Knitted Mitten and Coming Project List

I made a mitten!  Now I'm working on the second one.  This is the pattern I used, family of mittens.  I used the same yarn as the hat I made for my daughter Rebekah.  It was a little too bulky for this pattern, so my mitten turned out a little bigger, but that means it will last two years instead of one!  Also, I think I may have done the cuff part wrong.  I was a little disappointed that it wasn't smaller than the mitten part.  However, it should still stay on her once she has a winter coat on. 

Projects coming in the next few months:
Another jean skirt for Rebekah
2 jean skirts for me, one I'd like to try and line with flannel
Knitted slippers for my kids (Christmas Present)
Scrapbook pages (I just ordered 699 prints!!)
Pillowcases for my kids
Knitted or Crocheted Shawl
Pacifier Holder
Baby Presents - several coming up!
Several other projects I'd like to do for myself, but will probably have to wait until after Christmas.

How many of you are working on Christmas gifts already?  I'd love to hear what you are making!

Basic Little Girl Hat

Isn't she adorable?  She wore it to the store the day I finished it, and it wasn't even cold outside!  This is my first hat that turned out the way I expected it to!  I used a basic hat pattern found on Ravelry.com.  I used one full skien of Bernat brand, peachy color yarn, found at Walmart in the baby yarn section.  I wish they would have had a larger color selection, they had this one, a lime green, and baby pastels.  It is really soft and fleecy.  I am going to try matching mittens next!

Pumpkin Apple Upside Down Cake

I made a wonderful pumpkin apple upside down cake last night.  I used this pumpkin cake recipe, pumpkin cake III, but I made some changes to make it a little healthier, and added the apples.  Here is my version:

Pumpkin Apple Upside Down Cake
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups peeled and sliced apples
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.
2.  Place apples, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a microwave safe bowl, microwave for 3 minutes or until soft.  Spread apples in bottom of 9 x 13 pan.
3.  In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil.  Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Spread batter over apples.
4.  Bake for 30 min, or until toothpick comes out clean.  When serving, flip the cake upside down so the apples are on top.

Our Angel Baby

This is a memorial scrapbook page that I framed in a shadow box.  My husband and I lost our baby at 6w4d, on 10/16/10.  Our pastor encouraged us to celebrate the life that we had, so we decided to have a private memorial service and buried our baby under an apple tree.  There are tulip bulbs planted around it that will be beautiful in the spring.  It is heartbreaking to loose a child, but we take comfort in knowing that we will see our baby in heaven one day, and for now he or she gets to be with Jesus!

Kids Knitted Hand Warmers and Cake

I finished these hand warmers for my son in two days!  I think he likes them, I hope he'll wear them once it starts getting cold.  Here is his birthday cake.  Except for Thomas' face looking a little ghostly, it turned out great, and it tasted great too!

Knitted Hand Warmer

Isn't this pretty?  It's a hand warmer.  I successfully knitted and purled the ribs on the ends, which gave me great joy!  Unfortunately, this was supposed to fit my 4 year old son!  I will have to try another pair with thinner yarn.  I got the pattern from Ravelry, Kids Hand Warmer.  You will have to make an account to view the pattern, but I highly recommend making one.  This site offers a wealth of free patterns for almost anything you can think of. 

Knitted Hat

Caleb modeling a cold weather hat that I knitted.  This was supposed to be Kevin's, but it was too small.  I knitted it in the round with my size 10, 29" long needles.  Then switched to double pointed needles as I closed up the top.  I knitted one row and then purled the next (well, except for a couple places where I did the wrong one).  A friend of mine recommended the magic loop method so I could use my too long needles, it worked quite well.  You can watch a video here.  The reason the hat was too small is because I decided that 8 inches was too much before starting to close the top, so I only did 6.  It looked so big, until it was finished and I tried it on!  Next time I will follow the directions! 

Wallet with Coin Purse

I made this wallet for Caleb's birthday.  I already put in his Chuck E Cheese ID card!  I got the pattern from Sew Christine!  She has several other tutorials that are great.  I may try the diaper bag one day.  This wallet was fairly easy, I had a little trouble with the zipper, but otherwise the sewing went great.  One other user error though, I bought stabilizer that wasn't iron on!  So, I had to just hold the fabric and stabilizer together, which was tricky!  Do you think Caleb will like it?

 

Bulletin Board Find at Target

I was at Target today to get some masking tape, and I ran across these colorful bulletin boards.  They are each about 1 foot square, and they came with 2 fun tacks.  The regular price was $5, but they were on clearance for $1.25 each!  How do they look?  I don't think I'll use my clothes line idea anymore.  Now, I just need to find inspiring things to pin up!

Rebekah's Shawl and My Organized Craft Area

Rebekah is not so thrilled with her shawl.  I tried to get her to wear it today to church with a white shirt and a jean skirt, it lasted about 30 seconds, so no picture.  I hope that she'll wear it another time.  Here's the back:

This is my organized crafting area!  I still want to hang some rope with clothes pins on the right wall so I can clip up pictures, ideas, works in progress, inspirational fun stuff, etc.  And some day I'll get a bigger rug!

Knitting in the Round

Here is the beginnings of a hat that I am making for my husband.  I planned on using circular needles, but I bought ones that were too long.  So, I ran to Walmart today to buy shorter ones, but they didn't have any.  So, I thought I'd try double pointed needles, but they are slightly too small!  I'm impressed with how it is turning out, but I'm getting frustrated with the stitches wanting to slide off the end of the needles.  I need some covers to put on the end, which is now on my list of things to buy, as well as shorter circular needles!

This is what my blue piece turned in to.  I sewed up the sides, added a yellow handle and a button closure to make a little purse for my daughter.  It definitely is not professional looking, but perfect for a 2 year old!