Henry's Stocking Update

Stocking as of 7/7/14

Sewed on piece 12 of 110

Henry's Christmas Stocking

Sometimes I struggle with getting projects done on time. This is why I'm working on a snowman project in July. I thought it would be fun to show the progress of Henry's stocking. 

So here's progress after three days. 

Tada! Future Nephew Blanket

Another finished project post! The nesting phase never really kicked in while pregnant. I must have post-partum nesting!

I started this blanket last fall after I found one of my sisters was expecting and due right after me. I had 2 girl blankets finished, but no boy ones. She ended up having a girl so I had one ready when my niece came along. 

I used my favorite zigzag pattern from The Purl Bee. http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2011/9/15/whits-knits-chevron-baby-blanket.html

I think this is the fourth one I've finished. The variegated part blends in a lot in low light but stands out in daylight. 

Now that I have this one finished, I want to start another! 

Tada! Birth Announcement Cross Stitch

I finally had a chance to wrap up Henry's cross stitch. I had all but the personalization done before he was born. Strange enough, it took me 7 weeks to add his name, date, birth stats and get it framed. 

I had some trouble when it came to finding a frame. The finished size was 12x12. Unfortunately a 12x12 frame doesn't have a 12x12 opening. I ended up finding something that had a 13.5x13.5 opening and I hit Michaels when frames were 40% off and I had an additional 25%. Score one for Jen!

Few of my favorite parts. 

I love the raccoon. Too bad real ones aren't that cute. 

First piece I could sign like this. Usually I just use a JTE and last two digits of the date. Full year fit nicely here. 

Now that there's a newborn in the house, we'll see how many Tada posts in have now! 

Little Projects

Two of my nephews had birthdays recently and we were at their birthday party over the weekend. I realized I should have something for them late last week. Seeing I'm the master of last minute projects, I decided to make something. Then I realized my niece had a birthday not that long ago. The. I remembered my other nephew also had a birthday in that timeframe. 

I can make 4 last minute birthday presents with a 5 week old baby, no problem. I came across a tutorial for crocheted balls on The Purl Bee (http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2013/7/26/whits-knits-crocheted-balls.html). I have a plethora of leftover yarn that needs to be used. 

I made a total of 4 in about 3 hours. I didn't think to take a picture with all 4. Mine didn't turn out the size in the tutorial. I followed the extra small size for the white one and small for the brown.

They were fun to make and my niece and nephews seemed to like them. My sister commented to my niece that it's an "Approved to throw in the house" ball. 

Baby's Room

While I didn't craft anything in this room, my husband and I did arrange everything. On the crib there are multiple blankets that were gifts from various people. 

Pardon some of the mess, it's still a work in progress. 

Things for Baby E!

Seeing my due date is now 9 days away, I figured I should work on wrapping up a few projects. I've been on Maternity Leave for a week now so I've had lots of couch time to work on things. 

Cross stitch Birth Announcement

First finish is the Birth Announcement cross stitch. I've been making these for nieces and nephews but those have been 5x7 size. This one was a 10x10. Took just a little longer. I think I started it back in October, but took a break to work on Christmas gifts. 

It's just missing some information that is not yet determined. I didn't think I'd get this done before baby came. It was from a kit and I just followed the pattern. I'm not creative enough to make up my own. 

Baby Blanket

Second big finish was Baby E's blanket. Not knowing if baby is boy or girl had me stumped on colors. I decided to use together a grey and a variegated of white, yellow/green and turquoise. Those are close to the colors we're using in baby's room and seemed fairly neutral. 

I came across the pattern through a friends blog (http://inspiremegrey.blogspot.com/2013/06/two-easy-crochet-baby-blankets.html?m=1)  that linked back to this blog post. (http://www.aestheticnest.com/2011/12/crochet-sedge-stitch-cowl-tutorial-for.html?m=1)  I did what my friend did and turned the cowl into a blanket. I used the reverse single crochet to put a border on my blanket. 

I love how the colors and texture turned out. I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn which is what I typically use in baby blankets. It's so soft. 

Next goal to finish is a baby blanket for a future nephew. I have 2 niece blankets done and waiting. One of my sisters is due 3 weeks after me and doesn't know if she's having a boy or girl which means I need to be prepared!