7 Months

Well, this project only took me 7 months to complete!Do you ever have a project that you just keep setting aside over and over again? This was that project!

As I was working on minion hat after minion hat last November and December, my own kids kept begging me to make something for them—especially Phaedra. So come January when I had all the Christmas projects behind me, I let her choose what she wanted me to make her. After 6 minion hats (nope, still haven’t blogged them), I was SO relieved when she chose Hello Kitty instead.

I got all the yarn I needed. I got started. And then I reached the point on the hat where it said, “finish off and weave in ends.” I set the hat aside. And it sat. And sat. And sat . . . The crochet part was no problem, but I think I was just too burnt out and sick and tired of weaving in all the little yarn tails on all the little details!

I think the only thing that got me going on it again was the fact that baby #4 is going to make her arrival in just a few months, and I’m feeling the need to do some nesting crafts. I hold to a strict rule that I can’t start another project until one is finished (especially same type of project), so that lit a fire under me to finally force myself to finish Hello Kitty. My poor Phaedra gave up begging me months ago.And now she has to wait for it to actually get cold again to need to wear it (poor girl).

I promise Hello Kitty has a left ear. It’s just hiding behind the bow. I snapped these photos quickly before we hopped in the car to go the library, so I wasn’t paying that much attention to all the details.

I swear I do this every January. I work so hard to get handmade items done for people for Christmas, and I think I can keep the momentum going after the holiday and actually make some stuff for our family/house. So I get all the materials for a project, sometimes I even get started, and then there’s no deadline . . . no pressure . . . and it never gets done! Don’t ask me what ever happened to the fabric storage boxes I was going to make out of the beautiful organic fabric 2 years ago. Just don’t!

I’m extra proud of getting this hat done because I actually completed 2 Hello Kitty hats. I made the first one and decided it was just going to be way too small, so I started over and completed them both. I’m still trying to decide what to do with the extra.

P.S. I found the pattern for the hat HERE.

LuvlyGurumi Pattern Giveaway! {Closed}

Good news!

I e-mailed my post about the little crocheted lamb to the shop owner, Lyly, of LuvlyGurumi, and she decided to offer 5 free patterns to one of my lucky readers! I wish I could win!

If you haven’t heard of amigurumi, it’s a word for knitted or crocheted stuffed dolls. Lyly sells PDF crochet patterns with easy instructions and pictures to make these lovely dolls. In her own words, “One special day, I discovered amigurumi and it was instant love. Everything made me go ‘Awww’ and a smile would quickly appear on my face. I decided then that I had to learn how to make these cuties myself. A couple months later, I was doing exactly that… and now that I’ve started, I simply can’t stop.”

Just look at some of the cuties in her shop and see if you can keep from saying, “Awww.”I bought the pattern for this adorable lamb and had so much fun making it.This lion is definitely the next one I want to make.How adorable are these bunnies in little hoodies? Wouldn’t they make such a cute Easter gift?Or there’s this cute little penguin.

And that’s just a sample of the dolls that are in her shop. So, are you ready to enter to win 5 of these adorable patterns? Here’s what you can do to enter. You have 3 chances to enter. You can do one, two, or all of these things:

1. Visit the LuvlyGurumi shop. Take a look around, come back here, and leave a comment telling me your favorite pattern.
2. Become a follower of The Spare Time Continuum using Google Friend Connect (on the sidebar) and comment letting me know you did. Or you can comment telling me you already are a follower.
3. Add LuvlyGurumi to your Etsy favorites and leave a comment telling me you did.

**Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. It’s like a raffle and your comments are your tickets!**

That’s it. Only 3 comments per person. You MUST include a valid e-mail address in your comment or have e-mail linked to your blogger profile so I can contact you. If I can’t e-mail you, I will choose another winner.

Giveaway ends Monday, April 25th at 8pm PST. Winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be announced soon afterward. If I have no reply from the winner within a week, I will choose another winner. Good luck!!

*All images for this post were borrowed from LuvlyGurumi.

Little Lamb Amigurumi

How was your weekend? I had a wonderful weekend of car shopping, spending time with family, and being uplifted by General Conference.

I’ve also been anticipating a brand new link party on one of my favorite blogs. Just what I need to get me out of my non-blogging rut. Seriously! I have been such a lazy blogger! Can I blame it on the pregnancy? Well, I’m going to. I have to get some perks out of this, right (besides the gorgeous new addition to our family coming this fall)? Here’s a project I finished way back last November but never got around to blogging.

I made this sweet little lamb for a friend who didn’t find out what gender she was having. I thought rather than make something green or yellow, I could make something loveable for a boy or a girl. This is the first time I’ve tried my hand at amigurumi, and it was actually pretty easy. I found this pattern to make the lamb. Maybe I should have made it white and cream like the example, but I fell in love with this grey yarn. It didn’t occur to me until it was finished that a black sheep given to a baby might not have to best connotation. Ha!

The whole shop (Luvlygurumi) is really cute. I’m in love with this little lion. That will probably be the next pattern I buy.

I wanted something to go with it, so I typed out the words to my daughter’s favorite church song, “Jesus is My Shepherd,” in a subway art(ish) format. Excuse the cheap dollar store frame. I knew my friend was such a good decorator that she could paint the frame to go with baby’s room or replace it altogether.

And just to be nice, I’m going to share the PDF of the words in case any of you have a use for them. Click here to get the PDF. The song and words are written by Tammy Simister Robinson. For personal use only, please. If you do download it and use it for something, I’d love to see pictures. E-mail me or leave a comment with a link! And especially let me know if it doesn’t work. This is the first time I’ve tried document sharing.

And don’t think I’m crazy, but I thought the lamb’s backside was just so cute that I had to take a picture. You can also see that the wool on the lamb’s head is actually a removable hood.

And now, some pictures of the adorable recipient (he’s much bigger by now, but still just as cute):

Love those little feet!

I’m sharing this post with . . .

 

 

*Personal note: given to Alicia/Truman

My Old Standby

My husband would attest that I have a lot of “usuals.” I find something I like, and I stick with it.

A friend taught me how to make these receiving blankets the first year I was married. I borrowed my mother’s old sewing machine (which I still have on permanent loan) and started making them like crazy. It was some of the first sewing I had done on my own and has been the only thing I’ve sewn up until a few years ago when I finally started branching out. I’ve made so many of these receiving blankets for baby showers over the years, I don’t think I could count them. It’s my go-to baby gift because every baby needs blankets, and I love giving something handmade.

So when my husband let me know there was a baby shower at his work just 5 days from the day I learned about it, I was lucky I had one already sewn together and just waiting for me to crochet the edge.

The blanket is just two pieces of flannel sewn together with a crocheted edge. I have a few pattern books for edges, so I try to vary what edge I do each time. It’s an easy way to keep my fingers busy while watching a movie with the hubs.

I’m starting to think I just need to start stockpiling handmade gifts for babies so I’ll have something on hand any time a baby shower pops up.

How about you? Do you make gifts ahead of time or in the nick of time? Do you have a go-to gift you always like to give at a baby shower, or do you like to mix it up?

Don’t forget to enter to win a $35 credit to CSN stores! CLICK HERE!

I’m sharing this post with . . .

 

*Personal note: given to Norma/Alice