Navy Blue Beanie

Last Thursday I finished Michelle's blue beanie.  A nice, classic crochet beanie with one row of white along the edge for a little pop.  

It is amazing what one dash of a contrasting color with do!

Even with EJ on the move, I'm still finding little snippets of time to sit down and craft - even if I don't get to blog about it much.  :(  So I've been trying to at least make myself post to Instagram.  Hope to see you there!

Decorating for Christmas

Slowly but surely it is starting to look like Christmas around here!

Hubby hung the Christmas lights on the house last week & I hung up the wreath on our door.

I had hopes to get three stockings knit up by now but it hasn't yet.  Maybe next week?  Last night I got around to making this crochet star garland, though, and that is a decoration crossed off the list!

We're planning to pick out a real Christmas tree this year so EJ has the full holiday experience.  It should be up by this weekend and I'll update with a photo when we do.

What decorations have you put up?

E is for Elephant

Every third Saturday of the month is our monthly Sit n' Stitch at Michael's and my fellow crochet instructor brought an adorable elephant pattern that she has been using and made a copy for me!

Our workspace at the Sit n' Knit.  Can you see our elephant heads?

Elephants have unofficially become the "animal" of the nursery (I think) after the baby shower had so many elephants on the gift bags, cards, and little linens - too cute!  So when I saw she was making a stuffed elephant, I just had to try my hand at one for our nursery.  And to my utmost surprise (because I normally loath crocheting little pieces to be sewn together) it whipped up quickly & sewed up quickly - just 5 or 6 hours!  And as an added bonus I was able to use up hole-y socks to stuff it :)

Didn't he turn out just adorable?? :)

A Few New Changes

A couple weekends ago, my wonderful husband organized 8 of our friends to come over and paint the second bedroom so we can start to convert it into a nursery.

(please excuse the mess; this was only a couple days after painting)

As a bonus (and because we were ready for a change in the living room), they also painted the living room a cheery yellow.  :)  I love how it looks when the sunlight pours in with its bluer light.  The table lamps are a little warmer in color so I've been on the look out for bluer LED bulbs to swap them out.

So far I have a handful of hand-knitted baby items made up (mittens, socks, hats, one blanket and one sweater) but I feel like a slacker that I don't have more sweaters and more longies made up.

A few of the smaller items I have collected for Baby.

These bibs + washcloths are from BeastiesBabies

Lots of knitted socks + mittens

I also keep thinking I need to make a few outfit pieces (sweater dresses/jumpers and sweater vests).

What item(s) would you most recommend I make a priority to knit before baby is here?  Is there something that you are so happy you made and use all the time or highly recommend now that you have a little wisdom under your belt?  Please let me know!  

Groundhog Weekend 2013

Groundhog Day is not usually a holiday I celebrate very much, but last year we had the opportunity to visit Punxsutawney, PA for their big holiday at the beginning of February.   A friend of ours is from Punxsutawney and invited us to join him and his wife for the road trip weekend.  So of course I had to keep busy during the drive...

I brought my remaining stash of thick, wool-ease yarn to see what I could come up with.  I even surprised myself how quickly they whipped up!

Even though I haven't posted many of these hats in the shop, they sell quite well at all the shows I've done.  I even had a custom order for a pure orange one at the 2013 Make It Indie fair.

What do you think of these thick, wooly unique beanies??  Do you love the one-of-a-kind look or do you prefer to design your hat yourself?

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Another Blanket and a Trip to Bristol, RI

I did it!  I finished an adult lap blanket it ONE WEEK!!

Here I had only just started the pattern the Thursday before July 4.  Aren't the colors fun? :)  

I brought this blanket with me on our mini vacation to Bristol, Rhode Island to visit a former roommate and experience the longest celebration of Independence Day.  During the 4 and a half hour long parade I accomplished an entire segment (yellow, green, variegated, pink, and back to yellow)!  Yes, I did get quite a few "compliments" on my "knitting,"  i.e. "Isn't it a bit too hot to be knitting?" one soldier joked.  Why yes sir, it is merely 88* in the sunshine, but that is why I am not keeping it on my lap, but next to me.  :)  

It was a wonderful day of amazing period costumes and many military veterans along with local business owners and organizations' floats.

I can't believe I get to say it is already complete but I do and what makes it even better is I get to display it for the Toledo Art Walk that I am participating in tomorrow!  If you are in the area, I hope you'll stop by and say hello.  :)

I have a few other new goodies that are awaiting their close-up, like a few braceletes and soap savers, and I hope to post about them soon.

Happy Fourth!

Hot Mits

Ever wonder what's insulating your hands from that hot pan coming out of the oven?

I know I always wondered how two knit (or crochted) layers were supposed to be insulated enough (even with all those stitch "holes") to use for hot baking sheets, so I decided to experiment with adding more insulation to my own prototypes. 

For my knit hot mits, I knit two dishcloths, one with the crocheted loop, and then sew in two squares of denim from an old pair of jeans onto the second square.  Then they are sandwiched together and crocheted shut with a crocheted loop to allow them to hang out of the way while also being a pop of color in one's space.

Doesn't that make you feel more confident when you're ready to pull out that hot pan of yummy cookies?  ;)

Flower Weekend at the Market

Being a big fan of Homestead Soaps , I was approached by Lori to make a few soap savers to offer her customers and I jumped at the opportunity.  She has such a wealth of knowledge, I am incredibly honored to get to work with her and hopefully learn a thing or two about selling in person (vs. online).

Fast forward three weeks to Memorial Weekend, it is Flower Weekend at the Downtown Toledo Farmer's Market.  I joined Lori at her table Saturday and sold seven soap savers on the first day!  Sunday, nothing sold (I wonder if it was a completely different clientele?) and Monday three more sold (yay!).

This Thursday she also sells at the Perrysburg Market so we'll see how they do with a different group of people.  Any suggestions?

Next, I need to get a few listed online.  I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend :)

Goals for 2013 - New Items

Continuing my goals for 2013, I have a few new items I'd love to add to the shop:

Longies & short-leg soakers (What do you think about these?  Do you think they would sell well?  Do you know someone looking for these?)

More Baby Blankets/ Lap Blankets.  Maybe even some Chevron that's been taking off on Pinterest and in Etsy shops.

Socks - this would be the first made-to-order item in the shop.  

Baby clothes (booties, hats, sweaters) & toys - these are still on the back burner.

And then there's this crocheted flower bouquet that has me scratching my head...

Is there something else you'd like to see?  Please post it in the comments :)

A Red & Blue Hat

I have to say this is one of those I-had-no-idea-what-I-was-making-but-I-was-inspired moments when it came to this cute little beanie.  And even better?  It was a BOYS' hat!!

What's so great about that?  How many boys' beanies do you stop and "awww" over?  ;)  That's what I thought.

His Spider man shirt & pajamas inspired me to use a familiar color palate (he's two) and after digging through my bag...

...I discovered I had JUST the perfect, *primary* colors.

psst - Have you heard about the show this weekend?

*ps - this is my first time using Instagram to edit ON my phone, phone-captured pictures.  Sorry they aren't the best quality but I will be working on their improvement.  Thanks for your patience :)