Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails

MDF Patti told me today that I now have to post pictures, so here you go, Patti.

I just took some pictures of recent projects with my little one-step camera and my version of a back-drop (the flip side of some printed emails) and studio lighting (my desk light strategically placed near the back-drop).


Whadda ya think? Do you think Kiddie Kandids need worry?

I knit this little nookie buddy for my first-ever grandchild who is due in late June and who I'm sure is going to be cute when he's born even though he looks like an alien right now.

For Christmas, mother-to-be Erin gave me two really cool knitting-for-babies books: Itty Bitty Nursery by Susan B. Anderson and Essential Baby by Debbie Bliss. She then pointed out all of her favorites in the books, this frog from Susan's book heading the list.

I also made a set of cupcake mittens and hat from Susan's book in a lovely, girly shade of pink before we found our little-bundle of joy has his own little bundle! Now I'm thinking about frogs, and snails, and puppy dog tails . . .

Just FYI about the pattern--I knit it with Apple Green and Butter Shine Sport yarn, 60% cotton, 40% modal, from Knit Picks (great yarns, books always discounted, and free shipping with a $45 order). I changed the pattern just a bit because I was tired of making little bobbles after the two eye-bobbles (I obviously haven't much patience for bobbles). So for the arms and legs I just knit 3-stitch I-cord . . .


. . . and tied a knot in the end--the same effect with half the work. The next time I knit this I'm going to make it even faster by knitting only one long cord for the legs and one long cord the the arms and tying a knot in each end. I'll just have to remember to attach the arms to the body before I attach the head.

Well, I'm hungry and my fingers are cold, so I'll say adios for tonight. Happy Tuesday, y'all.

What's In a Name?

Last night as I was walking (finally--I've taken a sadly long break from exercise for too many months) I gave some serious thought to something MDF (My Dear Friend) Patti keeps telling me: You've got to have a blog! I think maybe she'd just like to diffuse some of the attention she gets from me on a near-daily basis as I bring yet another creation to her desk for her perusal (and, I always hope, enjoyment).

The problem is that I am compelled, no, Compelled to Craft; whether or not I or anyone else actually has any use for whatever I make matters not a wit. When I see or hear about or read about something to make I fairly pant with excitement! The Barry Manilow song says, "I've never met a man I didn't like"; I'm that way about crafts: I never met a craft I didn't like. (I do like some better than others, though, somewhat like men, perhaps . . .)

Yes, I have a compulsion to craft, just like I have a compulsion to read and to eat and to listen to books on tape (I keep asking god to give me the compulsion to exercise; I'm still waiting). Making things relaxes me; making things refreshes me; making things makes me happy. :)

So there you are. And here we are. And ain't life grand!