A Fabulous Tea Party and a retrospective of sorts ...

I'm elated. I'm crafting again. It feels SO good - I really had forgotten how much happiness having a creative outlet brings me.

But I really have been a bit busy - the kind of busy where you collapse into bed each night wondering where the day has gone. Repeat this endlessly - and occasionally cry about it ;-) So to recap this is what I have been up to:

• Packed and moved - twice - or was it three times? - I lost count - it feels like six.
• Lived (pregnant) in a 300 sq ft studio apartment above a garage with husband, small toddler and a dog while we renovated the house (noise and dust like you would not believe).
• Moved into not yet completed renovated house (heavily heavily pregnant).
• Attempted to unpack and arrange furniture before baby arrived while drilling, painting etc still went on around us.
• Had baby#2 (after 2 months of 'false' labor - Note: there is nothing 'false' about false labor).
• Continued renovation and continued to unpack while looking after two adorable and much loved small children.
  
• Eventually (very recently) managed to unpack Bernie and felt a renewed level of happiness - even though I was only mending husbands shorts and g-diaper covers.
• Begged, pleaded and cajoled baby to nap at the same time as small toddler so I could have a small amount of time to myself each day.
• Won the nap battle with baby - hurrah!!
• Took a deep breath.
  
• Decided to make this tea party set.

I wanted to make a fun coordinating tea party set that would help any little girl throw a most excellent and very proper tea party. The fabrics I used for this project were all left overs from previous projects (A Lucky Baby Bunny (Nov '09), How do you work? (Aug '08) and Swap Shots (July '08) - seriously? have I really had everything packed up and stored away for that long?)

The set consists of a picnic mat, an apron, a tea towel, a tea cosy, 6 napkins and 6 party hats.I embellished with pink ribbon and lace.
Party hats ready?
Hostess ready?
Tea brewed?
What a fine tea party! The cupcakes are from my Cupcake Tutorial made back in May 2008 - I must make more of those.

Anyone remember the knitted Bunny Picnic? ... I can't believe that was back in May 2008 ... time just rushes by.

Spring has Sprung

(Note: This post was supposed to be more elaborate but dragging a large knitted dinosaur around Central Park for a photo shoot with stroller, small child and small dog turned out to be more challenging than I had given the task credit for.)

It is spring, the birds are tweeting the sun is shining and love is in the air. Mr. Dinosaurus is looking for lurrve. To hunt down his ideal mate he has put on his best red bow tie ...... he has picked the finest brightest flower he could find (in order to charm an unsuspecting and demure lady dino) ...
... Mr. Dinosaurus is feeling very handsome indeed today ...... time to hail a cab and go to Central Park - some attractive young dino ladies might be out for an afternoon stroll ...
... perhaps some lady dinos will walk past while Mr. Dinosaurus relaxes by the boat pond. He is trying to seem like he is just enjoying the view - but really - he just wants to find a nice lady dino to chat to ...... can you spot Mr. Dinosaurus hanging out on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Maybe some lovely lady will stop to chat about some dino art?Poor Mr. Dinosaurus didn't find love on this sunny spring day. But soon he will meet his new loving family ... and perhaps his dino lady love too?

Cable Cardigan (with a hood no less)

My very lovely friend gave me this knitting book for my birthday.
Her mother-in-law has knitted so many gorgeous cardigan's for her little girl (which I'm always rather envious of) so I was very excited to get 'the' knitting book shipped all the way from my homeland (England.) For anyone that knows the short history of my knitting skills - clothing has not been something I have explored very much. I made a little rose cardigan for baby bunny before she was born and I recently gave up on a potentially gorgeous cable cardigan (for the more grown up size of person.) So this would be only the second piece of clothing I have ever managed to complete.

I asked baby bunny to model for me. The modeling shoot went something like this ....
... rather a lot of blurry photos because (drum roll please) ... on Saturday baby bunny decided she could walk. She has been walking from piece of furniture to furniture for a while now - but now she has really taken off. ALL she wants to do is walk - until she is so tired she sits down with a whimper. It is a whole different ball game with her on her feet. This morning I have already found one plastic cup, a toothbrush and a bar of soap in the toilet. She is so quick ... I didn't even know she had been in the bathroom!

The cardigan was very easy to knit - but like any good amateur knitter I decided I knew best and amended the pattern slightly. I joined the seams of the hood as I knitted instead of sewing them together later ... ... and I knitted the ribbed trim all in one piece - rather than in three ... ... of course I feel like my amendments were a success! Baby bunny certainly looked mighty cute modeling the cardigan. I think I'm going to have to start knitting her some jumpers for this winter.
And my favorite bit? the homemade label! I really hope baby Nicholas enjoys his new cardigan.

Knitting Again

I had forgotten how calm and serene the world becomes when I knit.

I have been designing cable hats and I've been rather obsessed with making pretty patterns on the crown of the hats.
I just love knitting cables.I hope to post the patterns on my Ravelry page soon.

A little bunny update. She is now starting solids ... she loves peas, pears, prunes but she doesn't like peaches ... she grabs the spoon and swallows with great gusto ... it is awfully cute and terribly terribly messy ;-)

You Are Never to Young to Paint

Learning to paint ...What master pieces the baby bunny has made ...Once trimmed and signed they make the most adorable cards. We are SO proud of her first crafting project I'm not sure if we will ever be able to use the cards!!

AND I've found time to start knitting again ... I've forgotten just how much I love to knit.

Nesting with my Needles

The count down is officially on for the arrival of the new baby bunny - and it seems I am refusing to slow down. I had planned that I would spend these last few weeks as a 'resting' period. Where I could curl up on the sofa, watch movies, generally pamper myself and the large bump I'm hauling around - most of all stacking up on some extra sleep that I won't be getting for the next 3 months. However it seems that I am still running around doing things at full tilt, brisk doggie walks in the park - like the most energized pregnant person you have seen - occasionally I might pass out for a quick 'nap' (of a couple of hours or so .... hum.)

This week, ignoring all the baby orientated things I should be doing, I spent a day pulling together my first knitting needle organizer. Before I could begin on my pattern I had to first sort through the pile of knitting needles I kept loose in this bag. The bag had done a sterling job for a while - but as my knitting needle collection has grown it has become harder to find needles quickly - or even know what needles I have. For example I had completely given up on trying to find my beloved chunky cable needle and my naff blue plastic needle I love to use to sew knitted pieces together. But once the bag was emptied properly I discovered that they had been hiding in there all along! Some time ago my mother had also given me a large collection of old knitting needles. I did discard the bent ones but I was still left with a whole array of different lengths and sizes. How would I measure all these strange unmarked sizes? Luckily I had an antique bell gauge in amongst the collection as well ... ... which I soon learned was not that helpful as many of the old UK sizes do not really exist anymore. So I have learnt quite a lot about old knitting UK needle sizes and in the process I discovered the crazy (yet impressive) art of miniature knitting.

I decided to make my needle organizer from some left over pieces of Amy Butler's Lotus fabric, some left over cotton batting and some left over bias tape (I tend never to throw any fabric bits away - believing it will come in useful at some point!) It was a super easy and fast project.
Unrolled it measures 21"h x 23"w. Rolled up it measures 15"h x 4.5"w (depending on how many needles you have stuffed in there of course!) It has 4 layers of pockets for different length needles. The bottom pockets are extra wide to hold your circular needles. In total there are 50 different pockets.There is also a crafty 6" flap at the top of the organizer that folds over and secures with cute side ties to stop the needles falling out once it is all rolled up.
This all means that now I have a full inventory of my needles and I can waste yet more hours, put aside for baby stuff, on the Ravelry needle page! Being able to deny that your life is about to change in a momentous way can be a fabulous thing!

Totally Unravelled

I have signed up for Ravelry (I know I'm behind the times) ... but it seems to be a bit dangerous. On my first little Ravelry outing ... before I knew it ... half a day had passed by ... and that is dangerous!

I have added a couple of my knitting projects to my profile and I hope to make my Hugs, Kisses and Cables pattern available soon. It seems to be a wonderful forum to find out tricks and hints from other knitters - over come those parts of a pattern that you might be struggling with ... alternative ways to use patterns ... I fear there will be many many more hours (erm days) spent perusing the information available ...

I'm really struggling with the Sylvi pattern from the Twist Collective. My gauge was perfect with size 10 needles ... but then when I began knitting the pattern the sizing was totally off and the size small was turning out to be smaller than an extra small. After 60 rows or so I decided to unravel my knitting and start again with a bigger needle size (US 10.5) and try the size medium pattern. But it is still knitting up too small. It is really hard to know whether to keep going and see what happens or start over yet again ...
... and if I start over again - how do I start? Bigger needles? Bigger size?Maybe using my own choice of yarn was a mistake ...
Maybe I knit super tight (I think I do) ...Maybe I should just stay clear of trying to make clothes (maybe I'm wimping out too soon) ...
Or maybe it is the reason why hand knitted things are so special and unique - they all turn out a little different?
Do you just learn how your knitting style will change a pattern? Or will I have these endless debates with myself for ever more ...

Cupcake and Tea Crafts

I have been rather obsessed with cupcake and tea thoughts over the weekend and I am very excited that people are signing up for the Cupcake and Tea Swap!

I am in the process of trying to create a cotton rabbit pattern that is simple (clean lines) and easy to make - sweet to look at is a desired factor too! Here is version 1 (I'm now working on version 3 - the ears sit up much more now.) I would love to hear your thoughts on what could be improved, changed, tweaked etc ... but for the purpose of the cupcake and tea theme - this little bunny has baked a cupcake for you.
Talking of cupcakes - I recently purchased Warm Fuzzies by Betz White and learnt how to make her adorable cupcakes. The book is rather delicious - although my only frustration is that the needed supply of adorable, soft and beautifully colored wool jumpers is rather on the short side in my little work room.
Due to the lack of desired supplies I set about making my own cupcakes ... with scrap material, a circle of felt and the odd bead or two - I'm still refining the pattern for this (they are so easy and quick to make) but I quite like the folded cupcake cup.
I also got over excited and made a teapot cosy too - which is odd - as I do not drink tea and do not own a tea pot ... but I felt the urge and Bernie obliged.
We are due thunderstorms all day today - which is great for the sunflowers - but it feels like a 'stay inside and knit' day today ... knitted cupcakes perhaps?

Crafting with my Sister

My sister is staying with me - and so far I have tortured her with some shopping and needle felting. We found out that needle felting takes some time and can be quite painful when you needle felt your fingers! Here are the results.

From little beginnings ...
... grow voodoo dolls? ...
... and very scary ears ...
... but eventually after much needle poking grew first needle felted bunny!
Do you like his carrot?
Or his fine fluffy tail?
And what did my sister make ... well she made a very cute whale - here he is swimming in the deep blue sea!