Fall projects completed

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted.  This fall season has been so busy.  Lots of Nutcracker rehearsals, and  not so much time for actual knitting projects.  I have lots that I've started and are in various stages of completion...but not a lot that actually are complete.

I finally took some pictures of the bunny that I finished for the school auction.  She turned out so cute, although I would have loved to have had enough time to do lace around her collar and add pompoms to her little shoes.  Susan Hickson from Mary Jane's Tearoom does such lovely designs.  This is a variation on her Daisy Rabbit pattern.  It was a Halloween carnival, so thought the rabbit needed to be a Halloween design.  I made the Daisy dress in orange and black and added Alan Dart's witches hat pattern.  I even managed to find little buttons for the back that said "BOO"!  Here is a picture:

The second project that I've been working on since October, was a swap for Ravelry.  I decided to try and see what would happen if I added fabric inside the knitted ears.  I was so thrilled with the result!! 

These I made for my swap partner with a pattern from Debi Birkin designs.  I've since made a rabbit for my own kids, but need to take some pictures and get them up and posted.

Have several other projects in the works now...will post as I get them completed.  I found on Etsy a beautiful couple of patterns for knitted dolls.  The designer is Dollytime, and her dolls are just precious.  I'm going to try to make a couple of those with wardrobes, of course!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and Merry Christmas, and hope 2010 will be a great New Year!!

Boo to Ewe

Halloween is such an amazingly fun holiday. It occurs in my favorite time of year, the fall! Growing up in Northeastern Oklahoma, the weather would be starting to get cool, and the leaves on the beautiful maple tree in our yard would be turning gorgeous colors of red and yellow. That coupled with getting to dress up like something that you're not, was so cool!

My daughters love Halloween as well. They start planning their Halloween costumes for the next year the day after Halloween. We usually go through several different ideas before we finally settle on the end result, but the end result is always fun. This year both of my daughters have decided to be witches for Halloween. I think this is the first year that we are going to be something remotely Halloweenish, and not a fairy princess, or something like that.

I joined a knitted community online called Ravelry. One of the groups that I belong to is called Fuzzy Mitten, which is the name of one of the knitting toy designers. We recently did a Fall swap, so I decided to knit an animal with a witch costume in honor of the witch decision this year on the costumes!

The lamb that I did ended up being about 3 inches larger than what the pattern called for due to the bulky yarn that I used, but the yarn made a great lamb. I was thrilled with how cute she turned out! This is the first of my critters for Halloween. I'm also knitting a bunny to be auctioned off at our school carnival, so more to come on her later!

A Baby Gift Bunny

I recently came across a pattern for a new bunny that I fell in love with. The designer is Susan Hickson, and her site is Mary Jane's Tearoom on Etsy. Her patterns are just unbelievable!

My daughters both have had the same wonderful Kindergarten teacher, who has been a big part of our lives for the last few years. She baby sat for us before she was married, and we just love her. When we found out she was having a baby girl, we wanted to do something special for her. I decided that the Daisy Rabbit pattern was just perfect. She turned out even better than I expected!!

I have lots of plans for this pattern, and am working now on a basket to be auctioned off at my daughters school carnival to raise money for the school. More pictures to follow on that!

My knitting lately has turned to thoughts of Halloween...so more Halloween critters to follow as well!

An "Upscale" Bunny

My older daughter has always tended to have the "best" taste. Her favorite meals are Filet Mignon, Lobster, Crab, well you get the idea. She once said that when she gets married she is going to find a husband that will crack her crab legs for her.

So needless to say, when I let her select her yarn for the bunny that I had promised to knit for her, she went straight for the Mongolian Cashmere!! Lucky for her, the yarn was on sale for 50% off! I have to say, it is the softest bunny I have ever knit!!

The pattern for the bunny was from Debi Birkin's site, but I made quite a number of changes for the wardrobe. The dress as well as the pajamas are knit from Patons Angora Bamboo. I am very pleased with the way Bella Bunny turned out!

Knitted Creations

I've wanted for some time to have a way to display the creations from the hobby that takes up much of my waking moments (when I'm not being a mom, a mom taxi to the many ballet lessons, or any other of the typical mom duties that fill most of my normal days).

Knitting always has seemed to me as a hobby that only elderly people were interested in as they sat and rocked on their front porches. Last year, though, I decided during Hurricane Ike that I was going to teach myself to knit. We had no electricity, so why not? I actually astounded myself with how much that I enjoyed it. Perhaps I've hit middle age (turned 40 last year about the time of the hurricane), so am headed for the rocker on the front porch, but I found it to be seriously fun. I also found a niche that I loved, and that brought smiles to my girls faces.

I like to knit scarves and sweaters, but what I like to knit the most is toys. Especially with the excitement it brings to my daughters. They have all sorts of projects planned for me to do, most of which include animals with the most upscale wardrobes.

Blogging is new to me, but as I learn, I will post pictures of the animals and especially of the outfits.