Itty Bitty

After knitting this guy, I wanted to learn more about the designer, Susan B. Anderson which led me to her  book, Itty Bitty Toys. It is the third book in her Itty Bitty series, fully of cute toys to knit up. The reversable toys in the last chapter sealed the deal. Another book to add to my ever growing list.

I decided to knit the Egg to Bird toy to give away as Christmas gifts.

There are 3 pictured here, but I completed 5 of them to gift. They instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I'm impressed that even though the pieces are knit seperately, it's not too fiddly to assemble. There's a list of projects in here that I want to try. The giraffe, the lamb (you can find the pattern here), the mouse in the Christmas set, the sock monkey.... maybe I should start from page one and work my way through the book... 

Introducing Tuck!

I squeezed in a little knit project... allow me to introduce Tuck!

You can find the pattern on the Spud and Chloe blog.
How did he get his name, you ask? Well, just like a real turtle, you can tuck in his head and legs. Kawaii, nei!

A great way to use up scraps, it doesn't take too much yarn or time to complete. I used leftovers from toys that I complete for Christmas, including Ribbit. It's a mismash, including KnitPicks Shine, Cascade Pima Tercel and Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny.

the proud owner of...

a "genuine" Singer replica... I got it at a moving sale and was told it worked. I turned the wheel and all the parts moved smoothly, so I parted with my $ and walked away happy.

I am told it is a Singer 15CH. It is in the shop for a tune up as I write this. It's getting a full check up and they even offered to put the case together correctly. There were some screws and hinges included that will help to hold it all together.

I can't wait to get it home and test it out!

A pineapple update

I can't tell if it's my imagination or if the pineapple is actually getting bigger. I should have took the photos with some frame of reference. Oh, well. Here's what it looks like now...

It is really very small. I just like getting up close and filling the frame. It looks more impressive that way, doesn't it? A few more months to go before it ripens.

I love arare (or rice crackers) from Japan. They are crisp and  refreshing. There were 7 different flavors, including soy bean, shrimp and a sweet one.

A strawberry update

I've been keeping an eye on the strawberries because I want to sample them before the bugs or the birds do... The last time I wrote there really wasn't much to see, but now... I see red!

I picked them and had a taste YIKES! a bit tart still... Maybe I should have given them another day. But they still look good, don't they?

I hope to set up another container for the runners that are spreading. I think I'll pinch off the next few flowers and let the plant establish itself. Hopefully the fruit will be sweeter later in the season.

soft tam beret WIP

With all this sewing, I've been neglecting my hats. Hats for hospice is my attempt to clear out my stash while contributing to a worthy cause. I've picked up a partial skeing of lion Brand Homespun. I love how soft the finished fabric is, but I really don't care for knitting with this yarn.

I found a cute crochet pattern for a beret (there are also patterns for some cute accessories). This is as far as I got before I ran out of yarn. Just enough  for the top of the hat. I'm not sure why I thought I would have enough to finish another hat. The skein has already produced two hats. I really need to find a way to use up the leftovers. I don't think I'll be buying more of the yarn, so I guess I'll be frogging it and saving it for another day.

In the same bag of scraps was more of the old pink wool from the trift shop. I think I'll start the project over with the pink yarn. Hopefully there will be a pic of a finished hat soon!

Goodies from Japan

We received a bag full of treats from Japan. Since I there are very few project photos to show you, I decided I would post pics of the treats as we sample our way though the bag. Of course there may have been a couple of things that were eaten before I could get a photo, but no worries, there still a lot to share with you.

Today, we have senbei and manju. There are two flavors of manju - chocolate and an. Both were very good!

quilt top - DONE!

Happy dance here this weekend. The extra work to the sashing was worth it.

I framed the name block in the light blue. The backing is  a light blue flannel with clouds and stars.

But the dancing quickly ended as I realized on Sunday that I didn't buy enough for the back and batting. With the changes I made to the top, I miscalculated the amount of fabric I needed. I can piece together the batting, but I'll need more flannel. So one more trip to the fabric store this afternoon. At least, I got to work on the binding. The strips are cut and waiting to be pressed, but that's for another day...