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meet stu

handmade christmas knitting

While I was trying to wrap up my holiday knitting, I thought it would be cool to teach my daughter how to crochet. We tried finger knitting in the past with no success, but she loves my crochet hooks. I figured if I could get her busy making chains or something, I would have better luck getting my projects finished.

I checked out Kids Learn to Crochet from the library. Have you seen this book? The instructions are labeled with big numbers in circles. My daughter loves numbers almost as much as she loves letters. She sat and counted off the steps for each pattern in the book. Then she asked me to make her a blue Stripey Stu.

What can you do? I made her a Stu for her stocking and took the book back to the library. We’ll try again in a few months.

stash: Thrifted tapestry wool, felt and vintage buttons. Oh, and if you get technical, this is really Big Bert. My daughter just likes the name Stu better.

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christmas pajamas

handmade christmas jammies

I was planning to make two pairs of pajamas. Only one pair got finished. When I showed them to my daughter, she said they were very cool, but she didn’t want to wear them to bed. I was a little crushed. Fast forward to today: they’ve been on for over 24 hours and she doesn’t want to take them off. Success?

handmade christmas jammies

The flannel was thrifted from somewhere—I’m starting to lose track of where I get these things! I was planning to use a Simplicity pattern, but didn’t have enough fabric. Instead, I used a pillow case pajama pants tutorial, and it worked out perfectly.

handmade christmas jammies

The top is just a plain t-shirt from Target. I added a little appliqué to help it coordinate with the pants.

handmade christmas jammies

I’m very happy with how these turned out. I’ll be making the other pair this weekend.

project notes: Making a pattern from measurements tutorial from Brandy over at Minivan Life. Very easy to follow. I highly recommend it!

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christmas eve crafting with dad

gingerbread house with dad

I bought this little gingerbread house for my daughter to put together with her dad this afternoon while I do a little bit of sewing. It’s just a little crafty thing with some sticky appliqués and glitter, but they seem to really be enjoying themselves.

I’m planning to make some Christmas Eve pajamas for her to wear tonight. Better get off the computer and get sewing!

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my first crochet scarf

lily chin nolita crochet scarf

Do you ever have an empty feeling after the big holiday gift/package/mail rush is over? Everything got done in time, but who knows with the weather if it will arrive on time. Now I don’t know what to do with myself. I should be doing all of the laundry I’ve neglected for crafting the past few weeks.

Instead, I crocheted a scarf for my daughter. It’s not a Christmas present. It’s just because I was gifted some yarn and it was fuzzy and cute and she needed a scarf that matched her brown hat and mittens.

The yarn is Lily Chin’s Nolita* and from my friend Amy. She destashed a lot of her fuzzy fibers and brought them to our last knitting guild meeting. It’s the perfect amount for a toddler sized scarf. It’s soft and cuddly, but a pain to rip if you make a mistake. I have another ball in green that I think would make a perfect cowl for me.

pattern: 16 double crochets across with a J hook. Final size was 4 x 30 inches after steam blocking.

*Don’t judge this yarn based on the awful photo on the website. It’s actually very pretty.

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fabric beach balls!

fabric beach ball purl soho

These are great balls for playing indoors. I’ve made one for my daughter and a few for her friends. Everyone seems to love them. This one was a bit of a challenge when I realized that I didn’t have a lot of eight-year-old-boy-ish fabric in my stash. I grabbed a few men’s shirt sleeves that I had in my upcycle bin and I really like how the colors and patterns work together.

fabric beach ball purl bee

recycle: Remember all of the pillows I was making with men’s shirts? This was a great way to use the sleeves! Pattern is from the Purl Bee.

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how to keep kids away from tree ornaments

felt snowman and christmas trees

Give them felt shapes!

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep my three-year-old away from the ornaments on the tree. Being cooped up inside with no preschool or swimming lesson this week has not helped. This morning I decided she needed her own trees. I grabbed a big pile of felt and cut lots of circles and triangles.

Check out that strong snowman. He’s carrying all four trees with his stick arms!

past project: Here’s my original felt board post.