Making Miscellany 2:8

Waiting, waiting

Hello, hello!

August has been and gone; it’s been a month of many things. It’s been fun, full, hard, bittersweet. But more than anything, it’s been a month of waiting. Waiting for the sun, for a window for a good walk, for time to start things, for time to finish things, and most of all, for waiting to see what life would look like on the other side of our big one starting school and our wee one going to nursery. Quotidian events, experienced by families all over, but ones that nevertheless have hung, seeming almost cataclysmic, over the horizon of summer holidays. And all that waiting came to fruition over the past week — if you noticed the wait for August’s Making Miscellany, now you know why!

A lot of my making in August was centred on the celebrations and transitions that the beginning of September brought us—so this is probably a more wee-person-makes focused Miscellany than usual. But I’ve also done some bits for myself, which I’ll share at the end (if kiddy makes aren’t your jam, you can skip ahead!)

A Birthday Buddy

There are certainly enough stuffed toys in our house. In fact, I’d venture to say there might even be enough handknit wool stuffed toys in our house. And yet. As my wee babe’s second birthday drew nearer, I knew I wanted to try to make her a little knitted toy; after all, the lion’s share of the handknit toys in our house were made for her sister.

I considered her namesake squirrel from Mouche & Friends (which I do want to make her one day—but I decided this wasn’t the year). I toyed with the idea of Good Bunny, by Susan Anderson. But I’d bought a kit for Fawn (also by Susan Anderson) right after she was born, intending to make it for her, so I decided to give it a go.

I love Susan Anderson’s stuffed toy patterns; they tend to be cute and smart with just the right amount of detail, and minimal fuss; as someone who had had little interest in knitting toys pre-kids, I’ve found her patterns very beginner friendly . The resulting toys are really sweet, and also, critically, durable enough to actually be played with.

Anyway, as much as I tend to love her designs, for some reason after I bought the Fawn kit, I’d sort of fallen out of love with the the idea of the little deer. And as I knit it, I remained skeptical. But now that it’s done, and all the little details are in place, I think it’s possibly my favorite of all the stuffed toys I’ve made — and best of all, H loves it too!

I followed the pattern as written, and as I mentioned, I had one of the Barrett Wool Co. kits with all the yarn and trimmings you neeed for the toy. Usually, I skip the safety eyes in favor of embroidered eyes, but I decided to give them a go this time, and I’m surprised how much I like them! I omitted the felt dots on the fawn’s body — I just felt (no pun intended!) they’d probably be pulled off by little fingers quite quickly!

As I do for all my toys, I used wool stuffing — I bought a large bag of this several years ago from Romney Marsh Wools, and I think it’s just the best. Soft and springy, and a little goes a long way! I’ve long wondered about putting some dried beans in the base of my knit toys to help them sit up a bit, but always worried loose beans would end up distributed through the toy. But a lovely crafty pal shared she’d made a little pillow of dried beans for one of her handknit toys, and I gave that a try . It worked a treat (though sadly I forgot to take a photo). I just cut out two cloth circles that were roughly the same size as the base of the toy, sewed them together, filled with beans, and popped it in before I stuffed with wool. And now the Fawn sets up wonderfully unaided, and also has a very pleasing weight to it!

I love so many things about the resulting toy — it seems to me a gentle, kind, inquisitive little thing, just like our wee girl. I think Susan does such a good job with details that really enliven the toy (like the eyelids!) and elevate it (like the dungarees … they have ACTUAL pockets!) But I think my favorite detail is my impromptu mushroom hat.

Last year, I started to knit one of these mushrooms to go on the Christmas tree, and abandoned it once the mushroom cap was nearly done; it was coming out much bigger than I hoped, and I think other more pressing Christmas making called. Anyway, I cast it off and put it on my craft shelf, thinking I might use it eventually, and as I was finishing the Fawn, it occurred to me it could be the perfect little hat for it. I added some single crochet chains for ties and, the morning of H’s birthday, took a little piece of floral lawn and made a lining to enclose all the stranding. And I just adore the result … a perfect accessory for a woodland fawn for our own woodland loving babe.

A Backpack for Big School

Sometime around the beginning of August, I realized we needed to actually start getting in the things my big(ger) one would need for school, including some sort of backpack. She has a lovely one from Patagonia that we use for our walking, but we needed a dedicated schoolbag. As I looked at options, a little voice inside kept gently suggesting … you could make one. I’ve never made a backpack, and I felt wary. I didn’t know how much time it would take, and I didn’t want to spend our last weeks of holiday stressing I wasn’t working on it (or worse still, not getting out and doing things so I could finish a backpack). I tried finding a simple cotton canvas bag that we could embellish with patches or embroidery, but it turns out a slightly shrunken cotton backpack is very hard to find.

Ultimately, I did what any millenial maker on Instgram would do: I posted a story and asked for advice. So many people encouraged me to give it a go, and a friend came through with an excellent pattern suggestion that felt more approachable than the bag I’d had in mind. So I casually got out some fabric and asked W if she’d like us to make one — and from there, we were off!

This was such a fun project — I was nervous about constructing a sturdy bag, but the Planetary Backpack pattern is so beginner friendly and clever! I used a dry oilcloth remnant from Merchant and Mills and quilting cotton for the front panel and interiors, and some fusible fleece to give extra squish. All the fabric came from stash — win! I was able to pick up the hardware and webbing from relatively local-to-me Little Legs Fabric; it was fun to be able to go in with W and pick things in person.

The pattern gives lots of suggestions for customizing. I forwent the titular planets on the front of the bag given my fabric was heavily patterns, and instead did some wavy quilting lines to give it some nice texture and depth. I used a button and loop to close the exterior pocket as I didn’t have the right kind of snaps and also skipped the drawstring grommets, hemming the drawstring channel instead.

I wasn’t sure how my much loved Janome would handle the thicker layers of a bag, given it has been known to have a wobble with double folded double gauze! But it was absolutely fine — I think because there wasn’t a lot of sewing through areas with different levels of thickness.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, it’s another project that I just feel so happy with — and I wasn’t frantically sewing it up in the small hours the night before school started, another win! I think I might just make another for myself … I could do with a nice, modest sized backpack that’s not smeared in banana stains! And the recipient seems really happy with it, too! I had all the feels watching her wander into the school yard, with our project on her back.

Wee Slippers for Wee School

And last, but not least, in my trifecta of emotionally infused projects: some little slippers for H to wear inside at nursery. I technically made these in the first days of September, so they don’t strictly belong in an August roundup, but they feel very part and parcel with the rest of August’s making. Made from scraps, cut one evening and sewn the next, they are the Wayfarer Slippers from Twig and Tale. Such a clever little pattern, and while I think my precision with them could use a little work (next pair!) they seem to fit and have survived two short mornings at nursery! I picked up some of this to give the soles (which I made with scraps of corduroy) some extra grippiness.

Summer Tops and Autumn Plans

Before all my small people making commenced, I cast off the Simmer Dim Top I’d been working on for the better part of the summer. It’s a lovely pattern, and the I really like how it knit up in the Organic 350 I used. It was quite economical too … I used a mere ball and a half to knit the second size — an under £10 project. It’s knit from the bottom up, and if I had my time over again, I would perhaps have added some length to the body, mostly to better use up the yarn I had. But I actually had a little less yarn than the pattern called for, and didn’t to get stuck a little short at the end.

But nevertheless, I’m still pleased with the finished garment, which is soft and light. So far, I’ve worn it layered over a t-shirt and under an overshirt, and I imagine these are the ways I’ll wear it most often.

I’ve also, somewhat improbably as the days get cooler, been working on another rather summery top, the Rota Sleeveless Top, a mini knitalong with my friend Jenni (who has a lovely YouTube podcast!) for us to hopefully wear when we go to Barcelona Knits later this year. I am really looking forward to soaking up a little sun and woolly fumes when the time comes!

I’ve got plenty more plans for the Autumn: finishing my Paul Klee Sweater, Love Notes for the girls, a heap of things I’d like to sew for myself … as usual, an exciting list that will far exceed the available time! I am, though, really looking forward to taking part in Harriet Wildwood Stitches’ Nurtured Autumn Make Along; as reluctant as I’ve been to say goodbye to what has passed for summer in the Northwest, autumn is my favorite season. I am looking forward to getting cozy over the coming months, and I know the makealong will have plenty of inspiration!

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I’d love to hear what you’re working on, or dreaming about, as the season changes. Thank you, as always for allowing me to pop into your inbox. And if you know someone who might enjoy the Making Miscellany, perhaps you could share it with them?

Hugs,

Katherine