Happy Harper Stories: knitting

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Baby blanket and beanie

I was so excited about how my latest knit and crochet projects turned out. The baby blanket is one of the bigger projects I've done in a while. I also made a matching baby beanie, which I crocheted, and I am working on some matching baby ballet booties. I have bought supplies to begin an even bigger project, but with baby on the way, I don't know how much of it I will accomplish anytime soon, but I am hoping to make Princess a dress.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Mommy Skills

I think there is a unwritten rule that if you are a stay at home mommy, you are supposed to have superior mommy skills of some sort. Up until recently, I did not have any such skills. Some mommies are super chefs, some are thrifty shoppers, some are spiffy cleaners, some are exquisite seamstresses, some are supreme teachers, some are top-notch organizers, and some are profound photographers. While I can cook, shop and save, clean, teach, organize, and take a photo, I am hardly an expert of any of those things. (Notice I did NOT say that I could sew.) The only mommy skill I think I could possibly claim is that of an excellent reader of books. Otherwise, although I have all these other responsibilities too – my skills are just so-so or average. For example, I clean and do laundry, but my house will never win a prize for those lackluster skills. Recently, I decided that I would try to become an expert in the areas of knitting, crocheting, and baking.

For Christmas, I knitted and crocheted many things to give as gifts. I’ve been knitting since I was in 3rd grade, but I just learned to crochet this past November. It is much easier than knitting and a whole lot faster too. I started off with a scarf and a hat for myself, then an alligator for Speed Racer, then a teddy bear (knitted) for my nephew, a monkey for another nephew, and three additional scarves (one of which was knitted) for my mom, sister, and mother-in-law. I was extremely proud of the blue, crème, and brown one because I came up with the pattern for it all on my own. I also made a seal for Princess, but it is still under construction, meaning since Christmas I have taken a break from my new hobby. Here are some pics of my completed projects.

Speed Racer’s alligator

My first attempt to crochet – my hat and scarf

Knitted teddy bear

Crocheted monkey

Crocheted scarf – same design as mine

My favorite scarf – my own crocheted design

I think she loves it!

Knitted scarf – takes a lot longer to make,

but easier to do with this kind of yarn

Also, I have always loved to bake, so I baked many cookies for Christmas goodies. I also made caramel-chocolate covered apples as gifts. Today, I decided that in order to become a baking extraordinaire, I needed to learn to bake bread and rolls, so I made cinnamon rolls from scratch using yeast and all of that fun stuff. I think they turned out really well, especially for my first try. Here are some pics of the Christmas goodies and cinnamon rolls that I made.