In Progress

It has taken me a long time to realize that I don't have to wait until projects are finished before I blog about them! So, here are some, yes only some, of the things I am currently making. Above is a little teddy bear (nearly finished now) that will soon be making his way to a little sweetie who is about to celebrate his first birthday. Pattern is availble on ravelry, and is called Big Bad Beauregarde Bear, by bjfromnv. Unfortunately, I have not yet figured out how to do links in the Blogger app. I am using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool.

Hmm, this picture looks a bit blurry to me, if it does to you, too, I apologize. This is a crocheted (Gasp!! Shock!) blanket made up of leftover scraps of worsted weight acrylic yarns, for me. Turns out I live with a blanket thief, so desperate times call for desperate measures, Abubu.... (Ha, name that Disney movie).

I am also making some Valentines to send to Cards for Hospitalized Kids. Stamp is an old one by Penny Black. I got the cool metallic corrugated cardstock at my local arts and crafts store. The red and white (soon to be pink, thanks to Distress Inks) scraps were left over from my Christmas cards. Gotta stay on top of those scraps or they multiply like bunnies!

I actually do have some finished things I could show you, too. But not in this post, of course. This is for in progress only. Hope the day you've got in progress is going beautifully.

Stripes

Trying to use up some scraps before they get out of control. I used OWH sketch #205 for this card. The image is digital, colored in with Prismacolor pencils. This also qualifies for the Our Daily Bread Designs monthly challenge to use stripes. If fifty people meet the challenge, ODBD will pay for the shipping on two boxes of cards sent by OWH to our heroes serving overseas.

Operation Penguin

I made this card for Operation Write Home after a call was sent out for penguin cards for a certain Brigagier General who happens to love the birds. The main stamps (snowy background, penguins and iceberg) are by Posh Impressions. Water is by Darcie's, speech bubble by Art Impressions. The sentiment is by Stampendous. I made the textured pink paper using the Cuttlebug my lovely and generous friend Caroline gave to me this past summer. I am having such fun with that thing!

What's Been Missing

My wonderful friend Joansie and I made a pact to update our blogs more regularly in 2014. I realized that while I have been showing you a lot of cards in my more recent posts, I have been neglecting my knitting projects. So let's play catch up. Above is a Christmas gift I made for a lovely young couple I know, who got married over the summer.

These little stash-busting mice went into a box of various small toys that I sent to my friend BeLinda who, together with her amazing daughter CeeCee is the force behind Elephants Remember Joplin, an organization that donates toys to kids who need them.

This bit of silliness was something I put together for Meital, just for fun. I hid the bees all around her room, and she had fun finding them. She works so hard in school, I thought she could use some fun.

And here is Meital in the sweater I made for her. The pattern is from a very old magazine. I must say, while I am glad to have tried entrelac knitting, I hope I never do it again! I really did not enjoy how fiddly it was. Of course, knowing me, I may change my mind one day.

You might have heard about the snowstorm and cold spell we had here in December. The snow stayed on the ground in Jerusalem for something like two weeks, which is unheard of! I whipped up an extra hat for Liat with a little more length so she can pull it all the way down over her her ears. Even the normal winter weather is colder in Jerusalem than here, so it will come in handy for her I am sure. She is working very hard in her studies (law and business) at the Hebrew U.

These adorable frogs were designed by Phoeny of Phoenix Knits (check her out if you are on Ravelry). They have elastic running from one front foot through the body and to the other foot (the yellow feet are not attached to the legs in front). You can shoot them sort of like a slingshot, tons of fun! I made these for some twins I know whose third birthday was the day after Christmas.

This little Barn Cat is from the book Spud and Chloe at the Farm by Susan B. Anderson. I made it for a little girl I know for Christmas.

This cowl was actually a scarf that stalled and was left languishing in a drawer. Liat mentioned maybe wanting a cowl, so I got this out, measured it and realized it would work. I picked up the cast on stitches and did a three needle bind off to join the ends. It is very soft and cozy, and now I think I want a cowl for myself!

There are a few other things I have finished lately, but this is awfully long so I will save them for another post. Happy 2014!