archer.


So I picked it up, thinking I might tackle some self sewing for a change.  However, working with Jude's plaid (same line - different colorway) convinced me that this was not the right fabric choice for my first Archer.


The fabric was so shifty and the grain lines were completely wonky and impossible to line up correctly.  When I finished Jude's pajama top, the plaid stripes did not match in the front due to shifting and I had to rip the seams and re-cut the front left side.  It was incredibly frustrating and nearly had me in tears (a sewing rarity for me!).  So I knew this fabric was not suitable for any pattern with lots of pieces which also require plaid matching.


But it was perfect for another Mini Marthe for Indigo.  It's soft, comfortable and cozy.  And there are only four pieces to this pattern, making the plaid matching easy (just don't do what I did here).

Indigo said this pose was a tribute to Kristin's daughter here. :D

I followed the same modifications that I used last time.  This is my fourth Mini Marthe, so needless to say, I kind of like this pattern. ;)


Indigo and I also knitted the cowl she's wearing.


Indigo and I have been bitten hard by the knitting bug.


Over winter break, we knit up a storm while I watched the entire Star Wars series for my first time ever.   Jude and Indigo couldn't wait for me to finally see them all.   Man, Star Wars 6, you guys!  So good!  I totally didn't see that ending coming!


Now that I've seen all six, I'm ready for Star Wars 7!


I was inspired to make this cowl after seeing the cowls Sophie made for her kids.  She emailed me this free tutorial and then told me that she used a size 15 needle with two stands of yarn intended for a size 7 needle.  (Sorry guys, I don't know how you would say that in knitters' lingo.)  The entire cowl is in stockinette.


It's a really fast project, although I had to rip my first version after my two balls of yarn got tangled and my tugging to untangle them made a mess of my yarn.  Dan untangled them for me and then wrapped them into one ball.  That was the way to go.  He's been our yarn untangler and ball winder and has gotten really good at it.   I guess we all like to have something to do with our hands while watching movies.  I don't really enjoy watching movies at all, so it would have been difficult for me to sit through six movies without my knitting projects by my side.  Yes, even if those movies are Star Wars.


Indigo casted on (all 47 stitches!) for me.  I actually don't even know how to cast on because Indigo always does it for me.  And then she also casted off for me, too.  It's been really fun to work on joint projects together.  On other projects, we have taken turns knitting rows, which makes them come together so much faster.  It's encouraging to us slow, new knitters. 


Being able to do these things with her is pretty much a dream come true for me.  I love it so much and so does she. I really couldn't ask for more and I look forward to more projects with her to come.



16 comments:

  1. Thank You !! I Love this outfit ! I think It goes So well together ! Yes knitting in front if the to is the only way i consider watching to at all !! I am So glad You made this with your girl ! We do Love our daughters to share our Love for a créative Life !! By the way You must read "big magic" It is So perfect! Hugs

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  2. Ahhhh!!! I love this so much, especially with the Mama AND Indigo - made cowl! Just perfect! She's such a lovely girl, I'm delighted that she enjoys making things. It sounds funny to say this, but I strongly feel that a love of making things with your hands (whatever it is you like making) and a love of books will carry you through life - yes, there will be ups and downs, but those things mean there is always something enjoyable to look forward to, no matter how hard other things may be. It's a great thing in life to have work to while away the slow hours with and to take pleasure in your own creations.

    Also, you JUST watched Star Wars for the first time? When you said "Wow I didn't see that ending coming!" I first assumed you must mean the new one, then I counted on my fingers and then I realized you meant the third Star Wars of the first-released series, and I almost spit out my water! I saw that for the first time when I was like 2 years old! And five hundred times since. The idea that the ending could ever be "unexpected" hadn't even occurred to, so familiar is that plotline to me andso absorbed into our culture! LOLLLLLLZZZZ! You made my day! As innocent as the newly driven snow!

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  3. Such a cosy dress, I can imagine she'd want to live in it! Plaids are frustrating to sew with, I think… I don't like it, because I want them to match perfectly and they never do :-)
    And that cowl! You guys did a great job, I barely know how to knit but here in Belgium everyone seems to ben bitten by the knitting bug! Cardigans are the way to go here, and they all look so awesome I might give it a try too.
    And just wondering: how cold is your so-called winter? ;-)

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    1. It's been in the 40s F (5-10 C) on our morning walk, which I think is quite cold! (I'm soft now. You'd never guess I had lived in the frozen tundra midwest for 25 years!) By the late afternoon, it's up to the 60s-70sF (16-21C) and that is my kind of weather. :)

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    2. Ok... Your morning temperatures are our day temperatures. And that's too warm for this time of the year. I'm soooooo longing for spring and summer!

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  4. I also just watched the Star Wars movies for the first time in my life. After having seen so many different tutorials, printed tees etc. from Star Wars geeks like girl like the sea or max california, this was so much fun. I felt like I knew so much already, but then also everything was new and exciting ;)

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  5. Man, I love this dress so much! (I'd love one of my own in fact ;) ) Indigo is looking more and more grown up. That cowl is beautiful too! Violet and Henry have been giving finger knitting a go and some french knitting and they want to start to arm knit as well...all of these things I can "manage" but I'm not quite skilled enough at the needles kind ;) to be able to teach them to knit...

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  6. It's been so much fun to see all your versions of this pattern! And I love that you and Indigo knit together. I'm hoping that E shows an interest in knitting or stitching of some kind in the future. Right now she's all about drawing. Which is pretty fun, too.

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  7. Absolutely gorgeous! I love your work. I keep meaning to ask you, do you edit your photos at all? If so, do you use Lightroom or Photoshop. I dread editing, it's my least favorite part of photography! I've checked out both editing softwares I mentioned, but they seemed way too daunting for me. So for now most of my photos are straight out of the camera.

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    1. Oh yes, I edit every single one of my images. I shoot in RAW so otherwise my images would be way too flat. All my photos are edited in Lr and then I sometimes also edit in Photoshop, mostly for minor tweaks. I think Lightroom is a lot more intuitive than Photoshop, personally, and the photo files take up a lot less space on your hard drive. So maybe start with Lightroom? I have been using Lightroom for three years (before that I used Aperture which was somewhat similar). I only learned Photoshop within the last year and a half or so. I still don't know it that well.

      If you shoot in jpeg you camera essentially edits your photos for you, so if you dislike editing that much, you may not find it necessary. I shoot in RAW because it's not uncommon for me to underexpose or mess up my white balance and it gives me more flexibility to fix/edit those issues later.

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    2. Thank you so much for the response. You are so kind! I'll put editing on my list of skills to learn, for now I'm trying to tackle the overlocker machine! Thanks again for your inspiration and generosity with your time.

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  8. ah, yet another perfect Mini Marthe! You always make me want to run out and buy the patterns you sew, even when I'm on self-imposed pattern fasts:) And flannel? Could it be any cozier?!
    Your knitting adventure with Indigo is such a perfect, symbiotic endeavor that is so precious - both for its results and for the process that you both engage in together. love that you have been bitten by the knitting bug after being inspired by uber talented Sophie -what a great mentor for you! And i bet Indigo is pleased as punch to be able to wear the cowl with her Mini Marthe - almost as proud as her mama is to see her wear it:)

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    1. Thank you so much, Lucinda. I do think this one is a good one and could totally see Lilah in it!

      The knitting together has been great. It's actually a part of Indigo's homeschool curriculum. I did not know how to knit, but my neighbor owns an indie yarn shop where Indigo could get 45 minute lessons for only $15. So we sent her there for a few lessons last year. But Indigo's knitting kept falling off of her needles or her stitches would get messed up and it just got to be too difficult. I decided I had to learn for myself. So this fall, I learned from watching youTube videos. I'm so glad I did. It's been really, really fun and now I am hooked!

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  9. She looks so pleased with herself! Great knitting skillz. I would love that dress for myself ; )

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  10. Hehe I love the dress, these photos, and Indigo hamming it up (E will love seeing her buddy emulating her!). So cute that you guys are knitting together, and Inder's comment is totally cracking me up. ;D

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  11. Gorgeous Rachel. The dress looks so comfy. HOw great that Indigo is teaching you to knit!!

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