Thursday, December 21, 2006

another first

Wow, you can tell it's my first time to attempt this, but I'm pleased with the results nonetheless. My friend Elizabeth is a brand new mommy and mentioned wanting some nursing pads. I told her I'd try to whip up a pair. Imagine getting breast pads from a lady who has never nursed a child! Ha! I had good fabric and Google and the 'pin for advice, though, so here's what I came up with...



They are made of 2 layers of hemp fleece for absorbency and one layer of windpro fleece for water resistant-ness. I tried to make them contoured for a better fit and succeeded more on one than on the other. I learned a lot though, and I'm grateful that Liz is the kind of friend that I can send my first attempts to!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

A Roman Lady

I threw a Roman party for my Latin classes yesterday afternoon. We ate reclining like the Ancient Romans and snacked on bread, grapes, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs. And drank wine (er, grape juice) of course.

I had so much fun making my costume. It's really simple, but it's my first official "garment". Purple tunic, gold rope around an empire waist, gold rope headband, and big gold earrings. Those of you who know me well know that I never wear earrings that hang off my ears, so that was a big stretch!

I invited my class to dress up, too, but only had one taker, pictured to the right. She also made her costume herself. Darling!

Monday, December 18, 2006

you ain't nothin' but a horned frog...

I'm posting occasional pictures of the progress being made on my 'pin friend Jenn's TCU horned frog longies. Well, technically, they're Jenn's daughter's longies. ;-)

1/8--finished!
front


back--my favorite! :D


side


1/7--practice swatch for TCU embroidery on the bum


1/6--just needs finishing touches!




12/29--legs complete, joined, and working up the hips


and a side view so you can see the heiny shaping


12/20--leg #1 complete at 13.5" long and a little more than 13" in circumference


12/17--the beginning of leg #1

Friday, December 15, 2006

look what DAVID made!

It's a yarn swift! I'm told that really nice yarn (the kind I'm always tempted to buy but still shy away from) rarely comes in tidy little skeins like the yarn at Michael's that pull neatly from the center. Therefore, in order to work with it, it must be wound into a center-pull ball with the help of a swift and ball winder. I have a ball winder (something like this) on my Christmas list, and I found plans on-line to make a simple swift. David had been itching for a wood-working project, so he whipped it up for me. It looks great and I'm so excited! Now I must need to buy some really nice yarn, huh?

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

it's an oven mitt,, it's a mitten, it's a

BATH MITT! I'm still using up the random bits of cotton yarn in my stash and this little pattern caught my eye. It's really soft and roomy! It does seem a little holey to me, so I think I'll do the next one in half-double crochet instead of double to tighten things up a bit. I've been enjoying washcloths in the shower more than my scubbie lately, so maybe I need a few more of these...

Sunday, December 10, 2006

pretty as a flower garden

more longies for Lucy! Over Thanksgiving, Stephanie and I went out and chose yarn for Lucy's new longies. She chose Lion Wool in the flower garden colorway in hopes of matching a shirt that Lucy already has. Stephanie also requested a little top-knot hat to match. I think they came out super cute! I'm always hesitant to crochet in variegated yarn since I don't like the "built with Legos" effect that some variegated yarns can create (you can see it a little bit in this hat that I did). But the flower garden longies had *really* short color repeats, which looks like little flecks of color when crocheted. I tried them on Stella, my most cooperative model, and fortunately, they're way too big! But Stephanie, it'll give you an idea of how the ensemble looks all together. Now all I need is to see them on Lucy with her matching shirt!

Friday, December 08, 2006

cousins!

My dear friend Jessica and her sister Kristin are bringing new babies into their homes around the same time. Jessica is due with her 3rd child right after Christmas, and after much anticipation, Kristin and her husband get to go to Taiwan to bring home their adopted daughter Laney in early January. I asked Jessica if it would be dorky to make matching hats for the new cousins. She said no, so here they are...

The slightly larger one on the left is for Laney. I had some 'pin friends with 9-10 month old babies measure their heads so I'd know what size to make it for this sweet little girl. The one on the right is for Jessica's baby Rush (his/her in-utero nickname). It's a newborn+ size, since Jessica swears her kids have unusually large heads. I made these out of Paton's SWS in Natural Earth. They're not the most babyish colors, but I needed them to be gender-neutral since we don't know who Rush is. I used this yarn in a different color on David's cousin Lillian's hat. I still love it--soft, soft, soft.

And one more note for those of you who have excellent memories and may be wondering, "Didn't she already make something for Rush?" Yes, I made Rush a kitty lovey. To my great satisfaction, that kitty lovey has been adopted (stolen?) by Rush's 2 year old sister, Claire. I love that she loves it, and I'm happy to let it be hers and make something new for her baby brother or sister. ;)

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

I finally finished

the rest of baby Daniel's wipe stash! I gave the 1st dozen to my friend Lisa before Daniel was born, but I only got around to sewing the 2nd dozen today. They have the same flannels on one side, but red velour instead of orange flannel on the other. So soft! I know she uses and likes the flannel ones, so I can't wait to give her these!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

a (hopefully) cute twist on a on old classic...

dishcloths! I made these out of leftover cotton yarn from the lion project and Ellie's hat. I think the color combinations came out super cute, even though David agreed that the yellow, orange and white one looks a bit like candy corn! The "candy corn" dishcloth is made in a fun basket weave stitch that took forever but looks really cute. It's about 7x7 inches square. It's pretty thick, so it actually might make a better trivet than dishcloth. Who knows. The pink and chocolate one is a 7x8 rectangle, and was a super easy pattern that is nice and soft--lots of give. Overall, these were fun, and I have plenty of random cotton yarn left. I should make more!

Friday, December 01, 2006

got drafts?

I made this door draft stopper snake today for my sister-in-law for Christmas. She had one on her list, and I (foolishly) thought, "Oh, I can do that! No problem." Wow, were there ever problems! Yes, it looks straightforward enough, and if you look at the pattern, you too will think, "Easy!" but I nearly chunked this thing out the window during the sewing process today. I am such a novice seamstress, and WAY too much of a perfectionist. This creates a problem when my skills are nominal and my expectations are high. Arg. I am pleased to say that I'm satisfied with the final result, and hopefully my husband will soon forget what a bear I was when he happened to come home today in the middle of the most frustrating part!