Knit mermaid tail...

My dear friend had a baby girl this summer. She lives by the beach is sort of a mermaid herself ;). So it was only fitting that this new baby have a mermaid tail too. I used this pattern and really loved how it turned out.

This is by far one of the largest items that I've knitted before. Hopefully I get the chance to make another one like this someday, it was really fun.

And here is the sweet little mermaid herself, modeling her new tail!

It all started with a pumpkin hat...

Five years ago when Blue was one year old, I got this crazy idea that my boy needed a pumpkin hat to wear for Halloween. Not just any pumpkin hat, but one knit lovingly by his mama. I had no clue how to knit, but this desire for a pumpkin hat is what got me started. I bought a "teach yourself to knit" book, and spent lots of time on you tube, and managed to make a pumpkin hat for Blue to wear to our church party.

Not too bad for my first knitting project! He of course hated it and would barely leave it on long enough for me to snap these pictures.

Little did I know then while making this pumpkin hat what a huge blessing knitting would be in my life. Knitting is a very dear friend of mine... I can't even count the number of doctor's appointments I have sat and waited for that have allowed me a little knitting time. I've been able to make gifts for friends, booties, baby leg warmers, hats, cowls, scarfs... the list goes on. I was able to make some of the hats I wore while I had cancer to keep my poor head covered and warm, as well as hats for my friends who have also had cancer. The most sacred knitting project I have done was the little soft white blanket I knit for Clayton that I wrapped him in before we buried him. Something that kept my hands and mind busy for the days between his birth and burial. The only temporal thing I ever made for my son I was able to make with my two hands, running every fiber of that yarn through my fingers. Yes, knitting is a very dear friend to me.

As the wind has grown a bit colder and the leaves have been falling from the trees, I've found myself once again with a burning desire to knit my new baby a pumpkin hat to wear for Halloween. This is the first project I've encountered since having him, and I was able to finish it up just before the big day!

It's fun for me to look back on the first pumpkin hat I made and see how much my knitting has improved over these last five years. This hat was a bit trickier than the first (I used this pattern), but I love the way it turned out. I wanted to take some pictures of it with Baby G modeling his new hat, so I waited until he was in a super happy mood. He was all smiles and coo's one afternoon so I grabbed the hat and had my husband hold him outside to take a few pictures.

And this is what I got...

In case you are wondering... yes, he's totally glaring at me in this picture for making him wear a stupid pumpkin hat.

Seriously!! Ugh... he really does not like the hat! I'm not sure if it's too tight or he just doesn't like hats, but he was not happy with us. We took a little break and let him say hi to the ladies before we tried for more pictures.

No such luck (and he couldn't have cared less for the chickens)...

Back inside with the hat off, he's as happy as can be again.

Oh well! He's still wearing it for Halloween. Or at least until we get tired of him complaining about it. We tried again to have him wear the hat later that night and he did a little better. No smiles but at least he wasn't fussy about it.

Even if my sons don't fully appreciate the Halloween pumpkin hat, I'm sure grateful that I can make such things for them. And that this silly desire of mine has sparked such a fun and relaxing hobby for me.

hat + leg warmers...

I love seeing cute babies wearing things that I made for them.

This is my sisters darling boy... We like our babies chubby in this family!

Knitting needles...

I need to find me some incredibly large knitting needles...

How amazing is this home!!! I love all the big, chunky knitting with the rustic white and wood accents in the house. I could just curl up in that window bed and stay forever.



All images found here. Check out the whole house, it's amazing.

Pillows...

I'm trying really hard to de-junk my house right now. Not an easy task... it's been a while! I've gathered up a little collection of homeless throw pillows that have been living under beds, in closets, but not on display at all because they no longer fit the decor that I have around.

Six to be exact! So I've decided to make new homes for them, or they need to go to another home! So for part of my spring cleaning I'm going to make some new covers for them and put them somewhere other than under the bed. My kidlet thinks they are just fine the way they are though.. stacked and ready to jump on.

I've already finished one of them. I've been wanting some knit pillows on the bed in our room. This was fun, but a lot of work for a little pillow! Knitting takes a long time I've found, but I love the texture and the way that it looks. Just a simple ribbed knit pillow...

For the back I knit two panels and overlapped them so that the pillow could slip inside. I measured the pillow and knit all the parts to match up to the size of the pillow. Then I just pinned and sewed them together with my machine. I worked out really well! I love the thick course yarn...

I want to do two more for the bed, probably in cream/off white. I'd really like to do a cable knit pattern, but I've yet to sew a cable knit... so I might be browsing through the thrift stores to see if I can find some cable knit sweaters I can make into pillows.

New knitting projects...

I've got Easter on my mind for some reason...

I know that it's a ways away... but some things take time to get done right?

Like knitting, takes a lot of time (which is why I want to learn how to crochet...) But here are some adorable patterns that might find their way to my needles soon...

How cute is this little vest! I'm in love with it! I think that little man would look adorable in this!

And for my son who is obsessed with elephants...

Seriously! Too cute for words! This would be adorable sitting in a little Easter basket now wouldn't it?

Both projects were found at Never Not Knitting...

Christmas revealed...

I made some of the gifts that I gave out this year... so here are a few now that they've been opened.

My sister and brother in law are big BYU fans.... I mean big! So I knit their family of five hats in the BYU colors. I think that they turned out pretty cute.

I found this great purse pattern over at Made by Rae. So I made these two purses for my two younger sisters and then filled them up will all kinds of goodies that they would like (guitar picks, earrings, Burt's Bees....)

Both sisters are so different, it was fun to make a purse that would fit their personalities.

I have one more present that I made but it hasn't been opened yet... so I'll share that one later!

Knit Hats...

As life happens sometimes, I've had to change my plans for the next little while. On September 4th I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and will be starting chemo therapy this week. Chemo every two weeks for the next six months is HUGE change of plans from what I thought I would be doing the next six months of my life...

I will be loosing my hair so I've also had a little change of plans as far as projects go. Long forgotten are the projects that I was planning on doing this fall and instead I've become a knitting bandit!!! I've been knitting like crazy trying to get some hats made to cover my soon to be bald head!! Here are the ones I've finished so far...

This is the first one I did and I sort of did it wrong ;). It's after the Spring Beret by Natalie Larsen that I found on Ravelry. I didn't get the whole "yarn over" stitch so it's not as lacey looking as it's suppose to be, but I think I'll wear it anyway!

Ahhh... this is what the previous hat is suppose to look like! Got it figured out now! Love this hat!

This gray hat I found the pattern for out of the Fall 2009 Vogue Knitting magazine. I really like how this hat turned out but it took FOREVER to make!! Size 3 needles make for a long long time knitting before you finish the project.

I didn't think that I would like this one as much as I do. It's just simple, easy, slouchy! I'm trying to go with the more slouchy look in neutral tones. Nothing that stands out too much. This pattern is called Bad Hair Day, also found on Ravelry.

That's what I have done so far! Still working on more. Sorry for the blurry pictures and crazy life going on in the background!

Cutest model ever...

I can't even tell you how happy seeing this picture made me today. Isn't this the cutest little guy ever! I didn't ruin the surprise apparently, this baby can use some baby leg warmers up where he lives... at least in a few months! You make cute kids Christina!

Today's inspiration...

Could I please just jump right into this picture??? I love it! I love the cute blonde pigtails... the hand made socks all hung on a line... I love the trees... the little bits of snow peeking out... and I think that I'm going to have to try out this fingerless glove pattern sometime. Too cute!

Image from Purl Bee...

Stripes...

I'm pretty much in love with these little green and taupe stripped leg warmers I just finished. I can't wait to pull them up over some chubby baby legs...

Double pointed needles...

I've been pretty obsessed with knitting lately... which is pretty funny considering that I have only knit one hat in my whole life! I just can't stop thinking about it! I saw these adorable baby leggings on a blog and haven't been able to think about much else since.

One thing that I learned a few years back is that even when something might seem impossible... it most likely is not. It just might take some more effort that "normal" but most things are totally doable. For the past few weeks I've been on a quest to find a baby leg warmer pattern. I found a few and have altered them a bit to make something that I like. The next problem... needing to knit with double pointed needles (what?).

I looked up a great tutorial on YouTube to help "teach me" how to do this. It was a wonderful tutorial and so I was off to the craft store to buy some of the most delicious yarn I've seen...

Next thing I know... the dream is becoming a reality. I can indeed knit myself (or you know, someone smaller) some adorable baby leg warmers on these double pointed needles.

I feel a little funny knitting these while the temperatures are climbing quickly around here. Before I'm done with them I'm sure that it will be around 115 degrees and the only thing any baby for miles around will be wearing are diapers... if they are lucky! But as life works, the day will come when there will be a baby around with cold little legs... and I will be prepared. I'm so excited! They are turning out pretty cute!

The next goal is to make some with TWO colors!! Sounds impossible right now but I'm sure somehow I'll figure it out!