More baby...

But this time, not for mine. This is a terrible photo, but the blanket is so soft and snuggly :)

The pattern is a free one from Red Heart - simple and quick.

So many babies, so little time! It seems like everyone is having babies these days!

Baby stuff!

I have always liked making things for babies, probably at least in part because of how quickly they work up. Instant gratification! So of course it's even more fun to make things for my own babies.

So first, a hat and mittens:

 The hat is this pattern here, and the pattern for the mittens is here. I especially love baby mittens - no thumbs! They can be made really quickly. I will definitely do that again as a baby gift!

The second hat is a little simpler, but I was afraid after I knit the first one that it might not stay on a baby's head very well - no ribbing at the bottom! Of course, I haven't actually put it on a baby yet, so who knows :)  The pattern for this hat is here.

And, in the process, stash busting! So, a sweater to match.

I keep coming back to this pattern by Jennifer Hoel because it is SO SIMPLE and there is basically no finishing - my favorite kind of sweater!

I think now I need to choose another color for the rest of my baby knits, though. Getting a little sick of that yarn. 28 weeks now - getting closer and closer!

Amigurumi Knits

I mentioned in my last post that I received several excellent knitting books for Christmas. The creations in this next one are not quite as tiny, but equally awesome.

There are sea creatures (knitted nautilus!), imaginary creatures (a jackalope!) and, among other things, a pattern for a basket of knitted vegetables. I still need to add the cucumber and the carrot, but here's what I've got so far:

Eggplant (my personal favorite), a tomato, garlic, and a peapod. There's also a pattern for an open peapod so you can see the peas!

The construction techniques on these are excellent - the increases and decreases are so smooth, you don't have any of the little tiny holes you sometimes see in those areas.

Teeny-Tiny MochiMochi!

I mentioned in my last post that tinier = cuter, which is why I was so excited to receive this book for Christmas:

My sister-in-law knows me so well :)

These little guys knit up really quickly - I have finished most in an hour or two in front of the TV. I've also learned a lot of new little knitting tips and tricks, because when you're making something this small, the little details REALLY matter - so I have been paying more attention to the slant direction of increases and decreases and so forth. There are also virtually NO seams - including for those little tiny legs and arms and wings, which makes for really simple finishing.

Tiny chicken in a tiny basket :)

Tiny fried eggs, by request for Chrissy

Tiny ghost for Halloween!

Tiny cactus...just because.

Tiny cupcake!

AIRPLANE!!!

Tiny gnome, by request for the hubs :)

Why? Because I can. And who doesn't want a tiny creature for their desk? Or anywhere else, for that matter?

Go Pats!

Because tiny is always cuter.

We moved! The new house is wonderful, but we are still in the process of painting and sanding and spackle-ing and whatnot. That's why I haven't even touched my sewing machine since before Christmas - too much to unpack and put away and organize!

However, I have been doing some knitting. I got some AMAZING knitting books for Christmas, including this one:

This book is so full of knitted adorableness it is almost unbelievable. I am not quite ready to share my tiny creations yet, but knitting tiny things has inspired me to look for adorable tiny things everywhere. So I put together a little list of some of my favorites :)

Le Frog Peridot Totem by le ... leanimale $40.00	sterling brontosaurus dinosa... cravejewelryde... $28.00
Rabbit origami Pin hugaporcupine $29.00	blue jay figurine totem ani... HandyMaiden $32.00
Tiny Bunny Charm Necklace in... BLACKSWANJEWEL... $22.00	Tiny bumble bee ornament dec... CraftsByKeri $8.00
Chilly Penguins Stitch Marke... weeones $14.00	Red Fox Clay Animal Totem - ... RoxyStudio $25.00
A tiny Valentine koala LoveableTreasu... $25.00	Extreme Micro Snail - Mini T... suami $18.00
two tiny hedgehogs HandmadeByNove... $10.00	Little needle felt owl, tiny... Lybo $20.00
Baby Elephant Figurine, Tiny... efiwarsh $18.00	Tiny fairy, mushroom house a... MijbilCreature... $38.00
Fawn Pug Dog with Pink Bow -... suami $22.00	Lovely Tiny Silver Whale Stu... YQYJewelry $19.99

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio. 

 

Happy Groundhog Day!

Christmas Recap, Part 2

Another Christmas project I enjoyed was this simple scarf. You need a TON of stitches on the needle, but they work up pretty quickly and they are pretty! I have already gotten requests for the pattern, which is a free one from Lion brand yarn! 

With this blue one (for my Nana, she loves this color), I followed the directions exactly, and used just a little bit more than one ball of yarn. That annoyed me, since it meant I had to buy two! I made a second one, in red, and just reduced the number of stitches (I think by 20 or so) and then it took exactly one ball. I think a little bit shorter looked fine - maybe better, since it was a little less bulky.

Not the best picture I've ever had taken of me...but I was in a hurry to get things photographed and wrapped!

Monsters, monsters everywhere!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am loving this book.

So, I've made a few monsters.

 I have also mentioned in earlier posts that I have waaaay too much yarn. So, these guys helped me cut down on my stash.

 Perfect for Halloween! Very scary. Or very cuddly. I can't decide.

Rufio dressed up as a bat for Halloween.

A vampire bat!

Hubby and I had to get in on the fun too, of course.

We also had fun decorating cupcakes, but they were mostly pretty ugly.Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Happy Halloween!

I-Spy Baby Goodness

Two lovely ladies in my department are having babies this fall, and so I wanted to stretch my quilting skills and try a few baby quilts. I have liked the idea for awhile of doing an "I-spy" quilt, but finding all those fabrics and cutting them into tiny squares would be waaaaaay too taxing for me...so I bought some from Sew Together on etsy. They're adorable! I got a set of doubles, so I could make each quilt like a matching game (I'm a teacher, so of course everything has to be educational...)

My first quilt ever was a disappearing nine patch, and I used the same pattern here, based on a tutorial by Obsessively Stitching. (The same blog guided me through my first quilt ever!) Aren't they cute?

Since I've been reading about it so much lately in the bloggy world, I decided to sign them. It was quite tricky, but I figured out a method that worked for me.

It has become somewhat of a tradition in my department that I always knit little animals for my co-workers when they have babies, and I didn't want to disappoint on that front...but I went in a slightly different direction. For the past few months I have been obsessed with this book:

So I made some monster friends:

My mom gave this one as a gift to a friend's son who is welcoming a baby sister. This is my favorite.

After all, what could be snugglier than a giant monster? She's big enough to double as a pillow.

Knitting has been my go-to craft this month because hubby and I have been moving - we are staying with my parents for awhile while we finalize the sale on our (hooray!) new house. I just broke out the sewing machine today, so hopefully I'll have some new projects to share soon!

And finished! My charity project for July...and August...and a little bit of September... for Project Linus.

It feels like I have been working on this forever! But I am pleased with the way it came out.

My charity project for this month will be my donation items to the church fair, which I blogged about last year...I've been finishing up a few small projects, with a few bigger ones to come.

Cute, right? And from a project that I was never satisfied with...

Much better, I think. Cute little slippers.

Hubby and I are moving in a few weeks, so things are a bit scattered...but I have a few projects to share soon. Happy fall!

Knitting in July

Via pinterest.com, I stumbled across a picture of this blanket. Pretty, right?
 And, luckily, my lovely mother-in-law gave me a big bag of worsted weight yarn last month, all matching.
So, this month's charity project (which actually might take two months because it is so big) will be a blanket for Project Linus.

Project Linus' mission is "to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers."

Instead of following the pattern attached to the original picture that inspired it (I never actually clicked to see where it went until just now...) I figured I would just wing it. So far, so good:

 Not looking like much of a blanket yet, but it will!