Bunny (and Monkey) Love

The third installment of my daughter's summer projects is this adorable white bunny who, along with the previous post's rag quilt, is a gift for a soon-to-be-born baby girl.

Here's a close-up of Bunny's face.  I really like the droopy ears.

And a back view of the cottontail.   Yarn used is a DK cotton/linen blend from KnitPicks.

Directions for knitting this bunny are in the book Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson, a book which is chock full of cute little animals to knit.  Plus it has great directions -- this book gets the credit for teaching my daughter how to knit in the round.  My daughter has already made most of the animals in the book, however (which you can see here and some more here).  She is now on the lookout for some other cute patterns to add to her repertoire.

In the meantime, Bunny was a hit with the small fry at the baby shower, getting broken in with a lot of toddler love -- thankfully, said toddler was able to gracefully give Bunny up at the end of the shower:)

Taking a break before the baby gets here

And while we're on the subject of knitted toys, I just discovered a cutie that I had neglected to blog about:

This little fellow (also from the Itty-Bitty Toys book) was knitted back in the spring by my daughter.  He has now gone to a little boy who is a grandson of a friend of mine (her first grandson also got one of my daughter's monkeys).  It's hard to tell from the photos, but Bunny is a substantial size, while Monkey is fairly small (think good-sized baby doll to small baby doll).

I love his topknot

The yarn used for Mr. Monkey was sock yarn from KnitPicks.  He's cute as can be, but this is the third monkey my daughter has made in the past year, and she says it will be a LOOOONG time before she will be able to make another one;)

Well-satisfied with life at the moment

Meet George.....and Harry

These little monkeys were knitted by my daughter, using the directions in Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.  The first monkey, who we'll call 'George', was commissioned by a friend of mine who is expecting her first grandchild, a little boy, to be born any day now.  She and her daughter had seen my daughter's other toys (you can see some of them here), and they wanted one, leaving the choice of animal up to my daughter.

"George"

George turned out so cute that my daughter made another one for her younger brother.  We'll call this monkey 'Harry.'

"Harry"

Both were made using sock yarn from KnitPicks.  We ordered it from there because the only sock yarn we can find locally is variegated, which wouldn't give the monkeys the striped effect.  Because George is for a baby, he is stuffed with plain stuffing.  Harry is partially stuffed with plastic pellets, which makes it easier to sit him up, but the pellets tend to settle, so he is not as fluffy as my daughter wanted.

There are plans for a third monkey, but knitting those skinny arms and legs in the round got tedious, so my daughter had to take a little break before further monkey business.

Don't you just love the little topknots?

"Ah, this is the life!"

February Sum Up

February was a difficult month at my house.  Lots of health concerns, some mine, some others.  Lots of my time was occupied in worry, then trying to turn that worry into prayer.

I made a recommitment to being healthier, which for me -- right now, at least -- means exercising at least an hour a day.  I pulled out our trusty P90X workout DVDs (can you tell that I live in a male-dominated household?) and am now finished with the first three weeks.  So challenging (that's an understatement), but I do feel myself getting stronger and able to do more. However, it does eat into my creative time.

I'm also trying to eat lower on the glycemic scale.  I haven't gotten a cookbook on that yet but just checking things on line.  Basically trying to eat a higher protein breakfast, and finding ways to increase protein and fiber and decrease (but not totally eliminate) carbs.  It really hasn't been too bad.  And I found out I was very low on Vitamin D, so I am now taking a large supplement.  This shows me I don't  spend enough time outdoors, something else I need to work on.

I kept waiting for winter to arrive, but it never really came this year (unless it's hiding around the corner waiting to do a sneak attack in mid-March).  Instead, our winter was more like spring.  We've never had such green grass (although most likely by summer it will be turned back to brown).  The bad thing about no winter is that the bugs don't get a chance to die out, so I expect my fly-swatters will be getting a workout this spring and summer. (I have one friend who doesn't even own a fly-swatter.  Somehow flies know not to go in her house!)  But I have too many pets and too many people going in and out, in and out, all day and the insects (and sometimes geckos) wait by the doors for their opportunity!  Right now the insect of choice is the mayfly or mosquito hawk, which is harmless but somewhat annoying when they are everywhere:

Mosquito Hawk

The problem of spring (and fall, for that matter) in Texas is that it comes and goes so quickly that if you are not careful, you will miss it.  Mostly we just have 3 parts summer, 1 part winter.  Here are a few pictures of spring to remind me:

Blue skies

Underneath our live oak in the front yard

The golden rain tree is leafing out

Loropetalum blossoms

A rogue petunia that escaped from its pot

I didn't complete any projects in February, but I did work on some.

I'm still adding to my ripple blanket:

Getting closer to a finish

Working on a giant granny (surreptitiously):

Made with acrylic self-striping yarn

Got two or three more blocks done on the flower garden quilt:

Mostly completed while waiting for basketball games to start

I totally neglected my big quilt and MUST get back to it.

My daughter began a pompom blanket, which is very fun and feels SO soft and squishy!

She does not plan on sharing this :)

Even though I posted very little in February, I did read lots of your posts.  I found lots of encouragement there.  Sometimes good advice, sometimes a little mini-vacation as I visited some of you who live in such a different place than I, sometimes inspiration.  I still feel a little bit odd occupying the blogworld, but there are lots of good things about it, and number one is getting to know some kindred spirits :)

Homemade Gift Love

Our family had a good, fairly quiet Christmas.  I spent most of the week between Christmas and New Year's sick with a cold and didn't accomplish much.  But the weather was lovely (70 degrees Dec. 30!) and so by Saturday we had all our decorations down, including the outdoor lights.  I still need to find a box for my wreath, though.

This Christmas I only made one homemade gift:  a pillowcase for my youngest son.  I used this tutorial and fabrics I already had on hand.  I had to brush up on my rusty embroidery skills to do his name.  There is a new pillow inside the case, too.  (Both the pillow and pillowcase were on his Christmas wish list:)

My daughter, on the other hand, gave EVERYONE in our family something.

Lovely wrist warmers for me (directions are here).  I can attest that you can wear these and still crochet or write, and for some reason it is often my wrists that are cold, so these really work.

See,  I'm still working on my ripple blanket

Socks for my husband (these are my daughter's first pair of socks!!):

These are spiral socks

Slouchy hat for a brother:

Stuffed mouse for another brother:

Pajama pants for the two oldest brothers:

AND a Christmas stocking for a friend:

She's already got her plans for next this year.  People, she puts me to shame.

I look forward to sharing what we make this year, and I look forward to being inspired by all of you fellow crafters out there -- we love to see what you are doing, too!

Knitted Toys

I am not a knitter.  BUT, my teenage daughter is.  Two or three years ago, a very nice lady from our church got her started with a dishcloth.  There was, as might be expected,  a lot of frustration in the beginning, and my daughter laid knitting aside for awhile to pursue other crafts.  Then she picked up the Klutz Knitting book and taught herself some more. (When you are learning a new skill, you cannot beat those Klutz books.)

She has made lots of scarves and hats, all impressive to me, but it is these little knitted toys that are SOOO cute.  The problem with them is they are knitted in the round.  As I said, I do not knit, so I couldn't help her figure this out.  But one thing about my daughter:  she is DETERMINED.  So she tried and tried until she finally figured it out for herself, and now there is no stopping her.

The book she used to learn how to knit in the round was Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.  All the following cuties are from Itty-Bitty Toys or from another of her books called Spud and Chloe at the Farm.  All of Susan Anderson's books are adorable.  She also has a very helpful blog called  Spud and Chloe, chockful of doable projects.  We love her stuff!

This ball is one of my daughter's first projects in the round, and is destined for a small boy cousin.

This little silver bear was a gift for a baby at church.

Isn't that a friendly face?

This cat was a present for a little cousin.

This hippo was for a friend's birthday.

The sweet little cousin who got this pig loved it as much as I do :)

What a personality!

Love, love the squiggly tail!

Here is Chloe herself:

A little Christmas mouse, one of the earlier toys:

A little brown bear that went to a sweet baby boy:

A little dog knitted during a car trip out west:

A giant giraffe that went to a special little girl at our church:

He was  probably the most complicated.

Back view:

It will be awhile before the baby is as big as the giraffe!

Santa  and his sack are the newest creations, and Santa is enjoying the holiday season right now on a shelf in my living room.

Here's a better look at his beard.  Hello, Santa!

My daughter doesn't have a blog of her own, so every once in a while I just want to brag on her!  I'm amazed at what she can do and I know when she's grown up she'll run rings around me.  I cannot take any credit for any of this.  My main job is to purchase the supplies :)  and to encourage and smooth things over when they get too frustrating.  Other than that, I try to stay out of the way and let her work her magic!