My Christmas Goodies!

My precioussssssss. I've never used a sewing machine before so it's been fun(frustrating!) trying to figure it all out. I think it needs a name. Any suggestions?
MIL gave me all this fabric "to practice with" plus two others not pictured. It's all flannel except for the pony and snoopy ones. Guess I'll be making a lot of PJ's and blankies!
My very first sewing project and (amazingly!) it fits!
Also from the MIL, plus a Christmas scrapbook which is buried somewhere in the mountain of Christmas toys in the kids room.
DH's grandma gave me all this yarny goodness!!! What should I make?!?
And since I'm really crazy I decided to (attempt to) make a quilt for Noah because Paige has about 5 or 6 handmade blankets but no one has made one for Noah. I have no clue what I'm doing, wish me luck!

Other peoples craftiness

Not much craftiness going on around here lately but hopefully that'll change soon! It's taking a while to get used to juggling two kidlets but I'm hoping after the holidays things will finally settle down to some sort of normalness. Actually, I have been doing a little bit of crochet lately so hopefully I'll have something to show off soon. It's a bit slow going though because I have to wait til Paige is sleeping to work on it. She's worse than the cat when it comes to yarn!!

Speaking of the holidays. I'm loving all the Christmas cards I've been getting from swapbotters, only half of them have been for swaps too! Oh, and I wanted to show off this card my hubby's aunt made. She makes some beautiful cards, I'll have to dig up some other ones we've gotten from her. I wish I had some of that creativity!

I think I mentioned in another post that I was crocheting beaded trim on socks for a one on one swap. Well, here is what I got in return. Knitting Cateling knit this lovely sweater for my son. She did a great job! I love the colors and stripes. I'll get some better pics of the sweater itself when I take it off him later.

My "little" guy

Noah Robert

Nov. 11 '07
10lbs 11ozs
(no that's not a typo, even the dr's were surprised!!)

A hat!

I whipped this hat up yesterday just for something different to do. The pattern said it was for newborn to 12 months (which is a pretty big range in my opinion) so imagine my surprise when it fit my nearly 18 month old perfectly! And no, she's not a tiny little thing either. My gauge was probably off...a bit, no big surprise there. I've been wanting to make her a hat anyways so isn't that convenient?! I think I'll make her a stripey one next.

I think she likes it!

Btw, the pattern is the Festive baby set from the Nov/Dec issue of Crochet Today

SBQ

This week's SBQ is:
Do you railroad?

Nope, I had to look it up to see what it was! I may try it out sometime just to see how it looks but I doubt I'll make a habit of it. It takes me long enough to finish things as it is!!

I've been tagged!!

Thanks Littlewanda for tagging me!

This tag is in honour of the clocks going back one hour in the UK this Saturday. Answer the following questions and tag six people.

Well, I don't live in the UK and our clocks don't get changed until a week later but who am I to argue with getting tagged?!? ;o)

1. If you could have the last hour prior to reading this tag again, what would you do differently? I would probably have spent more time playing with my daughter and less time on the computer before putting her down for her nap.

2. You can go back in time for exactly one hour, where and at what time in history would you go? Just one hour?!? I'd love to relive some time in my childhood, probably when we lived in Germany, just not sure exactly when.

3. You have one hour to make a handmade item, what would you make? Again, only one hour?!? I don't think it's possible for me to do anything in just an hour, I'm too easily distracted. Maybe if I were in a nice quiet room all by myself I could put together a little ornament kit.

4. If you could lose one bad habit, what would it be? my procrastination! I could get so much more stuff done if I didn't procrastinate so much.

5. In less than sixty words, describe your perfect Saturday night. Me and hubby at home having a delicious dinner then playing on the floor with our daughter and watching a good movie.

6. List sixty things you could do with that extra hour. I really don't know what I'd do with an extra hour. I wish I was more productive with the hours I have already!

Not much going on here since I've been trying to avoid signing up for swaps for now. Key word - trying! I couldn't help myself and signed up for some of the Christmas card swaps. I figured those would be easy enough since I'll be mailing out cards to family and friends anyways. I love getting Christmas cards in the mail and hanging them all over the wall. Not to mention my mailbox has been seriously lonely lately!!

Speaking of Christmas cards, I took a quick break from stitching star light to do this cross for a friend's card. I was planning on making it into a card but now I think maybe I'll make it into an ornament instead.


And now I need to take a break from stitching to finish up some crochet for a one on one swap. I really want to get that finished up soon. I'd feel bad if it got delayed because of the baby coming. Only 3ish weeks to go!!

New starts and firsts

I've cut waaaay back with swap-bot due to the new baby coming sometime in the next month or so. I know most people are understanding there but some aren't and I don't want to be called a bad swapper or get stuck with a bad rating because of having to deal with a new baby, a toddler and the holidays. Shame on life for getting in the way of swapping!!! ;o)

Anyways, with no matchboxes or biscornus to make for anybody I've been able to get some things started for myself. Yes, you read that right, I'm finally making something for myself!!
I got this pattern and fabric from a local shop called A Stitcher's Garden. They have classes and stitch-ins and the ladies there are always very helpful, unfortunately they don't sell online.
I decided to go with this pretty hand-dyed purple fabric instead of the blue suggested by the pattern so I hope it'll look ok. The only thing I know about the fabric is it's 28ct and the color is called Beach Plum. After much indecision I finally decided to do this one 2 over 2 and my eyes are very greatful for that. I've never stitched on anything other than white/off-white and let me tell you, stitching purple on purple is very rough on the eyes!!
Started on Oct. 13th
P.S. I need to invest in a set of bigger QSnaps!


I plan on making 3 of these ornaments. One for me and DH and one for each of the kiddies. I decided to try out 1 over 1 on 28ct evenweave. I like how it looks, but again, a bit rough on the eyes. I need to win the lotto so I can buy one of those OTT-Lites!! Another first for me will be doing the finishing on these. Anybody know of any good tutorials?

I want to make a wips progress list thingy on the side of my blog. I'll have to play around and see what I can do....and hopefully not screw anything up.

Purple biscornu

For another swap. Maybe someday I'll make one for myself!

My first ATCs!

These are my first ATC's. Well, the first ones I think are decent enough to be sent out into the world. I'm pretty happy with how the turned out and even made some extras. I used Snow Accent to get the bumpiness and wooden buttons for the starfish.
My first late swap :o(. My list for the I love Lists #7 swap is getting sent out a day late cause I had a brain fart and didn't realize the send by date was a Sunday...and cause I procrastinated too long with putting it together. I had some serious crafter's block with this one. All that was requiered was a list but I really felt like I needed to add something. I had fun putting stuff together once I finally got some ideas, wish I had time to do a couple more.

My hero!

As usual I waited til the last minute to package up a swap. It was due today and since I don't drive I planned on having the hubby take it to the post office. What I didn't plan on was him waking up with a migraine this morning!!! So while he was trying to sleep it off I was quietly freaking out about having to send a swap late. The stupid part is the stuff has been sitting around finished for at least a week now(see that little pink biscornu down there?), for some reason I always procrastinate when it comes to packaging stuff up.

Anyways, I sent my partner an email telling her I'm soooo sorry for her stuff being sent late and then the hubby woke up, said he felt better and asked where that stuff was I needed mailed. He made it to the post office with time to spare and even brought me back a milkshake from McD's. My hero!!!

Then I emailed my partner again and told her to ignore my first email. She probably thinks I'm crazy now. Maybe now I'll learn to not procrastinate so much.

....probably not.

PS. I think the milkshake gave little baby boy the hiccups.

Family is dear finished

Just finished this today. A Christmas present for my brother and sister-in-law who live too far away. I really enjoyed stitching this one and can't wait to get some more Bent Creek designs.

This was stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct evenweave. My first time using non-aida fabric. I really liked it and will probably have a hard time forcing myself to go back to working on the other wips on aida. I also bought my first set of q-snaps to try out with this project and I lurve them very much!!

Sad little cupcake

This was meant for a swap but I seriously screwed up on the sewing and would be embarrassed to send it. Not sure what I'll do with him now.

Hey!

At least somebody thinks he looks tasty!

Small pink biscornu

For yet another swap.

On 18count aida. Before stitching and stuffing.

After

A bit smaller than I was planning but I think it's cuter that way.

And now for something a little different.

Check out my Flickr page for pics of all the crafty stuff I've been doing for Swap-bot. Somewhere in there is also a bunch of pics of the custom ponies I used to make, I really wish I had the room to make them again! I've also been doing a bit of crochet and cross stitch. It's hard to find the time for it all. Hopefully very soon I'll have something good to show off.

I made these postcards for another swapbot swap. They didn't have to be homemade but they had to have a favorite quote on them. I decided to be adventurous and make them myself so I hope my partners like them!! My camera didn't pick up the colors very well on the first two, they're actually much brighter. The third one is on it's way to Belgium which for some reason is very exciting!


I also received my first postcard in the mail today. It's very cute, I'll have to scan it later. I love getting mail, I can't wait to see what comes next!! It's been a lot of fun buying and making things for others. The person I sent the stitch markers and goodies too loved it all which makes me so happy! Which also makes DH happy. He's glad that I've found something to keep me occupied during the day and likes seeing all the different crafty stuff I'm trying out. We'll see how he feels about going to the post office to mail things for me every other day!!

Overdue Update time as usual.

I've barely touched any cross stitch in about 2 weeks. Not sure why, just can't seem to get motivated to work on the wips or even to start anything new. Earlier this week I got some loverly stash from 123stitch and today I got the supplies to start one of the charts. Several of them are for Christmas gifts so I really need to get in gear!! I'm going to attempt stitching on 28ct evenweave for the first time. Wish me luck!


I also started a small crochet project to work on while in the car. I haven't crocheted in at least 6 months, it was nice to finally do it again. I tried to do cross stitch in the car but it's hard to count squares when the road isn't very smooth. Also with crochet it's just one continuous piece of string, no separating strands of floss and rethreading the needle.

Ok, one reason I haven't been stitching is because last week I discovered swap-bot.com. I've really been enjoying seeing all the different crafty things people there like to do and trying some things out for myself. I finally have a use for all the random bits of craft stuff I have laying around!

I made these stitch markers for one of the first swaps I signed up for. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I have a lot of beads, I see a lot of stitch markers in my future.

I also decorated this matchbox to put the stitch markers in. The receivers favorite colors are purple, pink, gray and brown so I tried to use them all.

I have several more matchboxes in various stages of decoration. Who knew decorating matchboxes would be so much fun? Now if only I could find a use for all those matches!

I haven't done enough stitching on any of the wips to bother taking new pics but I did manage to make my first biscornu. It was pretty quick and easy and I already have the supplies set out for at least two more! I got the patterns from here.

I don't really like this one as much as I thought I would so it'll probably end up being a gift. Seems like most the stuff I make is for gifts anyways! This one was done on 14count but I'm going to try some 18count for the next two. I also see myself establishing a button jar.

WIPs and Finishes...kinda.

So you know that thing I said about not doing more than two patterns at a time? Did anybody really think that was possible?!?

Anyways, here's the blackwork. It pretty much sat neglected since my last post but I've worked on it a little bit the last couple days. It's about one thirdish done but I have a feeling this one is going to be hanging around for quite a while.

This is a lapghan I crocheted for my mom's birthday about 2 years ago. It now lays across the back of her recliner and she uses it all the time. So imagine my extreme excitement when I happened to stumble across a cross stitch chart for the very same pattern!!!

This will be an easy one since there's only 3 colors. It'll just take me forever to get around to having the patience to do that blue border. I might attempt to make it into a cushion if I can find some good instructions on how to do that. I'm planning to give it to my mom for Christmas.

This is my dad's Christmas present. He owns nearly every John Wayne movie ever made so I thought it would be fun to stitch this black and white pattern of The Duke. This one will be a bit more of a challenge since it consists of about 12 different shades of gray...and of course black and white.

Since I had no clue what to get my husband for his birthday and not much money anyways, I stitched this up for him at the last minute. He loves it and plans on putting it on his desk at work. It's nice having someone who appreciates the handmade stuff!

This is for my daughter. It just needs a couple more little stars on the bottom and then it'll be done. I left of the bottom third of the pattern, changed the 3 middle motifs on the top and also changed to the blue on the lettering to purple. I was thinking about putting something on either side of her name to fill in the empty space a bit but I don't know what.
So that's what I've been up to lately. I don't have any plans on starting anything new yet, though I do have several more things on my want to do list. Mostly trying to find patterns for Christmas gifts for now.

I was very happy last week to find out that there's a needlework shop to too far from here. I've never been to a needlework shop. I was very surprised at the prices of a lot of the stuff there. I know stuff isn't cheap but $20-$30 for a chart by itself, not a kit, seems like a bit much to me. It was hard to find anything that I really liked and could afford but I did end up getting a Christmas chart for $5. Then I found the charms that go with chart were $19!!! I'll most likely go to my usual crafty stores and find similar charms for a lot cheaper. Next time I go there I think I'll make a list of charts I've found online that I want(and can afford) and see if they have them. That way I'll at least save myself the cost of shipping...assuming that their prices are about the same is online prices.

Wishful thinking? O_o

Update on the cross stitching. I've been moving right along on the birth record so hopefully this is something that'll keep me interested for quite a while. I was starting to get bored with it at one point but then I realized that was because I didn't really like the bottom half of the pattern. So I'm leaving that part off, problem solved! I'm also going to change the motifs the are supposed to go in each of the boxes on top. The rubber ducky is staying because I already had him stitched in before I decided to change everything. That's ok, I like him anyways. I'm also changing the border because it just doesn't match anymore with what's left of the pattern. ...I think that all for now.


I also couldn't resist starting another pattern. This one is a blackwork pattern I found online for free. I'm doing it in dark blue and there's little hearts that go in the big ones that I'll most likely be doing in red. I started this one because I wanted something to do that I wouldn't have to worry about constant color changes and for when I don't feel like working on the other one.


I'm trying very hard to stick to only doing two at a time so that I can actually get something finished for once. I've found a couple patterns I want to make for Christmas gifts so we'll see how that goes!

I told you I was a procrastinator! Anyways, after finally finishing the Whitney-ghan I was kinda burned out on crochet. Yes, you read that right, I finally finished something!!! The centerpeice is so close to being done you'd probably slap me if you knew how close. The baby blanket is also a lot closer to being done though I don't remember how close at the moment. I haven't touched any crochet in months. I think I used up all my ambition on the Whitney-ghan and then my procrastination went into hyperdrive.

Almost done
Finally finished!!....now what do I do with it?
Reverse single crochet edge

So now my latest obsession...hobby is cross stitch. While looking for a quick and easy little cross stitch kit to try out I picked up a crewel embroidery kit instead. In a way it's easier than cross stitch because you don't have to count all those little squares, you just fill in the spaces like a paint-by-number. You probably won't believe that I finished it in less than two weeks!I've already started working on a new cross stich project. See!

Here's what I've been up to lately. I've been working on this baby blanket off and on. At one point I was gonna frog it but when I unburied it I decided to keep on going with it. It's almost half way done now. Not sure if it'll be for Boo or one of her cousins. The pattern is from Crochet Today magazine.
The Between Meals Centerpiece. After about 3 months of not touching it I've finally started working on it again a couple days ago. See all those loopys towards the outside edge? There's 92 of them and they each have 15 dc in them. That's 1380 dc in that one round!!! It took an excruciatingly long time to do that round. I'm sooo glad it's over. There's only about 8 more rounds to go!!
Thanks to the Bedspread Cal at Crochetville I'm finally getting somewhere with Whitney's afghan! 3 weeks ago I only about 6 squares done(after over a year of frogging and starting over and over with different patterns) Now I have 9 squares joined together and another 5 more made. I was really frustrated cause they wouldn't sit flat at all but they look so much better aftery they're joined and I'm already trying to decide how to do the border. Now the only problem is I'm almost out of yarn!! I bought this yarn over a year ago so I'm praying when I buy more that the new stuff will match the old stuff.
I finally got around to finishing the second sock! These are for my sister-in-law's birthday in Feb. She loves crazy colored socks. I hope they fit her....I hope she likes them!! I love how the stripes came out. I was planning on making a second pair but don't know if I'll get around to it. I definitely want to make some for myself...someday.



I also finished the knit scarf for DH but didn't get a pic of it yet cause it doesn't like to lay flat at all. That sweater I started is on hold and might not get done cause there's some issues with the pattern. It's very frustrating cause I spent a lot of money for nicer yarn and I really don't want it to end up buried in my stash and never used. Maybe I'll be able to find another pattern to use it with.

Other than that I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with crochet. Now if only I could find the time to do all the other crafty stuff I've been wanting to do!