Teddy Bear Picnic 2nd Edition

I guess I was a little more than accurate yesterday when I said my 2nd swap parcel would be arriving soon. :)  I came home from work yesterday to find a box of soon-to-be-opened goodies sitting on my kitchen counter. :)

My lovely swap partner sent some great stuff and little X really enjoyed helping me open and explore all the things inside.

Among the goodies, I found 2 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash in a beautiful blue (which, if you're me, you can never have enough blue),

a sheep keychain and some fun stitch markers (which will definitely get put to good use!),

a family pancake recipe and real maple syrup (YUM!),

a Winnie the Pooh Bear blanket for our picnic and for X to cuddle up with, and a teddy bear kit - complete with his own clothing!

The teddy bear kit comes with a teddy bear body, stuffing and some fun felt coins to put inside next to Teddy's heart.  This teddy had a smiley face, peace sign and BFF coin.  The BFF & peace sign went next to his heart.  I let X help me put the smiley coin in with the stuffing and he placed it next to the bum. :)  So cute! :)   And to complete it all, he had a little gray sweatshirt to put on.  X couldn't stop loving on this bear.  There were lots of hugs and kisses given out yesterday (along w/ a little nose biting) and someone didn't want to share with me so I could grab pictures.

The Pooh Bear blanket is really soft and squishy.  I took it out of the packaging for pictures and to let X have.  It was put on the couch while I was putting together Teddy.  X picked it up and brought it over to me so we could sit together on the couch under his new blankie.   Swap partner - you hit the nail on the head with these things! :)  He also kept rubbing the blanket against his cheek (that's how I showed him how soft it was).

Thank you, thank you for everything, swap pal! :)  It was fun to open and to give to X so he could play. You made him a very happy little boy yesterday!

You've Got Mail

Isn't it funny how those 3 little words instantly trigger a certain memory?  Maybe not for everyone, but for a lot of people, I think that's a pretty true statement.  

I remember our first family computer (Yes, family computer, we all shared.  In fact, my siblings and I had time limits because we fought over whose turn it would be.) Mostly I just played games on it.  Then I remember when we actually got our dial-up modem and we could access the internet!  And that was back when you paid for a certain number of minutes per month online.  Wow, how times have changed.   Now, I don't think most of us would be patient enough to wait for the modem to dial, and some of us might have a difficult time limiting the number of minutes/hours we spend online.  Can you imagine putting that sort of restriction on teenagers now?  They're so tuned in to getting everything instantly whether it be online, email, text message or phone call (although, how many kids actually make phone calls instead of texting?). Although I grew up right about the time all the computer technology was really getting good, sometimes it all makes me feel old (comparatively), especially with how "plugged in" kids now seem to be.  

But I digress.  

The real reason the title statement makes me so happy is because I love receiving mail.  Any kind - snail mail, email, invitations, thank yous, packages, pretty much anything besides bills and spam/junk mail. And speaking of packages....I should be getting one soon in the mail, I think. :)  My swap partner in the Itty Bitty Teddy Bear Picnic swap told me she sent out my package early last week.  :)  I'm not sure where that puts the package after the long holiday weekend here in the US, but it should be coming any day. :)  And although X doesn't know it's coming, I know he'll have a blast helping me open it up to see what kinds of goodies are inside. :) 

I also can't forget to mention that my swap partner's package is also going out in the mail today!  I feel like I've just run a marathon to complete the 2nd portion of this swap.  I was going, going, going up to the very end.   It's a relief to have things finished and ready to go.  The final package due in a month should be a bit more laid back.  And since I remembered to take pictures of both packages thus far, it shouldn't be difficult to remember what's leftover to put in the final parcel. :) 

Dear Swap Partner -

Please enjoy these few teasers from your package! :) 

Happy Friday

Aren't these lovely?  This is the surprise that entered my office this morning shortly after I'd gotten to work. :)  My MIL visited yesterday and knowing I was getting sick sent me flowers today.  :)  They're so beautiful and such an uplifting part of my day.

And I figured since I can't share any pictures of my knitting projects right now (still top secret) and I haven't done much sewing so no pictures there, I'd share a few pictures of these pretties. :)

This vase is filled with yellow, orange, pink, white and green. :) I don't know what all the types of flowers are, but it doesn't really matter.  It was so sweet of C to think of me today!

So, fellow readers, when do you get surprised with flowers?  Your birthday?  Anniversary? Mother's Day?  Maybe just because. :)  Sometimes those are the best.

These last 2 photos are my favorites of the bunch!

Have a wonderful weekend, and for my fellow Americans, Happy Labor Day! Enjoy that extra long weekend.

RL

Hiding

I've mentioned a few times in the past that we're trying to spiff up the house a little bit.  This summer, right before the 4th of July, we painted the house.  Wow, did it make a difference!  And my mom even planted some flowers in the backyard.  Some time I'll remember to find those pictures and share some before & after shots.  

Last week we took it upon ourselves to get rid of the bushes in front of the house.  They're blocking our view from the front window, not to mention they grow like weeks and took continuous grooming to keep them in check.  We decided awhile ago we'd get rid of them.  But that's another story filled with those pictures I mentioned above. :) 

What I do have to share today was the fun, new friend I met while removing said bushes. 

I really wish X would have been with us at this point because he would have gotten a HUGE kick out of this little toad.  He was hiding in our bushes, right down by the ground, hiding in all the overgrown branches.  It must have been the perfect place for him, and who knows how long he's lived there. 

I don't normally go around looking for toads, but this reminded me of summers spent in Minnesota with my dad's side of the family, when we'd take our end-of-the-summer fishing trip.  My sister, cousins & I would find toads and frogs along the sandy beaches of the lake, and hidden in the tall grass near the cabins.  We loved picking them up and holding them awhile.  

So I snatched the little guy up, shot a few pictures to show X, and then released him into the neighbor's lawn.  I would have put him back the bushes on the other side of the house, but hubby was planning on mowing the lawn and I didn't want to find bits of my new "friend" in the yard.  X loves looking at these pictures and gets animated every time.  Just imagine if he'd actually been there! :) 

Good Math

Knitting Project  +  Front-Loader Washing Machine  =  Felting Success!

Have you ever heard that it's a pain in the butt or quite time-consuming and difficult to felt something in a front-loaind washing machine?  So had I.  I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that unlike a top-loading machine, a front-loader has no agitator.  In the past, I've ignored any such comments and tried felting my projects in our washer, finding over and over again that it takes at least 3 tries before it gets anywhere.  This time wasn't a whole lot different, although I seriously considered taking my finished knitting to my mom's house to use her top-loader.  Except that by the time I finished it yesterday, I didn't want to make the trek over there. (She's only 5 minutes away, but it was getting late.)


So, trying not to waste water while attempting this felting, I threw in a stack of jeans with my project all wrapped up in a pillow-case.  First attempt was semi-successful, the knitting had shrunk and was on it's way, but wasn't quite where I wanted it to be.  But I felt good that I hadn't wasted a load and now have a clean stack of jeans. :)  


My next attempt, I tried the same sort of thing, this time throwing the project in with a load of towels.  And this time, my project came out perfect! :) I was so happy with the results and felt so good about doing the felting this way!  I don't know if the towels just provided that much more agitation, or if it truly was just because it was the second time around.  Either way, I'm not too bothered by having to wash it twice.  In the past all other projects have taken at least 3 washes.  And I feel like I'm not wasting all that water on just one little thing since I got 2 small loads of laundry out it as well.  (I don't know if other people do this or not, and I'm sure there's a bit of concern about getting fibers in your clothing and what not, but I feel that since the project was in a pillowcase, that wasn't as much of a problem for me.)

I've been putting my French Pressed Slippers on hold because I didn't want to face the felting fight in the washing machine.  But now I think they're going to mover further up the list! :)

On another note, yesterday we took X to a park in town.  He had so much fun playing on all the toys.  The park was busy, but not so busy it was hard to play on all the equipment.  We took the new camera and I experimented taking pictures while X was going down the slides, playing and moving around.  I'm still learning.  The pictures turned out nicely, very clear, but I'd like to learn a little bit more about how to take better pictures using the manual setting.  It's easy to take nice pictures of knitting when the object isn't moving.  But a little boy is a much different story. :)   It was great to get outside and play with X, he always hates going inside afterwards, but finally, after playing on the swings, the merry-go-round, the slides, and many other toys, he was getting hot and cranky and it was time to head for home.  I hope everyone else has had a chance to enjoy some beautiful August weather!

Love the Giveaways!

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with them, but I can't help but enter then when I find them!  And there are such great giveaways out there, they're hard to resist.

Anyone remember Sisters?  I made this reversible toy for my sister for Christmas.  She loved it.  I tweaked the pattern a bit to look like her and me (as much as a knit doll can look like us) and I loved the result.  It was one of the first toys I knit and I had no idea what the world of fibre could offer me.  So I went to the nearest Hobby Lobby and purchased yarn I thought would do the job.

I wish I had known how to access all these other yarns Susan uses in her book!  I know the book lists the name and brand of yarn she uses for each pattern, but I was at a loss for how she found them (or how other people found them, for that matter!).

I've now made 2 reversible toys, Sisters and Egg to Bluebird and a Nest Too.  The Egg to Bluebird was part of a kit I received from a swap, and I loved making it.  I'd love to knit the Lion/Elephant reversible. It's just so darn cute.

So now comes the good part!  Olof is having a giveaway this week on her blog for O-Wool, which is the yarn Susan uses in Itty Bitty Toys for all of her reversible knit toys! :)  If I won, I could get half the colors needed to knit a toy! :) And now that I know where to go, I could get the other half to match elsewhere. :)

O-Wool sounds like a great yarn since it's organic and child-friendly.  A good thing for my little X-man considering everything still goes in his mouth! :) Head on over and check out the giveaway! :)

Happy Knitting!

A Little Discombobulated

Wow!  So I just took a look and I've almost got 100 posts on this blog!  That's pretty cool. :)  Nothing else much to share about that, just thought it was neat to think about.

I've been plugging away on swap & gift knitting.  About half of my swap projects are complete.  Because each of these patterns doesn't dictate exactly how much of each thing to knit, I'm having a hard time deciding where to stop.  I don't want it to be too little, but I don't want to do overdo it either.  And I'm still waiting on some Berroco yarn to finish one of the projects.  Darn online yarn shopping.  It means I have to wait. And wait. And wait.

I was going to do some sewing for the next element of the swap, but I'm having a hard time dedicated myself to that sort of commitment yet. I feel like I don't have enough time (although in reality, I really do) to complete things.  I think part of what's scaring me is the blanket.  So swap partner, if you've figured out who I am, I'll leak one small tiny detail in that I'm sewing you the picnic blanket. :) I really want to make a nice, little quilt.  That's all fine and dandy, but that means I also have to apply/sew on a binding. :( Boo. My least favorite part.  And I haven't found just the right fabric yet. Hence, needing more time.

I also must admit that because this swap is split into 3 parts, I'm having a hard time visualizing everything put together.  I usually like to send a nice, thoughtful planned out package.  This requires setting all my pieces together to admire and adjust accordingly.  Adding more or taking away things I don't feel quite fit.  And I since I want to include something extra and fun in each package, I'm having a hard time deciding how to do that.  Normally, the extras come at the end after all the necessary items have been completed. Does it make sense to say I feel like each package is going to be small and insignificant because it's not all wrapped up together in one great big box?  Probably silly for me to think that way.  So needless to say, I'm feeling a little discombobulated about the entire thing (love the swap & making items, but muddling through the organization!).

The gift knitting is actually the trade I talked about last time using that delicious Marmalade from Knit Picks.  I couldn't wait to start the project, even though I had originally intended to.  That yarn was calling to me from across the room, begging me to make it into something warm and pretty. :) I'm loving the design of this pattern (details I'll share at a later date).  And the Shine Worsted is heaven on the hands.  I just want to squish it all day long. And I have to admit, just a little slick when holding it.  I'm using Nickel-Plated needles and that combined with the silky yarn makes it slip through the fingers quite easily. Most of the time this is okay because it means it's a fast moving project.  The problem is that my hands haven't quite adjusted to the short length of the needle tips (I've been using a lot of dpns lately) and I feel like I have nothing to hang on to.

When I went to wind my yarn yesterday for the above project, I found my yarn winder was broken.  The  turny piece doesn't swivel correctly so I don't get a nice balanced ball of yarn.  Instead, the yarn winds around the center piece in the same spot the entire time.  If I wanted that I'd just use my hands. (I think X played with it a few too many times.) Looks like I'll be needing a new winder then.  Bugger.

Tonight I think I'll be gathering a few supplies to finish up some projects.  And potentially some lights of some sort to work with a light box, once I've put it all together.  We'll see.