Announcement

Well, I'm starting to recover from being exhausted constantly. I'm not ill or fighting some infection,...I'm carrying a bun in the oven! First trimester, like the first time around, has been nothing but exhaustion. This time around, though, I also have a lack of appetite. Most foods are gagging me and when something sounds good, I better eat it before the window of opportunity passes. Within this past week I've finally started getting some energy back. Last weekend we cleaned the house after about a month of neglect. All I could manage to do was go to work, come home to the sofa, then go to bed for twelve hours. The dishes piled up, the toys spread everywhere and ALL the crafts got crammed in the corner.

I did manage this cute little nightgown and robe ensemble for my friends daughter who got a new doll for Christmas. I had several 18" doll clothes patterns, but her's was a 14" doll. So I cut the pieces out that I wanted and photocopied them down to hopefully the right size. By my calculations, if I shrunk them to be 77% of the size, they would fit a 14" doll. Laying them next to Cowboy Bob makes them look like they would fit him perfect...

He wasn't too thrilled at the suggestion and because I woke him from his nap. He's still not happy that I haven't made him any jeans, he's embarrassed about the boxers. Cowboy Bob is another Knitted Babe that I made last summer for my son. He really enjoyed hanging out with Suzy Q while she was here. I recently learned that she is enjoying her new home and has been name Heidi. However, Cowboy Bob's idea is from the other book by Claire Garland Dream Toys. This was another book I fell in love with at first site, mainly because I had to make the mermaid from it (another to-do on my list).

Is it odd that after I took this picture my son insisted that Cowboy Bob had messed his shorts and needed a diaper? Well, that was the case and we made him one only to have it removed shortly after that because Cowboy Bob needed to use the potty. It was all a new and interesting experience brought to me by my 2-1/2 year old.

Now that first trimester is ending, I'm hoping to get back to crafting....my latest goal is to create an amigurumi character. I started this one last fall, it's pattern is from the book Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden. I fell in love with this book the moment I saw it...I just don't know what this little guy/gal wants to be. I think I originally was going to make the amazon warrior, but now I want to do something a little different. I gave it Cowboy Bob's winter scarf because it's still chilly around these parts. Hopefully I'll post more projects soon! We have to see how my energy level is doing.

Knitted Babe Suzy Q

Since I opened up our family Etsy shop, I haven't posted much about the buttons or any crafting. I've been a busy, busy bee finishing up this Knitted Babe...

My mom's beautiful brown hair and dashing blue eyes were the inspiration behind this dolls features, only I didn't add any gray hairs. :) So I've decided to name her Suzy Q. (hee, hee) I've already made one knitted babe about a year ago, who ended up being Cowboy Bob (he just couldn't be a knitted babe for my son, my husband wasn't too excited about that idea). I have yet to make him a wardrobe, though, he only has a pair of boxers and recently a sweater. Suzy Q and her wardrobe are made from the book Knitted Babes It is such a cute book! I recommend this book to all knitters who have kids or grandkids, or are even a kid at heart (like me!) I altered the patterns for some of the clothes in the book, like her teal peacock blue corduroy jacket with tan fur-like trim (I had a fabric sample from work that was SO SOFT and the perfect scale of fur for her). Her jacket was the cowgirls shirt pattern with lengthened sleeves. Her dress is the same pattern as the book, but I didn't sew on the ribbon and I did a different stitch detail on the hem with my sewing machine. It was an experimental stitch an folding of fabric that actually turned out cute.

Here Suzy Q is lowering her jacket to show the details on the back side of her dress. Two black vintage buttons from my stash, black grosgrain ribbon at her waist and black bias tape on the sleeves.

My favorite part was making her handbag. This past summer I went to a Farm Chicks craft show and got a business card for an online quilt store. The card came with "quilters candy" which was this small piece of fabric I used for her handbag with the orange retro flower. It was the perfect size, about 3"x6". I hemmed both sides, cornered the bottom (I learned this trick from U-handblog's very fun and helpful website), then battled the top hem for a good hour just to get it take the leather cord through, glued a small piece of plastic canvas covered with green felt to the bottom and VOILA!! My own creation of a very cute Knitted Babe handbag! I always tend to enjoy the miniature side of crafting. Probably because I grew up with a mother who made miniatures and took me to miniature doll shows as a kid. Thanks Mom! Even in college my favorite part of our interior design studio was making the 1/4" scale models of our designs out of foam coar and museum board. Maybe someday I'll dig them out of our garage, photograph them, then toss them like my husband keeps asking me to do.

Now I can continue on with my Christmas gift making. I have a hat on needles, two inches of sead beads peyote stitched, and a whole bunch of patterns and ideas floating around in my head. Only twenty more days.....wish me luck!