Sock - Take

Approx 3 1/2 mo after starting my first pair of socks, I finally finished them. Very Exciting.

Sock

Swap Goodies

With everyone but Addie being sick it's been a not great few days. However, I received quite a few goodies in the mail from Ravelry friends yesterday.

A lovely felted soap (smells so yummy) and a needle felted tape measure cover.

A swap package w/a doughnut pin cushion, fun buttons, beaded stitch markers, pins and hand lotion.

And a very large swap package for a Nov 2009 birthday swap. Tons of beautiful sock yarn, patterns, lotion, lip stuff, Pictureka (which Collin loves now), chocolate (didn't make the picture), a gorgeous hand knit shawl, baby legs, bags and a super cute and fun owl hat.

Didn't expect all of that stuff yesterday. It was like Christmas in March. :)

Hello Kitty

Haven't finished much lately. Between preparing to move and having major startitis, I have been too busy to actually complete a project. Oh well...found this pattern a few weeks ago and just had to have it. I don't usually like to buy patterns but when I saw this I had to make an exception.

Here's my version of a Hello Kitty hat. Unfortunately, I don't think this will fit Addie next year and it's too late in the year to wear it this year. I'll definitely knit it again but it's super cute. Now just to find a smaller child to whom I can gift it.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TrappingsandTrinkets?ref=top_trail

Triangle Shawl

Sometime in November/December, my mom asked if I would knit a shawl for her. We spent some time looking for just the right pattern and then the yarn. I started on it right after Christmas. It was so large that it took quite a long time, especially since I am not a monogamous knitter, but it's finally done. Finished (finally) yesterday and blocked it last night. It was dry this morning and was beautiful. This picture doesn't really do the shawl justice but it is really pretty and I'm very excited for mom to see it.

The pattern can be found at:

http://christineolsonoriginals.blogspot.com/2010/01/gracefully.html

sisters

i recently bought susan b. anderson's book, itty bitty toys. i absolutely love it and have marked at least 2/3 of them to knit. my first project from this book was a reversible toy called "sisters". for this i used a combination of stash yarn and some inexpensive acrylic yarn i bought at michael's (very soft all the same).

addie is sort of ambivalent about it but Collin thinks it's super cool.

so, with no further ado...

Steggie & Layer Cake Skirt

Here's a cute little three layer layer cake skirt (pattern found on prudentbaby.com). I used Valentine's fabric. Turned out pretty well. Addie looks adorable in it. Collin says she looks just like a ballerina. :)

I've been playing w/my sewing machine and have made a few things for both Collin and Addie. Found a dinosaur pattern for Collin and made this cute little stegosaurus. He picked out all of the fabric himself.

Princess Dress

I found a lovely pattern for a sundress w/a knitted bodice and fabric skirt. The knitting was simple, as was the sewing, really, but...probably won't do this again. I'm very pleased w/the end result, as was Addie (she didn't want me to take it off). I broke 2 needles on my sewing machine doing this since it was pretty thick at the gathers going through multiple levels of fabric and the knitted bodice. I think this is a size 2T and should allow her to wear this now w/a shirt and tights and then in the summer as a sundress. Back straps can be crisscrossed or buttoned straight across the shoulders.

I found a little pattern for a crown and so need to do this for her to wear w/her princess dress. :)

The pattern is a PDF on Ravelry so, if you'd like the pattern it's called Two Summer Sundress by Natalie Larson.

Swap

I recently participated in a swap through a Ravelry Group (Good Things Together). I was very fortunate to be paired up with the group's moderator, Audry (Auchgan on Ravelry). The swap was for a handmade brooch, a skein of yarn and a postcard. We all also decided that throwing in 2-3 extra goodies would be nice as well. With the many, many patterns for brooches or things that could be turned into brooches it was very hard to narrow in on just one pattern (not just for me). As it turns out, everyone seems to have made 2-3 for our partners.

Audry and I both rec'd our packages yesterday. It was so fun and exciting to go through and look at all of the goodies. I rec'd 3 beautiful brooches, a really fun sock monkey tape measure, a fun toy for the kids, a bath mitt, a couple of note pads, a really cool postcard and 2 fabulous skeins of Australian yarn.

Audry's pics of the package I sent to her are better than the ones I took so I'm going to try to snag hers to post here. I sent a skein of soft bamboo yarn, a bar of chocolate, a Russian icon magnet, a handmade lace bookmark and 3 brooches (a cupcake, a folded fabric rose and 3 hearts knit from lace weight yarn).

I think it was a wonderful swap and a really great experience. I'm sure I'll do many more in the future.

SOCK!!!

I finished my first ever sock last night. I was soooo excited. It was a bit of a learning experience and I tried several different things to prevent ladders and I think I finally figured out what works...knit into the back loop on the first stitch of every needle. Unfortunately, the sock turned out a little large. Given the yarn I used I don't expect any shrinking but I will wear them proudly all the same. I used size 2 needles so I think I'll go down to 1.5 and see how that goes. I plan to co today for the 2nd sock b/c I don't want to fall prey to second sock syndrome. Here's a pic of my sock!!

Back

Since apparently I am the WORST blogger EVER, I have decided just to pretty much make this a place to put pics and info about my latest crafting projects (works in progress, finished objects) - both successes and failures. So, here we go again. Maybe I can actually keep up w/this now. :)