Fishy

Levi asked me a long time ago to make him this fish.  I finally got around to it and then of course Ellie needed one too.

I wasn't overly impressed with the pattern.  They are pretty easy, but the directions were not very clear.  I just winged most of it.  If I did them again I would place the fins differently, but it didn't annoy me enough to warrant redoing it.  The pattern can be found here.

I did them in Caron Simply Soft so they would be washable, a must for toys in my opinion.  They would be so fun to add a little chime to for a baby. 

I love them, especially their giant dorsal fins.  The kids both sleep with them every night. 

Thanks for reading!

Mitts and Mini Mitts

I've wanted a pair of fingerless gloves for a very long time.  I wanted a pair with a thumb, which I was sure was above my skill level so I put them off.  I'm a scardey cat knitter, I admit it.  So much time goes into each project I hate to get half way into it and realize I don't know what I'm doing.  Anyway, I took the leap and made myself these fabulous mitts!! 

The pattern is Cozy Thermal Mitts, the picture is a link to the ravelry page for them.  It is an excellent pattern very well written and easy to follow.  The thumb I was so worried about wasn't hard to make at all.  I made them out of some of my favorite Carron Simply Soft, the Mardi Grey.  I love the subtle color changes and it's washable! 
In the middle of making mine I saw a super cute pair for little girls that "the baby keeper" had made her little girl.  I decided Ellie must have a pair too. 

I got the pattern from "the baby keeper" and sized it down a little for smaller hands.  Her pattern was great, easy to follow and simple to adjust.  I'm not going to lie I had to rip out the thumb on the first one, because I sized it down a little too much and Ellie couldn't get her thumb through the hole, but once I fixed that they are perfect. 

So stinking Cute!!  Ellie loves them, she wore them all last night and put them on first thing this morning. 

The last picture is a link to the original pair I saw of "the baby keeper's".  I love mine, but I'll admit that if I thought I could pull the rainbow ones off I'd make myself a pair.
Now I'm thinking Levi may need a camo pair too.  I'm off to see what yarn I have in my stash that may work for that.  
Thanks for reading. 

Finally Finished: Reversible Cable Keyhole Scarf Edition

I hate how it takes me FOREVER to finish knitting projects these days.  I tell myself when the kids are older things will settle down and I'll have all this free time.  I know it's a lie even as I try and convince myself, but for sanity purposes I'm choosing to believe it.  Anywho, Levi's scarf that I made him a couple of years ago was beginning to look like an ascot so I decided it was time for a new one.  Scarves for my kids is one of my favorite projects. It makes me feel like a super cool mom that my kids have hand knit scarves.  No one else ever really notices, but I feel cool and that's all that really matters right?

I wanted to do a keyhole scarf again, because I've decided they are the only way to go with little kids scarves.  No tying or twisting, just slip it through the hole and it stays in place. 

I used Caron Simply Soft because it is soft and machine washable, which makes my life easier.

You can't see the cable very well in the pictures, but I'm very happy with the results.  It looks good and very boyish.  The last pictures is a link to the pattern if anyone is interested.  I modified it by only casting on 36 stitches and doing a 12 stitch cable repeat.  I also did away with the edge stitches.

Thanks for reading.

Finally Finished: Candle Flame Cowl Edition

I've been working on this cowl for a ridiculously long time. I'm embarrassed to tell you I started in Oct. of 2010. I've worked on it off and on and finally decided to finish it. I'm so glad I did it turned out so pretty. It's made out of Whirlwind Ranch Snugli Llama wool. It is very well named, as this stuff is SO soft and snugli.

I love this pattern. If you look at my Ravelry queue you'll find that I'm a sucker for patterns with the words Candle Flame in the name. It's just gorgeous.  I think it looks more like leaves then candle flames, but I think that's just me projecting my love of fall on it.

The pattern is free from About.com (I find that funny for some reason)and is available here

Now I'm thinking I need a pretty scarf pin to hold it in place.

Thanks for reading.

Aprons

When the kids help me cook, or just pretend to cook they always want to wear my aprons. So, I decided it would be fun to make them some kid size ones. I love sewing projects like this, because since they are just for my family I don't worry so much about mistakes. To my shock they turned out great.

I love them!
They have elastic necks and Velcro waist strap so the kids can get them on all by themselves.

So cute!!
It was so nice to have a project that actually went smoothly from start to finish. That's rare for a sewing project at this point. I used these pattern pieces, but winged the assembly.
Thanks for reading.

Diva!

Ellie's so opinionated about what she wears. It's so funny to me what she thinks she has to have to complete an outfit. Here are a few examples for prosterity.
Backpack, purse, and Rudolph slippers, what every girl needs for a trip to the grocery store.

When Steve dresses her, he usually just lets her pick whatever she wants. Mommy is too OCD for that.
You can't wear you ballerina shirt without your jewlery. What would people say?
Ellie loves fun socks! I've had kind of hard time finding any small enough for her, so we mostly rotate, between a few pairs of these colored ones. She will NOT let me roll them down. Fits are thrown, tears are shed and finally I relent and leave them up, with shorts no less.
She's so fun. I dreaded having a girl for just this reason, but I was wrong, I find it so funny to watch her accessorize and pick clothes. I especially love that she doesn't always want the girly choice. Sure sometimes she insist on ponytails, bows and dresses, but sometimes she throws fits for Elmo swim shoes over dinosaur footie jammies. Who knew having a girl would be so much fun? ..... Oh, everybody else knew that? .....Why didn't you tell me?.....What's that..... you did tell me? I may vaguely remember that, but nightmares of barbies and pink tulle, and large flowers and french braids were skewing my judgement at the time. Please someone remind me of this post when things on the above list come up.
Thanks for reading.

The Amazing Shrinking Purple Pillow

Before Levi was born I started a blanket for him. I was a novice knitter and the blanket went nowhere fast, so after he was a year and a half I decided that I would make it into a pillow for his bed. He still uses it every night, he'll never know how much I love that. A year ago I decided it was only fair if I made a pillow for Eliana too. I wasn't in a big hurry to finish it b/c she was still to young for a pillow, so I just worked on it in between projects. After Christmas I decided to get serious about finishing it, it had been 10 months and I had only knit about 3 inches. Apparently I had forgotten that making one of these is like making 1/2 of a baby blanket.
Finally after a month of focusing on it I felt like I was nearing the end, but every time I would measure I was 2 inches short. So I would knit what I felt like was 2 inches more and measure again and still be 2 inches short. I did this like 4 times. It was driving me crazy.
I finally decided it was close enough and cast off. It fits perfect. Ellie loves it.


You can't see the stitch pattern very well, but I love it. It's this beautiful ridge stitch from the Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. (The ancient book I taught myself to knit from)
I wish the pictures showed of the pattern better, it really is very pretty and girlie.
I'm so happy to have it finished so I can move on to other things.
Thanks for reading.