It seems like things are always flying around this house.  I don’t know if it’s a boy thing but everything gets tossed.  In an effort to incorporate the kids into the surroundings I made these felted bouncy balls to sit in a wooden bowl on the coffee table.  They are decorative and functional, the perfect type of thing to have when little fingers are busy tossing everything in sight.  They are soft so they don’t hurt anyone or anything.  They are also machine washable, a perfect attribute when dealing with the hands & mouth of  a one year old.  I knit wool covers for bouncy balls, threw in the washer on hot and magically the wool covers felted in the wash.  I adapted a pattern from the “Itty-Bitty Toys” book by Susan B Anderson to fit the size bouncy ball I bought.

When I was a kid I loved stuffies.  I had my favourites and slept with them every night.  When my first born arrived, the first present I bought for him sat neglected.  He was not a fan of stuffies, and when he was three he asked me to take all of the stuffies from his room, and put them in the soon to be baby’s room.  Well that was a very good call, my second little person, is a stuffie snuggler.  He sleeps with one, or two, or three at night.  When one is laying neglected on the floor, he can’t seem to crawl by without burying his face in it.  He crawls around the house with little stuffies in his mouth.  Yes he looks like a dog while doing it.  He loves his stuffies and he comes by it naturally.  So when I saw a pattern for a knit teddy bear, I had to make it for him.  I finished it the other day and was going to wait for a special occasion to give it to him, when he came into my room pointed at it and said “what’s that”, pointing until his dad brought him close enough for a snuggle.  He grabbed it, and stuck his thumb in his mouth and had a little snuggle, his sign of approval.

Eight months ago I learned the basics of knitting and with a little help from Utube I have been on a knitting rampage ever since.  My first project was a scarf for my four year old, which I have to admit was incredibly boring.  After mastering knitting in a straight line  I attempted a hat for my little guy who was 3 months at the time, and after 2 attempts I had something that resembled a hat and which sort of fit.  Next I was on to slightly more interesting patterns, colours, and textures.  I made tiny mits, thumbless mitts for tiny hands and cigar smoking gloves.  Then I decided that I was ready for socks, and made a pair of socks for my 4 year old figuring if I really screwed them up they were little so not a huge waste of time, and if I made them too small his younger brother could wear them.  The socks turned out to be wearable but not great yet not a total disaster.  Next I was onto sweaters for the kids, which they managed to wear a couple of times before it got too warm here.  

My next knitting projects include a sweater for me, and a knit pillow both are finished but not 100% complete.  The most exciting project to date is still in the works it is a knit furniture piece.  I have managed to work my love of furniture and my love of knitting into one object, I can’t wait until it’s done.  Stay tuned for more details.