Week ends of crafting fury

Last night I sat at my worktable and was bound and determined to finish up some projects in my 'some assembly needed yet' basket. This little nurse mouse and two baby mice got completed and she's pleased as punch with the 'twins'.

Check out the monk mouse, he has prayer beads because he's a non-denominational monk mouse. I had put him together while visiting my daughter but he had no eyes or a tail.

I made his hood so that he could remove it and be a less dressed up monk.

That sock blank is history as I finished the second sock this week. I don't have enough of the blank left to knit another sock, unless it's a baby pair. It's going to the sock bin in the attic for future projects and consideration. Great project that was fun to knit up.

I cast on yesterday and finished out on the patio today another modern dishcloth. I like the color, pomegranate with fedora topper made from Comfy yarn (knitpicks). I'll raid my stash of vintage jumbo buttons to get it to the totally done pile.

Went to Joann's fabrics and got a pillow form for my knitted pillow project. It looks better with the form in but you can see where I lost or gained some stitches on one side so it isn't as even and neat as it should be. It's a pillow that is soft and comfy and will have a head or backside laying on it so... I'm not worried about it. I just say to myself it's a prototype never to be knit again, I'm learning from my mistakes and to enjoy the end product even if flawed.

These are three baby bibs knit for a new little girl joining the library community later this year. They are from the Mason-Dixon book and are fast and fun to knit. Done in Comfy from Knitpicks they are totally machine washable and so soft. They'll scrub a dirty face and absorb the drooly bits nicely. Modern colors will go with lots of outfits.

I joined the yahoo group 'Socks for Soldiers' a while back and just mailed off for my first sock kit. I felt like I can get back into knitting socks now after a few months break from last years marathon of sock knitting. I checked and my kit is on it's way to me. I know I must be thinking about sock knitting because at lunch time on Friday I went to the local yarn store and fondled lots of sock yarn and checked out pattern books. Lot of inspiration later I went home empty handed but happier knowing I had plenty of projects to knit and another package on it's way.

Happy crafting to all.

Crafty weekend

I purchased this baby gator scarf kit from MorehouseFarm last week (on sale) and only had it in the house a day or two before the yarn was wound up and the knitting commenced. It knit up fast and was a fun project. Using just the knit stitch it cleverly makes a face and all the gator bumps. I can imagine some little person wearing it to school.

This is a pillow from Knitpicks using a kit of organic cotton yarn. I liked the pattern but wouldn't knit it again with multiple colors and would be more careful on the increases to allow enough stretch room. It needs a pillow form for it to fully take shape.

I now 'brake for knitting stores' kimono American girl doll sweater. I was coming home from the Wayside Inn in Sudbury Mass and saw 'knit and purl' an unvisited knitting store. I had to stop and inside I found a nice shop with great yarn and ideas. This little sweater knit up so fast using Plymouth's colorspun yarn. It will be a nice addition to any little girls doll wardrobe.

This is my new beading project just started today. That much beading took me about 4 hours. It's all in the plain white setup row on the bottom. Getting that first three rows done with the correct amount of beads and spaced correctly makes the rest of the project go along swimmingly. I have the beads all numbered in my bead box so all I have to do is match color on the chart with beads lined up in the box and peyote stitch away. This will end up being a business card case from someone.

I have some medieval mice body parts in a basket that need finishing and I'm keeping my second scarf/sock at the ready knitting on it in my spare moments. So many projects to keep my hands busy. I'm also looking forward to a box in the mail with more yarn. Yeah!

Princess tin

I took a needlepoint class today and finished the stitching on what will be the top of a tin. The tin is lined, has a magnet inside and includes a scissor w/ tassel & a thread counter. Now it's time to finish the top and mount it on the tin. I don't have a finisher to send this to, I'm it. So on to some assembly required time.

First sock

It doesn't look great but I finished the first sock from my dyed sock blank today. I'm going to soak it to let the yarn relax a bit and then let it dry and see what happens. It fits like a dream and the yarn is so soft.

Sock blank - the heel

It doesn't look like much but I finished knitting 6 inches on the leg of the first sock and am almost finished with the heel flap. Onto the heel and gusset and this will start looking like a sock. I'm liking how the yarn turns from a circle on the blank to spatters of color in the sock. I'm looking forward to every change of color as it unknits itself.

Project updates

I went to visit my mom for mother's day and took this table runner project home with me to work on for her. I took it totally apart and resewed it so all of the squares are now square and it fit's together. It's all pinned and ready for her to do some machine quilting then bind off. A good looking table runner.

This is a market bag made from a 'knitpicks' kit I got just recently. I love the organic yarn in natural shades of marshmallow, malted milk, toffee and ginger. This was a challenging pattern with a woven stitch for the bottom, top edgeing and handles. It makes a firm bottom that will stand up to a lot of use but is soft on the hands. The center, bag portion is in a lace, vine pattern that expands but isn't so holey that items will fall through. All in all it's a bag that looks good and will hopefully stand up for years of shopping enjoyment.

I started a new project today. Yes it's going to be a pair of socks for me. My sister got me a dyed sock blank which you 'unknit' as you knit it into a new item. The yarn stays crimpy as you knit but the instructions say it will soften and uncrimp at the first washing. I'm enjoying seeing the spots on the blank knit into stripes and blotches on the sock cuff. I'm doing this fine yarn on a size 0 needle using a k2p2 ribbing throughout. This will insure a good fit for the finished sock. No fancy patterns as the yarn is dark and I don't want to detract from it.

Sheldon the Amazing Transforming Turtle

It's a long awaited update for all the crafty viewers and here he is Sheldon the Amazing Transforming Turtle. He's not just a turtle though.Because his shell is removable he can transform and wear other outfits.

He can fly and turn into a bat.

He's the hit of the sheep society in his awesome 'trinity stitch' sheep outfit.

He looks smart in his 'pirates of the caribbean' outfit complete with hat and earring. Sheldon originally was on the 'knitty' website but all of his patterns are on the 'knitpicks' site ready for downloading and knitting. I love the smooth yarn and he is very soft and adorable. A great project to get knitting on