Baby Gear for a Phillies Fan

You may remember that I was making Flyers baby gear for my sister's shower. Well, one of her several pregnant friends at her shower last week spent some time ohhing and ahhing at my creations. My sister asked me to make her some Phillies gear for their baby girl, due a week after my niece/nephew in June. I was happy to comply, especially since I know how much she liked the originals :)



Here is how they turned out. What do you think? The one burp cloth I made out of a rally towel I got when one of the Phillies pitchers came to my office for a charity event a few weeks ago. Great recycling, I think. What does someone actually do with a rally towel after the game they received it at anyway?

The Finished Product

I finished the play mat I was crocheting for my sister's first baby. I gave it to her this past weekend at the baby shower I threw for her at my mother's home. It was a great party and I am really glad she liked my gift so much.

I trimmed the blanket with two double crochet rows of green, white, and black in Lion Brand Homespun. If you would like patterns for any of the squares I made, just let me know. Most of them I found online :)

In my family, we are all about development. I made sure that this would give Baby D a leg up once he/she is born.

Congratulations, Col!

Penguins are OK as long as we aren't talkin' Hockey...

For my little brother's 2 year anniversary with his girlfriend Sarah, he wanted to make her a present having something to do with penguins, her favorite thing.

I thought this was totally cute and sweet and offered any artistic assistance that I could. I had quite a few different ideas for the project-- glass, yarn, fabric, wood, resin, clay.... you know. Crafty stuff.

Anyways, he chose the most time consuming option in stained glass. Devin having never used a glass cutter, I took that task for myself. Aside from that aspect, I taught him how to work the grinder, fit a pattern, copper foil, and soder the entire piece.



He did a really good job. Start to finish, it only took 2 hours too. Not bad, little brother! Look, so proud. Sarah will love it. <3

Baby D Progress

As you may remember, I have been working on squares for an activity throw for my sister's baby. I am making slow, but good progress.


This is the next square I will be working on. On top of the pattern is a skein of my inspiration yarn Premier Yarn's Serenity Garden - Gems. The pattern is one I have free from JoAnn Fabrics called Caron Simply Soft Multi-Petal Flower. I bet they have it on their website if you want to try it out too.


I have also been working on sewing her a few items. Here below, I have a Flyers Hockey wet bag with rubber sheeting lining the inside and a diaper changing pad with a pocket to hold a few diapers and a package of wipes. It was such a challenge to find any NHL fabric to use- believe me. That is actually knit material I have from the largest size men's pajama pants that I could find at Model's to use as fabric for the project. My idea is to make a few bibs, burp cloths, and other accessories for the baby. We all realize that my brother-in-law Ron will be the poor soul toting the diaper bag around anyways. Might as well make it something he likes!
The pattern for the diaper clutch is from Toad's Treasures. This was a great tutorial that I found that had some really great illustrations for someone just starting out with sewing. This was a quick project and I suggest you check it out so you can make a million yourself! The wet bag... unfortunately I do not remember where the idea came from (sorry!). I know I saw it somewhere online while I was looking for baby diaper bag accessories via Google but I didn't write down the site or really use any pattern. (Again, sorry!)

Springtime and Rainbows

For Easter dinner, I made this delightful dessert for my family.

Rainbow Cupcakes!
I wanted to share the recipe with everyone because though it was really easy to do-- I had never heard of it before!. I basically used the recipe at Family Fun, but with a few minor edits.

First, you need a box of cake mix. I went with white cake mix because it is easiest to get the colors you want. You will also need Red Blue and Yellow liquid food coloring and cupcake papers. I added icing to mine, but you don't have to really.

Mix up the cake mix as directed and divide your batter into 6 different bowls with 6 different spoons. Add in food coloring until you get the tint desired. I had to use different combinations of the colors to get my rainbow than the recipe calls for-- I like mine vibrant!

Next, add the colors mix to the cupcake papers. I did this in ROYGBV order for authenticity, but you don't have to. One think to note, it was really hard to figure out "how much" I needed of each color in each cup. The lesson learned-- it could be a thin layer in the middle as long as the color reached out to the sides. It will all work out, trust me. Also, I made 18 cupcakes-- the recipe says to make 16. I think you could even make 20-24, depending on how much you fill the cups. I had some minor overflows on half my cakes so it is totally possible to make more.= without scrimping.



Next, bake as directed. That's it! Again, I made icing to top them off but you do not have to. If you do and you are planing to travel, I suggest icing them when you get there. The directions say to remove the cupcake papers for presentation-- I didn't. Personal choice.

These were a big hit and very fun to make. Just be sure to give yourself an extra 15-20 minutes prep-time for batter distribution.

Enjoy!

Jimbo's Front Porch : Winner!

I am the very enthusiastic winner of one of Jimbo's hand carved beauties.



Here is Jimbo's description for the auction: Hook #1 I haven't made and Egg Hook for some time now but they're soooo comfortable for underhand grippers that I really should make lots more. The bulb fits in the palm of the hand, so the grip is pretty much by the ball of the thumb and the pinky, leaving the rest of the fingers to manipulate yarn is a very easy relaxed manner. This hook is a K (6.5mm), is made of Hard Maple and is 5 inches long (12.7cm). The largest diameter of bulb or egg shape is 1 1/4 inches or 3.2cm. A VERY comfortable hook for folk who are underhand (like you hold your toothbrush) grippers.

The hook arrived last week and it has been a dream. If you have never heard of Jimbo's Front Porch, you really must go visit his site. He makes beautiful hand carved hooks and auctions them off in his blog posts. All proceeds are going towards building a porch on his home. He has a great, poetic way about his writing which I enjoy. Also, if you are interested, he once posted a tutorial on how to carve your own hooks. I am in the process of trying to make one myself. I'll let you know of the progress after I get past the third step. Bark removal is really time consuming! With the weather getting better, though, I anticipate I will be able to spend more time outside where I don't have to fuss about the wood shavings getting all over the place.

Etsy Purchase!

Please take a moment to view the beautiful Ms. Sophie. Isn't she gorgeous? I bought her on Etsy at Kate's Cache. Usually, I would try to make this little cutie myself but... I am still a beginner at knitting and am in no way ready to make something so complicated. I am still working on making flat pieces!

Anyway, Kate made this little sweetie custom for me. I wanted her because she is a adorable little bunny in a bathing suit. I started a new diet on St. Patrick's day two weeks ago. It is a completely liquid diet monitored by the hospital. To be honest, the actual diet has been pretty easy. The hardest part is the lack in variety. I wish there were more options! But I digress. I wanted the bunny in a bathing suit to keep at my desk at work (where I am the worst snacker ever) to remind me that I too will look super cute in a pink bathing suit this summer, as long as I stick to the plan.

13.6 pounds down... many more to go.

Thank you for my new bathing beauty, Kate. My mother named her Sophie. I think the name suits.

Scrapper's Giveaway!

Taryn from the Hamburg Hideaway is launching a new site: Top Shelf Memories-- and she is having a great giveaway!

All you have to do to enter is to join her monthly mailing list to learn about new kits and products. This is a no-commitment club which means you have the freedom to pick and choose which kits you want to receive and if you want to participate that month. She will have two kits a month-- one feminine and one masculine. This one here is the boy themed one for April, which is right up my alley.

Bunny Bun Cover: Viking Club

I bought a Viking sewing machine at my local Joann's just this past January. The company offers monthly skills classes that if you bought a machine, you can sign up for.

I was fortunate enough to attend the April class this past week. The projects were for basket liners.

Check out my handiwork! The bunny bun cover (typically seen as a hen whose wing you would lift to access the warm rolls inside the basked underneath) is too cute. I was really pleased with how it came out. The wonderful ladies at Viking were very patient. I appreciate all the extra time they gave me and my questions.


I am getting better at using my machine, which is exciting. This weekend, I will be making some baby items for my sister and a co-worker. More on that later!

Baby Blanket - Minor Progress

As promised, here are the two squares I made and had mentioned earlier this month. The green above is my next square. I am having a hard time working out a crochet cable stitch.

Anyone have a pattern they can recommend with great texture for my new niece or nephew?

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

... on a one week trip to San Fransisco!

See you in a week, friends!

My First Attempt at Quilting...

I am trying to sew a wallet!


I found a tutorial at That Darn Kat for a project that looked fairly simple.

Altogether, it took me around 5 hours to complete, which I think was pretty good considering it was my first independent (non classroom) sewing project ever. It you are a total beginner, like me, it may not be the easiest tutorial to follow. I got a little tripped up at the section that made the credit card pockets as well as the simple direction to "assemble the pieced top". Lol. I had to make some guesses on that one. Great project, though. I definitely recommend!

It turned out pretty cute-- take a look!

A Pop of Primary

Well,I finished the Pomp-a-Doodle square last night. That yarn was a ton of fun to work with. I will be keeping my eye out for a sale on Red Heart yarn again so I can get some more colors. I would love to have the Berries and Cream (pink tones) and Shoreline (blue tones) too. Very pretty. Very plush. I am sure Baby D will love the square once (s)he makes his/her appearance.


On to my next square! I choose Lion Brand Lion Suede in Scarlet for the next piece-- It's nice when you can do a little stash busting for a project, isn't it? I have never worked with this yarn either but I bought it on clearance ($1 a skein!) so I'm excited to see how it works up.
I decided to do a popcorn stitch with this block. I am hoping that it will mimic the fabric you typically see in baby blankets.

Hopefully I can find my camera charger soon so I can upload a picture of the two squares so far.


POPCORN SQUARE (7x7 inches)
Popcorn (PC): Work 4 dc in next sc, drop loop from hook, insert hook in first dc of 4-dc group, pickup dropped loop, and draw through st, pull tight; ch 1 to secure.

Using a K Hook Ch 19.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across
Row 2 (Popcorn Row): Ch 3, turn, skip first sc, PC in next sc, dc in next 3 sc, (PC in next sc, dc in next 3 sc) 3 times --- Row has 4 total Popcorn stitches
Row 3: Ch 1, turn, sc in first 3 dc, sc in next PC, (sc in next 3 dc, sc in next PC)
Row 4: Ch 1, Sc in each sc across
Row 5-?: Repeat Rows 2-4 until your square measures 7 inches. Fasten off.

A Different Sort of Baby Afghan

So one of my sisters is pregnant. This will be my third niece or nephew. Colleen and Ron do not what to know the sex of the baby -- and it is killing me! I want to make a pink pretty princess blanket for someone. So far I have two very sweet, handsome nephews that do not wear pink at all. Boo.

Anyway, so Colleen is rather particular about her likes and dislikes. She does not like all neutral colors, yellow, primary colors, or farm/zoo animals. This puts me in an odd position. She hasn't chosen a bedding set yet or registered for anything at all... and I need to get cracking on my baby projects.



So here is what I decided to do. Using the first picture as an inspiration for design and the yarn (Premier Yarns Serenity Garden - Gems) as my color inspiration, I am going to make a blanket Col can use as a play mat for the baby once they learn to push up and start to crawl. I am collecting together different tactile yarns and textured patterns.

Any suggestions? Tonight I am starting with making a single crochet square with Red Heart's Pomp-a-Doodle Plush Plum to pull out that lavender tone in the inspiration yarn.

I Just Gotta Rock...

Surprise! My boyfriend actually gave me two days notice that we were going to see our friend to celebrate his birthday this weekend! I think that things are improving.

Our friend, Andrew, has two hobbies-- making beer with his fiancee Lauren and making music with his friends. Well, I already made Lauren a birthday beer, so I thought that I would take on making a guitar to gift to him. I tried to mimic his favorite guitar-- a custom made one that you see in the picture there. I didn't get the shape exactly right but I like to think of it as "stylized" and homemade.

I found a pattern that was close to what I was looking for at Crochet & Craft - The Thinkable and the Unthinkable. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the pattern with enough time to get the present made for Andrew's party. I used the picture she has posted as a general model and worked out from there. I did go ahead and buy the pattern on Etsy. It's so cute and I know that I'll want to make one for my nephews. Besides, I am interested to see where the differences are in our designs.

I Always Wanted to Knit!

I am really so excited. I think I might have the skills to start searching the internet for beginner's knitting patterns.

I took a class at my local A. C. Moore this past Monday not quite sure what to expect. You see, I had already attended a beginner's knitting class earlier in 2009 at my local JoAnn's Fabrics and had left that class feeling dejected and lost. Unfortunately, I think the class size was too large and the teacher to inexperienced with actually teaching true beginners for the class to have been effective.

My teacher at A. C. Moore was Beth from Beth's Creative Notions on Etsy. We had a class of three-- a young girl of 10 years old, my mother, and myself. I definately prefer the smaller class sizes. That way I get individual attention and get to ask my questions without feeling like I am annoying anyone.

You can't really see it here but those are even stitches. I learned to cast on, knit, and purl. We talked about ribbing and how combining the basic stitches could make ribbing and things like that. She showed me how to change colors (just like crochet, really) and how to pick up a dropped stitch. I also saw casting off but i am definately going to need to Google that one again when it comes time.

I will be making a pink square for my pink breast cancer awareness afghan as soon as I am done experimenting with this one.

Happy Birthday, Ian

Tomorrow (2/10) is my sweetheart's birthday. He is turning 27...

Have you ever noticed that all too often you make crafts and things for people but never for yourself? I always find that I am giving away my creations. Poor Ian gets the short end of this stick as well. All too often, he mentions that he likes this or that while I am making it for someone else and he never gets a handmade present.


Well, tomorrow I am going to right that wrong. I made a cute penguin in blue shades for my godson Aiden when he was born. I used a I hook to make it big enough for him to grasp and play with. Ian had mentioned that he thought the penguin was cute. He wanted one in black and white, though. He is a traditionalist-- not really one for outlandish color schemes. While he was in the mountians with his friends this weekend, I whiped him up one. The pattern is free from Lion Brand's site. He's a little shy but oh so cute. I think he will look great on Ian's desk at work. I hope he likes him.

And speaking of presents, I have a debt of gratitude to pay to my little brother. I had a doctor's appointment at Temple Hospital in Philadelphia. I hate to drive into the city but my brother, Devin, is quite comfortable. He goes to school there-- Drexel. Devin drove me to my appointment and waited for 3 hours while I waited to be seen and go thru a bunch of paper work. I really appreciated it. In thanks, I thought I would make him an orange crown, his favorite color. I made it similar to the one that I made for a baby but I made the crown wider. Unfortunately, it is a little too wide for me. Hopefully, it is not too wide on Devin-- his head is a little bit bigger than mine. Well, we shall see.

For a Little Prince

So this week, I went to visit my sister at the restaurant where she works. She mentioned to me that there was a young lady there that doesn't have any family that is due in July. My heart goes out to her. I know how much my two sisters were depending on us (even if they didn't want to admit it) when they were single and pregnant. Imagine how scary it must be to think that you have a little one to provide for and no one to depend on for support.

The next morning, I went shopping for her friend's new baby boy. I love baby shopping. I fear that I may never be doing it for myself so every opportunity I get, I like to wander thru aisles of cute tiny outfits and toys. I bought 15 Carter's onsies in three sizes, three books (of course, one is bunny themed), infant toys, and a Bumbo in blue. The sweet girl hasn't even registered (possibly because she doesn't expect someone to throw a shower? How sad) so I guessed on the colors.


In addition to making a fun gift basket for my sister to surprise her with at work, I also wanted to make something little with my hands. I decided on this super cute baby crown. It only took an hour to whip up. I made it to be 16 inches around, the size of my 5 month old nephew (pictured here modeling the present for fit purposes).
I got the pattern here. Too cute! I am making one now for my nephew as his mama looked a little disappointed when I told her the crown was for her friend, not her. I'm thinking chocolate brown and baby blue?

I just hope that my pay it forward doesn't make the young lady feel weird. I just wanted to do something nice for a new mama.

Calling All Crochet Artists ^_^

Interested in joining a granny square swap? I stumbled upon it while I was checking out the blog Strumpets Crumpets. There are some really cute things there so take a stop by!

I think that for this swap, I will do all of the same style squares. Time to break out the patterns again, people!

More information can be found at Hoot-N-Annie. Come on, sign up! I'd love to send you a square :o)

Share in our excitement!

Nana made me (and herself) soup... and the bunnies recieved their just desserts!

Yummmmm Split pea and Ham is going to be so yummy tommorrow at work.