We had a wonderful Halloween weekend. We spent the holiday with friends at their "cabin by the lake"...The girls decorated the cabin and then carved Jack-O-lanterns by the water. We made Mummy pizzas and pumpkin pancakes and had a Halloween-good-time! For our second night at the lake we had a camp out and made some really cool and simple Halloween shadow puppets to use in the tent. The girls made up their own stories and put on a wonderful show. In addition to the simple one part puppets in the previous link we also made a cool spider puppet as well. The legs on this one use joints to connect them to the body so you can make your spider look like it's crawling up the side of the tent. We returned from our camp out on Halloween day and went trick or treating in our neighborhood. M and I put together a pirate Halloween costume by making her a hat, eye patch and jolly roger flag . All we had to buy for her costume was the hook. L was a bit more difficult. She decided at t...

Today is my youngest daughter's 3rd birthday... and for the occasion I made her this Kitty purse and I designed the following change purse to match. I'm including my instructions for making it. It was very simple to make and she enjoyed it a lot. Enjoy! EDIT December 2012 there is now a crochet version of the kitty change purse HERE . Using worsted weight yarn and size 7 needles CO 15 Knit all rows until it is about 8 inches long K2tog, K 11, K2tog (13) K2tog, K 9, K2tog (11) K2tog, k7, K2tog (9) BO Ears Make 2 Co 5 on a size 5 needle Row 1 - K1, P1, K1, P1, K1 Row 2 - K1, P1, K1, P1, K1 Row 3 - P2tog, K1, P2tog Row 4 - P1, K1, P1 Row 5 - K3tog Cut yarn and pull end through remaining loop. Loop for button crochet on a f or g hook a chain of 8 Bow for ears crochet a chain of 22 and tie in bow. To assemble: Weave all ends in that are not necessary for attaching the pieces together. Fold over like an envelope and sew the face of the kitty on the flap. Use your imagination...

I have been creative in many other areas of my life lately... I've been writing music, keeping up with my foodlore blog , and coming up with a lot of new creative ideas that I plan to work on "someday"... but my knitting and crochetting have turned stale. I'm feeling a rut coming on... and I don't mean "an annually recurrent state of sexual excitement"... because that would make for some interesting crafting...I mean the stale boring kind of rut like the path worn by a wheel. I'm getting bored with making dishcloths... but I don't seem to have the time or attention to make much else. Anyone else feel this way sometimes? Is it time to take a break from it and concentrate on other creative ventures until I find inspiration... or do I just keep plugging through until I break through the barrier and find something new to do?

I have been teaching myself to crochet by making these simple cloths. They will make great housewarming gifts and stocking stuffers at Christmas. I am finding that I like to crochet dish/wash cloths more than I like knitting them. I still think that knitting is more versatile... but I like the crocheted cloths better. These are the These are the Back Loop Stitch, Grit and Sedge cloths from the Sandy Shore Washcloth set. They were easy and quick and an excellent second project in crochet. This is the Tulip Stitch cloth and I think it is one of the prettiest ones I've done. The pattern is easier than it looks and pretty addictive. This one is the Bubble Stitch and I think that I will be making a lot more of these. I really enjoyed making this one. It was quick, easy and it made a cloth with a nice texture.

I found a cool blog on Yahoo Green today called New Dress A Day . The writer of this blog is going to make a new dress everyday for a year... and she is doing it on a budget of 1 dollar a day using recycled clothing from thrift stores. Now I don't know much about the art of making clothes... but this seems like a really cool and interesting project... and it got me thinking... What kind of recycled materials can I incorporate into my crafts? How can I make something new out of something old? And how can I make something that is original out of something that already has a purpose and form? I have a few ideas already... but I still have a lot of thinking to do...

Today I made something for my kids called a No-More-Boredom box... or a crazy can. All you do is cut a bunch of index cards in half... and on each card write an activity. Get your kids to decorate the box while you write up some cards. I found it helpful to list the supplies they would need to do the project right on the card... that is unless it is self explanatory. You can list toys and games they already play with, crafts, science experiments, pretend prompts... whatever you come up with. You can even put small toys or craft projects right in the box. The Busy Books series by Kuffner has some really great ideas.... they even have a list in the back called Crazy Can Activities that you can pick from. Any rainy day or activity book would work, however, or just use your own ideas. Here are just a few of the long list of activities I put in the box: Sock/beanbag basketball Doll and baby play Hand art (trace hand and decorate) Indoor tent Musical instruments Funny face (cut out noses, ey...

I was hanging out with a good friend last night and she had a whole stack of homemade hula hoops... the girls were having a ball showing off, goofing off, and playing together. There were even a couple of adult size hoops so we all got in on the action. I was thinking that making hula hoops would be a fun and different gift to make for people for the holidays (or any occasion really). It could even be decorated by using double pointed needles to knit a colorful cover for the poly tubing. You can find instructions on how to make your own here .

Not really... but I need to start thinking about the holidays now if I'm going to make all my presents this year...and I am going to make all my gifts this year... I came close last year... and this year I'm going to do it! The only store bought presents under the tree this year will be from Santa... and we all know those are crafted by elves anyway. I thought that I would use this blog as a way to brainstorm and talk about making the holidays about something more than just spending a bunch of money... and there is no better time to begin than now... before the rush and craziness of the holiday season comes knocking. I've always loved to make gifts for people. I'm sure I made presents as a child... but as an adult it began with a cookbook that I made for several years and gave to all my friends and family. I loved doing it... and I am thinking about doing it again someday... I already have a surplus of recipes ready and waiting... all I need to do is get my husband'...

I have been knitting up a storm lately for my nephew who will be born at the end of September. Here are a few of the gifts that I made for him. The links go to my Ravelry project pages... and you can find the free patterns there. These Chucks were so fun to make. They were my first booties... and my first project with a color change in the middle of the row. They were not particularly difficult... in fact I'm sure I will be making more of these for expecting friends in the future. Some of the ladies at the shower put in requests for friends. I made this ribbed baby hat to go with the Chucks... No hip baby should be without a black beanie and matching shoes! I know the doll modeling this hat is a bit creepy... but hey creepy is good! Here is babies first tattoo . Since it is illegal to ink your little brat... I thought this classic tattoo design would be more appropriate done in yarn. And here is a little sock monkey . I used the anything animal pattern... added a sock-monkey-...

I made these little toys for my kids months ago (before I started this blog)... but since I haven't posted in a while I thought I'd share them with you. The basic pattern is called the Anything Animal. You can find the pattern HERE . To make the rabbit I just followed the basic pattern. For Olivia the pig I added a nose adapted from a from THIS finger puppet pattern. I also used the bunny ears... but simply made them wider and shorter. This pattern is cool because you can make such a wide variety of toys out of one simple pattern. The adaptations are only limited to your imagination. If you are a member of Ravelry you can look HERE for a cool giraffe based on the same pattern. In the future I'd like to knit these in the round and make I-chords for the limbs. I have been knitting lately... but most of the stuff I'm making is for a baby shower that I won't be attending until the end of July. I don't want to spoil the surprise so I haven't had a lot of new...

I haven't posted in a while. I'm in the process of working on Creativity Boot Camp and I have been busy creating stuff on my other blog worth a fig . That doesn't mean that I've stopped knitting. I am working on writing a bib pattern and also one for another washcloth. I'll be back here soon to post pictures and patterns for my new creations.

I just finished knitting this retro ribbed hand towel and the tweedish cloth in these really bright colors... Now I just have to find someone to give them to... Anyone have a bright orange kitchen??? I'm trying to finish a bunch of projects I have on the needles right now. Many of these I won't be able to post here until August because they are a surprise for my brother and sister-in-law who will be having a baby soon. I'm not sure if they read my knitting blog... but better safe than sorry. Cheers, Jenn

It seems like these days when I'm not doing dishes I'm knitting dishcloths. Why you ask? Why would anyone want to spend time to make something to wash the dishes with? There are many reasons really...Dishcloth yarn is cheap,the projects are small and easy to take with you, AND the finished project is useful. The one pictured to the left is just a color work sampler...I wanted to see what certain slip stitch patterns looked like so instead of knitting up a swatch that would be useless later I can knit up a dishcloth to learn a new skill. Another reason is my kids love them and use them as blankets for toys both in the bath and out... in fact my daughters are always asking "Is that one for me???" Dish/washcloths also make great last minute gifts with a nice bar of soap or other bath product. I was looking at patterns on Ravelry and found a spring washcloth that I designed as a weekly KAL on one of the groups... somebody had taken the time to link my pattern in Ravelry....

For Mother's day I knit up a few book marks for my mother, my mother-in-law, and two of my sister-in-laws and gave them as gifts with a book. What a great way to practice a lace pattern. Bookmarks are small so if you make a mistake frogging it is simple... and you can see what a lace pattern will look like in miniature. I got two of the patterns off Ravelry... and the other two bookmarks I used the stitch pattern from the wrap I'm working on. This cute little project is called a bunny nugget. The pattern is located here. I found knitting the ears in the round almost impossible. I don’t know why… but a small number of stitches on DPNs are almost impossible for me… I found myself cursing so much I just knit them flat. I also knit the whole body on DPNs instead of transfering to circular for the bind off… I just did the 3 needle bindoff on 2 DPN and used the third to bind off.

I haven't posted anything in a while... and it is not that I haven't been knitting... I just haven't finished anything in a while. I have been working on lots of little projects and not finishing any of them. So yesterday I vowed to finish something for a change... and so I finished up a few odds and ends. One of the projects I finished was this washcloth for my daughter. I found this cool and very detailed pattern is on another blog... check it out here I have also been knitting up some bibs and burp cloths for all the many babies on the way right now. I finished a bib and started on a burp cloth. I know it seems odd to knit something just for a baby to puke and spill stuff on... but hey if my knitted cloths can make someone smile while cleaning up baby puke then I think I've done something truly special. I got these patterns from the book Mason Dixon Knitting . And last but not least... I've been working on this wrap. I had planned on wearing it to my anniversa...

This is Pachy the Pachyderm... I made him for my nephew who is celebrating his first birthday today. He was rather easy to knit up. You just knit two "gingerbread man" bodies from the feet up and stitch then together. All you need to know for this project is how to knit...there are no purl stitches in this project. You also need to know how to increase by knitting into the front and back of a stitch. Knowing how to do a single cast on is important so that you can add stitches onto the needle for the arms....other than that you just knit each row. This is a true beginner project and the kids love it. As far as materials go you just need some grey worsted weight yarn and whatever eyes you wish to use. I also made a little red scarf for him in garter stitch by casting on 5 and knitting until it tied nicely around his neck. Here are the basic instructions... but you can easily make him bigger or smaller by changing the original width of his legs: I started by casting on 1...

A friend of mine is having a baby in June and is planning on using cloth diapers. A few months ago she asked me if I'd ever heard of woolies or soakers ... and if I knew how to make them. I didn't know at the time... but after a little research and some good information from one of my knitting lists I learned what I needed to know. Soakers are wool diaper covers that go on the outside of the diaper to help draw moisture away while staying dry on the outside. Wool has some pretty amazing properties and I'm really interested to hear how well they work. I just finished my first attempt... I plan on trying out several different styles and making them in a few different sizes so that she can figure out which ones work the best. I thought this one came out a little crudely... but cute all the same. I had forgotten how small a new born butt was... I got my pattern here . I will post other attempts in the future.

After all the spring color I decided I wanted to knit something a bit more natural. This washcloth knit using the seed stitch for a border and a wheat cable and bamboo stitch for the body is what I came up with. This washcloth along with my spring washcloth knit in honey colors (it does after all look like a honeycomb) would make an excellent gift with some oatmeal and honey bath products. Wheat Washcloth Instructions ***Edit*** It was pointed out to me that Rows 1 & 3 should end PKPK, Rows 2 & 4 should start KPKP... if you do it as the pattern instructs there will be a slight glitch in how the top and side boarders match up and it won't be a true seed pattern. I will rewrite the pattern after I've done another test knit to see if there are any other things I missed. K-knit P-purl yo- yarn over Sl-slip stitch from one needle to the other You need size 7 or similar size knitting needle, a cable needle or DPN and any natural looking cotton worsted weight yarn. Cast on...

http://jenndoesntgiveafig.blogspot.com/2010/04/eggs-au-naturale.html I just finished writing a blog entry for my foodlore blog about dying eggs with natural dyes. I thought I'd share it here as well since it fits in well with the craft theme of this blog. This was the first time I've used natural dyes for Easter eggs... In the past I've used a similar process when coloring basket weaving materials. I've read about using it to make beautifully colored wools for knitting or spinning... but I've yet to try it. Jenn

I love making little toys especially finger puppets. It is so easy to come up with cute variations on a simple pattern. I knit this one up in less than an hour...so if you hurry you can make a few just in time for Easter. It would also be cute to knit the whole body in a chocolate brown...kind of like a guilt free chocolate bunny! The cool thing about this is that you don't need any specific yarn...any worsted yarn will work. It is a perfect way to use up all those little scraps of yarn in your stash. Peter Rabbit Finger Puppet K- Knit P- Purl K2tog - Knit 2 together as one stitch For this project I just used scrap yarn in blue for the shirt (like peter rabbits jacket in the Potter stories) and brown for the head and ears. I used the same blue as the shirt to make the eyes and a scrap of pink yarn to stitch the nose. I made this puppet using size 3 double pointed needles… but if you don’t have that size any similar size would probably produce similar results. You can also kn...