Teddy's baby booties

As I mentioned before, I think baby booties make for adorable baby gifts. And, of course, they offer the added plus of being a quick knit. I recently made these simple baby booties for a special little boy, Teddy, who we are all looking forward to meeting in a few months.

I first made these baby booties a couple of years ago for my nephew, and found the pattern to be really enjoyable to knit. I once again used Baby Cotsoy to knit these booties, as I like how soft it is, adore the color, and really appreciate the fact that they can be machine washed.

They're so teeny tiny and cute. I'm feeling the urge to try a new bootie pattern - do you have any favorites you can recommend?

(A Different) Easy Baby Cardigan

So yesterday I showed you the Easy Baby Cardigan I made for Baby Hudson using the pattern from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. After finishing up that bad boy, I was really in the mood for another cute baby knit, but I wanted no more stitching up of side seams. So I did a Ravelry search, and found this pattern. It's also called Easy Baby Cardigan (which, funny enough, I hadn't noticed til just now...), but is seamless. It's a top-down sweater, my first, and definitely not my last (ravelry details here).

I used Plymouth Yarn's Happy Feet DK for this sweater, which I had originally purchased intending to make something totally different. What, I don't recall, it's been in my knitting basket that long. This yarn is a dream to work with, and the stitch definition is lovely. The best part is that it's incredibly soft, and machine washable, which is an infant mother's dream.

The pattern calls for ties instead of buttons, but I decided to add buttons and button loops anyway. I wanted to make the button loops big enough so that it wouldn't be a hassle for Hudson's Mom to put it on and off, but they turned out too big for the buttons I used. I'll go back tonight and change the buttons, and next time add 4 or 5 buttonholes (and add the adorable hood). And now they're off, headed to their new owner, along with lots of love from Aunt Lizzy.

Easy Baby Cardigan

A month and a half ago, I posted about the new yarn I'd gotten from Knit Picks and my lofty goals for them. I've been busy knitting, but not finishing anything. It appears I suffer from Knitter's Startitis -- I get more excited about starting a new project than about finishing up the ones I've got on the needles. For a while there, I had 7 projects going at one time.

This past week I finally added buttons to Baby Hudson's Easy Baby Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts (ravelry details here), which had been waiting for the right buttons for some time. This little sweater was so quick to knit -- it probably took me a week of knitting on my commute to get it knit up.

But then you have to seam up the sides, and that's where I lost a little steam. Stitching up side seams are, by far, my least favorite part of finishing a garment, and it was no different with this little sweater. Thankfully, it's a teeny little sweater, so stitching up the sides didn't take long. I am very pleased with how it turned out!

I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Peapod, which is a brighter green than I'd expected. I was not crazy about the fact that the yarn isn't tightly spun, and thus can easily split if you're not careful. But once washed, it gets incredibly soft and totally perfect for a baby. I will definitely use it for baby garments again in the future. 

Even though I wasn't crazy about having to stitch up the side seams, I'll probably make this little sweater again. It's cute, fast, and easy!

Getting ready for Easter

Earlier this week, the table in the guest room (which doubles as my craft space, but these days hasn't seen much use) looked like this:

Now, I would love to say that whenever I make a mess and start a project, it has a happy resolution and something totally cool is created. But, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I LOVE to start projects and have the best intentions to finish them... but often don't. I've got half-finished Valentine's day cards and St. Patrick's day cards to prove it. This year, I decided to force myself to focus and get some cuteness made up from this little mess I'd made.

I made a few Easter cards with some forgotten stamps and some much neglected pretty pastel scrapbooking paper that otherwise would continue to be stored under my craft table forever. (I do have a boy, after all).

I made some super-simple but very cute gift cards for M to give to his friends. They're 3"x3" and super simple to make.

And, finally, I got some Easter treats together for some special kids in our lives. I usually keep items that I think will make good packaging for gifts later down the road. I had saved the clear boxes that Papertrey Ink's stamp sets come in, but wasn't sure what I would use them for. Then I remembered seeing this idea for turning the boxes to gift bags -- and I knew how I would package up the goodies. I finished off the goodie packs with some left over stamped Easter images.

We are not big on candy at our house, and I know that the kids that these are going to also don't eat much candy. So I stayed away from the typical candy baskets and chocolate bunnies, and instead filled the treat bags with things I know my toddler loves: stickers, fruit tape, raisins, a new tiny pad of paper and new markers, and a new movie. There were a bunch of toddler-friendly dvd's on sale for $3.99 at Target last week, so I snatched up a few that I think the kids will like. One of the girls who is getting one  is really into crafts and art projects, so instead of a movie, she's getting a washable ink pad (pink, of course!) and a fun bunny stamp. 

All in all, the treat bags were simple and inexpensive to put together, and I'm glad to be giving them some fun little treats rather than candy. I can't wait to give them to our little friends!