Sunday, November 30, 2008

Finally Ready... I Think.

We are having a big stocking at Serenity Tree tomorrow for "Cyber Monday". We will be having random listings all day and are having a bit of a "Treasure Hunt" as well. It should be fun.

Anyway, my husband was working on the addition this weekend and installed a door so he had to move the phone line and we didn't have internet for a few days. It was fine, except for this big stocking tomorrow. So I have spent the last couple hours working, but I think I'm finally ready. I have a bunch of stuff up, and a couple I wish I would've had time to finish. But I figure I can use those for the next stocking in 2 weeks.

Included in my "not quite done" list are my Tweets. I will have to get some pictures uploaded tomorrow. I made a cardinal and it even has the crest on it's head. When I showed my husband he even said it was cute, which is saying a lot since I never get a reaction out of him on the things I make. So I'm pleased. I have to put the beak on the yellow bird as well so they're maybe not ready yet, but I was really hoping to get them listed tomorrow. Ah well.

Oh, but I did get my Midnight Sky Longies finished, they turned out really great, I'm really pleased.

I was also hoping to have a goldfish done, but that isn't going to happen either. I got a good part of the tail done and then decided to rip out and do it a little differently. So hopefully I should have a good start on the next stocking. If only my washcloths were done... :) Just 11 to go, minus any my sister completed for me. I *heart* my sister.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

No Camera with Something to Share

My dear husband took the camera to work with him so I can't give you pictures today. Maybe I'll take some with my cell phone, I'm excited to put up what I made.
It's a birdie! A really quick little pattern I'm writing up and will be calling "Tweets". I am going to make a bluebird, cardinal, and canary. Not "officially" of course, but mostly the same bird in blue, red, and yellow. I am going to try to figure out if I can make the little crest thing the cardinals have. This one, the prototype, is a little big for kiddie fingers I think, but it is complete with belly button! My 3yo insisted I give it a belly button.

It's cuter in person, but there you go. And maybe cuter if I had a decent camera. Yeah, that would help.

I haven't made much progress since the weekend on dishcloths. I think I have 15 to go, which is managable at the 2 per day I had myself at, but I didn't finish any on Monday and only 1 yesterday. Yesterday's is pretty cute, it's based off the 2 row Noro scarf that's out there these days. Brooklyn Tweed first introduced me and the Yarn Harlot has made 3 recently. I knew I didn't have enough yellow to make a whole washcloth so I mixed it with white for a bit of a bumblebee effect. I like it.


I was inspired by Melanie to finally work on the pants I was going to sew for my little guy. I took a picture of them with my camera last night, it's hilarious. They don't fit. Not even close. I bought a McCall's pattern and some Thomas the Tank Engine fabric for him. I traced the XS size (3-4) onto some wax paper and got started. It didn't take too long, and probably could've been done in half the time if the baby had stayed asleep. I finished them up, put them on him... and they're HUGE! I'm talking way way too big. The waist goes almost to his nipples and the bottoms are inches too long. How depressing. And I skipped washcloth knitting time to make them! Ah well, I guess I'll have to get a different pattern for Mr. Skinny. I mean seriously, he's 3. He shouldn't be primarily in 24 mos pants...

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Hats and a Sweater Shaver Workout

I started these hats last weekend and had a heck of a time getting the small one finished. I knit the adult one and my mom said it looked too short so I ripped back the crown and tried again. Then I knit a child sized hat and ran out of yarn. So I ripped out to make an infant hat. I knit that, ran out of yarn, reknit, ran out of yarn, reknit... you get the idea. I must have reknit the top of that infant hat a half dozen times before I got it. But alas, here you are...



They turned out really pretty. Susan from knits 'N bits spun the yarn, it's a superwash Merino wool and is soooooo beautiful. It reminded me of berries. I'd knit and the ball would look like a blueberry field, knit some more and the ball looked like strawberries. I'm just in love with it. They'll be going up for sale in the shop for our Cyber Monday stocking.

My other excitement (besides the growing pile of washcloths) is I shaved dd's pants yesterday. I have an Evercare sweater shaver that my sister bought for me at Target. It's amazing. Anyway, after pulling off the large pills I shaved for probably 20 minutes and had to empty the lint collector 3 times. But they look like a new pair of pants, it's amazing!

It's kind of hard to tell, but I had shaved the back of these but not the front yet. If you look at the part that's folded behind (right under the crotch / gusset) you can see the stitch definition that is clearly not there on the leg next to it. Amazing. I'm so excited about them again! So needless to say she has been wearing them the last couple days... which means I'll have to shave again. Oh well, they do need another dip in the lanolizing bath I do believe. But that means I have to take them off...
Current washcloth count: 15

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Washcloth Count

So I counted last night, I think I'm up to 12 washcloths. That leaves me 26 to go, and then another 6 by the next week. I have to knit an average of 2 per day to be done by 12/1. I also have to order some packaging jars. I'm ordering from The Majestic Mountain Sage, they will have everything I need at reasonable prices. I'm finally going to put my lip balm in tubes! My sister is excited. The drawback is you don't get as much, but I suppose people will sacrifice quantity for convenience. She will anyway.

Anyway, I had better get knitting...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Dishcloth Stress

Okay, so I'm not quite to the point of "stress" yet, but I'm getting worried. I knew this would happen... I'd lose steam. So I picked up a bit yesterday and knit 1/2 a washcloth. I've gotta get cookin! I just have so many things I should be knitting right now. Cabled vest, longies (I'm on the second leg at least... bottom up), glittens, bag, and some Christmas presents yet undecided. Well, being busy is good, right? The difficult part is the weekends are full for a couple weeks so I can't just sit around and let someone else watch my kids while I knit all day on a Saturday. :)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

New Stocking!

So Serenity Tree stocked again today. I was all wigged out because the pants I'm working on aren't done yet. They're gonna be cute - I'll post a picture when I get a good picture of the leg. It's cute. Anyway, our theme was stocking stuffers with Christmas coming up and I had NO idea what to stock. I didn't have time to knit anything... so I decided to sew. And here's what I came up with:




2 Treasure bags and a doll sling. I also have listed a bath bag and semi-custom longies in Peace Fleece "Ancient Fern". I'm super happy with how the "Cowboy" Treasure Satchel came out. I am a little uncertain if the bag should be a little shorter, and initially I thought the handle should've been longer. However, it fits ds perfectly over his head and is the perfect height for him to sling about and get into. It's roomy but not huge, I will say it could lose an inch or two in height, but other than that... perfecto! And my kid wants to keep it, that's a good sign. :) I have it priced at $15 so we'll see if it sells. I have a feeling my kids are going to end up with a bunch of unsold items. I have a feeling that's where the "Denim" longies are going... dd needs some pants in a BIG way! So hop on over to my store and pick up some cute stuff for your kids!