FO: Birthday Pokéballs for Luke

So... being the cool aunt that I am, I make my nephew gifts for his birthday each year. Usually I crochet them, but sometimes they involve sewing. Past gifts have been themed with shows and characters he likes (or his parents like). This year, he's turning 4, and he is mildly obsessed with Pokémon. He goes on Pokémon hunts with his parents and he loves to catch them. So we had the idea that I could make him some crocheted Pokémon. This was a little while ago - I had planned on a few characters and looked up patterns or started devising my plan of attack for patterns I would have to improvise. All good intentions here. Then life happened. I found myself 2 days before his birthday with nothing to give him, and the next day was Halloween so I certainly wouldn't have time to make anything then. I settled on making him a handful of Pokéballs. It's not as technically exciting as the characters I planned to make, but they were probably the part he would've used most out of a set anyway. So I went with it and just made as many balls as time would allow on Sunday night.

I started off with this free pattern from Nichole's Nerdy Knots and I made them a little bit bigger. Her pattern has you increase to 30 sts around, plain sc 2 rows red, 2 rows black, then 2 rows white, and decrease from there. When I increased to that 30 sts I decided they were just too small (I wanted closer to baseball size), so I kept increasing until I like the diameter I was getting. I ended up increasing to 48, plain sc 3 rows red, 2 rows black, 3 rows white, then decreased down. Easy peasy. That's the nice thing about such a simple pattern - it's so easy to customize. I kept the "button" piece the same and I like the proportions. I ended up with just slightly bigger than baseball sized balls. I also feel pretty clever for attaching the button piece on top of the color jogs on the ball, so this baby looks perfectly seamless :)

Can I just say how much I've missed the quick and satisfying feeling of making crocheted amigurumi? I've only crocheted 1 animal this year and that was a mystery spread over several weeks, so I haven't had this feeling of instant gratification in quite a long time. I had all 3 of these balls don in about 2.5 hours. It now makes total sense why I made so many animals a few years ago - I liked the feeling of finishing a project often :) I made sure to stuff them a bit more firmly then I normally would because I know these will be tossed and squeezed and thrown, all of which cause the stuffing to condense and not puff up as much over time. They aren't hard enough to hurt anyone, but they will stay puffed for quite a while.

I gave Luke his present on Halloween (the day before his birthday) because I thought he could use them for his costume. He was Pikachu! And my sister and her husband were going as Ash and Misty. This way they would be able to carry around the balls if they wanted when they trick or treat tonight.

I made sure to use all washable yarns for these since I anticipate them being chucked into some interesting environments. The red and white yarns are both I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby in fire red and antique white and the black is Premier Everyday Soft Worsted.

And now to force you to look at my cute nephew :) This was the big moment, lol.

 And then I had to get a few posed, happy shots. At least it seems that he enjoys them :)

And now Luke is ready to catch 'em all! Happy 4th Birthday, Luke!

FO: The Birthday Skirt

It's my birthday today!

As one who sews clothing fairly often, I just can't go against the urge to make myself something that I deem my "birthday outfit". Last year, it ended up being my Blue Beignet Skirt (which I still love). This year, things have been pretty stressful, I can't lie. I had no real plans on making anything for my birthday just because I didn't want to add additional deadlines on myself, but that all changed when my mom asked me to go to Hobby Lobby with her last weekend. I was just along for the ride, and I was very good about not shopping around, until we hit the fabric section and saw that the spring fabrics were 50% off. There were a few floral printed twills that I had gawked over earlier this year that were all in the sale. Oddly enough what drew my attention to these fabrics was a little baby jumper made from them as a sample (so good job to the sample maker, ha ha). Since the fabrics was on sale, and I knew what I wanted to make AND I would make it up immediately, I splurged and bought the fabric :) It's so cute!

Since I was in the store and the fabric was a spur of the moment purchase, I had no pattern in mind. At first I contemplated a Hollyburn (what can I say, I have Hollyburn fever at the moment), but I really loved a striped coordinating fabric that I wanted to use as a border on the hem line, so the curved hem of the Hollyburn made that no longer an option. Since I knew what I wanted, I just decided to self draft a pleated skirt - which sounds much fancier than it technically is, lol.

Since this was "self drafted", I thought I'd outline how I figured everything to make this skirt and the sewing order I used in case others have never tried it. I used the full width of the fabric, first cutting two long rectangles of the floral print in the length I wanted my skirt to be minus the width of the hem band and the waistband. I cut one piece in half because I wanted a center back zipper (I need a little more fabric around my front so it worked out great). Next I cut out my striped fabric so that the stripes I wanted for the hem had enough to 1) have a seam allowance above them, 2) had an equivalent amount of fabric to fold to the wrong side and enclose everything as a true hem band, and 3) had a little extra on that back piece to fold under to stitch in the ditch and close it all up. I cut two strips of the stripes, also the full length of the fabric, and after some creative ironing, my band was ready to attach. I started by inserting a lapped zipper (my first ever and definitely not my last!) so that I could sew the back seam closed. Next, I attached the hem bands to the front and back pieces. Next, I decided I wanted pockets, but in a split second decision I decided to use the Hollyburn pocket piece - those are my favorite part of that pattern after all. So, I just cut the scoop for the pocket off the front piece, sewed pockets by the Hollyburn instructions, then I sewed the side seams. I prepped my waistband by cutting another 2 strips that were 2" tall and the full width of the fabric, interfacing one of them, then I sewed them together at the top and understitched the seam allowance getting it ready to attach. I wrapped the waistband around my waist and marked where it needed to meet with pins. Next I added inverted box pleats to the skirt. It took a few tries to get it to the right width, but we got there in the end. Next I attached the waistband, and jerry rigged a little flap at the end. I had to get creative and use my "alterations" skills on the zipper area to get it to sit correctly, but it all worked out and in the end I have a lapped zipper that connects to a flap that closes with a button on the other side. My final step was to fold the seam allowance under on the waistband and stitch in the ditch to close it all up.

I added in a few extra areas of top stitching - I like to top stitch my box pleats a little at the top so they lay flat against my tummy area, and the flap on the waistband had to be top stitched because of the order I sewed everything, but I think it turned out just fine :) Making a skirt from scratch like this certainly takes a bit more time and head scratching than using a pattern that already fits, but I think it's a fun challenge. Also, you are making it "size YOU" instead of a number designation - I didn't even have to technically measure my waist with how I constructed this. So if you're dealing with number anxiety, this is a good way to avoid it.

I love all the little touches on this skirt. I adore the lapped zipper - so much so that as I was making the pleats I wished I didn't need them so that the lapped zipper would stand out more. I've sung the praises of Sunni's free zipper class on Craftsy ever since it was first released, but until Meg of Cookin' and Craftin' asked for zipper advice and then ended up going lapped, I never even saw the final lesson in Sunni's class that had lapped zippers! And I was one of the ones who recommended the class to her, lol. I've looked at tutorials before about lapped zippers, even ones that are reputed to be so easy, and I could never wrap my head around it. Watching Sunni go through all the steps though made it all sink in and now I will be using this method fairly often since it's so pretty. I also love the pockets - these pockets are great in anything, I swear. Also - the hem band! Isn't it cute! I've never used any form of border print before, nor have I really ever used two coordinating fabrics to feature any aspect of them before. It was definitely more work (and caused much grief at Hobby Lobby trying to decide how much of the striped fabric to buy), but it was so worth it because I think it really makes this skirt have a little something extra. It takes the cutesy floral print and adds a touch of modernity, if that makes sense. I don't feel quite so twee with that cool striped bottom going on, I guess. Plus the inside of the band is just as pretty as the outside :) Also, I used a really pretty antique glass button that was orphaned in my stash - it's mint green! It perfectly matches my mint green vintage zipper (also from my stash - yes!) and it's always nice to use those single buttons, don't you think?

And I haven't even mentioned the colors on this skirt yet. This skirt's color scheme is quintessentially "me" - mint green, navy, coral, peach, gray - these are all my favorite colors to wear and therefore I will be able to wear this with several shirts and sweaters already in my wardrobe :)

And there you have it - my birthday skirt :) I'm wearing it today at work (my one little bit of birthday excitement. Ah, adulthood, right?) and I know I will get lots of wear out of this in the coming years. Yay for fun skirts for a fun occasion!

Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 yards of floral cotton twill from Hobby Lobby (I only used a little over 1.5 yards, but I'm counting all that I bought) - $11.23, 5/8ths yards of striped floral cotton twill from Hobby Lobby - $2.80
Pattern - None!
Notions: 9" zipper - $0.10 (stash), single button - free (stash), interfacing - $0.50, thread - $3.00
Time: 8 hours
Total Cost: $17.63

Not a bad cost for my birthday :) And I still have almost a yard left to make something else.

*Craftsy links are affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own (and the class is Free!).

FO: Tower of Owls

I couldn't just give my nephew one owl for his birthday, of course, right? lol. He wanted owls of all colors. While that's a fine idea, I just didn't have enough time to make multiple large owls. Thankfully, Stacey Trock has designed a pattern for just such situations ...

I made 3 tiny owls instead! I used the Nel the Tiny Owl pattern from Fresh Stitches. I've had this pattern for over a year and I never made it up before! What a crime.

So, all the owls are made with Vanna's Choice for their white areas and the Mustard color for their beaks and feet. This purple guy has I Love This Yarn in Grape for the main color and Vanna's Choice in Wild Berry for the eye circles. I bought the wild berry yarn because I loved the color over a year ago (again - it's a theme) and I've never managed to use it until now. This was the first owl I made.

I made the next two owls simultaneously. The green body color is I Love This Yarn in Christmas Green and the eye circles are Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green. It's funny - I have I Love This Yarn in several colors, but I very rarely use them on anything. After using the green and purple for these owls, I want to use it more often - this stuff is so soft! It was really nice to work with.

This final guy has a mystery acrylic yarn for the orange body (I got it at a thrift store - full skein, no label) and the yellow is Red Heart Super Saver (also thrifted, so I'm not sure of the color name). All of the owls have 12 mm eyes which I found surprising. I figured they would use smaller eyes since they are smaller owls, but the 12 mm really does look best.

The only difference between the larger owl and this little guy is that it doesn't have a tail. I kind of miss the tail! They're still cute without one, but I think I may come up with some little nub next time.

So there's the little owls. I had fun positioning them for these photos :) I love the top picture - I stuck a chopstick through them all to get them to balance on top of each other like that.

Just like with Red Bee, Luke loved his little owls. This picture was taken just as he opened the present. I couldn't resist posting this shot even though my sister was talking just behind him and was captured making a very unfortunate face (sorry, Kelly). So pardon my fancy editing, lol.

Isn't he just the cutest 3 year old?! He had a Curious George themed birthday party, and we had a banana hunt and pin the yellow hat on George and we made pinwheels. Good times were had by all.

So now Luke has a whole multi-colored owl family :) They all sleep in his bed with him every night, and I'm told that he enjoys arranging them just so. I'm really happy with how they all turned out, but I'm mostly just happy that Luke likes them so much. Yay for owls!

FO: A Birthday Bee

Every year for my nephew's birthday, I like to make him a crocheted toy gift. I made a fishing game and Star Wars toys, but now that he's 3 years old he is able to have a say in the matter. About a month ago I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said, "a pink bee!" 

Bee is what Luke named my first ever Nelson the Owl I made for my sister the year he was born. Luke adopted the blue owl and re-christened him Bee, so now all crocheted owls are called Bee. He LOVES Bee. He sleeps with Bee every night and carries him into my sister's room if he decides to sleep with his parents.Recently I volunteered to give Bee a "special bath" since he was looking so dingy after years of love. Luke was on a Bee kick and requested a pink version since he's obsessed with all things pink lately. My sister wasn't too keen on explaining why her son carried around a pink owl to strangers, so she requested that his birthday version only have a little bit of pink, so I went with red for his body and pink for the eye circles.

I made this guy up with all stashed Vanna's Choice yarn (Scarlet, Mustard and White) along with some thrifted acrylic yarn for the pink eyes. This was a very simple project to do, and I managed to make him the day before Luke's actual birthday.

Side view - man it's hard to photograph white yarn on my white background. I employed all the tricks I learned from my other two times I made this pattern - mostly I remembered to sew the head on with the white yarn across the white section (I made a Valentine owl and it looks like it slit it's throat but stitched it on with pink yarn, lol). The pattern is really easy, just time consuming because it has so many little pieces.

I love its little tail! I didn't have the blue Bee on hand to compare, but I knew this red version came out a bit bigger. I guess my tension has really lightened up over the years.

Luke's reaction when he opened his gift did not disappoint :) Even though he technically requested this gift, I doubt very much that his toddler attention span remembered, so he was nice and surprised. He hugged him a lot for the rest of the night, and I'm told that Red Bee (as this one is called) sleeps with Luke and Blue Bee every night. 

So there you have it - a Red Bee, lol. I'm glad I was able to make Luke something that he seems to love so much. If only all my handmade gifts were so deeply enjoyed, right? I'm really happy with how this project turned out, and I'm even happier that the recipient likes it just as much.

FO: Monsieur Splat Cat

In all my gift making the last month or so, my husband reminded me of his grandma's birthday just a few days before hand. Yeah, lol. I had something already made for her for Christmas and I think he just figured I'd give her that earlier, but I really didn't want to change my Christmas plan, so I started looking through my patterns to see if anything struck me as to what I should make her for this occasion.

I stumbled on mention of the Indie Gift-A-Long on a blog I follow. A bunch of indie pattern designers on Ravelry all got together and set up this group with awesome prizes and pattern discounts. For this first week of the GAL, certain patterns from certain designers would be 25% off (so only Nov 13-21), and one of the patterns was something I'd always loved but never purchased: Splat Cat by cheezombie.

Isn't it cute?! I've always thought it was really funny, but I just never had cause to make one up. Justin's Grandma is definitely a cat lover, so I thought she might enjoy it too. The pattern is pretty easy to follow, and I made mine up over a few nights (only a few hours total) and had no problems. The appendages were definitely more time consuming than I thought, but I guess that's pretty typical for me :)

Isn't his face great? The body is knitted as one piece, then the legs and eyes are picked up and knit while the tongue and ears are separate pieces you sew on.

The pattern is listed as an amigurumi/coaster, so he cam be nice and useful too :) I doubt Justin's Grandma will use it as a coaster though - I think she said she wanted to hang him up.

As for his name, I added Monsieur to mine since every time I read the title I hear it in the voice of Dutchess from The Aristocats (Eva Gabor) saying "Monsieur Scat Cat," so it stuck.

 And here is the birthday girl herself with the splat cat :) She's 86 years old!

And of course the Gordo had to try the cat on for size :)

I really enjoyed making this little guy! Just so you know, if you want the pattern for yourself it is 25% off but only until midnight tonight - so hurry here! (I'm not being compensated to mention that or anything, just wanted to pass along the great discount.)

FO: Luke's 2nd Birthday Present

(Warning - this was a large project which translates to a long blog post with lots of pictures - you've been warned!) :)

Well, it's that time of year again - when I come up with some awesome idea for my nephew's birthday and then give myself barely enough time to accomplish it, lol. In my defense this time I have had this planned since July/August, and I had all the amigurumi completed by a week and a half ago, I just put off the sewing until last night. At least it's an improvement from last year when I made the fishing pole about 30 minutes before the party :) Yay, progress! Anyway ... here's what I made this year:

It all started when I discovered Lucy Ravenscar's patterns - which include all the main characters from the old Star Wars series. My sister and her husband are big Star Wars nerds (I mean, their son's name is Luke, ok? this was no coincidence), so I knew that these would be a big hit. Luke himself may not know who these people are, but he certainly will soon anyway. I figure he may not appreciate this so much quite yet, but he will grow into them. So, let's look a little closer at these guys :)

Originally, my plan was much grander. I wanted to make ALL THE PATTERNS! But when October rolled around and I realized how much time each one of these figures take to make, I shortened my to-do list a bit. I figure I covered the top 5 here (and then I have more characters to make for other occasions - I'm looking at you, Christmas!). I did make one small change to how these are made - I used worsted weight yarn and a size H hook like I always do. This made the figures bigger than the pattern intends, but I think that's a good thing :)

Luke Skywalker came first (of course). I made half of his head and when I went to get eyes for him out of my safety eye stash I discovered a hiccup - the pattern calls for 7.5 mm eyes which are a specialty size (meaning Joann's and Hobby Lobby don't have them, and therefor I don't have them). I had to make a decision - spend $15.00 ordering all the eyes I would need for the whole cast of characters (so I didn't have to order them again in a month or so), or make felt eyes. Since I'm trying to be ultra frugal right now, I opted for felt eyes. Thank heavens for Sizzix Paddle Punches :) Love those things. Anyway, I made all of the figures first and added their eyes later. I majorly raided my stash for all the yarns used in these since you need very little of most colors. Luke is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (his skin), Chocolate (his belt), and Linen (his boots) as well as Loops & Threads Impeccable in Yellow (his hair) and Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (his clothes) with some random scraps of black for his mouth.

Han Solo came next since he and Luke are the same, just different color combos :) Han was a bit more complicated due to his colorwork, but still nice and easy :) I love the little stripe of red on the sides of his pants! Such a cool detail. Han is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Toffee (hair), Chocolate (belt),and Black (vest and shoes) as well as Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (shirt) and Really Red (stripe) and Red Heart With Love in Peacock (pants).

Princess Leia followed. I was worried her buns would be hard, but they are just flattened 3-d circles - so simple! Leia is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Chocolate (hair), Cranberry (lips) and White (dress) as well as Patons Canadiana (Vintage) in Silver (belt). I decided to get fancy and add eye lashes to her eyes as well.

Yoda was another simple design. The pattern includes two versions (like this or with a removable robe) - I went for the simplest option. His ears are also very cleverly made. Yoda is made using Red Heart With Love in Lettuce (skin), Patons Canadiana in Flax (clothes), and Vanna's Choice in Chocolate (belt) with a scrap of black for his mouth.

Darth Vader was the last figure I tackled for this gift. I'm glad I waited to make him last because he was definitely the most complicated of all. He wasn't too difficult or anything, but much more so than the others. The construction order is pretty neat and I love that the head is all one piece including the helmet (meaning you don't sew the helmet on later). You do sew the nose on, which I just couldn't get quite as triangular as the pattern example photo - sadly mine looks a bit more like a black pig snout, lol. Oh well, you have to look really close to even see it at all since it's all one color. I do really love the embroidered tummy area. It was a pain to do, but totally makes the design. Darth is made using Vanna's Choice in Black with Patons (Vintage) Canadiana in Silver along with scraps of green and red. Darth has felt eyes as well, but I didn't add white French knots since they are just part of his helmet. Darth's cape is a solid piece of felt that I whip stitched to the back of the neck. The pattern includes an actual pattern piece for the cape, but since I used larger yarn I had to scale it up considerably. 

I was really happy with all of these patterns. Everything is explained really well and each figure took 2 to 3 hours to make, so really not bad at all. Interestingly enough you can no longer buy these individual patterns, but it's because Lucy Ravenscar got a book deal! How exciting :) Star Wars Crochet will be available to buy in spring of 2015. You can see all her particulars here.

Now for the bag ...

I hadn't really thought much about making a bag until I came across this adorable fabric on Spoonflower (I would post a link but it seems to not be available anymore). I ordered an 8x8" swatch of Eco Canvas knowing I would incorporate it somehow - I just didn't know how until Friday night, lol.

The black is actually some kind of old polyester table cloth that felt canvas-like. I got it at a thrift store in their fabric section a while ago for something like $0.50. The previous owner had already cut a big section off, so it was perfect for my purpose. Even my zipper was one of the crazy bag full that were $0.10 each. Hooray stash busting!

So since I only had a few hours, I buckled down and decided on a bag design. I chose to make a box bag with handles and I wanted to make it big enough to accommodate the whole collection of figures when I get them done. Look at my "oh so official" pattern, lol. I decided to make it 12" tall x 11" wide and 3.5" deep - I just added 1/2 seam allowance to all sides and and cut them out with a rotary cutter.

I put in the zipper first - the one I had in my stash was 9" long so I had to get creative with extra fabric to cover the space it left since I wanted the zipper exposed from the top for a nice pop of color. I used Wonder Tape to set the zip in place before sewing it in - man how did I even insert a zipper before I knew about this stuff?! I'm not sure if I did the rest of construction in the "correct" order, but I sewed the narrow strips together for the sides first. Next I turned the edge under on the pocket twice and sewed it on as a patch pocket - I did it this way so I could use as much of the swatch fabric as possible. Once the pocket was on, I sewed the front and back pieces to the edges. I added the strap after the rest was completely constructed - they are just two lengths of polyester grosgrain ribbon from my stash. I made sure to really go over where the straps connect to the bag several times to make sure they are very secure. Once that was done, I finished all the inside seams with pinking shears and then pressed the daylights out of everything to make it look more professional - it's amazing the difference that makes, really.

And here is the finished product :) I figure the bag can be used for lots of other purposes as well. It doesn't stand up on its own, so I stuffed it with netting for these pictures, lol.

All the nice finished details :) Look at the insides of that pocket! Mmm... love it. I burned the heck out of my fingers while pressing under those tiny edges, so I am particularly proud of the insides. I wanted to make sure the canvas wouldn't fray with use though, so it was worth it for the bag to have more durability. The top stitching isn't perfect since I used a weird foot (I just grabbed one with a guide I could follow and it didn't have quite as much tension as usual. It's close enough though and like a kid is really going to notice anyway :) I'm also quite proud of how nice the zipper looks. All in all my bag came out very boxy just like I wanted :) And as you can see all the figures fit in it quite nicely.

I love the results :) It's funny - this year's gift was so much more work, but definitely not as well loved by the kiddos. I know Luke will grow into them though.

Poor guy - he was much happier than he looks in the photo. He hadn't napped all day and it was about 6:30 pm when we did presents at his party. It was a Halloween themed party and he was Russell from UP! My sister was Kevin (the bird) and her husband was Carl. They looked really cute :) Luke was a little preoccupied by his other noise making presents, but Kelly and Nick were very excited so it's all good. I think these will end up as room decor until Luke is old enough to know what they are, lol.

Anyway, the secret is finally out! Yay! lol I hate keeping big projects like this a secret, but I do love the reactions to the reveal. The cat is now out of the bag for subsequent gifts since I plan on increasing the set, but I know they will be well loved. 

Happy Birthday, Luke!

WIP Wednesday: Sweaters and Birthdays

So, I actually have something different to show you this week for my wip - I didn't say new, lol, but it is different. I finished my Marion for the knit along on Sunday :) And when I say finished, I mean blocked, buttons, and all. I even got to wear it this week. I just have to take pictures so I can put it up here to show off (hopefully pics will happen tomorrow). Anyway, this left me with no project (gasp!) and I had the General Conference of my church for 4 hours that day. We all know by now that I can't just sit and watch something without my hands doing something, so I pulled out my poor Emelie Cardigan.

I managed to add about 2 inches to this on Sunday alone :) I'm pretty pleased about that. I think knitting the Marion got me more mentally prepared for this sweater. The Marion uses a chart and a key for the cable design (and the design changes every single row), so I got used to looking at multiple sheets of paper over the course of making that sweater. The Emelie uses a lace chart, but it's only 6 rows long that repeat - much easier to memorize! So I managed to get through that 2 inches on Sunday without having to go back and fix mistakes at all. The sweater itself measures 9" right now and I'm on the last set of increases for the bust.

And here is what the lace looks like thus far :) I am really excited about how this cardigan is turning out :) Too bad fingering weight yarn takes so long to knit!

I did also finally buckle down and start my nephew's birthday present. I've known what I wanted to make for months, but it kept getting delayed for other more pertinent projects. Now I have less than a month so I need to get cracking. I am not going to reveal what it is yet since my sister may read this blog (and really when it's a 2 year old, the present is just as much for the parents as it is for the kid). As you can see, I have made a head. That's all you get to see, lol. I got this far on Monday night only to realize I don't have the right size eyes the pattern calls for. I've never encountered this before - I mean really ... 7.5 mm eyes? Give me a nice even number increment and no problem, between Hobby Lobby and Joann's I can find it. This pattern should have just said,"Oh, by the way you will have to pay 3 times the price for the eyes to make this project." Anyway, annoyance with eye size aside, I have examined all my options for buying safety eyes and I've decided to go with homemade felt eyes. I didn't want to end up spending $20 just on the eyes to make this when the whole point of me making him a gift is so that I can save money. So, felt it shall be. Plus I didn't want to have to wait for any ordered eyes to arrive since I really have to stop at this same point on each head so that I can still attach the eyes before moving on. So, I will plug on with this and you probably won't get to see it again until after Luke's birthday :)

And just as a little side note - this is what my yarn bag looks like right now for this project. That's a lot of yarn! I think there are like 10 skeins in there since it takes lots of different colors for the little details. And this isn't all that I will need, just for the record. This is only the yarn for the first part. Thank heavens for a large yarn stash :)

So, that's it around here this week :) I've also had a bit of my sewing mojo back, so we'll see where that goes. Check back soon for a big finished project!