Advent Swap 2011

Yep, that's right, I'm joining in another swap.  Some might think that's crazy after just having a baby, but I couldn't resist.  (And can you believe that Lovebug is now 1 month old?!  I am having a hard time coming to terms with that!!)

So the point of this swap was so send a package to your partner to arrive at the beginning of December.  Packages are to be numbered and one package opened at a time, one for each day leading up to Christmas Day, with one big package for Christmas Day.  So I figure I'll combine posts and I will share what I sent my swap partner and what my partner sent me. (No, it's not the same person.)

The package I put together went to Nina (Maegwin on Ravelry).  For Day 1, I sent her a handmade Advent Calendar.  I'm pretty proud of this one.  I put a lot of time into replicating the Advent Calendar that my grandmother made for our family.  I chose to put a different backing on it and to do the pockets differently, but I think it turned out beautifully! :)

The tree & ornaments are felt pieces.  The ornaments are put on the tree one day at a time (24 ornaments) leading up to Christmas.  The pieces are held on by velcro.  Grandma's version had sew-on snaps but I knew sewing on 24 pairs of snaps would drive me crazy.

Most of the details on the ornaments are made with fabric paint - wonderful stuff!!

With a holiday fabric creating the back of the calendar and the pockets to hold the ornaments, I can't wait to finish my own. :)

And what did I receive on Day 1?  Well, my package came all the way from Australia.  Mandie (MisMoo on Ravelry) has done a spectacular job identifying things we'd all love.

Here are all the goodies wrapped and waiting to be opened.

And the card that accompanied it all.  (The pooches are knit - which is awesome!)

So Day 1...the Christmas Mouse!  I loved knitting mine (knitting this mouse was one of the requirements) and knew Squishy would hate parting with it.

So it was no surprise when he snatched up this one and claimed it as his.  As much as I'd love to set him on the shelf with my other knit friends, watching Squishy enjoy him and play with the mouse is just a great!

Come back soon for Day 2!

E is for Elephant

The Itty Bitty Knitters have been working their way through the alphabet for swaps.  (The Christmas swap is a deviation from the alphabet and after this the letters won’t be in order any more.)  I chose to sit out the last swap (D = Dolly) because the knitting requirements were bigger and I didn’t think I’d have the time or energy.  It was a good call on my part.

This swap was pretty easy-going.  Requirements included one of three elephant patterns.  I chose Elefante.  Plus any other goodies we might want to include – theme related or otherwise.  I had my Elefante started pretty early – but as I mentioned previously on the blog, I wasn’t observant enough and had to start over.

I had plenty of time to get everything around but with the mix-up on yarn for Elefante, I got behind.  I did catch up and mailed out just a tiny bit late.  (Which I still feel bad about sending late, but that’s how it works sometimes.)

So what did I include?  Let me tell you.  First, meet Lollipop.  He’s a cheery, somewhat cheeky fellow.  Knit from my own hand-dyed superwash merino wool, I loved how he turned out.  I striped two yarns, the semi-solid blue is Snowcone and the orange and green and blue yarn is Lollipop Guild, hence the name.  The variegated yarn on it’s own reminds me of the Lollipop Guild boys from Wizard of Oz, with their giant lollipops and bright colors.  I think this little guy personifies exactly that.  When striping, the blues from Snowcone actually blended really well with Lollipop Guild, and so it almost looks like it’s just one yarn. 

My favorite part about Lollipop are his feet.  They look simple and sweet enough, but turn him on his side and there’s a surprise!  He also got a little ribbon around his neck to finish him off. 

Squishy really enjoyed “testing him out” so to speak.  Let me tell you – those ears and tail aren’t going anywhere anytime soon!  It was good that Baby Elephant was soon to follow as I’m afraid he would have been very sad to see Lollipop go. (Funny – this swap we’ve seen and heard that a lot of the kids have gotten very attached to the elephants their mommies are knitting.  That’s one of the things that’s so great, though…you get a package in return and along with that – an elephant of their very own!)

Usually I split FOs into separate posts so they aren’t 100 pages long.  Sometimes I do that with swap parcels if there is a lot of handmade stuff included.  I should, but I’m not going to do that this time.  PLEASE forgive me and thank you if you make it to the end!!!

Earlier this fall I picked up the magazine, Interweave Knits Holiday Issue 2011.  The cover knits caught my eye.  A beautiful slouchy hat and what I thought were drool-worthy fingerless mitts.  They looked so crisp and clean and wintery.  I had to knit them.  I still haven’t gotten to the hat, but I DID finish the Ashbury Mitts.  Knit from Mirasol Yarn Nuna in Warm Grey, I used just over 1 skein to complete the pair.  After the fact I found my gauge was off, but with a heavy blocking, the mitts fit much better.  I had a really hard time deciding whether to include these in the swap or to keep them for myself.

The yarn is a bamboo/silk/wool blend that is so incredibly soft you just want to squish it all day long.  The yarn in the sample looks a bit sturdier than the yarn I used, but I’m very happy with the end result.  More details on this project can be found on my project page! 

Because this was an elephant swap I needed more elephants to include.  I knit my first dishcloth, the Peanut Cloth pattern.  I only had white cotton on hand.  It makes the design a bit hard to see unless you’re looking at just the right angle.  I felt as though the cloth knit up loosely – I think that’s the fault of the cotton.  Since I’ve not knit any cloths before, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Going down a needle size next time might be necessary.  I also goofed and knit reverse stockinette on the top and bottom instead of garter stitch.  When I reread the pattern I saw my mistake, although I still feel as though the pattern wasn’t written as clearly as it could have been.

My swap partner, Katherine (kmacmillan2003), is a reader.  I thought it appropriate to include a knitted bookmark.  This is the Leaf Bookmark pattern by Susan Anderson from Spud Says.  Using a lighter weight yarn, I got the bookmark size, but the great thing about this pattern is you could use a bulky yarn and bigger needles and get a scarf from the exact same pattern!

I like to include knitting notions in every swap if I can.  This swap contained Puppy Snips, Chibi needles and a tape measure.  But not just any tape measure, a covered, initialed tape measure!  I used the Apples & Oranges pattern and knit a basic blue cover with a white pull tab.  I then embroidered a K (for Katherine) on the top using Susan Anderson’s Wrap Stitch tutorial.  (You chain stitch a design on, and then wrap these chained stitches – genius!)  I really like how this turned out.

And then we have the fabric elephant.  I had this elephant fabric on hand and thought it would make for a fun sewn something.  This pattern jumped out at me from one of my pattern books and away I went.  It did become obvious to me, though.  I am a toy knitter, not a toy sewer.  While this little lady is cute, I feel as though I could have done better.  Want to know my favorite part about her?  Her ears and her eyes. 

The handmade doesn’t stop there.  I didn’t have a lot of extra to spend on this swap, so I had to be creative.  Something really simple and fun to make is a row counter for your knitting.  I found the cutest little pink elephant charm and voila! And there’s nothing better to decorate your knitting than pretty stitch markers…these elephants came marching in on parade!  Hopefully these are lightweight and useful for Katherine.

That about covers all the things made by me.  The rest I picked up here and there while out and about.  A recently coveted knitting related object is the new KnitSimple Holiday 2011 issue.  Inside you will find the MOST adorable pattern for fairies by Susan B. Anderson.  These little fairies steal your heart.  You want to knit a whole village.  And they come with the cutest little tulip pouches/homes to carry them in.  Susan is one creative lady!  I had serious doubts as to whether I could part with this magazine – but I decided that I could always go buy another. 

As I mentioned before, my swap partner is a reader.  She’s obviously a knitter.  But she also mentioned she likes to cook.  When I found this book, it was perfect.  The Knitter’s Home Companion is full of fun short stories from a knitter, who shares not only little anecdotes about her knitting life, but also shares patterns and recipes with the reader.  I read about half the book before wrapping it up to ship to Canada.  I wasn’t sure it was swap-worthy reading.  But it is and so off it went.  (The best part about the book?  The author is from Iowa!)

A few other goodies included the sock blocker keychain kit, elephant buttons, and an I Heart Iowa keychain.

Because she likes chocolate and peanut butter it was necessary to send Reese Peanut Butter Cups and Dove Peanut Butter Chocolate pieces.  Yum!  There was also a paisley coffee/tea mug and some Earl Grey tea (I hope she likes Earl Grey – I don’t know anything about tea so that was a huge guess on my part!).

No swap is complete without some yarny goodness.  Malabrigo Worsted in Verde Esperanza was a lovely teal that will be great to knit with. 

And to top It all off, a couple elephant statutes, both large and small, that jumped off the shelves and into my arms.

So…now that you’ve made it to the end, are you tired of reading yet?  That’s all I’ve got for you. This was a terrific swap to participate in and I learned a lot about elephants, which was neat.  And I got to see lots of pictures of real elephants, which is always fun.  I hope Katherine enjoys it all and I can’t wait to get my package in the mail! J

WIP Wednesday 5/11: Bye Bye Bye

(grr....blogger erased all my pictures from my post on Wednesday.  How frustrating!  Maybe I'll fix it later - otherwise check out pics on the side of my blog for corresponding WIPs.)

Wow, does that take you back or what? Maybe not for some of you but the title seemed appropriate. :)
I had my blog posts all written out for the beginning of the week…and then never had a chance to post them. So I’m going to mash two posts together – what was meant to be yesterday’s post, and WIP Wednesday.

So getting down to business, aside from an incident with Squishy yesterday morning, my morning sickness seems to have gone to the wayside completely. I’ve discovered that my gag reflex is still super duper sensitive compared to usual, but none of the crummy nausea at night that had me glued to the couch doing nothing. I still get really tired, but I don’t feel quite as useless anymore, which is a terrific feeling!

This weekend I finished up the last of the knits for the cupcake swap. All I had left was the cherry on the pincushion. Silly, really, that it took me so long to finish. This may be my last swap for awhile. I have a lot of things I want to get done and with not feeling well this last round, taking on a swap may have been stretching myself a bit far. I know I can’t keep my fingers out of them forever, but taking a break right now might be the best timing while I work to feel more like myself.

I cast on a new project this weekend. It’s the Ruffled Cloche from 60 Quick Baby Knits. I got this book as a gift from a friend and I love it. There are so many cute projects, cover-to-cover. Everything from baby booties to hats and blankets and sweaters and even a sheep pillow. I would say this book holds something for everyone. It’s time’s like these I think a video podcast is necessary because I can’t show you all the photos without a lot of effort. So that’s my two cents about the book! :)

The cloche is for a friend, well, for her baby. There’s just a tiny bit left to complete, and when I originally wrote yesterday’s post, I wasn’t sure it would still be a WIP today. I just need to finish up the bow, attach it to the hat and block. Squishy took it for a test-drive last night. It fits his head, but it had to stretch. I hope it’s not insanely huge! (My gauge was good, for once I checked!) He seems to think all hats knit are his. I had to make a trade to get it back. He got a snack, I got a hat. J So that should finish up very soon. The hat is made from Cascade 220 Superwash in Winter White, Berroco Vintage in Dark Denim and Knit Picks Andean Silk in Sangria. I’m waffling on how I feel about the colors. I like the blue and purple/fuschia together, but it seems a bit stark against the white. But I find it impossible to knit pastely baby knits. I think babies need some oomph in their wardrobe so this is it. Knit in size 6-12 months. Because that’s the only size given in the pattern. :(

I’ve mentioned that I’m knitting some things for my sister’s friend. I actually cast-on for the frog paci clip last week…and finished…the head and a couple limbs. Yep, that’s all. Did you know that even small parts can take forever to knit?! I know, I’m making excuses, but really…those little arms and legs and hands and feet take me forever and when I only knit for 15 minutes at a time….you get the idea…

My other WIP is a dpn case for a Ravelry friend of mine. I’ve been meaning to finish this design for a long time and her order has finally kicked me into gear. If all goes according to plan, this case should work for both dpns and crochet hooks. Hooray!

Okay, the post is getting long. Sorry about that. That’s what happens when I mash things together. Just a couple more things and I’m done.

The other book I really want to knit from is Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. So many beautiful projects that are right up my alley. There’s a capelet at the end of the book that melts my heart. I may not wear them, but a little girl certainly would look sweet in it. J

In other news, Mr. Man called some bug people yesterday to see about spraying our house. The woman said it sounds like we have carpenter ants…YUCK! So in some way or another, we’ll be getting the house sprayed. I really don’t like bugs, especially when they’re in my house!

So, what’s on YOUR plate this week?

Sewing Swap

With all the swap posts I've had lately, I thought I'd space them out a little bit and wait awhile before I posted the final swap package I have to share with you.

Like the last swap post, this is a package I put together for my partner.  My partner was Becky (gathersnomoss).  I've been the recipient of Becky's generosity, so I wanted to make sure she loved her package just as much.

First of all, I had a really hard time deciding what kind of fabric to send Becky.  She had given me a list of her favorite Moda designers, but I was having trouble finding fabric I liked, and that I thought she would like.  I finally ended up finding some Moda charm packs.  I first found the fabrics on fatquarters.com and another fabric store online, but they were either backordered, or out of stock of the prints that I was really drawn to.  Etsy to the rescue!! I found someone who was selling the charm packs and had one of each of the packs I was wanting to purchase.  What a lucky find!

Becky had said she like American Jane, Sandy Gervais, Me & My Sister and Fig Tree.  I found Giddy by Sandy Gervais, Punctuation by American Jane, and threw in Origins by basicgrey (I really love the basicgrey fabrics).  I think she enjoyed these! :)

The fabric was actually the last part of the package I purchased.  In the meantime, I collected other goodies and sewed a couple items.

The first sewn item was for Becky herself.  The pattern is called Sew Convenient from Pretty Little Presents and is a needle/pin/thread holder for the on-the-go sewer.  The holder folds up sort of like the old-school fortune tellers we made as kids in grade school.  The pattern called for a velcro closure, but I did a button instead because I thought it would hold better.

The inside has a piece of felt that's sewn down where you can place your needles and pins to keep them safe and secure.  There's enough room once the holder is closed to still be able to fit some embroidery floss tucked into the middle.  I imagine this as a great carrier when doing something like hand-sewing the binding on a quilt.  You have a few necessary tools at your side while working on your project. :)

The second sewn item was a ladybug rattle.  The pattern is from Little Stitches for Little Ones by Amy Butler.  I wanted to do a butterfly as well, but ran out of time.  I used pink and white fabric, with an accenting pink flannel fabric.  I thought the flannel is neat because as the baby gets older, she can feel the difference in textures.  (I forgot to mention that Becky is expecting a little girl, which is why I made a pink ladybug rattle...) :)

The toy could easily just be stuffed with fiberfil with the rattle left out, but I had a bell on hand, so I thought I should use it. :) I hope she enjoys playing with it!

I didn't have much other stuff by way of notions, although I did include a roll-up tape measure.  I always need more of these and am always looking for one.  There was also an Iowa magnet, because I like to include something from my state in each swap.

Not to leave anyone out, I included a "Guess Who?" Elmo book for Becky's son.  She had mentioned that he loves Elmo (as does Squishy).  I was in Target and found the book.  Squishy was so excited.  He wouldn't let go of the book, so I bought two. One for Squishy, one for Becky's little man. :)

And finally, no package is complete without a few sweets.  Becky had mentioned enjoying the caramel Cadbury eggs, so I included some of them, as well as chocolate peeps and chocolate Easter eggs.

This swap was a nice change from the knitting swaps.  Because there was a dollar limit, the majority of the package was put together rather quickly.  There was a lot more I could have included, but I really tried to stick to that limit since I knew others felt it was important for everyone to have the same swap experience. :)

Sewing the projects and picking the fabrics were my favorite parts.  I've been doing so much sewing for my Etsy shop that I haven't had much time to sit and explore new patterns or personal sewing.  I sewed all weekend long and felt so refreshed by doing something new.  It's encouraged me to pick a couple new projects I'd like to complete over the next month.

Becky, I had a wonderful time putting this together for you and I hope you enjoy it all! :)

More Swap Goodies

I've really been slacking in sharing all the wonderful goodies I've received in swaps.  A couple weeks ago, I shared my Easter swap package from Mary Rose.  This week I thought it was time to finally share my swap package from the March Sewing Swap.

This swap was part of the Sewing Daily boards on Ravelry.  A small group of us decided to participate in a small sewing swap.  The requirements included a yard (or equivalent) of fabric, a handmade sewn item and any other notions or goodies we'd like to include.  We had a maximum $ limit set and we were off.

My package came from the wonderfully generous Elly! (IKnitCupcakes)  Elly does great work with a sewing machine and I was so thrilled to receive a package from her.

All the goodies came boxed up in this lovely storage box (I can always use more of these!).

Inside I found a chocolate peanut butter bunny, yummy sour bunny gummies (these are so fun!), and a duck cookie cutter.  Mr. Man especially has enjoyed the chocolate peanut butter bunny - it's his favorite candy (yep, I decided to share...). )   There were also a set of 4 mini notebooks to stash in my project bags when knitting and a fun plaster project to paint your own figurines.  I figure I'll have Squishy help me with that one. :)

For the sewing elements Elly sent a yard of John Deere tractor fabric for a quilt I will be making Squishy in the future.  It's perfect fabric and just the kind of thing I keep my eyes open for.  She also sent a 2" template set for quilt making that I look forward to putting to good use. :)  She also included a couple packages of fun buttons, one Easter related and the other different forms of transportation (which will be fun for Squishy!).

And finally, the handmade sewn elements - I got two!  The first is a quilted basket to store all sorts of little goodies.  Elly said this was her first time quilting and I think she did a great job!

The second item is a little box bag to add to my collection of project bags. :)  This is my favorite element of the entire swap and almost as soon as I saw it in the box, I had it filled and ready to put to good use.  This little bag is really neat.  It's a box bag, but instead of the handle being on the side, it's on the top.  And instead of one strap, it's two straps that connect.  Then, when you're knitting, you can pull apart the straps and lay them to the side while you access all your knitting goodies inside the bag. :)

This bag is perfect for those small projects.  I've been toting around a baby hat for a couple weeks, with notions and all and it fits great.  I can fit about 1 1/2 - 2 balls of yarn in the bag and not feel like it's too full.  Although I've never knit them before, it seems as though it'd be a great size for sock knitting.  Elly did a great job on designing this bag and I think we should all encourage her to sell them in her Etsy shop (she doesn't have one yet, but has talked about it and I think this would be a great item to sell).

So, Elly, thank you, thank you!  I love it all.  :)  I feel really spoiled. :)

WIP Wednesday 4/20

Guess what? I actually have some photos to share with you today! :)

I still haven't been as busy with knitting as I'd like to be.  I'm still plowing through Etsy orders, which take a lot of my time that might normally be devoted to needles and yarn.  But I just finished a big order that's taken me twice as long as it should have, just due to lack of energy.  But now that I've got that order out of the way, the remainder of my Etsy orders feel a lot more manageable.  And the case I finished last night was actually very simple and a lot of fun to put together.  Hopefully my customer feels the same way!

So back to my WIPs.  I've got a deadline looming over me for some baby shower items I told my sister I would make.  The shower is April 25th.  The items?  A hat and two pacifier clips.

The nursery for the baby is frog-themed, so Sis asked for a frog hat, a frog clip and an elephant clip.  I haven't yet started the clips.  The only clip I'm really concerned about with time is the frog clip.  The pattern isn't complicated and the finished knit is small, but there are SO many pieces that can be time-consuming.

I will start (and finish) the elephant clip tonight, I'm sure.

The frog hat is actually a modified pattern.  I'm using the Bunny Tail pattern from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson.  The hat is simple stockinette, but the neat part comes at the top after the decreases.  The stitches are divided in half and for the bunny (or bear) hat, each half of the stitches becomes an ear.  My modification included shortening the ear portion A LOT to make the ears look like frog eyes.  I believe I knit 7 rounds on each "eye" before doing the remainder of the decreases.  I think it should work out really well.

I'm trying to decide what to do for the eyes.  The hat is the 0-6 month size, intended to be worn around the 3-6 month stage.  So in case the baby gets ahold of the hat in her mouth, I don't want to use removable eyes.  I like the eyes on the toy, Ribbit, so maybe those - with some eyelashes for a girl.  We'll see. I need to do some hunting on Ravelry.  Sis has also asked for a little box to sit on the frog's head to indicate a girl.  So I also need to find a bow pattern.

Ribbit, photo by Susan B. Anderson

Think I can finish on time?

Next up on the list are a few swap knits, as well as some baby items.  The baby items aren't top priority, but none of them should take long since they're so small and quick.

What's on your needles this week?