Knitting Up a Storm

Once upon a time, someone came to my house and dropped off two uncovered pillows with the promise that she would make some original pillowcases - one for each of my kids.  These uncovered pillows sat and waited, came along with us through two moves, and still sat there uncovered.  The promise probably long forgotten.  I don't sew, so I left those pillows to wait and see if they really would get covered by that promise.

One day I was looking at my yarn stash and thinking that I needed to use up or get rid of some of it.  I remembered the pillows that still sat and waited and immediately started knitting.  I decided to make a patchwork pillow with what I had on hand.  It has been months of knitting here and there, but this past week I decided to spend my AEDM days finishing it up.

I was so relieved to finally get my son's pillow done, that I decided to get started on my daughter's.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll have it done in time for Christmas.  Might be hard, since I'm probably the slowest knitter in the world!

Crocheted for Me!

Every once in a while, especially when the requests from loved ones are at a high, I like to make something for myself.  I mentioned in a previous post that I was doing exactly that and I finally finished it up.

Yay!  On to my next project!

Finished for Father's Day

I mentioned in a previous post that I was trying to finish up my first amigurumi crochet project in time for Father's day.  I thought I was biting off more than I could chew, but I got it done in time!

My husband is a big fan of Final Fantasy games (and anything from Squaresoft), so I knew that he would love this little moogle.  I ended up using the moogle pattern by Charlotte Davis. 

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern.  I wasn't going to buy yarn just for those eyes, so I ended up using embroidery floss that I had on hand. 

Also, I didn't like the wire being visible between the top of the head and bauble.  I decided to knit about a 2 inch i-cord and slipped the wire through it before assembling all the pieces together.  I think I made things a little more difficult for myself, but was well worth it for more of a finished look.

A bit complicated for my very first crochet project, but well worth it when I see my husband's reaction for Father's day!

To all the other dads out there, I hope you have an awesome day!

P.S. I have one Father's day project that I took on at the last minute, but I forgot to take pictures of it before I wrapped it up.  Hopefully I can take a picture of it and share it after my husband opens it up!

Works in Progress

I'm really enjoying changing things up, so I decided to take things a little further by learning how to crochet.

The projects I decided to try are on the slow side.  Below are a couple of works in progress.

I needed a break from making stuff for my loved ones.  So when I saw Futuregirl's crochet beaded bracelet tutorial, I knew I had to make this for myself.

The bottom photo is my first attempt at making an amigurumi.  I'm hoping to have this done in time for my husband on father's day.

I'm learning that crochet is relaxing, but not something I want to do often.  I do love making things for my loved ones when they request it though, so you may see more projects scattered about here and there.

Changing Things Up

As much as I love to draw and paint with watercolors, sometimes I feel like I'm missing something.  I end up needing to do something else creatively.  Lately, I decided to pick up some knitting needles again.

I made two chain chomp hats, one for my husband and one for my son.

My daughter was feeling left out and requested a Hello Kitty hat.  I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, so I decided to so something I had never done with knitting before - just wing it!

And now I've decided to wing making a scarf to match my son's hat.

This little switch (and working on Index-Card-A-Day) reminded me how important it is for me to change things up every once in a while.  It brought about inspiration at a time when things were starting to feel stale and stuck.