Tutu Part two

A few years ago I made a tutu for my niece's second birthday. Obviously she has outgrown that one but a few months ago she asked me to make her a new one. She wanted one like Angelina Ballerina's friend (I have boys who have no interest in the show so I have no idea what her name is). I followed the same pattern as before but obviously made it wider and longer. I varied the length slightly between 13-15 inches long (so I cut the strips between 27-29 inches) to give it a little bit of depth.

I forgot that the increased width and length would really add up. I went through just under four rolls of tulle! But what fun - I kind of want one for me!

I packaged it up with two books to create a nice little gift.

Happy birthday to one of my favorite five year olds!

 

Frozen inspired bows

My niece is a big fan of Frozen so for her birthday I thought it would be fun to do a Frozen themed gift. My friend has an etsy shop selling decorated mirrors and had some that were decorated in colors similar to what Anna and Elsa wear in the movie. When I saw that I decided to order one from her and based my whole gift around it.

So what goes great with a mirror? Hair accessories of course! I love making barrettes but with two boys, there is no one to wear them. So this was a good opportunity. I searched the web and Pinterest for ideas and found a couple of great ones: for Elsa and for Anna.

I made a few modifications, however. Hers were a little more intricate than I was looking for - I wanted something a little more everyday wear. So I followed the instructions for the basis of the bow and embellished them on my own for the rest of it. I also used sheer ribbon (except for the black which was more silky) for the whole thing instead of using grosgrain. And I didn't use alligator clips, I used the ones that fasten on one end. I love how they turned out!

This is my Elsa bow:

And my Anna one:

I also found some Frozen themed nail polish at Its Sugar to go with it as well. I couldn't wait to give her the present and I think she loved it! I know she has worn the Elsa bow a few times already.

And the great thing is my other niece has already requested bows for her birthday - coming up, Minion bows...

 

 

Knitted Christmas

This year I ended up knitting a few of my Christmas gifts. I love giving homemade gifts and I wish I had the time to make everything. As it was I barely finished and haven't had much time to talk about them until today.

The first thing I made (and probably my favorite of the items I made) was a hat and scarf set for my niece. My niece is super knit worthy - for her birthday I hinted that I had gotten her something really cool. Her response: "you made me a hat and scarf?!" Unfortunately I hadn't but now I knew what she was getting for Christmas. I picked out some variegated purple/green/grey in Sheepish as my niece loves purple. For the hat I used the Three Tams pattern from an old issue of Knitty (and used white Sheepish for the contrast color). The scarf pattern was Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf.

My niece loved them! She was actually wearing them when I saw her this week, even though it was 75 degrees outside. Like I said, totally knit worthy.

For her little sister, I knitted a stuffed owl. My niece is so into owls so I thought it might be fun to knit her one (plus it would probably go over better than a hat would). I found an adorable giant owl pattern from Purl Bee. The pattern calls for super bulky yarn on Size 15 needles. I used Lion Brand Hometown, which is also a super bulky but recommends size 13 needles. I like the owl but I do wish I had gone with size 11 needles for a denser fabric.

My niece liked it. It's so big she could hardly get her arms around it!

Another project I finished was a hat for my aunt. In our family we do an exchange by drawing names and getting something for that person (like secret Santa but not secret). My aunt had seen me working on my niece's hat and joked that she hoped I would get her name so I could make her a hat. Well sure enough I did pick her! I used the Flora hat pattern. Other people who had kntitted the pattern mentioned in their notes that it came out big. So I switched to a size 6 for the body of the hat and a size 4 for the brim.

I tried it on before I gave it to her to make sure it fit and it fit me fine so hopefully it fits her well. I also gave her a bottle of wine to go with her present so I thought I'd have a little fun.

I made a hat for the bottle! The pattern is obviously not the same (I used Susan B Anderson's Santa hat ornament) but the yarn is the same.

My last knitting project for Christmas were gift card holders for the boys' teachers. They were nice, quick knits that added a little bit of personalization to the gift cards. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of them before I gave them away. But trust me, they were cute. I used a mini stocking pattern with leftover scrap acrylic on size 5 needles.

I also had two other non-knitted craft projects for Christmas. In my resolutions post I mentioned the sewing I did last year, with one of the items being heating packs for my FIL. These are so simple - just two pieces of fabric held right side together and sewn most the way around the outside, leaving a couple inches open. Then they are turned right side out and filled with beans. Lastly the opening is sewn shut.

The last project was a couple of ornaments for the babysitter. I made a batch of salt dough and rolled it out into two disks. I then had my boys press their hands into the dough and then poked a couple of holes at the top for the string. Since they were a little big I poked two holes in each to provide more support to the string. After I baked it, I painted the imprints of their hands and sprayed a glossy sealant on them. Then I ran some string through them.

Whew - I think that was all of the crafting fun around here!

For more finished objects, check out Tami's Amis!

 

Finished Object Friday

I'm super excited for my most recent finished project. I made the child's tank top from the most recent issue of Knit Simple for my niece's birthday.

My niece is turning three (and wears 3s and 4s) so I made the size 4, which is the smallest size the pattern comes in and I used my size 7 circulars. Part of me wonders if I should have gone with the size 5 so she would have room to grow. I did end up adding half an inch to the body and half an inch to the strap to give it a little more room. (Poor J had to be my model to make sure it fit!)

My yarn was Violena - a DK weight, cotton rayon blend. Originally I wanted to do it in all pink but they didn't have enough of the yarn I wanted in the store. They did have enough of the lime green. So I decided to get creative and combine the two. Honestly now I'm so glad they didn't have enough pink because I absolutely love the color combination!

I had a lot of yarn left over so I decided to make a couple of barrettes to go with it. I think this may be my favorite part of the whole project!

One of my knitting books has a few different motifs in it including a flower and a leaf so those were the basis for the barrettes. I knit the flower on a size 7 needle and did the leaf on a size 5. I then stitched the flower to the leaf and hot glued the whole thing to the barrette.

I am so excited about this project! My Ravelry page is here. For more finished objects check out Tami's Amis.

 

Christmas Stocking part 2

Before Christmas I finished another stocking - this one was for my other grandma.

I'm more pleased with this one than the last one I did. My tension was a little better on this one than the last one. Plus I think the pattern is really cute - it's A Fair Isle Christmas. The great part about the pattern is the ability to mix and match. It comes with three main patterns and three borders so you can pick and choose but all of the combinations look like they would be cute together. I used up more of the stash acrylic and size 7 dpns for the project.

I also knitted a few ornaments this season to go with gift cards for C's teachers. Unfortunately in all the hubbub I forgot to take pictures. Now I'm finally moving on to something for me. I'm back to my socks - I had ripped them out and moved down to a smaller needle size. It's going a little smoother now. Hopefully I'll get pics soon.

 

The turtle is done

I managed to finish the turtle before the baby shower yesterday. Granted I finished it at 1:30 in the morning before the shower at three that afternoon. I am really thrilled with how he turned out.

The pattern is Sheldon and I used Caron Simply Soft on size 5 needles. Most of the pattern was basic toy construction but there were definitely a few things that challenged me. I had to knit an i-cord and do some basic crochet. Actually this was a great chance to practice my crochet which was one of the things on my resolution list.

I'm tempted to make one for myself - I just love how cute this patten is!

 

I'm back

Wow it's been way too long since I've posted anything. Life really got in the way for a while. Lately the only free time I had was devoted to knitting. I ended up having a few of my deadlines moved up. The baby shower I am going to was moved up two weeks. So now instead of needing to finish a stuffed animal by the last weekend in November, I need it by a week from today. Aaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh! I did find a cute pattern though - I'm knitting a Sheldon.

The other project was one of the stockings. Long story but I decided to knit it for my grandma's birthday instead of Christmas and her birthday was last week. I did manage to finish it so it's my finished object this week.

This is only the second time I've done color work so I'm fairly pleased with it. I did knit a little bit tightly so it pulled a bit. I also got slightly turned around after turning the heel and ended up as a ridge of purl stitches. I decided not to rip it back as it sort of looks decorative. Can't wait to try the next one and see if it comes out even better.

For more finished objects check out Tami's Amis.

 

FO Friday (and I have something to share!)

It's Friday and I actually have a finished object to share! My dinosaur is finally finished.

The pattern is Terrence the Tap Dancing T-Rex from Rebecca Danger. He was done on size 1 needles in sock yarn I picked up from Joann's when they had their massive clearance sale a while back. The construction is so interesting - only the arms and legs are sewn on at the end. He was pretty easy to knit and I appreciated not having to do too much sewing. I did embroider his eyes and mouth though because he is going to be a baby gift. I plan on giving him to a coworker with a copy of Dinosaur versus Bedtime.

I still need one more stuffed animal in the next six weeks or so. (Why are so many people due at the same time!?) However I put toy knitting aside for my next project; I'm knitting Christmas stockings for each of my grandparents. I'm using a chart for the first time so wish me luck!

For more finished objects, check out Tami's Amis!

 

Rawr It's a Dinosaur!

I've moved onto my newest project, Terence the Tap Dancing T-Rex. He is one of Rebecca Danger's newest patterns. Her designs are always so cute but this guy is especially fun. I've been quite antsy to work on him but put it off to the side so I could make sure I finished my project for the Ravellenic games on time.

I decided to knit him with some of the sock yarn I bought at the big sale Joann's had a few months ago. Funny enough I bought 8 skeins of sock yarn and so far I'm only setting two aside for socks. I'm using size 1 needles to get the fabric tight enough to keep the stuffing inside; this is my first time using needles this small!

My plan is to pair it with Dinosaur versus Bedtime and give it at a baby shower I've got coming up soon. I can't wait to see how he turns out!

For more projects check out Tami's Amis.

 

Tutu Tutorial

I finished my second tutu yesterday; this was the tutu for my niece's doll. I thought since I've been talking about tutus a lot this week I would post a tutu tutorial (wow that's a mouthful).

These tutus are so simple to make. The only materials needed are tulle and a piece of elastic. For the tulle I just used the spools that you can buy in most stores.

The first step is to measure the waist. Since mine is a surprise for my niece, poor J had to step in as my model. I figured I would need just a little bit of negative ease so I sewed it about half an inch shorter than I measured. In this case I cut 20" and overlapped it by half an inch to sew it down.

The next step is to cut the tulle. At this point you will need to determine how long you want the skirt to be. Take that number and double it. Then check the width of your elastic and double it. Add the two numbers together. In my example I wanted a 9 1/2 inch length and my elastic was 3/4 inch. So I cut each strip to 20 1/2 inches (9 1/2 + 9 1/2 + 3/4 + 3/4).

Now take the tulle and fold it in half. Place the folded end of the tulle inside the elastic waist, pointing towards the bottom of the tutu. Take the unfolded end and pull it over the top of the elastic and through the loop. Repeat until the elastic is covered. I find it helpful to stretch the elastic slightly while doing this to make sure everything is covered well.

The doll tutu was very similar. I did cut the pieces of tulle in half lengthwise since it was a lot shorter. My doll is 10 inches around and I wanted a 4 in length so each strip was 9 1/2 inches. Otherwise the process was the same.

Voila! That's how it's done!

I'm linking up to parties at It's Overflowing, I heart Naptime, Six Sisters Stuff, and Bru Crew Life.

 

A little bit of finishing

Today I managed to finish one of Benny's legs for the mystery knit along.

I'm pretty excited because it involved some sock construction techniques that I had only done once before on the knitted lion. I do find it a bit strange that I've turned a heel twice now, yet have never done it on an actual sock. I'll just call it practice. Ahem, anyway it's not nearly as intimidating as I thought. As long as I trust the instruction it's like magic! I only ended up with one teeny hole. I think the second foot will go quicker and then I can move on to clues 3 and 4. With any luck I'll only finish a week or two late.

My other finished project this week was the tutu. As I promised on Wednesday, here is a picture.

It was so easy - the only sewing involved was sewing the elastic together. The tulle is just tied on. My niece (and sister) will love it!

For more finished objects check out Tami's Amis!

 

WIP Wednesday (aka I'm really behind)

It's time for another WIP Wednesday. I can't believe it's Wednesday again already. I'm still working on the mystery knit a long. Well it's not really a mystery anymore. The final clue was released this week. Unfortunately for me I'm only on clue 2 of 4.

This is Benny's leg (sort of). I still have a lot to knit on it plus I need to do the second one. So I've actually managed to get even farther behind. Oh well, I'm just going to keep plugging away. I should finish him in the next couple of weeks.

I did, however, make progress on another (non knitting) project. I'm making a tutu for my niece and her doll for her birthday. This weekend I finished hers so I just need to do the doll's. I'll try and post pictures this week.

I also managed to squeeze a small update to the look of my blog. I added social media icons. I found a great tutorial here. You can check them out in the upper right hand corner. I love them!

For other amazing WIPs check out Tami's Amis.

 

FO Friday - A Bear and a Hippo

So that bear I mentioned a few weeks ago, the one that I optimistically thought I had two months to finish...turns out I had significantly less time than I thought to finish it. The baby shower ended up being scheduled for today and I still had to do a third stuffed animal too. So I knitted pretty much nonstop during my free time over the last couple of weeks (hence the lack of updates lately.)

The good news is I managed to finish! Here is Brown Bear.

The pattern is baby bear from Susan Anderson's Itty Bitty Toys book.

For the third stuffed animal I ended up doing a hippo to go with The Belly Button Book. This pattern is also from the same book - can I just say how much I love this book!

 

I think these will be a hit with the moms to be. Here is a pic of all three stuffed animals.

 

For more finished object Friday fun check out Tami's Amis!

 

FO Friday - Caterpillar

The caterpillar is done! I finished it just a few nights ago and I'm very pleased with it. The pattern was Caterpillar by Kimberly Chapman. I loved her pattern but I made a few modifications. I wanted my caterpillar to be bigger so I increased up to 48 stitches at the widest part instead of 30. I also used i-cords for the legs and antenaes instead of knitting in the round. For the yarn I used stash yarn that my grandma gave me. It's definitely acrylic and is probably Red Heart - the only one I'm not certain of is the yellow; it seemed slightly different from the rest.

This is going to be a baby gift for a coworker along with a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

My Ravelry project page is here. For more finished objects check out Tami's Amis.

 

Knitter's Block

Earlier this week I was suffering from knitter's block (like writer's block but for knitters). I had finished up the monster I was working on for C and the only thing I had on the needles at the moment was a hat. The hat is a really nice pattern - Hurricane; the pattern is easy so the project is portable but it looks good at the same time. The only problem was I don't feel like knitting a hat right now. I would bring the project with me when I went places so I would have something to work on. Yet not a single stitch was added to the hat.

 

So I decided to start something new to get over the block. I know a lot of knitters have more than one project at a time but I tend to be a fairly monogamous knitter. I don't know why but I hate having something incomplete sitting on my shelf. Hopefully it won't drive me crazy to have multiple projects going.

 

I decided that since I have three coworkers who are pregnant and due within 6 weeks of each other, I would start working on something for each of them. My idea is to give them each a kid's book with a stuffed animal to go with it. I've started with a Caterpillar (to go with The Very Hungry Caterpillar). I think I will do a bear (like the one I did for my niece) to go with Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I'm stuck on what to do for the third one but I've got time to figure that out.

Blanket 1 is done!

So it's been quite the drama filled week a our house! We were all set to have J's birthday party on the 1st but an hour before his party he scratched his cornea. So instead of enjoying his birthday party, he got to spend the evening in urgent care and then the ER (the ER was just a precaution because the urgent care wasn't sure about their diagnosis so they sent us there). We ended up redoing his party the next day. Then a day or so later both boys got sick. Fortunately they are both better now! The last big thing was my sister had a baby today! He is very cute, not that I'm biased or anything ;)

Somehow in all of the chaos I managed to get a blanket done for my friend's baby shower this past weekend (never mind that it came out of the dryer 3 hours before I had to leave for the party). I used Baby Coordinates yarn in pink, yellow and beige and made 15 squares in various patterns and stitched them together. I'm pretty pleased with the result!

I put it in a basket with a few things off of her registry.

Now I just need to get finished with the blanket for my cute little nephew. I just love new babies!

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas over the last few days with E's family and my family. We started off by going to the Christmas Eve service at my church. Afterwards we drove through our neighborhood, looking at all of the luminarias lining the streets. Then it was on to my parent's house for some fun. I brought over my treats to share as well as my salsa for the first annual salsa contest (I'll post the recipes in a separate post). 

Yum!

We also exchanged gifts - I think the boys liked what they got.

On Christmas morning, Santa visited our house. Yesterday C was able to put his art supplies from Santa to good use decorating a rocket ship he got from his Aunt and Uncle.

Next we went over to my inlaws' house; they have a wonderful tradition of having a big breakfast together on Christmas morning - bacon, sausage, potatoes, rolls, etc.

We also had to go back over to my parents after that - my cousin, who I haven't seen in a few years, was back in town with his family. 

What a busy couple of days! My boys did pretty well for being on the go constantly and not getting as much sleep as they should have. The knitted gifts went over well. One niece squished and cuddled the ladybug and slept with the blanket that night. The other screamed in excitement when she saw the bear! Yay!

Hopefully things won't be as crazy this week but I'm not holding out hope on that. We have New Years parties as well as a couple of birthdays (including someone turning 2!) Here we go again!

Knitted Ornaments

The ornaments that I mentioned earlier are coming along nicely so far. I've managed to finish five of them over the last couple of days. 

The wreaths are simply an I cord with four stitches cast on and knitted for about 7-8 inches and sewn together at the ends. I did another I cord in red for 7 inches then made into a bow and sewn onto the wreath.

The bells were pretty easy as well. The pattern can be found on Ravelry.

And my favorite so far is the Santa hat. It's a Susan B. Anderson pattern - I absolutely love her patterns!

My plan is to get about 10 more made and attach them as part of the wrapping on my Christmas presents. Luckily they are coming along quickly!

Yep I'm Crazy

So even though Christmas is only 2 and a half weeks away, and even though we are down a person at work so I've been working crazy hours, and even though I have two baby blankets that need to be done by the first week in January, I decided to add to my Christmas knitting. I decided to make some Christmas ornaments. I at least want to make a few for people getting gift cards. Thy knit pretty quick at least. I finished a bell in one evening and a wreath while I was talking on the phone. Optimally I'd like to use them as decoration for the presents. We'll see! I'll post pics once I get a few more done (and get the pics actually taken).

Not done yet

So after staring at my "completed" lady bug for the last six weeks I decided to add a face and antennae after all. I am so glad I did! The ladybug looks much better. The antennae are based on the giraffe pattern from Itty Bitty Toys - the same source I used for the spots previously. (at some point I should just make the giraffe since I've tried so many components of it already). The eyes are felt. E gave me a fabulous suggestion of using quarters to trace around on the white felt and dimes for the black felt components.

Can't wait to give this to my niece!