Itty Bitty Hat

I know I promised a post on the Craft it Forward projects that I have received, but I need to re-take some pictures for that post. Meanwhile, I wanted to give you these quick little pictures.





A couple I know is expecting a little boy any day now, so I made this hat and booties set. This is the second time I have made this hat, but the booties were a new one for me. They were cute, easy, and seamless!

Oh, the best part about this little boy is that his middle name is actually going to be Danger. Isn't that awesome! I'm soooo jealous of him. His life is going to be amazing!

Craft It Forward 2011: Round 2

Some time ago, I wrote about my Craft it Forward mission that came from a Facebook status which stated:

"Craft it forward 2011. I promise to send something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering the same thing to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011. Here we go!"

I have finished my projects and they have all been sent to their new homes (except one rogue pair of slippers.) I have also received a couple of gifts in return! (That will be the subject of my next post.) The projects below were made mostly out of materials that I already had.






My first endeavor was for my friend Elizabeth after she was discussing her annoyance with her neighbor's yard light, which shined directly into her window at night. She said she slept with a bandanna over her eyes, and I decided she needed something a bit fancier. I free-handed a stencil for this sleeping mask and layered quilt batting between the fun green fabric and some soft satin for the side that lays against the face. I bound it with some bias tape and added an elastic band in a fabric sleeve. It was super-quick!



Next I made two mug cozies for the ladies who work in the church office where I worked during college. I have made this pattern once before. I think it looks really nice, and is easy to memorize. I could probably whip one of these out in about the duration of a movie. (Note: I don't have a link for this pattern, but there is a free download at Ravelry.com. It is listed under "The Mug Snug" by Erica Jackofsky.)



This last project was made for my friend Jenny. A couple of years ago, I knit Jenny some mittens and I still had some of the yarn left over, so I made her a matching hat. I knit the hat exactly as the pattern was stated and the sizing was PERFECT! This is a pattern that I will probably keep in my tool-box for future use when I need a easy hat pronto. The button on here was a spare that came with a sweater of mine.



I am currently putting the finishing touches on another pair of bunny slippers, but I can't tell you who they're for, or it will ruin the surprise if that person reads this!

A Thank You Gift

A few weeks ago we acquired a hand-me-down grill from the guy I share a cubicle with at work. It's very nice and quite large and only needed a little bit of cleaning up. It was very generous of him to give it to us, but honestly, I've been feeling a little guilty that he wouldn't let us give him any money for it. So, in order to assuage my guilt and also for an excuse to knit for a little girl, I decided to make something for his 8 month old daughter.

I've had my eye on this pattern on knitty.com for quite some time now. My old roommate made it once, and I think the baby in the picture is just adorable. Also, I happened to have most of the yarn in my stash already.



I used a variation of the pattern that I found on Ravelry. It was worked in the round to make a dress instead of a pinafore. I still kept the adorable pockets though!



I thought the bodice was looking a little bare, so I made this rose to go along with it. I barely had enough purple. I even had to leave out a few rows.



This button was the first one I saw when I got to the button section of the craft store and the colors were PERFECT!



The dress keeps rolling up at the bottom. I tried steam blocking it after I read a couple of blog posts that said acrylic yarn actually CAN be steam blocked. It helped a little, and it smoothed out the dress nicely, but it still keeps rolling at the bottom. I guess I just need to grow up and start using big girl yarn (i.e. NOT acrylic).



I'm still undecided about these pants. I like them on their own, but I don't love the brown with the dress. I think the brown and orange together look too much like a Girl Scout uniform. I went to four different stores trying to find the right shirt and leggings, and this is the closest I could come. I found the perfect purple leggings at Old Navy, but the only size they had was 3T and I don't feel like ordering them online and waiting for them to come. Also, as a side rant, what's with all the baby clothes having things printed on them? It was SO HARD to find solid colors with no ironic screen printed images or sayings about how much the baby loves < insert family member here >. Seriously, is a plain white onesie with a nice collar so much to ask for?

Itty Bitty Shoes

My brother-in-law asked me if I would make a baby gift for him to give a friend who just had a little girl. I, of course, very enthusiastically said yes. I really enjoy making projects for babies. They are usually quick and you get the instant gratification of overwhelming cuteness. It's a win-win situation! The problem is, there are not nearly enough babies in my life. So, I jump at any chance to make something when the opportunity arises.



I knit a hat (pattern:Hospital Hat by Annika Barranti on Ravelry.com) for the baby girl, and at first I was going to knit some booties to match, but then I remembered a free pattern for cloth babies shoes that I had come across one day. It was easy to follow and I DEFINITELY will be making more in the future. In fact there is an Old Ladies' Club meeting scheduled for this week. We will be making vodka infusions and sewing baby shoes. (I feel like there may be something slightly irresponsible about that combination.)

PS- Did you recognize the shoe fabric?

Craft It Forward 2011: Round 1

I have embarked on a special mission: Craft it Forward 2011!
One of my friend's had a facebook status that read, "Craft it forward 2011. I promise to send something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering the same thing to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011. Here we go!"

I'm always up for a good challenge, so I signed myself up! However, my list quickly grew longer than 5 people, because I just couldn't say no to anyone. Also, I signed up with a couple of friends who had posted it as their status, so I decided to make them gifts in return. I've finished about half of the projects I decided to do, and I just mailed them off to their new homes.

Here's what I have made:

I've already shown you one of my projects. For Aunt B, I made the bumblebees from this post.

For my sister Megan, I made pink bunny slippers. The foot of the slipper is based on a traditional "Aunt Maggie" slipper, and then the ears, face, and tail are added to make the bunny. This could be adapted to become any animal, but I thought that that a nice pair of bunny slippers seemed right up Megan's alley! Instead of using two strands of worsted weight yarn like the pattern calls for, I used a single strand of bulky yarn (Lion brand Homespun in "Mixed Berries.") The little pom-pom tails are my favorite part.



I made another pair of slippers for my friend Cathy. I used the bunny pattern again, but I left off the "bunny" parts. For this pair, I used two strands; one was Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight and the other was a soft fluffy yarn I had in my stash. I honestly have no idea what brand it is, or why I bought it. It really softened up the plain-ol' red heart yarn and gave it a unique and fun look! I almost kept them for myself. :)



For my friend Megan, I made two dishcloths. I just love making dishcloths. They're quick, easy, and the perfect way to try out new styles and patterns. I've never made two alike! Years ago, I bought a big bag of cotton yarn at a garage sale, and I've been working my way through it ever since. For Megan, I made one as a diagonal knit (tan) and one in grid pattern (blue).




Shelly got a fuzzy scarf. Since it’s knit in stockinette, it curls up along the edges, which I think makes it look like a snake. The colors and the broad stripes remind me of something that might be worn at Hogwarts, if there was a fifth house with silver and purple as their colors. I started this scarf to use up some excess yarn I had from another project. It was on the needles for over 3 years until I got really motivated and finally finished it this winter. It’s kind of narrow, but super long so that it can be wrapped around the neck several times.



Evan was the only one who didn't get a knit item. Instead, I sewed a retro potholder following this tutorial. I used some fabric crafts from a quilt I made and from little a's tent. This is a really quick sewing project. It took me about an hour and a half, but most of that time was spent cutting out the circles and pressing them into quarters. This project leaves a lot of room for personalization with different fabric and quilting styles. I choose this fabric from my stash for Evan, because they are the colors of our Alma Mater, Iowa State University.

The birds and the bees

I made these little guys for four adorable children at church. Their parents had just as much with them as the kids did (if not more). They would be fun for an Easter basket, because they are about the shape and size of an egg.




These cute little bees were a quick and easy knit and also a lot of fun. Oliver the dog even took off with one and claimed it for himself (naughty puppy). I made these two for my Aunt "B." She's the bees knees.

Ramblings

I can't wait to have my own garden. This summer was too hectic with graduating, starting my new job, moving, and the wedding. Hopefully next summer! I wonder if my landlord would mind me digging up the backyard? When I start a garden I hope to get into home canning. My mom really enjoys canning. She has always done tomatoes, salsa, and spaghetti sauce, but this year she has been much more adventurous. She's branching out into new territories and canning pickles, squash, pumpkin, beans, potatoes and whatever leftovers she scavenges from her friends' gardens. I'm excited to get to try some of her new creations.

I LOVE MASON JARS. They embody all of the traits I appreciate most in anything. They are simple, cheap, multi-functional, re-usable, and recyclable. What a perfect creation! Not only are the essential for home canning, but they also make great drinking glasses, storage containers, and decorations. I have a jar hidden among my plants that holds sea glass I collected from the Mediterranean beaches in Barcelona. Recently I found a new use for a mason jar, soap dispenser! (Picture is number 4 of 37)



A friend of mine from college just got married about a month ago. Sadly we were unable to go to Illinois for the wedding, but I enjoyed making the gift! It was fun to get to use the dremel we got as a wedding gift. I actually finished this a while back, but I'm terrible about shipping things, so it just finally made it to the post office. For the happy couple, I made a mason jar soap/lotion dispenser, three knit dish/washcloths, and some melt-and-pour soaps.



The dishcloth patters used were: tan , blue , and multi-colored . They were all knit from cotton yarn in my stash. Several years ago, I bought a big bag of cotton yarn at a garage sale, and I've slowly been working my way through it. I really enjoy working with cotton yarn, and I like to make dishcloths because I get to sample new patterns and techniques without too much commitment. A dishcloth can be finished in one evening, so if it turns out that I don't like the pattern, I haven't lost too much time. Also, I lose interest with a pattern after I've finished it once (this is problematic with socks and mittens). I usually avoid repeating patterns or projects, but since there are TONS of dishcloth patterns out there, I never have to worry about running out of options.

I've been knitting a zoo!

Recently, I've had six requests from family and friends to knit them animals to give as baby gifts. So, I've been knitting like mad to finish them. For one, I even pulled an all-nighter in order to finish it just in time for my neighbor to wrap and take to the baby shower! It was kind of invigorating to stay up that late. I felt like I was in solidarity with my friends still in school. However, they are probably cramming for exams, and I was just knitting like a maniac. So far, my zoo count came up to two monkeys, two dragons, a penguin, and a floppy dog.



The penguin was my favorite. He was just so round and huggable! It was are very simple and quick pattern too!



The dragon was cute, but not as cute as I was hoping. I thought the tail was too short and back legs turned out strange. I guess this dragon just has thunder thighs!



Oliver love his new puppy friend! Actually, he probably was just excited that I stayed up all night with him instead of putting him in his kennel and going to bed. On a side note, I know how to fix red-eye in photos, but how does one easily fix green-eye? I think this must be a problem that is unique to animal eyes.

Baby Cardigan

I'm always looking for babies to knit for. My peer group is at the age where many people are getting married, but it will be a few years before very many start having babies. None of my close friends have babies and I have only one nephew, but he's a year and a half old now, so he's moved on from baby to toddler. Needless to say, I was VERY excited when I found out my cousin and his lovely wife were expecting their first child. I REALLY want a little girl to knit for, because there are many more cute patterns for little girl clothes than for boys. My cousin and his wife have chosen not to find out the gender of their baby, so for now, I had to stick to gender-neutral patterns. I decided to knit this cardigan. I was very happy with how it turned out. I happened to have two skeins of gender-neutral yarn that my former roommate gave me when she didn't use it for it's intended project, so it worked out perfectly. I only had to shop for buttons! The new baby isn't due until December, but I look forward to seeing how it looks on a real model!

A monkey for my nephew

The first stuffed animal I ever knit was Mr. Dangly. I made him as a baby gift for my cousin's little boy. Later, when my cousin had a girl, a two-tone pink Mrs. Dangly was created. I was pleased with this monkey as my first knit animal.



I always enjoy the adorable outcome of knitting animals, but it can be a frustrating process. I really hate stitching seams. I wish everything I knit could just be made in one piece with no sewing afterward. Although, seaming is a small price to pay for the cute animals, I suppose.

Now that I have a nephew, I have ample opportunities for knitting animals. For his first birthday, I knit my nephew a Francis the Fish (must sign up for free membership to view pattern.) I made the fish from the same yarn as the original Mr. Dangly, and I paired it with the book Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. Honestly, I think my brother-in-law may have been more excited about the fish than my nephew!



My most recent knit animal was another monkey, but a different pattern than my first. This new monkey was also a gift for my nephew. This is probably my cutest animal thus far. See "Little a" and his monkey below. The poor little guy wasn't feeling well, but I hope his new friend kept him company!

Old Ladies' Club

My coworker/friend, I will call her M, and I have started a new club. We tossed around several names at first: Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness, Self-Sufficiency Training, DIY Club, and several others. The one that stuck though, was Old Ladies' Club. Our goal in forming this club is to regain the skills of resourcefulness and self-reliance that have been lost somewhere in the past few generations. We want to learn those things that were just second nature to our grandmothers. Part of the goal of this is to take steps to Green our lifestyles, but we also want to explore new hobbies, make useful things, and eat delicious food! We have a running list on M's desk of all the things we hope to try out as a club. Hopefully we can expand to include more than just the two of us!
Old Ladies' Club had it's first official meeting two weeks ago. We met at M's house and began preparing 30 pounds of tomatoes for canning. M wanted to make tomato sauce and salsa and she was able to work out a good deal with a farmer at the Farmers' Market. What a mess! After a couple hours, M's kitchen was a disaster! But it was a fun and educational experience. Luckily, we weren't complete novices at canning. M took a class with the Oklahoma State University Extension and I have been around and marginally involved in canning with my mother and grandmothers. Even so, we had much to learn.
Lessons learned:
1. Blanching only takes 30 seconds not 5 minutes.
2. 30 pounds of tomatoes becomes a lot less after you peel them and remove the seeds.
3. Canning is a weekend job. It is too much work to do on a Tuesday evening.

For the second meeting of Old Ladies' Club, M came over to my house and my fiancé made us a lovely dinner of black bean soup, Spanish tortilla, and his famous cornbread. For dessert we had strawberry cake baked in little bunny shaped pans. It was so much fun! The goal of this meeting was for me to teach M how to knit. When I learned how to knit, my first project was a scarf. I don't recommend this. It takes a very long time for a beginner to finish a scarf, and it is easy to lose interest before the project is completed. I started M on a dishcloth using cotton yarn

 

M was a very quick learner. She not only grasped the idea quickly, but she is able to recognize mistakes, even if she is not able to correct them herself. Recognizing mistakes is a very important skill. She'll finish this dishcloth in no time and be ready to move on to more interesting projects. Teaching M how to knit got me really excited about knitting again. It comes and goes in waves, but knitting is the hobby I have stuck with the longest and intended to keep doing regularly. I have 3 projects on needles right now, and several more in the queue.

Be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions of projects/skills for the Old Ladies' Club!

Joann Fabric Adventure

This is not intended to be a plug for Joann Fabrics, but my exciting adventure there last night supplied me to start some new projects. I had been to Joann's website and noticed some great deals they were having, including 50% off a single regularly priced item, 50% off pillow forms and home decor fabrics, 70% off summer items, and 15% off anything for college students. Please don't tell them that my University ID is no longer valid. I intend to use that thing as long as I possibly can. Anyway, I came home with a 1/2 price cutting mat and rotary cutter set. I am VERY excited about this. I hope to start a second quilt this fall and I am considering making my own wedding veil. I also got some pillow forms so that I could make some throw pillows for our new couches. My sewing machine has not made the move yet, so I'll have to wait a few weeks to do that. Additionally, I picked up some nice bamboo-fiber sock yarn and some cute kitchen decorations. I bought the matching soap dispenser (below), hand towels, and dishcloths, but I opted not to get the rug. It was adorable, but it was a little too pricey for how cheaply it seemed to be made. My kitchen has become unintentionally bird-themed. I have a toaster cover (really who owns these things? THIS girl!) that is hand-embroidered with lovebirds. I picked it up a couple of years ago from a garage sale for 50 cents (Awesome!). Also, we received some kitchen towels from our registry that have swallows on them. Here is my new soap dispenser!

So, the point of this post is I'M READY TO START SOME NEW PROJECTS! Stay tuned to see them completed.

Hello World!

Welcome to my new blog! I had a travel blog when I was studying abroad in Switzerland, but that kind of fizzled out after awhile. Now that I've graduated from college, I hope to have more time to devote to this. I really enjoy reading knitting and cooking blogs, so I thought I'd start one of my own. Having the brain of an engineer, I find myself needing to have "projects" to do. Some people might call these hobbies, but I think they differ slightly. In my opinion, hobbies are activities you enjoy doing just for the sake of taking part in them. Projects are activities which you do for for the enjoyment that comes with completion. I'm always juggling a few projects at a time, so I will keep this blog pretty general. I will post about training my puppy, reading, knitting, sewing, cooking, gardening, painting, and any other projects which find their way into my life. Enjoy!