Eye Spy... something to make for a little person

I am late with Eye Spy, AND I rejigged the theme to suit my purposes. I am a bit of an Eye Spy rebel this week I guess.

I found this in my piles of vintage patterns that I have been given and I can't get it out of my mind- I want to make it! Can you blame me?

I do have a few friends in the family way, so that's a good excuse to give it a go.

Thanks Mary Jane for the theme! I hope you don't mind my adjustments... and many thanks to Cindy for hosting.

Jeans to a skirt 2

I have a whole bunch of jeans languishing in my drawers. Too big, too small, none just right (which is why I keep buying more.) And I actually prefer to wear skirts anyway, so a jeans conversion was always imminent.

I have had a go at a jeans to wrap-around-skirt conversion before, but this one is much more wearable. I love the idea of a wrap around, but they can be a bit drafty/flashy if you catch my drift.

For this one I used this tutorial which is very easy to follow. Is it too nerdy to admit I was watching Project Runway Canada on YouTube while I was ripping apart seams?

The back panel on mine looks a little funny as it is not as worn as the seat of my pants were, but it is OK. I am not aiming for perfection here.

It is very gratifying to use something that I never wore and refashion it in such as way that I am getting a lot of use out of. Yeah!

PS Look at Caleb pose!

I win!

I won my first giveaway over at Pepper Stitches. Thanks Pepper! She has a nice blog too! I am stitching up one of her free embroidery patterns at the moment actually. Stay tuned!

Here is the monster so cute atop my piano. I wonder how long it will take for him to run off and play with the kids?

On the subject of giveaways and the like, I still have one place left in my Pay it Forward.

Eye spy... a sign

Open for what exactly?

Many thanks to Jenaveve for thinking up this week's theme and to Cindy for hosting!

A little bit random, but...

I don’t much like housework. Surprised? Probably not. I do like a clean and well organised home. I just don’t have one. I feel happy when looking through a Howard’s Storage world brochure- imagining if MY house were like that… oh my...

Doing the dishes is a particular pain, yes? Only because it needs to be done several times a day, and my dishpan hands are already quite unsightly. You all know what I am talking about.

But this afternoon I found a way to actually enjoy myself. Music while house working is not a new concept of course, but sometimes it take me a while to catch on. I popped some Faure on the iPod and suddenly felt like I was all beautiful and poignant and doing a beautiful and poignant task… and reminiscing about when I was alright at playing the piano. Was never good enough for Faure though.

Anyways, the lesson I learned today is that there is a lot to be said for carefully choosing the sound track to your life.

b b b beanies

The doctor gave me the go ahead to resume crochet. Woot! Don't have to tell me twice. Here's what I've been up to this weekend.

The BIG BLUE BEANIE. Not kidding, this is huge-mongus. I really liked the Brrr Baby Beanie that I found on Ravelry, but wanted it to be big enough for Caleb. I used a 5.5 mm hook instead of the recommended 5mm, and it just turned out too big. He still likes it despite an ear flap making it's way around his head to rest between his eyes in a kind of weird viking helmet sans horns fashion.

The "spare" beanie as Caleb has named it. Modeled here by Jemima (who also happens to be wearing the first simple servant frock I made her, and another hand knit cardigan from the wonderful knitting sensation Norma from my church.) This one is quite snug on his head, but the ear flaps are too far forward, making them a touch side burnish. Oh well.

I am still reasonably happy with them and am a bit philosophical about the short comings. They are early pieces in my crochet journey afterall.

And these snaps also show what Chris has been up to this weekend. A little soil prep. For a little garden that we hopefully won't kill. I think the kids would be happy if the garden remained a pile of dirt though.

No crochet=dollies

I have been missing my crochet this long weekend whilst on myself imposed crochet leave. So I have been making these gals. They are of course using the black apple doll pattern (again! again! again! yep I love these little dolls.). I was yet again inspired by Miss Emily's new doll recently. (She is such an artist, and I am such a copy cat). Those little stubby legs make for cute toddleresque dollies- and the legs are easier to turn inside out and stuff too. I decided to machine sew the seam closed this time as unfortunately my hand sewing sux. So it doesn't look as finished off, but it will be much more durable.

 3 of these little pretties are gifts for some little friends I know, and the white blonde one will probably live with us. The kids have already named her Princess.

This little girl was the inspiration for the white blonde dolly, and here she is posing with her softie love. This is Kea, named thus because she is from Ikea. She loves this animal ever so much, and will hold her tenderly and say "Kea's my baby", and the next thing you know, she is flying across the room. Oh so tenderly, of course.

Eye spy... something in bloom

The Butchart Gardens July, 2003

Jennifer Rose gave us a multiple choice eye spy this week. Eye spy a scar was the other one, but this is so much prettier to look at! These gardens were incredible in real life. I would love to go back there.

Although... let's talk scar like things... a week or so ago I was covered in homemaker injuries. Little burns, paper cuts, dried out hands to the point of splitting, and I kept pricking my fingers with pins. Obviously the OH & S procedures around this place need an overhaul. 

Now it is most unfortunate that I seem to have a crochet injury. Nothing to see, just a loss of sensation in my left forearm and the occasional spasmy feeling down my arm to my little finger. Oopsy. I have rested myself from crochet for the past two days and the sensation in my arm is returning. For now, the beanies will have to wait. 

Thanks for the theme Jennifer Rose, and to Cindy as always for hosting. 

PS I still have 2 places available in my Pay it forward. 

Pay it forward

I have seen this little nicety doing the rounds for a little while, and now have the opportunity to join in. I found Brooke's lovely blog when I was pottering around the Sew Mama Sew giveaway. Thanks Brooke!

Here's what happens:

~I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post.
~I have 365 days to do it in…
~What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is that you must participate as well:

~you must have a blog
~and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.

Just cut and paste this one if you like, which I did!

Crazy for crochet

I joined Ravelry last week as I think this crochet thing might just stick. I really wanted to do a hat and I found this one that I downloaded for a small fee from Ravlery, but you can also see it at this Etsy shop. A very nice design I think you'll agree. Kinda different from what I ended up with, but more about that later.

Being new to crochet I don't really understand how you check gauge etc, so I just used the hook the designer used and have ended up with a tiny hat that barely fits Jemima. So funny. I will finish it up though and give it to a baby friend, or adorn the hat of a dolly that lives here as a reminder to always check the gauge before beginning a new project. 

Obviously I figured the gauge thing out, though I had trouble with the brim of this hat. If you went and checked out the pattern you will see that the brim (turned down) has stitches that seem to be running in a different direction from the crown. In my hat they all run the same. Which is why I turned up the brim, to give the hat some interest. I think the problem lies in the direction: "work back loops only". I seem to do all my crochet that way- working in the back loops, so the stitch was indeed the same for the brim and crown in my case. Or perhaps I wasn't working the brim in "rows" as opposed to "spirals" as you do for the crown... Anyway, I am determined to get to the bottom of it so I can make this hat as designed. Anyone out there got any ideas? I am going to find some helpful person on Ravelry and bombard them with questions. 

But I quite like my blue hat despite all that. The wool is from my mum's stash and the blue button was from mine, so a pretty economical little project too.