Tiger Shirt

All this girl wanted for Christmas was a tiger shirt.  My mom made it happen!

 

Daughter Socks (x4)

All my girls got handmade socks for Christmas this year too!  With some planning, and a good hiding place, I managed to knit a pair for each of them without them knowing.  There were the Packers socks, the Badgers socks, a plain blue tweed and a multi-colored pair.  (The pair my husband is wearing were a Christmas gift from last year.)

All the socks have been worn and washed and worn again (and again, and again) which makes me one happy knitting mama.

Handmade Halloween

This years Halloween was pretty fun.  I returned to my favorite mask designer, Oxeyedaisey, on Etsy and purchased her fox and skull mask patterns and went to town.  I made all the masks from wool felt this year, and purchased pieces from Prairie Woolens - what an amazing selection they provide!

I stayed with a traditional skull for my husband but worked embroidery into my mask and turned it into a Catrina theme with flowers and a veil.

The pirate designed and developed her own costume from the (sadly) increasingly neglected dress-up box.  My three woodland creatures took a bit of help from me.

The fox was straightforward and we added an improvised tail from flannel and fake fur.  The hedgehog mask was purchased from on The Masked Menagerie on Etsy.  I self-designed the body suit with lots of inspiration and a tutorial from Alida Makes.  The whitetail deer was improvised off the base pattern from the fox, with inspiration for coloration and details from Magical Attic on Etsy.

Overall the costumes turned out great and the masks will be heirlooms in our costume closet.  Indeed, this holiday I loaned out our wolf, rooster and hen masks to friends for Halloween fun!

"Who" knows what next year will bring...maybe a family of wise owls?!

Socks for my Niece

Last spring and over the summer my knitting/sewing/crafting went on the back burner.  No particular reason, just other things happening (like, we planned and took an epic RV trip out west!)  But my needles are humming again and I made a couple pair or socks for my nieces.  One pair is shown here, unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the other pair, but maybe one day this winter if I can catch her with them on.

I also recently went to the WI Sheep and Wool Festival and was newly inspired.  I picked up the yarn below to make a pair for my Packers and Badgers loving girls.  I think the socks are crazy looking - but in the perfect sports-crazed, pre-teen sort of way!  With any luck there will be four surprise pair complete by Christmas for their stockings!  The other two pair are not sport inspired, but will suit each girl well I think.