Toy Sweaters

I have been in serious toy-making mode.  Working on a few gifts, but mostly just making a heap of critters that will eventually end up in the fivetrees shop.  I enjoy making the animals' heads and picking the colors of their underclothes.   But in the end, I think I most love making their tiny clothes-sweaters, dresses, pants, scarves, and then styling their teensy outfits. 

 

There are so many small choices to make and the detail interests me--down to the color thread I use to sew on buttons.  (I believe strongly that it should never be the same color as the actual garment, except in specific extraordinarily limited situations. . . )

New Cowls at Fivetrees

I love making cowls and mitts. Both give me an opportunity to play with color or new lace patterns I haven't tried before in finite projects. And there's such an immediate pay off. A day's work and there's something beautiful and complete to show for the time spent.

Anyhoo, here are a few of the new cowls in my fivetrees shop:

Organizing

I've been sick for days and days. The longest I've been sick for a while--and between napping and napping and napping, I kept waking worried about work or thinking about projects I wanted to start.

So, yesterday, as the illness was beginning to relent, I whipped together a needle case for all of the my double-pointed knitting needles. My aunt gave me a needle holder years ago, which I love and use all of the time, but it officially doesn't have enough space for both single and double points.

So, here's the new concoction:


Neatly bundled up. . . but rolled out to total width, it's about 42 inches long. That's more space than I really need for knitting needles, but my collection seems to keep growing.


Not a very difficult project and I still had to take breaks throughout the day to nap between steps. Being sick is so strange. But having a new needle case is lovely. . .

Tiny Things Are Almost Always Cute Things

What is it about miniatures that are so appealing? I have a friend from high school (hey, Alex) who, while we were still in high school, literally loved all tiny things. Little cars. Tiny kids. Those little bookshelf-sized Aiwa stereos that were all the rage in the 80's. Tiny stuffed animals. . .

So, here's a tiny sweater I made for one of my bunnies. A full picture of the finished product by this coming weekend. . . but in the meantime, why is the sweater, even without the bunny stuffing, already cute just because of its size?

Plus a Great Cincy Yarn Shop

One More Stitch--so great for knitters or needlepointers in Cincinnati (though properly for knitters, it would be called "One More Row"). I scored a very short #36 circular needle there--very hard to find. Mama bought yarn for a sweater for my favorite new (only, but still, she's exceptional) niece.

I'd give you a link, but they don't have a website. They're located on Madison Ave., across from DeSalle's and Purcell.

Finishing

I got my act together yesterday and finished up a number of scarflettes. Admittedly with the help of several movies (and maybe a glass of wine or two) distracting me from the fact that I was doing what I hate most--weaving in ends. The Duchess was on that list. A beautiful movie, but when, oh, when, is Ralph Fiennes going to just be uncomplicatedly sexy again? He's an actor I hate to hate. . . grrrr.

These pictures capture a few of the finished products. All will be available on Etsy soon!

I should stop making scarflettes soon. . . but it's so cold here! Only a high of 7 degrees yesterday. It's getting hard to believe that there may be a time of year when we don't need woolen accessories to keep us warm.