Mystery Shawl

I decided it would be fun to knit along with my friends and knit a mystery shawl.  This shawl is designed by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops.

My friends Jolene, Sarah and I decided it would be fun to all use the same colors and make a friendship shawl.

The pattern called for three different colors.  We used the same colors, but each put them in a different order for our A, B and C:
The green and teal are hand dyed yarn by Sarah and I and the blue is Wullenstudio.



We cast on all together:



We each knit away on our clues and compared them once in a while when we got together:



Now the shawls are done and I can't wait until they are all reunited for a group picture!  Until then, here is mine:

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Antler Cardigan

I finished a darling sweater for my daughter's friend P. It was her second birthday so I wanted to do something special for one of her best friends.

I love how it looks on her!



Stats:
Pattern: Antler Cardigan by tincanknits
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease
Needles: US 8, 5.0 mm
Alterations:The sleeves seemed a bit snug so I increased to 38 stitches instead of 36 for size 2-4 sleeves.

Of course my little peanut had to try it on for size too!

Beans, beans the magical fruit!

No - there was no tooting but there were hours of joy!



I had seen many examples of kids playing in beans, but I was nervous to try it for my daughter. She has a tendency to put everything in her mouth and uncooked beans would be an interesting thing to fish out of her mouth!

But luckily she didn't eat any!



I just bought 5 bags of different kids of beans - all shapes sizes and colors - and dumped them into a plastic bin.



I think the dog was almost as fascinated as she was!  He only ate about 3 or 4!



She played in there for over two hours!

I highly recommend this for your toddler! And the best part - you can put the lid on it and store it away for another day!

Finishing

I have been finishing some long overdue projects the last month or so.  One project that I recently finished is perhaps my oldest as well! About 10 years ago I took a class called "Quilt in a Day."  We learned how to cut and piece a quilt and miraculously I actually finished piecing a quilt top in that class.  But finishing a quilt top is not a finished quilt!  Time, fear and other interests got in my way and left that quilt unfinished.  I made many more quilts after that but for some reason never got around to finishing that first one!  Until now.

I decided it was about time to get that WIP off my list. 

A little repair work on a seam that didn't quite seal and I was ready for the backing and the quilting.  I kept it simple and just stitched in the ditch.  Since the original fabric I used for this was long gone I found some maroon fabric that was a close match and made my binding.  Then it was finally done!



I'm so happy to have this quilt since it represents so many things for me.  It was the beginning of my life of sewing and quilting and also introduced me to a friend who led me to knitting!  I met my friend Margaret at that quilt class year ago and she mentioned she had a knitting group.  I had just started knitting and had only made one or two projects.  Meeting Margaret and going to my first knit night led me to a whole new world of friends and experiences. 

So thank you quilt for opening new doors for me! I'm glad you are finally complete :)



I added a little decorative stitch for the binding too.  I like how it repeats the little flower motif from the white fabric.



From my oldest to my newest quilt!

I also recently finished a circle quilt:



I fell in love with a circle quilt after seeing one on a little gray's blog. I made a crib sized one for my girl out of fabrics I've had for a while - just waiting for the perfect project. 

I applied the circles using a zig zag stitch. 


I changed up the back a little to add a little surprise design there as well.



I love how it came out and hope my little peanut eventually loves it as well!!

A day at the pumpkin patch!

We went to a local pumpkin patch on Saturday - Larriland.  My little peanut loved it! 

First thing we did was go on a hayride!



My friend Coleen made a pumpkin hat for the girl.  She didn't keep it on long, but I managed to get a few pictures of her modeling it!



Her favorite part of the ride was covering herself (and us) in hay!



There were tons of pumpkins everywhere!  I had to add my own little pumpkin girl to the mix:



We ran into some friends there too! 



She loved the giant pumpkins!



But we couldn't just pick a pumpkin from the bins - of course we had to go to the fields and get our own!



There were acres and acres of pumpkins!













She even got to pick her very own pumpkin!



It was a great day!

Quilted coasters

A dear friend of mine turned 40 this past week and I wanted to make her something special.  Unfortunately when you have a busy toddler - making something special can be a bit of a timing issue. 

So I went for quick and pretty!  I hope she thinks they are special :)



I was inspired by these pretty green coasters from Homemade Ginger.

My friend loves Asian inspired fabrics - so I chose this lovely Alexander Henry fabric from the stash.

The tutorial was easy to follow and they came out great!



One of my favorites is the one with this white crane:



 I also love the one with the geisha girl:



 All they needed was a little bow and they were perfect for my friend.



 I think I will be making more for Christmas gifts!

Baby Leggings Tutorial

Fall is coming soon and I'm not ready to give up putting dresses on my little girl!  The solution?  Baby leggings!



These cute leggings are so easy to make you won't believe it.  I've seen a few different ways to make these on the internet but here is how I did it.

Materials:

• 1 pair of women's knee high socks
• scissors
• sewing thread 

I found some cute socks at Target that were on sale for $2.50 - so I grabbed a bunch and headed to my sewing table.  I just love the Halloween ones!



Cut above the toe, and above and below the heel:



You can discard the toe and heel and keep the other parts to make your leggings.



Take the foot piece and fold the tube in half with the outside fabric on the outside.



Put the top piece of the sock inside the foot piece that you folded in half.  All the raw edges should be together at the end.  Pin them in place. 



Now you're ready to sew!  Take the sock to the sewing machine and put the needle on the inside of the sock.  This is easier than sewing on the outside because you have less of a chance of catching the other side of the sock when you stitch around.  Be careful not to pull on the fabric while sewing, otherwise it will get stretched out.



After sewing all the way around, trim the threads and flip the cuff down.  You have a baby legging!  Repeat for legging number two.





Now you are ready to put them on a baby!







Then go make some more!