It's the little things... Giveaway! (CLOSED)

And, the lucky random.org winner is.... Hayley! Look for an email from me, Hayley, and "thank you" to every one else who entered. I have a few more giveaways in mind, so stay tuned!

Welcome, welcome! This is the third Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day I have participated in. It is always so exciting. Though the end of the school year is really trying to push my stress buttons, squeezing in the crafting for this day of giving was actually a good idea. It was nice to find good reason to knit and felt. Please don't hold your breath, as my work week is about to begin, but I am hoping to add one more "little thing" to my giveaway. I might be able to get it done in time... stranger things have happened, I'm sure.

As it stands now, these little things would make great accents to your nature table, if you have one. If you don't have one, winning this would give you good reason to make space for one! It's always nice to be near nature, and so special when you can bring a little indoors without any harm to Mother (Nature).

For your summer table, a little felted strawberry:

To make this, I simply wrapped wool around a tiny pine cone and needle felted it in place.

For your autumn table, a little knitted acorn:

The pattern for the acorn can be found in this book:















How can you win these lovely little things? Simply leave a lovely little comment. That's all. If you are one of the folks who has been following me for a while (or wishes to start now), please leave a second little comment so I can give you a second entry as a token of my appreciation.

The giveaway will be open until Friday evening, because I will surely not get around to randomly choosing a winner until the work week is over! I will ship internationally ("hello" to my cyber friends across the pond and over the border!) by Monday, the 30th.

Sew What?!! Holiday Challenge: An ornament for the tree

This is the last challenge. Maybe I will think twice before I commit to another thing that sounds really fun but I don't actually have the time for... well, maybe I will. Stranger things have happened, I'm sure. Plus, Jason has requested that I please learn how to say "no", so I really ought to try. Sounds like I have my first resolution for the new year!

The final challenge was an ornament for the tree. Is the angel considered an ornament? I'm going to say "yes" and have my sweet little angel count. She is a cornhusk angel that I bought, I don't know where, and knitted a skirt for her that matches our garland. She's cute. And the little angel who places her on top of the tree every year is cute, too!

This year's photo is on the camcorder, and I'm not sure how to get it out of there....! It is safe for you to just assume it is an equally cute photograph. ;-)

Sew What?!! Holiday Edition: Stockings

So, this was the week three Sew What?!! Holiday Edition challenge, way back in October... Again, I didn't actually make these this year (it still counts, right?!).... I made them four years ago for Anastasia's first Christmas.

Not sure who made the pattern, but I know where to find it in my pile of yarn. If you're interested, just let me know. They weren't too tricky to knit. I did knit one for myself, too, it is hanging on the other side of this walkway. For our names, I crocheted a long chain and then used it to "write" our names, stitching to the stocking in strategic places.

You may remember, I actually completed and posted week two's challenge, a holiday outift, on time. Wow! You can check it out here.

Sew What?!! Holiday Edition--Trying to redeem myself with an oat bag.

Oat bag.... I get my oat bag now. Oat bag time for me!

If you have ever listened to a Seinfeld cd, perhaps this quote is a familiar one to you. If not, just laugh along with me for a moment. After all, laughing is good for your health. Speaking of health, J eats oatmeal for lunch EVERY DAY. I would go nuts, but this is his thing. It started when he got a report of high cholesterol and continued after he lowered it due, in part, to an oatmeal-for-lunch-every-day diet. So, the diet continues.

Though I am waaaay behind on this (I think it happened in October), I committed to participate in The Sewing Dork and Until Wednesday Calls' Sew What?!! Holiday Challenge. I hate to fail. I think most people probably do, too, but I have this perfectionist quality that makes me physically ill if I do not complete something to my expectations. Perhaps that is why I have a cold now that Christmas is over... At any rate, I committed to the challenge and I will complete it! So, going back to these ladies' blogs to see what the challenges were.... I found that week one's Sew What?!! theme was "a gift for him". I couldn't think of anything else to sew, so I made this bag for J to store his oatmeal packets at work. He will likely be the only one who ever sees it, but I think it will give him a chuckle. And, that's a nice thing in the middle of your work day.

I thought the little horsey applique on the back was a nice touch. ;-)
A Bonus Craft for the Challenge was a garland. Now, clearly I did not have time to do that this year. But, I did knit the garland for our tree a few years ago. It's really easy, folks--huge needles, fuzzy yarn, cast on a few stitches and keep going until you run out of yarn....

Hope you had a lovely holiday, too.

Balaclava

Earlier this year, I made a helmet liner for my cousin. After an email conversation in which I thought he was obsessing about sweet, flaky pastries, I discovered that another name for this little item is "balaclava". My cousin had a bit of leave and came to visit the family for a couple of weeks last month. I convinced him to let me share a picture of him wearing the balaclava I knitted for him last winter. Here it is. I see now that it is a bit too big in the corners, and I hope that doesn't make it too cold... better than none at all, I suppose.

He is a superhero. I am so proud!

Helmet Liner for Cousin Jeff

My cousin was deployed to Afghanistan the week after Thanksgiving. If Christmas hadn't been coming, I would've made and sent this right away... But, as I understand it, it is still very cold over there! So, I used the free pattern from Citizen Sam and the Cascade 220 wool yarn recommended by my friendly neighborhood yarn store to begin my knitting and mailing adventure for our armed forces.

I had planned to knit more of these, but I SUCK at ribbing and this took much longer to knit than I anticipated. It will surely be summer before I could get another finished. I am waiting to hear from Jeff about the comfort of this yarn and the color. I had planned on just using black, but husband J switched my yarn choice to a more "camo" varigation while I ran Anastasia to the bathroom. I appreciated his interest in the project and went with his choice. So, if I get the "okay" from Jeff, I plan to knit regular old hats for his chummies, as I imagine he is not the only one who is cold there, but more helmet liners are just not going to happen in the near future. Maybe for next winter...

Also hoping to get a photo from him that I can post here, because this one of me sitting on the couch just doesn't quite capture the meaning of all this. I have no idea how long it takes packages to arrive in Afghanistan from California (but, I will say thank goodness for USPS flat rate shipping boxes, which allowed me to pack a lot of beef jerkey in there, too!), so.... stay tuned!

Let's Get Ready for Christmas: Part Two, Shrug

Here's the free pattern from Lion. I used a two different colors of fun fur and a boucle, rather than the yarn they recommended (I'm such a rebel). I think it turned out nicely (and quickly, with size 50 needles!) and the colors are perfect for the recipient (those in my family should now know exactly who this is for!).

Pay It Forward: The procrastinator finishes early!

Not a lot early, mind you, but it still counts. They've actually been finished for a while, I was just having a hard time getting myself to the post office. Now that they are en route, I will go ahead and share what I made.

First, I must share the absolutely detail-oriented apron I received in the mail a couple of weeks ago from Angela Pea. It is gorgeous, yes? Perfect colors for an autumn-born girl. I absolutely love it. Thank you, Angela Pea!!!

Next, I started with a gift for the youngest person to join my Pay It Forward post. I remember loving to dress-up when I was a young girl, so I thought this knit choker would be fun for her. Anastasia insisted it have a yellow button, so... there ya go.


Finally, I made little drawer sachets for my other two giftees.
This pattern was from another that I found in my pattern binder and hadn't used yet. I filled them with fresh lavender from my garden, enhanced with essential oil.

I wanted to wrap the gifts in something pretty, so I utilized these silks that I dyed last month.

I did enjoy making these and hope to stumble across this challenge again next year. It sure was fun to be part of something with such heartfelt intent.

Let's Get Ready for Christmas: Part One, Hats

I'm not going to say who these gifts are for, because some recipients read my blog. So, if you are expecting a Christmas gift from me, I am hoping you love this and future Christmas post items, because one of them may be for you! On to the gift... My favorite, easiest, hat pattern.

This hat has a rolled brim and is knit on circular needles, which is one of my favorite things to do--so easy, just knit, knit, knit... I got the pattern for free when I made my very first yarn purchase at Rumplestiltskin, on a long lunch break with my old colleagues several years ago (my how time flies). The yarn I bought then was a thickish wool. The yarn I used for these was... not. They are a bit stretchier than I would like for them to be. The fuzziness on the first hat may be a bit too much for its intended recipient, so if I have time when all my other gifts are made I will probably choose different yarns and make a different one. We'll see!

Pattern Binder

Why didn't I think of this sooner... Instead of my sewing and knitting patterns being piled in a drawer or on various counters, they are now all neatly tucked inside these binders that live on the counter in my craft room.

Now, if I could just get my piles of fabric organized... Any ideas? I am on vacation until December 2nd, so I actually have time to work on this!

Felted Purse

This only took me 5 months to make (compared to nearly as many years for the poncho!). I am in love with it. The purse I used before was cute, but not nearly big enough for a pack-rat like me. Plus, being a mom means you need to have a bag of tricks with you at all times, or at least a snack or two. Plenty of room for that here, plus all of my stuff, and it's just more my style.

The pattern is called the "Lucy Bag" by Two Old Bags. It was relatively easy (except for the crochet cast on, as I do not know how to crochet), just took a while.

I bought the yarn at Babetta's. It is wool hand-dyed in Uruguay.

Before felting (3 times):
After felting:

Warmest Poncho

It only took me four years to make this... No, I was not knitting for that long. I set it down for three years after my daughter was born, came across it again in March and decided I should finish it. I am referring to the poncho I am wearing. (The cute little pink number was crocheted by my mother some thirty-ish years ago!)

The pattern is from Lion Brand and I used the Wool Ease yarn they recommended. It is so warm.... Great for morning yard duty at school. Not now that it's summer, of course, but if you're like me you might want to get started now to be ready for the fall (or four falls from now...).