Done and Done

Okay, so a while back, I posted a work in progress. Well, I finally finished it a while back, so I wanted to get it up on the blog so you could see it. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. If I make another, I will tighten up the bodice just a hair (it's a tad loose), and I will make the straps a bit thinner...I think they are a tad too thick. But all in all, not bad for a first sweater. :) And, though it's been done for a few months now, I just got the boots this past weekend so I could actually wear it. :)



P.S. Ignore the laundry waiting to be folded on the couch. Oops. :)

Fall Pics...a good deal late...

So, life happens, and I apologize for the fact that I can't keep up with my posts of late. I will try and do better in the future. Consider that a new year's resolution of mine, I guess. :) But anyway, here are pics from our Fall Festival at church (we were supposed to dress up old fashioned, so I made Little Bit and me a patchwork skirt and head scarf from a pattern in Sandi Henderson's Sewing Bits and Pieces.)




The other pics are from Halloween. I didn't make Little Bit's cotume. Rather it was my witch costume my mother made me when I was a little girl. I did get her the cool striped tights and a new hat, as my old hat had long since succombed to moth food. And I painted her face with Ben Nye's Lumiere Palette ...left over from my stash of stage makeup from way back when. (And it is, by far, the most AWESOME stuff to paint faces for Halloween. Once you've tried real stage makeup, the stuff they carry at the costume stores just won't do it for you any more...) I also have the plain color one, too. Not that I love Halloween or anything... :)





I did, however, make the boys' costumes. I painted glow in the dark spider webs on black sweats, and crocheted little spider web/spider hats, and little spider amigurumi to go on their clothes. They, too, had to have their faces painted. Of course.






All in all, it was a very lovely, fun Halloween! I will try and not wait until January to post next year's pics!

Look Who I Found in the Apple Bowl

She's a sweet little fairy, whom I found hiding out in my apple bowl in the kitchen. I guess even fairies love apples. :)

She's actually a Christmas present for my daughter, who loves fairies. What little girl DOESN'T?? :) But I thought she was adorable and just had to make her. She even has tiny little green wings!! (And my apologies if you can see the glue where I adhered the bow...it hasn't dried, yet, but I couldn't wait to take her picture.)

Hopefully, more pics to come soon of several other projects. Sorry I've been gone for so long...but it's that time of year, where sickness stalks my daughter home from school...or my boys from shopping carts...sigh... I hate being sick. And I hate it worse when my babies are sick. And one of the boys came down with a fever AGAIN today. Not sure if this is something new or a relapse, but as my husband is suffering from a sore throat and a general lousy feeling, looking like somethng new. sigh. Hopefully, it will be short-lived, and we'll all be okay in time for Thanksgiving. I was sick last year with a sinus infection. Fun stuff.

Hope everyone had a lovely Halloween...I need to post pics of my boys' costumes that I made...okay, put that, too, on my ever-growing to do list as the holidays approach at a mad run! :)

Work in Progress

A little over half-way through... Let's just hope it turns out as nice as the pattern pictue...

Easter...late...

Okay, so I've been VERY VERY slow at posting pics of stuff I've made lately. (Sheepish grin) But better late than never, right??? At any rate, this is one of two little airplane/rocket amigurumi I made for the boys to go in their basket. (The other was AWAL at the time of taking this picture...I did later find it, though now have no idea where it is again...such is the life of toys at this house...)

And this is a pic of Little Bit's new owl friend. I got the pattern from Sewing Bits and Pieces: 35 Projects Using Fabric Scraps by Sandi Henderson, an awesome book that I intend to use many more patterns from. (I've also made the pennant banner that now hangs in my daughter's room. VERY cute!) But she loves her, and that's what counts, anyway. Oh, her name is Holly. (Her baby, who I also made from my own pattern, is named Hooey. She's quite creative with her names, what can I say?!)

Easter Goodies

Just thought I'd share a couple things I got finished for my shop for Easter. Running kind of late, I know, but I'm also working to get some stuff done for the craft fair in early May (which may not happen unless I REALLY get on the ball!)
Here's a sock rabbit, a little amigurumi rabbit, and a couple amigurumi Easter eggs with a little rattle inside, for those kiddies too little for the real eggs...or the chocolate ones. :)

Lemon Lime Sherbet

This is the baby blanket I made for a dear friend of mine's new baby girl. I decided to name it lemon lime sherbet because of the lovely colors of white, pale green, and pale yellow. It reminded me so much of those colors in sherbet. :) It's actually some baby yarn I bought at a cute little yarn store in Cambridge, England. I had actually bought it to make my twins' blankets, but then decided instead to make them out of a much thicker (and warmer) yarn, which turned out to be pretty smart, given how cool it got very quickly after they were born. Anyway, so I decided to make it for my friend's baby, and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

The bunny is actually a freebie pattern from Wee Wonderfuls website. I embroidered the little bunny and stuffed it. I thought it would make a good new baby toy for when she starts being able to grasp things, because she can gnaw on it to her heart's content, and it's just the right size for little hands. I hope she enjoys it! :)

I just LOVE making baby things!!! It's such a happy project, and each stitch was filled with love and prayers for this new little person to be welcomed in the world!

Happy bithday, little Rachel!!!

Old and New

Well, I finished my throw/afghan, and I wanted to share with you the finished project. It's very "Fall" and VERY warm and cozy. :) I used Wool Ease from Lion Brand Yarn, so I get the washability but still have the warmth and lovliness that is wool. :) It matches the quilt in my living room almost perfectly. (I wish these pictures really did the color justice. They are much more "full" than they appear in these shots. My apologies.)

And the next is a photo of my newest crochet project. :) (To be announced)

Note: The latter was a picture of a scarf I crocheted for one of my dearest friends for Christmas, and wouldn't ya' know it, I FORGOT to take a picture of the finished project. Naturally. I...uh...do that a lot with gifts. I get so excited to send them on, that I don't take the time to shoot a picture of it. shrug. Oh, well. It turned out nice, and I want one. :) Of course, now that it's springtime...

Ready to Assemble

Finally finished all my blocks, the other day, and now I'm ready to assemble them all. I'll let you see the finished product when I get it done. (Oh, these are the smaller blocks...For some of the bigger blocks, I'm sewing four of them together to make one bigger block, to add variety...)

Crocheted Purse

This is a new little passport bag-style purse I made for Little Bit. It was supposed to be for her birthday, but it actually came around about four days later. Oh, well. It's a little too Pepto Bismol pink for my liking, but she loves it. She's going through this pink phase. I guess every little girl does. I was mostly a tom boy when I was little, and I STILL had that pink and purple stage. Go figure. But she really likes the beads on it, too, and I was quite pleased with how that turned out. They're not sewn on separately, but actually crocheted right in. That way, it not only looks nice, but they're a lot sturdier, which is good when I have two three-year-olds running around the house. I need to make me one like this, only in fall colors (and no beads). Would be nice to grab when I just have to run to the store and don't want to take my tote bag of a purse with me. :)

Amigurumi II

For the boys' birthday, I made them two little arigurumi elephants.




I thought they turned out cute, especially considering they were pretty much my first attempt at amigurumi. I was pleased. They like them, taking their trunks and moving them and making very adorable baby elephant noises that I cannot replicate either in type or in person. :)

Amigurumi

Here's a "Happy Friday!" from a little purple penguin friend. She was Little Bit's "Happy Brother's Birthday" present. She loved her and named her Annie.

Squares and More Squares

As I've recently mentioned, I've just learned how to crochet. Or at least, how to read patterns and crochet in the round and...gasp...make granny squares (giggle). Long, long, long ago, my grandmother taught me how to make a granny square, and for the life of me, I'd forgotten it all. I tried once, about two years ago, with very little success, but later, when I had more time to sit and actually pay close attention to what I was doing, the steps just fell into place like it was the easiest thing in the world. And so, because it's fun and kinda' addictive...and pretty cool looking, I think...I decided to make an afghan for me, using some of my favorite yarn. Or, I should say, my favorite affordable yarn. Oh, I could happily pick out some nicer, more luxurious yarns...cashmere? lambswool? But I also didn't really want to spend $100 or more on my afghan. LOL Plus, I wanted something easy to throw in the wash for when, say, my sweet little baby throws up on it. (As all parents know will likely happen eventually.) I also didn't want to do the traditional little squares, so I'm doing a lot fewer BIGGER squares (note the hot wheel car for reference to size...they're pretty big.) in the colors of my living room. And I think it's going to turn out quite nicely. I plan on doing some sort of border, too, but I'm undecided on the color. In reality, it may wind up being whichever color I have the most leftover in the end. LOL

Oh, the yarn. Guess I could tell WHAT I'm using, huh? It's Lion Brand Yarn's Wool Ease in various colors. As I said, they match my living room, especially the wall quilt I made that hangs in my living room.





I'm quite excited about the whole thing, since it practically makes itself while I sit and watch TV at night with the hubby or ride in the car. I hardly have to even think about what I'm doing now, and since I'm the kind of person who can't STAND to sit and not DO something (watch TV while not sewing or something? Gasp! Are you KIDDING???), this is a WONDERFUL project to pull out or take along with me somewhere. Esp. since it's not big and bulky (yet. As they're still in individual squares). It's hard to take, say, a quilt in the car to work on. Anyway, I'll have to keep you updated on my progress. I also want to make Little Bit and me some new ponchos for this fall. We'll see how that goes, as well.

:) Happy Wednesday to all!

In Progress

These are part of my plans for this weekend. Getting my binding put on my quilt (that I finished HAND quilting yesterday--yea!) and finishing a much thinner, more lightweight pair of fingerless gloves for this fall. One down. :) Making this one out of sock weight yarn, and it takes a good bit longer with all those tiny stitches. :)

Also, making food for a baby shower for a friend of mine. Petit Fours, cheese straws, and homemade mints. I'll let you know how they turned out!

Oh, and hubby wants carrot cupcakes. Just because I didn't have enough to do, huh? LOL It's okay. It's rare he asks for something, so I love it when he does. Usually it's "Whatever you want to do is fine." I love to cook for people, though, so sometimes a request is a nice thing. :)

Little Bit Warmers

So, here's Little Bit's much smaller version.



She loves them, which makes me feel wonderful, of course. :) I had fun making them, as I did it after she went to bed, and I had to keep sneaking into her room and measuring it against her little hands while she was asleep. Bless her, the girl can sleep through anything! She wanted a brown pair, but I used up some of my leftover orange first and trimmed it in brown. I might wind up making her an opposite pair, too, brown trimmd in orange. And I did make these a HAIR too big, so there's room to grow. They're for winter, which is quite a ways away at the moment.

Wrist Warmers

So, I have this weird fascination with fingerless gloves. Not sure why, except they just seem so freakin' COOL. :) Maybe it's my love of fantasy/sci-fi. I mean, of course the rougue mercenary archer's gonna' have a pair (made in leather, of course, and looking like they're about a hundred years old...still cool...), or the guys on the run from the mad robots, living underground like in Terminator. They have to have a pair. C'mon. BUT, as I'm not a mercenary archer, nor on the run from mad robots, mine are much more "cozy" in a nice thick, chunky rust-colored acrylic yarn. (Lion Brand Yarn Jiffy in Rust color) They are warm and cozy and soft and were super easy to make. I think they will go great with my orange wool coat, or just with a nice long sleeve t-shirt. And it will free up my fingers, which I love, since I HATE how you can never grip anything properly wearing REAL gloves or (shudder) mittens! (I HATE mittens for that very reason.) Anyway, I was quite pleased with how they turned out and will be making me another, longer (to the elbows) pair probably out of the same yarn in brown. My Little Bit has also requested a pair in brown to wear to school in the fall when it gets cooler. :) I was, of course, flattered. Maybe she'll have my taste in movies, too.