Two More Hats

I've finished two more hats and another pair of sock slippers.  The slippers were an unexpected job that required being finished in just two days. My son had a friend that would be visiting our church to speak to the youth.  He wanted to give him a gift, but he asked for it on Thursday night and it needed to be finished by Sunday.  I was up for the task, of course.  The friend is a quadriplegic and I was asked to make socks or a lap quilt.  I didn't have enough time to do either of those, so I decided to do the slippers.  I knew that if I pushed myself, I could accomplish the task in the short amount of time.  I would have finished even earlier than I did, if it had not been for the fact that I forgot that I needed to use the smallest pattern size, as opposed to the largest for a man's slipper.  After finishing the first one, I realized that it was going to be way to large, so I had to take it out back to the cuff part.  I was not going to take that out because it takes too long to knit the rib pattern.  Anyway, the slippers are finished and delivered.  I am now working on another pair of slippers.  I received an order to do a pair for a teenage boy.  This is a challenge since I was already using the smallest pattern size that I had.  I have finished the first slipper, and I think that I was able to make the appropriate adjustments.  Hope it will work.  I had already finished the cat hat before I started the slippers, and I made another hat today.  This one is a Panda bear and is for the little sister of the boy I am making the slippers for.  She is the four-year-old girl that I have been babysitting for while her mother has been recovering from hip surgery. She has been watching me make the hats, so she asked me to make the Panda for her.  Works for me.  I love making these hats.  They only take about a day to make, and I think they are really cute.

This is the pair of slippers that I finished for my son to give to his friend.

This is Taylor wearing the mouse hat that I made for Dot.  I posted the hat before.

This kitty hat will go to my granddaughter, Portia.  It was going to be for Lexi, but it is smaller and will fit Portia better.  I had made the chicken hat for Portia, but it is bigger and will fit Lexi better.  Therefore, the switch.

This is the Panda bear for Taylor, who is modeling the cat hat above.

 I still have five more hats to go.  I also need to finish the other slipper for Taylor's brother, my friend's secret gift, and the sweater that may or may not be for Cheryl.  I think I will try to make another play mat set for my friend's daughter who is pregnant.  I already will be sending four hats and the secret gift to Utah, so I would like to also send the play mat.  The baby is not due until much later, but I may as well try to send it at the same time.  Another project that I want to finish, but do not need until March, is the baby quilt for Joey's teacher.  Plenty to do, so I'm loving it.

Animal Hats Thus Far

I have started making the fifteen animal hats that I am making for my nine grand children and a few others, for Christmas.  I have five of them completed, plus the first one I made that was too small for the intended receiver of the hat.  I had to make a larger one for Ellis and will give the smaller one to a friend's grandson. Some of the hats are being modeled by kids that will not be getting that particular hat.

This dog is for Ellis.  It can have the ears turned up like this one...

...or hang down like this one.

Joey is doing his best to be a puppy dog while he models the hat for Ellis.

Joey wearing Ellis' hat and Lexi modeling the smaller hat for my friend, Bennett.

This little mouse is for Dot.  I just finished it, so I have no model yet.

This adorable chicken is for Portia.

Lexi is an adorable chick.

This monkey hat is for my little monkey, Joey.  He is dying to see it, but I told him, "Not until Christmas."

My little friend, Taylor, modeling Joey's monkey hat.

I absolutely love this frog hat for Ezra.  It can also have the ear flaps up like this to look like legs and feet, or...

...with the flaps down.  Either way works for me.  I have no model because it is too small for the others.

So, that is it for hats.  I have also made costumes for Halloween that I want to share. I've already shown some of them, but these are being modeled by the ones the costumes were intended for.

Joey as Leonardo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (front view).

Hind view of the Turtle.

Leonardo Ninja Turtle (Joey) and Rapunzel (Lexi).

Batman (Bastian) and the bat (Luthien).

I am still waiting for a picture of Ellis as Ironman.  I didn't get a chance to get a picture of it before Ellis took it back to Maine.  I also need to get a picture of Portia wearing her bunny costume that I shared in an earlier blog.

Now that Halloween is over, I will be working on the rest of the hats, Cheryl's sweater that may or may not be for her, and the secret project I am making for my friend, Nancy.  I just found out today that Joey's teacher is going to have a boy in March.  I have started to knit a blanket that I will finish for her.  My friend's daughter is having a baby, but I will wait until I find out what it is before I start to make something for that baby.

Another Princess in the Family

Lexi loved her costume.  She is better at letting me take a picture, and actually enjoyed styling it for me. I'm happy that it fits.  The bodice is a little snug, so I will have to put in the lace in the front to keep the sides from gaping open.

Presenting Lexi as Rapunzel.

I had to take this shot to show the braid.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair

Wow! I just finished Lexi's Rapunzel costume.  It came out so cute.  The hair is really cool.  I don't know how people come up with these patterns, but this is a really awesome one. I can't believe how many layers are used in this little dress.  I actually left one of them out.  It has an overskirt, a skirt, and a slip skirt. It was supposed to have a ruffle layer also, but I think that was just a little too much.  It poofs out enough without it. It was also supposed to lace across the front of the bodice like a shoe, but I don't want to put the eyelets in.  I don't do well with eyelets.  I think it looks okay without it.  I think Lexi will like it because she loves dressing up like a princess.  This is one of the ones she is familiar with, so I am happy that I was able to fine the pattern to make it. 

Rapunzel.  I can't wait to take a picture of Lexi wearing the costume.

I also got a little creative today and made a cover for the rocking horse that I have outside for the kids to play with.  I have been using an old grill cover that fit over it very nicely, but it has totally worn through from the weather.  I cut it apart and used the pieces for a pattern for a new cover.  I used a light weight tarp for the material.  I was able to use the edge pieces of the tarp for the edge pieces of the cover.  It worked out really well, so now the horsey will not get wet and the metal frame will not rust.  I love it when things turn out the way I hope they will when I start a project like that.

Hidden beneath this cover is a little brown horse that I used for my kids, and now for my grand kids.

I think I have finished all the costumes I need to make this year.  Now, it is just knit, knit, knit on those Christmas presents.

Sock Slippers Complete

I just finished the last sock slipper, so now all the men's Christmas presents are finished.  I also decorated a cake for Ellis for his birthday.  I made an Iron Man mask cake.  Before I could take a picture of it, his sister, Portia, gave him a bunch of pimples by poking her little finger into the cake all over the face.  Oh well, what can you do about a little two-year-old's creative cake decorating? As for Ellis' Iron Man costume, that will have to wait for a picture, too.  He took it with him back to Maine before I got a picture of it.  It came out pretty well.  I had to make a last minute chest vest for him, so that it would look like Iron Man had a muscular chest.  It only took about an hour to make and I had it ready for him to take with him, but that is why I couldn't get the picture first.

Iron Man with pimples.

The last three pairs of slipper socks.

Still have one more costume to finish.  I have a Rapunzel dress cut out for Lexi.  I will sew it next.  Then, I will continue to work on my knit projects for Christmas. 

Bunny Costume Revisited

I had an afterthought about the bunny costume I finished last night.  For some reason, I neglected to put a belly patch on the front of the sweatshirt.  I was planning on doing it, but I totally forgot until after I went to bed last night.  Of course, the first thing I did this morning was get to work on adding one.  I planned to make it oval shaped standing tall, but after getting it sewn in, it was perfectly round.  Now, if a circle is what I was looking for, it would have come out as an oval.  That is the way it seems to always work.  Anyway, I had to take the zipper out in the middle sections and insert the patch.  That was a little tricky, but worked easier than I thought that it would.  I also had to make a cord to thread through the hood today.  Now, the bunny is finished.

Bunny from the front.  The patch does look like an oval here, but when laying flat, it is definitely a circle.

Costume Time 2013

I have had a lot of requests for costumes this year.  So far, I have made a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Iron Man, Batman, a bat, a bunny, and have a Tangled princess costume cut out.  I am showing only the Batman, bat, and bunny this time.  I have to wait until Joey brings the Turtle costume back so I can take a picture of it.  Iron Man needs to have his helmet, boots, and gloves be brought down from Maine so they can be shown with the suit that I made for Ellis. The Tangled costume for Lexi is waiting to be sewn.  All of the costumes have been designed by me, except for the Tangled dress. I still need help when it comes to princess dress patterns. I have had a lot of fun creating these patterns.

The bat is for a friend, Luthien, but is being modeled by Joey.

This shows the Batman without my friend, Bastian.

The bunny is for my little Portia.

I will show the other costumes when I get a picture of them.  Meanwhile, I will continue to work on my Christmas projects.  I just have to finish the last slipper and I will have all the sock slippers finished that I am making for the men.  I'm still working on creating a sweater that may or may not be for Cheryl.  She isn't crazy about sweaters, so I am trying to create a pattern of one that she may like.  If she does not like it, I will give it to my friend for her birthday and make a pair of pants for Cheryl that she can wear to work.  I have the other sweaters all finished for the women.  I am also making animal hats for all the kids.  I almost have the first one finished.  It is a good thing that they do not take long to make, since I need to make eleven of them.  Nine for my grand children, one for Taylor who is a little girl I have been watching while her mom recuperates from reconstructive hip surgery, and one for Isamu, the Japanese exchange student that is living with my son and daughter-in-law for the year. I am also still working on the secret gift for my good friend, Nancy.  It is about 2/3 done. I should be able to keep busy right up until Christmas with what I have left to do.