The new love of our life

She's here.....arrived on Friday but keeping Mum and Dad so busy we haven't had time to blog.
There were some scary moments getting her out - she went into distress early on and had a team ready to rescucitate when she came out, but all was well and she's a healthy little bubba now. And ridiculously cute to boot.

Having a life

Just in case you thought all I did now was lay around and be pregnant, here's a little update on how my Teapot & Snail shop is going over at Etsy. I have been neglecting it due to needing 3 months to lie down and watch TV, but I am getting back into it again. Here are two things I put up today:

A bag from Amy Butler fabric and this:

Another baby dress, this time in funky spots.

FO's and SO's

Yay! I made my first sale on Etsy (teapotandsnail.etsy.com). On Monday this little crossover top will be making its way to California.

Now I need to get to work and make a few more things to go up, but in the mean time I've been busy helping a friend get some tote bags made for the local school fete. They went up for sale this morning and were mighty popular - I'll post some of the pics soon, when Blogger lets me.

More finished objects

It's another birthday here for yet another fabulous friend, so a suitably fabulous present was needed. Here's my take on the cocktail apron (modelled here on hubby, so looking much more masculine than it does on its recipient):

My fave thing is the bead detailing at the neck - a little martini glass, then the olive with toothpick, and finally the naked olive on its lonesome:

It's also reversible:

Mr Monocle

First name Steve, but he's not the kind of boss you can refer to by his first name. He's the kind who watches everything you do, always in the background watching your internet usage, quietly disapproving at best, downright menacing at worst.

He's my attempt at the Denyse Schmidt "Steve" pattern in her book Quilts, and a birthday present for a work friend.

The unbearable cuteness of being: FO and WIP

It's been raining for yonks now, which is great, not only because I love love love the rain and crazy stormy weather but also coz it means I'm kept inside sewing.

And what have I been obsessively sewing? More little teeny estrogen-inducing dresses. Them's so cute I can't bear it.

I fiddled with the prototype of the flowery one from the other week. There were a few things about it I thought needed polishing. Here's the new version:

And the back:

Now I'm trying a different colourway, one that I think is maybe more what I would pick for my own bub if I had one:

closeup:

back:

I worked out the size is for a one year old, wearable from about 6mths to 18mths.

Another FO!

I'm just as shocked as you are. Not only did I knit another of those neck-cowl things to keep for myself but I also made a bub's smock dress designed to become a top as the child grows, using a vintage pattern I picked up on the way through country Victoria at Christmas time. I need to work on my stitching, but I think the prototype is pretty cute. Now I just need someone with little girls to see what age it fits....Carla, this may be a job for you! I love the back - so cute:

The pattern, which was put out in the 60's, shows it being worn as a baby dress with tights or little bloomers, or as a toddler top with shorts. I don't have kids, so I can't say, but I'm thinking the bloomers option is pretty outdated now. I can remember back to primary school where the sports uniform was a tunic and big bloomery red bloomers. The elastic at the top of the thigh was so itchy. I could never make a child wear them after having had that experience.

FO from SWMSFS

I posted a while back about my decision to give up trying so hard with the knitting. While everyone else is talking about what lace project they are going to do next and in what spider-web thread it is going to be made, I have committed myself to being She Who Makes Stuff From Squares. I have bought some mothballs to tuck away with the Rogue jumper - I know I will get back to that complicated stuff sometime but that time is not now. And it's not soon either. I am really enjoying my return to bimbo knitting. Yesterday I popped into a LYS to check out what's good and tasty, and had some fancy new kind of circular needles pushed onto my spend-lovin' self. They were marketed to me as being "really tiny points, great for lace and cables". "HA!" I snorted derisively. Now that I am comfortable with my tag as Bimbo Knitter, She Who makes Stuff From Squares, I am impervious to knitting snobbery. I don't care how many Clapotis you have made - I don't even care what the correct pluralism of Clapotis is. I laugh at your lace. It's seed stitch scarves all the way, baby. And seed stitch neck cowls for skiing too - the one below is for Mum and another one in charcoal is for Dad.

Pressies done and dusted

I've done all the stuff I had to do for the family's Xmas pressies now and all I have to do is wrap and post. I made about 50 of this bag (modelled here by the family rabbit):

Mum and my MIL each got one, and my sister got one as a picnic bag (stuffed with goodies, champers, picnic blanket, etc). We gave her and her partner the pressie over brunch yesterday in Crow's Nest. We were just finishing our coffee when we noticed the parking ranger come round. Of course, ever the rebel, my sister had parked in a no standing zone so she had some fast talking to do, but it turns out if you're a pretty blonde, it's Christmas, and you drive a restored shiny black Corvette with left hand drive you don't get tickets like the rest of us schmoes! Here's the fast talking in action (I think that's incredulity on the guy's face):

So I have had to jettison a few projects til the New Year in the interest of sanity, but I did manage to get one little extra thing in, and that's this sleeping-bag bag. I have gone through so much sewing in the past few weeks I've had to change needles again - something I would normally only do once every 3 years.

Gotta dash off and get these gifts wrapped, then brave the lines at the post office. Ta-ta.

Hey! Who you callin' a SOFT toy?

It's enthusiasm like this from recipients that keep a crafter making stuff for people:

Dude.

Seriously, like, dude.

Frickin' cool dude.

Seriously frickin' cool.

And I've gotta agree this is one awesome little guy, styled off an even more awesome guy.


Frank. Confronting. In your face. And now even more lovable than ever before.

You can expect photies of the recipient with his new friend on PIC soon.

Peek-a-boo

What could this be? A finished object? I'm bursting to show you the rest. As soon as its recipient gets it in the post I will let you in on my secret. Some of you will already know what it is, but don't let on just yet!