Marky (Take Two)

I made another version of the Marky the Monkey, this time for a girl. While I love the way this pattern looks in the end, I find the face rather fiddly to get right. I am very particular about things being symmetrical, and if I follow the pattern the way it is written then the pattern is not symmetrical. Oh well, I got it done and I love it in the end :)


I did the eyes in felt to make it extra baby safe and added some eyelashes a cute little flower to accent the girlie-ness!

Busy Bee

Wow, it has been a long time since I've blogged here! I guess it is a testament to how busy my life has been lately. Most of my time in the past few weeks has been taken up with the adoption process. The rest of my so-called free time has been filled with random projects; including sewing, crocheting, and gardening!

I am making another Marky the Monkey, this time for a friend's soon to be born baby girl. I'm currently in the process of making felt eyes for the little rose and cream monkey so the whole thing will be very baby friendly. I hope to complete it this weekend and will post photos when I do.

This year was the year I finally decided on taking the plunge and doing the work to put a vegetable garden in my back yard. This consisted of killing off and pulling up grass, installing framework and a fence and fertilizing and tilling the soil, plus indoor planting (I'm starting it all from seed!). It has taken me weeks to do it all since I'm only using hand tools (for both the money-saving aspect and the extra exercise it provides me!). I am almost finished and should be able to plant the plants in the ground in the next few weeks when the danger of frost is finally past. I can not wait to eat produce that I grew myself! I've wanted to do this for years and figured I better do all the hard work now so that I can enjoy the garden with less work after the adoption is finalized and I have a new baby to care for :)




Lastly, my mom commissioned me to make my own daughter's birthday present from her this year. She found an old doll that was mine as a girl and asked me to replace the clothing. She also asked me to make a dress in matching fabric that Anna could wear. I found this challenge quite intriguing as I wouldn't have a specific pattern to work from other than deconstructing the old clothes and working from there. My mom chose a cute lilly pond fabric from our local craft store and I got to work. The doll is a reversible doll of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. One way it looks like Goldilocks, but if you turn the doll upside down and lift her skirt up over her head then it looks like the three bears. Here are some before and after shots, sorry about the poor lighting in the after shots. I'm not totally done as the doll itself needs a good thorough cleaning and I'm going to replace the hair as well. I have a good start on the dress for Anna - I am making a pillowcase-type dress and it is looking very cute so far! I still have some embellishments to do and then it will be done. The thing I love about this style of dress is that it can easily become a trendy little shirt when she's older and it doesn't fit as a dress any longer!

Baby Wrap

To cure my latest itch to make a baby sweater I started stalking patterns on Ravelry. Once I came across the Offset Wraplan I had to make one. Not only is the pattern free, but its SUPER cute and can be customized in so many fun different ways. I decided to make one for a friend who is due with her first child, a boy, in about 3 weeks.


I thought the sweater looked cutest when it was striped, so I picked out some super soft wool/acrylic blend yarn (Caron Country) in a light green and cream. I had seen several examples where people had put a cute little felt embellishment on the lower left side of the sweater. Since I already had made a baby owl rattle and matching burp cloths, I decided putting a little brown owl on the sweater would make the whole thing match and I would have a whole baby set! I contacted my friend Stephanie on from Two Kazoos who makes the cutest felt items and commissioned her to make me an embellishment. I sent her a photo of my rattle, and a close-up of the burp cloth material, told her the size I wanted and she made an almost exact match for me!


I have to say, I am more proud of this baby set than I am of probably anything I've made before. I made every single bit of each item (besides the little felt owl and the buttons, of course!) and each stitch was done with love. It feels really good to give something that was so much a part of myself. It takes more sacrifice for me to spend my time making something for someone than to spend my money purchasing something. While you'll still find me shopping for many occasions, I am definitely making it my goal to give more of myself and less of my money over the next few years.

Winner!

Thanks for the sweet comments :) I am happy to announce the winner is.....
comment number 2.... Carter!

Thanks for playing everyone! Carter, you can expect a little surprise the next time I see you. I already know what it will be, but I'm not telling :)

Wishing you all a very wonderful Sunday!

Knits and Knots Anniversary

Well, I missed it by almost 3 months! Knits and Knots was one year old on Dec 1st. I can hardly believe that I've been blogging that long, or that there are actually people stopping by regularly to read what I have to say about the fibery world :) I have had a ton of fun with this blog and mostly have all of you to thank for it! Without your kind words, encouragement and visits, I probably would have given this up quite a while ago. So, as a fun way to say thanks, I am going to hold a little anniversary contest. I haven't quite decided what the prize will be, but if you leave me a comment on this post before the end of the day tomorrow (12 am EST on Feb 21), your name will be entered into a drawing for the unnamed prize - I promise it will be good. In your comment, tell me your favorite accomplishment from the past year. Good luck!

Law Relief

It seems as though our voices were heard! The government put a one year stay on the CPSIA law that was going to have such a devastating impact on small businesses making children's items. This does not mean that we're in the clear, but it gives us more time to make an impact for the long-term. The Buy Handmade Blog has some great info on what the law is allowing for now, and how to continue to work towards a law that will be the best fit both for small business, and the saftey of our children!

Monster Cup

Ok, I've been dreading this post because I will finally have to admit how geeky I am. I have had a fear all my life of being "the geek". Here are some examples of what I'm fighting against: I was never good at sports and mostly liked to sit around reading fangasy novels (geeky). I wear glasses (geeky). I push them up with my index finger when they slip down my nose (geeky). My undergrad is in chemistry (geeky). I asked for a palm pilot for my one year dating anniversary (geeky). I married a computer programmer (geeky). I spend most of my free time playing with yarn, the sewing machine, or other various crafts (geeky). If I'm not crafting I'm playing board games. Well, that's not so geeky, or at least it wasn't...

My husband recently introduced me to a new game, Arkham Horror. I initially refused to play it because it is a role playing game (or RPG for you gamers out there), and I just plain refused to add the final straw to the camel's back and forever plunge myself into geekdom. However, one night, to humor my husband, I played a round with him. It was fun. I didn't admit it. But the next time he suggested the game, I didn't say no. Then it was fun and I admitted it. The next time, I suggested playing the game. Finally this weekend we played with a friend. The next night we played again, and my husband pointed out "we're officially geeks". Say it aint so! I say all this tongue in cheek, as I still don't consider myself a geek. What qualifies as geeky behavior changes as you age. I consider myself trendy and in touch with my artsy side ;)

Now, to relate this all back to fiber arts: I made this bag to hold some pieces of the game (monsters). Aparently people use a cup to draw the pieces from in a typical game so its called a "monster cup". Mine's just a drawstring bag.







I used a silk/wool blend (Tahki Yarns Chelsea Silk, shade 180) that was given to me by another blogger friend. I did a sc spiral for the bottom and knit in the round for the body. The top has a k1, p1 rib to bring the bag in and a few holes worked in to accomodate a crochet chain drawstring. I was really satisfied with the way it turned out. It works great and was a fun little project to use up some yarn I just didn't know what to do with, but just had to use! The yarn is really beautiful and I would most defnitely consider using it again in the future for a larger project, but it apparently is no longer made. Bummer!