What is in the bag?

After a VERY long week, I couldn't wait to head to "have you any wool?", my favorite little yarn shop, to indulge. Just look at that bag, filled with the cotton yarns I need to finish the pacifier clips, skeins of yarn for future projects, and yarn needles. But wait! What is that peeking out from the bottom of the bag?

WOO HOO!!!!! I bought my "itty bitty toys" book. I am beside myself. It is beyond precious.

While I was in the yarn shop, I spent some time looking through MY book, deciding which toy would be my next project. I didn't take long to know I needed to add the Pig to my collection of adorable animals. That face, oh my word.

Now to pick out the yarn. The yarn Susan chose for the pig is perfect, but, of course, the shop didn't have that color and they aren't ordering anymore. We spent some time looking for a substitution and found some that would work, so I bought it. WHY DID I SETTLE? I am so mad. I came right home, went online, and found the yarn in the pattern. ARGH!!!!! I am going to put the pig on hold and order the yarn I love.

One thing I find, that being a stay-at-home grammie, it is difficult finding the time to enjoy visiting wonderful little yarn shops. All of them in my area close at 6:00 most or all weekdays and they are closed on Sunday. It is impossible for me to take a stroller with a 14 week old, a 20 month old who is a whirlwind, a 3 year old and a 6 year old who would pretend to be shoppers, and try to enjoy a trip to shop for yarn. Not to mention, I don't have that many carseats.

So.......for now, I think I am going to do my shopping online for the yarns that Susan suggests for her wonderful patterns.

p.s. Almost done with the Frog and Elephant pacifier clips. I hadn't been able to find the clips, until today . Working on the Flower pacifier clip. Will post completed photos soon.

Frogs, frogs, everywhere!

Frogs, frogs, everywhere. I finished the 4 frogs for the girls. Luiza loves collecting frogs at her Pappa and Grandma J's cottage, while Ella and Mia would rather admire them from the dock. Neve is too little to have an opinion, yet. So, for now, they all have their own tiny frog tucked in their coat pockets.

As for the Frog Pacifier Clip, I am headed to "have you any wool" tomorrow to get the yarn I need to finish the clip. Also, I called today and they are holding my copy of "itty bitty toys". YIPPEE!!!!! I am so excited.

Back to reality. Gotta go wash dishes.

I must learn to say NO!

I want to start by thanking Susan B. Anderson, author of the "itty bitty" books, for mentioning my blog on her blog. What a thrill. Thank you so much. I can only hope by the end of my journey that my knitting has improved and that my work resembles yours.

I am one week into Knitty thru the "itty bittys". I am loving it. It has been a fun week. HOWEVER, I haven't completed my Frog pacifier clip. Not because it is difficult. Not because it is tedious. Not because I couldn't find the time. The reason my poor little frog is sitting on his leaves, that are attached to the strap with a vine that curls around it, minus a butterfly and pacifier clip, MY GRANDDAUGHTERS!

When I decided to start this project, my 6 year old granddaughter, Luiza, was very curious about the whole thing. My daughter, Sarah, Luiza, and I live together. Therefore, anytime I get my "itty bitty" books out, Luiza sits on my lap and "suggests" what I should make and then requests one for herself . Then, when my other granddaughters, Ella & Mia, come over, she announces "Look what grammie is knitting", and they all decide what they are going to name THEIR critters. I MUST LEARN TO SAY NO! I can't keep making 4 or 5 of each project.

So.......the reason I haven't completed my first project, I am not only making the one Frog pacifier clip, but also, FOUR LITTLE FROGS for the girls. I have completed 2 little frogs and I have all the body parts knit for 2 more. They will be put together tomorrow. I have one small glitch with the pacifier clip. I had scraps of orange and blue cotton yarn for the butterfly on the pacifier strap, but, the cotton was a bit too thick and made the butterfly look like she was on steroids. My yarn shop closes so early on weekdays, that I won't be able to get there to buy the yarn until Thursday.

I thought you might enjoy this photo of my "grandson", Quinn. He is truly one of us. His favorite food in the world is pizza, followed by rolls. We had pizza for dinner tonight and hadn't offered him any. He was so distraught, he just laid his head on the table and moaned. Needless to say, he did get a slice. Oh, just to let you know, the placemats are being washed and the table was sanitized.

Productive Week

What a week! I am thoroughly enjoying knitting thru the "itty bittys". So far I have made 2 little frogs. One will be attached to the pacifier clip. The other is for a darling little toy. I plan on making 3 more tiny frogs tonight. My granddaughters begged me to make one for each of them. Perfect little toy to fit in their pockets.

One project I needed to finish, since it is a CHRISTMAS GIFT, a cape/poncho. My neighbor has some health issues and she is always cold. When she watches TV or does crafts, she always has a big blanket wrapped around her shoulders. I decided to make her this short cape to keep her warm, but not get in the way. The pattern was so easy until the border. I swear they never did a test of the pattern before printing it. I had to ad lib the pattern in order to finish it. WHEW! It is finally DONE!

We have a new baby boy in the family. His momma loves owls. What better to give a sweet little baby than the "Hoot Hat". It is another fantastic pattern from Susan B. Anderson. This pattern is sold through Spud and Chloe. This is the second one I have made. It took a few hours, from beginning to end. I LOVE IT!

I am so excited. It is 6:45pm on Friday. All the babies have gone. Just finished dinner and a delicious Weight Watcher slice of cake. I made it the other day. Worth every point. Getting ready to watch the movie, "Julie and Julia", AND KNIT!!! My goal tonight is to get all the little parts of the frogs out of the way. I want to be sure and get up at 6:30 Saturday morning to watch the new season of Knit and Crochet Today, on PBS. I know Susan B. Anderson did a segment. I don't know when it airs.

Project #1 ~ Frog Pacifier Clip

I am SO ready to get started on my first project from the book, "itty bitty nursery" by Susan B. Anderson. I decided the first thing I will knit is the Frog Pacifier Clip. As I was flipping thru the pages of the book, this little frog JUMPED out at me. I figured, this is a sweet little project to start me off. I have all my supplies sitting on the corner of the table, just waiting.

I knew I probably wouldn't start knitting until after lunch. However, I forgot that Monday, January 18th was Martin Luther King day. That means, Luiza is home from school, with nothing to do. Mia and Ella are home with Leslie and Joe. They all have the day off. Luiza is lost without her cousins. She loves playing with Neve, but, the age difference really shows up after about an hour. Not to mention, Neve and Nolan have little colds and they aren't themselves. Both REALLY want to be held. SO.....with Neve sitting on one knee, Nolan over my shoulder, Luiza and I are playing board games, and I AM BORED! Couldn't resist the pun.

FINALLY, my day with the kids is over. Dinner-done. Dogs-in, out, in, out, and in for the night. I am so excited, I grab my knitting and my project begins. It is 7:18pm. Nothing will interrupt me. I have warned everyone, I will not be answering the phone, DON'T CALL! Oh wait, did I mention that tonight is not only Project: Frog Pacifier Clip, but also, the second night of the season opener of 24? I truly am in my glory, starting Knitting thru the "itty bittys" and watching 24.

Lets Begin:
Ok, this little frog is tiny. The instructions are great, very easy to follow. I wish my fingers were a size smaller. The eyes are a bit tricky. They need to be formed into itty bitty balls. Not easy for these fingers, but I am loving the frog. Since I only purchased the green cotton, I think I will make a few frogs. I will make a few pacifier clips and I think I will also make a few frogs to tuck around the house when spring arrives. THEY ARE SO CUTE!

Getting ready for tomorrow.

I am so excited to start my adventure of "Knitting thru the itty bittys". I know this won't change global warming, it won't solve world peace, I doubt it will alter life as we know it, but for me, this is BIG.
I spent yesterday morning at "have you any wool?", my favorite yarn shop. I was thrilled Jessica was working. She is a college age girl who is SO knowledgeable about anything having to do with knitting. Since I am still learning as I go, I was so glad I was the only one at the door when the store opened. I had my list of things I need to start the Frog pacifier clip. I knew they didn't carry the yarn used in the book, "itty bitty nursery", so to have Jessica there to help me select an alternative yarn, perfect. I don't think she realizes how important she is going to be to me while I knit thru the "itty bittys". Anyway, we spent ages picking out the perfect yarn and the perfect color. I was in my glory. She had me feel the different weights, different blends, look at all the colors, and then, we decided on the yarn. Butterfly Mercerized Cotton, Super - 10. I was beyond excited. I had chosen my yarn and was ready for Monday to come.
Remember how I said that Knitting thru the "itty bittys" is BIG to me, but not life changing for anyone else? I think I was wrong. I believe that taking on this project, I just might be helping the economy grow WITH MY SPENDING! I refuse to start this endeavor by penny pinching. However, to make this Frog pacifier clip, the pattern calls for 5 colors of yarn. I realized that if I purchased all the colors in my favorite, Butterfly Mercerized Cotton, Super - 10 yarn, I would not be able to feed our 2 Great Danes and 2 Yorkshire Terriers for the next 2 weeks. Now the Yorkies, I could get away with it by feeding them leftovers. However, there are not enough leftovers to feed 280 pounds of Great Danes.
So, there I stood, holding my 5 skeins of carefully chosen colors, that equaled half my weekly grocery bill. Did I put them all back and SETTLE for something else? NO. I decided to buy the 2 colors to get me started, buy the dog food, and go back later and get the rest.
I came home from my WONDERFUL morning at "have you any wool?", decided to clean the house, from one end to the other, so I will have no distractions, come Monday morning. Oh, wait.......Monday morning I have to clean my neighbor's house from 6:30am - 7:40am, carry the garbage out, and wait the arrival of the grandchildren. There may be a few distractions, but, Knitting thru the "itty bittys" will begin sometime on Monday, January 18th, 2010.

Knitting through the "itty bitty" books

I just finished watching the movie, "Julie & Julia". It got me to thinking, I love Susan B. Anderson's knitting the way that Julie Powell loves Julia Child's cooking. Unlike Julie, I don't think I can put a time frame on how long it is going to take me to knit through Susan's, "itty bitty nursery", "itty bitty hats", and "itty bitty toys" books.

I am a stay-at-home grammie to 5 beautiful children. Luiza~age 6, Ella~age 5, Mia~age 3, Neve~age 1, and Nolan~12 weeks. Because of the little ones ages, I never know what my day will bring. During these cold winter months the girls favorite thing to do is to play dress-up. Other days they are creating masterpieces with crayons, paper, or PlayDoh. Occasionally, they help me cook. Everyday consists of reading books, doing puzzles, Polly Pockets, and Barbie. Between diapers and snacks, I rarely get to open my knitting bags. I lovingly eye them, from across the room, eagerly waiting until I can sneak a knit or a purl.

Starting on January 18, 2010, I plan on beginning my first project from "itty bitty nursery", the frog Pacifier Clip, found on page 102 .