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 never wear earrings that hang off my ears, so that was a big stretch!
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?
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...
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
I finally get to share my super secret crochet project for baby Hochart! Since my dear friend Liz is always one of my most enthusiastic crochet admirers, I wanted to do something really special for her little bean-to-be. I chose this pattern from lion brand patterns, crocheted in cotton yarn. It really was a simple pattern. That's the beauty of it--looks deceivingly complicated! The entire thing is worked in single crochet--no exceptions. 
For the mane rows, I had to wrap my yarn once over a 1"wide strip of cardboard to create a loop before I worked the sc stitch. Those rows were so fun to see take shape. I had a blast with this pattern! The pictures are of it all finished and folded up, and of my niece trying it on over Thanksgiving (being held by her daddy/my brother). I can't wait to see it on Elizabeth's little guy (or gal)!
I got to see Lucy wearing her longhorn longies on Friday.
My mom has a not-so-miniature daschund named Short Puppy. Since daschunds are bred to hunt burrowing animals like rabbits and such, they like to spend time in small spaces. They often like to sleep "underground" in a "burrow." For SP, that means underneath whatever blankets he can find. Over the summer Mom and I saw some daschund sleep sacks made especially for this purpose, but chose not to buy one for SP. Mom has since regretted that decision, so I decided to make him one. 
I chose the fabric with Mom in mind. She loves moose, red, brown, and khaki. The outside is just a cotton print, and the lining inside is a sherpa fleece. I took the sack to SP when I went home for Thanksgiving.
Today I tried my hand at making mama pads! I know I'm not a mama yet, but it IS a commonly used name for cloth menstrual pads in crunchy circles on-line, and well, it just sounds nicer. Some of you may be thinking, "Gross! Re-usable pads?" but I'm telling you, they're great. I have quite a nice stash of them that I've purchased from various talented women who make and sell them on-line, but I thought today I'd try my hand at making my own. I used this pattern and made three 8 inch liners. I'm calling these Superwoman pads because I feel like a superhero in red and blue and stars. The two with stars are flannel with hemp inners and navy fleece backs. The red one is velour, also with hemp and fleece. All they need is snaps on their wings and they're ready to fly!
My friend Lisa is expecting a baby boy any day now. Since she plans to cloth diaper, I made her a stash of cloth wipes. I had a blast picking out cute flannels for a little boy. From the left--baby blue with circus stuff, yellow with cars, and blue with planets and spaceships. She got 4 of each of these, all with orange flannel backs. I have another dozen cut out, but not yet serged. The 2nd dozen will have the same flannels, but will be backed with red velour. mmmm....velour!
This little hat is for a friend at church's baby boy who is expected soon. He is also expected to arrive a little early. It's a cute, soft, tiny little hat. I 'm sure he'll be just as cute and tiny.
isn't this precious? The ribbed soaker looks so classy to me! This one's a little wide in the hips relative to its rise and legs, but that's due to me not adjusting for adding the short rows in the back.
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