Pincushion

In January, I did a pincushion swap through a group in Ravelry. I ended up crocheting the one I made, and made it up as I went along. Behold, the sunflower:

The center is made out of Lion Brand's Fisherman's wool. I originally made a bigger center, and tried to felt it, but it didn't get nearly as small as I wanted it to. I ended up making a new one, much smaller, using a small hook to keep it tight, and doing a type of bobble. I made the center from the top down, and then stuffed it. I added the rounds of petal directly in the center. The yellow and orange petal rounds are made out of Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn in rounds of single crochet and the petals are similar to the crocodile stitch. 

I finished by closing up the bottom with a solid layer of single crochet rounds, so it sits flat.

Just the right size to fit in my hand! If I wanted a sunflower for a headband, I'd make it a bit smaller and much more flat.

Mermaid Mittens

I just realized today that I haven't posted in over a month. That doesn't mean I haven't been knitting and baking- on the contrary! In addition to birthday and Christmas presents, I've been doing a number of test knits, part of the publishing process for pattern designers.
One that I worked on in November was a pair of lovely mermaid mittens. I actually only made one mitten, though, because I realized too late that they were going to be much too big to fit the intended recipient. I've got the pattern, yarn, and notes, in case I want to make the second (and keep them for me!).
This mitten was worked from the tip of the fingers down to the wrist, which is not the direction I normally work when making mittens. I did learn a nifty new way of casting on (involves a crochet chain, but instead of picking up the back loops as in conditional cast-on, you pick up stitches from both the top and bottom of the chain... very clever!)

I love the seaweed on the palm of the hand, as well as the lacy cuff that mimics waves! This Mermaid Mittens pattern was written by Julie Hamilton is available for purchase on Ravelry. 

Sneak Peak

Hi,

I've been busy knitting, crocheting, baking and doing classwork and haven't been able to keep up with posting finished projects! Here are a few sneak peaks of what is to come:

This is a "jester" baby suit for a friend's baby. I anticipate finishing it TONIGHT (now that I've said it, I have to do it <----- see what I did there? accountability) and mailing it off to Japan tomorrow. More pics (of the details) to come.

This fall sweater is DONE: buttons, blocking and all. I've been wearing it around town in my stubborn belief that it is still fall. It reminds me of maple trees in autumn and the wool is super cozy. I have yet to get finished pictures of it due to the weather/ not being outside during the day/not having someone to take a picture.

Another sweater that is done: I knit it in August, but didn't block it until last weekend when I got pins/foam mats and could block the lace properly. I will add finished photos when I get them (for the same reasons as above)

Another sneak peak: 

More of this next weekend! (and a recipe too!)

:0)