weekend wip: finishing up.

hi there!
happy friday!

i'm loving how quick this short week went. it's a little strange to say that because on the one hand i look at little miss and see how she's changing everyday, getting bigger and so much older, and i want time to stand still for a little longer... on the other hand we really look forward to weekends with daddy (he's pretty fun to hang out with ♥).

this weekend is going to be a mixed crafty/mundane housework weekend. unfortunately we have a trip to the laundromat planned. do. not. like. wasting. my. saturday. at. the. laundromat. sigh. but at least i can take my knitting bag with me and get a few rows on the never ending cardigan finished. i have a feeling i will HATE knitting and will not cast on another project until i can finish this cardigan. sigh. again.

i promise that i have more crafty things happening soon but i've been kind of addicted to my hooks lately. once i get a few more monsters and critters who are swimming around in my brain stitched up i'll be working on some st. patty + easter projects that will get me into my paper stash a little bit and back at my sewing machine.

but for now...

this weekend i need to finish up my wiggle monster. he is waiting patiently for his tentacles (the "wiggle" art of the wiggle monster). i stitched up some "long arm" tentacles for him but they looked too bulky and stiff so i want to just go with long "ruffle-like" tentacles.  i put him aside for a few days because he's not a huge priority and i have some gifts and other designs that are tugging my focus away.

besides little miss has kind of laid claim to him just as he is...

i love this look. like, "mom, i'm being sweet but you better not think about taking him back..."

my other project that is dangerously close to being a FO is a snoopy design for my mom. she loves snoopy and woodstock. i'm really happy with how he's been shaping up but there has definately been a little bit if trial and error.  

this snoopy is definately a desk chotchkie and not a baby toy... i am going for a very specific shape and i'm pretty sure that a day or two (or maybe 2 hours) with little miss and snoopy would be headless.


so those are the two projects closest to completion going into this weekend. i'm still hoping to get a project  going out of two skeins of grey wool-ease chunky that scream at me every time i walk past my yarnstash shelves. is it too late in the season to make myself a chunky cowl? 

wishing everyone a great weekend!

love.

designing a monster. little lulu.

hello there.
meet my first monster, lulu.

i'm pretty proud of her. i made her from my own sketch using the amigurumi design tools i learned in the Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster class on Craftsy by Stacey Trock (FreshStitches).

i have really enjoyed Stacey's amigurumi design class so far and i love that it never expires so i can go back again and again if i need to refresh on any of the info. the craftsy platform is awesome and probably warrants it's own review post... if you haven't checked it out, you should! you can ask questions during the class, take notes, post photos within the class and then upload your projects to the main galleries.

Stacey's Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster class is really great. as a teacher she is clear in her directions and offers so many great tips and techniques. she takes you through the design process from sketch to hook to stuffing & finishing and gives you the basic foundation to create your own bodies, arms, legs, eyes, ruffles, and more!

i have found the information in the class invaluable and have been busily sketching and crocheting away all weekend!

lulu monster:

7" tall

Lion Brand Baby Wool (Pear, Peony, Almond)

Vanna's Choice (Black)

Felt (Pink, White)

i'm going to share the other guys i'm working on a little later today... but for now my blog writing has been timed perfectly because little miss is starting to whisper to her animals. naptime over!

love.

spring colors + friendly monsters.

hello friends.

just thought i'd pop in to share a little bit of color on an otherwise overcast day here in jersey!

the spring granny square blanket for little miss that i started this winter had become a bit of a crazy mess so i took some time this morning to organize it. i found a couple of the lace circle swatches that my grandma gave me awhile back with some of her old pattern pamphlets. one day i'll get to work on making some of my own... but i think these would make very pretty eyes on some critter.

i don't think i've mentioned them before but i LOVE ikea boxes for organizing my projects like this. they come in all sizes and fit perfectly into my shelves... plus they protect the squares and yarn from roxy hair, dust, and little fingers. i have a really bad habit of getting things started on a project and then losing interest (ok i'll say it, i bore easily) - so keeping my projects separated and organized like this really helps. when i want to switch things up i just pull down a project and get to work.

during naptime i finalized a few sketches for my Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster class on Craftsy. i'm really pleased with what i've come up with so far and these are the first 3 guys (well, and gal) that i'm going to attempt to stitch up. i got started on what i'm currently calling the "wiggle monster"... i'm making him in Lion Brand's Vanna Baby in Little Boy Blue. 

i have the opportunity to head to the lion brand studio on monday so i'm pretty serious about stitching my way through a lot of my stash this weekend. i have so much on hand right now but i'm not worried... i  have some great ideas brewing for most of it so it's just a matter of getting to work. i can't wait to see what critters and monsters emerge!

love.

p.s. what are you working on? how do you keep projects organized that you might have put on the back burner for awhile? i'd love to hear about your crafting experiences and i'm always looking for new blogs to add to my bloglovin' feed so if you have stopped by and have an extra moment to say hello please leave a comment so i can say hello back! ♥

our valentine's day.

hello.

i hope everyone had a great valentine's day! ours was, interesting. joe stayed home from work with a weird flu-like bug that zapped all of his energy. poor guy slept the whole day and looked pretty miserable. little miss and i started our day off with a quick trip out for some baking supplies... the plan was to get our valentine's day brownie and cookie making on. lots of fun right?

well... on the way home this very awful smell started wafting up to the front seat and abby gave me a "um, we have a problem back here" yelp. unfortunately there was absolutely no where to stop so we got ourselves home as quick as possible. when we did i discovered a very big mess. and it didn't stop there. more messes including one in the bathtub that really made her mad... she did not enjoy having to wait while i cleaned up the tub and re-bathed her.

so needless to say with two sick patients sugary treats were going to have to be put on the back burner for a few days... instead we got a little dressed up for a few valentine's day presents. and yes, i held my breathe the entire time she had her harajuku tutu on. maybe having her wear it wasn't the best idea with the messes we were having (especially since she'd already gone through what i thought was going to be her valentine's day outfit) but seriously, she's so darn cute in it. it was worth the risk. and thankfully, no mess!

abby LOVED her presents. i'd been wanting to get her a little baby doll and stroller for awhile but she got so much at christmas that i decided to wait until valentine's day so she had a chance to get some wear out of the things she already had. keeping a toddler busy is all about rotation rotation rotation! 

and just as i thought the second she got to the stroller she was OFF! it's so sweet how gentle and concerned she is with the doll. she loves checking to make sure she's buckled in, unbuckling and re-buckling... she plays patty cake with the baby's hands and squeezes her 'piggies'... she points to her eyes, ears, and nose. ♥  

she likes her owl too which i'm very happy about. so far it's been placed on several different shelves and admired, taken on a few stroller trips around the apartment, and every once in awhile she brings it to me to hold or squeeze. she likes to 'shake' it's little wings too (very glad i double whipstitched those little wings on! i knew they'd be pulled a few million times!)

after some serious playtime with her new toys abby conked out for almost 3 hours and when she woke up, no more messes! i'm not sure what was going on down there but as she's been A'ok all day today i'm guessing she's over it. probably just something she ate? who knows. we still decided it was best not to play with fire and so our cookie treats will have to wait for a few days...

so that was our valentine's day! not so different from any other day, but it was a nice reminder of how full of love our little family is. having both of my loves at home for the whole day was sweet, no matter what. today joey is feeling much better and was able to go into work... and little miss seems 100% back to her crazy toddler self. so all is well again in our world!

now we have a short week leading into a 3 day weekend! that means lots of little miss + daddy time and lots of crafting time for me. coming up soon... weekend wip's, a 29 before 30 update, and some new spring goals.

love.

love. from our heart to yours.

happy valentines day (evening) ♥

i only have a few minutes before i completely pass out after our crazy flu-bug valentine's day... and before the sick husband beside me starts really complaining about the light still being on and me tapping away (he wouldn't ever do that)... but while i'm still vertical i would like wish all of my friends, family, and all of the visitors to my little piece of the web a very happy heart day. and more than that, i wish that we all continue to be thankful for the love present in our lives (in every form) and remain constantly open and giving of our love in return.

i am so thankful each and every day for my little family... my incredibly supportive, encouraging, and loving husband and best friend who works so hard to give us an amazing life (and to allow me to stay home with my little miss, such a gift!) and my little girl who makes every day an adventure and gives the best hugs and kisses ever! 

goodnight. and as always...

love.

p.s. the cute little lopsided pop heart i whipped up was a free ravelry pattern from MyGurumi that you can find here...  it was pretty quick and is so cute. i might do a million of these for next vday. (or close to a million.)

hooks and needles: an owl for valentine's day

hi there!

i'm so happy to introduce a new owl friend for little miss! i'm calling her val for now (really original i know, but nothing else has sounded right so far...)

i really love this little cuddly cutie and i can't wait for little miss to get her arms around her on valentine's day morning. i've asked joe three times this weekend if i could give it to her early, but i've been good and for now she's hiding...

this owl pattern was created by Stacey Trock of Fresh Stitches and i absolutely love it. Stacey is a phenomenal amigurumi designer and sells the cutest little animals and monsters in her etsy shop. she also sells patterns and kits to create your own amigurumi and has joined the new Craftsy.com team teaching great workshops and classes online.

i took the Nelson the Owl Workshop on Craftsy and let me tell you it was more than worth it! i highly recommend checking it out... it was very reasonably priced and it was so nice to be able to chat with the designer, ask questions about the pattern, and to share with others making the owls. the directions were easy to follow and very well explained.

now my little val...

she's actually not so 'little' - she measures almost 11" !! i made her using stash yarn left over from little miss's newborn blanket... her body, wings, and eyes were made with Lion Brand Baby's First which is a chunky weight. i didn't have any yellow in the Baby's First so for the beak and feet i used a double strand of some Lion Brand Baby Wool, also from my stash scraps. (yay for using up some of my stash, yarn shopping time!)

my owl follows the pattern exactly except for the wing construction and the addition of the cross-stitch heart...

for the wings i had to come up with a plan that would accommodate one wing's worth of pink yarn, cuz that's all i had. i obviously had a bit less than a full skein of my main color to start out with and the wing is where it caught up with me, not bad. i basically split the original wing pattern in half and crocheted it flat, 2 in each color, and then whip-stitched the two pairs together (right sides facing each other, then turned right-side out).

i have been wanting to do cross-stitch on crochet for awhile but hadn't quite found the right project... i thought this would be the perfect opportunity (and it was an easy peasy way to make it a special ♥ day owl!) i sketched out a quick grid and used some more leftovers bits.

overall i'm quite happy with how she turned out and am eager to make a few more. i think a snuggly owl would go great with a matching quick knit baby blanket as a go to newborn set. i'm so excited to see abby's reaction to it... tuesday morning is going to be so much fun!

be sure to check out Stacey's workshops, classes, and patterns available at craftsy.com - i really like everything i've seen on craftsy so far and i look forward to what's in store for the site. if you haven't checked it out, you should. there is something for everyone! i just signed up for Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster class taught by Stacey and can't wait to start (hopefully this week after i've gotten a little more work on this done...)

love.

what i'm working on.

hey there.

checking in.

i'm currently writing (and rewriting) a catch up post... but i thought while i have a tiny bit of time i'd share what i'm currently stitching up over here. 

one of my main goals this year is to really develop my crochet skills. last year i taught myself the basics of how to crochet and completed a few things... mostly in sc, dc, clusters, granny squares, etc. but i've really only scratched the surface. 

so to that end i decided to get some of my fall stash used up and looked for a sampler pattern so i could learn a few more stitch combos... i decided to try this Sampler Throw by Lion Brand because it called for a worsted weight yarn (which is what i had in stash), and i wanted to practice making "popcorn".

i'm taking my time with these squares. i'm trying to work on getting the gauge just right and keeping a consistent tension during the "special" stitches. must. stop. pulling. so. tight. i really like the zig zag surface pattern... it would make a nice texture for a baby blanket. 

i love the colors for this sampler throw. they are all Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted weight yarns in random colors that i picked up over the past year for separate projects. i ended up not using them and together i think they make a really bold color combo. i need one more color because the pattern has 5 different squares, i'm debating between a white-ish that i already have in stash or something else totally new.

i paused on that project this week to work on valentine's stuff. while valentine's day isn't my favorite of holidays... i'll admit that i do, kinda, love each and every holiday in a totally new way since having little miss. really any excuse for me to get her stuff, give her a cupcake, and make her cute things works for me. 

so one of the things i'm working on for her this valentine's day is this little friend...

i don't know her name yet. she's almost finished. i'll post more when she's all done. for now if you'd like to check out the really great and super easy pattern you can find it at Craftsy from designer Stacey Trock (FreshStitches): Nelson the Owl Pattern 

so that's a bit of what i'm working on for the moment... it's nice to be getting back to the blog again!

love.