Valentine for Daddy

Asher and I made this for his dad for valentine’s day.  We used red and pink paint and carefully placed his hands in the heart shape. I cute the heart shape after the paint had dried.

Asher’s Halloween Costume

Isn’t he adorable?

The costume was adapted from Martha Stewart I did a lot my sewing on the wings. Basically sewing all the folds in place. The pattern called for a pilot’s cap. Apparently Martha thinks you can just pick up one at any baby store. I had a hard time even finding one online. So I made my own. So I grabbed my knitting needles and whipped this up in a couple of hours.

Make your own Baby Owl hat (for Personal use only)

Gauge:

Holding together 2 strands: 3 stitches/inch

Materials

Yarn: Lion brand Vanna’s choice yarn in toffee, chocolate and espresso. 1 skein of each
Needles: 1 16 inch US #11 circular needle
Felt: small amount of white, black and orange
Sewing needle
Orange and black thread
Toggle button

Directions

Holding the chocolate and espresso colors together cast on 38 stitches.
Row 1: *k2, p2* to the last 2 stitches, k2
Row 2: .*p2, k2* to the last 2 stitches, p2.
Repeat row 1 and 2 once more
Next row bind off 16 st then continue knitting in the 2x2 ribbing pattern as established. Place marker to mark the front of the hat. Using a backwards loop method to cast on 26 stitches. (48 st)
Join in the round and work 5 rounds in the 2x2 rib as established. Then knit 5 inches in Stockinette stitch.
Knit to Marker, Remove marker, Bind off the next 24 stitches.
Break the espresso colored yarn leaving a 6 inch tail to weave in. Add the toffee yarn and continue knitting with the chocolate yarn.
Next row: K1, k2tog, knit to last 3 st, k2tog, k1
Repeat previous row until 4 stitches remain. slip2, k2tog, pass both slipped stitches over the stitch. cut both strands leaving a long tail and pull through the stitch to bind off.

Finishing

Fold triangular flap over and use the strands to fasten the flap to the front of the hat. Use one color for the left side and the other for the right. Make tassels with the toffee colored yarn attach to the corners of the hat. Here is a good explanation on how to make tassels.
Cut two white circles with diameters of 2 inches. Cut two black circles with a diameter of 1 inch. I cut a small triangle wedge out of the black circles to make it even cuter. Also cut an orange equilateral triangle with side length 1.5 inches. Use the orange thread to sew the triangle centered on the front of the hat about 1/2 inch above the ribbing. Sew the white circles on both sides of the triangle using the black thread. Then sew the black circle to the center of each white circle. Be sure to have the wedges face the same direction.
Sew the toggle button to the bottom of the hat next to where you casted on the additional stitches. The stitches should be loose enough that you can push the button through the strap so that it fits under your child’s chin.
This pattern is not for commercial use or monetary gain

Waiting for Asher

The day I left my job was also the first day of my 2nd trimester. I suddenly had tons of energy and time. My sister was due that month to have her second kid, Oscar. They were living in Thailand at the time and my parents went to visit and help out with their Granddaughter Clementine. Being the awesome daughter that I am I volunteered to live at my parents house for that month and take care of my Grandma.
Grandma is probably the one that gave my love of crafts. When I was younger my sister and cousin and I would spent hours drawing princesses at her house. She always had tons of random art supplies. Nothing was more fun than playing with thousands of buttons and a bottle of glue. 
Sadly these days Grandma is suffering from Alzheimer's. She needs someone to be with her all the time so I spent that month hanging out with her and spent a lot of time on the internet. I made up my baby registry and designed Asher’s nursery. After looking at 1000s of pictures of different bedding sets I settled on this one:

This is not Asher’s nursery, just a photo from the cottontail design website. My husband’s friends from College purchased the bedding and the laundry hamper which were the only things we wanted. I wanted to make the rest of the decorations. Here is what I came up with. 

I looked and looked for curtains that I liked at a reasonable price. Everything I liked was way to expensive, especially since the windows are really wide and it was going to take at least 6 panels to cover it. In the end I made his curtains with 4 twin sized sheet from Ikea. Making my final cost less than $15. They aren’t the most Amazing curtains ever but the price was right.















I also bought the Malma Mirrors fron Ikea and painted them to match the bedding fabric.
  
But my favorite project was my the animal paintings. They came out so cute. I made these after we received the bedding set. I was probably 7 months pregnant at the time. I made the background to match the bedding and then painted the animals on top. I wanted the Art to have different animals than those on the quilt. I wish I could take full credit for the cuteness of the animals but they did come as an appliqué on some onesies from Carters. Each painting took about 10 hours to make. Totally a labor of love as I was really uncomfortable.














Asher may never appreciate the work that I put into my nursery but I went to it with the attitude that it was really for me anyway. After all, during Asher’s first year of life I spent many hours in that room and I wanted a space I could really be comfortable.