Craft since the birth- the good, the bad, and the overambitious

Well, life has changed somewhat since the last post.

I have got behind with blogging, and therefore have stopped putting on new posts as I have old posts backing up.  It's lovely that this is all I have to worry about, really.

So- today I am going to put up everything I've managed to make since the little one came along, then I will put up a list of overambitious projects I intend to do.  We shall see if I manage to do any of this before the week is out....

1- I did manage to find a use for the leftover denim from the maternity skirt- it's gone into being a haphazardly made tissue box cover, as yet unfinished, and a prototype for a birthday present for my mother.

2- The spanner cosy.  Rich desperately needed a spanner cosy (what man doesn't) and as I was about to go away for a week to rest, guilt got the better of me and it was completed somewhere after midnight, long after husband and baby had gone to bed.  I had to tiptoe into the bedroom midst their respective snoring, which was almost more than I could bear.  It is not my best work. It is finished.  The thread also decided to snap every couple of inches, which I haven't fathomed out a reason for yet, other than cheap IKEA thread, nasty IKEA fabric, ancient needle in machine, or the need for a service.  Anyway, it works, he loves it and I think it complements his manliness:

The picture has decided to turn itself around while uploading, yet is fine on the pc.  I have no clue what to do about this and would rather move on with my life, frankly.  Tutorial and superior spanner cosies here: soresourceful

3- Tissue box holder - For my mother's birthday, to go with her green living room and accent plum cushion.  And to have fun with buttons- really good fun to make, so much so that I even lined the thing.  The fabric and buttons came from a phone call to The Eternal Maker, which is safer than going in and still being there in open-mouthed wonder until being asked to leave.  And I took the opportunity to try a bound buttonhole for the opening, with no thought to the irony of buttons, buttons everywhere and not one to go through the buttonhole.  Tutorial here

Now- the toys.  These vary depending on sleep deprivation. However, they're done, so they're going on the list.

4- Timmy.  Love this- I'd all but finished it on the bus while still at work, but seeing that baby liked high contrast things to stare at gave me motivation to finish it.  Still needs a dummy, but I don't like the one on the pattern, so still hunting around.  I also changed the eyes to look like Timmy's and stuffed the ears slightly.  My greatest success over the last few weeks, I'd say.

I'm not even going to attempt to get these photos to line up- I'm typing on borrowed time as it is- very soon duty will call, loudly...

5- the ball that looks more like a brain.  I don't care- she likes it and it's saved me trying to make another load of squares into a garish jacket for her.

My first attempt at weaving on the Martha Stewart Knit and Weave Loom

and here is what was going to be a ball, but I couldn't be bothered, so it looks more like a brain, but she can grab it and stare at it, so I feel my work here is done.

6- Shaun the sheep mobile- I've waited years for an excuse to knit this.  Currently waiting for mother to put the faces on them, then I'll do the hats and scarves, but at least the sheep are done:



7- Sailor jumper- knitted in a week - I changed the wool from DK to chunky to make it quicker, but it's a bit stiff and shapeless and I can't afford to have any less shape at the moment.  Will probably knit it into a jacket next year.  Quite impressed by the wool- Wendy Supreme Chunky- nice sheen and doesn't dry your hands like most cotton. Under no illusion that I look like the Phildar lady...

8- and finally- the dreaded Mason Dixon After Dark Robe.  This was supposed to use up a ton of Louet flax yarn I'd bought years ago, and be a bath robe for the birth centre.  Even if I had got to the birth centre, it was still 10 weeks too late, but in fairness, I did carry my project bag around the hospital under the delusion that I would finish it while in labour....  So, not only did it only use up half of the yarn, I had to make the borders separately as I only have one ball of each colour, and one side is one badly, so has sagged.  But mostly I can blame the pattern- there's something wrong with the shoulders, so it doesn't sit right.  My options are to redo it with a similar pattern, or make it into something that doesn't have to fit, to use it all up, eg a Mason Dixon Big Dotty pattern on a throw.  Except I don't need a throw and don't know how big it will knit up, so stressing about that already....