Hair Clips

A wonderfully productive weekend!
After reading a blog post last week by The Purl Bee, I was inspired to make these awesome hair barettes. I added some different designs to the mix, running with the fabulous idea! This is a great way to spruce up a holiday outfit and I plan on using it more. I can't wait to try her rose barrettes next. While I was making these, G claimed that he wanted one, so I created a blue car one with a G so that he could wear it on his dress shirt (yes, G wears a dress shirt and tie everyday). He LOVED it! C's favorite was definitely the purple flower!































And to top off the weekend, C was supposed to have a Teddy Bear Picnic last week which got canceled because of the snow (after I had made the 3 dozen teddy bear cookies). So it was a repeat tonight...I think I got better;)

Week 1- A week of SNOW!

Well, our first "big" snowstorm of 2011. A full 12-15 inches of snow. It wouldn't be complete without one incident of getting stuck in the snow by me on my way home from work last night and then getting bailed out by my husband, friendly neighbor and dad:) The kids had a great time this morning! It is so nice to be forced to remember how much fun it is to be so young and be able to just enjoy all of this snow with no worries. So in a blog of handmade things, I think it is only right to include Frosty the jolly snowman!


This week I had a realization...that the Apricot Jacket was not all it was cracked up to be for me. It was started at a time in my life (when C had just been born) in which I was just getting back into knitting. Apricot Jacket was a WONDERFUL journey for me in the sense that it brought back so many techniques and got me back into the knitting world. For this, it was all worth it.
However, when picking it back up to seam it, it was clear that after seaming together the first sleeve and shoulder that it wasn't going fit this body at all. In fact, I wasn't super happy with the way things were coming together. I made the tough decision to frog it. In a time in which I have so many projects to finish...it wasn't worth it to continue :(
So goodbye friend!


Now onto my handmade item of the week. I decided that to work on some baby bibs for all of those wonderful beings that are about to enter this world! We are super excited for so many of our friends to add to their families! This item is a work in progress, these are the beginning results!
The pattern is based off of on from ChickPea Studio with some tweaking, including enlarging the bib a little and changing the neck hole a bit. Loved the idea! I chose terry cloth for the back but I think I would stick to flannel in the future. I also would choose less of a pattern for the front so the embroidery shows up a little better. I know it is hard to see, but it says "I am a material girl" (just like my mom). This bib happens to be for a friend that is a fellow sewer. I LOVED embroidering and hope to to tons more with it. I am again super lucky to have my mom as the expert as some of the things that she has done are AMAZING!!! (I will try to get pictures later) I also have tons of ideas for these bibs, so be on the lookout for future bib creations....

A Year of Handmade Goods

I have been thinking about a post like this for a long time, so here it finally is...A Year of Handmade Goods. What does this mean you ask? Well, here is my commitment to one full year, 52 weeks, of a new handmade item every week. I am hoping that this goal will get me going. I have so many ideas, now I am going to execute them!
What better first post than to take a look at MY NEW CRAFT SPACE!
Here it is...full of supplies, ready for this year!

Starting Fresh...or at least somewhat fresh

Well, BACK AGAIN!!! 2011 means a whole new year and hopefully one filled with knitting and other crafts that I have come to enjoy. Since the day my daughter was born, I have dreamed of having just four more hours in the day. I thought about renaming this blog, but decided against it. There are too many memories!
I think what I really need is to just stop thinking about it and start blogging again. It was a time I so enjoyed!
There is so much to catch you all up on in lives of Baby C and Baby G and in my crafting adventures! Honestly, this post was all sparked by the creation of my new "crafting corner"! B was away all week on business in L.A. and my parents were visiting. This tends to equal...big projects being done on the house. I decided to reclaim a corner of the basement studio and put all of my crafts there. I am super happy with how it turned out, though there is still a lot to do! Specifically, I need a way to organize all of my knitting needles. I just ordered the circular needle case made by Namaste. And I plan on making dpn cases showcased in Hugs for Your Head with colored cardstock and hanging them from a string under my knitting space...

All right, now on to projects I have been working on. There have been many! Most recently I finished The Gap-tastic cowl (a ravelry free pattern) for my sister-in-law. I ended up using an acrylic yarn (I know, I know...) that was super soft and comfy. The cowl was knit in the round and the pattern called for 15 inches of width. I ended up only doing 8 or so inches and it was perfect for what I wanted! Here is a picture...

Of course as always, my intention was to make most of my Christmas presents, but I never get as much done as I hoped...maybe this year;) I did get around to making all of C's teacher gifts (3). I made these super cute mason jars filled with Gingerbread Scone ingredients.

This packaged with homemade packs of thank you cards turned out to be perfect! I hope they enjoyed them...

Next, I have entered into the world of sewing. My mom is a phenomenal quilter and sewer. She is so talented and full of ideas. I figured I better learn while the best is still teaching! She is so patient with me who has no idea where to start...I even inherited her old Singer sewing machine and some supplies too. So, nothing was more fitting than to sew her something for Christmas. I picked up a pattern at JoAnn's before the holidays and got working on a wall hanging that has picture slots. Here is the almost finished project:

She loved it!! The only catch was that she has to help me finish it. I need to learn how to do the binding and backing of it. Then we are going to quilt it.

Next comes the sunflower dress. C decided to, at the last minute, throw onto her Christmas list, a sunflower dress. It ended up being top 3 when sitting on Santa's lap. Well...you try finding either a sunflower dress in December or wearable sunflower fabric. It was HARD. Finally, I came across some beautiful pink sunflower fabric that was just C's style at my local quilt shop, Generations. I went straight to Etsy to find my pattern and then started. Here it is:


Continuing on with the list (and I promise, this is not how I intended this post)...a fun picture of C and G feeding the ducks in New Hope with B on New Year's Day. Those are their yearly winter hats.
The strawberry hat is a free ravelry download by Pony Knowles, but modified for a child and minus the bob at the top. I used KnitPicks Swish worsted. The dinosaur hat is a pattern by Kate Oates called Roar also using Swish worsted.

So I am going to end this post for now. I will post pictures of my "craft corner" later as I am sure you are all pictured out at this moment! For today... I am off to work on those dpn holders! Super exciting. Then I need to buckle down and choose my next knitting project (or maybe finish one I have already started).