May. 2, 2008 - I'm Still Alive!!! (last week's Sew Crafty Friday post too)

Hello!  Wow... it's been a long time since I've posted!!!  I can't believe it is May!!!

We are so happy that Spring is finally here!!!  It was a LONG winter and seeing grass growing is SOOOO nice!!!  I didn't blog a lot over the winter, but hope to find more time now that the weather is nice and our spirits are lifted!

I have a lot to catch up on for Sew Crafty Friday!!  Make sure you click the link and visit Shereen's blog to see what others have done!

The last time I posted, I showed a started "Beanie Baby Sleeping Bag".  I made a lot of things to send to my friend, Katherine, for her daughters and her "in utero" baby boy! 

I made her 2 oldest girls sleeping bags for their stuffies...

and I knit a little purse for her youngest daughter...

I never did end up sewing my oldest dau. and myself a bathing suit!!  The fabric is waiting patiently for me upstairs!

BUT I did sew both of my daughters new dresses.  I had a lot of fun making them and made my first ever buttonholes!!!

Here's a closeup of each...

I also made a few matching headwraps... here's one...(I'd like to make up a little tutorial someday on how to make them.  I made the pattern up based on the head wraps I wear all the time that I purchased at the local hippy shop :)

And since I am still a dishcloth knitting addict... I've made a few over the last month or so.  This is a "Breastfeeding Advocacy" cloth...

And after knitting that one, I saw one another woman "double knitted" and decided to try it.  The only problem was that the original pattern was a little off center.  I wonder how many people have noticed that?  I am a little OCD so I noticed it pretty fast after looking around at other finished cloths on Ravelry.  SO... I designed my own pattern on grid pattern and have started it...

Double knitting was fun to learn how to do.  I designed this little double knit cloth, but the double knitting isn't as obvious due to the checkered look instead of an obvious larger shape, like the nursing Mama on the above cloth.  It did turn out nice, though, for a pot holder!  I set my tea pot on it!

And my oldest daughter (7) is always busy crocheting something new!  She makes up all of her own designs! 

Here is a slipper she made (hehe...she has yet to make a matching one!!)

And she made a little cup cozy:

Isn't the lid cute??

** and here it is almost a week later and I am JUST getting this posted!!!  ARGH!!!  I am posting this today and will link to it tomorrow on Shereen's blog along with tomorrow's post!!!!

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Mar. 14, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday :)

It's that time of the week again!!  Time to pop over to Shereen's blog and check out what other's have been up to for crafts and add a link if you post an entry about your creativeness!  SHEREEN'S SEW CRAFTY ENTRY

I ordered some swimsuit fabric a couple weeks back so I could make myself and the girls modest bathing suits and it finally came last week! 

My fabric is the first one, then my oldest daughter's and then my youngest's...

I've only made one (the littlest to get the hang of it before I tackle the larger ones!) and it came out really nice!!

This is just the top...

and here's what the suit looks like with the leggings...

I have to say this wasn't the easiest fabric to work with... but it's also very forgiving since it's stretchy ;-)  And you sew the whole pattern using a zigzag stitch and many times my zig's didn't zig and my zags didn't zag...but it still came out fine!

This is what's on my needles at the moment... a no-sew (meaning you don't have a seam to sew up) stuffed animal sleeping bag for my friend, Katherine's daughter... ( I knit it on circular needles, but it isn't knit in the round)

This is a really cool pattern because I learned how to knit both sides of the bag at the same time so it's seamless!!  It's knit so that you are actually looking at the outside.  Once it's turned right side out... it will look like a normal stockinette stitch. 

Here's a link to the pattern-- NO SEW BEANIE BAG

It took a bit for me to "get it" with this pattern... but then it made complete sense.  You just cast on a certain amount of stitches (I made it bigger... I cast on 24 instead of what the pattern says...20) and then you just increase in EVERY stitch... which ended up giving me 48 stitches on my needle.  Then you just K1 stitch and then slip 1 all the way across.  The "knit" stitches are one side of the pouch and the "slip" stitches are the other side. 

I took a couple pix so you could get the idea of how it is actually knitting both sides at the same time... like a pouch...

So, I hope my friend's daughter likes it for her stuffed animal!  It should fit a Medium sized Webkinz JUST right! (when it's done, I'll have to take a pic of one of my kids animals in it!) I got the "Lion's Brand Suede" yarn at the Christmas Tree Shop and it cost $1.27 a skein!!!  They only had the one color... but what a deal!!  I went to Jo-Ann's fabric right afterward and the same brand and type of yarn sold for $5.99 a skein!  The yarn is nice and chunky and SOOOO soft!

Here are the dishcloths I finished...

ripples...

"The tomb is empty"...

and this HAS to be one of my favorites because it is knit with COTTON and WOOL!  You choose a nice scratchy wool that will felt well and when you are done and it's all felted, you have a super scouring type dishcloth!!  This pic was taken before felting... now the gold parts are all felted and work awesome to scrub pans!

What have you all been up to???  I am going over now to check it out!!

Love, Bridget

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Mar. 7, 2008 - Hi All...

I wanted to make sure to post to let everyone know that I have looked into why those on my "friends" list can't always see my blog.  They said to just make sure you are "logged in"!  If you just try to view the blog... you won't be able to see anything except the posts I enter for "everyone" to be able to view.

Also... I have a blog over at blogspot that is by invitation only, but ANY of you who are on my friends list or people I have gotten to know through other blogs can just email me their blog addy and their email address and I will send you an invite!!  I just posted some new pix of the kids outside while we went for a walk.

I also posted a "Sew Crafty Friday" post under this one!  Check it out!

:) Bridget

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