DIY Snowflakes

My newest project was to create a couple large snowflakes to hang in an empty frame. I used basal wood (super lightweight) to create the snowflakes. I started with wood glue, but who am I kidding, there was no way I was waiting for it to dry. I switched to hot glue and was able to quickly get three snowflakes put together. I gave them a coat of gold leaf to match the frame. To hang the snowflakes from the frame I used fishing line. Perfect another project done!

Ninja Turtle Costume

This year we experienced Halloween in Ohio. Now I've lived in Ohio and in Wyoming so I know what it means when you need a warm costume. Living in Texas for so many years I avoided costumes that were made of fleece and fur, but living here you just might need to wear a coat with your costume. I promise he wore shoes trick or treating. The pictures were taken a few weeks before hand because Halloween was wet and chilly!
My son decided he wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle like the rest of the 4 year old boys out there. I looked at the pre-made costumes and couldn't bring myself to buy one. First they were way too thin and second I knew he'd wear it all the time so it needed to be able to take the abuse.
I purchased the green hoodie and pants which he literally wears all the time now. He already had the mask and sword. Then I sewed the turtle shell, the front, the belt and the knee and elbow pads.
I really should have taken step by step pictures, but I pretty much winged the entire costume. I used felt fabric and batting to give the front some thickness.
For the shell I stuffed it with polyfil to give it the shell shape. I did sandwich some batting for the shell too so I could sew the turtle shell pattern.
To connect the two pieces I used straps with velcro and the belt does a good job of keeping it together on the sides.
He loved it and really that's all that matters, right?

Pumpkin Hat

I am on a knitting streak! Not sure if it's the colder weather that caused this knitting bug or because it makes me feel productive while I'm watching TV. I just finished knitting the cutest little pumpkin hat for a new baby. It's so cute and just in time for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I found the pattern on Ravelry and you can find it on the Sonnentaler blog. It knitted up quickly in front of a movie one evening. I looked through a bunch of pumpkin patterns till I came across this one and I really think it's perfect!

Prismatic Scarf

I let my daughter pick out some yarn, oh a year ago and I finally got around to knitting it up into a scarf. She selected a very fine yarn so it took me much longer to knit up. I did find a fantastic pattern to use since this yarn is so very colorful. The Prismatic Pattern that I found on Ravelry was a great choice. I knitted it extra long for her so she could wrap it around herself a few times and for the possibility that I might be able to borrow it sometime. She was so thrilled to wear it that she wanted to wear it to school the next day even though it was going to be a high of 70 degrees. I love when kids want to wear something their mom made.

Knitted Infinity Scarf

This summer my sister requested a gray infinity scarf for her birthday. I looked for one that she might like to add to her Fall and Winter attire. I knitted it up and I seriously wanted to keep it. It's called Budding Infinity Scarf. I found the pattern on Ravelry courtesy of Linda Thach. I did what one of my fellow knitters did and knitted it from the backside so that I could knit it quicker. It turned out amazing. I'm going to go ahead and make myself one too in an off white color.

Robot Scarf

My son is obsessed with anything with robots. I asked him what kind of scarf he wanted, you guessed it, ROBOTS! I'm still a fairly new knitter, but am all for trying something new. The technique I needed to learn to complete this scarf was double knitting with 2 colors. He chose blue and orange which definitely makes the robots pop on each side. It took me awhile to get the hang of double knitting and there is definitely some mistakes, but my son doesn't seem to notice. He can't wait to use his new robot scarf this winter.

Knitted Pouf

I know you have seen the poufs or stuffed ottomans lately in the stores and magazines. I have been admiring the knitted version and decided to try it out. It was a super fast knit with giant knitting needles. I found the pattern on Ravelry and it is called Puff Daddy.

The tricky part was stuffing the pouf. I ended up doing what some of the other knitters suggested and bought a down comforter to use as stuffing. Thank you Ikea for having a sale on comforters! I also wanted the pouf to hold its shape and wrapped it up very tightly in a jersey knit before putting it in the pouf. The knit color I used to wrap the comforter was similar to the yarn, but gave it just enough contrast. I'm pretty pleased with it! Beware, if you have kids it will become their favorite place to sit.