Dying for some lace, settling for some toys

Given that most of my knitting time is sporadic at best, I've had to carefully select projects. They either need to be massively long basic rows like the November Ruffle Wrap or simple enough that I can always tell where I'm at. Unfortunately, I've really been itching for a good lace project. But the thought of repetitious lace doesn't do it for me right now and I just need to be realistic about anything too involved. My solution? Knitted toys.

I know apples and oranges, but they really have done the trick!! I've been cranking these suckers out like there's no tomorrow. They've really turned into great low attention span knitting projects. They are usually in small pieces that require enough shaping to make the simple stitches interesting. So its helping to reconcile the challenging with the realistic.

It all started when my aunt was flipping through my Charmed Knits book and spotted the Errol pattern. She, like me, is a big Errol fan and I had totally forgot that pattern was in the book. She hadn't knit in quite a few years, so she asked if I'd help her get reacclimated. I realized the easiest way for me to do this is by making it myself. I talked her through the pattern and we both knit up the parts separately. We then got together for a 'making up' party...during which we laughed hysterically at the wonky birds we came up with. This is my Errol:

definitely more penguin than owl

Pattern: Errol from Charmed Knits
Yarn: Cotton Ease in Violet and Lime
Needles: 6 and 7

and this is hers:

way more owlish if I do say!

I'm not quite sure what happened but we both ended up with crazy big bum pieces and large beaks. She opted not to use her beak and I opted to make my crazy bum piece into bird hips. Mine is also wonky because I didn't worry about gauge. I knew I was using a smaller gauge yarn, so I tried to proportionally correct my row counts, so he didn't end up crazy tall and skinny...it didn't really work, but it doesn't really matter. Errol's wonky and Elliott really hasn't complained:

After the wonky bird, I wanted to make something 'cuter'. I picked out the Grumpasaurus pattern and got to work with some stash leftovers.

Pattern: Grumpasaurus by Kat Lewinski
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Wild Mustard and Oregano
Needles: 6

It came out great because this time I followed proper knitted toy technique and knit tightly and stuffed firmly. But it also came out 'spikier' because of the Lamb's Pride. And well, Elliott didn't want anything to do with it. Fortunately, Mr. Grump wasn't homeless for long...Daddy decided he was pretty cool, so he now is living comfortably amongst the Star Wars toys on B's desk.

So, given the success of Errol and the less than stellar reception Elliott gave Mr. Grump, I opted to recreate the Cotton-Ease-easy-on-the-stuffing knitted toy formula. In looking through Ravelry, I came across Fred the Friendly Monster and ended up making Melvin:

Pattern: Fred the Friendly Monster by Yvonne Boucher
Yarn: Cotton Ease in Taupe, Stone and Maize
Needles: 7

And almost as quickly as I was done with Melvin, I cast on for a Happy Sock Monkey courtesy of Rebecca Zelt. For those who know me, you know I have a thing for monkeys...and sock monkeys are high up on that list of cool monkeys. I have even had a fantasy of knitting replica socks then cutting them all apart to make a sock monkey...fortunately, I've found a more 'sane' option in this pattern. I also realized how much I liked knitting the Taupe Cotton Ease, so I'm making a more stylized sock monkey with Stone and Taupe Cotton Ease with Terracotta for the red bits. So far, I have one leg done and I'm about 1/4 way through the second leg.

Best part? ALL of this projects have been from stash yarn and most have been from remnants of other projects. Do you recognize my Celtic Tote in Mr. Grump? ;) So these have also been great projects for our 'reduced-income lifestyle'. I take that back...the best part is making fun things for this little man:

Who (by the way) just happened to turn 5 months this week! Man, where did the time go?

FO or WIP?

Sorry for the lack of blog posts, but I have a good excuse! I was away making this...definitely my most gratifying project by far! :)

birth day photo

"Bean"

June 22, 2009
1:04 pm
7 pounds, 4 ounces
19.25 inches

FO: November Ruffle Wrap

First off, I apologize in advance for this NOT being the post from Nonnahs that you've been waiting for. But do please continue to send her your 'baby-get-a-move-on-it' thoughts! She needs them!

As for me, I have a little FO to share my November Ruffle Wrap (Ravelry link) by Kate Jackson. I started this at the tail end of my own pregnancy and finished it up over the weekend. This was one of those knits that I really wanted to own...but didn't particularly want to knit. But then I realized I would need something super easy on the needles with a newborn around the house, if I was ever going to knit again. As soon as I was off bedrest I made a trip to one of our local yarn shops to find some wool to go with the Alpaca With a Twist Baby Twist I had in my stash from my tragically demised attempt at Coraline. (I thought I had a moth issue when my Coraline WIP came up with some serious holes, but turns out it was carpet beatles! Seriously, people - who knew!?!)

Despite the meager selection of wools at this yarn shop (that was previously known for its over abundant wool offerings, I might add), I ended up finding a perfect shade of Malabrigo. I wanted to maintain the brown/charcoal combination of the original so that it would have a nice wrap to keep at the office and would thus go with everything. I ended up picked out Malabrigo in Black Forest due to its nice warmth, which made it easy to pair with my Baby Twist in Rose Gray. All in all it took nearly 3 hanks of Malabrigo and about 650 yards of my Baby Twist.

The pattern was very simple and well written. My only modifications being to up the needle sizes to 10.5s and 11s to compensate for Malabrigo's lack of drape. I also added one more stitch to the ruffle so that the front side began and ended with a knit stitch (pet peeve). Other than that, it was crazy simple and super easy knitting...and yes, it was ideal for life with a new baby...and the hours I spend every week pumping at the office!

I'm super excited to have it done and it feels so amazing against my skin. Both yarns are butter soft and very luxurious. I'm actually kind of excited to be cold at the office again!

FO: Green River

Hey lookit- two posts in two days! And now with actual knitting content! We already know how much I enjoy knitting for friends, and for babies, and for friends' babies. So it shouldn't come as any kind of a shock that my latest FO was knit for my friend Annie's most special and adorable baby boy.

Green River
Pattern: Magic Slippers by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer (Ravlink)
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM (100% Merino Wool) in 514 - less than one skein
Needles: US2

I've had my eye on this pattern for a while, because they're so cute and wee, and because it seemed like such a great way to use up some sock yarn. I was completely sold after seeing MJ's! (Clearly, these beg to be photographed in trees!)

These little things really are magic...and fun to knit- no seaming whatsoever! All you need is a little bit of sock yarn and some DPNs (or your circular knitting needles of choice) and you end up with the cutest pair of booties you've ever seen! The only thing cuter? The booties being modeled by perfectly nom-able baby feets!

(photo courtesy: Anne-Marie)

Aah, baby feet...something tells me I should knit another pair! :)

I'm still alive...and knitting!

Though, sadly, I don't have knitting photos to share at this time. I have an FO, but I'm waiting to post about it until it arrives at its destination (it's a gift that seems to be lost in the mail- the horror)! My other project is for a cowl swap with my knitty girls, and as it's to be a surprise, I can't post any WIP pics of that either. Doesn't make for good blogging, I'm afraid. :(

My other big WIP is, of course, this baby I've been growing now for 39+ weeks. Yes, you read that right. The supposed "due date" is June 13th, so I suppose the term "any day now" would be accurate. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by! I'm officially on maternity leave now, which means I've been sticking close to home, nesting away, and trying to rest up as much as possible before the baby comes...whenever that is!

I'm terribly behind on my blog reading, despite my time off. I'm slowly catching up, so don't be surprised if you receive mass comments to old blog posts from me in the near future! Thanks for hanging in with us- I know our posts have been sporadic as of late. We do appreciate that you're still reading! :)

Refashioning...of Sorts...

Okay somehow we missed ANOTHER milestone around here...our last post was post 800!!! How crazy is that!

Anyway, one of the things I have always loved to do, but seldom do myself, is refashioning! I love the idea of making something new from something you already have. (I do this almost every year for my Halloween costume). My sister-in-law in France is particularly good at this and the Wardrobe Refashion blog has a ton of ideas. I have grand plans of doing this on a larger scale someday, but I don't have much space around the houseright now to keep the 'supplies' until I'm suitably inspired. (Although, given how practically every shirt I own is now stained from various baby emitting substances and we don't have any money for new clothes right now, I have a feeling you may be seeing some stain hiding refashioning sooner than later!) But in the meantime, I've completed a couple 'refashioning' of sorts projects to spiff up some previously generated projects for new recipients.

First up, I had made the Debbie Bliss Shawl-Collared Jacket from Baby Knits for Beginners as a baby gift for my niece...only at the time we didn't know if she was going to be a niece or a nephew. My sister-in-law offered to mail it back to me so that we could use it for Elliott, since my niece has long since out grown it. My niece had gotten quite a bit of wear out of it. In fact, not only had she worn it...but she had worn the buttons right off of it! I loved these little buttons. They were super cute, but (note to self) plastic novelty buttons may not always hold up to the demands of a toddler. Since its easier to get notions here (rather than in the small town in France where my niece lives), it came back with just one little button still attached. I wish I had taken a picture before I took off the button and the rest of the broken button backs. But after all I am a bad blogger, so no before shot, other than to show you what it looked like on my niece:

By the way, she may actually be the happiest child...EVER!

So my sole refashioning task was to add new buttons. But given that this was one of the first crafty things I did after giving birth, it was a large enough task at the time. I was inspired by the wood buttons Nonnahs had added to the BSJ she knit for Elliott, Pine (here), so I picked out some appropriate wooden buttons for the Grandpa Sweater (as I call it) and came up with this:

Now I am anxiously awaiting for Elliott to be big enough to wear it!

The other little 'refashioning' project I did, was to up the style factor on some burp cloths I made 'en mass' prior to Elliott's arrival. I had a couple unused pink ones that I thought might be perfect for Nonnahs' Bean. I had originally left them without any additionaly decoration, but thought Nonnahs would like a little bright ribbon accent:


So with the help of a long nap time, I was able to sew on a strip of ribbon to both sides of each cloth for a complete 'Shannonizing' of these burp cloths:

You may have noticed the colors in this ribbon are very similar to our blog colors...and that was very intentional. Originally I had planned to use a brown and pink ribbon as an accent, but the ribbon was misplaced the day I went to work on this project, so the ribbon was substituted...and I'm actually much happier with this version. Nonnahs loves bright, happy colors, so I think this color combo suits her more.

And finally, since I can't really post a crafty post without sharing a current photo of my favorite 'project' ever, here's Elliott enjoying his Baby Einstein excer-station-saucer-thing:


He's growing up so fast! He turned 16 weeks yesterday (*gasp*) and I'm amazed at his finger and hand control. (I could literally watch his hands move all day!) He is truely fascinated by the world around him and what his body can do. I've also been back to work for the last 4 weeks, which is still an adjustment, but I think its going as well as it could. Elliott spends his days with daddy (who is a student) and then I take over when I get home late afternoon. Fortunately, I'm only working 4 days a week right now (way to go bad economy! ;) so that's making it a bit easier, despite our painfully reduced income. All in all, I consider us truly blessed and I couldn't ask for anything more. Take care everyone and more projects to come!

Return to Crafting

Wow. So there was a blog silence for you! Things have certainly been busy around these parts, so unfortunately blogging has been a bit slow on all three of our ends. And we managed to miss our blogiversary yet again. I still can't believe we've been keeping this girl going for more than 4 years! But I have to say its in large part because of all of you. So thank you for stopping by and sharing your comments, experiences and lives with us over the last 4 years!

As for what I've been up to, I can finally share some of the crafting that has been taking place at my house. After Elliott's birth in February, it took me quite a while to feel adjusted enough in my new role to take on crafting projects. But things have settled in, I feel great and Elliott is an awesome little man. So beginning in the middle of April, I started up some projects. However, since they were for Nonnahs' baking-Bean, they were top secret! Well, I was able to gift the gifties last weekend and can finally share them here.

First up is a little skirt, Caiden's Skirt (Rav Link), that I started mid-January and finished up a few weeks ago.

It was a great little project. It knit up quick, on size 8 and 6 needles, and I think it is totally adorable. As soon as I saw it pop up in my Ravelry friend's activity, I knew Bean needed a little skirt. After my experience getting more than plenty of blue clothes for Elliott, I also knew that this skirt would not be pink. I happened to have a ball of Lime Cotton Ease and paired it with some left over Violet Cotton Ease I also had on hand. The little tie at the waist is optional, but I liked the stylistic detail of it. However, it looked a little lonely hanging out there once I was done. So I improved some little florets:

I made these by crocheting the contrast yarn onto the end of the tie, then chaining up about 4 or 5 stitches then reattaching the loop to the base. I repeated this about 4 or 5 times for each floret. I'm not sure what all the proper crochet terms are, but hopefully I described it well enough.

I also wanted to gift Nonnahs a set of these little Gerber long sleeve wrap shirts. I LOVED these shirts for Elliott. They are perfect for Southern California as little cardigans over onesies or other short sleeved tops, since most of the time you don't need to be bundled up, just have something on your arms to keep the breeze off. But the plain white 'cardigans' were aching for some embellishment. These took on many different incarnations in my head and ultimately I decided that some appliques were in order. I was inspired by the lady bug that Melissa did here for this one:

Elliott was kind enough to model them for me :)

Only I made it a little more stylistic using some scraps I had leftover from Nonnahs' wedding quilt. I also used some of the leftover black to make this bumble bee:

I used some yellow scraps from this quilt and repurposed a little shear scarf for the wings. They were both super fast and easy little projects and I was able to do all the applique work during one of Elliott's nice long afternoon naps. (I love when these happen! I just wish you could count on them!)

Anyway, I have a few more 'refashioned' projects to share as well as a couple new knit projects but clearly given the amount of my blog content lately, I'll be posting about those separately!