Koolhaas hat

Last winter I discovered knitting. 

For me, it provides the perfect activity to do when my kids are around. It requires some attention, but just so much that I can still keep an eye on them, answer their questions, and give them the feeling that I'm there while still doing something for myself.

 

It is also easy to take along to the playground or in the train. And moreover, knitting goes at a slower pace than sewing. Which is a good thing, since otherwise I would produce more than my kids' wardrobes could handle...

 

Nevertheless, after I got smitten with the virus, within a few weeks I had knitted hats for both kids, my husband, and even for the baby that was still residing snugly within my belly.... So I needed a challenging project, which would keep me busy a bit longer. I found the Koolhaas pattern from Jared Flood on Ravelry, and loved it. Especially the crown, which reminds me of a sunflower.

 

The hat was originally intended for myself, but my son confiscated it. And I must say, it fits him better than me. At least, now I get to enjoy the view of the top of this hat way more often than I would if I had worn it myself...  

And even though this is a knitting project I'm nevertheless linking this post to Sew All 26 at No Big Dill:

Upcycled with love

One of the things I love most about sewing, is recycling (or better; upcycling) clothes. It is so satisfying to take an old item that is no longer worn, and give it a second life by turning it into something new.  Especially when the old item has some significance to you, because it once was a favorite piece of clothing from someone you love.

This baby shirt for example. It may not look very special, but it's made from two pieces of clothing that were once worn by two people very dear to me. The blue fabric origally was a pair of jogging pants of my mom. It's this kind of eighties fabric, very soft and a bit shiny (I think in Belgium it's called 'spons').

The striped cuffs are made from an old sweater of one of my moms best friends. Unfortunately, none of them was able to meet the new wearer of their clothes, because they both died a couple of years ago. 

So you can imagine how special it feels to cuddle this cutie in his new sweater, upcycled with love for him and for those two remarkable women.

And check out this beautiful quilt. My very talented aunt upcycled it from my mom's old sweaters (who owned a dozen differently colored St James striped sweaters).

Beautiful, isn't it? It feels special that my kids get to play on the sweaters that were worn with love by their grandma Vera.

Linking to:

Foxes again

Foxes again! For this shirt I used the same Ottobre pattern as for the previous foxes shirt. I like this color combo, very autumny, and the dark brown matches his dark hair and eyes very well!