FO Friday: Waves of Love

This is an OOOOOOOLD WIP. I started it at a family craft rave Thanksgiving weekend 2010! I don't know why those sleeves were too much for me, but I got to them and just stopped. I finally decided to rip the sleeves and do them in solid black. It worked out well.

I gifted it to my so handsome cousin, Ameer, who turned one year old. These were the school colors of my alma mater.... since Ameer's daddy & I went to the same high school, this was perfect!

Rav'd

FO Friday: Another Hippo

Last Wednesday I showed you a WIP. Unlike a few other ones, this one actually got finished!

Behold, The Creepy Hippo Hat of Love

The eyes look a little weird and bugged out, but I'm hoping it looks cute ON the baby. :) I finished it last week but still haven't managed to get to the post office and mail it off. Momma's studying for the BAR, so it's not likely I'll see her to give it in person anytime soon. But maybe the small surprise to warm her little one's head might give her a happy break from torts and... um... sidebars? Sorry... all my lawyering knowledge has been gleaned from How I Met Your Mother and the OJ Simpson murder trial.

It has, of course, been Rav'd.

FO Friday: Hiphop-o-potomus

My friend brought her little 9 month old daughter to my birthday brunch. Baby G is so freaking cute. She was super well behaved & was quite amused with the dozen adults passing her around. Her momma mentioned that they like hippo things for her. I stayed up a few nights and through together a hat & booties for her.

The hat was just off the top of my head as I went along. The hippo applique was fun. I adjusted the sizing by skipping a few rows for the ones on the shoes. 

I followed GoodKnits' pattern for toddler shoes, but again skipped many rows because Baby G has teensy tiny feet that have barely grown since she was born.

For something I threw together in a couple hours, I'm pretty pleased. If I hadn't been making up the hat & trying to figure out how to reduce the hippo pattern on the fly I think it would have taken half the time. I wrote a little card to Baby G thanking her for coming to my party and sent it off in the mail. They were well received and I can't wait to see her in them!

Naturally, the deets have all been Rav'd.

Yarn Along

Ginny at Small Things hosts a "yarn along" every week. She shares a photo of her current knitting/crocheting project with the book she is currently reading.

I'm in the midst of a massive project and a really busy time at work. This quick post idea seems like the perfect way to share the happier, more peaceful moments I manage to grab! :)

I'm using remnants from Jack's hexi-blankie to make these little elephants, which will become a mobile for over his crib. I'm so late finishing but I plan to give it to him & his mommies this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm just starting the 3rd of the Mysterious Benedict Society books. I love this series. It's written for a 4th-6th grade level, I'd guess, but it's really interesting. I'm so happy Prisoner's Dilemma is finally in paperback!

Be sure to check out this week's Yarn Along post to see what others are working on/reading & share your own!

On another note- Please pray for my little friend Abby (2 yr old daughter of one of my NET brothers). She's having a surgery on her bladder/uterus on Wednesday. Thanks!!

Matryoshka Baby Shower Details

So now that I've had a few days to recover, I thought I'd share a little about the big baby shower!

Choosing a non-traditional theme was a challenge. While matryoshkas are popping up all over in jewelry, stationary and such it still wasn't like I could pop into a party supply store and pick up lots of matryoshka paper goods. We also wanted to keep things classy with a simple blue & white pallet. We used several shades of blue, which made things look less matchy-match.

The tables:

The flowers were simple tissue paper with pipe cleaner stems. Jen wrapped the inside of the vases with light blue tissue to conceal the pipe cleaner. We picked up some rubbery doilies at the 99 Cent Store. I have to admit, I was leery of them when we made the purchase, but Jen has a much better eye for those sorts of things. I think having them made a big difference in the look of the table. The confetti is also paper. We got a couple bags at $4 a pop from Party City- a big party supply store in town.

The favor boxes were these printables I purchased from Fantastic Toys on etsy. The pdf came quickly and was beautiful. They were kind of a pain to make, but that's not a design problem... I just don't think they're meant to make 30+ at a time. If I never see these things again it might be too soon. They were a hit though. We used the 3 biggest sizes (the pdf comes with 5 sizes) and filled them with butter mints bought at WinCo in the bulk section.


Other decor:

Jen bought these cardboard 3D letters (and exclamation point!) from Paper Source and covered them in tissue paper. I loved this little addition to to food table. People also grabbed these to use in the photo booth.

We had only a few traditional matryoshkas to scatter about, but they were nice little accents. We had planned to hang blue, aqua, white & a few green paper lanterns from the ceiling but it didn't work out. The white ones looked cute on the food table though.

I used the images from the invitations to spruce up some basic Avery name tags. We asked people to write their name & how they were related to one or both mommies. I chose the classic "friend of mommies". My sister decided to go with a more obscure reference coupled with a really old nickname. :)

Those same invitation dolls came up again as cupcake toppers. (Look, if you pretty much completely redesigned & totally recolored images using just MS Paint, you would reuse the heck out of them too!) The cupcakes were ordered sight-unseen from Bakalicious. I had NO time to make 3 dozen carrot cake cupcakes and no desire to try to figure out how to transport them anyway. I jumped on yelp, saw that this lady had fabulous reviews & that she delivered and just decided to try it. She was a joy! The cupcakes were light and moist, the frosting was just sweet enough but still fluffy and they looked beautiful. At $2 a cupcake she was by far the best buy in the North LA area. I highly, HIGHLY recommend ordering from her if you're in the area. I plan to use her again for an upcoming party.

The activities:
Along with two classic games (Baby Tray Memory- try to remember all the baby items shown to you- and Pregnancy Trivia- answer questions about the mommy-to-be's pregnancy) we tried two newer ideas.

Ice Ice Baby: This was, honestly, a little creepy looking... but everyone had fun. I purchased a matryoshka shaped ice cube tray and froze tiny plastic babies inside. We handed these ice babies out along with plastic bowls to catch the water. Without breaking the ice (it must be melted) and without leaving the room, the first person to get the baby out of the ice wins. My sister & Dr. Steven (an Ob/Gyn) ran to the sink and fought over the hot water while a coworker ran to the iron! Dr. Steven got the baby out first, which made everyone laugh. The whole thing lasted maybe 30 seconds. I would suggest not letting people use anything but natural heat.

Onesie Decorating: This is an increasingly popular activity that takes a lot of prep work & a lot of time at the party, but I think it's worth it. We purchased a bunch of onesies in different sizes on sale. Then we collected fabric paint (flat, not puffy paint), some stencils, fabric markers, iron on letters & some decals. We brought a small table-top ironing board & iron and set up a little table. Throughout the shower people went up and made their onesies. I was really afraid the mommies would end up with 30 hideous things no one would want their baby to wear, but there were actually some cute products! The less-adventurous people used the iron-on decals while the more artistically inclined used the other supplies. We strung up some jute and let people hang their creations up with clothespins to dry/show off.

Handmade Gifts:
I am a firm believer that children need handmade presents. I can't tell you how disappointed I am that I'm almost always the only one bringing something made especially for the baby to most showers now. Come on grandmas! If you can't pull out your needles, hooks & sewing machines for your grandbaby, when will you?

Ok... end rant... here are the special handmade items made or purchased for Jack

I bought this adorable personalized hanger from Floating Owl Designs on etsy. It was really well made, came on time & she was a pleasure to work with. I can totally see buying the grown up versions for future brides. (The little suitcases were purchased from Land of Nod. They were packed with clothes, books, shoes and....)

"Ella Funt" made with KnitPicks Comfy Sport in Planetarium. Colorwork done in Comfy & Shine scraps from a blanket I'll be gifting at the family shower. (Details on Ravelry.) This was a really fun, remarkably fast knit- especially considering I'm a new knitter & this was my first fair isle project.

"Owlet" made with KnitPicks Comfy Bulky in Arbor (now discontinued). As I've said before- I LOVE this pattern. I plan to make a bunch of them for the babies in my family this Christmas. (details on Ravelry)

I totally missed getting a picture of the "car snuggy" that a friend I don't know made. It was a crochet square- maybe 24x24 inches. So a small blanket- meant for the baby to snuggle with in the car. Totally cute, quick present idea.

And finally.... I saved the pregnant mommy's brother's girlfriend's gift for last because it is INCREDIBLE:

This was a needle felted elephant, done entirely free hand. It was just over 12 inches tall! If you've never needled felted you might not understand the incredibleness of this. It's HUGE for this type of project and she didn't use any sort of form underneath. It's just polyfil covered in wool fiber & felted by hand with a needle tool. The girl who made this is an incredible artist. She's made beautiful sculptures for each of the family members but even knowing that, this still blew me away. I think she was glad someone knew what kind of work had to be put into it. :)

Overall, I think the baby shower was a huge success and totally worth all the work & stress that went into pulling it off. Of course, when my other best friend said it looks like he & his partner will be adopting before the end of the year & was I ready for another baby shower I almost socked him. :) But I am... or I will be... just let me take a nap for like a week.


What is YOUR favorite baby shower game/theme. Any suggestions that will make the next party totally awesome?

Tah Dah: Very Hungry Caterpillar (Updated with Pattern Idea)

So I realize I've been super quiet. Our Red Roses winner is patiently waiting for her CD. It's taken a little longer than I would have hoped because she's really interested in getting it signed & I was out of town last weekend so I didn't see AJ at church. I'm working during his Mass this Sunday, so I'll be sending it with Dad to get autographed... assuming AJ is in town. I can't keep up with him. :)

I had to scroll through past entries to see if I had already shared this next project. I'm REALLY excited about it. My bestie is expecting a boy & her favorite book growing up was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I absolutely love Eric Carle's illustrations and decided to try to make a baby "cocoon" & hat that looked like the caterpillar in the book.

I started with some Araucania Pomaire Solid that I received as a gift & had left over from the Forest vest. I bought a couple different colors of Araucania Patagonia, which is more "bumpy" with it's thick/thin texture. I think the tonal dye on both of them coupled with the bumpiness mimics the look of the paintings pretty well. I actually kind of wish I could have replaced the Pomaire with a similarly colored Patagonia, but it's a hard yarn to find and the price on this little piece got out of control anyway.

I improvised it for the most part. I think the cocoon itself might be a little big, but I'm not too concerned. The hat was just a basic baby hat shape with a rolled brim. I made the face out of scraps of Knit Picks Shine.

Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. Such a quick knit and a satisfying result. The momma already has the book, so I bought a little Very Hungry Caterpillar rattle to go with the set. The family baby shower is a book theme, so I plan to give it to her then. I'm hosting the friend shower and have a whole stack of gifts I'm giving at that one. :)

For those asking for a pattern... I just free handed this and have no idea what I did. HOWEVER... you could just knit a basic baby hat pattern (like this one) and then crochet the details from this pattern. I just knit a tube for the cocoon. Basically something like this with alternated colors. Have fun!

Now what to do with the left over weird yarn......

Tah-Day: Owlet

I finished this a few weeks ago, but forgot to share. I'm pretty thrilled with how the cabled owls came out. My sister picked it up and said "Hey! Are those owls??" so I think I'm going to skip the whole button eye thing and just leave it as-is. I'm worried the baby will eat the buttons anyway.

Close- up of owls

The whole shebang

I'm super excited to give it to the mammas... but the shower is still a couple months away. Le sigh.

If you're interested, you can check out the specs on this baby on Ravelry.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

That's what I've been- busy busy.

My Crochet 101 class went well- except that they stuck us in the back of the school and the classroom door was locked well past the start time. Once we got going it was great though. Such neat ladies. I hope to see them this summer in my fun new classes.

I have be knitting up a storm for my bestie's baby to be. Although I also have another friend and two cousins who are pregnant, Baby J is already my favorite. That's horrible, isn't it? But what can I say? Mommy & I have been super-close friends for more than 10 years. This baby is close to my heart.

I should show you all those baby projects, but next up is going to be a crochet project I promised to review. I'm excited to get going on it. Can't wait to let you in! I just need to finish up that damn second sock (I swear ALL socks will be done 2 at a time from now on!) and the most adorable little sweater you'll ever see.... assuming I can learn colorwork all by myself!

What are you working on?

For the Easter Baby

My friend from church just gave birth to her first (much anticipated) baby. She and her husband are high school sweethearts and I'm so happy for them.

The mommy was also a member of Lambs of God Household at her Catholic college. (Households are kind of like sororities.) So.... Spring baby + Lambs.... I had to make something cute.

It started with the hat:

I used Vanna's choice in pink for the inside of the ears, which reminded me I still had a blanket I used that same yarn in...

So I thought if I just added a set of booties & some little mittens I'd have my favorite gift in the world... a whole baby set!

I'm SO looking forward to dropping it off tomorrow! I hope mommy & daddy love it.

Recent Projects

I've been a bad blogger but a pretty good crafter. Life has been pretty busy, with the NET team coming next week, several baby showers, work being a little crazy & my own stuff going on. I hope to have time to go over all the fun things I've been making in detail soon... but in the meantime, here's a quick run down of the knitted & crocheted items I've completed recently:

Forest Vest

Made for Baby Flores. This is actually the first knit item I've ever cast off! I was pretty pleased to have completed it. There's some MAJOR flaws, but I still really like it. I've been on the hunt for good semi-solid/tonal yarns ever since this project. If you know of any good ones PLEASE let me know!

Granny Love

Made for Baby G. I took some grannies I've had for a while and put them together into a quick blanket. I love the retro feel.

Cuddly Sweater

Also for Baby G. Man... I love me some KnitPicks Comfy. It's so soft and has great stitch definition. This project was SUCH a learning experience. I had to rip back about 6 rows at one point!

Frilly Scarf

I just wanted something to throw on that would add some classy interest to my everyday wear. I've been wearing it pretty often and I love the femininity.

Rainbow Clutch

Remember when I talked about Knit Picks Chroma making me break my "no stash buying" rule? Well... this is what some of the Prism colorway ended up as. It's a pattern test for a gal on Ravelry. I'll go into detail on the project & include a link to the pattern once she's done with it.

What have you been working on?

Baby Excitement

The most recent posting by yarn harlot included this little aside:

(it looks like a rash of babies is breaking out around here, very thrilling for this knitter.)

Isn't that the case for every knitter/crocheter? I know I get very VERY excited when there are several buns in ovens I love. Even ovens I'm only sort-of close to... ovens I have never made nor purchased a single gift for suddenly move to the top of my gift-making list. Every bun I may see a picture of on Facebook is in desperate need of something made by these two hands.

It's all getting so much worse now that I've purchased Wee Wonderfuls. Lord, help us. My home is going to become Santa's workshop year-round.

Decisions

Once again I'm putting off making a blanket for myself and repurposing the yarn.

All that KnitPicks Shine Sport I bought will now become a baby blanket. Yes, there is another "niece" or "nephew" on the way! I'm so excited! But you know me, this isn't a
"real" nice or nephew. You ready for it? This one takes a LOT of relationships to be clear! This baby is...

....my mother's first cousin's ex-husband's sister's son's child.

Alternately....

....my second cousins' first cousin (on the other side of the family)'s child.

OR

....my godfather's nephew's child.

or

...not related to me, really.

But really, this child is family. And he or she will be the child of a couple I absolutely adore- both as a couple and individually. My "cousin" is the catch of all catches- handsome, smart, sensitive, funny, understanding. He's an incredibly passionate teacher at a time when teachers don't have a lot of time or energy left over to be passionate about teaching. He's fantastic. And his wife is so sweet and beautiful and kind and funny. I've enjoyed ever second I've been able to spend with her and they just seem so happy with each other. This baby is going to be surrounded and flooded with love.

So... now to find the perfect project. I'd like to start soon (mostly because it will keep me from buying yarn for MY blanket and I really want to get my stash down). Of course we don't know the gender yet... but since I have a rainbow of yarn, I think we'll just go multi-colored. I also only have one little skien of each color, so while I'd like to try a star blanket like the one below, I don't want to have to buy more of one color for the increases.



Maybe a granny squarish thing? I like this:



Or I could see this in lots of different colors:




Any ideas? Did I not mention something that you think would be perfect?

Hot Mama Smock

A few weeks back I joined a group on Ravelry called "Summer of Finished Objects". The goal is to refrain from purchasing new yarn for the summer AND finish up all our WIPs.

Happily, I finished one up today! YAY! This is one of those projects that got stuck at "95% complete" because I couldn't bring myself to get the stupid buttons & finishing done. I don't know why I get such a mental block when it comes to buttons & ribbons. It took all of 5 minutes to finish it up. So odd. I need therapy.

In any case, here she is... The Hot Mama Smock:

I added the little blue flower because I plan to pair this little dress with the "Cool Mama Blanket". I have enough pink left over for some little shoes or something I think.

I'm totally excited about being able to give a whole "set". Once all the pieces are together they'll wing their way down under to give some California lovin' to the first born of my middle school friend, Lisa.