More pink!

Hi Everybody! It's a dreary day so the lighting isn't great with this pic; sorry about that. As you can see...it's another pink hat! This shade of pink is my favorite. I love this soft orange flower too. Can't wait to see pics of the cutie-pie in it!

The price I pay....

Fin shoved all the paper into the fax machine while I was frantically trying to sew some labels on hats before he destroyed my craft room.
Come on kid!!! Did you have to smear all your Fig Newton into the couch seams?!?!?!

More hats!

Farewell Super-Talented-Very-Sweet Melissa

I am sad to say that our dear Melissa is moving back home. What will we do without seeing her and all those amazing sweaters?!?! This picture was taken late on our Knitting Club night with the "originals". We're sad to see her go back to CO but happy that she is starting a new adventure closer to family. I will never forget her coming over to help me when I was pregnant with Fin and had just had my back surgeries. Melissa, you are a great friend and I will miss chatting about all our boys, life and knitting. I've always wanted to go to Colorado! Oh, and those knitting cruises sound fun too. :) Check out Melissa and all her great creations on Ravelry under "mythreesons"

Mrs. Skogquist's hat

In the background you can see my kitchen has become hat central. It drives Anthony nuts when I pile my knitting up on that counter. It's the best spot since I'm always in my kitchen. Sorry APC!
Gav came home saying we really needed to make his teacher a hat. He was so excited when I finished it. He said, "Mom, it's PERFECT!" He really knows how to butter me up. When we eat dinner he usually says, "Good Cookin" Momma!" Even if it's Subway.... :)

Hailey's Hat

Here's Hailey's hat to match her jacket. She and her sister, Grace, have the cutest coats from Hanna Andersson. I felted the pedals after I knit them and then needle felted the detail on. I've been using clear nylon thread to hand stitch the flowers on. It's tricky to use but seems to work best.

I'm the luckiest girl...

I'm so lucky to have a friend that appreciates my hats and is an amazing photographer...oh yeah, and she's a neighbor :) I ran this hat over for Jayden yesterday and I woke up this morning to these pictures. How great is that? Mandy and I thought grey would be something fun to try with this outfit. I like how it looks. I did another homemade fabric flower with some Amy Butler fabrics. The more fabric I use the better! I love how the flower looks a bit raggy. The button is one of my Mom's from years ago. Thanks Momma!

Grace's Fall Coat and Hat

Gracie's Momma, Elly, brought me this coat a few months ago. I've been keeping my eye out for colors that would work. Yarn can be tricky sometimes. Each dye lot is different so I wanted to be sure I found enough of the same color. These kind of outfits remind me that girl clothes are so much more fun than boy clothes! I knit the hat from a simple hat pattern. After that I knit some squares from 100% wool. I then felted them and cut out the pedals. After that I hand sewed each pedal on. I happened to have this button from a jacket of mine. Everything in my house is fair game. :)

Fabric Flower

I'm having so much fun making these fabric flowers. I used some Amy Butler fabric that Mandy gave me. Thanks M!

All the way from Australia

Here's a picture of Zoe and Angus in their hats. It's amazing that they are half way around the world, and with technology, I got a picture the day their hats arrived. Thanks Leann!

Some new Etsy Items

These were so fun to do! I knit the collar and cuffs separate and then sew them onto the jean jacket. It's a fairly quick project and I get to satisfy my need for girly crafts.
I'm slowly adding items to my etsy store. Check it out! This is a 4T Levi's jean shirt. I like it because it's not as heavy as the jean jacket. My boys hate anything that will make them hot and won't let them move freely. Are girls picky like that? I don't remember. I won't make the boys any more sweaters because they never wear them and put them into the "give-away" bag.

ooooh how I love this hat...

I just love this hat. It's for a 5 year old girl. I hope she loves, loves it! I adjusted the pattern in my head to make the ruffles proportioned for an older child. I love how this yarn has give so she will be able to wear it for a long time.

Some new hats!

I'm getting excited that it's soon to be hat season! Here are a couple newborn hats I recently finished. The girly striped one reminds me of Hanna Andersson tights. So cute!

For my nephew that's on his way...

Fin trying to get in on the action.
This is the quilt I made for my nephew who's coming in November. Of course Graham and Fin had to be part of the pics. I love how it's not babyish. I've seen enough car and train fabrics for a lifetime!


I saw this label in Martha Stewart's magazine. She used it on the top of homemade jam jars. I thought it was cute for crafts too.

First Day of School

Hi Everybody, I hope you all had a good 1st day of school! I can't believe Gav is in first grade already. After waiting all morning for the exciting moment to come, we ended up with potty breaks and diaper changes that had the bus waiting for us (there it is in the background). He said his day went great. When he was getting into bed he asked why girls are so bossy. Hmmm....I asked him if he had anyone particular in mind and he mentioned a girl in his class. I thought maybe he was talking about me :) I'm the first to admit I can get carried away sometimes. I guess my boys are around to remind me of that.

I'm still here!

Hi Everybody! It's been too long since I posted (I seem to say that a lot in the summer). It's becoming my busy hat season so I will share a couple I completed today once I get my labels on them. I had to share Fin's new favorite activity. He gets a hand-knit dish rag (the best rags on earth) from the drawer and squawks for me to wet it. Then he goes around the house wiping everything he can. It's a perfect activity for him; he's so entertained! As you can see in the back ground G2 is following my exercise ball that he just launched down the stairs. I can't blame him for thinking that's what it's for...he's never seen anyone use it for anything else. :)
Notice the ding in the pillar? I have no idea what or who caused that. Those gouges are all over my house at that height.

Gav's Kitchen

I woke up this morning to our early bird whispering in my ear that my breakfast is ready. He is such a sweetheart! His creations are getting more and more elaborate. It's fun to see what he comes up with.

Summer Mary Jane's

Hi Everybody! I had to share what these booties look like on...aren't they cute??? I hope you're all enjoying our last month of summer...can't believe it. I feel like I need to start cramming in fun activities for the kids. Hmmm...better get on that right now!

Ava and Preslee

Hi Everyone!

My dear friend, Monica, sent me some pictures of her girls in the hats I made them. I love how they wear them around the house and at the dinner table! Super cute and a nice compliment...

Some more hats...

Here's a hat off to Australia. I made the flower and attached it with clear nylon thread. I hope you like it, LeAnn!

This hat is also on it's way to Australia. My favorite part is the button. It's from my Mom's stash. Who knows how old it is.

Here's another with a fabric flower. I like the plaid...it reminds me of those plaid shorts girls are wearing lately.
This hat is for a very cute boy with the bluest eyes. Can't wait to see pics of him in it!

Quilts

Here's some of my quilting I've been working on.Here's my first attempt at quilting a blanket. I did the meandering method since that seems to be the easiest. I didn't realize I would need so much thread (Dah, Sus) so I made 2 trips to the quilt shop. Using a daring needle is so much fun...I think I'm hooked.
I started this quilt over a year ago. I had someone actually quilt it for me and then did my best to bind it. It being my first time, it just didn't look good enough for the amount of work I had put into it (and $!). Julie Ann, at Fat Quarter Quilting, saved me and now it sits on our guest bed.

A dream for a nonscrapbooker...

My girlfriend, Kerrie, started selling Creative Memories. It didn't mean much to me at first since I don't scrap book. But when I saw what she was doing with the digital software, I got hooked! I usually use Shutterfly, but a couple times the books came apart. I also wanted a pre-made template for a book but didn't like their choices. So, now I have another craft to keep up with! I will probably use it for cards, invites, pics that will go in frames...stuff like that. My best friend got married recently. I didn't know what I was going to wear so, I was trying on a few dresses in my closet for Anthony and his Mom. They picked out the one they liked best, but it was so old it felt like it didn't deserve to go to Mich's reception (I just thought of the story "the Velveteen Rabbit" as I wrote that). As if Patti read my mind, she said she wanted to go shopping and buy me a dress for my birthday. It was fun trying on things I never would have. I ended up picking out one she had me try on. Isn't that great?! Anthony is the youngest of 4 boys. My sister-in-law and I always say we are lucky she didn't have any girls. She spoils us. :)

I made this card in about 10 minutes. It was fun playing around with it until I liked it. I hope she does...

My Favorite Part

Hi Everyone! I'm here...it's been a while! It seems in the summer I resist the computer...it's too nice out.

Here's some pics of hats I posted previously. They look so much better on these little ones, don't they? Thanks for sharing, Jen!