Jungle Time

Okay, so when you ask your mom to pick up yarn for you and she has to FedEx it because you are working on a deadline and you live five hours apart from each other, it doesn't always happen with out strings (feel free to enjoy any and all puns that I accidentally put in there) attached. At the same time I was planning on attending a baby shower for my friend, my mother was planning on attending a baby shower as well. A young lady she knows, lets call her April, was having a baby shower. Mom and another friend bought a very nice mattress for the crib that April was planning on using. However, a little something more is right up Mom's alley and she asked if I might be willing to knit a blanket for April's baby. I said I would love to, as soon as you send me the yarn I need because I will need the needles in the blanket I am currently knitting to knit the blanket you want.

My instructions were simple. They were having a little boy, and there was a jungle themed room. Sounds simple but when you do not live near yarn stores, sometimes finding neat yarn ideas is rather difficult. So after a quick trip to, of all places, Wal-Mart, I found the perfect color combination. I purchased four skeins (two of each color) of a really bright green and a really bright blue. I knitted the blanket using one strand of each color at the same time. The pattern I used made the blanket look like it was a stripped. Believe it or not when I got done it only took two skeins (and about a foot more of blue yarn) to knit the entire blanket.

As it turns out the baby arrived a few weeks early much to every one's surprise. I hand delivered the blanket to the dad when I visited my mother over Easter. He seemed quite thrilled to know that we took the time to make something special for them and mentioned that the colors worked perfectly.

Can You See Them?

If you can see the pink camo items above you might notice I am in baby knitting mode. My friend who I mentioned in my previous post with the baby blanket was also the recipient of these items as well. She told me a story a few months ago about her father and husband coming home with a present for the baby. It was an outfit in, yes, you guessed it, pink camo. This is rather befitting of this family and seems only right to pass the tradition on to the baby when she is born. As a matter of fact this outfit has been deemed the one that the baby will be brought home in. My only hope is that they don't lose her, being dressed in camo and all.

It took a couple of months but I finally found the Red Heart, pink camo yarn. As cute as it is when it comes out of the skein I must admit I was a little disappointed knitting with it. The cap was knitted in the round and took me just a few hours to finish. The booties were knitted in less than four hours with a pattern I found on the Internet which required a small amount of sewing. When they unwrapped the items they knew it was pink camo and even tried to find the baby's feet in the stomach to see if they would fit. Of course the dad to be tried to put the cap on. Might have to see if I have enough yarn left to make a cap for dad. Just a thought.

Cotton Candy vs. Jolly Rancher

A friend of mine is having a baby. Back in October, when she found out, she broke the news to me by asking if I might be willing to knit her a baby blanket. With nine months to go you would think that would be plenty of time to get one done. So I started planning immediately. I knew I wanted a specific pattern book of baby blanket patterns, it is a sister to another book of patterns I have on adult blankets and throws. She is not exactly your typical mother to be and this blanket sort of needed to represent that. I know you are saying the blanket is about the baby not the parents, but since we have not met the little bundle of joy, it needs to be all about mom and dad right now. I was keeping that in mind while picking out yarn. They were told the baby would be a girl, and they have decided on a name, Samantha Renee Wright, Sami for short. Now we have to keep in mind that sometimes ultrasounds don't tell us all we need to know so there is always a chance she might not be a she, so that is also in my head as I pick a yarn. I was thinking something fun and almost tied dyed. So I picked a yarn that had flecks of pink, blue, yellow and white. It was variegated and neat looking. As I started knitting however the blanket looked more like cotton candy, which is OK because Sami's mom likes her cotton candy during the fair.

I started knitting in November, and ran out of yarn. My mother picked up the last skein I needed in March and I finished this 29x32 blanket the week of the baby shower. When the mom to be unwrapped it she seemed tickled with it, and her husband said it reminded him of jolly ranchers. She was able to dissect that I knitted it with two strands of yarn and had done a seed stitch border so it would lay flat. No matter what it reminds him of it will be sweet, especially when Sami gets here.

Every Woman Needs a Little Fuzzy Black Scarf?

Okay, maybe not as common as the little black dress comment, but how far off could we be? I am actually knitting away at scarves to build up my supply from the Christmas Craft Show. This is made with fun fur and is about 23 inches long with lots of fuzzy fun.

It is not only fashionable but also gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. Actually it was quite simple to knit by casting on 23 stitches and knitting every row. The fuzzy yarn does not seem quite so full until you get the whole thing done and it all comes together.

there will be more fun fur scarves coming as well as some other fun crafties as I redo my crafting room in my house. Stay tuned for more knitting fun.

A Little Angel

I just showed you the train quilt block that I finished for my play room, where my trains will be.  As I uncovered that, I also uncovered this little gem.  It works on the same principle, a laser cut foam block with a pattern.  This one is in the form of an angel.  I am not an angel collector but I have someone that I work with that is.  She actually collects Santa's and Angels so this one will be for her. 
This block is smaller than the train and has many more pattern shapes to cut out and fit into place.  Working for the outside in, this one offered some challenges with curves and unusual cutout shapes.  However when it is done, it is a glowing site to see.  My co-worker hopefully won't see it until Christmas, when I give it to her as a gift (does this mean I am ahead on my Christmas Shopping?).

Quilting Back to the Station

I mentioned in my last post that I was redoing my craft room. As part of that I have had to clean it out. I mean clean it as in six trash bags left the room for the dump, there are three boxes of shredding and two bedrooms stuffed to the rafters with miscellaneous items such as my various train sets. As part of this massive cleaning effort I came across a crafting project that just called out to me to be completed. Some time back, while I was in Florida I came across this really cool shop in a flea market that sold quilting blocks. Literally blocks for quilting. They are foam blocks that have padding on the top. A laser cuts a design in each block and you cover it with fabric giving the design that quilted feel.

There are traditional designs, but the one I chose was one based on trains. When I came across it I set it aside so that I could get it done before my room is finished so that I can hang it up to go with the new motif. That motif includes trains. You see my father and I loved to play with our trains and set up boards in our home in Missouri. Now I have the trains and plan to hang track from the ceiling so that I can enjoy my trains again. This quilting design is one of the largest I have tackled and did take a couple of hours to complete. The fabric comes with it and you have to cut out the fabric into corresponding pieces for the design. You can use a tool that comes with the project or a simple butter knife to tuck all the fabric pieces in. When you get done it turns into a pretty awesome piece that takes no sewing what so ever.

Turning to Green

I mean green in so many ways. Yes, these dishcloths are very green in color for a very good reason. 4-H (my day job that sort of spills over) colors are green and white. So what better color for dishcloths that you plan to donate to the 4-H Volunteer Leaders Conference? Each year the 4-H volunteers from around the state gather for training, fundraising, and networking. Through in some awards, and a little fun and it is an additive environment for all involved. In other words you can't help but want to go back year after year. As part of the conference the volunteers run an old country store where items are donated. They also hold an auction where higher end items are auctioned off and items that did not sell in the store are bundled together for auction. I am not sure when or where these items sold but I do know they were placed in the old country store for two dollars a piece.

Of Course these are green for another reason. Made from 100% cotton these dishcloths are meant to be used and then put in the washing machine and reused again. Thus helping the environment and being healthier because people are more likely to wash something that can be reused rather than reusing something as much as possible that is disposable because they want to make sure they get the most of their money.