Jane's Intarsia Knit Hat

I love making gifts for all the nieces and nephews in my life.  This year I made a series of hats for the three little girls in my life.  I happened to make this specific hat a little small for the toddler in my life.  This would actually fit a one year old perfectly. It has a circumference of 14.5 inches and is 7.5 inches tall.  So I decided to list it on my etsy shop.    You can purchase the hat here.  If you decide  to purchase the hat use this promo code for free shipping: FSKNIT

I love the color combos.  It is a modern take on the traditional intarsia knit hat.  The crosses look like flying swallows. 

If you are feeling ambitious you can get the knitting pattern here.

Find Your Happy Place

Did you know that etsy is a mind reader?  There is a place where they suggest shops that you might like.  Those smarty etsy people were right!  I do like these shops.  Here is one specifically...
Orange Studio by Helen Dardik

I think it's pretty dang cute...

Handmade Gifts

People generally make the mistake of thinking that home-made gifts are economical.

They're not.

I love to crochet!  I do it because I think it is fun.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I love to crochet gifts for people.  I think about that person while I crochet for hours.   It gives me such joy to give those time consuming gifts to people I love.

All that to say, buying the yarn for my crocheted gifts usually average $20-$30.  A simple gift like a blanket takes me 6 hours.  Complicated gifts like animals take me forever!  I love it.  Pictures like this make me want to cry they are so precious.

found here

Sewing on the other hand might be economical.  I can always find fabric discounted or being practically given away and making something like a tiny dress or romper, usually only take a couple of hours!  I might start sewing more...  I don't know?

Tiny Baby Girl

So I'm getting a niece in August.  I'm really pumped!  After three nephews I finally get my first niece!


(It may have been leaked a little early on my Facebook page.  But I had no part in that! FYI)


Here are all the things I've made for people with a baby girl... and I wasn't even related to her!


I will admit I was at Hancock's buying fabric for another occasion and I did find some $2.00/yd bargain fabric that I thought would look especially cute on my soon to be niece.

We'll see what happens...

5 min. embellishment

I made this the other day in less than five minutes.


I ruched the little heart/leaves on the shoulder and made a little drawstring skirt.


If baby wants to show a little leg she can wear her slit in front!

baby washcloths

So I've been embroidering some baby washcloths on and off for the past two weeks.

Here was item number one.
It's a little off center, but my first try.



This is number two. The snail and the red herring(?) are images that were inspired by images from this book. (Which sadly to say isn't a really great book to learn how to embroider with but has some really cute projects that could be made cool) The book that I actually learned how to embroider with was this.



Here is my latest one that I did today.


Close up.

(I suck at life)
I toyed around with a bunch of phrases to put on this. I thought I might do "I suck" or "Suck it" and my bf informed me that it was a little too inappropriate for a baby washcloth. He doesn't know that I ended up with "I suck at life" but I think over all he would approve.

Project: Finished

Okay so the day has come my friend, to speak of many things; of tetris blankets, sealing wax, cabbages, and kings.

this picture is to show you the texture of the blanket.

This is the back side.

This is the front side.

It measures to about 38"x38".
It's a pretty big baby blanket.
I made it all out of Simply Soft yarn, 6 oz., 100% Acrylic. It is very soft and not itchy at all.

Well, that's it. I guess I should move on to something else now. I just need to figure out what that is.

Project: Day 4-ish

Well, I skipped a couple of days and then I did one shape for a day or two, but yesterday I worked on it for a while and it deserved it's own post. So this is an estimated day of work.

I'm excited for the next couple of days because it soon will have a more finished look. I'll sew in all the yarns and put a border on. I'll need to go pick up some more yarn for it but it's coming together. (haha I made a pun and didn't even realize it)

New Projet: Day Two

Ok here was day 2 you know what it is?

Gee, what are all of these shapes?


TaDa!

War is Over and so is Christmas

My Christmas break was exactly what I dreamed. Sleeping in late and hanging out with my friends in Florissant/St. Louis Metropolitan area. Oh and the Cruise! Here are the highlights of the past month of vacation....
First I played in the snow with my friend Greg. I think the romanticism was lost on us.
I enjoyed Christmas with my boyfriend, Brian. He still has yet to give me my Christmas gift, not that I care or anything. In case you are wondering, yes, we matched on purpose for the Moncey Christmas photo 2007.

I got to hang out with my family and the cutest nephews anyone could imagine in the whole world.
Oh yeah, and I went on a cruise! This included winning the JACKPOT BINGO of $2,000!

I'm a truly blessed girl.

I'm not so sure about this

Yesterday I went tanning. That is a story unto itself because I am one of those girls that is against fake-baking. But, putting moral tanning dilemmas aside I will continue with my story. When I walk in the receptionist is showing someone how to work a bed in the back, so I take a seat in the waiting room. I was ready for her to tell me which room I was allowed to go into. As the receptionist walks out I realize two things that hit me in the chest hard as if the wind was knocked out of me.

The first thing I realized was that I knew this girl. We of course had gone to high school together but I had gone to high school with almost 6,000 people all together so no surprise there. I felt like I knew her well, as if I should have recognized her voice when I called to make an appointment earlier that day. I should have remembered her name and what I knew her from. I couldn't. The other thing I realized was that she was 8 months pregnant.
She kindly told me which room to go in with out asking my name. I went in and it took me almost the full 15 minutes to realize how I had known her.

She was my next-door-neighbor's best friend. I had played with her all the time when I was little. I had known her in high school as well, she had been pregnant then too. Her name was Krista.

I felt bad for not realizing who she was but I was more disturbed by the idea of her being pregnant. I didn't think that it was weird for her to be pregnant now, that was the problem. When she was pregnant in high school that was a little bit of a scandal as all teen-pregnancies are. But I'm not a teen any more. That girl who I hadn't seen in at least three years looked normal pregnant. She is of the age to where it is socially acceptable to have babies.

This means I'm to the age where it would be socially acceptable for ME TO HAVE A BABY?
I'm not okay with that! I'm way to young for those kinds of responsibilities. Then I remembered that when my mom was my age she had been married for three years and 7 months pregnant. I can't imagine having that sort of life right now.

I sat there in Tans to Glo in my wicker chair, unable to breathe for a second. I'm growing up!
It's weird to have these moments. I have had similar ones before. I have moments where I suddenly realize who I am, as if i hadn't noticed before. This was a scary feeling for me. It's hard to explain but maybe somewhere someone can understand.

Baby Craziness

My sister just had a baby February 9th. I know I'm a proud aunt.
There is nothing better than being an aunt. I get to try out all my home-made weird ideas and because my nephews are so little they don't even know they are getting a present. I'm sure when they get a little older and realize what a present is they'll love it. I am the cool young aunt.
Anyways...the other night I was avoiding some homework (what's new) and I made some onesies for my new nephew, Asher. I thought you might like to see them...
Yeah I made them really easily. Anyone can do this faux screen printing. All you need is freezer paper, and iron and some paints.
1. I cut out all of the images from the freezer paper.
2. Then I took the left overs and ironed them on the clothe.
3. Next I squirted some puff paint on the left over holes and used a sponge brush to make the paint smooth.
4. Let them dry over night and peel the paper away and prepare to be amazed. (I sure was)

I love making slightly alternative baby clothing. Something that is brightly colored and sometimes witty.
oh yeah, the kid...here is the cutie!