Felted animals in my little house

The past few days have been unusually rainy, here at the Little House in the Big Park, the streets that are usually lined with cars are empty, and there is a new river where the street to get to my driveway used to be.

Today I plan on getting bundled up and going out into it - but yesterday was a day for cooking pea soup and staying warm and dry inside.

being 29 weeks (and 1 day) pregnant, I've been doing a lot of what they call "nesting." I sort of hate that term. Maybe because I'm predisposed to it anyway, it doesn't seem to be only pregnancy-related for me, and it's sort of annoying to post "hey I made this thing" on facebook and have twelve people say, "ahhh, nesting" in a knowing way. In any case - there's no denying that yesterday being cozy with a craft was the best thing ever. 

Baby's room is going to be wood/forest themed. I had been looking online for things to add to the room, when I saw a few felt mobiles on etsy. They were beautifully done, super cute - and beyond my price range. So I figured I'd try my hand at them. The  project evolved - and I don't think it's going to be a mobile anymore, but here are the results:

One tree, 1 rabbit, 1 bear, 1 deer, 1 owl, and 8 birds. All made with felt I bought at Michaels, embroidery floss, batting, and hand-stitched by me.

 I have enough of the birds that I might turn them into a mobile after all. I haven't decided yet.

I particularly love the pattern on the owl wings. I am also proud of myself for stopping and not doing the whole thing - I like the look of it this way better, but it's hard for me to not fill in all the space I have.

He's so sad. I didn't mean to make him sad. And then once I did, it didn't feel right to change him.

This deer was the first one I made, otherwise I might have given her a little more personality in the eyes.

It's hard to tell in photos, but I thought a lot about the embroidered details of each - for example, this trunk was embroidered using all 6 strands of embroidery floss held together, so make it have more texture. I think all the rest of the embroidery was done with 2 or 3 strands.

post-conference and some new crafty items

This weekend I went to the CHN conference in Torrance. I had a really, really good time - I did 1 talk, and 4 workshops, and was also able to sit and sell my items in the vendor hall all weekend! I love conferences, and will do more posts with photos from some of the different workshops, with descriptions. 

But for now - one of the things I love about conferences is the inspiration I get for new products. So here's the first photos of some new things...

itty bitty crocheted bows, these are for your hair, but I'll be doing rings and earrings too

large heart rings and earrings are a big seller of mine, but these have the americana twist :)

these are earring holders made with lace, burlap, and embroidery hoops. They are light, lovely,and a great display for your jewelry, and mine....

In the vendor hall, some of my earrings on display!

No promises as to when these will be on my showyourcolorz etsy site, but I am having fun making them!!!

Project List!

So I spend a lot of time working on all my projects... we moved not that long ago, and so a bunch of mine are still in boxes, slowly getting unpacked as I try to find yarn, needles, etc. Here's a list of some projects that I am currently in the middle of -- my hope is by listing them here, I'll actually get around to finishing them! I am really great at starting things...

1. Cathedral Windows Quilt, hand-sewn

2. Granny square earrings, crocheted

3. Granny square vest - crocheted, improvised pattern

4. Silk vest - it's on knitting needles right now, but I started over and am doing a crocheted shell stitch pattern

5. Pink crocheted skirt - picture to come!
6. Purple sock yarn beanie - picture to come!

7. About 4 pairs of socks, including the other half of this one

8. Ripple scarf, made with birthday yarn

9. knitting needle holder - wool, to be felted. Picture to come.
10. baby animal hats - all my friends are having babies. Time to make some gifts.

11. Granny square curtains - about 150 of 500 squares made so far!

12. a bunch of coin purses and granny square bags - maybe 15 of them? Some are needle felted.

14. Granny Square Cushions - need to sew lining/backs and add the stuffing!

atwater village vest

Yesterday, an unschooling mom who lives surprisingly and delightfully close to me, took me on a tour of the neighborhood. We went to coffee shops, toy stores, parks, and more. I got a bunch of practical how-to-park-here advice, and a humongous list of places I want to explore further. This awesome neighborhood tour will get more detailed blog posts in the future... but first...

One of the stops we made was at The Little Knittery in Atwater Village, where I spent an agonizingly long time choosing a skein of yarn to buy. I ended up with this - Noro taiyo silk/wool blend. It's a frustrating yarn - catches on my fingers, it's super tightly spun so it knots up, and it fuzzes together with the other pieces easily. However, once I've knit up a few rows, it's really, really pretty and falls really well.

I've never successful knit a garment for myself to wear larger than a pair of socks. I've decided it's time to change that. Find an easy pattern and copy it? That is not the Roya way. Instead, I am making up my own pattern. Let's see if I am the knitter I think I am.

I'm using this blog entry as a way to update the pattern --

Cast on 500 stitches (to figure it out for your size: figure out the widest you want it to be at the bottom [for me, 53 inches wide] knit up a gauge swatch [for me, 25 sts in 3 inches. That turns into 475 stitches, but then I decided I wanted peaked edges, so I added 25 more stitches, and I'll decrease later on]

I forgot to do stockinette stitch, and knit the first 3 rows. Then I remembered, and began purling on the wrong sides, knitting on the right side.

Continue stockinette stitch for the length you want from bottom hem to under armpits.
I decreased to 475 stitches by knitting 2 together on either ends every 10 rows (ish).

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I'm only about an inch into the stockinette right now, haven't even done my first decrease. I'll check back in with edits, and the next steps when I get there!