knitted pumpkin

Last night, my daughter wanted to "be alone" in her room and play, so that gave me some free time!  It's rare to have free time on the weekends, ever!  So I took advantage of the time and made this little pumpkin.  I used the infant sized hat round loom and garter stitched the stem and leaf.  I used a little bit of fill from an old pillow and stitched it all together.  I took about an hour to knit and assemble!  Now, to make a whole bunch of them to decorate the inside of my house!

Easy and stylish wall art

A few months ago,  I went to my friend Caroline's home for some sewing lessons and in her craft room, I saw the cutest thing!  Using those embroidery circles and some fabric, you get an easy and stylish wall art idea.  I had some of the circles in the basement and some left over curtain panel fabric from Ikea and this is what I came up with.  

The fabric is white and translucent, so some of the blue on the wall comes through on the wall hangings. If I ever get tired of them being in the bedroom, I can move them to the bathroom or living room and they will always match!  I think they go really well with my brand new comforter I got from Target (on sale with a 20% off coupon, it ended up being less than $28!).

There is a lot more to do to finish the room, but I have some great drapery and wall art planned.  Can't wait for my peaceful, spa like room to be finished!

$1.00 coupon on any Kandoo product

click here to receive your $1.00 of coupon.  
Like Kandoo on Facebook and you are able to download then print a coloring book for your kid/s!
Click here, but remember that you have to like the page first to enable the downloading!  

Free Sample of Honey Nut Cheerios plus coupon

click here to get your free sample.  But hurry!  This offer wont last long!

Crocheted Lion

"My friend Tappy made this cute little lion.  I wanted to share it with everyone.  Under the picture, you'll find a little excerpt from her.  Enjoy! 

 "I got the pattern from the book Vanna's Choice easy crochet critters and used lion brand worsted weight yarn (weight 4) and crochet hook size G-6. It took me a couple days to make. I started slow the first day, only getting half the body done and finished the rest on the second day, which took maybe over a couple hours.  This is the fifth doll I've made. I learned to crochet in April after getting a crochet book (Creepy Cute Crochet) for my birthday. I'm still learning and only know the basics so far."

"My next project is the corporate zombie in the Creepy Cute Crochet book.  This one will be more difficult because it has fringe hair and some other little details. But hopefully it'll turn out well."

Tappy

My First Knitted Bib

I was trying to find an easy bib pattern on Ravelry and I came across this pattern by
 Kris Knits.  
I altered her directions slightly and this is what I came up with.  (Click on the link to get directions).  I used Lily's Sugar 'n Cream, natural on size 6 needles.

I wish the picture was better but it was taken by my phone's camera.  I am not a photographer in any way.  I decided to give it to my dear friend's little baby girl, Maura.  She's too little to use it now but she will be able to when she is ready to eat table food.  I'm also going to make different sizes and variations of this bib.  It truly was so easy and it took no time at all to do it.  

A Future Librarian

My whole little family LOVES going to the library.  We visit,  read books, play on the computer, play with the puzzles, and even attend classes and music programs.  Our little town's library offers so many resources for children and parents.  
Kara, my daughter, has her own library key card and a designated bag (that she picked out herself) to take with us when we go.  The librarians greet Kara by name every time too.  Most of the librarians have known her since she was a few months old.  It feels so good to have such a great rapport with our local library.  
Today's visit was like no other, except that we ran into her grandmother and aunt tutoring a couple of local boys.  Kara was first confused, then happy to have seen them there. 


 Kara has a library routine, so to speak.  
First, we always greet the fish in the fish tank.  Her favorite one is which ever one is the smallest one for the week, so it varies.  Then we go downstairs to the children's section and she picks out her books to read there and then, when she is ready, she picks out the ones she wants to take home.  Now THIS is the part that melts my heart.  She walks over to the children's computer area.  She piles her books, sits down, and picks up the mouse.  She takes the first book, opens it to the barcode and "scans" the book with the mouse.  Once she sees that the red light coming from the bottom of the mouse glows onto the book, she closes the book. Then she proceeds to type some random letters and press the shift key.  She repeats this until all of her books are "checked out" by her.  Finally, we check out, for real this time.  The funny thing is, that the librarian does the same thing, she scans, types something, and then presses the shift button.  She has been paying attention all this time!  She knew exactly what to do!  That truly made my day.  The best part is what she is associating books and reading to.  She loves to read, make up her own stories, and act them out for us.  What can I say? I am such a proud mama!

Here are a few pictures she

 "let" me take today.

My Knitting Project Wish List

This is a wish list of knitting projects I want to do and HOPEFULLY have the time and skill to do them.  I've been pretty good with figuring things out myself lately but I'm still a hands-on learner and need more one of one time with a real person, not just books and YouTube.  I've only been knitting since February of this year!


Here's my list so far


1. Hallowig
2. Ninja Turtles stuffed toys
3. Baby lace dress

Bandages, Bandages, Bandages

My daughter has recently become allergic to the adhesive and the latex in bandages. So when she gets a boo-boo, we have to wrap her in gauze. After a while, it got a little bit too expensive! There had to be a cheaper, greener way. And there is! Knitted bandages! I'm making her a few kits for home, school, and her traveling bag. So far I've made 3 lengths. One to wrap around once for small boo-boos, one to wrap around twice and one to wrap around three times. I'm also in the process of making some small finger sized bandages.  The best part about these bandages is that they are totally washable so they can be used again and again.


I used size 1 double pointed needles. You can use regular needles as well. I like to use double pointed needles with small width projects because it's easy to take along with me.
At first I used mercerized cotton yarn like some websites suggested when making bandages. I felt that for what I needed them, it was still too thick. So I went with crochet thread instead. It was the perfect thickness that I needed. Here's a picture of it.

I cast on at 27 stitches, garter stitch, which made it about 2 1/2 in width, the typical width of rolled up gauze.  It was the perfect width for a 3 1/2 year old.  

Here is what the final product looks like. 

Here's a close up.

Here it is rolled up.

Here's my little munchkin modeling it for me.

First, I spread antibiotic ointment to the boo-boo area.  Then I put a little piece of gauze on top.  Then I roll the bandage on her and safety pin it.  It's pretty stretchable and breathable too.  
She loves getting all of the extra attention with her special bandages.

Apple Dishcloth pattern

Here is an apple dishcloth I designed.  I'm making a set of 3 in red, as a gift for my daughter's teacher as a thank you for all the hard work she has done all year.  

Please feel free to use my pattern for presents or home use.  If you would like to sell them, that's fine with me as long as you credit me as the designer.

cast on 29 stitches

row 1: k (and all other odd rows)

row 2: k

row 4: k

row 6: k

row 8: k7, p15, k7

row 10: k6, p5, k3, p1, k3, p5, k6

row 12: k5, p5, k1, p3, k1, p3, k1, p5, k5

row 14: k4, p5, k1, p2, k1, p6, k1, p5, k4

row 16: k4, p5, k1, p1, k2, p6, k1, p5, k4

row 18: k4, p4, k1, p2, k1, p8, k1, p4, k4

row 20: k4, p4, k1, p11, k1, p4, k4

row 22: k4, p3, k1, p13, k1, p3, k4

row 24: k4, p3, k1, p13, k1, p3, k4

row 26: k4, p3, k1, p13, k1, p3, k4

row 28: k4, p3, k1, p13, k1, p3, k4

row 30: k4, p3, k1, p11, k1, p1, k1, p3, k4

row 32: k4, p3, k1, p10, k2, p1, k1, p3, k4

row 34: k4, p3, k1, p9, k2, p2, k1, p3, k4

row 36: k4, p3, k1, p13, k1, p3, k4

row 38: k4, p4, k2, p3, k3, p3, k2, p4, k4

row 40: k4, p6, k3, p3, k3, p6, k4

row 42: k4, p10, k1, p10, k4

row 44: k4, p6, k3, p1, k1, p10, k4

row 46: k4, p4, k4, p2, k1, p10, k4

row 48: k5, p2, k4, p4, k1, p8, k5

row 50: k6, p2, k2, p6, k1, p6, k6

row 52: k7, p15, k7

row 54: k

row 56: k

row 58: k

60: cast off

Fourth of July Headbands

I am so excited to share my headbands with you!  Please don't forget to like my page on Facebook as well.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Knits-for-Charity-by-Raquel

And here we go!  If you are interested in purchasing any of them, please contact me at raquelparker25@gmail.com.  All net proceeds will go towards my team's goal for this year's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk.  

Hula Hoop Rug

I saw this on a Facebook post from Treasures for Tots and thought it was way cool!  
All you need is old t-shirts, a hula hoop, and a pair of scissors.
Click here to get to the link.


Enjoy!

Hats for CHOP

With the help of a round loom, I've been cranking out little infant hats for The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  It's really quite easy and I can make one hat in about 30 minutes.  

I have tons of yarn just sitting here so I thought, why not make 1 of each color!  Why not right?  Who says babies should have soft pastels only!

Here are a few more of the hats I made today thus far.  I'm hoping to have a few more made by tonight.  My daughter is excited and wants to "help" me.  She's only 3 but she really loves helping others, especially babies!

Calling all knitters/crocheters/seamstress/tailors

One of my closest and dearest friend just recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last week.  The little one is a month premature so complications here and there were inevitable.  The baby has been transfered to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, or as we call it CHOP. She is doing well there and pretty soon she will be coming home!  
you can read her blog here.


Yesterday, during our regular knitting time, we briefly spoke about giving back to the community, as a group.  We thought that it would be a great idea to donate caps/hats and other baby items to CHOP in honor of the newest little bundle of joy.  It would mean a lot to my dear friend and it will mean a lot to all of us, sort of like a full circle moment. 


So I am putting this out to the universe and see if I get a response!  We are reaching out to the Central Jersey Community and all of the blogger community as well.   For Central Jersey, we will designate a drop off place where we will have a basket of some sort.  For the blogger community, if you live too far, we would love to receive  items in the mail as well.  If you would like to help us, The Bordentown Knitters, please email me here.  We will find out soon what they will accept as far as donations go.  
I will keep everyone posted!

"Babies"

If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, a caregiver, or if you plainly just love babies, you MUST watch "Babies".


It's a documentary, of 4 families across the world.  They follow the lives of the families from birth to a year.  From The U.S. to Japan and Mongolia to Africa.  


Now, this  is not an action packed movie, but more of a film on the human spirit.  It goes to show you that even though we come from different places, we are all the same in the end. 


Here is the link to the YouTube trailer.


"Babies"


Enjoy!


Raquel

Mystery Cloth 1 (second half)

Here is the rest of the mystery cloth!  My daughter took over the protocol as her own.  She uses it to scrub herself down every bath time.  She wants me to make her a butterfly one next so keep a look out for the pattern soon!  I am also working on a cherry blossom pattern.  Trying to perfect it to my liking.  Enjoy!

row 32: k4, p4, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p4, k4

row 34: k4, p4, k1, p1, k5, p1, k5, p1, k1, p4, k4

row 36: k4, p4, k1, p13, k1, p4, k4

row 38: k4, p3, k17, p3, k4

row 40: k4, p4, k1, p13, k1, p4, k4

row 42: k4, p5, k1, p11, k1, p5, k4

row 44: k4, p6, k1, p9, k1, p6, k4

row 46: k4, p6, k2, p7, k1, p7, k4

row 48: k4, p6, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p8, k4

row 50: k4, p6, k1, p1, k2, p3, k1, p9, k4

row 52: k4, p6, k3, p1, k1, p1, k1, p10, k4

row 54: k4, p11, k1, p11, k4

row 56: k4, 23, k4

row 58: k

row 60: k

row 62: k

row 64: k

row 66: bind off/cast off

weave in ends

Miss Rabbit

A close up of the Easter Bunny my grandmother made Kara. All of it was made by her. Even the dress. The dress has a little pouch on the back so Kara can put her pjs in there for safe keeping. She painted the face by hand no less! I grew up receiving these unique gifts and now it melts my heart that Kara is able to have one too. My grandmother is truly the best and I get all of my creativity from her!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I know my family did! My family came over for brunch and we had an Easter Egg hunt. Then we spent some time at my in-laws. My daughter was so thrilled to receive a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Here's a picture of my daughter, nieces, and nephew posing with their hand made Easter bunnies my grandmother made them. They were absolutely thrilled!

Mystery Cloth 1 ( first half)

I recently taught myself how to make knitting patterns on graph paper.  Other than headbands, I've been addicted to knitting dish/wash cloths.  As a cool project we can all do together, I've decided to start a sort of mystery cloth.  No pictures, just a few directions once a week.  It's a pretty simple pattern, just knit and purl.  You can use them as washcloths in the shower or when giving your child a bath.  You can also use it in the kitchen as a dishcloth, towel, or cleaning rag.  They really are so versatile! 

BEFORE YOU GET GET STARTED

What you'll need is:

size 3 needles

color of choice cotton yarn (any is fine, I prefer to use Lily Sugar'n Cream yarn. ) You can get it at ACMoore or Michael's or any craft store in your area.

GETTING STARTED

Cast on 31 s

row 1: (and all other odd rows) K

row 2: k 

row 4: k

row 6: k

row 8: k

row 10: k4, p23, k4

row 12: k4, p4, k15, p4, k4

row 14: k4, p4, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p4, k1, p4, k4

row 16: k4, p4, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p4, k1, p4, k4

row 18: k4, p4, k1, p4, k2, p2, k1, p4, k1, p4, k4
row 20: k4, p4, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p4, k1, p4, k4

row 22: k4, p4, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p4, k1, p4, k4

row 24: k4, p4, k1, p4, k5, p4, k1, p4, k1, p4, k4

row 26: k4, p4, k1, p13, k1, p4, k4

row 28: k4, p4, k1, p1, k5, p1, k5, p1, k1, p4, k4

row 30: k4, p4, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p4, k4

Wristlets

My latest creation inspired by my daughter!  These specific wristlets are being shipped out to my friend Tara for her 2 girls and little sister. 

 These look so cute on!

Here's the original wristlet I made for my daughter.

This is what it looks on.

The wristlets are 2 for $5.00 and $1.00 shipping. 

 I can mail to anywhere in the U.S.