I'm an Aunt!!

Well I have been an Aunt for 8 years but this is MY first biological nephew. My 4th nephew all together. (I need to get a niece here at some point but...)

Anyways Ryan James was born at 8:39 am this morning(November 21). He weighes 9 lbs. 5 oz. and is 21 inches long. He is a big boy! Fun thing is he looks JUST like my oldest! (Who looks just like my brother who is Ryan's father so I guess he gets the credit.)
While I was waiting for the sitter to come so I could go visit him, I whipped these little shoes up. (Sorry for the lighting. They really are cute.)

I found the tutorial at Stardust Shoes and thought they were the cutest little little shoes. It was actually an easy pattern. That is it should have been. But I had been at the hospital until 1 am the night before waiting and finially decided to go home to bed. Got to bed by 3 am to have my lovely children wake me up at 6:30 am. So I was TIRED. Not to mention anxious for my sitter to arrive. I finished the first shoe and went to admire my work when I realized I had sewn the sole on upside down or rather inside out. So I ripped it apart. Then I sewed the toe on the heel and the heel on the toe. It took me a while to figure out why it didn't look right. So I had to rip it out again. Third time was a charm though. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out but I am going to have to make a few more pairs. We held Ryans foot up to these shoes (pattern says 6 months). Ryan is sure not going to get 6 months out of these shoes! He may be lucky to get 6 weeks. Now I need to figure out how to adjust the pattern to make a larger shoe.

SP9 Dishcloth Contest

Our SP9 hostess Patty has a contest going for those in her group We are to knit a dishcloth and post it to our blogs by November 22nd. So here is my entry with 24 hours to spare!

It is actually a pattern from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL that I never did. I really like the colors.

Shower Scrunchie

The other night I was bored with all of my current WsIP so I decided to do something quick and easy.

The scrunchie was made with left over Lion Cotton that I had from a face cloth I made. I found the pattern here and thought it looked like a one evening project I could watch TV while doing. I think I finished it in about an hour or so. So now I am ready to get back to Christmas Gift Knitting.

Knitting and Sewing

As I have said earlier, I have had a renewed interest in sewing and here is the project that kick started this resurrection of a former hobby.

Our babysitter has been asking for a felted bag. Since her 18th Birthday is Sunday, I figured I better get knitting. Sophie took me just two evenings to knit, but has yet to be felted. Yesterday I made a trip to JoAnn's and picked up some fabric to line the bag. I am going to through the bag in the washer this afternoon. (Once I catch up on my laundry first.) Then I will get started on the lining. I am hoping my sewing skills aren't too rusty. My machine has spend quite a while collecting dust on a shelf in my craft closet. Now that I am dusting it off, I plan on giving it some good use. While at JoAnn's I picked up a few extra's to make a couple projects from Amy Butler's Book that I reviewed in my previous post.
I can't wait to get started. I am really very excited about this. (My husband is groaning about another hobby to suck up my time and our money....He got over it when I pointed out that the fabric is *hopefully* meant for Christmas gifts. We will have to see how they turn out first.)

Book Review: In Stitches

Recently I have been thinking about dusting off my sewing machine and putting it to some use. So yesterday as I was browsing the craft sections at Barnes and Noble I found this great book.
I think this book maybe just what I need to get sewing again. There are a number of fabulous projects and the fabrics that Designer Amy Butler uses are wonderful. She organizes the projects by the room it is meant for. For example "Living Room" projects include a quilted throw, and pillows for the floor as well as the sofa. She also has a kitty tunnel I am sure my feline friends would enjoy! Included in the kitchen is a fabulous vintage looking waist apron, that I might even use! And potholders that remind me of the ones my grandmother had in her kitchen when I was a little girl. One of the bedroom projects is a bedside organizer that fits between the mattress and boxspring. It is meant to hold a book, pens, your glasses, an ipod, magazines, and I suppose anything else you might need close by your bed. My nightstand always has so much on it that I can barely find the nightstand. This will be my first project and one I think I may make for a number of people on my Christmas list. Other Bedroom projects include PJ bottoms, a sleeping mask and a duvet cover. There are projects for the Bathroom, Office, and a number of fun bags including one that she calls a checkbook clutch that looks beyond me at present but I love so much I am definately going to have to work my way up to it.

Secret pal and swaps

The mailman has been busy bring fabulous packages to my house. (I would have shown you these earlier but blogger has been giving me fits. Bad Blogger!) Any ways check out these fabulous swaps I have gotten this last week!
First one is from my Secret Pal. She did such a great job! It is definately a terrific package. Just look at how she packaged everything. It was so pretty right out of the box! Everything came either wrapped in pretty tissue paper or in this fabulous little autumn tote bag. (Just perfect for a pair of socks on the go.)
Even before I took these pretty packages out of the box, I noticed this fabulous smell. A wonderful baked apple scented envelope made the package smelled delicious! She also included two skeins of pretty autumn red sock yarn, autumn leaves magnets, fall stickers, a pretty little pillow, and yummy chocolate that lasted all of about two seconds after this picture was taken. Pal you made some wonderful choices. Thank you so much!
The next two packages I received are both from my Stitch Marker Exchange partners.
The first is from Linda S. She made the prettiest blue stitch markers. One had an elastic loop that can be used to hold the needles together when not is use. More yummy chocolate! Stickers, a magnetic notepad and wonderful bath salts and lotion.
And from Linda K. sent a completely homemade package: a set of 7 beautiful green beaded stitch markers, a knitting charm, a wonderful decoupaged journal, a cute little pin with a vintage looking picture of a little boy on it and a great hank of handspun yarn! I LOVE handspun. She also had a note card that she created that somehow did not make it into the picture but you will have to trust that it as fabulous as the other hand-created projects she sent. She is definately a terrific artist. Thank you, Linda!
Thank you all for such wonderful gifts. I feel so very lucky!