Wool anyone?

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted...while my break from blogging was several months long I was busy creating fun stuff.  Of course, I photographed basically none of it and gave most of it away as gifts for the holidays, so my bad there.  My resolution for 2012?  1) Take more photos of my projects.  2)  Take more photos of my projects BEFORE giving away as gifts. 

Here are two that were given as gifts using wool...one of my favorite materials!

A tree pillow using my kid's hand prints as the branches & trunk.  The red background is from a recycled sweater found while thrifting.  I was able to get two 14x14 pillow faces out of it, plus some scraps left over for future projects.  The hand/arm print is suede leather from a women's shirt also found while thrifting.  I purchased a bunch of wool felt from Felt On The Fly which made up the leaves once I cut out a bunch of little circles and stacked them up here and there.  The cover has a zippered back for ease of removing and cleaning if need be.

And a little knitting....I like this yarn and hat pattern so much I may make myself one too!  I used Malabrigo yarn, chunky, in the Sealing Wax colorway.  Love it!  The pattern was a free one found on Ravelry but I can't for the life of me find the bookmark so I'm going to have to go do a big search for the pattern again when I have free time to devote to it. The flowers are cut from wool felt scraps left from the above pillow project and hand sewn on. I used this  tutorial for the smaller one and just winged it for the larger one, which is a pinwheel design.

Yeah for wool!

My Craft Is Back...Maybe

More micro-preemie hats intended for Calvin's Hats.

Let me be perfectly clear about something. I am organized. I am crafty and creative. I am driven. It was not uncommon awhile back for me to start in on a project and be so focused and driven that I would stay up until 3am to see it finished. No biggie to drag myself out of bed at 6am to get ready for work after 3 hours sleep. I'm tough.

Then I had kids, became a stay-at-home-mom and life became a bit chaotic. While I'd never, ever wish to NOT have my children, one of the struggles I've battled with since they joined the ranks has been the forced change of my organized self. My crafty and creative self has suffered a tad bit in the last 4 years....this is because I'm not one to "let my house go", and I've found with kids in the equation, being crafty can turn to chaos pretty quickly. It is utterly amazing what two innocent children can do to one room in less than 60 seconds while I've got my head bent over my sewing machine. Then there is the whole concept of being driven enough to claw out from under the mounds of laundry, toys, dishes and every day cleaning and schedules and have enough energy left over to apply toward something creative. Ha! Well, let's just say that sometimes it is just much easier to park my rear on the couch with a bowl of potato chips to watch the Grey's Anatomy hotness happening on screen. Oh, and let me be clear about something else. The sleep deprivation is certainly still here. Only it is no longer caused from my drive to see a project unfold from start to finish in an uninterrupted manner, but rather because of the drive of my two darling little hoodlums to not let me sleep through a night uninterrupted.

I'm writing this post for my fellow crafters who have felt the same way since children entered the scene. Actually, I'm not sure if I'm writing it to make you feel better or me feel better, so pick whichever one you want. I'm flexible. Regardless, I've made a little vow to myself to document on my blog more of my crafty self. It was originally started as a way to show the online customers I knit for the progress of their orders (yup, I'm a self-taught knitter due to my crunchy tendency that led me to cloth diapering my children). Anyway it might be fun to see my blog morph into something more. I've been reading some really great blogs lately. Pretty Ditty is my latest favorite. As is The Sewing Dork.

This post will focus specifically on work space issues, 'cuz I have 'em. I long for a craft room. A real, live sewing room. One where I can scatter my projects all around me, then walk out and close the door. Or stay in and close the door...even better! Oh, and this make believe craft room will certainly have style AND storage galore! I actually have plans to make this craft room happen in about 2-3 years...when the Super T and Special K are old enough to bunk in the same room. Watch out spare room, Mama's on the prowl!

Ok...moving on. The first step in tackling any project is a cup-o-java to combat the bleary eyes induced by kids. Come to mama, you whipped cream goodness!

The next part is a little depressing for me...I really have no where in our little house to set up shop. I take that back...I have a space, it just isn't inspiring in the least bit. My current make-shift sewing table is our old cast-off living room sofa table that I drug in from the garage the other day. It is a mess with cords and foot pedals going every which way because my little 11 month old Special K loves to make his own "creations of chaos" with them. In the below picture it doesn't look half bad because I hastily straightened it out. Notice the kid's "Art Gallery" above it? That is my $20 solution to the $50 one that Pottery Barn sells. Pat on the back for me.

The next section of my work space is less agreeable with crafting. That being said it also looks pretty good today because it is still morning. By night fall it will look 10x as bad as it does now. It is....drum roll please...my dining room table. Hope no one ever feels the need to eat in this house as our table is never free.


If I need to spread fabric or what have you out, the table is my go-to-gal. Or the floor. Or whatever happens to not be buried under toys, folded (or unfolded) laundry, and general clutter. Oh, and who doesn't need an Astra III rocket and a roll of toilet paper (don't ask) in their crafty space? It's all good.

Now that you see my many challenges, I'll clue you into one more currently intent on impeding me writing this post. Only he's endearing and perfect as he presents his challenge for me, and I'm not biased at all. My 4 year old chatter box, Super T, who is drawing next to the laptop (there really is my rotary cutting mat somewhere under all that mess, by the way, waiting for my next cut of fabric). I'm actually finding this post quite difficult to bang out because I'm being pelted with 101 questions about rockets, volcanoes, lava, germs, stuffy noses, throwing up, and finally, why gold fish crackers don't have more fins on them. Sometimes I think it is a wonder I have a thought to myself! Oh wait, I just had one!

I can't just leave you with my wallowing-in-self-pity-about-my-crafting-challenges. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't leave you with a bit of inspiration too. Because that is what this post is really about...ignoring whatever chaos is going on around you, ignoring those crumbs on the counter you really should wipe up, or perhaps it is the week-old stack of mail you should sort, and instead keep on keepin' on with your crafty inner diva. Out of the mess I described above I created this yesterday:

Marice's version of a summer top that I picked up at a consignment store:

My version that I threw together yesterday. I tackled shirring for the first time! It is now one of my newest favorite sewing techniques and way easier than I dreamed. Try it, you'll like it.(Sorry for the less than stellar pictures. I considered modeling the shirts for a self portrait for about a half a second before deciding that my pasty winter skin would blind you.)

Cheers!

Tiffany

For the teeny tiniest of angel babies...

The start of what will be many micro-preemie hats knit up for angel babies...

To show just how tiny these hats are...

Check it out...knitters are needed for this worthy cause.
www.calivnshats.com

Taking a break!

Thanks for checking out my knitting blog! I hope you like what you see. Currently though, while I love knitting up custom diaper woolies, I am not taking on any additional orders at the moment. Why? Well, I am FINALLY doing some knitting for myself and my family!

I've also wanted to take a break to allow myself some time to do some knitting for charity. I've discovered a wonderful non-profit organization that provides teeny tiny knitted hats to babies born too early to survive, and the families that are grieving the loss of their child. Check it out...www.calvinshats.com

If you are wondering how up to date this announcement is, please know I will remove this post when I am again taking customs. So feel free to bookmark me and check back! Thanks again for showing interest in my knitting.

All boy!

"Vacnebal" Purewool base. Toddler longies and matching hat for a special Texas boy!

A whole lotta knittin'!

It has been awhile since I've knit up toddler size longies...this is some serious knitting here! Loving the "Mysterious" colorway from Purewool. This set is on its way to a lucky little boy in Texas.

Tweed Anyone?

I've been working on a custom order for a mama-to-be due with her first child in August. This yarn is a soft merino from Germany called "bottone tweed". This is indeed an accurate description with the thick and thin characteristic of the yarn resulting in a knitted soaker resembling a tweed fabric.

Two newborn sized soakers:

Two small sized longies with the same type of yarn...

Scrappy Woolies Comin' Out My Ears!

I've been on a scrappy kick. Three pair in the last two months for our 9 week old son. All using Cestari. Fluffy goodness!

Medium shorties with elastic waist

Shorties season is a'comin!

Mosaic Moon's "Moonlit Grove" on Cestari Super Fine

Action shots!

This was an experiment using Purewool scrappy yarn. We are sensitive to itchy hats in our house. Usually they have to be lined with fleece to be worn. I decided to test out Purewool and see if it is soft enough for my toddler to keep on his head. He wore it for several hours without seeming to itch!

"COME TO MAMA!"

Anticipation can be a very good thing. This is headed to me...my hands are just waiting to pet it. I'm so stinkin' excited to knit this up into a Hudson Hat for our Hopefully Baby. "Kaleidoscopia" by The Paint Pot

Aran Merino

'Tis the season for newborn woolies!

Yet even MORE newborn sized woolies! I love knitting for newborns. A super quick knit, satisfying for the knitter (in this case me!). It is amazing these little miracles are born to fit into something so tiny!

Purewool "Pacifico" longies knit for a very patient DS mama...

Newborn Knits

Some longies waiting for a baby to fill them...

(Remember those cakes of yarn in my last post?)

XXS/Newborn Longies

"Early Fall" on BFL by Alioop

Small Longies & Booties

"Ian's Mischief" on Wyndale Farms Organic Merino by Anticipation Yarnworks

Newborn Longies

"Misty Morning" on merino by The Paint Pot

Still on the laundry list...

Ya know that laundry list of "to do" crafts I was talking about previously? No matter what I get sewn up or knit, my list seems to grow!

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Still needing to be done:

Knitting 3 hats for a friend's kids for Christmas

Sewing my son up some fleece potty-training friendly pants

Sewing him up the next size of slippers

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Here is a sneak peek...some beautiful yarn to be knit up into 3 longies and baby booties for ALovelyStart of Diaperswappers in trade for some OBV fitteds, wetbags, and an appliqued soaker for our Hopefully Baby. Can't wait!

Fall.

Pumpkins, turning leaves, wood fires. Fall is what this yarn reminds me of.

Scene:

My family and I at a cozy lakehouse for the weekend.

A toddler and husband who want nothing more than to spend endless hours on the lake fishing.

Lots of mommy time.

This is what happens when the scene is as described above:

Lots of progress on a medium/large pair of longies made of single ply Purewool goodness!

UPDATE: FINISHED PRODUCT

Pink Fluff Finished

Newborn woolies soon to be on their way to their new home...

Girl. Sweet. Simple. Pink!

I love swaps! My son got some cute wool slippers adorned with trucks hand crafted for him (I need to steal them away for a picture, but he's wearing them right now). In return I'm knitting up some newborn girlie fluff for the crafty mama.

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Drumroll please....the yarn. Dyed by http://www.verychicbaby.blogspot.com/

In progress pictures...the back. I'm loving how the spring green splashes against the pinks to create an unexpected, but very appropriate color scheme!

The front...

My next post will have the finished soaker and a matching newborn Hudson Hat.

Some recent craftiness!

I've been a busy knitting bee. Showing off some of the projects I've been up to...

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Itty bitty fluff! NB "legging" woolies and fitted diaper for our "hopefully baby" which we have started the process to adopt. Made of Purewool goodness!

Small size natural soaker - BFL

A sweet little skirt for a friend's girly-girl.

LOVE that I have a pregnant friend in town who cloth diapers that I can make fluffy goodness for! Also done in Purewool.

Small size longies for our "hopefully baby". Still need to knit up the Icord drawstring. Done in Purewool.
That's it for now!

Just For Fun

I had the yarn and decided to make up a scrappy soaker just for fun. It ended up being sold on Diaper Swappers recently.
NB size: handspun purewool blue and BFL browns