tinkerknits

Tuesday Thoughts

2012-03-06T09:46:00.000-06:00

Having a husband whose love language is words of affirmation is sometimes hard for me. A Facebook friend had posted something she did for her husband's birthday and I thought it would be perfect for Ben. I sat down with the kids and we came up with 33 reasons we love him.

One of my resolutions this year was to bake bread instead of buying store bought. I have always dabbled in homebaked breads, but this year (three months now!), I haven't bought a single loaf of any kind. Not to brag, but I am finally getting the hang of a nice, fluffy loaf. I bake them in two loaf batches, twice a week, slice and freeze until I need them.

By the way, I never realized how upset I would get when my kids don't finish their sandwiches. "Do you know how long it took Mommy to make that bread!? EAT!"

Some of you saw my new Facebook page. Please like it if you want! I posted this little test bunny, and I plan on listing some in my shop by Friday.

And last but not least, I have been working on the test bonnets in various sizes and they will be listed in the shop first thing tomorrow morning. Sizes available will be 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months, and 2T-5T. They will cost $5 and you will have to answer a few questions about the fit on your child. A great deal and very helpful for me! They are all the same two fabrics. It will be first come, first served, so check back for that!

I decided to maybe try to make a little money off my hobby this year. :) Usually I am just giving everything away (and there will still be plenty of that, don't worry!).

Cheers and happy birthday to my sweet husband.

Giveaway Winner + Bonnet Testers

2012-03-02T07:00:00.002-06:00

Random.org made my decision. The winner is #11: Barbara!

Congratulations! Check your email for more info. Thanks everyone for sharing and commenting.

I'm off on a women's retreat for the weekend. My first weekend away from all three kids! Good luck to my husband--he's going to need it. :)

Soon I will be asking for testers for my bonnets. I wrote up the pattern for a lot of sizes and I need appropriate heads to check if they are okay. I have the following sizes I need to test:

3-6 months
6-12 months
12-24 months
2T-5T

I have one bonnet of each size made and will be listing them as testers in my Etsy shop for $5 each--basically just covering shipping and a meager portion of supplies. In return, I have a tiny questionnaire for you to fill out about how the bonnet fits. Sounds like a great deal, right? Check back next week for that.

Please leave me a comment or message if you are interested in being a tester. Thanks!

Leap Day Giveaway!

2012-02-29T13:03:00.000-06:00

In honor of the 29th of February, how about a free dolly? My first giveaway ever.

She's cute. She's got fruity clothes on. She's got some steel grey hair. She's a wee bit shorter than my normal dolls, but still adorable!

To enter, leave a comment! I'll draw a winner on Friday, March 2nd and will mail her out to you.

Cheers!

to-do queue

2012-02-28T20:57:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I feel inspired to make everything and anything EXCEPT what I should be making. SIGH. Wouldn't this be cute to make! And so easy to figure out! Clara needs one in her life.

(photo from Wild Things Dresses)

Of course more dolls to finish for another store to carry.

and some bonnets to list in the shop.

oh and I offered to make 20 totes for the children's quiet activities to use during services at church.

Hi, my name is Kristy and I overcommit. Not really, but sometimes it kind of feels like I do.

I knit a little baby cocoon for a photographer friend. I didn't take any pictures because my camera battery was dead and I was feeling lazy. I will get some pics and the free pattern up on here when she uses it and lends me a photo or two!

By the way, it astounds me that I get hundreds of hits each week for my bonnet tutorial post. I never thought it would become so popular! I am working on different sizes and will hopefully have some bigger ones to offer shortly.

My Cabled Mini Scarf pattern has a lot of projects on Ravelry now and seems to be a success as well! Yay for free knock-off patterns.

I received some new fabrics in the mail last week. Not sure what they will turn into yet, but they are lovely! Sometimes fabric is so lovely that I just can't bear to use them for a long time. Hopefully not the case here, because what is the point of a pretty fabric, if it just sits in my fabric bin in the basement? No point at all.

Recently I saw some of my things in random Pinterest pins. It almost makes me feel famous :)

I ordered some fabric with my logo on it to make into labels. This is the cheap way to do it. Spoonflower is awesome!

Hmm I think that is enough rambling for one night. Good night!

snips

2012-02-25T17:15:00.001-06:00

0-3 month bonnet.

Close up of one of the side yoyos (my new favorite thing to make).

A sneak of Clara's Easter dress.

Happy Saturday!

Finish It Up Friday

2012-02-24T12:45:00.000-06:00

Finish it up Friday. I hear that is a blog thing...

I finished up the binding on the baby quilt for my church's auction. I hope someone bids on it. I feel sort of low self esteem about it because I know there are "real" quilters at church, who probably have perfect seams and all. Anyway. I'm not going to dwell on it, it is a lovely little blanket and I hope it helps the cause.

The back is just a simple powdery yellow Kona cotton.

I am also including a doll and I think I will make a newborn bonnet to complete the set.

Little Baby Quilt - Almost Done

2012-02-19T15:17:00.000-06:00

I just need to finish (start) hand sewing the binding. I like how it turned out so far. It is just a simple little blanket and would be good for dragging around the house by a sweet baby.

I changed my mind on the binding fabric three times--very unlike me! Usually I decide immediately and stick with it.

Next up, another couple baby bonnets and some knitting to come very soon!
Oh and one more of Ruthie, just because she melts my heart with her sweet babyness.

Boob Hat and a Decision

2012-02-13T12:38:00.001-06:00

The votes on the baby quilt were exactly tied - six for chevrons and six for Xs. Not helpful, people! But I decided to go with the X pattern. I like how clean it looks. Thank you for your input!

Someone asked me last week to knit a boob hat. Here it is. Maybe I should list some in my shop? Is there a real market for these? Funny little hat. In case you are wondering what on earth the purpose of a hat like this is, it is meant to be worn on the baby while nursing him/her in public, as a pro-breastfeeding statement.

I had some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn from ages ago, in a white and a blush. I knit it and then dyed the whole thing in some hot tea. It turned a lovely beige-y skin tone. Just what I was going for. These photos make it look peach, but it definitely isn't. My lighting must have been off a little.

I have to say, I was feeling uncertain about this hat. I mean, boobs are all unique. It was funny how indecisive I was about where to start the top of the hat and what colors to make it. Ben *helpfully* suggested that I ask her for a photo of her breasts so I could make it to match. (I did NOT do this, in case you were wondering!)

Finishing up the quilt top this week and knitting a baby cocoon for a photographer. Hopefully I will have a free pattern for that in the next week.

Playdough and an Opinion

2012-02-12T09:12:00.000-06:00

First, I need your opinion. I am working on the baby quilt for a silent auction and can't decide which pattern to go with.

Option 1: Chevrons

Option 2: Crosses (Xs - how do you spell Xs? Exes?)

What do you think? I am leaning toward chevrons, but the Xs are nice and clean looking, too. Just pretend I have more blocks done than are pictured.

Look, babies already like it!

Second, I thought I would share my playdough recipe. Today we are home sick, so I thought we were due for a new batch of playdough. The last batch I made was in November! It is still soft, but it is red and green and we are ready for a change. The kids couldn't decide (DARK BLUE! LIGHT PURPLE!), so I chose peach.

This recipe is from my friend Vanessa, who I believe got it from her ECFE teacher once upon a time.

Playdough

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp oil
food coloring
1 Tbsp imitation vanilla (optional)

Combine all ingredients but vanilla in saucepan. Heat, stirring, over medium heat until it comes together but is still slightly wet. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Wrap in plastic and knead until fully pliable. Store at room temp in a covered container.

I was out of vanilla, so I added about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to it instead, when I added the flour.

gather ingredients

stir over medium heat

starting to come together

done cooking

place in plastic

knead

all done!

Wool Felt Bonnets

2012-02-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

I made a couple new baby bonnets. They are both 0-3 month sized. I somehow lost all my bonnet pattern templates so I am getting them all created again (I had 0-3, 3-6, 6-12, and 12-24 month sizes!). What a pain to have to do! Oh well. I may be looking for testers in the 3-6 month and 6-12 month sizes; if you are interested, let me know.

These particular bonnets I made with wool felt on the outside and cotton in happy yellows and grays inside. I thought the wool felt would make a nice, heavy outer for chillier spring days (or warmer winter days!).

I made some yo-yos instead of buttons for the sides. I really think they are adorable. I thought sewing a double line around the edges was a nice touch.

Buy them if you want them - here and here ;)

say, say, oh playmate!

2012-02-07T12:28:00.000-06:00

Come out and play with me. And bring your dollies, three.

I always wondered how people could make the same thing over and over again and not get sick of it. I think I figured it out: they get paid to do it. Ha. I don't mind making these little ones because 1) they are fast to make, 2) I get to use a variety of fabrics so I don't get bored, and 3) they sell.

I added some grandma dolls with gray hair. I kind of love them.

still here

2012-02-05T19:45:00.001-06:00

I have a confession: I haven't knit anything in weeks. It's kind of bad. Our knitting group hasn't met in almost a month and I have been in a mid-winter slump. I just want to veg on the couch and watch Ugly Betty reruns. Yes, I have an undying love for Ugly Betty. Really. Just ask my husband.

I did sew a bit this week. Twelve new dolls for a shop to sell and a wool felt hat and slippers. I will get pictures of those once I add the finishing touches.

I am planning on donating something for our church's mission trip silent auction at the end of the month. I am thinking of a new baby care package: sunbonnet, booties, doll, and a crib-sized quilt. I am going to use this tutorial but make it a chevron instead of an X, with this new fabric I ordered.

And just because I need more than one photo in a post, here is one of the American Girl shoes I made. I am told they fit the doll. I admit, I was skeptical when I was making them.

(photo by Gilda)

doll dresses. check.

2012-01-27T13:05:00.000-06:00

I finished the dresses for an American Girl doll last night. There is a party dress and a more casual slip dress. I'm most proud of the party dress - I love the ruffled sleeves.

Clara chose the fabrics for the slip dress. Big shock - pink and purple.

I asked Clara if she wanted me to make anything else for her, and she told me she needs shoes! Duh, Mom. :) So those will get made tonight. They look pretty easy. I found all these patterns online, just searching for "American Girl clothes free patterns" or similar. There's lots out there.

itty bitties

2012-01-26T14:13:00.001-06:00

First, I found this lovely stack of fabric waiting in my mailbox today. Happiness! I donated most of my scraps to my sister in law for her new library decor, so of course, I had to buy some new pieces! Robert Kaufman Metro Living Circles, Patty Young's Grand Bazaar, and Suzy Ultman Appleville Apple Faces.

Second, my daughter has been going to birthday parties like they're going out of style. One a week, for at least the last month. For real. Sometimes, twice a week. I was pondering this next party, because it is a good friend's sixth birthday and I am tired--TIRED--of Target gifts. (Plus, I am super poor.) She recently got an American Girl doll (Clara wishes it was her!), so I thought maybe I would make a few outfits for her. Here is the first one: a spring coat.

Note to self: Must iron. I love the toggle clasp thingies (official name).

There are more items coming. Itty bitty dresses are fun but hard to sew. I finally replaced my machine needle and it was like magic. Suddenly I could sew again! Ha. I suppose I should change that more often.

Until next time,

Kristy

Round Thursdays

2012-01-19T14:39:00.005-06:00

You know how sometimes, you take a shower and kind of zone out and then suddenly you think - "Wait, did I already wash my hair?" - and you just can't remember, so you do it again? Well, I am trying hard to NOT be like that in my daily life.

It is no mystery that I love Thursdays. They have always been my favorite days.

I think I love them even more this year, because it is the only day of the week that we have absolutely zero plans. Lately, it's been declared PJ Day, and we bum around the house doing whatever we want. (Especially today, as the high is zero degrees. The HIGH.)

This is the last year that we will have an off day for all three kids, since next year, our lives will be dictated by school schedules and routines, with the biggest going to Kindergarten.

Because I know that this is a rare time of togetherness with my children, I am trying harder to be in the moment with them.

Today has been packed full of activities:

Heart garland
Origami Valentine "mail" boxes for leaving notes for each other
Irish soda bread
Sock Toss game (three bowls, a start line, and a balled up sock)
Fort building
Much crafting
Dance party
Song singing
Book reading
Playdough making

Three cheers for Thursdays!

together

2012-01-11T13:08:00.005-06:00

I saw these photos on another blog and thought they were funny.

It's a strange winter, here in Minnesota. Yesterday it was like 50 degrees outside. We had no coats on and pulled out all the sandbox toys. Now today, it is snowing. I had to quickly run outside and clean up all the sandbox toys. :)

Anyway. I made some lefse.

And hosted my dinner club. We did Scandinavian cuisine. People came sporting their Nordic sweaters.

A photography friend asked me to make a homecoming banner for a Marine coming home next week. She wanted it red, white, and blue, and with the word "together" on it. I was originally going to use felt, but Joann's didn't have the right colors exactly. Then I wandered the cotton aisles, but nothing really jumped out at me. I meandered over to the home decor section and found some duck cloth in the right colors, at the right price (50% off!). Score! The triangles are 6" wide and 7" long. I printed off the letters in PowerPoint and then pinned the paper to the duck cloth and cut with some really sharp scissors. If I had a Silhouette machine, it would have gone faster, but hey, this was cheap and I didn't have to store anything afterward. Less is more, right?

It is really windy out, so hard to get a good photo of it..

When I was thinking about the binding to hold the pennants together, I thought a nautical look would be appropriate, so I used some chunky rope I had for making piping. I really like it and can't wait to see the professional photos with it.

repurposed baby blankets

2012-01-03T20:18:00.005-06:00

I was sorting through my linen closet and found a ton of unused baby blankets. When you have three babies in four years, apparently you get a lot of blankets! Unfortunately, my babies don't sleep with blankets. Sleep sacks are my favorite after swaddling and before the big bed.

Ruthie has a few that I made her with this pattern, but she outgrew the length and needed some new ones. Enter: unused blankets. I just traced her current sleep sack on top and added length, then sewed it up. Fleece is easy like that. I decided the zipper wasn't that important and just left a big enough slit to pull it up her body. Now she has lots of room to wiggle those toes. :)

She is all "cheese!" for photos these days. (Note the big bite marks on the crib side - ugh!)

Ringing in the New Year with Napkins

2012-01-02T07:26:00.006-06:00

That's right. Napkins. Because, like underwear, they are one of life's necessities. I have napkins already, of course, but they are for everyday use: stained, wrinkled, kid-friendly. I thought maybe it was time for some fun, "company" napkins. You know, for all our company. Ha. But I am in a dinner club, and I am hosting it this weekend (Scandinavian theme!), so they will get used then, at least! I wish I had made them a bit larger. They are 12" squares. I think 17" squares would be better, but I didn't have enough material.

Are you a new year's resolutions kind of person? I am. I mean, why not set goals? As long as I am not completely disillusioned about it. So my goals for 2012:

1. Read through the Bible with my husband. We are using this guide.

2. Get me some chickens. If you know me, you know this has been my resolution for about four years now...and the city I live in has hindered my chicken ownership thus far. So! I decided to pretend they are on board and get some anyway. Ha.

3. Make more clothes and give more random homemade gifts.

4. Lose the baby weight. I mean, really.

5. Be content with what I have. I basically am already, but sometimes, I go to someone's big house and think, "Man, I wish I had a bigger house." But then when I go home, I realize that if I had a bigger house, it would be filled with stuff. And I don't like stuff. Or cleaning, for that matter. :)

6. More quality family time, less Facebook.

7. Stop saying "unthaw" (incorrect). Start saying "thaw" (correct).

I think that's about it. Hope you are having a fabulous January!

Dress Patterns

2011-12-30T07:50:00.008-06:00

I am in the midst of a few projects, and I just couldn't resist spending some of my birthday money on new dress patterns for myself.

I got these two:

New Look 6587

I really like the 1950s style of this one, especially the top, yellow with vertical stripes version.

I think I was inspired by this dress I bought myself on Etsy:

Vintage!

Then, I have been wanting a simple knit jersey wrap dress, and I thought New Look 6674 would be a good fit for my needs (the lower, red version).

Obviously, I am planning on making a solid color, probably gray or some other neutral shade. I just want to live in comfy dresses.

My husband got me some cowboy boots for my birthday, so I had to get a dress to match! Ha. I went to Opitz Outlet and scored a cute shirt dress that is perfect (even if it *is* Tommy Hilfiger! ha). I just spent way too long trying to find it online and I can't. Well, I will just have to take a photo for you when I wear it tonight! Date night!

I hope you had a great holiday - hard to believe 2012 is days away!

true stories

2011-12-21T13:06:00.005-06:00

Clara singing Away in a Manger at her preschool concert. She was very *very* into it. Some things happened to me this week. Let me tell you about them.

A telemarketer wanted to drop by to "go over any questions" I might have had about his life insurance policies. I might have accidentally agreed that he could come over, but not until after 8pm because that was when Ben would be home (thinking telemarketer guy would not come so late). He said he would be over at 9pm and then hung up. He never even left me his contact info, so I couldn't call and cancel. Instead, I hid in the basement with the lights off when he was scheduled to come over. Oh, and I turned a smallish sheer tablecloth into a curtain for my front door so he couldn't peer inside.

Normally I am a straightforward person, but I showed my rare passive-aggressive side with that guy. Sorry, dude.

Sitting and chatting with my husband one evening and he looks at my sweater and laughs. "For a minute there I thought you took my blue sweater and cut it down the middle!" Uh...yeah. I totally did.

And I am not even a little bit sorry. I love it.

My divinity candy never set up so I could pipe it into cute little candies. It was like gook (you know, that corn starch slime stuff that kids love). I turned it into a divinity chocolate bark kind of thing. And it is delicious.

Four days until Christmas. We have parties on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, not to mention Ben has church services twice on the 24th and on the morning of the 25th (joys of being a church music guy). And then my birthday is the 26th. Busy, busy, busy. I am trying to embrace it all because some day I will long for the days of parties with all our families. Right?? Have a great holiday!

Market Skirt

2011-12-19T09:59:00.005-06:00

I wish there was a bell or alarm or something that told me when my bobbin was out of thread. Because often, I keep sewing, clueless, and don't find out until I think I am done. Ahem.

I made a skirt for myself. It's the Lisette Market Skirt. Buttery Kona cotton. I like the pleats. I wish I had made it a bit longer, though. Now I'm onto the shirt to go with it.

This project taught me how to use twill tape as a waistband. How to install a side zipper. How to pleat a skirt.

knits

2011-12-13T20:17:00.008-06:00

Oh, my, I think my knitting groove has arrived.

A hat for a dear friend in Tennessee, with my dear friend Gilda's pattern.

Another cabled mini scarf for a friend (with an amazingly cute etsy shop! oh yeah, you'd better believe we swapped goods). I made it a wee bit narrower (details are on Ravelry, if you're interested). I think I like it most of all.

A couple newborn hats that were custom orders. First, a baby World War II Watch Cap. Adorable! And soo itty bitty.

Second, a baby bear hat. This is such a super fast pattern and so satisfying. I decided to crochet the snout instead of knit it. (Yes, balloons are modeling my hats. I no longer have newborn-sized heads around!)

I also started a little something for myself. I love this yarn color - I was wishing and hoping that it was called "Curry," but alas, it is just plain old "Yellow." It will remain Curry in my heart.

Isn't this little pile of fabric so cute and sparkly? It is turning into something, like, totally radical, dude. I have a poem I wrote in third grade called "Dood." I think I thought that was how it was spelled. Ha! My book of childhood poems is awesome to look back on. I was sooo deep, Dood.

I digress. Sometimes people ask me how I manage to make things with three smallish children underfoot. Well, it's not rocket science, but there is a formula. Food + floor + children = free time for mommy. You're welcome.

And isn't this the cutest thing ever?? Too bad our snow is gone now. December without snow is just wrong.

december things

2011-12-11T08:43:00.005-06:00

It's all about Christmas cookies around here. Also, this week I am cutting sugar out of my diet. Ha. I just like to make things hard on myself.

Royal icing.

Clara and Oliver were REALLY into the sprinkles this year.

Half done. These are the Norwegian sugar cookies, and in my family we roll them REALLY thin and then after they are baked, you outline them with icing and sprinkles. And that's that. Yum.

I also already made the chocolate covered cherries, caramels, buckeyes and Russian teacakes, but no photos. Next is the gingerbread for house-building on Christmas day (our little tradition). I'll make the house pieces now and freeze them until the 25th. I have enough royal icing for then, too.

I finally finished embroidering the names on the stockings I made last year. No more stocking making for me! We don't have a mantle, so they just hang on the wall, thanks to 3M.

A little homemade looking, but oh well. Good enough for me.

I have been growing my green onions, thanks to a Pinterest pin I saw. Did you know you can plunk your onion whites in a jar of water and they will grow, almost overnight? I have trimmed these dozens of times and they keep on growing. I just replace the water every couple days.

Today I am making beef jerky. My mom compiled my grandma's recipes a couple years ago and I am having fun trying different recipes. The jerky is in the oven right now. I'll let you know how they turn out.

I have also been knitting, but they are gifts, so I'm not telling.

more dollies

2011-12-05T14:32:00.003-06:00

I am enjoying moderate success with my Etsy shop (what very little I have listed in it) and a little shop in South Minneapolis called Mother Earth Gardens. They asked me to bring some dolls for them to sell and - guess what - they sold out and asked for more! So I made a new batch this weekend and thought I would take a photo of the tools I use to paint the faces. Are you ready for this highly technical confession? I use:

Tulip fabric paint in black, rose and red
two wooden skewers (eyes and mouth)
back of a kid paint brush (cheeks)

Obviously, I am reallllly professional. Ha.

Here they are, ready to go:

And sometimes, there is a mishap.

Poor One-Eyed Suzy. She will be well cared for by my kids.

Christmas Baking

2011-12-04T09:31:00.003-06:00

I jazzed up my nativity scene a bit - my awesome neighbor found the shelter at Target and got it for me (thanks, Angie!). I made little felt crowns for my Wise Men and made a manger for Baby Jesus. Glued some lace wings on my Angel. I felt like my Shepherd needed some sheep - but they kind of ended up scary looking. I might have to redo them.

I just got in the mood to bake, and made my list of goodies for the month.

1. Norwegian sugar cookies (grandma's recipe!)

2. Russian tea cakes

3. dark chocolate cherry cookies

4. gingerbread (for a house - we build one on Christmas day)

5. divinity

6. caramels

7. chocolate-covered cherries (for the neighbors)

8. bullseyes

What are you making this year?

Yarn Wreath

2011-11-30T15:24:00.005-06:00

Hey look, it's my 100th post! Blogging is so weird. I am not sure why I do it or why anyone does, really. I guess for me it's to document my own creations and to motivate me to finish more items off my queue. Anyway, cheers to 100 more.

My back door was looking lonely, so I made him a friend. She is green, soft, and comes with three pretty little flowers.

This was a fast project - I started it this afternoon and finished it this afternoon, in between cleaning up bright red vomit (Cough medicine. I am only buying undyed from.now.on.), dealing with sick, crabby children (oh, joy!), and taking shots of Kahlua (joke, Mom!).

The wreath tutorial is from here and the flower tutorial is from here. I added pins to the backs of the flowers so I could stick them right into the foam wreath and reuse them elsewhere if I want.

Cabled Mini Scarf Pattern

2011-11-27T13:46:00.006-06:00

My mom found a cowl that she really liked on Craftsy and asked me if I would knit it for her. Of course I said I would! But on Craftsy, they are charging $9.99 for this very simple pattern. Um...what?!? I cannot believe how much people charge for patterns. I looked at the picture a couple of times and came up with my own version. Feel free to save yourself $10 and use mine!

My first attempt, I ran out of yarn, but it is the perfect toddler-sized scarf. I am also including the toddler version in the pattern below.

Cabled Mini Scarf

Sizes - toddler & adult - adult sizes are in parenthesis & really the only difference is the amount of cable repeats you do, to make the length smaller or longer, so you will notice there is no variation in the pattern until the end. Hope that's clear!

Materials:

Yarn: 1 (2) skeins Bernat Roving or Lion Brand Jiffy Thick & Quick or any other bulky-weight yarn (really the adult version is one skein plus a few extra yards. You will have leftovers!)

Needles: US 11 straight needles

Notions: 1 cable needle, row counter, darning needle for weaving in ends

Abbreviations:

C12F: Slip 6 stitches onto cable needle. Let hang to front of work. K6 stitches, then K the six stitches off the cable needle.

YO: Yarn over

K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together

Pattern:

CO 26

Edge: K 6 rows

Body:

Row 1: K5, P2, K12, P2, K5

Row 2: K7, P12, K7

Row 3: as Row 1

Row 4: as Row 2

Row 5: as Row 1

Row 6: as Row 2

Row 7: as Row 1

Row 8: as Row 2

Row 9: K5, P2, C12F, P2, K5

Row 10: as Row 2

Repeat Rows 1-10 nine (twelve) times, or to desired length.

Form Buttonholes:

Repeat Rows 1-8

Row 9 (buttonhole row): K5, P2, K2, YO, K2tog, K4, K2tog, YO, K2, P2, K5

Row 10: K7, P12, K7

Edge: K 6 rows. Bind off.

Finishing: Sew 2 buttons on opposite edge of buttonholes. Wear and enjoy!

Guess what else? The toddler version shown here is for sale in the shop.

The pattern is now also listed on Ravelry. Cheers!

felt hair bows

2011-11-27T08:31:00.004-06:00

As is tradition in my family, after Thanksgiving we get the little ones together for a matching Christmas outfit photo op. It never works out well. Two five year olds, two three year olds and one one year old. Need I say more?

I made some hair bows for the girls, using this tutorial. They took all of ten minutes, five of which was spent locating and warming up my hot glue gun.

(Clara insists on posing this way all the time now. Funny girl.)

rainbows + unicorns

2011-11-19T19:17:00.007-06:00

I'm still around, if you were wondering. The final birthday hurrah happened today and I survived (barely). It was Clara's first ever friend birthday party, and every single friend she invited was completely free to come over! Ha. So....we had 16 kids in my tiny house. It was a romping good time. Rainbows and unicorns, people, that is where it's at.

Along that theme...

I used crepe paper and blew up some old water balloons for the decorating. Cheap and effective! I also made "unicorn horns" out of cardstock by using a basic party hat template I found online and cutting a wedge out of it to make it thinner and...hornier? Something like that.

We did a rainbow craft that involved the crepe paper and glueing squares of it to a rainbow template I found online. Pretty cute and the kids seemed to like it. It was almost silent while they were working...very strange with so many kids around.

I made my husband sing The Unicorn Song for everyone...I only know this song because I sang it in my third grade music concert in elementary school. I had a solo in it. That's right, when you are eight, it is considered cute when you sing out of tune, and they want to showcase it. The lyrics are by Shel Silverstein, which I never knew but found interesting! Ben is a good sport...

A rainbow of food choices, one for each color, and some popcorn clouds. Tasty.

What rainbow/unicorn party would be complete without a rainbow cake?

The cake was just a basic sour cream white cake, and I made two batches of batter and divided it into eight sections, coloring six of the sections the colors of the rainbow. I baked them in 8" rounds. I then decided it would be cute to leave the sides unfrosted and to make it a bit wonky (right, that was *intentional*). I used a white chocolate frosting for between layers and at top, and then of course added sixlets. I saw this cake on Pinterest months ago and wanted to do something like that, but then I opted out of the side frosting, so I went for the top instead.

[I added some dark cocoa powder and chocolate chunks to turn the leftover two sections into chocolate-chocolate chunk cupcakes (for another time).]

As favors, I ordered some unicorn horn lollipops off of a cute little Etsy shop. (They are in the teapot in the above picture.) They were adorable and the kids loved them. I am not a big fan of spending hundreds of dollars on a kid's party, and I am happy to say that I didn't spend much at all on this one. I even got the rainbow plates at Target on clearance for $1/pack in the summer. Whew! I am glad it's over now. The fall birthday marathons are exhausting! Now, on to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

We had a family photo shoot a couple weeks ago, and I had to make Oliver some suspenders to tie my mustard yellow color into everything. One of the pictures:

I am working on a mini cabled scarf tutorial for you knitters out there. Coming in the next week, hopefully!

Dress Pants

2011-11-07T08:24:00.005-06:00

I made Oliver some dress pants. The pattern is from Sewing for Boys, and is called Little Heartbreaker Pants.

They are wool. I love the red pocket lining...

He is tricky to sew for because he is big around the waist and not super tall yet. He wears a 5/6 waist and a 3/4 length. These work though and there is room to grow. (blurry picture, messy house)

We are having some family pictures taken on Saturday, and I think these will be in the ensemble. I love/hate dressing the family for photos. Clara will be wearing this skirt that I won, in the mustard color pictured, and I think I will sew her a fitted collared shirt to go with it...maybe. No clue for Ruthie, Oliver's top half, the husband, or myself. I have five days to figure it out. A visit to Goodwill is in my future.

Bearded Toddler Hat

2011-11-04T14:31:00.003-05:00

Doesn't he look happy?

This is my little neighbor. He reallllly wanted this bearded hat, can't you tell? Luckily for him, I made it with a detachable beard (it is secured with buttons on the inside of the hat). In case you are wondering why he is also wearing a pumpkin costume, it was Halloween when he tried it on.

The hat pattern is the Classic WWII Watch Cap. I cast on 88 stitches to make it a bit smaller than an adult small.

The beard and moustache I adapted from several patterns I found on Ravelry (mostly this and this). The hat yarn is Ella Rae Superwash Wool. The facial hair is Lion Brand Organic Cotton.

Oh, Angie, if you read this, I forgot to tell you you can machine wash and dry it. That is SO blog worthy, isn't it?

Pocket Bunting Advent Calendar Tutorial

2011-11-02T12:44:00.021-05:00

Can you believe it is November? You know what that means--it's almost Christmas!

I have had this Advent calendar idea on my mind for over a year now. I knew I wanted an Advent calendar that was a bunting, but with pockets to fill with treats, activities & nativity scene characters (I recently won an awesome set of Nativity people from Simple Simon & Co).

I did a search online for one like what I wanted, but surprisingly, nothing exists! Obviously this was a sign that I needed to make a tutorial. Enjoy!

This supply list is actually enough for ~~two~~ three (holy cow!) advent calendars, so if you only want to make one, half (or third) the quantities.

Supplies:

wool felt bundle (I bought the Holiday pack here), or approximately 1/2 yard wool felt in color of choice

1/2 yard wool felt in contrasting color for the backs/top edge (I bought gold from Joann's)

advent calendar numbers, 1-25 (got mine here)

cardstock to make two triangle templates

sewing machine + thread

1. Make your triangle templates. I made mine in Powerpoint. I simple drew a straight line, 4.5" long, then made a horizontal line 4" across, to make a "T." Then, I connected the ends into a triangle and printed 2 copies. I then cut them out and cut 1" off one of the triangle tops to make it smaller than the other. (does this make any sense at all? lol) If that is too confusing, you could just print my PDFs. front & back

2. Once you have your templates, start cutting your wool felt. I first cut my fronts. I cut the felt into 3.5" strips, then cut my triangles, to maximize felt use. I then did the same with the backing, cutting 4.5" strips, then into triangles. You will now have lots and lots of triangles (25 fronts and 25 backs for each calendar).

3. Cut your back felt "leftovers" into .5" strips (make them as long as possible) for hanging your bunting. Sew together to make a really long strip. I very slightly overlapped the edges and sewed a straight stitch to connect them. At this point, you might decide to break your calendar into two smaller buntings - for example two buntings, the upper bunting made up of 12 triangles, the lower of 13 triangles. Layout your back triangles along the strip to see how long you want it. Make sure to include extra strip at the ends to hang it up.

4. Lay out your front triangles in the color pattern you want.

Attach the numbers to the fronts. I sewed mine on, but you could certainly glue them on. To be honest, sewing them was a pain in the rear! Sticky back numbers are sounding pretty smart to me right now...

5. Sew your front triangles to the back triangles. Don't sew the top, only the sides! You want it to be a pocket, remember.

6. Making sure to go in numerical order, sew your back triangles to the top strip, lining up the top edges.

7. Hang, fill, and enjoy your countdown to Christmas!

I would love to see your finished calendars if you decide to use my tutorial. If you like mine but don't feel crafty, you are in luck! I am selling an extra one in my Etsy shop.

Linked to Skip to My Lou and Sugar Bee Crafts.

craft corner

2011-10-30T13:39:00.003-05:00

Just a little reorganization for my craft area.

Instead of all my knitting needles in a heap, I hung them up on the wall. One is an old wall vase with a hole to hang it, and the other is my old Nook Color case I made. I never use it for my Nook, so I poked a hole in the back and now use it for my larger needles. My circulars are all in a tupperware on my shelf (not pictured).

I also added a couple of embroidered things and a spare star block I had laying around.

It makes me happy.

Ladybug Costume. And I am done with costumes!

2011-10-28T17:24:00.005-05:00

The ladybug costume took about 20 minutes from start to finish. I didn't use a tutorial, I just winged it. (groan...haha I am hiLARious!) Much easier than the T-Rex costume. It also only cost $4.50 total. Sweet.

I cut two red circles and sliced one down the middle. I overlapped the tops of the cut pieces slightly to give the "wing" look, then sewed black in the gap at the bottom. I sewed on some black dots, then sewed the two red circles together and stuffed it a bit. Then I just sewed some straps on and made antennae out of a headband, black tape, two pipe cleaners and some leftover felt. Black shirt and pants, and voila! Ladybug.

I have been knitting a hat for my neighbor's little boy. It has a beard. More on that in a day or two.

T-Rex Costume

2011-10-28T07:39:00.007-05:00

T-Rex! Roar!

Like I mentioned earlier, I loosely followed the photo tutorial on Flickr I found when doing a google search for t-rex costumes. If I were really nice, I would write some instructions for you, but I'm not. So there.

Total cost for the head was $3.00. One large box, one small, thinner box, and three paper bags. Duct tape and hot glue. Random paint we had. One egg carton (eyes). Felt for the teeth. The body was about $10 for the fleece and zipper. Total cost, $13. Ta da!

Head supplies:

Fitting the frame:

Skeleton:

I added paper bag "scales":

This green is the paint color in my bedroom. Nice.

He looks a little slap-happy. That is what late night beer + hot glue + husband help will get you.

The body was made from a McCalls pattern. This one.

The tail cracks me up. It'll be dragging down the street.

still around

2011-10-25T09:49:00.005-05:00

I am a total procrastinator. Halloween is in six days and I have yet to make the boy's costume. He wants to be a T-rex. I am taking my inspiration from this photo set on Flickr. I think I can do it. I have a pattern for the body and a box for the head. Fingers crossed it works!

The big girl wanted desperately to be Tinkerbell, so I forked over $20 on a flimsy costume....only for her to now insist that she will ONLY be a ladybug. Argh. Really, child!? But the more I think about it, a ladybug costume would be super easy to make. So...maybe. Or maybe it will be a lesson in sticking with original ideas. We'll see how generous I am feeling.

The craft fair was fun. I didn't sell a ton, but I wasn't in it to make loads of money. I had more fun selling Gilda's stuff. Ha. Anyway, some ladies came by that have a little shop in S. Mpls and want to sell my dolls there! Yay for that. I also listed the ruffle scarves in my Etsy shop. As many people have noticed, my Etsy shop is shameful. Seriously, I ought to fill it with things. I think that will be my goal for the winter.

I made another mobius cowl. They are so fun to make! I love this yarn. It is sort of a wool roving.

You may remember that I was going to make a lot of cute clothes for myself. I said it, attempted one crappy dress, and stopped. Well, guess what? I didn't forget. This one is next:

Hudson Hat Knock Off

2011-10-15T13:50:00.004-05:00

A friend asked me to knit The Hudson Hat for her soon-to-be babe. Of course, that pattern has been around forever and I remember when it first came out. I never bought it though (SEVEN dollars!? Color me cheap). Here is my knock off. I created it using two free patterns. The earflaps were inspired by the Cozy Hat pattern, and the body was inspired by the Munchkin Hat pattern. Details are on my ravelry page. I didn't share too much of the pattern, because I am sure the Hudson Hat lady wouldn't be very happy about that.

My favorite part is the crinkly pompom. It was repurposed from a frogged project that had been sitting in my pile for years (literally four years! The yarn is from longies I made Clara when she turned one). When I pulled it apart, the yarn was all crinkled from the stitches and it stuck. Makes me happy.

Another example of the excellence of blocking.

BEFORE

See how the edge of the hat is wiggly and not flat? See how the earflaps curl in?

AFTER

Except for the blocking crease - that will be gone soon - all flat and laying the way I want it to.

It makes everything better.

winter hat

2011-10-06T12:21:00.003-05:00

Clara's hat is finished. It fits, even though I was very doubtful. It looked tiny, but stretches nicely.

She likes it, too! Matching mittens and a cowl and she will be checked off my list.

Four people have contacted me to make them things in the last two days. I must be getting popular. Ha. :)

Apples, apples, apples!

2011-10-04T19:12:00.005-05:00

This sweet little thing turned one today. SIGH. It is so bittersweet when it's your last baby. She is is the apple of my eye.

And speaking of apples (like my segue), holy cats do we have a lot. Three pecks of apples. If you know how much a peck is, you are impressed right now. This picture is no where near all of them.

We are making a dent in them.

I made apple butter. mmm yum.

This will go out as gifts to random people and my kids will probably devour the rest. Seriously, it's like kid crack.

Also I made a French apple pie. (Can you tell I was in a take-pictures-of-my-food mood today?)

Calling it "French" means it has crumbs instead of a top crust. oooh lala.

In between these appley, kitcheny things, the kids made some Fall crafts. Here we have glitter leaves as dining room decor.

These were so easy and the kids absolutely adored the glitter (probably because it is banned in my house! We made these in the backyard.). Just find a nice, non-crispy leaf, trace it with a pencil, then put glue over the outline and sprinkle away. So easy and they are so proud!

We also made apple paint prints, but I didn't get a picture of them because I was boiling the apple butter and a girl can only do so much at one time.

Even though it has been in the 80s all week (which you might say is strange for October, but I remember it being in the 90s last year when we brought Ruthie home), I have started the kids' winter gear. First is a hat for Clara. It's the aviatrix hat.

I was reading past projects and everyone said that it knit up larger than expected, so I sized down my needle, but of course it looks too small. Figures.

hats

2011-09-30T12:36:00.002-05:00

I was commissioned to knit an Aang hat for my nephew for Halloween. I don't know this character, but I know the words Avatar and Airbender are involved....Oliver is modeling it for me. Hope it works for you, Carly!

I also test knit my friend Gilda's new lacy hat pattern. Cute! Pardon the self portraits...my arms are never long enough! ha. I was concerned it was too short, but after I blocked it, it stretched out and now it's perfect!

Love it, Gilda!

I frogged my dinosaur sweater. It was causing me anxiety. Next up is winter gear for the kids. I am going for classic outerwear this year.

craft fair, part III

2011-09-26T09:41:00.002-05:00

I like ruffles a lot. These scarves broke my rule of only using stash fabric, but I think they were worth it. The idea came from my awesome neighbor. Thanks, Angie!

I really need to recruit someone to take a decent picture for me.

Also, my dolls got faces. I thought about making a couple sad ones, but decided that would be...sad. So yeah, all happiness in the doll basket.

craft fair, part II

2011-09-22T12:42:00.004-05:00

Mini clutches. (tutorial found here)

With pleats.

And lots of different fabrics.I want to keep them all.

What do you think--do they need a wrist strap?

Also, would you buy this for $10? I am terrible at prices. I typically give away everything I make.

Oh, PS, I got a sitter, so the craft fair is really a go! A good thing, since I now have 15 dolls and 10 mini clutches staring at me. I want a third item, and I am thinking baby bonnets, but I'm not completely sure since winter is not really bonnet season. I want something I can make completely from my stash. So far everything has been. I am not sure if you know, but I am a fabric hoarder. *hanging head in shame*

craft fair, part I

2011-09-17T15:29:00.003-05:00

I think I am doing a craft fair. Handmade MN Market. With my awesome friend Gilda (her etsy store here). But it depends on if I can find childcare that day, because I will be a single mama that weekend.

Part I: faceless masses. (adapted from doll tutorial found here)

They will obviously get faces before I sell them.

September stuff

2011-09-12T12:44:00.002-05:00

Hi!

Oliver turned three.

I bought a clearance shirt at Target for $3 and added a T-Rex and a 3 on it.

I made a dinosaur cake (easy fondant dinos...playing playdoh really paid off! ha).

Of course Clara needed a new dress for the start of preschool.

It's the sweet dress pattern, and I lengthened the sleeves, skipped the elastic on the arms, and added a waist with elastic. Oh and the tulle trim! I like it. :)

I just got this book. I am going to start with some pants. It looks great so far, and the best part, the pattern pieces are real paper, not that anxiety-inducing tissue stuff (seriously stressful to me for some reason!).

Dino sweater still on the needles. Me = slacker.

baby star quilt

2011-09-05T19:03:00.006-05:00

Everything except the batting was in my stash.

I was worried the back was too boyish, but I think it is mostly still gender-neutral. I just think of the blue and red as "boy colors" because that is what Oliver's quilt was made from.

Final measurements: 30" x 40". A good baby quilt for the stroller or tummy time.

I wasn't patient enough to hand sew the binding onto the back...so I machine sewed it (stitch-in-the-ditch style), but it is not perfect. I get so impatient at the end of a project. I get this overwhelming urge to just stop the whole thing and move on to the next project lined up. Why is that?

I kind of fell in love with star blocks. I might need to make another one. Maybe a Christmas quilt for myself? Star block tutorial here.

charity quilt preview

2011-09-03T20:49:00.004-05:00

Happy end of summer to you. Labor Day weekend gets me excited; I love the crisp fall air coming in and the start of schedules and daily structure (yes, yes, I am Type A). Anyway, I thought I would drop a quick note -

The dinosaur sweater is coming along, but not finished yet. I am not going to post pics until the end because it will look so very much better after some good blocking. I kind of love/hate color work.

I decided to make a baby quilt for my friend's charity auction. Here's a teaser (bad night time photo, sorry!):

Her organization is called Ted E. Bear Hollow, and it is a place for grieving children and families. I hope my little contributions will help.

In a week my baby boy will be three. How did that happen so quickly? This last year has changed him so much. When he turned two, he was grunting as his main form of communication, and now I can't stop his chatter if I try! He has really become a little man. We will be celebrating with the MOA aquarium, pizza and a T-Rex cake (his requests) and oh yeah, he wants his cake *blueberry.* I am thinking it will be this.

marshmallows and an earflap hat

2011-08-30T13:05:00.006-05:00

Today I walked to the grocery store with the kids for baking powder. Apparently it was the day of strangers wanting to talk with me (this happens more often than I like).

First, the guy at the corn stand on the corner asked me why I didn't just shop there instead of at the store. Um...last I checked, you only sell produce. I need baking powder.

Second, some lady stopped me and said, "Hey, you're a mom, right?" (No, no, these children just followed me here). She continued, "It has been a while since I had little ones. Can you tell me where the marshmallows are?" This struck me as so strange. Do adult people without small children NOT buy marshmallows?? Horrible thought, a life without fluffy marshmallows. I hope I never come to that.

Anyway. My craft break is over. I made this hat. It's for a charity benefit a friend asked me to donate some items for. I'm not sure what else I will be contributing. I have to peruse my stash and see what I've got.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

craft funk

2011-08-21T21:21:00.002-05:00

I thought I would just drop a quick note here to tell you I am still around! I am just in a crafty funk right now...I mean, it's been like a week since I've made anything! That is a big deal around here. There are a few ideas floating around in my head, but my main focus for the next couple months will be birthday parties! All three of my kids have fall birthdays, so there is a lot that I try to plan ahead, to save myself last-minute stress. I need to get that dinosaur sweater off my needles before Oliver's birthday mid-September, so that will be my first priority. Anyway, I will post more when I have something exciting to talk about. Cheers!

whales and gas and how cars determine social status

2011-08-12T19:31:00.005-05:00

I have a kick-butt car. It's a Volvo. And it rocks. It can fit five kids and two adults. (Not that I need to fit five kids.) Except, the gas cap cover thing fell off on the freeway during that very hot spell of weather we had.

Hello, a new one is like $800 or something. Not exactly in our budget. So...without further ado, meet the gas cap cover.

It cost me $4.00 (the cost of the 3M Command strips I used to hold it up). The fabrics are scraps. Best part--it's reversible! Ha. Thrifty AND inventive. All the other Volvo wagon drivers will be so jealous. It is funny, my car before this was a Honda Civic. I loved that Honda and felt it really 'fit' with my personality, if you know what I mean? But this Volvo, while awesome, has a different class of person driving it than I am. When I drive it, I feel rich. Just send the Nanny around to unbuckle the kids, please. I'm heading out for a manicure.

Really, though, I felt a little trashy with my gas cap exposed for the world to see.

As promised, I made whale pants for Oliver.

It was a little tricky without any pattern. I traced a loose-ish pair of his pants and used that as my template, then added cuffs and a waistband. He loves them, as you can see.

Pictures

2011-08-11T08:53:00.002-05:00

I had my friend Ali take pictures of Ruthie. Really, they were supposed to be 9 month pictures, but she was ten months old by the time I got around to scheduling them. Oops. Here is the ruffled shirt and headband.

And here is Ruthie lovin' a piece of watermelon (her favorite!).

And then my friend Jessica was looking for some models for her new birthday backdrops she is selling, so I jumped to get some more free pictures from one of her staff who is also a photographer, Amanda. Have I mentioned I am shameless? I brought all the new stuff I made.

Here is Clara in her new dress and matching hair clip.

And Oliver in his new vest.

And Ruthie in her first birthday dress and headband(we are just pretending she is one...really, baby, stay little forever, mmkay?).

boys

2011-08-09T20:20:00.003-05:00

You've got to feel bad for little boys. There is a serious lack of cuteness in their wardrobes. Also a lack of patterns to sew them cute things. I did find a free vest pattern that I used to make this for Oliver.

It's reversible.

He was so excited, he wore it and pet it and told me he LOVED it. I must make him more clothes! This vest was very fast and easy. It was my first buttonhole! I was so nervous about making a buttonhole for some reason, but it was simple as long as I followed my machine manual. Nothing to get stressed about.

Next I have some whale fabric to make him pants. I am eyeing an Oliver + S pattern, but not sure if I want to spend $16 on it...someone convince me.

There will be action shots coming soon. I shamelessly brought all handmade clothes for my kids for a recent photoshoot....shameless, I say!

Sweet Dress

2011-08-07T08:36:00.003-05:00

I bought the Sweet Dress pattern from Leila & Ben. So easy and SO cute. Here is Clara's new dress. I have plans for Ruthie, too. I have been really into apple fabric lately, can you tell?

I have enough leftover fabric to make Oliver some pants. Poor guy keeps asking me what I am making him. Actually, I AM making him something...a dinosaur sweater!

Not my picture, but the one that comes with the pattern. This is what it will look like when it's done, but in green, light blue and light orange.

flower headbands

2011-07-29T14:06:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a funny day. After I finished the baby's top and headband, I showed them to Clara.

(this one is Ruthie's headband)

Clara got all weepy--"But I want a cute headband, too!" Wah wah wah.

Guess what? I like making them, so I put another together. Not too matchy, but close.

She already almost lost it at the park. Maybe I should make a backup.

adorableness

2011-07-28T11:02:00.007-05:00

Hi there. How are you?

I made a cute baby outfit. Ruthie is going to have a lovely photo shoot next week. Here is the tutorial I used for the top. It came together yesterday - I cut it in the morning and sewed it in the evening.

*sigh of happiness*

I also had a good idea. Flowers around the edge of my ugly dress. Fabric flowers are all the rage, and I think I have gotten on the wagon.

moss stitch moebius cowl

2011-07-27T18:47:00.005-05:00

My first attempt. I need it to be looser. Kinda cute though, right? This is an awesome tutorial for casting on in Moebius style knitting (which basically means it has a twist that you can never untwist).

I am making my second attempt right now in a teal blue. Purty.

Also, I feel shame for posting that ugly dress down there. Yuck. I must redeem it so the shame goes away. :)

Also, have you ever tried to sew while a crawling baby finds every disgusting thing in the basement and tries to eat them all?? It is hard. Today I barricaded her in with an ironing board, a few chairs and a blanket, and an ottoman. Poor baby. But really, when she doesn't nap, what does she expect!

A Dress: in which I get intimate with my seam ripper

2011-07-26T20:16:00.005-05:00

Oh boy. Making blankets is fun. Making kids clothes is all right. Making myself clothes...sucks. This dress had a few things I never made before. Pockets. Attached cuffs. Attached collar. I was really bad at all those things. I may have even skipped two out of the three. Let's just call it a learning experience and move on, shall we? (Maybe she needs a belt. She's pretty boring on her own. Maybe a ruffled pink something...somewhere. And that collar has GOT to change. It just plain sucks.)

After THAT, I switched to a faster, more satisfying project. A key fob.

This came in the mail. Well, the apple did. The mushrooms were already living on my shelf.

Oh, I love you, Little Apple Fabric and Little Mushroom Fabric and Little Mushroom Matching Ribbon. You will become Ruthie's first birthday dress. (Apple orchard theme! October baby.)

And the very next project: Look! What I found in my stash, just waiting for me to find it and squeal with delight. A perfect match!

Clara's Quilt

2011-07-20T13:06:00.005-05:00

It's finally done. I'm not sure why it took me so long, other than that first it was too summery out, then it was WAY too summery out, so I didn't want to do much of anything. I used her old curtain as the binding. I like it. More importantly, she likes it.

On to the next (for ME!):

In a couple weeks, Ruthie will be getting her pictures taken, and I am doing a crafty swap for pictures with my friend Ali. (I love doing this and I definitely get the better end of the deal!)

Anyway, I found these cute sandals on clearance at Target for $3.00...kind of silly since shoes on babies are pointless...but I think I will have to make her an outfit to match for the sake of cute pictures. I am thinking something along the lines of this, but in pinks (or rainbow--different colored ruffles??) and with bloomers or shorts, possibly attached? Time will tell.

a little late...elephant set...and the importance of blocking

2011-07-18T10:08:00.005-05:00

This was from the start of the summer. I made it for a friend's benefit raffle. It turned out pretty cute! The hot pink ruffle is what 'makes' it, don't you think? I wish I knew the person who won it, so I could see photos of it in action. Maybe I will have to make another one.

The photo below is of the sweater before I blocked it. See how the elephants are all lumpy??

I cannot ever emphasize to other knitters enough--blocking will make your project look better! It is ALWAYS worth the time and effort, especially with lace or intarsia. BLOCK IT! It is really not difficult. You simply get the knit piece damp, and lay it flat on a towel to dry in the shape you want. So for this piece, I stretched the damp elephants a little before it dried so they didn't bunch. Easy peasy. And much better. (sideways picture...)

rainy day

2011-07-15T10:46:00.004-05:00

Perler Beads + Pipe Cleaners = Bracelets

I had a naughty thought today...what if I were to go buy a freehand quilting machine and then return it after every quilt...morally wrong, right? ...Right? 'Cuz it is a pain in the rear to yank all my quilt through the tiny gap in the machine.

I may or may not have done something similar with a deep fryer and a dinner club...we will never know for sure.

And this picture just makes me laugh.

Happy Friday!

a day in the life

2011-07-11T21:30:00.005-05:00

This post is dedicated to my friend Gilda, who jokingly told me to document my day so she could copy me. Well, the joke's on you, because here is my day!

Woke up. Drank coffee while the kids still slept. Kids woke up. Ate toast.

Played play kitchen.

Painted rocks while the baby napped.

Went to Starbucks.

Went to Trader Joe's.

Ate lunch.

Watched Toy Story 3 for quiet time.

Baked and decorated cookies.

Made my new favorite salad.

Went outside and picked raspberries.

Swung.

Raced.

Went inside for snack.

Clara circled things in a catalog. Oliver played playdough. Ruthie crawled around.

Made dinner--bean burgers--but used butter beans and other herbs/veggies.

Went for a bike ride to Little Tel Aviv for "knitting group" while my amazing, handsome, STRONG husband stayed home and bathed the children and put them to bed. (Husband may or may not be sitting, reading over my shoulder.)

There you have it. A day in the life of me!

cookies

2011-07-11T15:45:00.004-05:00

Hello, dearest ten followers and possible handful(!!) of lurkers! Taking the internet by storm...

Remember when I was going to try to decorate cookies all fancy? Well that failed. I dubbed them The Uglies, but they did taste good.

I decided practice on a more basic level was needed.

A little better. I think I might be lacking in the main ingredient, Patience.

The Perfect Day

2011-07-07T12:54:00.007-05:00

One of my beliefs is that Thursday is the most perfect day of the week. It is a round day, a pleasant day, a nothing-can-go-wrong day. Tomorrow is Friday! Wednesday is over! (I hate Wednesdays.) Hooray for Thursday, the Perfect Day!

Once upon a time, I bought new dining room chair cushions. Trying to find a way to prevent my kids from immediately destroying them was hard. I tried an oilcloth cover over them, but it just didn't work. The kids were always tearing them off. Eventually, I resigned myself to stained cushions and took away the oilcloth. I made a bib instead. I also plan on making a cute bunting for the dining room. I know, buntings are SO last year. I am a little slow.

Banana muffins ('cuz it's Thursday!). Betty Crocker Cookbook, represent!

Attempt at "fancy" cookies, after finding this cute cookie on the Sweet Sugar Belle blog. Daisies in the middle of the circles. I have yet to do the hard part of adding frosting. I think I'll wait until the kids are asleep. Question: is meringue powder the same as powdered egg whites?

I have also been enjoying my bike this week. Every day I get out for a ride by myself. I love the Greenway and all the bike trails in my little town. Love. My bike is old--like from the 1970s. It has fenders and it squeaks. I am sure the professional bikers love seeing me coming. Ha. Wait! Did I say that my bike was old because it is from the 1970s? I retract that. Anything or person from the '70s is young. Young, I say!

(this is not my picture, but it is my bike!)

Independence Day

2011-07-04T14:10:00.007-05:00

You might be one of those people who are very organized.

You might have labeled tubs of seasonal decor sitting in your very organized basement, just waiting for the right holiday to come.

I am not one of those people. I would like to be, but I have a more artistic (scattered) approach to life.

July 3rd came. I said, "Shoot. I was going to plan ahead and make the kids clothes for the 4th!" Off to the fabric store I went. The flag/stars/stripes fabric was 40% off, but still too expensive for what it was going to be used for. I found red and blue gingham for $.96/yard. Score! Home I went with a yard of each. No patterns were used....don't look too closely. Like a lot of what I make, these are best viewed from afar. Ha.

Clara got a bubble top.

Oliver got a kimono top. He actually owns a lot of red, white, and blue clothing, but have you ever tried telling a two year old that Mommy will be making clothes for everyone but him?

Ruthie got the scraps and an old white sundress. It all worked out.

There was also a flag cake and fireworks. Oh, my. The kids were happy.

scrappy strap

2011-07-04T14:04:00.002-05:00

What do you do with five million (I might exaggerate) tiny triangles that are cast offs from the quilt that will never get finished? Why, make a camera strap, of course! There are oodles of tutorials out there, so naturally I ignored them all and tried it on my own. My first attempt was too tight for the strap to pass through. My second attempt was too wide. And my third was just right! What am I, Goldilocks!? Like I said, I have five million triangles, so several attempts were okay with me.

Really bad photobooth picture. How does one take a photo of one's camera strap when it is attached to one's camera? Deep thoughts.

Take a Look Tuesday

2011-06-28T09:03:00.002-05:00

I am participating in Take a Look Tuesday over at Sugar Bee Crafts. Yay for the baby bonnet and my tiny contribution to the crafty blog community. :) Go take a look!

zigging and zagging

2011-06-20T13:55:00.003-05:00

Things I love, in no particular order:

Summer flowers.

Squaring up.

Embroidery.

Girly quilt blocks.

My little family.

When my little family sleeps.

Patterns for myself.

That's right, I bought them all. New wardrobe, here I come! After the quilt is finished, that is.

Bonnet Tutorial

2011-06-16T13:55:00.019-05:00

The much anticipated (by two people) bonnet tutorial is here! Everything you will need to make your own adorable newborn(ish) bonnet is below.

Materials:

Bonnet Pattern (click 'download', then print it) (I don't know a slick way to make my PDF a cute link...so you will have to deal with it the way it is.)
2 fat quarters of fabric
lightweight fusible interfacing
2 buttons

What you do:

1. Cut out the pattern.

Iron your fabric and then fold each in half, right sides in. Lay the pieces on top of each other with your folds lined up. Pin your pattern through both fabrics and cut. Seam allowances are included, so cut right on the line. Fold a piece of interfacing and cut one pattern piece from that, too. You should have three pattern pieces now.

2. Make the straps.

Choose which fabric you want your straps to be. Cut two straps from your scraps, 2.5" x 15" (length and width isn't super important, so if you only have enough for 2.25" x 13" strips, go with it. Mine ended up being longer, more like 17").

Fold each strip in half with the right sides in, so you have two long, skinny pieces. Iron.

Take it to your sewing machine and stitch 1/4" around one short edge (I made mine with a point to make it a little fancier) and the long edge.

Leave one short edge open. Trim your corner if you did a point on your short edge.

Turn your straps right side out--I find a long knitting needle is helpful here.

Iron and set aside.

3. Assemble the bonnet.

First, iron your interfacing according to the package directions onto the wrong side of one of your fabric pattern pieces. Next, lay one bonnet piece, right side up, on your work surface. Place the other piece, right side down, on top.

Place your straps inside on the straight edge, with the short edge you didn't sew sticking out the side (I fold my straps accordion-style so they are not in the way when I sew). Pin in place.

Pin all around. Pins are your friends. Take your bonnet to the sewing machine and sew 1/4" from edge, all the way around, leaving a two inch gap at the back, between the straps. Be careful not to stitch the folded straps!

Turn right side out and iron (press your open edges inside the bonnet). You may be wondering at this point if it is ever going to look like a bonnet. It will, even though it now resembles a jellyfish.

4. Finish her off.

I like to use my sewing machine's fancy stitches to topstitch all around the bonnet. You could use just a straight stitch, too. Contrasting thread makes it even cuter!

Topstitching will close up the gap you left to turn your bonnet right-side out. Once you have it all topstitched the way you want, it is time to turn it from jellyfish to bonnet! Pull the back sides forward onto the curved edge and pin.

You are going to be sewing your buttons here. Sometimes it takes a little tinkering to get it *just right*.

Sew your buttons on (sew them firmly so no babies can pull them off, please!) and find a cute model, or a didgeridoo if your cute model is sleeping.

Cuute!

Notes:

If you want to make a larger size, just add an inch or two around the outside edges of the bonnet. I have a 6-12 month pattern worked out, but it would require a scanner or something to get it onto my computer because it is bigger than one piece of paper. I am not that fancy, so you will have to work it out yourself.
You could also make a button hole for your buttons, but that's more complicated.
If you use a heavier fabric for one side, like corduroy or canvas, you can skip the interfacing. I only use interfacing for cottons.
Right...so if you want to make these and sell them, that's okay! But give me some credit, mmkay? And please don't pretend this is your pattern, because it isn't. Let's play nice, now. :)

There it is, my first tutorial. If anything is unclear, let me know. Happy sewing to you all.

oh goodness

2011-04-26T13:09:00.004-05:00

I have not been a very faithful blogger, have I? Well, I have been making lots of stuff, even if I haven't been posting about it.

First, this little outfit for a friend's fundraiser. Her son has to have three more surgeries this summer, after already having four in the last year due to a non-healing wound. Their medical bills are out of control, so my mom's group is putting together a garage sale and a raffle for her. It is a little elephant cardigan and matching skirt in size 2T. I still need to get buttons for the cardi. I think it's pretty cute! I hope it brings this family a little more money.

I also made a couple really wonky sleep sacks for Ruthie. I am finally done swaddling her and blankets at this age just scare me. Anyway, they are not photo worthy--just hot pink fleece and poorly installed zippers.

I have also finally started cutting pieces for Clara's quilt. That has taken me long enough! I decided on a snowball quilt. It is going to be very colorful.

Almost forgot--I made a Nook pouch for my awesome friend Gilda. (she took the picture and I stole it off Facebook).

More later.

bliss is baby girl clothes

2011-04-08T13:31:00.003-05:00

Ruthie is getting dedicated at our church on Sunday and I just *had* to knit her a little dress. Then, I just *had* to sew a little under-dress with ruffles. Then, I just *had* to knit matching booties. Then, I just *had* to find the perfect hair (or sweet bald baby head) accessory from the cutest etsy shop ever. SIGH I might have a problem. In fact, I know I do. I also have a hand cramp from size three needles.

new fabric sigh

2011-03-12T15:55:00.004-06:00

I love Crafty Planet and their yummy fabrics.
New ones for my stash (unspecified uses so far):

So pretty!

Much thanks to my lovely Carly for the gift certificate at Christmas.

nap time insanity

2011-03-11T19:39:00.003-06:00

(random muppet to start us off)

So...hello there. Sometimes nap time makes me completely insane. It is rough having three kids at 2:00pm. Ruthie, bless her little chubby baby soul, naps perfectly for two or even three hours every afternoon. Clara I don't even hope for a nap from, as she dropped them like they were hot almost two years ago. She gets an hour and a half of 'quiet time' in her room, where she reads or plays or imagines or bangs on the window to make the neighbor dog bark. Whatever. If she leaves me alone, I am happy. Oliver has napped great until the last month. Now his sole purpose in life seems to be to make me crazy every afternoon and to watch me snap. It's not pretty. He stopped napping. Okay, fine. Quiet time. But he is a 2.5 year old boy who knows not the meaning of silence. Out of his room, mommy puts him back. Out of his room, mommy puts him back. Repeat until mommy loses her mind.

I digress. My point is that today was a rare napping day for Oliver, so I got a full blissful hour before Clara was done with her quiet time and came to force herself on me. I could have cleaned. I could have made a glorious meal for my family. There were many options, but I randomly chose to sew myself a new spring hat. Do you like it?

I had leftover cotton knit interlock from when I made a moby kind of baby wrap (for 1/3 of the price, might I add). I found this tutorial last fall and decided it was time to use it! I am pretending the bill is supposed to be wonky. I am almost thinking I should change my blog name to Wonky Copycats because that is how I often feel things turn out. I find someone else's talent, I copy it, it turns out wonky, the end.

Next up, a pettiskirt for Clara.

I can't seem to stop myself

2011-02-26T14:30:00.004-06:00

I figured it out! I took the apron bonnet and cut it down to make it look more like the one I am trying to imitate. I think I am in love. Too bad my little model is napping right now. I am guessing this one is a 3-6 month size. Next step, pattern out different sizes. Possible third step, sell them? What would you pay for a bonnet?

Edit:

I tried it on her. I think it's more of a 0-3 month size. Some pics:

snow day, sew day

2011-02-20T16:40:00.004-06:00

Many months ago, a friend emailed me this photo of baby bonnets and asked if I could make something like them.

I thought I could, so I first (of course) googled baby bonnet tutorials to see if I could find it without extra work for myself (lazy). No such luck! I then tried a variety of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants patterns, none of which looked remotely like a bonnet. Then last night I stumbled upon this little blog and I thought, "Hey. That could be scaled to a baby size." So I gave it a whirl. It is not exactly like the first photo, but the general style is similar. I didn't cute it up very much because I just wanted it to get done. I am going to tweak the pattern a bit more next time. What I LOVE is that it is an apron when it is unbuttoned. So after baby outgrows the bonnet, she can play kitchen with it! Of course, I just sewed buttons on...I need to work on buttonholes next. Still, cute, no?

My model refused to smile.

Last night, I was home alone so I decided to indulge in watching Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth, I LOVE YOU). I also knit myself some fingerless mittens. They were not very exciting, so I sewed some lace around them--much better.

Just in time, too, because it is snowing again and it looks like I will be shoveling with my three little helpers.

Hibernation

2011-02-10T12:31:00.008-06:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much.

I have a good excuse.

Well, three good excuses.

It turns out, life is a lot busier with three kids.

That doesn't mean I haven't been a crafty mama,

just that I have been a less-craftier-than-normal mama.

I did manage quite a few homemade Christmas

gifts, almost none of which I photographed.

I sewed new stockings for everyone.

I sewed two hobo bags out of corduroy,

complete with magnetic snap closures.

I knit a bracelet with wire and beads.

More recently, I started a spring dress for the baby

(hopefully to be completed for her dedication in April).

I received an awesome gift of a NookColor,

and I sewed a little pouch for it.

I am also working on some projects for photographers,

including a woven baby hammock and newborn twin

teddy bear hats. (pics of those coming soon)

I am also working on my four year old's quilt,

which I decided would be with double hourglass squares.

She decided it should be purple.

Also in the works is a tutorial (!!!) for a baby bonnet

I have been making. The first two prototypes were awful,

but I think I have it now. Stay tuned.

All this to say, I am back into the bloggy world of crafting.

Thanks for reading and I will post again soon.

my nest

2010-09-01T20:20:00.008-05:00

I don't have pictures, but I have been redecorating our family room the last few weeks. New throw pillows, new curtains, and turning a coffee table into a cushioned seat. I don't have a nursery to decorate so this is my substitute. I am feeling the crunch now--5 weeks or less until baby arrives!

Our 'master' bedroom has had a closet renovation which will allow us to rearrange our room for the first time ever! I love my 1920s farm house, but it is not very convenient with the slanted ceilings, tiny hallway-esque closets, and poorly used spaces. We are making it work though and hopefully this weekend will be the finishing touches once my husband gets his rear in gear. ;)

I have also been knitting wee little things...

Not sure why it looks red in this photo, but it is a dark orange and white. I was going for a harvest look. Bring on the fall!

cranking it out

2010-08-15T13:29:00.004-05:00

Baby blankie:

The backing:

I have to say, that soft brown velour is very nice on the blanket, but what a pain in the rear to work with. The rest of the quilt is a mix of cottons and flannels, and the backing is a flannel (and I mis-cut the back, so then pieced together a little extra edging with leftovers...kind of cute though!).

Wipes (20 out of a goal of 40):

So exciting to be checking things off my list! I am having a horrible nesting urge that I cannot direct at a nursery, since the baby will be sharing a room, so I think my living room will be getting a makeover this week. heehee

pictures as promised

2010-08-13T09:48:00.004-05:00

This bad boy is d.o.n.e. Oh yeah. And I already washed and dried it to see how it quilted up. Lovely. Oliver seems to like it too. Of course, this means we now have to set up his big boy bed! Ack...not looking forward to that. It means more work at bedtime, that he is growing up, and that I will be having a baby soon.

Like my embroidery? I had bigger embroidery plans, but got lazy. The red backing is nice but I wish I had thought to use red thread in my bobbin so it would blend in better. Oh well.

I have had wicked bad insomnia this week so I am almost done with the new baby's quilt, too. Pictures of that next time!

I might have a problem with overcommitting

2010-08-10T19:34:00.003-05:00

Oh goodness. You know how I said Oliver's quilt was done? Um...not quite. I had some border issues. First I thought I would do a solid yellow border around it, to lengthen and widen it a bit. Except I didn't buy quite enough yellow, so I had this cute multi-colored dot fabric and I thought I would do a sort of easy edge alternating the two, cut into 6.5" squares. I finally got it all cut and sewn and decided it was way too busy and so I ripped it all out. That's right, I did! After working on this thing so long, there was no way I was going to settle for something that would drive me crazy every time I looked at it. Back to the fabric store went I, and came home with some lovely, simple, white Kona cotton. Much better. Crisp and clean.

The next step was to top quilt the bugger...I wanted to do a cool meandering kind of thing but alas, I lack the machine and the talent; I also lack the money to pay someone with those two magical ingredients, so I opted instead for a basic X through each square kind of thing, which works okay. I am not good at straight lines, but I did discover just in the nick of time that I own a walking foot, so no bunching fabric for me! Hurrah. I also found a 1/4" seam foot, which would have come in handy oh, about five months ago. Next time.

I just cut and ironed my binding and I can't decide if I should just do it with the white thread even though I could go to the store and get some that matches better. I will probably just use the white. But I needed a quick break because my back hurts. Being home with two small children and being 32 weeks pregnant is no joke. And did I mention the obscenely hot, humid weather we have had for almost a week now? Seriously it makes me glad that my craft area is in the basement.

Lest you think my blog name is wrong, I have also been knitting. I made a few more flowered headbands for my friend Ali, am 2/3 of the way done with lion hats for my kids for the winter (SO stinking cute I can hardly stand it), and have a queue of like a million other projects. Okay, not a million, but here is a glimpse.

To knit--August:

beanie w/ flowers for Ali (actually crocheted)
earflap hat for Ali
sundresses for Ali (yes, Ali owes me some rockin' photos in exchange!)
pixie hat for Evelyn
frog hat for Bjorn

To knit--September:

new baby romper (and look at these adorable buttons I got. girly and boyish, just because I couldn't decide, don't know who this baby is yet, and I have a slight Etsy addiction)
new baby photo shoot munchkin hat
new baby photo shoot pixie hat

And then on my baby to-do sewing list:

new wipes (about 40) (our old wipes are ones I made before Clara was born, so four years old now)
repair bumGenius diaper velcro tabs (about 25 diapers worth)
baby quilt. I already have all the material and I know, I may never want to quilt again! and Clara is already asking about HER future quilt...egads, good thing we are stopping at three children.

Seriously, do I have a problem!?

the quilt!

2010-07-23T18:59:00.005-05:00

Finally! It's finally sewn together! I decided I will just add a yellow border to make it a bit longer & wider, then it is off to the long arm quilter to get stippled, and then I will finish this sucker. Yes, I will.

Things I have learned making my first "real" quilt:

1. pins are my friends

2. straight lines are important (and hard to attain)

3. done is better than perfect

Seriously this took a really long time even though it shouldn't have. I got bored with the pieces, then I had to square them all up because I am a sucky straight-line-sewer. Squaring up was super annoying, so I averaged one square/week for a while there. Poor Oliver was probably wondering if he would ever get a big boy blanket for his bed. At the end I decided to just go for it and get it over with. It can suck, I told myself, it's my first quilt. Oliver won't care. And you know what? It actually doesn't suck. It looks okay. I still plan on embroidering on a couple of the turquoise squares (a few with pictures and one with something like "Otto's Quilt 2010. Love, Mama" and of course need to add the yellow border, which I am getting to TONIGHT so that I don't procrastinate even longer. I also bought this a-dor-a-ble multi-colored dot fabric to use as the binding after I get it quilted. The backing is a red sheet I bought at IKEA.

I love the circles inside the squares, but I didn't have enough to make it a real twin-sized quilt, so that is why I added the turquoise squares. Each square is 6.5". I like how the solid colored squares give it a random feel. Makes me happy. :)

needle + thread

2010-07-16T20:18:00.005-05:00

There is nothing better than a homemade gift--as long as it fits the style of the person to whom you are gifting.

Our new neighbors are expecting their second child any day now. They are having a boy and already have a 2 year old girl, so I thought it would be a good excuse for some boyish onesies. I embroidered these with Sublime Stitching transfers. Cute? Yes!

I also thought I would show off a couple more of my "professional" pieces I have knit. These were for another awesome photographer friend I have. Check her out at www.oneswiftclick.com. Jessica's amazing!

Baby cocoons:

Baby hats:

fresh knits

2010-07-14T12:50:00.004-05:00

I keep forgetting to snap pictures of my finished projects before I give them away. Luckily, one of the people I am giving stuff to is a photographer. I have made her a few items now and have a few more in the works for her to use as photo props.

I am not really much of a crocheter, but I did manage this baby beanie with a flower. Lovely photography, too! Check her out at www.alisonleaphotography.com. I will post more photos of my knit items as she gets subjects to photograph in them.

My friend Casey has a new baby girl and I needed a newborn head to size these baby headbands I have started knitting. Here's the one baby Madeline is sporting for me.

I made up the pattern and have so far made it in three sizes: 0-12 months, 2-4 years, and 6+. They are quick and satisfying little projects.

I went to North Carolina to visit a friend this past weekend and while there I made myself a new nursing cover. No picture of the finished project yet, but this is the material I used. I got it for a steal--four dollars for almost two yards! (Ignore the gray at the bottom there. Guess I was faster than my internet today.)

I also just went to IKEA and got a red twin sheet ($4.50) to use as the backing on Oliver's quilt. Hopefully I will be done with that thing soon.

star spangled

2010-07-03T12:41:00.004-05:00

One thing I have noticed is that boys have an over abundance of red, white, and blue clothes. Girls, on the other hand...well, let's just say my girl has absolutely nothing even remotely patriotic in her enormous wardrobe.

Today we went to a 4th of July parade and I felt the need to dress my kids in the traditional colors, but I had to get creative with hers. It is not perfect. It was sewn at 10:30 last night (why must I get these crafty urges so late at night!?). It worked and she even got some compliments from strangers--score!

Materials: plain white tank top, three largish patriotic scraps from the boy's quilt, and some red ribbon.

Finished product:

I spy with my little eye

2010-06-11T19:23:00.004-05:00

something fast, cheap, and quiet.

start: two underwear packages (Clara chose Thomas the Train and Hello Kitty), a cup or so of rice, a piece of felt, and cheap trinkets/junk.

finish: I Spy Packets for *hopefully* quiet play times.

total time: 5 minutes.

The sewing is not superb, there is not enough room or rice, but I think my kids won't notice the difference.

summer crafting

2010-06-01T12:20:00.003-05:00

Today is June first! Unofficially summertime here in Minnesota. I have been busy with the yard, the kids, the season finale of Chuck (awesome), and general busy life. Happily things are slowing down now and we have almost no agenda for the entire summer.

Crafty things:

Lawn swing. I wish I had a before picture so you could see how hideous it was. Rusted white, no cushions at all, a squirrel-chewed blanket thrown over the top. Disgusting. I sewed some cushions, got the husband to paint it a lovely shade of leafy green, and voila! Better than new.

Sun dress for the girl. This was my impulse craft last night. I got the lavender eyelet fabric for a steal ($3 for two yards!), so felt the need to use it immediately. The pattern is Oliver + S. Love it. I haven't been able to get it on my model yet, but hopefully I will shortly.

Here's my vegetable garden. Let me tell you, it is hard on this pregnant woman to bend over to plant seeds. Luckily my husband was around to help. (I am not sure why my kids' flag is at half-mast.)

And here is a photo of my husky little man, sporting some underwear (nope, he's not trained, but he wants to be in undies like big sister).

I am currently knitting/crocheting some hats for a photographer friend of mine. Pictures will come soon. Time to go kick back with my feet in the kiddie pool.

new yarn!

2010-05-08T18:04:00.004-05:00

I am so excited. My friend Leidy from Western Sky Knits custom dyed me some yarn for a project for the new baby. I am going to make something like this--a little romper for the chilly fall months (obviously I did not make the one in the photo; it is just my inspiration).

I think my yarn is gender-neutral enough and it looks pretty perfect to me! So excited to knit something for this wee one. Poor baby will have to share everything and live in hand-me-downs from birth!

progress

2010-05-07T18:35:00.003-05:00

on big things

Oliver's quilt--all pieces are cut; now it's time to sew.

and little things

mother's day brooches

I like to think of myself as creative, but really I am just a copycat. The fabric roses were found here. Mine are a little wonky, but what that I make isn't?

Craft Corner!

2010-05-02T20:20:00.003-05:00

I finally, officially have a "craft area" in my house. Up until now, the yarn was stored in the coat closet (four bins of yarn is no small thing to stash), the fabric in a bag on top of the yarn bins, the sewing machine thrown in there somewhere as well, and the knitting accessories were randomly on top of my bookshelf. Getting any project done was a small feat of rearranging furniture, digging through piles, and then putting it all away again when I was done before the Wild Things showed up to messify. It is a wonder I ever finished anything.

Now, it is all nice and snug under the stairs in my basement. When we finished our basement a couple years ago we thought the under-the-stairs area would be so fun for the kids to play in, read in, hide in. Really, no one used it except the cat, when she was scared of thunderstorms.

I have been in a major rearrange/sort/clean mood the last week. I went through all the kids' clothes and sorted them by gender and size to store until October when we find out what this baby is going to be wearing. I cleaned the linen closet (had never been done in the almost seven years we have lived here), rearranged the kids' rooms, and--most importantly--moved all crafty items into the new Craft Corner. I still need to get a big shelf type thing for the yarn and fabric, but I have a table with my sewing machine on top (finally that sweet retro table gets put to use).

I decided to christen my new space with a quick project: a couple bird friends. I found the pattern on this blog and they were made out of some of Oliver's quilt scraps. So sweet!

Also--can you believe it is already May!? We spent yesterday making and delivering May Day baskets to our neighbors. Happy May Day!

my eyes are bigger

2010-04-17T18:52:00.003-05:00

than my energy level.

That quilt? Yeah...not started yet.

That shrug I am knitting? Yeah...still barely begun. My energy by the end of the day is gone, thanks to a preschooler, a toddler, and a fetus.

(here is the yarn I am using for my shrug)

They will get done. Honest. They get thought about a lot. I am still queueing up projects I want to create. But the creating is not happening at the moment.

I am enjoying being outside in the sunshine, though. Today the kids and I planted our early spring veggies in the garden--spinach, peas, carrots, lettuce. I eye my rhubarb every day, wondering if it is long enough to cut (hello, horrible rhubarb pie craving). I dig up dozens of dandelions. That has got to count for something, right?

the start of something beautiful

2010-04-02T18:51:00.002-05:00

The fabric is all purchased for Oliver's quilt. I still need to find a backing material but that will come later. I'm washing and ironing tonight and the cutting will begin this weekend! I even bought a shiny new rotary cutter just for the occasion (my old one was really dull and, well, old). Hurray for the Year of the Quilt!

while they are sleeping

2010-03-27T21:25:00.004-05:00

I'm not really knitting a whole lot right now. I have one little shrug going for my niece to go with her Easter dress (mini rant: why are Easter dresses always sleeveless?? Hello, this is Minnesota. It is cold, even at Easter time). Just a simple little off-white cotton thing. I'm on the sleeves, so another night should call it done.

Even though my knitting needles are resting, I have still been crafting away. I made some little items for the kids' Easter baskets.

1. Toddler tote bags. You know, so they can carry everything around with them. My kids are constantly dragging this and that with them upstairs, downstairs, outside. I thought I would help them out a bit. I used this tutorial and it was awesome. Love it. They are reversible. Clara's is the lemon print, Oliver's is the animals/dots.

2. Black apple dolls. I had some leftover material from the totes and decided to try this pattern out for something different. They are cute in a wonky sort of way. I didn't have felt that was hair-color appropriate, so I used cotton and just left the edges raw to fray it a bit. The arm on Oliver's doll is a bit high and stuck pointing up (Think: waving ecstatically). I still love 'em and I think the kids will, too.

Now I am in full-fledged sewing mode. I have decided that this is the Year of the Quilt for me. I would like to make a quilt for each of my kids' beds. Oliver will be moving to a twin bed sometime this summer and so I am going to start with his. I think I will either do a disappearing nine square quilt or a raw edge circle quilt (can you tell what my new favorite blog is?). I am leaning toward the first because while I think the second is awesome, I hate sewing in circles.

I also discovered that if you read your sewing machine's manual, you can learn a lot. Apparently my machine does a sort of serging--awesome.

Knitting Retreat!

2010-03-17T19:55:00.005-05:00

That's right, it really happened, and I have photos to prove it. None of us knitting, but we really did! While watching such classics as Sweet Home Alabama and Emma. I have to say it, I love my knitting peeps. Holla!

Laura - "What happens in Duluth, stays in Duluth"

Two pregnant women and one non-pregnant - she had no choice but to eat with us.

Ice chunks on Lake Superior -

And the finished project that I started on Saturday, finished on Monday night - (pics are unblocked; it looks better now)

I am happy to say my knitting funk is behind me. I have a few projects going right now, including a spring/summer shrug for myself to accentuate my growing belly, and some socks for someone...not sure who yet, but I couldn't resist some yarn up in Duluth and spent way too much money on two skeins. Shh don't tell my husband. I also have a quick little Easter shrug for my niece going. Simple pleasures. :) Until next time.

back at it

2010-02-28T12:53:00.003-06:00

I've been MIA for a while. life is changing around here a bit and knitting has been on the back burner. That doesn't mean I haven't been knitting at all, but I haven't been knitting as much as maybe I should have been.

My queue of projects on Ravelry is currently at 137. Yes, one hundred, thirty-seven projects I aspire to make someday. It's a bit much.

On to the things I have made recently.

Longies set.

Leafy cowl (was supposed to be for a church auction but I finished it too late and so I'm selfishly keeping it) and another hat for me, since I have lost TWO hats this winter. What the heck.

Crocheted scarflet.

And next will be some green mittens for me finally, now that it is almost too warm for mittens, and then a little sweater for a friend's baby.

when things go wrong

2010-01-20T12:20:00.004-06:00

I had big plans for a felted Easter bunny. It was going to be sooo cute. But then, the ears happened. I increased and decreased incorrectly, because I thought the pattern had a mistake in it. Nope. I realized it was I who made the mistake after the first ear, but just went with it for the second (me = lazy). I felted it and still had hopes it would be oh-so-cute. Um...so it doesn't exactly look like a bunny. In fact, it looks like a fish. I decided Hop the Fish isn't so bad, so I added safety eyes and stuffed him, cinching the "mouth" to look like a fish. See? Sometimes when things go wrong, you can still make them right.

In other knitting news, my church is having a silent auction for a mission trip they are doing, and I thought I would donate a couple items. One is a "garden scarf," my own design, which has knitted leaves and crocheted flowers. Here is a sampling of it (it's not done yet):

Cute, right? I am also donating an earflap hat and a cowl, if I have enough time.

Next up is longies for a friend in my mom's group. She wanted "boyish" colors.

One last mention, I am SO excited for March! My weekly knitting group decided to do a knitting retreat and it is official, set in stone, and I get a whole weekend away from my lovely but tiring children! Hurrah!

happy hooker

2010-01-10T13:23:00.004-06:00

I decided it was time to learn how to crochet. Well, relearn, really, since I have vague memories of crocheting pot holders when I was ten. It is hard for me as a knitter to figure it out. The yarn goes on the wrong side. I have a hand free. I am supposed to grasp the project?? My hands like to hold needles, what can I say. Even though the two fiber crafts are so similar, the techniques are so different.

Anyway, I didn't let it beat me. I mastered single crochet thanks to Stitch-n-Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. Behold, my first crocheted project: The Washcloth.

My next goal is flowers. Wish me luck!

Something I knit: a little baby bonnet to set aside for the Etsy store. A wee bit of sunshiny love. Seed stitch baby shoes to match, coming soon.

possible future store items

2010-01-07T19:42:00.003-06:00

Just a list for my own reference. If you have an opinion, please let me know.

~ girl bonnets

~ hair bows

~ flower hair clips

~ brimmed skater boy hats

~ longies

~ fingerless mittens/arm warmers

~ baby shoes

new year, new knits

2010-01-06T19:19:00.003-06:00

Happy January! 2009 really went out with a bang for me. It was not a good bang, but 2010 is looking up. My knitting resolution for the year is to use up my stash as much as I can. Good grief, I have an entire closet of wool--literally.

I have started it already, by knitting myself a hat/cowl/mitten set only with scraps I have laying around. It is my all-time favorite wool--1ply merino from 100purewool.com. I have a ton of leftovers from my old longie knitting business. Here are a couple of the items. Mittens are on hold until I get a gift off my needles. The set is bright and random, a lot like me!

Other highlights from the end of 2009 include:

Clara's Christmas shrug:

Ben's three-cabled scarf (ugh, scarves!):

Currently I am working on a little lacy scarf for my mother-in-law, Nancy, who, along with my father-in-law, is recovering from CO poisoning. I hope she likes it. (And yes,they are expected to have a complete recovery.)

Also new this year will be a wee Etsy store, coming soon, filled with random knit goods.

Christmas Cowl

2009-12-17T15:44:00.001-06:00

For my great aunt. Turned out pretty. :)

Felting Fear

2009-12-16T12:37:00.001-06:00

This is a pair of slippers that will be a Christmas gift. They are huge and are meant to be felted, but I am scared to do it. Front loaders are great for laundry, but not great for felting hand knits. They're unpredictable at best. I am trying to talk myself into just doing it. Eek. What if it ruins them?? I guess there's only one way to find out.

~~LATER~~

I did it and it wasn't so bad. I did about four ten minute cycles on hot and then an extra rinse. They were still a little big, so I threw them in the dryer for twenty minutes. They are still a little big now, so I think I will wash them on cold with some laundry once more to get them perfect. Fears must be conquered.

Drying by the fire (with old sandals and plastic bags inside them for shaping):

All done except the suede soles:

Edit: I just realized that my buttons are placed incorrectly. Whoops. They are supposed to be on the outsides of the shoes. I will fix that after I shrink them a bit more. Guess I ought to look at the photos in my pattern!

Sorry about that...but not really.

2009-12-14T13:56:00.003-06:00

It's crunch time, people. I have seven (SEVEN!) half-finished or not-even-begun gifts in the works. Also, two stockings to sew up and embroider names on. Christmas is in T-11 days. Are you wondering if I'll get it done? Well, so am I.

Sorry, blogworld. You are at the bottom of my list. Talk to you when they're all finished.

Clara's Vesty

2009-11-29T18:22:00.003-06:00

I finally finished the vest I started back in July. It kept getting put on hold so I could knit more pressing things and then at the end I just was so SICK of it I couldn't knit it. I could barely look at it. However I can look at it all I want now, because it is done done done. Clara seems to love it. She has an eighties sense of style as it is, so pair this little vest with some leg warmers and a jean skirt and she is golden. I added a couple applique knit hearts for flair.

Next up is a scarf for the husband. He asked for one--how could I say "no"? It's a cabled scarf in brown, orange, mustard and light gray. More on that later.