Next Generation?

Recently my 2 year old son has made the cognitive leap from knowing the mommy knits to knowing that when mommy knits she is making things. As a result he has started making request. The most common is mittens but he has also asked for monsters, lions and dinosaurs. Luckily for him his mom does knit monsters — and mittens — but mostly monsters.

He has also started to pretend to knit much more. I keep a small ball of yarn around just for him and a crochet hook. He wraps the yarn around the hook and stabs the ball of yarn. Every time I beam with pride and wonder if I will be able to pass along my craft knowledge or will gender stereotypes get in the way. Or maybe he will not care for crafting at all. In the meantime I enjoy watching him play.

Meet Silas

I have been drawing long legged cats in the margins of my notebook for over a year now. Always telling myself they would make a great toy. I am sure my coworkers thought I was crazy.

But I am very happy with the way this drawing translated into yarn. At 22 inches tall he is by far my tallest toy to date but because he is so skinny it only took 380 yards of yarn to make him.

Honesty the skinny legs are what kept me from making him for so long. But when I finally started knitting them they flew by. I really think the stripe pattern on the pants took a lot of the stress away. After all it is much easier to count 99 rows when you know it is only 33 stripes.

Craft: Knitting Type: Toys Published: June 2011

Yarn weight: Worsted Gauge: 22 stitches and 32 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch Needle size: US 5 – 3.75 mm

Available for $6.00

Summer is for Toys

Today is the unofficial start of summer in the US but here in Atlanta we have already had several days over 90 degrees. It is far to hot too think about making anything piratical to keep us warm this winter. Right now it is starting to be hard to believe winter will ever come. So this summer I decided to make toys. Just toys. It should be fun.

Care to join me? I have two fresh toy patterns coming out in the next few weeks and I already have a few more in the works for later this summer.

Make Your Own Under The Bed Train “Table”

When 3 people, with lots of hobbies, live in a 1000 square foot house you have to get a little creative with storage. When it became clear to us that our son’s love of trains was not going anywhere we started looking at options. We loved the train tables we saw at the store but knew there was no way we could fit one in our house. We found a few that fit under a twin bed but nothing that fit under a toddler bed. So we made our own. Or rather my husband and I planned together and he made it. The best part: these tables retail for around $200 and we spent lees than $50 on materials.

To make this project we used:
4′x3′ piece of plywood
1 piece of molding
12 12”x12” Cork Tiles (optional but they help keep the track from sliding all around)
8 Furniture Sliders
1 Bottle of Guerrilla Glue
Primer
2 Cans of Spray Paint

And here is how you can make your own:
1. Measure your clearance under the bed. For our toddler bed we had 50” and 30” deep. Because most of the train layouts were at least 32” deep we opted to pull the bed away from the wall a little. If need be cut plywood to dimensions that will fit under your bed. Tip: Most home improvement stores will cut boards them for you.
2. Cut molding to fit the long side and glue to the outside edge of the plywood and allow to dry.
3. Cut molding to fit over the short side and the ends of the the long side of the molding. Glue edges together and allow to dry. Using a hack saw cut ends of the molding to match the profile of the long edge of the molding.
4. Sand and calk edges.
5. Prime and paint.
6. Glue cork tiles on the top cutting tiles down if needed.
7. Flip over and attach furniture sliders evenly across the bottom.

And you are done. Have fun playing with your child and shoving the mess under the bed when you are done.

Giveaway with the Minimalist Knitter

When Robyn of Minimalist Knitter contacted me last week saying she was doing a write up on my Baby Shell pattern I was thrilled. Robyn has been writing about what she sees as essential patterns for knitters — basic patterns that you could knit again and again each time making it your own. This was exactly what I was going for when I originally designed the baby shell.

As a special treat Robyn and I are offering a give away on her blog. Just check out her post and tweet, post on facebook and comment to enter.

Speaking of facebook. Full of Fluff now has a facebook page. The first 200 likers will get a coupon good toward any purchase in my ravelry store.

Happy Easter

• 24 dyed eggs
• 10 practice egg hunts
• 2 silly cousins with toy glasses
• 1 hour drawing with sidewalk chalk
• 150 eggs hidden in grandma’s yard

It was a great Easter.

Best Face from March

Being almost two is frustrating stuff. I was thrilled to capture my son in a moment of utter frustration the other day trying to put his hat on. While tempting to just put the cap on his head myself i resisted. Frustration is part of learning and it is worth it to see his face light up with pride when he was able to get his hat on just a moment later.

 

 

Pattern: Chompers

Back in January of last year my little dude was learning to crawl and kept getting his toes stuck in the hem of his pants legs. I started to dream up pants for the spring for him, ones that I could fold up for extra cushioning at the knees and fold back down when he was sitting still.

Now that we are quickly approaching his second birthday and I wonder what sitting still is I finally made the pants. And to my amazement the roll up, button up pants idea works even better on an older child who is likely to run through mud puddles and then be upset his pants are wet.

The pants are made with Rowan Denim a very unique yarn in many respects. The yarn is somewhat stiff when worked but washes to something more soft to the touch. What really makes it different is the fact that the purposefully shrinks in the wash – just like real jeans. This added an extra challenge for designing and hours of more math in the long run. But you guys will not have to do that math. Don’t worry if you want to substitute yarn either – directions are given for yarns that do not shrink in the pattern.

Oh and the best part? It is 100% free. Just visit the Petite Purls website.

Free Pattern: Mr. Hoo

Whenever my husband and I travel an owl follows us home. It started during our honeymoon and for the last 5 years it has continued. One of my son’s favorite toys is the shelf where the owls are kept. Needless to say some rearranging was done so only the study wood ones are in toddler reach. He grabs the 2 wood owls and a wooden sun from that shelf and drags them all over the house. After a few incidences of him trying to take the owls to bed with him I decided he needed a soft owl toy of his own.

So I designed this guy. Mr. Hoo is really quick to make – I was even able to make mine in one nap. The pattern is available as a free ravelry download here. I hope you enjoy.

Craft: Crochet Type: Toys Published: March 2011 Yarns suggested:Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton

Yarn weight: Worsted Gauge: 20 stitches = 4 inches in single crochet Needle size: 4 mm (F)

Stay tuned next week. A second free pattern is coming out – this one knit.

Love Stinks

Sometimes a photo passes from bad to so bad it is good. This is one of them. Or at least I hope it is.

My entry into the I Heart Faces “Hearts” photo challenge: