I tutu, do you?

We had fun making this, just different colored tulle tied around an elastic band. Made in February, 2009.

Wynter's birth hat and newborn socks

Hat and baby completed on 01/04/2009. Socks three days later.

Spongebob square hat... or is it still commercialism if its handmade?

Modelled by M

The recipient of the hat, in her usual pose for the camera, a crazed spongebob fanatic, made for Christmas, 2008.

Thanks to Kate for the title of this post, it comes directly from one of hers...

I started this hat because of this:

www.kodymayknits.com/2007/09/spongebob-squarepants-hat-pattern.html

She has some cool patterns and this gave me the idea for this. I also followed her pattern for the eyes and the puff ball feet and got the whole idea of earflaps and ties for the legs.

I did some random purling spots to make it spongey looking and then rather than decreasing, I made a flap on the top and made it square. Also I knit the tie and i-corded the legs, added the yellow legs and the red stripes for the socks. I over knit the smile and knit a couple of teeth. Honestly, I've never actually seen the show, thanks to the many images on Google.

Grandma's x-mas stocking

Thirty some odd years ago the blue stocking on the left was knit for me by my Grandma in Wales. The whole reason I started knitting (one year before I made this) was so I could have one for M. And there it is. I literally counted stitches and rows to make it just like mine. Her's is better though because nobody has washed it without knowing how wool likes to be washed. So it is still stretchy to be filled to the brim with goodies like grapefruits and oranges. She picked out the purple. Her fourth christmas, December, 2008.

Felted ballet slippers!

Top picture is pre felting. There she is wearing them in dance class. These were made in December, 2008. I used a chunky yarn, which makes these slippers more everywhere than dance class. She loves them, until she can fit into the handmedown "real" ballet slippers.

More socks!

Socks, started on two circulars and then I realized I prefer knitting on dpns for socks. I love these. The yarn irritates me a bit, it is not evenly dyed, so there was a lot of waste yarn left over to make the stripes. She loves 'em. I never thought I would like knitting socks, but a friend recommended them as a good knitting project on the road and I read somewhere that wearing knit socks was like wearing special lingerie, even if nobody notices, it's so special. My daughter's socks however, are wonderfully noticeable. The trouble we have with these is that she loves to show them off and they are warm. So we have trouble finding something she can wear on a cold day that still shows them off AND DOESN'T COVER NOT EVEN ONE STITCH. This is a very big deal when you are three. I promise you. Thankfully we live in a temperate climate. These were finished in December, 2008.

A few days before we left on vacation, M said she wanted to be a worm for Halloween. I hoped grandma would do the honors (as she did for M's first costume, the sunflower), but she wasn't able. She did manage to buy a few fabrics she thought might work, which she shipped to us, which arrived on Halloween eve. O.k., so the pink fuzzy stuff screamed worm. How could I not do this? So Halloween morning, after dreaming it up during a mostly sleepless night, I sewed this up. My second sewing attempt. M LOVED it. I was going to put a band around the center, the one that worms have, but she was happy with it as it was. And so was I. Thrilled, actually. Even if she did have to tell every single person what she was. (And I was a composting gardener, ever grateful for my earthworm).
And the little guy below was her baby worm.

The baby boom

All my friends were pregnant. Babies babies babies! So I knit hats. First, the hat and booties. The booties were from Vogue Knits for Babies and the hat was a Stitch n Bitch I cord knot hat with some pattern worked in to match the booties. All cotton. Those went to Freddie in England, happily wearing them here. Then came the hat for Jack in Massachussetts. I love that blue yarn, it was a knit picks cotton wool blend. Same type of hat. Then the cotton blue hat for Brandon, my neighbor here in my complex. By that time, I had to try something new, hence the pin wheel on the top (I just split the i cord and knit and then put them together in the middle). And then for Beverly, her family used to live here in my complex, and finally, in time for his baby shower, hat and booties (I found a seamless bootie pattern online, but I made so many changes to it, I couldn't repeat it) for baby Wynter. And his mom asked, will it fit him when he's born? No. So he scored another hat, started 2 days before he was born and finished while mama was in labor. And socks 2 days later, because when you are with a baby when he is born, you will do anything for him.

Something Old Something New Something Borrowed Something Blue

My dear friend got married in Jamaica (08-08-08) and I couldn't go. So in lieu of me, I made a small Somethingoldsomethingnew... It didn't occur to me to take a picture, so here she is, wearing it (except you can't see it). It was a small crocheted flower, using blue embroidery floss from my grandma's stash. The something borrowed was the wee safety pin.

The wee doll

M took this picture. I wanted to try this out: http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/knit-littledudes.html mostly because I could not find any dollhouse dolls that weren't creepy to me. I did eventually buy some wooden/pipe cleaner type popular with today's eco mom. A friend pointed out that the mother figure of the family of these dolls, with her placid face, long sleeves, and long skirt, looked like a good Mormon. So, essentially, mainstream dollmakers, in their attempt to appeal to a wide audience, offer us either Bratz or Mormonz.
So this doll, I thought would be a quick knit. But it uses size 1 needles, which at that point I had not used, and worsted weight yarn. I thought I was knitting on toothpicks and was concerned about snapping the needles when I knit the cotton yellow part. M of course loved it, but the doll, like her owner, is a one of a kind, made in June and has no attempt has been made to make another. Yet.