KARABOUTS

The Ella Doll

Our friend Ella (the daughter of a Red Sox fan) just celebrated her first birthday. To mark the event we decided to make her this doll.

Mike made the card using the socks as the "L's" in Ella's name. The Sox logo on the doll's chest is an embroidered iron-on patch Mike found on ebay.  I used a damp press cloth and an iron to adhere the patch. It worked great.

Ella had a wonderful birthday and I was lucky enough to get to hang out with her for a little while at her party.

The Ella doll turned out the be both cute and timely. Shortly after we gave Ella the doll the Sox won the World Series.  

Go Ella and go Sox!

Baby Sweater

I made this sweater for our friends Lisa and Jesse who are expecting a baby girl in a couple of weeks.  

I bought the yarn and buttons at Purl Soho and used their baby girl fair isle cardigan pattern.

While the sweater was blocking Mike got busy and designed a card. He printed out a bunch of different color combos to see which one matched the sweater the best.

We didn't have any wrapping paper but the roll of paper we've been using to cover the floors during construction was the perfect shade of pink.  
We used it to wrap the gift.  
(Jesse is a Red Sox fan so we made a little pink Boston "B" - for baby - to seal the tissue paper).

We also used the pink paper to fold up an envelope for the card.  I sewed one of the extra buttons from the sweater onto the card to tie the whole thing together.

I hope the sweet new baby enjoys wearing her sweater as much as I enjoyed making it.

 

UPDATE:

Baby Ella is here!!!!!  Her wonderful parents sent me this photo of the beautiful baby wearing her sweater. Could this baby be any cuter?

What I'd look like in a knit bikini

Okay, well maybe not EXACTLY, but it would be hard not to look great in these fabulous summer knits designed by my super-talented friend Heather Dixon (aka Army of Knitters).

Heather left her job as a knitwear designer for Urban Outfitters to launch her own line.  You can find Heather's beautiful summer collection here.   

If you'd like to see the collection knitted up, go to Annie and Company on the upper east side (1323 Madison Avenue).  Heather's collection is currently on display in their windows.

(I swiped this photo from Jenn's lovely Yarn 365 blog.)

Hop on over and buy Heather's patterns and find out what YOU look like in a knit bikini!!!

Tomato and Strawberry Pincushion

FREE PATTERN!!!

Last week I set out to make a crochet pincushion for my friend Johanna who has recently started to sew.  I decided to make an amigurumi pincushion modeled after the old classic tomato and strawberry pincushion my mom used to have on her sewing table.  If you'd like to make this crocheted tomato and strawberry pincushion you can download the free pattern here:
 Download TomatoStawberry

For this pattern you can either stuff your pincushions with fiberfill or use the pattern to "cover" an existing tomato and strawberry pincushion made by Dritz.  The advantage of covering a Dritz pincushion is that the Dritz version has sawdust in the tomato (giving the pincushion a nice weight) and emery in the strawberry (to sharpen your pins!!).  The Dritz pincushion costs around $1.50 and can be purchased online or at your local fabric store. 

I LOVE the way this pincushion turned out.  In fact, I made another one for myself last night.  

I hope you enjoy the pattern!

NOTE:  A couple of people have written to  me asking how to do the "magic ring" to start the project.  Here is a link to one of Planet June's blog entries that has directions and step by step photos to teach you how to make a magic ring.  Of course, if you prefer, you can always start the project the traditional way of chaining 2, then making 6 sc (or however many sc you need) in the second chain from the hook.
 
 

  

I've Been Sick

About a month ago I went to the ER with what I thought was appendicitis.  Turned out not to be my appendix but a nasty abdominal infection.  Antibiotics cleared up the infection, but while I was in the hospital I got pneumonia.  The pneumonia cleared up but not without leaving behind a "loculated empyema" in my right Iung that has to be removed surgically.  What can I say - it's been a tough couple of weeks.

There were quite a few people who brightened up my life during this dismal period.  First is my wonderful client Bernie who flew from Kansas City to NY to surprise me in the hospital.  What a guy!!!  He brought me some great Andy Warhol-themed gifts including Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup refrigerator magnets (so clever).  Thanks Bernie!

Next, my family went out of their way to make me feel better.  My parents, my brother and his wife, and my sister called or e-mailed every few days.  My nieces got busy and drew me some beautiful get well pictures.

And my wonderful mom knitted me this AMAZING wrap to keep me warm while I recover.  (For those of you who knit, the pattern Mom used is the Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood.)  

 

 

And then there is my FANTASTIC husband Mike, who shuttled me back and forth to far too many doctor's appointments, kept my spirits up, and took care of all of the shopping, cooking, cleaning and everything else that had to be done in life.  He also arranged for a beautiful bouquet of 50 lilies to show up one day when I was feeling particularly down.  I couldn't ask for a better husband!!!!!  

And I don't want to forget my many wonderful friends who kept in touch and kept me smiling in spite of my illness.  You're the best.

Thanks everyone.  Hopefully after this surgery next month I'll have a full recovery and get back to working on this guy.  He's going to be a New England fisherman - but still needs buttons for his rain coat, a beard, pipe, lobster, and assorted details.

 
 
 

Friends on TV

When you live in Manhattan, it is just a given that sooner or later, one of your friends will end up on TV.  This is our friend Dave.

Dave is a local DJ and a head baker at Amy's Breads.  

Dave also served as the officiant at our wedding in 2005.  (He did a wonderful job.)

And now Dave is on TV!!!  He's currently in three IBM commercials.  Here's one of them:    

Go Dave!

She likes it - too!

A while ago we got a photo of lovely little Addison with her Sophie doll, and more recently we got this photo of beautiful little Laura Lee with her Sophie doll.  Could these little girls be any cuter???  I'm so glad they like the dolls!!! 

She Likes It!

The two commissioned Sophie dolls I sent off earlier this week are the first dolls I've ever made for kids who aren't related to me.  After we sent off the dolls, Mike and I wondered if their new owners would like them.  We've received a lot of positive comments on our dolls but those comments are all from ADULTS.  We really weren't sure how children would feel about the dolls.  Do kids even like dolls that aren't based on television or movie characters?  We are happy to report that the answer is YES.  I know this because yesterday we received an adorable photo from the mother of one of the recipients of a Sophie doll.

This little cutie pie is Addison.  Addison's mom reports that Addison takes Sophie everywhere and is especially fascinated with her hair.

What a relief.

Babies

We're having a baby boom in our little Stitch n Bitch group.  It's very exciting!!!  

Here's a photo of some booties I just finished for Rachael's baby who is due to arrive in about three months.

You can get the pattern for these booties here.  This is a quick and easy crochet project.  I used Berrocco Suede which makes these booties look like cute little shoes.

And speaking of babies, Michelle brought baby Jonah to the big city recently.  

 

That's Michelle, Kara (holding Jonah), and Johanna.  Jonah is super-cute and he even has his own blog.

I haven't yet made it to see SweetGirl's sweet new baby (Baby Lena) but hope to get out to Brooklyn soon to say hello.