Baby Shower Gift

Almost every mom I know is pregnant with her second baby right now, so a bunch of us got together and did a group, secret Santa style baby shower. I drew a friend of mine who isn't finding out what she's having, but luckily loves the color green, which is pretty gender neutral, so I went with it.

I quilted her a quick, cotton-chenille-lined stroller blankie.
Knitted a tiny cotton hat, (my fave!)
And tried my hand at terrycloth-lined bibs,
and burp cloths.
Top the whole thing off with a cow, and it was quite a popular gift! Phew!
Now on to all my Christmas sewing and knitting!

my cousin's baby shower gift

My dear cousin's wife is pregnant, due in December. The first of all my cousins to have a baby. This little girl will be my niece, (my cousin and I are both only children), and I am very excited.

I made the new little girl an eye-spy play/stroller quilt. It is 44" X 44". I'm so glad I added the patchwork border... this really adds to it I think!

Here is my favorite square...
And here is my daughter's favorite one - Dora of course! She's going to get one of these quilts, only much larger, and with many more things to spy, for Christmas.
Here is the back! I loved this fabric. Got it for a great deal at a quilt shop that was closing. So soft and bright.
The binding.... Most of the fabric came out of my stash - except for the sashing and the back.
And what baby shower gift is complete without a hand-knit hat! I've been making this pattern a lot lately. It's from the 101 Designer One Skein Wonders book. Very easy and quick.

Baby Blankets

I have been busy... just not blogging! But here are a couple of quick pics of my two biggest WIPs.

I'm working on a quilted baby blanket for Kathy, a family friend's first grandchild, a boy, who's coming soon. I'm loving the way this quilt top came out. Each square has a different animal in the center. Kathy said the mom really likes brown and natural colors. I picked all these fabrics, except the sashing, from my stash, and I think it really works. And at the same time is still very baby boy.

Sorry for the crumby picture! The backing will be that light blue with dots fabric... I had to go get more of that at Hobby Lobby, but the width ended up being perfect... I won't even have to piece it!

And then I'm also knitting a blanket for my little one. She's really become attached to the junky old couch throw we have. She feels its nubbles when she's going down for her naps. I'd like her to have something a bit more special, (and something smaller!) so I'm making this textured knit blanket out of soft cotton. Hopefully she'll take to it.

Even if she's not into it it will have been good practice for me. The texture seemed complex at first, but I've got it memorized now. Hopefully I'll make some good progress on it on the road trip I'm heading off on this afternoon!

I've also got a couple other things on different needles and hooks, and a few other sewing projects for the show I'm doing in the local Library in September. I'll post some pics of them when I figure out how to mount them!!

I Won Something!

Pretty neat huh? And not just anything, but some beautiful yarn, and enough of it to maybe even make something cool!

I won this from Christine at Pink Petunias during the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day. So, what should I make? I'm thinking some kind of short-sleeved cardigan... have you seen any nice patterns? The yarn is a mohair and silk blend. I have five skeins of it, totaling 500 meters.

Knit Mouse

When I started this, it was going to be a cat toy, but it ended up being much bigger than I'd thought it was going to be!

Good thing the little one likes it!  I'll have to make a smaller one for the cat and fill it with nip!!  

The pattern came from the Knitted Toys book that Renee gave me for Christmas!!  Thanks again, Renee!!  :)  

Mittens and Socks

I have been saving that multicolored yarn for mittens since I got it!!  I think I have enough for a pair of matching hats and maybe even a scarf too!!  Yey!  

I was waiting to finish the last mitten before posting this... four pairs just seemed a lot more impressive than three and a half - but boy did that last one take some time!!  I got my mitten pattern from the book Weekend Knits, which has lots of cute things in it.  It was an easy pattern, and good thing because I left my copy of it at a friend's house after only the first mitten!!  

The socks are from the Debbie Bliss, Simply Baby book.  I think my little one is pleased with them!!  I'm not even sure her thumbs are in there... 

Note to readers though - never let Baby try to crawl in mittens!!  

Jumbo the Elephant

I'm pretty happy with the way this guy turned out!! I love his ears... I used some Amy Butler fabric squares I had from a charm pack, and some ribbed border from an old, felted sweater for the backs. Both were reinforced with some iron-on stabilizer before I blanket stitched them together .

I wish I'd stuffed the front legs a bit more. They're just not quite sturdy enough. But they hold okay.

Sew Free Update

Well, since it's been a while since I last posted, I thought I should do an update!

All the elephant pieces are done! I'm probably about halfway through sewing them together now. Here's where it stands now - check out that cute little circle at the bottom there! That's the last foot I have to sew on... I should probably get it attached before I lose it! This guy worked up pretty quickly - though I did goof on the second part of the patter when I was supposed to switch every "K" call out for a "P" call out... I was on autopilot and just started making the same side again. Good thing I caught myself and was able to use what I'd knitted for the gusset, and only tear out about ten rows.

But I got a bit bored with sewing and wanted to be making something, so I went to the library and picked up some books... I got this one about Amigurumi, and my husband picked out the octopus... I haven't crocheted in ages, and it kind of hurts my hand to work so tightly, but it is very fast. My little one really likes to hold and throw this toy already, so I think I'll be making some more.

And because what's one more iron on the fire, I've picked out another pattern and some yarn to make myself a shawl. It's from the book Beautiful Knitting. I've never done any open work, so I thought this might be a good time to try! I really love this yarn - I used it for a baby blanket, and I think there should be plenty for this project as well.

So now I just need to finish putting together Jumbo the elephant, select some ear material, and embroider his face on. I need to wrap up three more octopus legs and put them on, and do his face up too. And I need to get started on the shawl.

Time for some knitting!!

Well, I just dropped my sewing machine off at the shop!! It'll be there a couple weeks at least. Ouch, that hurts! Maybe it'll give me time for some prep work for some new projects.... Though my DH and I just agreed on a spending freeze, so I guess I'll be limited to my stash - so either every quilt back will be pieced, or I just won't get around to finishing anything!! Neither prospect is all that great!!

So I guess it's time to pick up my knitting again! I could finish something I've started already... but that's no fun. My friend got me a neat book of knitted toy patterns for Christmas, so I started making the elephant from this book, out of celery green soy yarn from my yarn stash! :)

Since I don't have a picture of that, here's a picture of my little one wearing a pair of socks I knitted for her before she was born... she finally fits in them!

Knitting Needle Keeper

So I finally got around to making myself a holder for all my knitting needles so I don't have to dig through a messy box to try to find matching pairs in the right size!

I'd seen one of these in a knitting shop and I drew myself a picture, but when I went to design mine I didn't look at the drawing... now that I look at it, mine is probably at least twice the size of the other one, but it seems to accomodate my whole collection, (including crochet hooks!) with some room to grow. I might need to make myself a small version for current projects though.

I just finished it up last night... didn't even take too long once I put my mind to it! And I think the next one will be much faster now that I know what I'm doing.

Here it is loaded.... (for scale, the longest needles are 17".)

The center pockets are for my circular needles. The two zippered pockets on the left are for my stitch markers and yarn needdles and cable hooks etc.

Here it is with the flap closed so the needles don't fall out the top....

Here it is all wrapped up.

Pumpkin Hat

Well, it's not the best pictures of the baby, but I think it's one of the better ones of the hat!! I made this from a pattern in Itty Bitty Hats, and it was very easy, and I think came out pretty well! I probably would make it a bit shorter if I were to do it again! That way her head would really fill out the top. There are a couple other patterns from this book that I might try out.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was a great one craft-wise... I did some knitting with a couple girlfriends while the boys watched the kids!! What a nice way to get away for a couple hours... and I finished this pink baby shrug (made from soy yarn) that's been sitting in my living room for ages!! I got to my last ball of the yarn, and then couldn't find any more in the store, so I was sure I would run out and have to do the borders in a different color, which of course made me not want to even bother with it. Anyway, it turned out I had enough and was able to finish it in one sitting!! It's funny the reasons we put stuff off. This pattern was really easy and fits great... it came from the Debbie Bliss book Simply Baby.

I also finished this quilt for a friend's baby boy due next month. The border of this quilt has taken me ages to complete... again mainly because I didn't want to do it. But now it's boxed and I just need to get it to the post office tomorrow with the rest of her gift!!

And this little blanket for Sweetpea is finally done too. I might add a bit of applique to the back corners to finish it off. It's made from recycled cashmere sweaters that shrank after too much tough love, (I don't dry clean anything.) I ended up backing it in a cute dotted grey cotton fabric. It's very lightweight and soft.

Now I need to start cutting fabric for another friend's baby blanket... I'm excited about this one... based on a doll quilt I saw on Amanda Jean's site!

Sneak Peaks, and in the Mean Time...

So I've been busy working on a quilt for my friend Beth's baby.... it's been done except for the binding which is taking me forever!! Well... not literally... it's almost done. Then it just needs a label. I don't think I'm going to do prairie points on something so big again for a while. Here's a sneak peak!

I'm also working on a small recycled sweater blanket for Sweetpea... I'm most of the way through the piecing of that now too, and just trying to decide if I should back it with something to make it more durable... I have some poly satin that matches perfectly, but would that just cheese it up? It's mostly cashmere... Maybe I should look for some coordinating cotton for a light backing.... I just don't know... here's a teaser for that project as well.

And here's a picture of my sweety this morning in a sweater I knitted when I was pregnant!! Isn't she cute! The sleeves are rolled up, so I think it should last her through the winter!! :) The hat she's wearing was knitted for her by my aunt Sue's mom. :)

I'm meeting some friends for knitting tomorrow!! I can't wait!! I have this pattern for a pumpkin hat that I think my little pumpkin HAS TO HAVE since it is October already!

Knit Baby Sweater

This little sweater was one of my very first knitting projects! I've decided that knitting for babies is really the only way to go: the projects are smaller, so you can make mistakes, and you don't mind going back as much... and since they're so small, you can afford to use the really nice quality yarn without breaking the bank! This sweater is knit in a cashmere, silk, merino wool blend by Debbie Bliss. What a lucky little girl! I was so happy when it finally fit her! Right now she's wearing it with the sleeves rolled up a bit... hopefully it will last her through the fall!