Where did last week go?

Before I knew it, today was Tuesday.  I try to post a new blog every Friday, looks like I missed last week.  Things have been busy around here.  We have an offer on our house and an offer in on the next.  If everything keeps moving it looks like we will be moving September 16th!  

Here's the short of it:

Last week consisted of house hunting, inspections, cooking, cleaning, packing, playing with Max, and spending summer time with my currently at home husband.

And I made a quilt!

Etsy Link for Custom Quilt Order

A friend and former student of my husband's placed and order with me last week.  There is a new addition to her family and she and her father decided to order a personalized infant quilt.

 

Apparently they really enjoyed two blankets I made for my son, Max. We worked together and came up with their special blanket. I really like it! If it looks a little familiar that is probably because some of the fabric was used in my first quilt ever! 

I still have the handmade quilt my paternal grandmother made for me. Sadly I have already packed it, so I am unable to share it at the moment. Almost 30 years later, I still love it. Once we get into the new house I will unpack and find it all over again.  Since I had never made a quilt before I used my grandmothers quilt as a guide, that and some useful Internet sites. I must also say proudly that I used my maternal grandmother's sewing machine to make Max's quilt.  I still have the machine too, I still use it for special projects or going thru a tough pair of denim. 

The other blanket which inspired my friend was the simple knit blanket I made for Max after he was born, free pattern.  We used the vibrancy and pallet of this blanket combined with the pattern of the first.  Overall I was very happy with this project and I really enjoyed making a quilt again.

Now, on to Knitting...  All of the windows in the house are open, the rain has stopped and I sense the leaves about to change.  September is almost here... Hat Weather!

Check back at the end of the week to see what ends up on my needles!

The House with the Purple Doors

 

Did you know that sometimes inspiration can come from the simplest thing.  I spent the last week visiting my mother in law.  She is a delightful and very bright woman who spends her summer in the House with the Purple Doors.  Upon our arrival my mother in law decided that the doors looked a little sad and needed some work.  I jumped at the chance to do a little house painting.  After a few hours scrapping and a few coats of paint she had 3 beautiful, bright and cheery doors again.  I got so involved in the house work that I painted her hallway wall Blue as well. 

Once my tasks were over I couldn't stop thinking of the Purple Doors and how sweet and caring they looked.  I have never been a fan of Purple, I rarely use it, or wear it for that matter.  I found myself thinking of these purple doors and so I decided to knit a hat.  I thought that Cupcakes are sweet and that pairing them with some Violets might just work.  I have also started 2 more hats that have flower motifs.  Photos coming soon. 

Oh, and lets just say that I found a purple yarn that looks like it jumped off my mother in laws door and landed on a hat!  Hooray for inspiration!

Hats and patterns available this fall.  Check back, or check out: http://www.janiegirlcrafts.etsy.com/

Well May has been busy

 I have been so busy this month that I haven't had a chance to share all of my projects this month.  I had three Etsy Sales this month along with two orders from co-workers and 2 gifts.  Life is getting busy here at janiegirlcrafts.  I'm having a great time figureing out all these new projects.  It's a challenge balancing working part time in an office, janiegirlcrafts, and my family.

Things will slow down next month as I jump into working outside the home for June.  Make sure to check back!

3 More Projects and 2 More Orders This Week

 I feel so accomplished, and it's only Tuesday! This weekend my wonderful husband took charge of baby Max along with the household chores which allowed me an afternoon in the Studio.  A few weeks ago my mom requested two custom block sets.  My mom has been looking for a set similar to the sets my brother and I had as children.  She requested colorful 3" square foam blocks.  She used to shove them into our diaper bags, I still have one.



Monday night my wonderful husband came home announcing the birth of a coworkers son.  He politely asked if I could make a gift set for the newborn baby and parents.  I had a great time whipping this set up.  I've had the Monster fabric since before Max was born and have been waiting to use it.  Unfortunately I have discovered that I am now out of yellow fabric.  I also became aware that my favorite two support fabrics, the blue filigree and the green polka-dots have dried up.  I only have a few small square pieces left.  I wonder what I can use them for next?  Any suggestions?
 Gift sets coming to ETSY this Summer! 

Easter is just around the corner and since I have been so busy making blocks for my niece and son, I figured I should make something for my other niece.  She came for a visit in February and I whipped up this hat, all except the ears.  She loved this hat and it was hard to get her to leave it.  So yesterday I added the bunny ears and this morning I mailed it.  I hope she loves it as much as she did before!  Some of you might be thinking; Silly Janie, don't you know it's spring and we don't need hats anymore?  Well my response is a girl always needs a hat... ad she lives in Maine!

This week I have had two orders for Gift Sets!  Hooray for babies!  One gender neutral set and one little girl set coming up.  Coming to ETSY soon.

3 Burp Cloths = $24.00

or

2 Burp Cloths & 1 Receiving Blanket + $30.00

email janiegirlcrafts@gmail.com or request custom item at http://www.janiegirlcrafts.etsy.com/

The Store is Open!

http://janiegirlcrafts.etsy.com/

I have finally after months of trying to find the time, opened my ETSY store. I started with a few custom orders; thank you ladies!

I have two more hats in progress along with 2 quilts and Baby Sets to follow.

As Always Custom Orders Always Welcome!

So Much to Catch up with

Now that Christmas is over I'm safe to finally share all of the wonderful things I made! I had such good fun this year. I am enjoying taking this time at home with Max; he is such an inspiration to me. This year for Christmas I made everyone a little something homemade. My Mother In Law calls them Happy Hands at Home. Here is just a taste of what I made: Knitting Projects will have posts to come including patterns:

Knitting Fun:

Make a Place...Mat:

Fun With Names:

Use of Scraps:

Knitting Max to Sleep

This Christmas is different from every Christmas that has come before. This year I have Max. Max has filled me with such love and imagination I have found myself diving into projects and enjoying them more than I ever could have imagined.

One thing that I love more than anything is Knitting Max to Sleep. Max and I spend all day together and we have found a wondeful rhythm to life. Every three hours or so Max wants to Nap. Well, he gets fussy and I decide it's naptime. I wrap him in his nap blanketI a lovely gift from our friend KJ), give him a pacifier, and we sit down to knit in the nursery. After a few minutes Max settles down and watches my needles work, then before I finish a row he has usually fallen alseep. Sometimes I put him down, sometimes I am content to sit and knit while we rock for an hour. I find this my favorite time of the day. I love nap time and thanks to naptime I have finished all of my Christmas Knitting, and thrown in a few extra projects for fun.

Thank you Max.

While I'm at it, I can share this!

Shortly after I found out we were having a little boy I started this blanket. It ended up on hold during the last few months of the pregnancy, due to my need to comlpete the nursery. I even took it to the hospital with me to work on while I was being Induced... Nada. I was lucky enough to stay with my Mother-In-Law for 2 weeks over Thanksgiving. I was able to finish 3 projects! I am pretty proud of this one; it's not meant to be perfect. However it is the perfect size for traveling, which we are doing plenty of so far this Winter.

Max's Blanket
Yarn: Stich Nation by Debbie Stoller
Colors: One Skein each of the Following:
2605 Honeycomb
2260 Clementine
2205 Little Lamb
2640 Thyme
2510 Auquamarine
Two Skeins of the Following:
2529 Mediteranian
Needles: Size 9 knitting
Finished Size: 30"x30"
Gauge:16st x 20=4"

Make 5 Squares Stockinette Stich each color: Honeycomb, Clementine, Thyme, Little Lamb, AuquaMarine

CO 16sts
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
repeat till 20 rows complete or 4" x 4" squares
BO

Whip Stitch Seams together
Color Pattern: Little Lamb, Thyme, Honeycomb, Aquamarine, Clementine.
repeat patter shifting 2 colors each row

Pick up 100 Sts on the sides of blanket with Mediteranian:
Seed Stitch (alternating rows K1,P1/P1,K1) repeat till 20 rows or until you have reached 4"
BO

Pick up 120 Sts on top and bottom of blanket with Mediteranian:
Seed Stitch (alternating rows K1,P1/P1,K1) repeat till 20 rows or until you have reached 4"
BO

This is my first pattern, please let me know if you notic anything wonkie. Thank you!

I'm in Love with this Woman!!!!

My Mother in Law just introduced me to this wonderful book written by theis wonderful woman.
http://www.susanbanderson.blogspot.com/

I have started obsesing about knitting homemade toys for Max... Thanks to Miss Liz, who is also a wonderful woman made Max Dino!










On to new Adventures... I am currently working on a few items for Christmas then look out Max, your getting a Giraffe! It will probably be as big as you are now, but your getting one... good thing you can't read yet otherwise there would be no surprise!
Happy Knitting!

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was very exciting; I made presents for my niece! My brother and his wife are expecting thier first, a little girl named Elizabeth this coming spring. I felt like being a super aunt and made hats, booties, and special onesies for her. It was really fun and went pretty fast. This was also great practice for our future!

Road Trip=Knitting Fun!

So we took off from Naugatuck CT December 22, at 7:30am; and headed West towards Iowa. Originally we were going to leave today, we noticed that Iowa was due to receive some pretty bad weather so we took off early. About half way thru our drive we decided that things were going pretty smoothly and as long as the roads were good we would drive straight thru in order to stay ahead of the weather. Which we did, so I had plenty of time to finish my fingerless gloves. I work at a very drafty computer a few days a week and with the colder weather starting I figured having a pair would be helpful. This is my first knitting project I have ever made without a real pattern, besides a scarf or square. I think they turned out pretty well. My momo saw them and now I have to make her a pair.

Socks for Nancy

My Mother in Law, Nancy gave me a sock pattern last Christmas. I finished my first pair of socks just in time for Thanksgiving; they turned out okay. Over Thanksgiving break I happened to go yarn shopping with Nancy and she found this Yarn and mentioned she like it. She put it down so I picked it up. I worked on these over 2 1/2 weeks, probably about 16 hours, much faster than my first pair. I figured that Nancy showed me how to make socks, my first official pair should be for her.

Sophia Benetello

Here is another set of Baby Gifts! One of my dearest friends is expecting her first, a little girl they are going to name Sophia Sara Benetello. She is exected to arrive in February. They will be having a baby shower in December and yesterday I made a hat, booties, and mittens for her. I have a few more projects to finish for her. Only one more baby left... my little brothers. We are supposed to find out what the sex is the beginning of December, so I haven't picked yarn yet. More pictures to follow.

Little Lila's Presents

I have finished my first ever Knit Baby Gifts! I finished last week, but I have been so busy that it has taken me a few days to get them online. I have even wrapped them up with all of little Lila's other presents and dropped them off at the Daileys.
I must say I am proud of myself... now on to Little Sophia Benetello...

Let's start at the very beginning.

Its a very good place to start.

I have just discovered that I TRULY LOVE to make things. I have always known that I liked to make things, I just never seemed to have the time. Over the past few years my life has changed and I have started to prioritize. My goal is to start doing things that make me happy first. Right know that is knitting and making cute gifts, and spending time with my husband. Then I design for a high school, but for now this is about what I like!

I hope someone someday follows me into this world, but for myself this is now the forum for me to share my projects with the world. I would love to hear any suggestions and criticisms, as long as they are constructive!


HUZZAH! Let's see what this world brings.