Another Finished Wallaby

I finished this last Wednesday but between the 4th of July and the craziness of life, I didn't show it to you all. This is my first "girl" Wallaby and I used Plymouth Encore Worsted again. It is a great workhorse yarn for kids clothes. The pink was very fun to work with. This is for my godsister's daughter, Robin. She's 4 years old and I am giving it to her today. I doubt seriously in this heat she'll try it on but I'll try.

Jennifer suggested putting a gift of some sort in pocket - great idea. Don't you remember receiving clothes when you were little and trying to act excited but not really being excited? When I made one for Robin's brother, Nick, I put in a small water gun. Robin is definitely big into dress up so I found this fake gold and diamond necklace I had to wear for a wedding 15 years ago and never have used since. That is what I'm putting in the pocket - she'll love it!

Last Bit of Sewing

I finished up my sewing project yesterday afternoon - here's the other fun fabric with complimentary colors to the flower fabric I used for the bathroom. You can see in the picture below I caught both looking towards the laundry room (and the piles of laundry). I really enjoyed making these and am thrilled with how they turned out.

I got to the end of the hood on my Wallaby and had the awful realization that I forgot to increase 26 stitches before starting the hood - so stupid of me! So I frogged 9 inches of small hood and had to start all over again. I think I'll still finish it time but I'm doing the smack on the forehead for that one - this is my 3rd Wallaby after all and I should have known better!

Some Simple Sewing

A little intermission for some sewing...Miss America and I hit JoAnn fabrics and picked this wild fabric for the door to the laundry room and the downstairs bathroom...we also have a complimentary fabric for the kitchen windows. That's tomorrow's project.

I also whipped up these pillow covers...I used some down inserts from Ikea that cost all of $6 each. The fabric was about $8. They really spice up the bed and bring out the blue sanddollars!

I have been knitting - mostly trying to finish up my pink Wallaby...should be done in a day or two. It's just been too hot to knit lately but there is a storm coming through to cool things down.

Ten on Tuesday

Every now and then I post on the Ten on Tuesday - I do love reading them and Carole always has some good ones...so this week I decided to participate on the 10 Ways to Entertain a Child. I'm going to put a slant on it and make it specific to how I entertain(ed) our kids at the beach during the summers.

1. Go for a walk on the beach and find sea glass and other treasures (I still do this).

2. Water balloons - they are fun to fill and quick to go but always amusing. One time our kids and their friends started a water balloon fight and all of a sudden half the kids are on the block in an all out water war. It was hysterical!

3. A bike ride and looking a the flowers, houses, people.

4. Crabbing in the canal - a few chicken necks, some string, a bucket to put them in and a net. The bonus is I get a few crabs every now and then and steam them up for a nice little crab salad.

5. Poker Chips or Dominoes - my husband's grandparents must have played a lot of poker and there is a huge collection of chips. They also have dominoes. Just pull them out, give them some cards and let the kids make up their own rules. Dominoes are fun to line up and then have them click down in a pattern.

6. A bucket of tennis balls and a racquet - I would spend hours feeding tennis balls to our kids and then we'd pick them up and start all over again. Tires them out too!

7. Lemonade stand - busy time setting up, making signs, making lemonade and ice tea then selling it. Then divvying up the money to go spend a the candy store.

8. Paper cups - one rainy day out of desperation I took a stack of those mini paper cups that you use in the bathroom. They were too small for anything. Our kids stacked them up in a pyramid then used a nerf blaster to knock them down. They were totally consumed with this and trying to catch the whole thing on film as it collapsed.

9. Painting/decorating clam shells...glitter glue, paint, sharpies - whatever works. You can also sell them at your lemonade stand!

10. A tidal pool...nothing beats playing in safe water while at the ocean. You can paddle around, pull your friend on a boogie board, skip stones, create canals back to the ocean.

Pretty in Pink

After making two navy blue Wallabies, I'm very much enjoying this very pink Wallaby. I've finished the body and have to juggle my size 8 needle collection to start the sleeves. I cast on the Mondo Cable Cardigan with my size 8's I use for making the sleeves - I think I'll be able to pull it all off. I don't have a deadline but I'm hoping to get this done by the second week in July when I can present it to sweet Robin (my godsister's daughter).

Also, a dear friends just had their second child - a girl...hmmmm, another pink wallaby? I might branch out and use the Debbie Bliss book I scored last November...

Just Right

Yesterday I took Miss America to find buttons for her jumper...she promptly found them and a few more for futures (she has a button fetish much like I have a flip flop fetish). Anyway, I just sewed them on and we had a modeling session. She does love dresses that twirl - this one passed the test. Now I just hope she doesn't grow too much this summer so this still fits come fall!

Addendum: someone asked what yarn I used - Auracania Nature Wool.

Warms My Heart

I got an email today from my friend Jackie that totally warmed my heart...it said:
"thought you'd enjoy knowing Will has literally worn holes through his favorite slippers and has been asking me for a long time if I would ask you to make him another pair. How 'bout that E? He wears them almost every day."

Who can resist making another pair when a kid loves something to death? I think I'll let him pick his own color this time as these were made from leftover bit. It warms my heart that his feet are warm and happy and so is he...he is a love of a child.

A Little Bit of This and That

I've been busy working on my sleeves for my Mountain View Cardigan - next time I think of making something in Fingering weight will you remind me how long this cardigan took me???

Anyway, the sleeves are worked as a lace bit then you pick up the stitches along one of the edges for the rest of the sleeve. I prefer to work both sleeves at the same time because then you are done with them both at once - ta da!

































This squiggly bit is the Mondo Cable Cardigan by Chic Knits - I just had to cast on something else that might knit up faster. The color is quite true - a dusty plum.

On the homefront, the kids are thinking of summer vacation. It can't come soon enough but due to that big storm that had the town without power, we are in school until the 24th. It's hard to keep them focused and inspired...we're slowing slipping into summer habits. We all can't wait to get to the beach and I can't wait for my summer Stitch and Bitch group!

Picky, Picky

I finished Miss America's jumper and needed to find some buttons (no button holes just sewing on so it looks like it went through a button hole). I hit my button jar and came up with several options. Yesterday's review netted a big strike-out. Grrr.

It could be that Miss America is like her mom and has a button fetish (I have a flip flop one too) and wants to go buy some new buttons...

We have plenty of time as it is too warm to wear this anyway.

What Is It With This Time Of Year???

Why must every activity be crammed into May and June? Between baseball games, birthday parties, PT for Miss America's foot, working 2-3 days a week, etc, I've been a bad blogger. I haven't written in almost 2 weeks. Every time I thought "I need a new post", something would get in the way.

However, I have been knitting. I just polished off another Wallaby in size 4 for my godson. Yes, it is navy just like the other one. My next one will be pink...now that will be fun!

WIP Wednesday

I've spent the past two days nursing a nasty cold...for me to sit on the sofa and do nothing but knit and watch movies for 2 days is extremely rare. The good thing is it let me focus on several projects and get to a new point on my Mountain View Cardigan. I am knitting it in one piece (less seaming thank you very much). I finished the body of the sweater yesterday and have now cast on for the sleeves.

I also bound off on the jumper I'm making for Miss America - now she wants it to be strapless which I just don't think will fly but I'll weave in the ends and block it and see how she feels. Not worth taking a picture until it is on her body - it's a shapeless blob right now.

I just ordered yarn to make 3 more Wallabies - yes, I've been bitten by the bug and I promised my godsister a full set for her kids.

I Don't Know Why I Didn't Start This Sooner

Last May I won a contest on Lynne's blog and received all the materials to make this wonderful Cape May Bag. I just love the Amy Butler fabric.

I had every intention of making this last summer. I took the sewing machine to the Jersey Shore and it just sat there. Turns out it was a sewing project for our house down there which inspired me to pull this out and make it. I'm so glad I did! What a fun bag for the summer and the beach - thank you again Lynne!

This is the project that got me going for the bag. We just repainted our bathroom and I used our son's old sailing award flags to make a valance for the window. I used blanket tape for the rod pocket and sewed the flags to the tape. I think/hope it will look perfect in the bathroom.

Such An Honor

Imagine my surprise when I was doing my daily surf to find I had been nominated for The Beautiful Blogger Award by my knitting buddy, Jennifer (aka Major Knitter). Thank you Jennifer! Wow and
as I was saying to you that I was thinking of abandoning my blog but just can't bring myself to do it yet.









Now, here's the tricky part - I have to reveal 7 interesting things about myself as part of my "acceptance speech" - this comes at a time in my life where I am not feeling very interesting at all...but I'll give it a shot.

1. When I was 12 we moved from a gated community in NY to a farm in Virginia. I consider myself lucky to have had 2 different worlds as part of my life and experiences. It is why I know how to use a fingerbowl and which cutlery to use first at a fancy restaurant AND I know how to bale hay, pick corn and get a possum out of the henhouse.
2. I am not good with blood and when I cut myself I tend to get "woozy". We realized this when I was 6 or 7 and fell off of the milkbox (they are not stable to stand on I learned the hard way) and when I really cut my knee I got all woozy. Now I know the feeling and lie down right away. I can't give blood (I have tried) and the only time I did give blood and didn't pass out was when I was pregnant (mind over matter).
3. I can't stand the feeling of velvet. My mom recalls that even when I was little I couldn't touch it and was cranky when I had a velvet dress on. When Miss America was a baby and was given a velvet dress I'd somehow get it on her but when I had to pick her up I'd scoop her up underneath her dress so I wouldn't touch the velvet. My sisters all thought I was batty with this idiocincracy but my knitting sister realized her son has the same texture problem and was a bit more understanding. For this reason (and others) chenille is not a fiber I will knit with!
4. I'm one of 4 girls. I'm the eldest and my youngest sister is 9 years younger than me. It's almost a generation gap as I was out of the house and in college and working for a good part of her teenage years. My parents used me as the best cheap babysitter when they were little - I was paid 25 cents an hour.
5. I have battled with my weight for a good part of my life...from high school through college and my first working years I was 35+ pounds heavier than I am now. When I was 25 or 26 I buckled down, went to Weight Watchers and got the weight off...it fluctuates every now and then and sometimes it drives me crazy that I always will have to monitor what I eat (which is hard when you love to cook as much as I do).
6. I can stack firewood like a pro (this probably ties in with point #1) - when we lived on the farm we had a wood burning furnace and my dad got 40 cords of wood one fall. That was one big woodpile. Whenever we get firewood now, I'm in charge of stacking it - my DH likes to joke he as the best stacked wife who knows how to stack firewood.
7. I love my husband and children fiercely...don't ever put them down in my presence as I become a mother tiger.


Now, I after all this I get to pass the torch of the Beautiful Blogger and while there are so many bloggers I find worthy, I nominate my friend Kimberly.

Kimberly spends her summer in the same small town I do...we had met a few times but it really clicked when I ran into her and I had a crochet hook in my hand after helping another neighbor finish a sweater. She asked if I crocheted and I said no but I knit. Kimberly does both and she also designs GORGEOUS crochet patterns. From that moment I feel like I've found a new dear friend who I can talk to about everything and anything and who has a passion for fiber and understands my passion for knitting. She is beautiful inside and out and I wish we lived closer.


So, Kimberly, congrats you Beautiful Blogger - can't wait to see you soon.

A Special Day

Yesterday was a special one in our house as #1 Son was confirmed. We had a lovely day, a fascinating bishop, good friends and lots of fun.

Finishing Friday

I love the Finish or Frog It group on Ravelry that Jennifer started. It really pushes me sometimes to finish up a project on a Thursday so Friday I can proudly post what I've done. Last night I finished the hood and wove in all the ends so this morning I can present my first Wonderful Wallaby. I have a feeling it might be the first of many - you see my godsister has 3 kids and I think they all need Wallabies!

We have a busy weekend here - today is our 16th anniversary, tomorrow and Sunday we have baseball games and tomorrow afternoon our son gets confirmed. All good stuff which requires a busy morning of cleaning, etc. I know I'll get some knitting done during baseball but that will be it. Have a great weekend!