field trip!

we took a field trip to the long island museum/carriage museum yesterday. we went with our homeschooling friends. it was the perfect field trip: we were a small group and had the museum to ourselves.

there was a norman rockwell exhibit which had all of his saturday evening post covers on display. it was interesting to see the different authors (rose wilder lane and booth tarkington, for example) who wrote for that magazine.

it was sobering to see a cover about jfk's foreign policy w/a story by stewart alsop for april '63 and then to see the "in memoriam" cover for early dec '63. we know not when we'll be called. . .

mk models a straw hat:

you spend all that time and effort to give kids a cultural experience, and what are they interested in? digging pennies out of the frozen fountain!

djb straddles one of the lions that flank the entrance to the rockwell exhibit.

abbey's party

on sunday, mk's good friend abbey had a party for her 3rd birthday. it was a very sweet party; all my kids enjoyed it. the best part was making cookies, as you see. (by coincidence, mk is wearing the dress i knitted her :-)

here's some bonus pics of 11yo dd and 9yo ds.

more completed projects

mk sports a new "unnershirt" that i made from an old tshirt. the tshirt was a nice quality cotton/lycra, so i couldn't resist it.

my friend diane is modelling a dirndl i made using a burda costume pattern. i think she gives the st. pauli girl a run for her money. yay, diane!

11yo dlb looks very happy in her xmas dress, made entirely from jaf fabrics. she made the sash herself. i designed this in child's play. it has some issues, but i'm still happy with it. the skirt is a full circle, and man, does it twirl! reminds me of a ginger rogers dress.

the lame blogger

I'm back! here are some pics of recent finished objects. i finally completed this knitted dress for 11yo dd, thanks to a free pattern from Peggy at chasing bunny. www.noodleknit.wordpress.com

the flicka, ricka, dicka dress

molly's favorite books these days are the flicka, ricka, dicka series. in one of the books, frd's mom makes them new dotted dresses. having red polka dot fabric in my stash, how could i resist?

i used child's play for the dress. i chose circle skirt and puffed sleeves with a classic bodice, improvising the collar from another pattern. the dress is fully lined in jaf "weavers fabric." i have never done a circle skirt before. both molly and i love this dress, and as you can see, it has great "twirlability."

a few bags finished

here are some bags i've done recently. the dick and jane one is the amy butler "ultimate craft bag" pattern. not sure if i like it yet, but it's going to be my knitting bag! it was hard to cut up the fabric, i felt guilty when i had to break up their trio or cover their faces. :-) not sure if this was the best fabric choice either, but it was a fun project to make anyhow. one thing i changed was that i lined all the pockets. i find i really like lined pockets. they are so much more classy than the standard press down the seam allowance and sew on type, imo.

the three little ones are made from molly kate's first sling. the fabric was so gorgeous that i saved it, even though it was worn out. i found this free pattern on the web: http://www.studiokatdesigns.com/freepatterns.htm . i've always wanted a little pocket bag for passports and tickets when travelling. i liked the pattern so much i made three of them. don't ask me why.

finally, as a bonus, here is a pic of the dks after a badly needed haircut last week. thanks, lisa!

2 dresses for mk

this dress is from a fiber trends pattern, a warm winter dress. since i completed it rather late in the season, i made it extra long so mk can wear it next year. the design is seamless, but you do pick up stitches. also the color work is done by slipped stitches; i think it's called mosaic knitting. it was fun. i used brown sheep company's nature spun. p.s. after i took these pics, i figgured out that by *really* steaming the hem, it WILL lie flat. :-)




the design for the sage green dress is by little turtle knits, smocked frock. i used brown sheep company's cotton fleece--a cotton/merino blend. this is the first time i've ever attempted any texture work, and i have to say it was enjoyable, but i did have to climb a learning curve (rip, rip).

i haven't blocked it yet, but i couldn't resist sharing how cute it is. of course, we all know the model would look cute in a burlap sack. ;-)