Swaps, gifts and other things that come in the mail

I have been meaning to blog about all of the above. But there is always that sad excuse of mine – LACK OF TIME!!!
And I think the baby excuse is getting old...no matter how cute!

So let us start with gifts:
As a birthday surprise (3 MONTHS AGO!!!!!) SewMad sent me the most wonderful birthday package:



The most fabulous seam ripper (fliegenpilz!), stitch markers made by herself, jack skelington buttons, beautiful fat quarters, a nifty piece of fabric from IKEA (that I am seriously considering turning into a shopping bag, or two), hot pink mohair, and the piece de-resistance (how do you spell that?):


My very own SewMad original, a Fliegenpilz wallet. I love it! And I use it all the time now. My cigarette case –turned- wallet is now living in the diaper bag with important Maxim info (insurance card etc).
I had to wait until she posted her fabulous pattern (which I also have a pattern for now – thank you Katrin) before I could post a pic of the wallet – of course i waited way past the time she posted it .

If you haven’t figured it by now I am not very punctual with much of anything.

As for the swaps – I joined 2 apron swaps this summer. The first one was over at Apronista.ning.com (because I need to join another on-line community). The apron I made went to Sue Ann of Giabella Designs and the apron I received was from Deb, the Crochetholic. I loved my apron from Deb! So cute! And it is already blessed by Rit Dye and Clorox Bleach from work.

The next swap was on Ravelry.com. The Sew Obsessed group decided to have its first swap this summer thanks to Carlitadee. We all took a vote and aprons won! SO I got the chance to make another apron – this time I copied an apron given to me by my MIL. I actually cut out 2 before I cut out a 3rd and finished it. Swaps are hard if you do not really know what the person likes. I realize that I had a fabric that I thought my swap partner had used in the past – so I changed my mind entirely – I also realized that one of the aprons was really for me (haven't finished it tho...of course)

Here it is modeled by my old boss: (little trinkets thrown in found here.)

Isn’t she cute? And she makes my new sewing room look good.

Here is a view of the room from where she was standing.


There is another swap – the Theatrical Crafters on Ravelry are also running a swap…i really need to get working on that one...but I have until the end of the month….

There is so much more to fill you all in on - all good news (and no, not pregnant). I will be taking some time off this and next week – so hopefully I will get some more knitting and crocheting along with a bit of blogging in :)

no crafting here

well not at home but very busy in the work place.


just got a new camera though......and still need to learn how to use it. Here are a few pics from this weekend:



a very filthy Max:

my mother's day breakfast in bed:


I am always giving Fritz a hard time for wearing the same thing every day and said he should switch it up a bit. So he emailed this pic and wanted to know what i thought:

Yeah, well, it's the same thing he wears every day: Black polo and blue jeans. The leather jacket was for the weather :) Gotta love 'im!

in fashion news - my mom sent me this cool link to a New York times article about a Superheroes exhibit at the Costume Institute at the Met in NYC.

check out the video

and for more music - Kate Nash, again, PUMPKIN SOUP and there is knitting in it!

A doll's life

I am not one to get into the Blythe craze (tho they are cute and i love the fact that you can change their eye colour on a whim) or any other doll obsession. But one of my yarn customers asked me to make a dress for a Madame Alexander doll as a gift to her niece, and i couldn't resist.

Ms R has given her niece a Madame Alexander doll every year for her birthday and now it is the big one - her Bat Mitzvah. Apparently, they do not make a Bat Mitzvah doll - so Ms R asked me to make one for her. She asked me to copy her niece's dress for the Madame Alexander doll - as well as crochet a little pink kippa (made from Patricia Roberts 2 ply cotton - hey it is a yarn type blog after all).

Here is the original dress:


And here is the doll:

It was so much fun to make something that you would know would be appreciated and loved. And it was a great distraction from tech week along with a very sick Fritz.

Our latest show, LOST AND FOUNDLING, opens this weekend. It is a sweet little story (as told in a video here) about a little girl Found in the Mega Price Mart and raised there by its employees...and then it is a bit of a fairy tale ala Red Riding Hood or Alice in Wonderland. I hope to have pics by the end of the week - my batteries died just before the final dress and i wasn't able to take pictures.

and gratuitious baby shot - or i should say baby butt shot:

the life of a leather jacket

This once lovely leather jacket was purchased by me for Fritz on our "sort of honeymoon."

I say "sort-of" because our honeymoon happened about 6 months after our wedding (as we were busy opening a show the weekend after our wedding. We went to Williamsburg, VA for the historic aspect and Busch Gardens. (We also spent 6 weeks or so working for this theatre in Germany about 2 months after the wedding, so that was our other "sort-of honeymoon") It seems we also went for the shopping. So I bought this jacket for Fritz and he wore it - alot. But the cats liked to claw at it when he forgot to hang up. It had been repaired, and then shredded buy pointy sharp claws again and again.

Well now Fritz does not fit in this lambskin leather jacket and I couldn't just donate it to my costume stock at work - or give it away to GoodWill. So i repurposed it!




I mean, really! Aren't those the cutest little shoes you have ever seen? (okay you might have seen cuter, but just nod your head in my general direction and PRETEND they are the cutest little baby shoes you have ever seen)

I made 2 pair using the pattern found here.
The first pair was a plain black pair, no decoration - and since i blew up the pattern 1.25% they are HUGE!!!! Toddler size, at least.


So I went back to the original pattern and compared it to the shoes he wears now (a la target). So I amde the original pattern, added some decoration (he is only 10 month old now and he can't say NO yet - heehee) and they fit Max FABULOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is plenty of leather left over. I am thinking baby biker pants!


And now for gratuitous baby picture - with Daddy:



edited 1/24/2008 to add shoe pattern link.

Gobble...gobble!

Let's just assume i am greatful...and thankful and all that. I know. It is Thanksgiving here in the USA and everyone is writing something beautiful and poetic about how they are greatful for all they have in their lives......Like! Gag me with with a spoon!

No. Really. I AM thankful for many things.

• The cuteness that is Max.
• The latest show is open (and no actors were harmed in the process, or babies - Max is so lucky that Nana came down to babysitt, and sew costumes)
• I am not at work.
• I will bake a pie that will not taste terrible.
• I am not spending this day with anyone other than my new immediate family...oh? Did I type that? :)
• This.

And now i can return to the knitting! There are always 80 million projects in the works. But the one that seems to be getting the most time and energy from me is a Log Cabin Blanket. Which i completley blame on Ravelry for the inspiration. This started as a crocheted afghan for Fritz awhile back and it was not a success. AT ALL! To be honest with myself, it was U-G-L-Y! BUt the knitted version is looking sooo much prettier.

Here is just the beginning.

I hope to get it done by the end of the decade....hmmmm...don't hold your breath Fritz! He is lucky that i don't have to mail it to him...that's all i 'm saying.

Gratuitous nekked baby post!

PIF:
Thank you Amelie and K(n)ittything - you are on the list - now i must figure it all out - thank goodness i have a year! There is a 3rd slot if anyone is interested :)

Max as Knitwear model

This is a gratuitous baby in knitwear post - you have seen the some of these and some not. But how could I not post this adorable face?





The blueberry hat is by my friend Beth, the Little Man sweater is designed by me, the red sweater was made by Nana and the blanket was made by Lew at Woolwinders.

Cleaning house...

So the idea of this whole Ravelry thing is organization...well that is how i see it anyway. And boy does it want you to be organized. Pictures of my stash? Needle count? how many projects are ACTUALLY on the needles and then those that are stashed with needles and books hiding elsewhere?

Time to face the music!
And a scary piece of music is that.

I have been uploading projects and some yarn pics to my ravelry notebook - and i cannot believe i did not post about this adorable sweater:


You can view a closup of the little back view here.

Yarn: Regia Jacquard 4 ply in Oslo and Rowan 4ply soft in dark gray (soot?)
Needles: 2.5 for edging and 3mm for the body
Pattern: Candace Baby Cardigan by Holli Yeoh (pattern a day calendar 2005)
Size: 6month to 12 month
Notes: I had all but one sleeve done before the baby was born - but it took me until July to get that last sleeve done. I knit the sleeves in the round instead of flat ( I hate purling).
Since I did not have the perfect gray until after I waned to start this project, I picked up the hem edging once the whole project was sewn together. Also - I purposely did not match the stripes -I like when they match hardly at all or when they are absolutley perfect. I knew I couldn't get absolutley perfect :)

And now to the gratuitous baby pictures:





and one more here!!!


Also - here is a better shot of my Gala dress.

ikea hack

I love my Ikea bags - you know....those HUGE blue bags that you buy every time you go to Ikea to bring all that stuff you don't need home? You know...this one:



This bag has many uses as I am sure you know. Great for luggin' laundry back and forth to the theatre or schlepping it down to the laundry room in our building. Also, good to keep in the car for those trips to Sam's Club or Costco or any other store where there aren't bags. Also FABULOUS for show-shopping ....Great for the gross quantities of stuff.

But what about smaller loads of laundry such as baby stuff? Or little shopping trips? I still wanted my ikea bag but it gets so cumbersome when it is only half full. I thought to myself...hmm i really like the size of these Giant Pea Pod bags, but how tacky to carry around a grocery store bag, not to mention it is just plastic and not tarp like my Ikea bag, hmmmm.....

So 30 minutes and 59 cents later I had these:



OOOOOOHHHHHH! AAAAAHHHHH!
Papa bag, Mama bag and Baby "knitting project size" bag.



i guess i can now say:



gratuitous baby picture:

It's Harry Potter Time!

(title of this post sung to the tune of “howdy doody”)

yes there is knitting - see below :)

Well just a bit less than 2 hours to go and the final installment of the HARRY POTTER books will be out and about on the East Coast. Those of you overseas have already obtained (and most likely devoured) your English copies of Deathly Hallows. (Can you believe that the German version won’t be out until OCTOBER!!!!!!????)

I know that it is the final party at the stores – but Fritz is picking up our 2 copies (1 for me, 1 for him) later in the day while I am at the yarn store. And I probably won’t be reading HP until Sunday, as I will be spending the very late evening watching BUFFY the MUSICAL!!!!! So cool I tell ya! (Yes I am that strange). In case you did not know, there was a BUFFY THE MUSICAL episode (season 6 of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) and they are performing it around the country ala` ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. They currently do this with SOUND OF MUSIC as well. I am so excited!!! Can’t you tell?

If I am lucky the baby will sleep long and hard on Sunday so I can read all day poolside.

Last Sunday was great! After swimming, the baby did this:


So I did this:

And made this:


Pattern: ala sweater wizard version 3.0/raglan cardigan sweater/knit flat
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton in Willow
Needle size: US size 7 (4.5mm)
Gauge: 4.25 stitches per inch (2.5cm)
Finished size: 20”

Isn’t he cute in his little man sweater? It just took one day! I love aran weight yarn!
It took me all week to find the perfect buttons and then do the button placket. There are 2 extra stitches on his left side which bug me just enough that I do not feel like ripping it out and re-doing it. It took me 2 tries to get the buttonholes exactly where I wanted I know that there is a mathematical way to figure out buttonholes – I teach this in my Finishing Class- but I am “artistic” (read: crazy) and was being ueber – specific. It also took me all week to find the perfect buttons. I went with tiny little stars…so cute.

I plan on working through a few more stash items before casting anything new on...yeah..i am sure i have said that before....

Hard at work...

Oh my it has been almost a whole month since I last posted!

What has been happening you might ask? (and if you didn’t, I will tell you anyway)

Well the cute boy has been at DayCare *sigh* and he is FINE!! Am I fine? Well I am not crying this week….He is so happy to be there because he is so cute and loved and how could you not love this face:




How do you people with Jobs and Crafts and Kids find time to blog? I mean I thought crafting and working made it hard enough – though I admit the blogging forces me to finish…sort of….okay maybe not all.

But there has been some finishing happening. My Mom almost finished this very cute sweater for the boy:



Pattern: Baby Kimono by Kristin Spurkland in Interweave Knits Summer 2005
Intended size: 20” which says newborn, but I think it is more like 6mths (22”) – my mom knits loose
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton Colour #? (lost the ball band)
Needles: size 3(3.25mm)
Changes to pattern: Closure is left over right (boy baby) and used snaps instead of ribbon for closure (again, boy baby)

So easy to make! Okay, all I did was one sleeve and put it together. As you can see I added a bit of grosgrain down each “button band” and sewed snaps instead of buttons. And used a fabulous Pirate Button purchased at the store as decoration. I like snaps and zippers best for baby sweaters since they hold better than buttons possibly torn off by little hands. Of course that does not mean that I would not use cute buttons if I found them!


And there has been a lot of swimming going on:

Maxim with Julie Anne hangin' out in his coolshades at the pool!

kindness of strangers

Fritz has an assistant named George and George has a mom named Pat – well Pat is a knitter and also has a blog (George’s mom is obviously cool - and i think her hair is red? maybe strawberry blonde). Not only she is a knitter with a blog who is George’s mom – but she knits socks…socks for my Max!



Aren’t these great?!?!? Met her once for five seconds at the MD Sheep and Wool and she knit my boy socks!!!! 2 Pair!!! And a very soft wash cloth (Manos stria maybe or blue sky organic cotton?) Very soft!!! My opinion of George is raised highly since his mom is so cool (Actually I have always like George but add the knitting mom and, well… I am biased after all)

Oh how i miss

this guy!!!










I am at work today!! Can you believe it - my maternity-leave is basically up and gone!!
I miss him so! Fritz has been kind enough to Text me pics all day long to keep me sane :)

Fritz is home this week with the wee one, then I am home next week, Fritz is home the week after that and I get the last week of June with Maxim before I have to go back full time and he is off to Daycare in July...so very sad.

In the picture above, Max is sporting a lovely hat i made with leftover Noro Tidori and Debbie Bliss Cathay. These little booties:










Are also made with the Noro yarn. I think the pattern is out of KNIT SIMPLE magazine spring/summer 2007.
They are not for Max but for Baby Anna who is 4 weeks younger than my sweet boy. BUt doesn't he make a lovely model?

Must. Go. Home. And see baby (that and my boobs are about to bust! Left the tubes to the pump at home - somebody shoot me!)

gettin' crafty

As mentioned earlier, I have been watching way too much DIY. And one of the shows that I tend to watch is called CREATIVE JUICE – the hosts, like most TV hosts, are a bit too cheery for me ….and the chick has red hair...
Has anyone else noticed that all the cool crafty people have red hair? i.e.: Vickie on KNITTY GRITTY, the Annie Modesitt, and in the blog world, Katrin at SewMad, Kristin at Kristin LaFlamme, and Yvette (who is also a costume designer I work with). Starting to think that I should have dyed my hair red instead of dark brown……..might help in the crafty-ness… though i have been known to be a red, rather burgundy, head from time to time.

Ok back on topic: SO CREATIVE JUICE had a baby things episode. They decorated a onesie with Buddha and made a baby sling. So I had to “follow the fold” and go for it.

Maxim has grown out of these onesies and I could not let them go to waste:

Since everyone else is having girls, I decided to lose the traditional car-boy themes and appliqué some cute birdies over the original design:


Added a little glitter paint to the wings and sparkle for the eye…so cute for the girls. Must pass on to the next cute baby (somebody shoot me!)

I also felt the need to make a baby sling:



I needed something classy to help carry the baby (as well as be able to breastfeed in plain view, but not) while at a wedding this past weekend.


I have the Baby Bjorn (eBay purchase) and that works too. I also tried a New Native Sling that for the first few weeks. Unfortunately, both caused some back pain after awhile. Although the Baby Bjorn is a bit awkward to adjust, it is great for more active roaming with the baby and fantastic once I get it right, but bulky and unattractive when all dressed up. The New Native Sling is more of a pouch and not adjustable at all – moving on to the sling!

I followed these instructions and am really happy with the end result. You can find plenty of different versions of how to make a sling, as well as other carriers, here.
Normally these slings cost way too much (that is, if you can sew, have a crazy stash of fabric and trust your own mad skills). Instead of buying (and wanting one NOW) I made a gorgeous and comfortable Baby Sling for under $10.00. I used a silk from my stash that I bought off a $1/yard table in college and the rings are very inexpensive (ordered from www.slingrings.com)

Must make more!!!!

Happy mother’s day…a bit late

So this was my first Mother’s Day – not all that different from any other Mother’s Day before, except this time I had a baby to show for it!!

My sister came down with her daughter and boyfriend (who is also a “Fritz”). Since my sister, Jan, is seriously allergic to cats (so strange since we grew up in the same house with cats) they always stay at a hotel –which means HOT TUB!!! And POOL!!!!
This also means:



No not baby-porn:) Maximilian is sporting the finest in baby swim suit bottoms/built in diaper. He is a bit perplexed...





Maxim’s first swim!!! And still is perplexed. He cannot hold his head up all the way yet but he seemed to take to the little inner tube as well. We floated in the water a bit here and there and he accidentally dunked his own head (My Fritz will tell you that I did it on purpose). He coughed and blinked and was fine! I am so happy that this water baby might have her own water baby!!!
There is a pool at our apartment complex, so I cannot wait to take him swimming every evening after work once it opens and is a bit warmer. My niece will be down for a week of summer camp at the theatre, so she is also looking forward to taking the baby swimming.

One of my MD presents was a package from Annie Modesitt!!! So very cool! She must have called my mom to get my address…or maybe I gave it to her?....so spacey these days – whole lack of sleep thing. Anyway she sent a couple of very soft sleep onesies for Maxim and cool stuff for me:






Fritz kept playing with the flip books and “giggling” – that is, if a 40 year old fuzzy man can giggle….so cute!
I am so excited about the millinery/hat making book – am seriously thinking of making the Ascot Hat for a wedding we are going to in 3 weeks….maybe, possibly…all depends on how much more lack of sleep I am up for….

Too much DIY

It starts with sitting in the dark, feeding the baby and thinking “…hmmmm wouldn’t it be cool if the bassinette was a pirate ship?” At first you think that it was all the vicodin combined with lack of sleep. But soon you realize – No it is your own insanity without the aid of drugs or sleepless nights, you are just that wacko.

The basic bassinette really lends itself to Pirate Ship. Don’t you think?
Here is the before:

Stare at – in the dark with tired eyes…Doesn’t the hood just scream to be a flag with skull and cross bones? And maybe something pirate-y on the skirt? Hmmm, must find the perfect fabric for the skirt…oh, and I did - and let us not forget the sheep mobile….




Pirate Max!!!!!!

I thought about a naked girl or a mermaid at the front, but that required way more effort and probably wouldn’t be done until the kid turns 2. Of course, I could find a Barbie or Little Mermaid doll or something…..no, stop.

It took several naps and one evening of Fritz completely taking over the evening cranky-pants attack. (around 7 or 8pm every night there is a cranky-pants attack – sometimes full blown screaming and tears, and other nights just incessant whining that nothing other than over-feeding or bouncing or rocking or shooshing or sling or baby bjorn or…well you get the idea…)

It is not my best work – but hey, I have the excuse of caring for a newborn (we shall see how long that one lasts)

Have you seen the sheep mobile? Check out the close-up of each them here and here.