Archives

As part of my projects for moving, I set a goal to go through all of my old photos, at least for the last several months. I try to stay on the ball for making photo books for Christmas, but this year I have gotten REALLY behind! As a result, I came across oodles of photos of projects I've never posted or haven't listed on my Etsy shop. I will try to archive some of these projects for you today. Be prepared for LOTS of photos...

 

These fun hats were the original project I started with this yarn, that soon turned into an elf hat as well as a granny square afghan. I saw this cute post on Pinterest and had to make them for my boys' 1st birthday (and all subsequent birthdays in the family, so far...). They are tiny hats, and I didn't line them with any cardboard or anything, but they do the job. If the boys would only sit still, they would stay on just fine... ;-)

The next project is a baby blanket for one of those ethereal "girls" everyone keeps talking about ;-) My good friend from church had a precious little gal named Evelyn, so I thought I would use up some of the more feminine yarns I was given by another friend to make this, based on another pattern I saw on Pinterest. This blanket took AGES to complete, based on the fact it was in stockinette and the yarn was SO tiny to knit with. I would be proud of myself for completing 4 rows while I pumped breastmilk overnight for my boys. I also wanted to personalize it a little for her, hence the tiny "E" in the corner. Overall, I think it turned out beautifully, but I don't know if I would want to tackle a project like this again for a while. I still have plenty of this yarn leftover, and many different colors, so I might knit a tiny sweater or two at some point, but I may have to do them in garter stitch...

Front view (knit stitch)

Back view (purl stitch)

 

The next project is a pair of cute Santa hats I made for the boys' 2nd Christmas. Luckily, they still fit this year, although I think I forgot to get them out, since we had a fairly mild winter. I used leftover Christmas tree skirt yarn and did one in stripes and 1 solid. 

Oh, that's right! This is why they didn't wear them this year: I made them new hats! That is one problem with being a crafter, there is always something new to make and try. My sister-in-law found these hats online, and thought they would be cute on the cousins, so I ended up making all 3 of these the week of Christmas this year, on a whim. I think they turned out super-cute though. My 2 kiddos are in blue and green, below.

 

Speaking of Christmas, as I may have mentioned in an earlier post, I barely had time to get the gifts finished I had planned on, with the addition of the cute hats above. I ended up sewing these cute booties together first thing Christmas morning for my sister-in-law, who ordered up a pair for her coworker last year. The cuffs are a little different, and these are a soft acrylic (she doesn't wear wool), but I think they turned out great, and she loved the red I picked for her.

  

Since I made the booties for her, I didn't have to worry about knitting up anything else except for these fun little scarves I found a pattern for at JoAnn's. They are call keyhole scarves, and I love that they don't come off easily! They are so quick and easy to make too. Everything is knit, and I just changed colors every other row. I had to buy some new Vanna's Choice to make good color combinations, but I've already been able to use much of it up with the projects I've done this year.

  

I made 2 scarves a fair bit shorter, so they would fit my little guys. These are perfect for those cold winter days when we're the only ones looking at the polar bear at the zoo!

  

I made Teeny's scarf out of 1 solid color to match his Denim Twist yarn slouchy hat. I've had this yarn forever, and just didn't know what to make with it. I finally decided to make him a cute little hat that should fit for at least a couple of seasons, a scarf, and, after buying another skein online, will have enough leftover to make a cute project for the baby. 

 

Bulldog is sporting a hat I intended to make for my hubby. It was my first attempt at Fair Isle knitting, and it turned out much smaller than I had hoped. Luckily, it fit him just fine. I used leftover Red Heart yarns from a couple of beards. I did end up making another one for my hubby, that fits much better.

 

I don't know about you, but I don't like to spend money on patterns that I can usually figure out myself, but sometimes you come across something that is just too good to pass up. These next 2 hats I actually paid for the pattern because I couldn't find anything that even came close online, and was in a bit of a crunch to get them done in time. The boys are OBSESSED with trains, and I found this cute little park in North Kansas City that runs an old KC Zoo train for pennies. It was just before the boys' 2nd birthday, and the theme was, of course, trains, so we hauled them all the way up there on a Sunday afternoon and rode the train for an hour on $5.00! I wanted to get some cute photos of the boys in their overalls and hats to put on their birthday invitations, and these hats turned out perfectly. Totally worth the money!

The next item is an all-white viking beard someone ordered from Etsy. Just wanted to share the variation.

The next project was part of our Halloween costume nearly 2 years ago, so I'm amazed I hadn't posted anything about it yet! These were "scoodies" I found on Pinterest and adapted to fit my little guys. We were Star Wars characters, if you couldn't tell. The tiny ears on the scoodies helped them look like Ewoks.

The next item is a bit nebulous. I had a fair bit of bulky wool leftover from my cap and scarf, and saw a cute newborn cocoon I wanted to try. I didn't think I would ever have a chance to use it (my hubby was pretty against growing our family any more), but I suppose now I can use it for the new dude.

 

The next item is actually the oldest project I have on this list. I made these before the twins were even born, maybe even before we planned to have kiddos. It's been a while. They are a set of 8 nesting bowls I found, again, on Pinterest. I've always intended to make little balls to use of the rest of yarn, and for the little people to toss into the bowls, but just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe by the time Blessing is old enough to use them...

 

The last of the "new" projects is this pair of mittens I made, using the Homespun I made my nephew's poncho out of. They turned out great, but it wasn't quite cold enough this winter to use them a whole lot. They are REALLY warm!

And what post isn't complete without a beautiful Scandinavian boy twirling in a beard and viking helmet his Mommy made? I love the joy on his face here. 

I still have several projects completed, or mostly completed, that I need to photograph, but I figured this was long enough for one post. Stick around to see photos of our new home transformation over the coming weeks! I'll be busy packing, moving, unpacking, and nesting, but I'll try to get some of the new stuff up too. Thanks for sticking with it all the way to the end!

April Showers!

I wish that the old saying were actually true, that April showers bring May flowers, but this year, it seems February drought brought all the March flowers! All of the trees have been flowering for weeks now, and many of them are already starting to turn green. Nonetheless, I figured it would be a great time for some spring cleaning and organizing, including taking inventory of my yarn and unfinished projects.

Going through my yarn was such an eye-opening experience! I now know exactly what colors and types I have, approximately how much of each kind, and can start planning my projects based on that. I am usually quite organized, but since we moved to our new apartment, I've not been as diligent about putting the yarns away when I'm finished with a project, or paying attention to how much is left. I've even started a project or two without realizing I didn't have enough yarn to finish, which has come back to bite me. I've got a whole queue now of projects that I already have yarn for, as well as the projects I have in the works and was already planning to make.

I love crocheting, and I love knitting, but sewing and weaving in ends and such has to be my least favorite part of any of my crafting. It's a great feeling to put the final touches on a project and send it away, give it away, or wear it, but sometimes I need a little push to get there, after it comes off the needles or hook. So I have several projects in my bag in need of that final TLC to get them ready to gift or use. 

One of the projects I've been working on is a granny square baby afghan that I've had since the boys were a few months old. I finished a beautiful elf hat at the time, and even made some adorable party hats out of the same yarn, and meant to even make a diaper cover with some of the leftover navy, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish all the little ends where the colors switch, which, in my defense, is every 2 rows. 

I hook and I Love This Yarn in navy, Red Heart with Love in iced aqua, Deborah Norville for the edging, and Vanna's Choice in radiant lime

I have finally managed to complete the project, and as much as my little men love their sleeping blankets, they LOVE this afghan! I wish I had finished it sooner, now that I see how much they love snuggling with this one. I will probably end up making another granny square (besides the ugly square) for them out of random skeins so they don't have to fight over it. 

Another project I finished up recently was this adorable little newborn hat, for our little one coming in August. This was the first project I started, literally the day after we found out we're expecting, and it's been in my bag for months now, waiting to be sewn together. I finally got out the darning needle and it took less than 10 minutes, and I think it turned out great. I can't wait to see it on our little lamb!

Vanna's Choice in white, Red Heart in pink

The next project was one I didn't realize how much yarn I had available, and ended up having to change two-thirds of the way in. I can not find more yarn anywhere, and even though I'm 90% positive it came from Michael's, they don't carry anything like it anymore. It was supposed to be a knit knot bag that I found on Pinterest, but when I couldn't find the yarn to finish the handle, I decided to turn it in to a loose cowl. The wool is a little itchy for my taste (or it may just be sensitive skin due to pregnancy hormones), but I love the color and know it will keep someone's neck warm through a cold winter. I still plan to make the bag at some point, but I'll have to buy yarn to do that, and I have enough to keep busy with for now.

I'm still not done tying up loose ends (ha!), but the few projects I have left shouldn't take too much time, and then I'd like to focus solely on the boys' project. I've had all the materials to finish it for over a year, so I think it's time to get it off my plate and move on. I'll hopefully have the rest of my unfinished projects done over the next week or so, and then with an empty yarn bag, I can start posting photos of the big project. 

Do you have a hard time doing the finishing steps on your projects?