Bunny Baby Shower

When Holly received a sample baby shower invitation in the mail, her three-year-old decided he should have a baby shower for Notches, his eyeless stuffed rabbit.

This sounds like lots of fun, and led to a fun beginner knitting project. I made three baby bunnies for him. Each is a little different, and I put three birth certificates in the package, so he can name the bunnies.

Perfect, they are not, but they are kind of cute.

 Bunny Behinds: 

 

 Turned sidewise they look like fish with ears. 

Each bunny is done in a different kind of stitch. In the picture above, you can see the detail of the stitching.

Left: Stockinette Stitch (aka stocking stitch). Center: Garter Stitch.  Right: Seed Stitch.

Below: another detailed view of the knit stitches. 

I had to have some fun with the bunnies before I sent them on their way to my grandson.  

Ginger gets a Bunny Hug! 

Ginger and the Bunnies

on a chair back.

Cheerleader Bunnies

Ginger and the Cuddly Bunnies.

Ice Cream Bunnies!

The original pattern is found in the book "Knitted Toy Tales: Irresistible characters for all ages"  by Laura Long, published by David and Charles.

Mine don't look much like the originals,

which can be found on Amazon.com

I like them anyway.

Save on Stuffing (The craft kind, not the food)

When I need to make a stuffed animal or other item, I go to Wal-Mart and grab their cheapest pillow, which currently is $2.50.  That is about $1 less than a bag of polyester fiberfill for stuffed animals. It is the same weight...I took it to the produce department and stuck it on the scale. 

Cut open the pillow and it is the very same stuff inside.  When you are done, you have a nice piece of fabric instead of a plastic bag, which you can then use to make a child's slip, a skirt liner, an Amish doll, or...another stuffed animal! 

 Photo from Country Decor Center, where you can buy the Amish Dolls. 

Learning to Knit

A lady from my church came and taught our 14-15 year-old girls the basics of knitting.  I had fun practicing my skills on this sampler made from a small ball of yarn she gave us.

At the beginning, we were all just straight knitting. I finally learned how to cast on correctly.  It's easy; I had just forgotten how.  The second part is stockinette stitch, (k 1 row, p 1 row) but she said I purl wrong, as evidenced by the little twists in the stitches. 

The bulging part is from practicing increasing, and later decreasing. We did this at random intervals, so it's kind of an odd shape.  I learned what YO does (yarn over) vs. stitching a stitch twice in either the front or the back.  You can see that I got my purling right, as the stitches themselves are nice and straight.

After that I practiced a little ribbing (k2, p2).

That was followed by "quilt squares" blocked out by changing stitches at regular intervals, and then some more plain knitting for contrast.

Lastly, I decided to try cables.  My first attempt was not very good, so I went to "Knitting for Dummies"  to remember the steps.  My cable is a little loose at the edges.  I need a knitter to tell me how to solve that.

I have not blocked this piece since it is just a sample, but I did finish with more knitting rows and binding off.  I dropped one stitch and got a big hole right at the end, but overall it's not too bad.


Now I want to start a project, something small but interesting.  I did find this little gem: it has some fun ideas. 

I'll probably look around more locally, but the following book is available on Amazon.com.  It's more advanced than me, I know.

 

Open Studio at the Library

At our public library they have an event they called "Open Studio."  They do a different craft or art experience each month. For July they had leftovers of many previous months.  They were pretty simple.  I did a pincushion. Mine is a lot bigger than the instructions; I used a spray-paint can lid.

I'm not too impressed with it but I kind of had to hurry on the stitching.  It was just fun to go out and meet other people and do a craft.

I could redo my final stitching but if I'm going to sew at home I might as well work on my skirts and blouse that I have going.



My son and his girlfriend went along, and they decided on drawing. There were several books for reference and he decided on an airplane.  Nicely done for a beginner! The frame was even provided for him.