A Rainy Day

I'm still playing catchup from my long absence, so I thought I would make another entry. It's been raining cats and dogs here the last few days, and watching the lightning outside tonight put me in the mood to write.

We don't have many girls in my family (there are 6 out of 22 grandchildren) and all of the babies born since I started knitting have been boys. Except one! My cousin's daughter recently gave birth to a tiny little girl, and the whole family couldn't have been happier. You should have seen all the ruffles and bows and pink and purple at the shower! Personally, I don't much care for those sorts of things, but I know there are those people out there that won't let their child put on anything unless it's covered in bows and glitter. 

So, when the new mother asked me to make a hat for her newborn pictures, I was happy to comply. I do have some pink yarn (it was given to me in a mixed bag), and she only wanted a little pink accent bow, so I still have plenty left...

I didn't have a pattern for the exact hat she wanted, so I took the photo and tried to find the closest thing I could. I added the bow (from this video tutorial) and crochet chain detail to this pattern and I think it turned out pretty close. I like the open weave of the body of the hat and can't wait to try this on a larger size someday. The precious sleeping baby makes it look even more adorable!

Little baby Wilson in her adorable little cap on the day she came home

As I mentioned, I still have plenty of the pink and white yarn, so I decided to make some matching little newborn mittens using this pattern. I like the set. I would like to make the mittens in a couple of other colors, maybe a really pale purple, and a soft baby yellow. Not that I have anyone to give them to at this time...

Mittens and cap in white and soft pink baby yarn

Since we don't have girls in the family, I have to live vicariously through my friends. I had two friends have baby girls over the last year as well, and I found a really cute and unique hat idea, using this pattern. The neat part about it is that you turn the finished product inside out! I thought that was clever, and not something you would normally think of. I also market the hat on my Etsy site as a tiny satchel, because once the little darling outgrows it, she can just tug on the drawsting to make a little pouch to house all her trinkets. I like the versatility :-)

Newborn textured baby hat/drawstring pouch

Since there are so many beautiful patterns and ideas out there for little girl items, I went a little crazy. I knew that one of my friends' little girls had no hair and that she was going to be wearing headbands and those little velcro bows on her fuzz for a while, so I had to test out a headband pattern as well. I didn't get a chance to see it on her, but I think because of the way it's made it would have stretched just fine. I had some bright pink leftover from the little Mary Jane's I made a while back, so I used it.

Little girls' headband in with Vanna's Choice in Pink Poodle

I think I'm pretty set on the little girl items for a little while. No one else I know is expecting, so I can concentrate on figuring out what to make for Christmas gifts, and the boys' birthday gift, which I'll write about soon. 

Have you found that your projects are a little one-sided on the gender scale? 

Another Day, Another Post

Writing yesterday got me in the mood to write even more! And since I've done so many projects since last summer, I have plenty to write about :-)

My last post before my absence was about these adorable knit baby pants. I've only met the little tyke once, but his newborn photo session turned out so cute! Unfortunately, the pants were a tiny bit large because he was born a few weeks premature, but I think the hat is a perfect accessory to this sleeping babe. Here he is!

He's a pretty cute dude, just like his cousins.

It's Been a While...

And boy, have I been busy! I don't think I could summarize all the projects I've completed over the last year, but I will do my best to post pictures of everything over the next few months. I kind of fell out of the blogging world for a while, so please excuse any faux pas.

The twins are getting so big and keeping Mommy and Daddy very busy. We go on outings, play games, sing songs, play music, read books, cook and bake, color, play with bubbles, and anything else that active 22 month olds like to do. I am working on a huge birthday gift for them, which I'll talk about more later, but for now, let's see some pictures!!

These are some of my favorite creations! The first jellyfish was a gift I made for my 2 year old nephew for Christmas last year, and he turned out so cute, I wanted to make one for my boys! I loved learning how to make the curlicues, and the bright colors helped use up some of my Red Heart Super Saver stash. I love making the unique faces on them as well, and the purple one has so many loooong tentacles. I do not let the boys play with this one unattended, as the tentacles could get wrapped up around their little necks, but they do love pulling on them all the time.

First jellyfish in Red Heart Super Saver yarn

Boys' jellyfish with Red Heart Super Saver yarn

The little turtle friend is one of my most prized creations; it is a completely original design and it could not have turned out better! I realized through making the others that the simple dome-shaped bodies could easily be turned into many other creatures. So, I started on him and I love everything about him. I wish he could stand up on his tiny legs like the octopus, but I'm not going to change anything unless I make another.

Turtle friend with Red Heart Super Saver yarn

The octopus was something that I saw on Pinterest, and thought, "I could make that, easy!" I used every last scrap of red yarn and even had to take some stitches out of a few legs so they would all be the same length. He is so huggable and the boys love dragging him around by his legs.

Octopus in Red Heart Super Saver Red

I hope this puts any doubts as to my commitment to yarn crafts to rest. While I haven't been posting, I have been working still. I've even got ideas for other neat sea creatures to create. There will be more catch-up posts to come, as well as posts about my current projects. All of these creatures will be posted to my Etsy site for purchase shortly. I also have been doing some updating and housecleaning there. Check it out, and leave me comments if you like any of these stuffed friends. 

What have you been working on the last month?

Knit Baby Pants: Completed!

I love the way these two items turned out! The pants are sooo adorable, I may have to make some for my sons for their birthday (I think they would look great with some knit or crochet suspenders!) in fun, complementary colors.

The hat is my own design, as I didn't have a pattern for the 2-strand mix. I think it's a little large for a newborn, but hopefully it'll fit my little cousin through the winter months (he's due in August). It fits my 8-month-old sons right now.

Pattern for hat: starting with size 15 needles and 2 strands of lighter color, cast on 40 stitches. Join and 1 x 1 rib knit for 4 rows. Drop one strand and pick up complementary color. Stockinette stitch for 5 inches. Next row, k6, then k2tog around. Knit 3 rows. Next row, k5, then k2tog around. Knit 3 rows. Continue until 10 stitches are left, then knit until desired length is reached (mine is about 11 inches). Decrease one more row and sew closed. Add pompom and weave in ends.

I love making pompoms with my fancy maker!! It's so easy; if I weren't using all my long scraps for my ugly square, I would definitely make poms all day with them!

Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in chocolate and silver blue; used every last bit of blue!

Next, I'll be working on my "Ponchopolooza," getting all 3 of them finished before summer's end.

Knit Baby Pants

It's been a while, but I've been working on the knit pants and hat for my cousin's new baby, due in August. She sent me a picture a couple of months ago, and I was flattered that she thought of me (they live in South Carolina) and was eager to help her out. 

Original design that she sent

 She found a set that she liked on Etsy and sent me the link, and I quickly got to work finding a pattern that would accommodate the style she liked. I ended up purchasing one on Ravelry that was meant for a bulky weight yarn, and the design she likes has 2 strands of different colors. So I modified the pattern to her liking and added a couple more stitches and made the pants. I got to learn how to do grafting for these (kitchener stitch), as well as a new bind-off, and I think they turned out almost identical to the pants she found!

Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in chocolate and silver blue

She also asked me to make a different style hat than what was pictured on the original photo, and it's the same color scheme with a long elf-like tube. I'm still working on it, after a couple of trials and errors, and should finish it up this week. The pants need a belt, which I will knit out of blue i-cord, and then it's finished! I like the pants so much, I'm thinking about knitting a couple pair for my boys and fashioning some suspenders to go with them, in the 12-month size. If I were to knit them in wool, I could market them as a leak-proof diaper cover as well...

Once I'm done with this project, I've got some more ponchos in the queue, so it will be a busy July!

Poncho Extravaganza!

We've had a lot going on around here, like birthday parties, a promotion for my hubby, and a couple of Etsy orders, so I haven't had any new projects to post.

I've missed my yarn and finally had a chance to make up a queue for all the outstanding projects I want to make. There is a knit baby hat and pants, several ponchos, a purse for myself,  a baby blanket, 2 sweater vests, an adult sweater, 2 Halloween costumes, 2 birthday hats, and a scarf all in my future!

The best part is, I've already got the yarn for all of these projects! The bad part is, I've got ALL the yarn for all these projects...

Here is the yarn for the upcoming ponchos:

All Lion Brand Homespun yarns, clockwise: gothic, waterfall, ambrosia

 I've got to make the knit hat and pants first, which I'll post about later, then I'll get started on these!

Poncho x 2

It's been a while since I posted, since I haven't had too many projects going on. I've been working the last couple of weeks on this second poncho, which I will be giving to my two year old nephew next week. I love the color, called waterfall, and think it would be great for little boys or girls, with the purple tones in it.
I need to take some new pics of my other projects this week, so I can add the items to Etsy, so I'll post them here as well.