Falling behind

Well, I was on an excellent roll until I actually got ON vacation and had to deal with a sick baby, being sick myself, and just all-around too much travel and stress. I did not manage to finish the scarf I started for my brother's girlfriend, nor did I even start on anything else. I'm feeling pretty lazy about now since the projects are starting to pile up.

Last night, I started knitting a cotton dishcloth, just for kicks. It's knitting up pretty fast, so I'm hoping to be done with it tonight or tomorrow. When I told T what I was making, his response was, "why?" My response? "Because it's cute," and "why not?" I mean, really, come on. Who really knits things because they're cheaper or because they have a burning need for them? If I want a decently cute, cheap winter hat, I can go to Target or Old Navy and pick one up for like, $5. In fact, that's exactly what I did when I realized that the kitty hat I made for E wasn't going to cut it in Chicago. But most crazy crafty types make things because they're unique, they're cute, and they take great satisfaction in knowing that they made something themselves. Am I right?

Skull hat - take 2

After seeing my first attempt, my sister-in-law became obsessed with having a skull hat of her very own (see the comments on this post). I didn't have the stamina to make another one, but I did find another pattern that was a somewhat simplified version and offered to make her that one instead. And believe it or not, not only did I actually follow through and make it, but I even finished it in time for Christmas! Hooray! It turned out a bit bigger than the pattern called for based on the gauge I'd gotten when making E's kitty hat, but she had told me in advance that she has a big head (as do I), so it actually worked out perfectly. Besides, I figure she can shrink it a little if she has to. As a bonus, it is really very warm and cozy since it has a double layer "headband" inside. I know she wants matching mittens, but not sure if and when I'll get to those.


Overall though, I'm pretty proud of how this hat turned out and I'm thinking about making one for myself, probably in pink and black, and maybe a matching one for E too, but with the colors reversed. Of course, I probably won't start either till after the holidays and knowing me, I'll finish them sometime this summer.

My mom saw me making this one and was creeped out by the skulls. She gave me a lecture about how it's bad for a baby to be wearing something with skulls on it. T has started referring to it as the 'death hat.'

Odds and ends

I couldn't stand it that E didn't have a cute little hat to wear in the cold weather (especially since it's been kind of chilly here lately), so I very hastily whipped one up yesterday. I figured I'd just start with a generic design and then see how far I could get with adding things onto it. I actually got a lot further than I thought (apparently, watching Project Runway inspires me to knit very very fast). I got a hat, earflaps and one sad kitty-ear done before we had to go out this morning.


Also, since I gave it to her already, I can post the needle roll I made for my friend Meighan. It's actually much much nicer than the first one I made for myself, as it has two layers of pockets and a layer of cotton batting in the middle. And I love the fabric, which I bought special because I know she has a thing for birds. Of course, being the slightly compulsive/anal retentive person I am, I'm still not 100% happy with it (grrr to the crooked stitching), but overall, it looks pretty good. And T, being the good hubby that he is, said that crooked seams pale in comparison to the fact that it was homemade with love and is one of a kind. Awwww.

Racing to finish

I leave town in four days!! And while I'm very excited to see my family, I'm also feeling super stressed about getting all my little projects done before I go. As usual, I got way over-ambitious and bit off more than I can chew when it came to making Christmas presents this year. Argh.

I do have one major present done, which I'm actually quite proud of, but I can't post it just yet because I don't want to ruin the surprise, just in case the person happens to see this. I also have one knitting project in progress and one that I haven't even started, but at least knitting is portable, so I can try and get those done after I get to Chicago.

A couple other things I'd hoped to get done before leaving include some kind of poncho or cape for E to wear while in the Ergo, and the felted sweater cardigan. I've run into a total brick wall on that last one since I'm not sure I have enough material to cut out all the pieces. So now I'm debating whether I should cannibalize the matching longies or maybe just do the sleeves in a contrasting color? Not that I have time to do either of these things.

Also, for all my projects and obsession with knitting little hats, I realized that E does not have a warm hat to fend off the freezing midwestern temperatures. I'm actually kind of kicking myself about it right now since there's no way I can knit one before we leave. Double argh.

Selling my wares

In all the years that I've been making stuff, I've gifted or given away plenty, but I don't think that I've ever sold anything for money. Well, slap my pappy and call me Sally, I finally sold something! Even more surprising is that fact that it was my sewing, not knitting.

This past week, I made some babylegs on request for a friend who offered to pay me. And being the crazy, overboard person that I am, I made way more than necessary. And yes, this was during the same time that I was baking up a couple hundred cookies and making birthday dinners. Apparently, this is my week of domestic diva-dom.

In any case, I just thought I'd share, because some of the babylegs were pretty freaking cute. In the pic above, E is wearing a pair of holiday babylegs that have furry Santa tops.

More Christmas themed ones:
Stripes and dots:
And last, but not least, black with white polka dots and blue stripes:

Only a crazy person...

...would agree to making 10 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange. And I am that crazy person. Or actually, I guess I'm one of 20 crazy people. Don't get me wrong. I love to bake, and normally this is the type of thing that I would consider super fun. But I think I forgot that it's hard to work with hot ovens and such when you have a 9-month old baby crawling around, pulling up on your pant legs and whatnot.

On the plus side, I will have 20 different half-dozens of cookies to eat. Or wait, is that the minus side?

Did I also mention that yesterday was T's birthday, so I felt compelled to bake for him too? Normally, every year I bake a German Chocolate cake since it's his favorite. But this year, I just couldn't bring myself to commit to it. The thought of dealing with beating egg whites and coconut pecan frosting....*sigh*...let's just say I wasn't up for it. So instead, I made cake balls. OK, go ahead and insert your schwedde/salty chocolate balls joke here. Got it out of your system now?

Anyways, they're basically cake and frosting mixed together, coated with chocolate. Sort of like a cross between a rum ball and a cake truffle. They are far too easy to make and far too good for me to ever make again. I should also note that one batch turned out to be like, 5 dozen of them. We kind of made ourselves sick from eating so many last night.

I know that cooking/baking technically doesn't fall into the "crafty" category, but I figure it's close enough. And hey, it's my blog, I can do whatever I want.

half-finished stuff

I can't seem to motivate to finish anything. After my burst of Ravelry-inspired knitmania, I have more unfinished stuff than ever. But at least now it's all cataloged. I figured I may as well share, even though nothing is done.


Here's a cupcake hat that I started for E. I actually got pretty far, but the "icing" part is not really poofing out the way I want, so I may have to unravel and start again. I do like the colors though. And it's hard to see, but there's little bobbles along the bottom of the pink part.



This is a scarf that I randomly decided to start the other night when I went to a knitting thing with a bunch of other moms. I didn't bring any of my other current projects (don't ask me why), just a random assortment of yarn, including some of the pretty sale yarn I got a few weeks ago, and a few books. I've never really done any cable-knitting before, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I think it actually looks really pretty. I'm thinking about making a matching hat and gifting the set to my brother's girlfriend.


Here's a an oldie. It's about 3/4 of what is someday going to be a stuffed rhinoceros. Yes, you read that right. A couple years ago, I got a book of patterns for knitted stuffed animals and I actually made a few as baby gifts. This was also supposed to be for a friend's baby (who is now almost 2 years old), but as usual, I kind of lost steam - even though I was approaching the finish. One of these days, I'll get around to making the head.