Hannah Hen

Presenting Miss Hannah Hen!!

Pattern: Dotted Chickens by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted

xoxo

Long Weekend Projects

Hello!!

I hope you all had a lovely long weekend!  We had a quiet one here, which was good because I had a bit of knitting I needed to catch up on.  I finished the bunny Hop up above for the Itty-Bitty Group's Easter swap. I named her Beatrice.  Her sweater is more purple-ish than the picture is showing so that's why I thought she looked like a girl.  I think she turned out quite cute and I really hope my swap partner likes her too.

I also started a Dotted Chicken, which was what I shared a picture of yesterday.  Sad to say, it hasn't gotten any farther than that yet.  But that's because I had a sudden case of strartitis and cast on these:

Two little baby sweaters.  I'm working on the front band of the ivory one right now, and I hope to have it done very soon.  All I have left are the sleeves and then I need to go for a little search in the button box for some suitable buttons.  The blue one is on hold until I get the chicken done, then I think I'll finish it up too.  I have a lot of things that I need to finish, so I may have a "Finishing Weekend" this coming weekend.  I'm going to stay at my sister's house, so with all our chatting and catching up, I should have tons of knitting time!!  Well, I'm off to get back to work, have a great evening.

xoxo

On My Needles

Hello,

This is what's been on my needles over the weekend:

Now for the dots!!

xoxo

Tuesday's Happenings

Good Evening Knitters,

How was everyone's day? My cousin came over today for a little visit. It was so nice to see her! I hope that we will get the chance to visit again before she heads back home.

I started knitting a Dotted Chicken from Itty Bitty Nursery this morning. I wanted to have a quick project to work on. I got the yarn way back in April from my Itty Bitty Easter Swap partner Brittany. I'm so glad to be able to finally put it to use! I forgot to bring my fiberfill, but my Mom is going to bring it up with her tomorrow when she comes to town. If I keep working on it, I hope to have it finished soon. What a cute pattern!

I also got to work on my top this afternoon. I'm to the point where now I only have to whipstitch the facing seams closed and then hem the bottom. I thought I should try it on to see how it looked, and guess what, it doesn't fit. The top part is way to snug! I was really surprised because it didn't look like it was going to be. I'm a bit frustrated, so I think I'll wait till tomorrow and try to figure out what to do. It does have 5\8" seam allowances, so I thought I'd try to take them out and re-sew them at 1/4". Maybe that will help.

I came across a really great post today on Melissa's blog Knitting a Baby . She was talking about committing to sewing for 30 minutes everyday for 30 days. She got the idea from Janelle over at Pretty Little Stitches. I thought that was a great way to keep on track with my goal of sewing myself some summer clothes. Imagine how much you could get done if you sewed for just 30 minutes everyday. My life is very conducive for this right now. Being home alone all day long lends to getting quite a bit done, but I thought this would help me to keep motivated. You could really actually apply this same principle to anything that you would like to get done. I think I might consider using this with my knitting! I could really use some motivation in that area right now! There seems to be quite a few WIPs hanging around my house lately....

Well, I'm off to bed for the night. I've got an early doctor's appointment in the morning! Have a wonderful night everyone!

Happy Knitting!

P.S. Tomorrow is my sister's birthday!! I'm so excited!! :-)

Eastery Goodness!!!

Hello Everyone,

Look what I got in the mail today...the most loveliest Easter package ever!! Just look at the adorable cupcake wrapping paper!! And the beautiful box!!


Now, take a look at what is in this beautiful box...

Oh my, OH MY!!! This great package is from the lovely Brittany (britbrit). Look at all the wonderful things she sent me!

The package includes: The most adorable Bunny she made (he is wearing shoes!! Love it!!) he is so soft and cuddly, I couldn't stop hugging him! There are also two packages of flower seeds - a pastel mix of snapdragons and Lady Bird poppies (which is totally perfect because I have my own garden!), two beautiful glass Easter egg ornaments - one yellow and one pink, a bunny and carrot cookie cutters (how did she know I like making cookies!), both from from Crate and Barrel (oh how I adore Crate and Barrel!!) and also a package of Green Beans which are all-natural jelly beans that are so yummy and great due to my food allergies! (I snuck a root beer one right away).

Then there is the yarn! She sent me these gorgeous colours for the Dotted Chickens from Itty Bitty Nursery, as well as Crystal Palace Bamboo DPNs (yay!) to knit him with. I can hardly wait to start! I was showing my Mom the pattern and telling her how much I wanted to make one, and she's like "Well, after this weekend things should slow down a bit, then you might have some time." So there you go, I will start next week :-)

Look how pretty they are! I have never knit with Rowan handknit cotton, or Knit Picks simply cotton, so I am beyond excited!!!! Can you tell???

This was the most amazing package ever! It completely made my day! I am so blessed!! Thank you so much Brittany!! You are so incrediably awesome!!

Late Sneak Peek

Hello Knitters,

I know a while back I said I would post a sneak peek of some knitting I did for my Itty Bitty Group Easter Swap Partner...well here it is! (Sorry it took so long!)






These are made from the pattern Rabbit from the Spud and Chloe blog Spud Says! I made them out of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton since I didn't have any Spud and Chloe yarn. They turned great, and are so soft!! This is great yarn, and I highly recommend it for anything baby-related!

On another note, my cousin Ella's 1st birthday party is on Thursday, and we just got the invitation a couple of nights ago, so I've been busy trying to finish the Pig from Itty Bitty Toys. If it turns out, I'm going to give it to her. I sure hope it all goes together well! Wish me luck!!

I'm off and running yet again! The kitchen seems to be calling my name. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Busy, Busy as a Bee

Hello Knitters!!

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was good, busy, but fun. The family dinner we had with my sister's future in-laws went great. They are some seriously awesome people. And his Mom is a crafter (she does the most amazing stained glass you have ever seen!) and she used to knit! What could be better, a fellow knitter soon to be part of the fam!! We all got along very well, and it was a ton of fun :-) My sister is very lucky to be getting such great in-laws.

Sunday was a busy and hetic day. I was asked to bake a cake for my Uncle's birthday, which was on Sunday. So Saturday I baked the cake part, and then Sunday all I had to do was make a truffle filling and then the ganache icing, and assemble it. Well, I got all that done, and was just starting making bread, when my Mom said she thought the cake tasted a little on the dry side and wasn't very good. (I had made her a tester cake, with the little bits left over) So we both thought that it wasn't fit to send, and that I should make another one. This was about 2:30 in the afternoon, and the cake needed to be at their house by supper time. So while I was making the bread, Mom and I whipped up another chocolate cake, and chocolate fudge icing and I quickly assembled it and got it out the door just in time. The good news was that he liked the cake! Bad news...the next day my Mom tasted the cake again, this time she had a piece of the real one, and found out that it was quite good and not dry like the tester cake. I came to the conclusion that since I made the tester out of the leftover pieces, it was probably those parts that were dry, and not the acutal cake. So lesson learned there! Since it's a truffle cake, it lasts for almost a week, so we're going to give pieces of it away today to numerous relatives and neighbours. To make me feel better about it, Mom told me it wasn't really a "man's" cake but more of a woman's, so the one I made for my Uncle was a better one for him. lol

Yesterday Dad was going to stop by here with some people from work that were visiting from up north, so I decided to make a coffee cake to have on hand for them to snack on when they came. Well when I got up in the morning, Emmie (the yorkie) was sick, we think she got some chocolate off the floor the day before, and my Mom had to go to the Pancake House for brunch with my Grandma who was coming down with her retirment home, so that left me to look after the dog, bake the cake, and get myself cleaned up, all before Dad came by with these people. It was quite the morning, but I managed to get the coffee cake baked while Mom was sitting with the dog, then I sat with her while Mom got ready. When she left for the Pancake House, I got myself cleaned up and then spent the rest of the morning rubbing Emmie's tummy and sitting with her in the sun. By the time Mom got home, Emmie was doing better, but so much of the day was gone that I thought it was pointless to start working on baking, plus I didn't want to mess up the kitchen I had just cleaned if people were coming over! So I started a knitting project, more about that later... Dad finally showed up, but not till amost 6:00, and they had just all eaten dinner so no one was hungry for cake. After they left I decided to package up the cake and I sent it with Dad today for his men in the shop, they can have it at coffee break time. So needless to say, yesterday seemed like a wasted day with not much accomplished. Although I did finish my knitting project!

Since Easter is coming up soon, and I know I will be swamped with baking, I thought I should knit something that was Eastery while I had the chance. The other day my Mom bought me the book Knitted Toy Tales by Laura Long, and I instantly wanted to knit the Bunny family! They are so cute! I started out knitting the Mummy bunny, but didn't have enough yarn to complete her, so I ripped out, and made one of the babies instead. I made him out of Plymouth Yarn Oh My! so he's super soft. I'd like to make him a Mummy and sister, like in the book, but I don't think the yarn store where I got the Oh My! carries it anymore. I'll have to call and see. He was a cute, fast, fun knit, and I really like how he turned out. He is sitting her on my desk making me feel Eastery :-)

Today my Aunt Rita and Uncle Lynn are coming down from the city to have a late lunch at the Pancake House, and they are brining their two grandsons who are on March break this week. I think Mom and I are going to pop up there for a bit to have a visit, so I don't know how much is going to get accomplished today either! I have a feeling, come the end of the week, I'm going to be super busy trying to catch up from these two days! I should go and hop in the shower and get myself ready to go. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I will try my best to get back here soon!

Take care!!

P.S. By the way, I got my Easter swap present all finished and sent out, it should arrive at its destination today!! Then I will post a picture of two things I made for it. I really hope she likes it! :-)

P.P.S. My Dad didn't get the bowl of potato salad, but he did get the two blueberry pies!

One Little Elefante...

Hello Knitters,

I wanted to share my elefante with you today. He was the last project I had to complete for the Ravelympics. Isn't he cute?? I will admit that the colour combination didn't turn out quite as I had planned, and I didn't like it at first, but now I'm beginning to think differently about him. He's growing on me :-) I think he is in need of a friend or two though...he looks a little lonely don't you think? I do not have time right now to make him a partner, but I hope to do so in the future.

Things are starting to get busy around here now. Our Pancake House is opening on the 8th, so I'm in the beginning stages of prep for baking. I'm thinking of adding a few things this year, so I have some product development to do this week. Right now my Mom is making maple candy...it smells great! While she is doing that, I'm working on some knitting for my Easter swap partner. I joined an Easter swap in the Itty Bitty Knits group on Ravelry, and now I'm hard at work on my project! It's turning out great so far, and I might be able to give you all a sneak peek in a couple of days... Easter is my favourite holiday, so I'm very excited about it.

It's beginning to feel like spring here now. Yesterday Mom and I went for a walk up the road, and it was just gorgeous. I think the months of March and April are my favourite. I love seeing everything begin to change in nature, it's just such a beautiful time! I love watching the snow melt, the grass start to peek through and green up, and the ice on the lake break away and the ships come through again...and most favourite of all is hearing the "spring peepers" start up! When I hear them, I know spring is definitely here. God has done such an amazing and detailed work in nature, and I love admiring it and taking it all in! It really does proclaim His glory!

The last thing I want to share with you today is my little sewing/knitting/crafting area I've been working on in my room. It's not quite done yet, but this is how it looks so far.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day, and I should be getting back to my Easter project.

Take care!