Happy Homemade Valentine's Day!

In our family, Valentine's Day means making special valentines (that usually include some kind of candy) from paper, felt, stickers, sequins and other artsy craftsy materials to give out to teachers, classmates and friends.

This year was no different.  However with Pinterest and all kinds of ideas out on the internet, we had lots to look at and decide from.  My oldest daughter chose to make felt fortune cookies with a different silly fortune in each one.  She got the idea from her American Girl magazine and so we made 25 colorful felt fortune cookies over the last few days.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of them.  They were, according to Emma, a hit with her class.  I also made little paper boxes that Emma filled with three Hershey kisses and decorated with heart stickers for each of her classmates.  Also, sadly, no picture.

However, I did get pictures of my youngest daughter's valentines for her second grade class.  (probably because she had hers done a week early, instead of finishing the night before like her older sister!) Zoe chose super hero valentines to make.  I found the idea here: Zakka Life.  I cut out the capes and masks.  Zoe wrote "Have a SUPER Valentine's Day" and put on heart stickers on the capes and drew the eyes on the masks.  We then taped the masks to the sucker and punched a hole in the cape and slid it up the stick in place.  I saw as the kids in her class flew them around the room and compared what color super hero they got at the class party.  Zoe was thrilled with them, and so were the recipients.

Finally, I made candy pencils for the teachers, pairing them with a Valentine's notepad for their gift.  The girls were thrilled to give these out, and I had so much fun making them! The pencil is a pack of Rolo's with a Hershey's kiss for the tip.  I found the idea for the pencils here: Simply J Studio. 

I actually made my husband  a homemade valentine, but he ate part of it before I took a picture of it!  Anyways, I think I will miss the flurry of activity at the beginning of February when we are deciding on what valentines to make when my girls get older.  I'm going to enjoy it now, while I still can!

More Knitting Projects

I have not only been baking these last few months (though I have been doing a lot of that!), I have also been knitting. I still am really enjoying it and I am looking for more challenging projects. For example I made a baby hat and a pair of socks. Correction: I should say I am working on those projects. Anyways, I made three dishcloths for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day as well as two hero hats for my girls in the color of their choice. I am currently working on the baby hat, socks, and another scarf, this one for my husband.

Here are some pictures:
Flying Geese Dishcloth: First one I made for my mil. I was worried I didn't like detailed patterns for knitting while I made this, but I realized later that I just don't like a fussy pattern that yields only this as the result. It is pretty, but too much "work" for such a simple looking dishcloth.


Chinese Waves Dishcloth:I really love the yarn on this one and the look and feel of this dishcloth. The pattern yields a lovely thick textured cloth that really makes me think of a dishcloth. And the self striping yarn, LOVE IT! The first picture is the "right side" of the cloth, the second picture is what the back or "wrong side" looks like.




Mock Cable Dishcloth: This is the dishcloth that proved to me I don't mind a detailed pattern as long as the results are stunning, and this one is stunning!



And finally, the girls' hats in pink and purple:




I'll get a picture up of those socks when I get them done. The worst part about socks is after completing one, you are not done! (Unless you want a sock puppet!)

My Knitting Projects

So I have gotten very busy with knitting, and enjoy it very much. My only fear with knitting is that it is going to be like all my other creative passions - things I LOVED doing for awhile (even several years), but now don't do or do very infrequently (scrapbooking, cross stitching, cake decorating, stamping and making my own cards, etc., etc.) I am afraid I will amass my supplies (knitting needles and yarn) and then never use them again.

Despite these fears, though, I am knitting quite frequently and really do enjoy the creative process. I currently have a rule to have no more than two knitting projects going on at once, in order to make sure I finish them. (I started a scarf that took me two months to knit, mostly because the pattern was boring, even for a beginner like me.)

I have had some orders from my kids, and I have made some gifts already. So, I decided to share some pictures of my finished projects here, today.

My Shamrock Dishcloth - first project finished, (2nd started) - didn't turn out very pretty, but it's for me and it washes dishes just fine



Two Rubber Ducky dishcloths for my brother-in-law - second and third projects I finished, thought these looked pretty nice aside from the ugly cast on edge





Seed Stitch Dishcloth - mainly just wanted to see what seed stitch looked like, made for us, cleans dishes well.



My first Bunny Blankie Buddy - Know several pregnant people, wanted to make a practice bunny to make sure I could do it. Was really proud of this one until I made my second one - you'll see what I mean! (Gave this to my youngest daughter, she loves it.)



My second Bunny Blankie Buddy (in blue) - See what I mean? So much better all the way around. Gave this to my older daughter. She too loves hers.



Dishcloth for my mom for Mother's Day - Don't worry, she does not read my blog. Loved how this one turned out.



Second dishcloth for my mom - Her favorite color is yellow.



Third dishcloth for my mom - Wanted to have a set of three for her. (Can't wait to give them to her!)



Hat for my son - I'm making three of these, this one in black was for my son, making a purple and pink one for the two girls



The infamous two month scarf - here it is!



That's all for now, but I'll try and keep posting some of my work here as I finish items.

My First Pattern

So last month I blogged about learning to knit. Since then I have made a scarf (still in progress), two bunny blankie buddies and several dishcloths. And I am loving all the knitting I'm doing, but I wanted to make something out of some of the leftover yarn and try a new stitch pattern other than garter, stockinette, and rib. So I checked a book out of the library with all kinds on stitch pattern ideas and came up with this cute poncho for my daughter's American Girl doll. It is a fast and easy knit, and something any A.G. doll owner would love (especially in a color to coordinate with one of their outfits!)


Ridged Poncho for American Girl Doll

Materials:
Size US 10 1/2 needles (6.5 mm)
Bulky Weight Yarn

Instructions:
Make two identical pieces.

CO 36 stitches

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: p1, *k2tog; repeat from * to last stitch, p1
Row 3: k1, *Kfb; repeat from * to last stitch, k1
Row 4: Purl
Repeat these 4 rows a total of 6 times (24 rows of knitting)
Row 25: Knit
BO
Weave in all ends

Finishing:
Sew short end of one piece along long edge of other piece. Use cast on edges at neck edge of poncho. Sew the short end of the second piece to the long edge of the first piece to form poncho.

For the poncho I made I used Lion Brand Jiffy yarn in Aqua. It knit up nicely and is nice and soft for my daughter to play with.


I really loved the end result and I'm happy to share the simple pattern here!

Feeling Crafty

I have been feeling crafty lately. I have all kinds of craft ideas running through my head, and various amounts of supplies for scrapbooking, card making, stamping and other little fun things like that.

So what have I done? I decided to learn how to knit. Something for which I have essentially no supplies for and have to go out and buy. I'm sure my dear husband is thrilled.

This really came about because my six year old daughter received a teach kids to knit book along with some knitting needles and yarn from her Great Aunt Kathy and her Uncle Kevin. Great Aunt Kathy and Uncle Kevin are extremely talented knitters and were eager to pass on their hobby when Zoe showed an interest while spending time with them.

So, I have decided to teach her (and her eight year old sister as well), but knew for me to help them, I would need to learn myself, first.


I have now knitted two things. The first is a purple rectangle, and despite the fact that I dropped at least two stitches and some of the stitches are ridiculously loose and some are too tight, I'm very proud of that rectangle. I have also knitted the first square of a banner the girls and I are going to knit after I teach them! This second piece of knitting is remarkably better than the first, and I'm now ready to learn the purl stitch! (So far all I have done is the knit or garter stitch. After I learn the purl stitch, I should be able to do more!)



I am very excited at the prospect of making little projects with the girls, and I hope they learn to be great knitters like their Great Aunt and Uncle! And who knows, maybe I'll even make a scarf in time for next winter!