greetingarts

felt froggy

I made a little gift for someone special at the school last month.  Literally, little.  It was just under 4" tall.

It's hand stitched, and the pattern is in the book Lovable Mini-Dolls.  I picked it up ages ago, when I first started blogging and there was the whole Japanese pattern book obsession.  I'm so glad I got this one, I can't remember how much I paid for it but all the patterns are really cute and pretty simple.

bunny foo foo

A quick crochet for a newborn.  Can you tell what it is? 

It's one of those little blankets with the stuffed animal parts attached, for the kiddo to drag around with her when she gets a bit older.  There are a few translated patterns and wonderful inspiration from Brittas Ami.  I love how it turned out.

whoooo's there

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog.  Actually, I think about it all the time, about posting, about whether or not anyone is still out here, reading.  But the fact is, I hardly ever turn on my ancient computer anymore (it's my iPad all the way!), and when I do, it crashes every three and a half seconds (there it goes again!), is slower than molasses, and takes for.ev.er to boot up.  Sorry, Computer, but those are the facts.  Anyway, I need something in between my iPad and old desktop... something with a quick bootup time, but has an actual keyboard and where I can download my photos so I can post.  And doesn't cost a fortune.  Hmmm.

Anyway, I made some birthday gifts last week, sort of following this free pattern and using some stash acrylic yarn.  For my husband's brother and bride-to-be, whose birthdays are just a day apart.  They both love owls.  Hope they aren't checking my blog, I haven't given them their presents yet!

another school year

Can't believe today was the first day of school.

And this was the only photo I got!  It's back to work for me soon, too, and even though I love what I do and where I work and who I work with, I realized how much I could get done at home just by myself, all week long, during school hours.  Today was a luxury, going grocery shopping and running errands on my own schedule, with just me to worry about for a few hours.  Next week it will be back to constantly rushing around, dropping off the kids, racing to work, then trying to squeeze grocery shopping and laundry in between school pickup and homework, cooking dinner, getting the kids ready for bed, and finally taking a breath when we read our bedtime story.  Makes me tired just thinking about it!  But we really did savor the summer days, I don't think we wasted a single one.  Even when I locked us out of the house last week in 100 degree weather, we managed to make the best of it and had some fun.

Today I sent them off with backpack snacks, for them and their past and present teachers, and made my traditional softies - reminders for the girls that I'm missing them, thinking of them, and waiting to hear all the stories and details from their first day in fifth and second grade.

Rebecca's last year of elementary school.  Mind boggling.

angry knitting

Remember the angry crochet I did last summer?  I can't believe it's been that long, and I also can't remember if I ever posted about the one I knit for my mom this past Christmas.  Must be old age creeping up on me (tomorrow is my birthday and I'm less than enthusiastic about it).  Anyway, Jessie had a birthday party to attend, and since the invitation was Angry Birds, she wanted me to knit one for her friend just like I did for Grandma.

I used the awesome free pattern from Knitterbees again, but this time I sewed on some felt eyes instead of doing that tedious duplicate stitching.  The unibrow is a little strip of single crochet that was sewn on, and I'm happy to say that the birthday boy loved it.  I do, too, especially knowing that everything came from my stash.

pond friends baby gift

Made this for a baby shower gift for a coworker.  While I don't think *he* appreciated it overmuch ("That's cool - what is it?"), all the double X chromosomed people at the shower just loved it, and I hope his wife will think it's cute.  I got the pattern here and pretty much followed it as written, though I left off the tails (under time pressure, of course) and changed the wings slightly for the dragonfly.  Oh, and I used safety eyes instead of French knots. 

The frog's neck is kind of giraffe-ish, isn't it?

bats, ghosts and pumpkins oh my

This Halloween was all about bats, ghosts and pumpkins.

I made these little lovelies (for Jessica to pass out to all her classmates - the candy corn were for Rebecca's class) from Paper-and-String's free pattern.  Instead of using the brads for eyes and cheeks, I just used fabric paint that I've had for... forever.  They weren't all dried out and did the trick nicely.  Seriously, I've had the paint for at least 6 years or more. I don't remember buying any since Jessie was born, that's for sure.

I am the room parent for Jessica's first grade class, and for the Halloween party (oops, I mean Fall Festival) last Friday, we also decorated cookies (bought from the local grocery store - no homemade goodies in our school district) which coincidentally happened to be in the shape of ghosts, pumpkins and bats!  And then the special Fright Bites tortilla chips I served were in the shape of, yep, you guessed it, bats, pumpkins and ghosts.  So funny.  And totally unplanned, I swear.

Everything was a huge hit, although the yarn ball thing was funny because the kids just did *not* get the fact that they had to hold on to the yarn with one hand, while rolling the ball with the other.  They would just toss or roll the ball, which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole unraveling thing, you know?  Anyway, they got it eventually, sort of.  Maybe I should have used that one a year or two down the road...

 

i do

I do still craft (a lot, actually), even if I hardly blog anymore.

This little couple was made for Rebecca's 3rd grade teacher (last year - she was so great!), who got married a couple of weeks ago.  I used Jean Greenhowe's Little Gift Dolls book, and it all went together pretty simply.  There are a lot of little parts that need to be sewn on separately and it's not knitted in the round so there is seaming, but all the characters in the book are just too cute not to attempt.  I'm glad I finally found a reason to make two of them.

They were probably about 6" tall, and I used acrylic worsted weight yarn.  I pretty much followed the patterns exactly as written. 

They were very well received, and the newlywed said the dolls would have a special place in their new home.  I hope they bring them good luck and good fortune, and a long life full of happiness together.

at the close

Two weeks ago, Rebecca finished the last page of the Harry Potter series, and I had to make something to mark the occasion.  I used this free pattern and scrap yarn, holding a glittery chain yarn (no ball band) together with a Berroco Smart Cotton (in Butterscotch) for the body of the snitch, and just white Sugar 'n Cream for the wings. 

It was a joint effort, with me reading at least a chapter out loud every night, and Rebecca reading for hours on end at every spare moment.  She absolutely devoured the huge volumes, and now, understandably, feels a little bereft.  Suggestions for a new reading obsession are welcome!

tea time

 
I finished up all 10 teacups and saucers and delivered them to the school's receptionist yesterday.  An improvement over my original, but I think next time (if I get another order for these next year) I may play around with the cup shaping.  Something more flared at the top might be cute, like an upside down bell shape?  Overall, I'm happy with the way these turned out, though, especially those teabag tags.

Jessie was quite dismayed when she saw me packing them up.  "What?!" she proclaimed indignantly, hands on hips.  "All that work and I have... NOTHING?!"

That's right, honey, I'm sorry. 

But Mommy's got a check to take to the bank...