Knitting Clothes

I really started knitting to knit bunnies and other knitted softies. I don't know why I have never knitted any clothes before (apart from the odd hat, one scarf and a pair of dodgy mittens) ... probably because I haven't had faith that I would make anything worth while or even wearable. Now I have the cardigan/coat pattern to take on ... but I little thought popped into my head the other day - soon I will have the perfect model to experiment with - an innocent child who will (for the initial part of her life at least) wear what ever I put her in!

And this is what I have found for her first little knitted outfit ...... I plan not to torture her too much with anything too experimental. But I really think this is about the cutest little baby cardigan I have ever seen - lets hope I do it justice!

Four

Back in December the lovely Kathy from Lizzie Jane (check out her adorable spring bunnies) tagged me to:
1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Choose the 4th picture and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

Here is my photo (step 1 & 2 completed!):
(Step 3:) This is a padded baby book that I made back in March 2008. The book is made from material scraps (surprise) and was lovingly sewed together to help a little one count from 1 to 5. How? By counting the bunnies of course! Initially I thought it was a rather sweet project but then I realized I had probably totally lost the plot - because any small child who is still in the padded book stage is not going to be advanced enough to recognize a bunny - let alone count bunnies from one to five. So this is a project that just went into the 'needs more thought' box. I had always meant to make another padded baby book with big colorful shapes (no advanced number or alphabet skills needed) ... but that is a project that is still on the 'to do' list. Here is a better picture of the book ...
My husband is ever hopeful that a certain little man in our family will learn to count soon ... he certainly looks like he is concentrating hard!!(Step 4:) I'm terrible at being tagged - I'm sorry ... but please consider yourself tagged and play along - take a look at your fourth picture in your fourth picture folder - what will you find?

I Have Giraffe Envy - Meet Gerald

I really really want to be good at making cotton sewn softies - but it seems to be a skill that eludes me. I'm always a bit upset with the fabrics that I end up choosing - that amazing skill some people have of throwing different fabrics together to make things look utterly beautiful is totally absent in me. Is there a book I can read? A course I can take? I'm always way too practical and perhaps I need to be more daring?

Recently I've been having giraffe envy (check out delightful softie giraffes at Hop Skip Jump) . Don't ask me why it has been giraffe envy ... because I actually have craft envy with most things I see. (That list of 'want to make' only gets longer these days.)

So off I set to make a giraffe. I tried to pick good colors - but then I've never been known for my wild and crazy choices - so safely I opted for orange and brown - at least if it is orange and has a long neck someone might recognize it as a giraffe?
Meet Gerald. Gerald is a lonely giraffe so we decided to take him to the Central Park Zoo to see if we could find him any friends.
We searched the map of the Zoo - but unfortunately there are no giraffes ...
... but don't tell Gerald ... because we told him that the Llama's were a type of giraffe too ... and he seemed happy enough with that.