Another Baby Gift: Part One

Well, amazingly I have actually gotten some knitting done this week! I know, I know - please hold the applause.

I needed a baby gift for a supervisor's daughter, who is having a baby girl soon. I decided against a hat, because the new baby will be born in SPRINGTIME IN TEXAS. Probably won't need a hat. I thought about a toy, but wasn't 100%. Then I decided for sure on a flower pacifier clip by one of my faves, Susan B. Anderson. (The pattern is free on her blog.)

So here's what I made:




But wait! That's not a hat, is it? I thought you said "no hats!"

You would be correct. That is a hat. An Upside-down Daisy Hat, as a matter of fact, also by Susan Anderson in "Itty Bitty Hats."

Don't ask me what happened. I was totally prepared to make the pacifier clip while I figured out what to make to go along with it. Apparently, I subliminally cast-on for this hat instead. So, I guess this hat is the other part of my TEXAS SPRINGTIME baby gift, after all.

The pacifier clip really IS next. Pinky swear :-)

We Have a Winner!

First off, I want to say thanks to everyone who played along during the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. I hope you enjoyed finding an awesome new musician (buy his downloads on his MySpace page!), and I hope he enjoys the feedback you all gave. You were all very sweet :-) This was his demo CD of 4 songs that he wrote and performs. I told you he was awesome, didn't I? :-)

Don't forget his name: Josh Fowler!

Random.org picked the winning number for me, and it was #12: Rochirmil!

Congratulations! I'll be sending you an email about shipping arrangements...

I hope to see you all around here again soon!!!

Bite Back!

I'm linking to this post because I think it's a great cause. I'll just let BooMama tell you about it:

"This Friday, April 25, is World Malaria Day. And through the Bite Back campaign, people can give a one-time donation of $10 and provide a mosquito net for a child - or a family, if they’re all sleeping in the same place - who otherwise would have no protection from this completely preventable disease. That $10 will also provide education and treatment for people who are already sick with malaria.

My sweet friend Anne has challenged her readers to donate 50 nets in 50 hours. And I’m totally going to follow her lead here at BooMama: The Blawg. Remember, this is a one-time donation, not a long-term commitment.

So here’s how you can help.

Click here to donate $10 that will provide a mosquito net for a child (you can donate more than that if you feel led). Each net lasts three years, so for $3.33 a year - less than a penny a day - you can save a child’s life."

We can do it - Let's Bite Back!

It's That Time Again!

If you're visiting from the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival, then HEY! If you're a regular, then HEY! (See how I love everybody?!)

Well, this post should be a bit about me and this blog. So, for starters, I'm a knitter. Well, duh! But, I am also a writer. Not just a blogger, but a pen-and-paper, in print kind of writer. And I'm working on a book. Actually, two. AND YOU CAN HELP ME!!

I'm doing some research for one of them right now, and it would be immensely helpful if you ladies (sorry fellas!) would take the survey(s) that apply to you. If you are or ever have been a daughter-in-law, then click here to take the Daughter-in-law survey. If you are or ever have been a mother-in-law (you have married sons), then this Mother-in-Law survey is for you. If you are both, then you can take both surveys. Did I mention how much I would appreciate it if you would participate? :-) Many, many thanks...

Now, on to the giveaway!!!

This part is also a reflection of me right now. This CD has not left the CD player in my minivan for days. The songs are stuck in my head. And I want them to get stuck in yours, too. How you ask? Because I'm giving the winner a copy! YAY!



The CD is called "Broken" and it's by a new singer/songwriter named Josh Fowler. And may I just say, he is awesome! Seriously. He could be the next big name in Christian music. Or mainstream music. Whatever kind of music. He just rocks!

So here's the deal: I want you to go to his MySpace page here because I don't know how to put it on my blog. Sample his playlist. Pick a favorite from his songs, come back to my blog, and leave a comment on this post telling me which one it is! I will use a random number generator to choose a winner from the comments on Saturday, April 26th at 6pm Eastern Standard Time.

Got it? Good! Now GO GO GO and listen to Josh!!

And enjoy the rest of the carnival! And take my survey :-)

Mission Baby Logan: COMPLETE!

Well, the baby shower is next Tuesday. But I'm ready! I finished up Fishie #3 today, and that completes the "Under the Sea" toy set for little Logan. I hope his mommy likes Squiddy and his friends!

As I was putting the finishing touches on them, I remembered another baby gift that I should make something for: Jennifer's baby Brooke. Her mom Kathy is one of my supervisors. I made Jennifer's brother a watchcap while he was stationed in Iraq. And, Kathy brought a baby doll of Jennifer's for me to use as a model for some baby dresses I had knit.

Now, what to make? She's due fairly soon. Most of my inspiration these days is coming from Susan B. Anderson, so I'm thinking of her Upside-down Daisy Hat from "Itty Bitty Hats," and maybe a Flower Pacifier Clip from "Itty Bitty Nursery." (Also free on her blog)

Shouldn't take too long. Time to go stash diving!

Yes, I'm still here. My hubby and i split town for the long weekend to let our brains basically, well, stop. Our only decisions was where to go to eat. Good times, good times. And I finally found a minute or two to knit! Look what I made:

So, I didn't win Susan's Elefante, but I still love her designs. :-) See? I took her Simple Hat 2



and then added her Marley Topper




and VIOLA! The cutest stinkin' hat ever!



This may be my favorite charity hat yet...

Your Very Own Elefante

See this cutie? You can win him over at Susan B. Anderson's blog. She is the designer of this little guy, and author of "Itty Bitty Hats" and "Itty Bitty Nursery." She makes some of the cutest stuff EVER!

Anyway, she asked me to tell her "fan club," the "Itty Bitty Knits Group" on Ravelry about it, so I thought I'd share here too. Follow the link above to her blog for your chance to win her own elefante, as well as a few other knitting goodies!

A Nice Giveaway

Modest Purls is having a comments contest on her blog about her favorite color combinations. If you win, it's a $25 gift certificate to the Loopy Ewe. Head on over - maybe you'll get inspired!

Mom, what's burning?

That would be fish, son. And yes, it stinks.

It stinks that I took an easy pattern and was totally brain-dead when I tried to knit it. I frogged a few times, and tinked a bit too. Ugh.

When I finally did finish the parts, I had to iron them on a damp cloth. Well, my iron is collecting dust normally because, well, isn't a dryer just as good? Seriously.

So, take me, occasional ironer: add acrylic (tranlsation: machine washable) yarn: and PRESTO! Meet Scorchie:



This photo doesn't do it justice, but let's just say that the ocean blue the yarn started as is now a crunchy, orange-tinted color instead. See the flat, shiny stitches near the bottom of the picture? Melted.

Yep, I didn't check the temperature setting on the old iron and it fried poor Scorchie when he was still just filets. I almost tossed him then and there, but decided to finsh him anyway and see how bad he really was. Maybe nobody will notice, unless of course they touch it, or smell it, that is. Ahh, the aroma of melted plastic...

Does anyone remember my last good knitting project?

What do I do?

Well, knitters, as some as you may have seen, I was running an Ugly FO contest. I thought the rules were pretty clear, but I still didn't get any participation. Well, not much. Erin linked to Mr. Linky but there were no blog posts. Only pictures. One or two others commented. That's it. No Mr. linky, no blog posts linking to me, nothing.

Which makes me think I'm the only one knitting ugly things :-)

But, Erin's hat did make me smile! That wouldn't shrink any more in the dryer maybe? Anyway, Erin is the winner. If you see this, please contact me. You didn't leave me any way to contact you!!

If Erin doesn't respond, we'll try again :-)