Dean's Tractor & Bus Felt Book Progress

"Kids grow out of things so fast, they'll be on to the next toy before you know it," my parents said to me a few months ago. I was telling them how much I loved that Dean couldn't be separated from "Tractor" and "Bus"."Enjoy it while it lasts," they said. Dean had spent so many months unable to be separated from Tractor and Bus, I didn't think he'd out grow them. I still have my all time favorite doll, so I expect my son to have inherited the same devotion to his toys. Is that crazy of me to think?

Over the last little while he's become interested in other toys, like Thomas the Train and construction vehicles. He still plays with Tractor and Bus but his attention is divided with other toys. It hurts my little-mama-heart to see him growing up and playing with other toys. That's such a silly thing to say, but it's true. Why can't he just stay my little guy and need Tractor and Bus for everything forever?

If you follow me on Instagram you've seen pictures of the felt book popping up. It's slow going and very tedious. Definitely taking longer than I'd like. I really really really don't want Dean to have outgrown it by the time I finish it. More than likely he won't because he still plays with the one Auntie Kinner made him.

After weeks and weeks on working on it, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm currently working on the last page, then I'll stitch all the pages together and bind it. Looking forward to spending time tonight working on it and I might be able to finish it by this weekend. The anticipation gives my heart palpitations!

Confessions & Obsessions

There have been a few things that I have been thinking on a lot lately that I feel like sharing. Maybe it'll help me get over some of it, get you hyped about some of it, and the rest we'll just laugh at together. When I hopped onto Blogger this morning I was so happy to see that Jess from Jeans and a Tiara posted a post similar to this one yesterday. So I'm not the only one here who's got something she wants to get off her chest. ;D


First off... this baby. I love him. I'm obsessed with him. I want to spend every waking hour with him. And then during all the sleeping hours we'll snuggle. I might have mentioned this in my last post. He's just so great! He spent this morning not nursing but looking at me and laughing and talking. Gah! Love it! Being a mom is so awesome!

I've been spending my spare time the last few days making custom t shirts for myself, using freezer paper and soft fabric paint. It's so much fun and so easy! I've made three so far.


I'm still figuring things out: like how to to position them well (so far they are great attention-getters for my boobs)(which I'm totally "meh" about because my boobs are lopsided right now thanks to the baby), how thick I should make the stencils, and getting them on straight (so far their all slightly slanted one way or the other). It's a lot of fun and I'm enjoying thrifting shirts to make personal ones. The first and third shirts are inspired by my favorite Japanese wrestler, Shinsuke Nakamura. The second shirt is the Final Fantasy XI town in-game my character is from.


This is a face I've been making a lot to myself lately because of my unending desire for Cheetos and homemade crispy chocolate chip cookies. I want to eat them. All of them. Not necessarily together. But I'm weak and I can't just have one. I want them all. Then there's the new drink at Starbuck's I'm hooked on~ ice coffee w/soy and the dark caramel sauce. Seriously, just hook an IV up to me please and keep that stuff coming!

A couple days ago I kinda spammed my feed with pictures and a video from the movie Austenland. As if I wasn't already a huge fan of Jane Austen, and anything (and everything!) JA related, this movie made me even more so. My Tumblr feed is flooded with all things Austenland, but mostly of Mr. Nobley. Colin Firth is amazing and all, but JJ Feild takes the cake. Easily.


Seriously. Cake. He's got it all. Hmm? What is that you just said, little voice inside my head?

*ahem* Well anyways. If you don't like swooning definitely don't go check my Tumblr feed. I might have spent way too long just now liking, reposting, and saving a bajillion pictures and gifs.

Now the little voice inside my head is telling me to stop wasting time and get back to work. Boo. Ok we'll pick this up another day.

Happy Wednesday friends!!

Dreams of Yarn

It's slow progress on the Sideways Braided Shrug... I had to unravel a few inches because I was watching a show and not paying attention to what I was knitting lol. So even though this pic was taken over a week ago, it's still about this size. I'm about to change to size 19 needles so it will start getting big quick here soon.


Speaking of size 19's! I found the most amazing yarn at Michael's the other day that is thick & chunky and p e r f e c t for the 19's. This Red Heart Vivid in Coral is going to be mine soon. It's either going to be knit into this


Lace Afghan

or


Newborn Baby Blanket
It's going to be amazing and super comfy and snuggly and perfect!

Some other items I want to knit~

Marshmellow Fluff


Bold Stripes Wrap


Baby Chevron Legwarmers


Baby Fur Topped Booties


Blue Sand Cardigan


Retro Flying Helmet


Ahhh so many fun patterns to knit and just not enough time. My heart just flutters when I look at these patterns and when I think about knitting my own. *^_^*

Do you have any projects lined up to work on or any that you're dreaming of doing?

Works In Progress

My husband made the comment the other day about how happy I've been lately. Part of it is the holiday season, baby, and us celebrating out 12 year anniversary, but the main reason he thinks this is because I have been crafting a lot lately. Doing all that knitting, opening up my Etsy shop, and making lots of holiday treats has really been a good thing for me, he says. This just gives all the happys. *^______^*

I wanted to show you just some of the stuff I have been working on this week.



This is a second draft for a hat design I'm working on. I might release this one or I might make the hat and sell it on the shop. We'll see how this turns out. My hair stylist had this super cute white garter stitch hat on and I am just pinning for one of my own so hopefully this works out.


This is a modified version of the Sharo cowl knit in chunky yarn. Once I'm finished with it I'll be posting it in the shop. It's a really pretty cream color that this camera didn't pick up super well.



A scarf I finished the other day that'll be up on the shop soon. It's hard to tell in the picture, but this is two different colors of yarn~ one is a light vanilla color and the other is a super light linen color. They're super pretty together I think.



Just some of the pretzel mess goodness I made the other day. There are also a two bags of pretzel rods that were decorated also.




Aaron and I tag teamed my dinner bento tonight. He made me a peanut butter & strawberry sandwich and sweetly arranged my berries, while I sauteed some green beans in olive oil, miso paste, and red pepper flakes. There's also a tiny bite of a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar in there for dessert.

Today I picked up some really pretty blue and lavender yarns today that I'm super excited to knit with. Once I finish up with these I'll be working on some more cowls. Maybe a hat too. AH! I just had a GREAT idea for another new hat design. Must hurry up with these projects!!

Well I have only eaten half of my dinner in the hour it's taken me to write this post so I'm going to go eat. Have a great night everyone! ♥

NEW PATTERN ALERT: MINA COWL

Here is my latest knitted cowl pattern: Mina.


It's a two toned cowl mixed with multiple textures to create a fun and unique (and snuggly) look. It's knit flat, on straight needles, then sewn together to create the cowl.




You can check the pattern out here, here, or here. Let me know what you think!