Nummies 911

Act 10 - Square Hats

 
Lately, I've been into the instant gratification knitting. Thereby knitting small objects on large needles with bulky yarns.  It has been so much fun.

Here are some examples:

Sweet little warm beanies for these fall and winter babies.

A little cocoon that will hold about a 7-8lb baby for a photo shoot.

Party hats in all shapes, colors and sizes, from newborn to elementary age.

Funky square hats that look absolutely daring on.  I don't have a model at the time, but Camille's bear didn't mind. 

 

Act 9 - Dyeing Yarn

While being in Creative Yarns, our local yarn shop (or YSL) is the equivalent of a being in the best bakery on earth, I couldn't help but notice some Montana undyed bulky yarn hiding in the sale section.  It was such a good deal, especially since I had just read an article on how to dye yarn using a crock pot and Wilson's food coloring on Craft Gossip. One of my other favorite hobbies is baking, so I have a rainbow of Wilson's food coloring gels. I have a crock pot, so all I needed was this $8 skein of yarn. 

I dipped one half the hank into hot water with coloring and vinegar. I turned the crock pot to hot and let the water evaporate as it seeped up the yarn.  I turned it around and did the same with another color. The directions were vague, but the results were great.  I am making Camille a watermelon colored hexagon blanket and I thought a green and red skein of thick wool would blend nicely. It did.

Here is the dyed yarn. 

And here is the yarn incorporated in the blanket.  

Pretty good match, if I do say so myself.

  

 This is the hand-dyed yarn.

 

Party Hats & Party Girls : Act 8

This is Heidi. Don't let her name fool you, this child is brilliant, decisive, outspoken, a leader and sometimes just a trial of her mother's nerves. I love her, though. I appreciate the outspoken honesty and unlimited curiosity which combined with her lack of patience often get her in trouble from simple disobeying to climbing up to a zip line and lacking the ability to dismount she does what any Heidi would do, she let's it rip. She was wearing a helmet I recall. So you can see where I get my drift.

Anyway, after my surgery, I spent two weeks recovering at my sisters and Heidi saw a party hat I knitted. She asked for one right away, you know the way kids ask for a candy bar or an icee, never thinking of the money and time that goes into buying those things or knitting a hat. Their lack of currency knowledge is refreshing to me. So, of course I knitted her a party hat and while she was slow to warm up, she was quite the model toward the end. She was very proud of it, which warmed my heart and she insisting on wearing it every where she went in the 100 plus degree weather of South Mississippi in August.

I've got lots of yarn left over, so if you want a party hat for a special little (or big one) just let me know. I'm going to put a few on etsy, but I love taking special orders from those I know.

Thanks Heidi for making me laugh, and from one short gut to another, we gals gotta stick together.

Love you,
Aunt Becki

 

      

 

Act 7

Camille's teacher suggested she keep a journal over the summer. So we took a paperback journal and decorated it.  She chose the colors, papers, the rounded corners, the sticker letters, the ribbon and tags. I tied the ribbon and wrote "summer 2011" but that was about it. Needless to say, I was very proud.

Act 4, 5 & 6

Sometimes when I'm at my most creative is when I feel like blogging the least, so I hope you'll understand the lapses between posts indicate MORE being done, not less, usually that is :)

I just couldn't continue with the pink lace scarf because the baby pods kept coming to mind. After an exhaustive search for a free baby pod pattern on the internet, I finally found this book

When it arrived, I was overcome.  Usually knitting books are like albums, if you are old enough to remember having the buy the whole album because you liked one or two songs on the whole thing. This book was an unusual case because I liked almost every project in the whole book. I also love chunky yarn, so it was a perfect match. Then I started knitting and the further bonus was instant gratification. In every project I've done, the longest time was taken in choosing the yarn and the perfect combination of colors. The knitting was quick and mostly completed in an afternoon or evening.  

So here is what I've been doing with some of my time lately...

Of course, this is the first time I can remember in my life when I've not been surrounded by babies.  My brand new neighbors have a four month old, Marshall, but I'm so far removed from baby rules that I actually asked her to bring him to my house in the afternoon to model for me. What was I thinking?!? Baby: Sure lady, I don't know you and I'd be glad to sit on this cold table with weird fluff on my head while you flash a light in my eyes.  Sounds fun...NOT! So while the mother kept apologizing, it was me who kept assuring her that the apology was mine and one afternoon, I'd ease into her house and get to know Marshall a little better before asking him to work him magic, because he really is cute. 

The LYS only had brown in the ruffle yarn, but I've since ordered some and I cannot wait to see how the green turns out.  Although I like the brown.

These are just the tip of the iceberg and I'll post some more later. If you know of a baby who needs a hat like these, please let me know. 

Act 3 Roll up Pencil Holder

This was a colored pencil holder that I made for a fundraiser auction at Camille's school last month.  I was so pleased with how it turned out, I made one for Camille, one for a gift, and one to hopefully sell on Etsy. I was inspired to try this project because Lisa gave me a scarf for my birthday.  She sewed it with hand dyed fabric and some of the piecing was quite small. I told her I was afraid of getting all those little pieces straight, but she said it wasn't that bad, so when I saw this project in a book, I decided to take a shot and she was right. By the way I'm still knitting everyday on my lacy scarf, but I figured pictures of that everyday would be so boring.

Act 2

I knitted a yoga bag for my friend Lisa. Ok, I didn't really do the whole thing today, it actually took months, but it turned out so great I just had to share.

Act 1

This past winter Knitch in Atlanta started emphasizing their web-based business. I joined one of their clubs, Go Big! or Go Home!, for projects based on chunky weight yarns.  This first project was for a skein of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande in a soft pink.  This yarn is softer than soft; it makes me think of a cocoon for a little baby girl, but since those days are past in this house, I decided to go a more open route and knit a lacy scarf, from Joelle Hoverson's More Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

I love the feel of the yarn. The only drawback is that my only set of 15 needles are a horrid green plastic set I got for .50 at Tuesday Morning. Can't beat the price, but hate the look and feel. Good thing this project won't take long.

108 Artful Acts

"Do Something Creative Everyday."

This has become a popular tag line for many companies, magazines, and artists. 

The first time I read it, it seemed daunting. I was thinking of it as an admonishment to complete a painting or quilt or other huge project everyday. As the thought turned and tossed around in my mind, my perspective has changed. I've discovered that most of the time, I actually do something everyday that is creative. Most days that thing is small, but somedays it's big. So I thought, just for fun, I would list the next 108 artful acts I do.  More as a reminder to myself that the small things count just as much as the big things, and to give myself credit when I may not feel as though I have accomplished much on a given day. I hope you will chime in and leave a comment with your own artful acts. I'd love to hear what you are doing.