Yarn Along, Swaps, and More.

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.

I've been terrible about posting. About, well, everything. B and I came down with some body-ache-flu-thing and we've been cleaning like crazy people for his mother's visit. She's arriving today and I still don't feel that things are up to par.

I didn't get a picture of what I'm reading. I'm actually waffling between books. First I picked up The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. Then I picked up Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - which I've already read. This morning I picked up a book about Bach flower remedies by Stefan Ball.

I just don't know what I'm in the mood to read.

Knitting. I'm still knitting a doll - I didn't take a picture of it though. I'm also knitting fingerless gloves for a swap with a friend. The picture doesn't do the yarn justice. And the cables look funny when not stretched as though being worn.



Here are some things I've made recently.



A leaf washcloth. It doesn't look great, but it feels lovely.



Wee peg gnome hats. These are for a swap hosted by One Hook Wonder.



A rainbow bird. B and the Elf told me that it looked like a Beluga whale or manatee before I added a beak. Hrmph. Boys.





These are flower gnomes and acorn babies (that look more like acorn capped Tibetan monks to me!) for a Yahoo group swap.

And now! The swaps I've received but have been horribly remiss in posting about!

First, the peg doll swap that We Bloom Here hosted.



And the lovely (and well loved already!) doll that Belle + Bee sent for my boys.



He can also be a knight! (The Elf loves this costume - though we've misplaced the belt at the moment)



And a super hero! (The Imp's favorite!)



There. And now I need to get back to prepping the house for company and the Beast's first birthday (can you believe he'll be one this Friday?!).

Complete!

The hair that wouldn't end - it's done! Over! Finally!



She done and listed in my shop.

Now I can finally focus on the copious number of swaps that I signed up for.

Yarn Along - Doll everywhere!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



I couldn't fit all of my knitting into one photograph (though I suppose the doll hair isn't properly *knitting* exactly). Right now I have three sets of needle occupied. Crazy, right? Starting on the top and going clockwise: Doll-in-the-round in Sawya, doll shorts in Blue Sky Alpaca organic cotton, doll-in-the-round in Spud and Chloe's sweater. I'm nearly done reading Twilight's Dawn by Anne Bishop. I still need to write a review of The Circle Cast for LibraryThing, though (and then I'm passing it on to a fellow blogger - if I ever get around to emailing her back *falls over*).



And the doll hair that wouldn't quit. Believe it or not, she has a bald spot and needs more bangs. I had to run to the yarn store yesterday because I ran out of her hair (210 yards and I need more?! There has to be a better way!). Lucky for me they had one hank left of this colorway. With luck I'll get her hair done today or tomorrow, give her a trim, and then focus on her clothes. Whew. And then she'll be off to the shop.

That's a lot of hair.

Every time I work on this (temporarily armless) doll, I hear that line from Tangled: That's *a lot* of hair.



Can you believe that? There's more yarn on her head than in her entire body! In fact, I ran out - 210 yards and I still need more. Bleh. There *has* to be a better way to do this. I've ordered a tutorial for long hair form Adirondack Patterns. I'm hoping the technique is something other than what I'm already doing.

So. This weekend? Yeah. It was all hair all the time. Except for a trip to EarthFare where I indulged in The Best Soda Ever. I don't generally like soda. It's too sweet, too thick, too.. ick. But this. Yummm! Lavender soda! Just sweet enough and ooooooooooh so good.

The Sewing Bee

Go visit The Sewing Bee over at Happiness Comes in little bits... - this is my first time participating!

I was intimidated by this. Sewing, to me, brings thoughts of ironing, pinning patterns, sewing machines. Ugh. I am not a fan of those things - and they aren't terribly crazy about me, either. So there I was, working on some playmats for my Etsy shop when it hit me. I was sewing! Handsewing, but sewing all the same! So I thought I'd jump into the fun.





I had a little Imp helping to test the stability of my tree (with a bee and Howl's Moving Castle figures by Mamaroots). Both mats are done now. And I have to say that I'm quite pleased. It's amazing how addicting it is to sew these things - though that tree did give me some trouble. I even used pins! The dreaded pins! And used my limited quilting knowledge to stabalize the batting inside. Sheesh. Who knew I'd enjoy *this?!*

Yarn Along!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



Knitting another doll. I'm about to cast on the arms. This one will be slightly smaller as I'm using a different weight yarn and smaller needles. The yarn is Sawya - it's a pima cotton/alpaca/silk blend. I think I love it.

I'm still reading The Circle Cast by Alex Epstein. It's still quite enjoyable, though it's meandering a bit right now.

Tomorrow I'm going to participate (for the first time) in the The Sewing Bee. Woohoo!

Sizing.

I'm having a heck of a time finding some sort of standard guide for sizing longies and shorties. My kids are all veritable giants (in height if nothing else), so I know that I can't use their clothes for any range of "normal" (my 11 month old wears 4T shirts, as does my 2.5 year old).

I've googled and found.. either conflicting information or completely useless information. Anyone have some advice?

Based on measurements for diaper covers (mass produced wrap-style) and some "standards" I found for handmade clothing on a forum somewhere, this is what I've come up with:

Newborn: 11 inch waist, 12 inch rise, 6-7 inch crotch-to-ankle
3-9 months: 16 inch waist, 14 inch rise, 8 inch crotch-to-ankle
9-18 months: 19 inch waist, 16 inch rise, 9 inch crotch-to-ankle
18-24 months: 22 inch waist, 18 inch rise, 10 inch crotch-to-ankle

Do those sound right? I always just measure the boys and knit from there.

It's about time!

That's what my husband said when I announced that I'd finally listed something in my (defunct) Etsy shop. I've been talking about listing some longies, some peg gnomes, some knitted dolls. I've had grand plans. Grand plans. What I'm lacking is time. So my sad little Etsy shop (where I previously sold handmade blank books) now has one whole listing! Woo! In all honesty, I probably spent longer on the banner, policies, etc than I did on writing up the listing. Gah.

Anyway. This is the shop. Whee!

Yarn Along - Ninja!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



Okay. Yes. It looks bad (physically *on* my needles are the arms). I should have put the "face" on the back of the head to avoid the split rows. The "face" should also be larger - and not stark white. Aaaand, while I like the way it looks, I shouldn't have tried to "improve" upon a pattern that worked just fine the way it was written. My idea was to form the head as a ball rather than gather the top edge at the end. Well, I think the head is proportionally smaller than it ought to be. I also shaped the legs instead of gathering. The whole thing had to be slightly smaller so that I'd have even numbers that worked with my math. All in all, my "improvements" probably were not worth the trouble. The next doll I make, I'll shape the legs and arms again, but leave the head according to the pattern - maybe there's a compromise to be had. The original pattern is by the amazing folks at Wee Folk Art.

I'm reading a book I got through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. It's called The Circle Cast: The Lost Years of Morgan Le Fay and it's by Alex Epstein. I'm not ver far into it, but it's really interesting so far. It helps that I have a soft spot for Arthurian fiction.

She's done!

She's all done and ready for her new home! Yippie! The Imp has decided that he loves this doll - checked her "diaper" and everything. So now I'm off to make clothes for his doll (and yes, I still owe the Elf a ninja doll).

I'm, personally, rather happy with how this turned out.

Here are the Ravelry details for all the pieces:
The doll (using this pattern)
The knickers
The dress (using this pattern)

Knickers!

Ha! I'm going to say that as often as I can get away with - I'm driving my boys nuts.


(Ravelry notes here.)

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I put elastic in the waist instead of a drawstring so that little hands could handle dressing the doll.




Now she just needs a full head of hair. And maybe a bracelet?

Yarn Along - knickers!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



Knickers! I love that I get to post about knickers! Today I'm working on a pair of ruffled shorties for the doll I was working on last week. I'm also adding hand dyed wool yarn for her hair. Over the weekend I finished her dress (you can see it here). Soon she'll be ready for her new home - yay!

I'm finishing up Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop. Next I'll start Little Fur by Isobelle Carmody (suggested to me by the lovely We Bloom Here).

Marie was kind enough to swap with me again. Her work is so amazing, if you've never see it - you should check out her Etsy shop.

Early last week, this is where I was:



Three peg dolls with burned details and watercolors, capes and hats cut out, caves felted and cut, the ground freshly knitted (while waiting with the Elf at the doctor's office).

Here's detail of the doll bodies:



This past weekend, I finished them up. Now they look like this:





I also finished this doll dress as part of a swap I'm doing with Belle + Bee.


(Ravelry notes here)

I'm pretty happy with it. It was my first time knitting a top/dress of any kind. It was also my first time using such thin yarn.



I'm now knitting shorties for the doll. Switching to worsted cotton felt so clumsy after such a delicate yarn. I'm used to it now, though.

Peg dolls by the Elf.

I finally got the pictures off my camera. I don't know if it's the batteries (they're rechargeable), the camera, or the two year old who constantly plays with it.. but I've charged the batteries in my camera three times already this week. ugh.

Here are the peg dolls the Elf made for the wee folk swap hosted by We Bloom Here.



He wrote a little "flower fairy" blurb for the fairies and based his robot on Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series.

Yarn Along - Doll.

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



I took this picture this morning. On the needles was the second arm for a doll (pattern link here) I'm knitting for Belle + Bee. It's night now, and the doll is knitted, stuffed, and sewn together. It still needs hair and clothes, though. My next knitting projects are ground for some gnome caves and a dress (pattern link here) for said naked, hairless doll.

I'm reading The Lady of Shalador by Anne Bishop. It's book.. er.. six? in the Black Jewels trilogy. I found out that I'm two books behind now. I swear, I used to keep really good track of these things.




Here's the doll pre stuffing/sewing.



And here's a truly terrible picture post-stuffing.

Waffles and peg people.

Last weekend we bought a waffle maker. I'm a waffle addict. This way, at least, I can control what goes into the waffles. That must count for something, right?



That one is the Elf's. He, of course, loves syrup. I prefer mine with just butter.

I joined a peg doll swap hosted by the lovely We Bloom Here. Well, it's taken me the full time alloted, but I'm done!.



This is why I've not been posting. Or answering emails promptly.

I decided that my peg folk needed caves. See, I wrote this little "story" for them. And they *had* to have caves. I tried wet felting some. That failed miserably. I tried a variety of ways to knit them. Finally I settled on this:



Which turned into this:



And needed the addition of this (which I didn't remember to photograph until after I'd already thrown it in the washer):



Combined together, I ended up with this:



So. The people are composed of watercolor paint, tea-dyed wool felt, finger knitted (crocheted?) wool trim, curly roving for hair, and some wood burning detail. The caves (which didn't turn out how I'd planned - but what ever does?) are knitted and then felted (fulled?) wool that have been cut and sewn. Whee!



I hope their new families enjoy them. They'll be off to the post office tomorrow.

The Elf also joined the swap. His are still awaiting some Mama-assisted glueing, so the pictures will have to wait.

Swap request.

I'm still working my way towards a post with some form of substance. Really. I promise.

In the meantime.. would any one out there care for a swap? I'm just finishing up a peg doll swap (yes, I am pushing the deadline to the very last minute) and that leaves me with just one more swap - a knitted doll for a sweet baby loving little girl.

Here's the thing. My youngest, the Beast, will be celebrating his first birthday at the end of April. I have no gifts for him. None. Gah. I know that a one year old doesn't really need gifts. But... I don't know.

I also need to start "stockpiling" for Summer Solstice and a ninth birthday in August as well as a third birthday in September. And and and. Yeah.

Any one want to swap with me? I can knit. I can dye yarn. I can make peg dolls, salves, and balms. Mostly, I knit these days, though. Longies, shorties, dolls, Angry Birds, balls, soap bags, washcloths. And I'm always up for a challenge.

Yarn Along!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



Okay. I'm knitting a large grey ball that I intend to stuff with plastic grocery bags (that have been waiting to be recycled for a long while now). Don't ask, I'll explain later... if it works. Once this killer headache subsides, I'll be starting on an in-the-round doll (pattern here) using a lovely organic cotton by Blue Sky Alpaca.

I'm reading Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison and loving it, of course. I think I may need to go back and reread the series again sometime soon, though. There are details that aren't clear any more.



The rainbow shorties are done. They seem bigger than I expected. But that could be because I've been washing the smaller longies lately. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll keep them for the Imp or list them on Etsy. They're a bit.. er.. bright.

Later, if my head and children cooperate, I may even post something that isn't a weekly thing. Whee!

{this moment} - brothers

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.



(Ignore the hamper of dirty laundry and focus on the cute boys facing off.)

Yarn Along!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



Longies! Or more likely, shorties! It's getting much too warm here in Florida already. Longies are on the way out. I'm not sure about this pair, though. They may end up being too bright/pastel/pink for my little Imp. We'll see. Worst comes to worst, I'll list them in my old Etsy shop and see what happens.

Reading: The Vampire Diaries (though I grabbed the wrong book for this photo - I'm on book four, not three). Next I'll be reading the "new" (to me) Kim Harrison book (how did I get so far behind on all my series?). I've also been browsing Vampire Knits (do you see a theme?). It's amusing, but there isn't much that I'd bother to try.


(Ravelry details)

I finished the shorties using my new Noro yarn. I have to say, I love this yarn. It's so very, very fun to work with. I'm not sure how well it will hold up against my kids, though.



They're kind of big and I suspect I could fit them on the Imp fairly easily. In fact, I intend to try that out tomorrow!

Saturday night scare.

Last night. Oh my. There was someone shooting a gun at a car (with people inside) in the street. It was in front of the house next to ours (which is empty). I'm still not really sure what happened. All I know is that I was truly terrified. The police didn't leave our street until after 11:30pm.

I don't know if they caught any one. I don't know anything. Except that things like this shouldn't happen. I wouldn't be so scared if it were just me here. But I have babies. I have babies and a husband and I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them.

My head knows that my husband is right - we're unlikely to be hurt in our house. That it's more likely we'll get hurt in a car accident. I know that. But my heart, my nerves - they don't agree. I understand now what true panic attacks are. I had to fight down rising, debilitating panic many times over the course of the night.

I know this fear, this terror, will pass. Some day I will feel safe again. I hope. But at the moment, I'm afraid to leave my house. But.. I'm also afraid to be in my house. Much of this is my penchant for worry and my extremely overactive imagination. But for now, I will be more aware. And I will hold my children tightly as frequently as they let me.

Yarn Along!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



On the needles: two pairs of longies. Rainbow longies for the Imp and Noro longies for the Beast. Soon I'm going to have to switch to shorties. Also, I've been thinking about listing longies (in the future) on Etsy. I'm not in it to make money. I figure that eventually the boys will have enough longies, but I'm unlikely to stop knitting them. So they have to go somewhere, right? And selling them would at least keep me in yarn.. Anyway, it's a thought.

Reading: still reading The Vampire Diaries series. The television show is much better - but then, it isn't aimed at highschoolers.
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I seem to be turning into one of those bloggers that only posts for weekly "challenges" and the like. I don't want to be that person (there's nothing wrong with those people, don't get me wrong). It's just been rough finding the motivation to slough through all my photographs. I haven't even been keeping up with the Year of Good Things photos. I have been ending each day by mentally listing the good things, though. This has done wonders for my general attitude about life.

Right. On to completed projects!




"Creeper" longies! Boring, yes. But weirdly satisfying to knit. And they fit the Beast so well. I love that I've finally gotten the "pattern" down.





The Imp's doll finally has a full head of hair! My goodness this took forever (and the better part of a ball of dishcloth yarn). But I'm happy with the result - I hope he is, too.
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I bought some yarn today. Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton. It's super soft and I can't wait to use it. I also was thrilled to find some 100% wool felt at our local Big Box Store (read: Joann's). It's a light color so I have plans to dye it. This weekend I'll be using it to make some wee peg-folk for a swap. Perhaps I'll buy some more bases and make some wee peg-folk for the boys, as well. I've been meaning to for so long. As it is, the Imp calls the doll bases "naked gnomes."

Yarn Along!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



I'm working on adding hair to a doll I made for the Imp last year. It's a very slow process. He asked and I comply. I took him into the bedroom and let him pick any yarn he wanted from my stash for the hair. He made his choice without any hesitation. This kid always knows exactly what he wants.

I'm also still working on longies for the Beast. We're calling the yarn "Creeper" because it reminds B and the Elf of a monster in MindCraft (a computer game they play). I'm not getting very far very fast because I've been bitten by the Spring Bug. The windows are open, the sun is shining. I want to garden and clean. Of course, I'm not getting a great deal of anything done. My mantra right now is: baby steps!

As for reading, I gave up on the last parenting book I'd gotten from the library. So I'm indulging in a young adult book. Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith. We're one episode away from being caught up with the television show (yes, guilty indulgence for after the kids go to bed at night). So far, I'm feeling old. Young adult books just seem so.. basic.. to me. Oh well.

Life, the Universe..

I find myself thinking "Hey, I should post about that!" frequently these days. And then life swoops along and I don't get around to it. I manage to find the time to read so many blogs - read and enjoy them. But I can't seem to set aside time to focus on my own. Blah.

As mentioned before (at least, I think I've mentioned it), I've joined Gypsy Forest in a year of good things. Not all of my good things can be or have been documented with photographs. So I thought I'd list a few of them here:
11/365: We got our tax return. Woo? This allowed us to pay off the last of our credit card debt. Woo!
12/365: My boys took me out for breakfast. Spinach and artichoke egg souffle. Yum!
13/365: We all went out for dinner (which cannot become a habit as we're already over budget for the week). Everyone ate. Everyone. The picky two year old that thinks breastmilk is all he'll ever need. The infant. The eight year old. Everyone. And there was no screaming. No crying. It. Was. Awesome.
14/365: The Beast ate part of a banana. It was the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. I took some pictures, but I'm not sure if any are non-blurry. He sat on the bed inspecting it, tentatively cramming it into his mouth, making adorable faces.

On the knitting front, I've broken my one-project-at-a-time rule. I have a "secret" project that just isn't working out, a pair of longies that reminds me of a computer game the boys play, and hair for the Imp's knitted doll. I'll have pictures tomorrow for the Yarn Along.

Life keeps moving. Let's hope I can keep up!

Yarn Along - More Angry Birds!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.




I'm working on another Angry Bird. I've frogged the beak four or five times in the last twenty four hours. Sheesh. It's still not great, but I'm ready to move on (and the tail is perhaps a bit too low). I think I've finished the knitting aspects of it - just sewing and needle felting left. Next I'll be casting on the green dyed yarn for another pair of longies.

I just finished The Kensei (not impressed), picked up I'm Outnumbered (just to find it's more god-centric than I'm comfortable with), and received Altar of Bones in the mail. I'll try I'm Outnumbered for another day or two, but may have to give up on it.

Oink?

Two posts in one day?! Oh no!

The pig is finished! Also, I felted the first angry bird. Which was a mistake. It fuzzed big time. And most of the belly came off. But, I gave it a good shave and broke three needles needle felted some more wool on. Now it's just.. very dense. Ah well. Live, learn, repeat as necessary.






(Ravelry details)

B has requested a blue bird. The Elf wants me to try a yellow one. He also wants more pigs - soldiers, kings, sleepy ones. Oy. Will I ever be free of the Angry Birds?