Knitting update

Slowly, slowly! I have finished the back of the jumper and an almost up to the shaping on the front, yay! I decided to do the jumper not the jacket so I had one less 'piece' to knit and also no band with buttonholes ;)
Here is a photo of it from last week, so it is a little longer now.

I know it is going to look nice when it is done, but I can certainly see why the pattern is marked 'P' ... for patience!!! the pattern is certainly time consuming! I will keep plodding along, though with the hope my little guy will still fit into it when it is done!

Next one to finish off ...

So, earlier this year, I started putting my UFOs or 'works in progress' into one of those big plastic tubs with the idea that that would make it easier for me to grab them out and finish them ... hmm, not altogether successful so far! lol! However, now that I have finished the crocheted top, I thought I would pull this project out and try to get it done so my little man can wear it.

Confession time ... I actually started this 3 years ago! And I only got half way up the back! Oops! I have written on the post it note that I was doing the 12 month size, but counting the stitches it looks like the 18 month size, so I think it will be a good size for Aaron as he is 1 at the end of winter. I haven't decided yet whether it will be the sweater or the cardigan, I'm leaning towards the cardigan though, I think that will last him a bit better than a sweater and I know I have some buttons that I think would look good on it.
Heading off now to get going on it.

Batman party!

I have to apologise for no Ripple-a-long update this week .... I have done NO rows!!! oops! I promise I will definitely get back on track this week though ... if for no other reason that it is rolled up on the floor next to my bed and I trip on it almost every time I get up! lol!
However, I have been busy planning my boy's 7th birthday party, so I have some photos to share ...

 

This is the cake I made on his actual birthday when my parents and in-laws came over for tea. My first proper go at using fondant to make the decorations - lots of fun and A2 had fun sitting and playing with play-doh while I played with the fondant!

Favor boxes - for girls and boys :)

 Ready to go.....

 My superheroes! A2's costume is from a couple of years ago, I added a cape to the shoulders and a 'logo' to the front of a long sleeve onesie (she added the tutu when she got dressed!). A3 is wearing a onesie with a red singlet over the top to which I had sewn a square of felt to the shoulders (a little bit gathered to create a cape look) and then I created the 'Robin' logo and stitched it to the front = boy wonder! and A1 (birthday boy!) is wearing the costume he received as a gift!

 Cakes and biscuits - bat and superhero shield shaped biscuits (really recommend Bisk-Art for shaped cookie cutters! Awesome prices and service. the cutters were packaged so carefully for posting too!)

 The Batman rag quilt! I only started it last Sunday night, so I was pretty impressed I had it finished and ready for Thursday morning!

 And it was covering a Lego table! This table was made by gluing 4 baseplates (Liquid nails) to an $8.95 IKEA table! Awesome price and he is stoked to be able to build on a sturdy surface instead of on a carpeted floor.

 A2 with the card she made for her big brother! 7 logos stamped because he was turning seven!

 Cake for the party - more fun with fondant!

I used an oval fondant cutter to cut small ovals first then a scalpel to cut out the bits to create the bat shape.
so, that's what I have been up to this week! Hope you like the pictures and would love to hear your thoughts :)

Catch up photos

I managed to get the photos off my phone! Yay! Even better, it was me that figured it out, hubby kept saying I needed new software, but no, I just needed to tell the phone to connect (although I had to go looking in the menus to figure this out!)
Anyway, I have already shared my updated photo of my ripple blanket, but here is one of the taggie blanket I made .....

And the dress for A2 .....

My sewing of clothes needs some improvement (and perhaps using a proper pattern might help? lol!) but they look okay and she is happy with them, so that's the main thing.

And lastly these are a couple of baby boy cards I have made. One to send to my friend with the new baby boy and one for my 'box' of cards to be ready to send .... in my aim to be better organised!

Birthday gift for a boy

A friends little boy is turning 3 and we were invited to a party for him this week. We don't normally do gifts between our kids, but because we were seeing him for the occasion I figured it would be nice to have a gift for my little miss to give him. I had a look through my supplies and realised I had the right thing sto make an Eye-Spy bag, so that's what I did! It's one of those bags filled with beads (the ones you can use in doll/bear making) and a few little toys mixed in so then when they look through the window panel in the front they can try and find all the things in there.

I meant to take a picture of all the things I was about to put in there and print it out as a little reference for him, but I forgot :( Oh well, he will still have fun looking for the things and he even came and sat a couple of times and had a look again which was lovely considering we were at a playcafe and he left the 'fun stuff' to come and play with it!
And you can also see the little card I made to go with the gift - love the pinwheel die!

Nananananananana ....

Batman!
Pow! Thwack!
My firstborn is turning 7 in a couple of short weeks and although we normally do parties every other year, I caved and said yes to one this year ;) He so enjoyed the Pirate party last year and we had a lot of stuff happen last year as a family, yet he has been so good this year, so I really felt he deserved it (can anyone say 'softie'? ;)) Anyway, he Requested a Batman party, so I have been busy making and sourcing some Batman party supplies .... a bit difficult considering they have discontinued the current design and the new design is due in store 'about mid-March' .... I finally pointed out to one place on the 13th of March that the middle of March was 2 days away! That comment was met with a blank look! Argh!
Sigh, so I made the invitations myself (I would have done that anyway) but annoyed with myself I forgot to take a photo. Will have to make up the spare and get a photo of that to share. And then I have been sorting out a few other things like prizes, etc. Keeping me busy and especially when I see other stuff that I want/need for A3's 1st birthday party in August and buy that too! Oops! Oh, well, I guess at least I should be organised for that!
Off to try and get that little one to sleep and then a few more ripple rows done so I can share it again with you this week .... happy Saturday night, people!

Yeeha!

Seeing as I can't get the right coloured blue flannel at the moment to make a rag quilt for A1, I decided to make him a 'normal' quilt. A2 helped me pick out the fabrics, she insisted on the cowboys (Yee Ha range at spotlight) and although i think her brother may have preferred cars, these are pretty cute! I used this quilt at Two Little Banshees for inspiration when designing my blocks. I used 6 fat quarters and cut them up so that I would get 2 whole blocks from each fat quarter to make 12 blocks in total. Once they were cut I lay them out to play the design. I took a photo at this stage because I caught MissA2 picking some of the strips up and moving them around!!! Argh! Anyway, I have 6 blocks pieced now and just need to piece the others before I add the sashing and borders. I will update with more pics as I get to that stage

I'm pretty happy with how it looks so far and can't wait to see the top pieced together!

2 years coming

This is a project I finally completed last week. I bought a pin board for A1 2 years ago (at least!) with the intention of making him a covered pin board to display photos, cards, etc, and it has sat there and sat there next to my filing cabinet! Because I have been trying to clear out some clutter to make my room more functional, I found some fabric I could use and decided to get it done finally! I had the fabric (thermal lined) left over from when I made him some little bean bags (for games) a couple of years ago, so I just layered that with some wadding and use my staple gun to attach the material at the back. I had the ribbon left over from the boy version of the ribbon wands I made for A2's birthday party, and once that was stapled on I even used some of my brads to fix the ribbons in place. Very happy that I got it made and managed to do so without buying any new supplies!

A1 really likes it and it is now hanging in his bedroom :)