Does she look like the devil incarnate?

No you say? Ah, but looks can be deceiving.

Yesterday, I arrived home in a rather frazzled state of mind. I carried a half dozen separate things in from the car at once. As I came into the house I set my purse here, my craft bag there, the mail over there, the grocery bag in the kitchen etc. The dog needed to be let out. I needed to throw in a load of laundry and, of course, check to see if any of my favorite blogs had been updated.

Approximately an hour passes from the time I first walked in. I go back upstairs and there on the floor is the ball of yarn for Alex's hat. The gauge swatch (thank God it was just the gauge swatch) had been separated from the needles. There were various lengths of yarn strewn about the living room. If that wasn't enough, the ball of yarn had a bunch of dog hair stuck to it. (I can't remember if I mentioned that I am kind of a slob). Where was this delightful creature from the picture above at this point you ask? She was rootling in my craft bag, that I had set down on the sofa by mistake, looking for her next bit of fun. All I could do was point at her and say "CAT! CAT!"

I have noticed that knitters tend to be dog people. I think I know why.

An idea...

I was thinking about the patchwork cotton chenille duvet cover. I was originally just planning on buying new chenille, but I think it would be even better to find a couple of twin or full size chenille bedspreads and cut those up to make what I want. I have to admit it makes me uncomfortable to think about destroying something to make something else. I would love to have a large center panel like this...
or this...

After looking around it looks like many people make chenille patchwork blankets for children.

Reticence

I've been reticent to blog, as I feel like I have to do this very well, and that I can't just jot something down and accept it. So, I am here today to break that pattern. I think I will probably do lots of short informal posts interspersed with the occassional long post.

I saw several bumper stickers on a car yesterday as I was driving to work. The one that caught my eye said "Give war a chance" (one caveat, there were three small words in a separate bubble that I couldn't read). There were several other stickers including a Marine Corps emblem, a peace sign, and one that said "SECURE OUR BORDERS." I was just stunned. I still am.

As for WIP, the Month of Softies doll's legs and arms are finished. I ran to the fabric store last night after Fiona was in bed and bought some lovely violet embrodery floss for the doll's eyes. I have come to think of her as the baker's daughter. I know there is a story of a mean baker's daughter, but that is not who this doll is. If I have time, she will have an apron and some oven mits.

I began the gauge swatch for Alex's hat yesterday at lunch. The yarn knits up more beatifully than it appeared in the skein. That's always a nice surprise.

The poncho is still waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

I have a couple of ideas for future projects. I want to try knitting socks for Fiona. I have a couple of coworkers who are very excited to mold me into a dpn-less sock knitter. I think I would like to try both ways, but I'm getting ahead of myself. My other idea is a patchwork cotton chenille duvet cover. I love the look of cotton chenille. I would love to have a cotton chenille bedspread, but we never really make the bed (we are avowed slobs) and we have a king size bed. So I thought it would be fun to piece together squares of various colors and textures and then sew a king sheet on the back and stuff the comforter in. Any comments on this idea would be appreciated.

The Silly Cute hat pictures

Here is the original Silly Cute hat worn by Ellison.

Fiona is modeling her Silly Cute hat.

Fiona found the fabric for the Month of Softies doll

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Originally uploaded by craftydabbler.

After dinner last night, we went to the fabric store. I just couldn't wait until the weekend to go. She was randomly pointing at things on the shelves as we were walking through the store then she suddenly grabbed this one and it almost fell off the shelf. We both agreed this would make a lovely softie. I'm even wondering if there is some way I could make some curtains for her bedroom from it.

You can't see it from this picture, but the arms are traced and one is half sewn.

A beginning...

Sometimes I say I knit. I've made a scarf. The entire thing was seed stitch with yarn that was about 5 stiches to the inch and the scarf was about 8" wide and about 5' long. A little big and tedious for a first knitting project. Then I finished a hat for a baby with tiny cotton yarn on size 3 US needles. I have a poncho for my daughter that I have been working on for about 8 months, and by working on, I mean leaving sit in a bag 98% of the time.

Two friends have recently given birth. For the first I bought some yarn to make a hat, but never got past the gauge swatch. The second friend gave birth just last week. I decided three days before the baby was coming to knit a hat. I went to the yarn store and picked out a fluffy yarn, 2-1/4 stitches to the inch, then went home and without a pattern knitted a hat. It is very Dr. Seuss/Elvish. When Fiona, my 3 year old daughter saw it, she asked me to knit one for her. And miracle of miracles, I finished it last night. I will post pics soon.

I have a tendency to start crafty things and then not finish, but blogs, like Soozs and Wol & Zo are really inspiring.

I am going to finish that poncho, right after I finish the baby hat for the first baby. I want him to have something he can wear when he goes off to college. : )

I also like needle felting. I made some adorable ladybugs with dots and numbers, on the bottom, for counting. I got the idea from this website. I started to make a rabbit for an Easter basket stuffer last year, but I didn't finish in time, so the bunny is languishing in my craft bag.

Little pumpkins and jack o' lanterns for Halloween will be my next felting project, I think.

A Month of Softies is calling my name though. I haven't sewn since I was 10, but I'm going to give it a go.

Oh, and did I mention collage? I've been really drawn to it in the last month. Here is a little daily inspiration.

Yesterday I found the A Year of Color group, so now I want to do more photography. I was lucky enough to be at the birth of my friends little girl and to be the official photographer.

Did I mention I have a full time job and a three year old?