Bibs

My son drools lots, so he often changes his clothes.  I made some bibs for my daughter when she was smaller, and my son still uses her bibs now.  However, some of the bibs need to be replaced soon.  Today, I decided to make one for my son.


I used doubled gauze fabric on the front and the back.  This is for the back

Here is the front material.  It's polka dots in blue.

Strings for three bibs.

The left bib is for my one-year-old niece and the others are for my friend's baby and my son.
I hope he doesn't take off the bib!!

My New Apron!

     If I would say hand-sewing is like riding a bike for me, using a sewing machine would be like riding a bullet train!

     There are a few aprons in my closet but I had been thinking they should be replaced soon, and I ran to a fabric store the other day to get the material.  This apron took only 3 hours to make a pattern, cutout the material, and sew it.  It was a very easy apron for me.  Also, I love this fabric because it is so cute!  When I am in this apron, I feel like I've got to cook something very fancy, don't you think?

This is the top part.

Here is the pocket!

And this is me in the apron!

The Kid's Meal Apron, my 3rd piece

     My daughter just turned 4 last month but she still spills some food on her clothes while she is eating.  At this moment she had been wearing her 2nd handmade apron but it got a little dirty for using it for a while.  So, I decided to make new one for her and probably it would be the last one for her I thought.  I always go with this pattern since it's super easy. She doesn't wear an apron when she has lunch at her kindergarten so that she should be used to not wearing it.

     This time I didn't go to a fabric store to get the material but used some leftover material from the last piece.  It is just used different part of the pattern from the last apron.  It became her late birthday gift from her mom!

     Actually, since my daughter started her kindergarten from this April, I have been very busy every day.  I used to take her to kindergarten by bike with her younger brother, but I now go there by walking since May.  You know why?  I'm pregnant a gain!!  The baby will come out in January but I need to have a c-section again.  So, the due date will be in the late December.  Anyway, everything takes time to finish now, like taking her to kindergarten and back, going grocery shopping, do all the housework and so on.  Also, I often feel sleepy so that I can't knit or sew much.

 This apron was the first piece in 6 months!!!  It's unbelievable for me not to make much for such a long time.  Now I feel like I'm back!  By the way, I made this before I bought the sewing machine, so it was done by hand!

Hand-Sewing or Machine-Sewing?

Somehow I refused to use a sewing machine in the last a couple of years for some reasons even though I had one.  When I was in my early 20's, I often sew up things by the sewing machine.  It was just so fast!!  On the other hand, once it gets jammed, it takes time to remove the threads from the materials depending on how horrible it is...  That point I hated using it.

From this April, my daughter started her kindergarten and the school required lots of handmade stuff before the new season started.   It took a quite long time to sew her goods by hand  even though it was fun.  Yeah, I said "it was fun" but it became frustrating to sew lots by the deadline.  Anyway, I finished everything  by the end of March.

Now I don't "HAVE TO" sew things but I want to make lots of things for my kids and some household goods.  For that purpose, a sewing machine is super necessary.  Finally I gave up on sewing only by hand and use a sewing machine depending on what I sew and the materials.

Here is the new sewing machine!  It's very simple so that it's not computerized at all.  However, it's so comfortable to use this.  The machine is called Emerald 118 originally from Europe.

It came in the cute red box!

Now, I'm so into sewing and this machine!

The First Snow and Miso Making

It snowed today!!  It was the first snow in this winter and snowed a lot!  It must have been 10cm.
So, we basically stayed home and made some miso for this year.

This is my 3rd year to make miso at home.  People usually make miso in Jan or Feb for the year and so do we!  We already ordered 5 kg of soybeans and 4 kg of koji and had them delivered the other day.  We saved them for today since I knew it would be a bad weather.
 

Take a look at the amount of soybeans and koji!

There are 2kg of rice-made koji and 2kg of wheat-made koji, and 5kg of soybeans.  I left 1kg of soybeans for making soy milk.


Soybeans are soaked in water overnight, and boiled them in a pressure-cooker for 15mins. Then, they are mashed.

Salt and koji are mixed well in a bowl.

Then, I mixed mashed soybeans and the koji mixture together and place them in a clean pot.  It needs to be rested at least for 4 months.

Now I can't wait for the miso!!

Happy New Year 2013!! And a Free Knitting Pattern

Hello,everyone! How did you spend your vacation? Went on a trip? Had a big party at home? Or spent nice quiet time?
We had a little busy days. My parents-in-law spent one night so that I cooked some speciality food for New Years. My kids were happy to meet their grandparents!
Then, we spent two nights at my parents' house, and had great meals.
I love new year holidays since we all get together and eat good food. It is like Thanksgiving in the States. Families get together and eat good food, right?

Today I love to share my pattern with you. These gloves fit 2-3 year olds. It's an easy work.


You'll need;

a circular needle     size 5 or 6 (either size is fine as long as you can obtain the gage.)

yarn (I used some leftover yarn.)

gauge     11sts x 17rows (stockinet)

Instruction

1) CO 32sts
2) 1x1 rib and knit in round.
3) keep knitting until 4cm from the beginning.
4) change to stockinet.  knit another 5cm

Leave a thumb
5) leave 6sts on a different needle and rest them.  26sts left
6) continue knitting for another 4cm.  total 12cm from the beg.

Decrease rows
7) (ssk, k9, k2tog) repeat.  18sts left
8) (ssk, k5, k2tog) repeat.  14sts left
9) (ssk, k3, k2tog) repeat.  10sts left
10) (ssk, k1, k2tog) repeat.  6sts left
11) (slip 2sts together, k1, put the 2sts over the k1, k2tog) repeat.  2sts left
12) break yarn and bind off.

Thumb
1) 6sts and pick up 6sts from the body.  12sts
2) knit stockinet in rnd for 4cm.
3) (ssk, k2, k2tog) rpt.  10sts  left
4) repeat 3) for 3 times.  4sts left
5) break yarn.

Knit one more.

Enjoy knitting and have a great year!!

by Sweet Snow Flakes

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