I found this t-shirt at the thrift store for $2. I got it for the awesome fabric and was thinking of making a skirt from it for my dd. That is if I can get DH to give it back. He swiped it as soon as he saw it.  What style of skirt would you make from it? I was thinking ruffled or a circle skirt, if I can stretch enough material from it. She definitely wants something a little unusual though.  Keep in mind my dd is 12 so nothing too skimpy (has to meet school dress code). Thanks in advance for your ideas!

Finished another hat for my hat-obsessed daughter. I didn't even get this one blocked since she snagged it as soon as the ends were woven in so she could wear it today.

Pattern is Capucine on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/capucine

She wanted it made without the tassel in the back. Good thing too since I used every last bit of yarn to make the huge tassels she wanted for the front.

Pictures are a little dark:

I decided to get a head start on this year's Christmas gifts since I always seem to run out of time. I knitted these mint dish scrubbies as a trial run and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I think I'll knit up a bunch and wrap them in cellophane like real candies and attach them to Christmas presents. Voila! A cute package decoration that's also useful! I'm thinking it would be nice to attach a little poem to let the receiver know that it's for their dishes. Anyone know of any that might be suitable?

Pattern is from Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/peppermint-tawashi

With Christmas coming up, the usual holiday drama has started up with family.   I, however, do not do drama. So to keep myself sane and semi-relaxed, I've been knitting off and on. I saw this hat on ravelry and fell in love:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/who-2

Pattern here for non-ravelers:  http://penguinpurls.blogspot.com/2008/12/who.html

Just finished it today. I used some amber colored shell beads for the eyes. I can't decide if I like them or if they just look creepy, lol. Here it is modeled by my lovely daughter who has asked for one in dark brown (we both love owls):

I hope these are in the right place. I wasn't sure whether to put them in knitting, polymer clay, or somewhere else so they wound up here. Please feel free to move them if there's a better location for them!

My daughter is in 7th grade and is a crafty girl. Next year she wants to go on the 8th grade trip to Washington DC. Problem is, it's an expensive trip ($600!!). So she decided to try making something crafty to sell at the annual holiday craft show at their high school next November to help raise the money for the trip. She also loves anything she can grow in her little garden so we decided to do something with gourds, one of her favorite things. She used mini bottle gourds to make primitive snowmen ornaments and the larger bottle gourds to make a tree topper for our Christmas tree this year. She burned the design into the gourds and filled in the color with some alcohol inks we have. Then she shaped carrot noses from polymer clay around toothpicks and she glued them into tiny holes drilled into the faces. She recruited me to knit tiny little hats and scarves for them. The knitted scarves didn't hang very well, so we opted to just loosly braid some yarn for those.

So opinions needed, how much should she charge for these? She has probably about $1 or so in each of the smaller ones and maybe $1.50-2.00 in the larger ones. They only take her about an hour each to make and I can make the hats in 30 minutes or less, depending on the size and how many interruptions I get.   I was thinking ornaments for $3 each or 4 for $10 and the larger ones for somewhere in the $7-9 range. Is that too much? Or too little? Also, I was thinking of knitting some lacy angel wings for the tree topper but I'm not sure it needs it. What do you think? Too cheesy? Thanks for all of your help!

I've recently tried knitting in the round for the first time using circular needles. Why did I wait so long to try these??? It has opened up a whole world of new patterns to try and they are so much more user-friendly than straights or double points.

My new obsession is hats. Since it is now freezing cold and snowing here, I decided I needed a new winter hat. My younger DD claimed the first one I knit for myself and my older DD saw it and decided she needed a new hat, too. She picked out a horrible boucle yarn that was a pain to work with but is really soft and in great colors. Here's the result:






Now that they both have new hats, DH is asking for a new hat in olive green to go with his new coat. I guess I better knit faster or my ears are going to get awfully cold before I finally get my own hat finished. 

For a couple of years I've tormented my daughter with misshaped hats that were knit flat and seamed up because I was too chicken to try knitting in the round. They all got stuffed into the black hole in her closet never to be seen again.

I finally got the nerve to buy some circular and double pointed needles and give it a try. I had some leftover undyed merino from a 4H living history project that my daughter did last year and I decided to knit myself a new winter hat with it. As soon as the pattern started working up, she saw it and laid claim to "her new hat." "Sure," I thought. She'll never wear it. I finished it last night and today we spent the day visiting an annual craft show at their school where she refused to take it off even in the building. She wore it all day and got lots of compliments! Now her sister has asked for a new winter hat, too. Guess I'll have to wait for my new hat. 

I used the pattern found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/slouchy-copy-cat-hat

I knit it on smaller needles and shorter than the pattern called for before starting the decreases to make it unslouchy since that style doesn't look great on me and I figured the only person who would end up wearing it was me. Boy was I wrong about that!

I just finished this dress for my other daughter to wear to the upcoming wedding. She saw it while we were at the fabric store and requested one for herself. She picked out the fabric and found out what pattern it was (another simplicity pattern, yuck!) I used #2886 and only had a couple of things to fix. Of course I made 2 sizes smaller than the measurements said I should. I've found that Simplicity patterns are always way too big if I use their size chart.  I had to add an extra pleat in the back to make the skirt part fit the bodice. My daughter is pretty petite so I also had to shorten it by about 4 inches.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out and dd loves it, too. It reminds me of something from the sixties. She just needs a string of pearls, lol!

I'm finally getting back into sewing and knitting after 2 years of working and going to school at night. Now that I'm finished with school (yeah!) I finally have a finished project to post! I made this dress for my daughter to wear to an upcoming wedding but we're debating whether it should stay as a dress or if I should hem it shorter and make it a top for her to wear with pants. I think I like the dress better since it's for a wedding but she says it's better with pants. What do you all think? Dress or top? If I shorten it for a top, how much shorter do think would look best? (Ignore the weird face, she hates having her picture taken )

Does anyone know where I can find fabric with dachshunds on it? I found a couple of cute fabrics on ebay but only a half yard and I need 2 yards. It can be knit or woven, I prefer cotton or other natural fibers, if possible. I wouls also like to stay under $10.00 per yard. I did find another cute knit dachshund fabric but at $21.00 a yard plus shipping, it's a bit more that I can afford to spend right now! Thanks!