Project: Owl Quilt

Here is a sneak peek at an owl quilt on which I'm currently working... it goes to the quilter's on Monday (NEXT Monday, the 18th), so I need to finish it by then, but it's going swimmingly so far, so with a few more nights of the kids going to bed "on time", I'm sure I will be able to finish it...

erin

Project: Miss Lena's Sweater

Lately I've been blessed with the desire to work on projects (needle-related), and while my house may be suffering a bit, my creative side is on fire and spitting like a madcat... in a Happy Madcat sort of way.  :)

This picture is of an almost-finished sweater (it is waiting for buttons only!) for a friend's daughter, Miss Lena.  My first sweater attempt didn't turn out so well... well, the sweater turned out beautifully but it was the wrong size (by a long shot), despite following the gauge, and I was severely disappointed in the finished product after the amount of time I spent on it.  But, I was wanting to try another and offered to make a sweater for a friend of mine's daughter, and while again the sweater is a little larger than expected (and again, I followed the gauge), I'm really happy with how it turned out and it will fit well enough that it won't be an issue.

I found the pattern through a sweater search on Ravelry.com and it ended up being a free pattern through Lion Brand. 

 

My friend picked out the yarn after I suggested another of blends and colors through KnitPicks (this yarn in color Planetarium).  I think that I barely have about 50 inches left of the yarn that I purchased... just enough to put the buttons on. 

I'm excited to receive the buttons, which are heirloom buttons from the friend, and she graciously is allowing me to keep the rest of them... so wonderful of her!  I will post a finished project picture as soon as I have one!

Erin

American Girl triumph!!

Well, I ordered this pattern months ago, and it was just waiting for my craft room makeover to have time to work on it :o)  Of course Bella selected the Ariel dress first.  But it went pretty smoothly even though the fabric for the side puffs was a b*tch to sew (my machine kept trying to eat it.. ugh!)  Bella was very excited this morning to come down and see her doll all dressed up and waiting for her at her breakfast spot!  Although it appears her doll got a nice tattoo on her forehead (will be hitting that with the Magic eraser directly!)

Raven's Dress

This morning, the first thing I did when Raven woke up was to bring her downstairs and try on her dress.  It's a bit big in the chest, but otherwise I am very happy with how it turned out.  And she seemed perfectly happy to wear it and toddle around in it so, I say, Score!

A Dress for Raven

Back when Raven was very, very small... maybe two months old?... I decided that I would knit her a sweater for her first birthday pictures.  Not knowing what size it would be (and neglecting to think about the fact that September is still HOT in Iowa and one-year-olds don't need to be covered from head-to-toe in 80-degree weather), I knitted a rather large sweater.  And... even though my gauge was correct, the sweater ended up being Way. Too. Big.  In fact, I don't doubt Julia could wear it.

Thank goodness I tried the sweater ON Raven a few weeks ago.

That left me wondering WHAT in the world I would put on this child for her pictures.  Julia's pictures were special in that she was sitting in (her) great-great-grandma's rocking chair... I really wanted Raven's pictures to be special too.  Especially considering that there is little doubt that the second child get somewhat less attention than the first child did... i.e., poor Raven often gets the shaft.

I searched online for a dress befitting her beauty, and found a wonderfully cute one and it was ON SALE at crazy8.com, but two days after ordering it, I received an email saying that they were sorry, but the dress was sold out and la-dee-dah.  So, the search began again.  I found these dresses...  Dress #1 and Dress #2, and while neither one truly said "Raven" to me, they gave me an idea and hope.

 

So, I packed the kids in the car two weekends ago and took them to Des Moines to Joann's, and after some searching, I found fabric and ribbon to make Raven a dress.  I used one of the dresses I know fits her well as the pattern, and went to town.  Part-of-the-way through, I tested it to make sure it would fit her, and I finished it tonight after she went to be.  Voila!  I am VERY happy with the results!  It took everything in me to keep from waking her up just to see if it fit.

 

Looking forward to having Raven's pictures taken in this dress... yay!

 

erin

 

 

My friday shirt...

I totally love the t shirt transfers...  And I have always loved this design from Ravelry, which I have pilfered for my own wearing pleasure.

My updated craft room

Here's how I spent my last weekend....  I've made my own little crafting/sewing sanctuary in our basement spare room.

fabric

What will this turn into...?  Eventually you will know!  (My stack is on the right; my friend Nancy's is on the left.  YAY!)

I Heart Hot Glue

I've told two people today that I was going to name this blog post, "I Heart Hot Glue", so there you go.

A few weeks ago I saw this great blog tutorial for a pettiskirt... it is calling my name it and it is definitely on the "to do" list. But, besides the skirt, I was drawn to the satin flower headband... it looked easy and yet pretty and elegant... and I hoped she would write a tutorial for how she did the headband.

Well she did.

Now... I felt I needed a reason to make these headbands for the girls, and Raven's up-and-coming 1-year pictures were the perfect excuse. I had found similarly cute headbands on http://www.etsy.com/, and while I loved many of them, they were all a.) $12 a piece or more and b.) simple looking enough that I KNEW I could make them.

So, while pondering what to have Raven wear for her pictures this last week, I decided a trip to Joann Fabrics in Des Moines was in order and that I would be making these headbands... and yay, here they are!

And, to be honest... I think the total time I have into both of them is an hour... maybe even less? The cost? WAY cheaper than the $12 + tax per headband... and, there is one left over for mom to wear in HER hair too on a bobby pin. Yay!

Picture descriptions:

Picture #1: My "tools"... satin, scissors, a lighter, and a circle-generating object.

Picture #2: Another asset... and the love of my life today... a HOT GLUE GUN!

Picture #3: The "accessories" to my flowers... pretty buttons and beads.

Picture #4: My flowers, completed!

Picture #5: Attaching the flowers to the headbands (I used stretchy lace.)

Picture #6 & 7: Headband Model... JULIA!

Picture #8: Headband Model... RAVEN!

Picture #9: Julia and Raven together -- Mom, we LOVE our headbands!

Picture #10: Complete!

Almost There

I wanted to post this picture to show how very *close* I am to finish a sweater for Raven... one more inch of ribbing and then all I need to do is stitch up the seams and block it... yay!  I have given myself a deadline of 5 pm tomorrow (to finish the knitting... the rest might take a little longer), so here's hoping I find some time between today and tomorrow to add one more inch and bind off. 

I am making this sweater for her first birthday, mainly for picture reasons, since it will still be a little warm yet to wear a sweater in September, but it should fit her well this winter.  I am excited to post a picture of it when I am done!

erin