A Mouse Tale

I'm not much of a sewer, but I do like to make little bits of things when the mood strikes. My mother got a sudden hankering for a little felt mouse and so I obliged. I found a good pattern HERE, though I had too much trouble turning the tiny arms inside out, so I decided flat felt arms were good enough for her.

I raided my not insignificant scrap stash for her skirt, and quilt and pillow pieces (still in the process of making her bedding). When I'm done, she'll reside in a 250-count matchbox, cozy as...well, a mouse.

Stitch Markers

I love beads almost as much as I love yarn...

luckily, there is a knitty use for them:

stitch markers.

A Beautiful Contest!

Oiyi, over at Oiyi's Crafts, has a wonderful, magical contest going. You have to see the prizes to fully appreciate them! I suggest you check 'em out and enter!

xo Leah

A Plethora of Works-in-Progress

First up, two finished projects, made for my soon-to-be-in-this-world niece, called, for now, Snoopy. A Baby Surprise sweater made from Dale Ulla in several shades of pink, and red and cream. I chose the buttons at Brooklyn General Store, where they have a small but very choice selection. I also added the pink single-crochet border to try to correct some of the natural wonkiness of the pattern:








Also completed for Snoopy, a cheerful baby ripple made of Knitpicks Shine Worsted:



In progress, a Giant Granny from remnants of Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool (looooove those saturated colors, and the yarn works up beautifully on a little size C crochet hook):





And finally, granny squares in Rowan Cotton Glace remnants, very muted oranges, greens, and creams:

Palette Ripple

A new ripple has been a long time in the conceiving stage. I'd wanted to make one as interesting and fabulous as my Rowan Ripple, but couldn't find just the right yarn. Along came Knitpicks Palette, originally purchased for a finicky colorwork purse. At around 2 dollars a substantial skein, this fingering weight yarn comes in an insane range of saturated colors and is a fabulous bargain. I'm using a size E Clover crochet hook with ergonomic handle, and the whole experience is delightful--the yarn isn't splitty, but moves along the hook with speed and ease and shows the swoops and peaks of the ripple pattern very nicely. I'm in deep like with Palette, I can tell you. And I'm really happy with the crazy color combo of this blanket. All in all, a satisfying project.

Heart Dishcloth

I really enjoy the clever simplicity of the knit-purl pattern dish cloth. So easy to do, if you just keep track of rows--easy stitching, alternating knit and purl, and a picture emerges! I did this dish cloth in plain old Peaches & Creme--followed this pattern for a knit-and-purl heart, omitting the garter stitch border. This type of border is always used to prevent a piece from curling, but I already knew I wanted to add my own crochet border when I was done, so I suffered the curling (and curl it did!). I picked up stitches with my crochet hook and pink cotton, and did two rounds of half double crochet. I then added the scalloped edging for an extra fancy embellishment.

The last step was to embroider backstitch in pink over the outline of the purl heart, just to get it to stand out as much as I wanted. I was oddly pleased with the girly-frilly-silly effect of this. I love saturated colors, but, honestly, I don't mind pastels either, in moderation.

This one is going out tomorrow in a dishcloth swap.