Dotee Madness #6 received

I forgot to post a picture of the Dotee that we received for Dotee Madness #6!  We got it when we got back from Nooschkum this weekend...and here she is!!

She's a beaut!!  Our swap partner said that she was currently into whimsical stuff and thought she'd stick to that with our swap.  She is waaaayyy cool!!

Dorothy Dotee Doll sent

For Dotee Madness #6 I decided to make a Dorothy Dotee.  The gal I got to swap with is a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz so it just seems right.  Frannie helped!  I almost missed the ruby slippers!  She also helped to pick out Toto.

Of course, I will be making one for Frannie to keep too.  I'm thinking of making the rest of the Oz gang too.  I've designed them and have even cut out the Lion already.

Patriotic Dotee Received

I also participated in a Patriotic Dotee Doll exchange on Swapbot and also got my doll in the mail while we were out at the cabin!!  What a fun mail day!

Here she is!

I'd love to call her "Aunt Jemima", since that's who she reminds me of.  But I guess that's not very PC.  The little mop cap reminds me of Betsy Ross.  Maybe I'll call her Betsy.

Red, White and Blue dishcloth received

I participated in the Red, White and Blue Dishcloth exchange on Swapbot.  I posted pics of what I made.  Came home from a weekend at the cabin and had received mine!  Yea!

I tried this wavy pattern once.  Mine didn't turn out nearly as well.  I think it's the added ridge between the waves.  Mmm. 
Interesting that we used the same yarn.  :)  I wonder how many of us did?!

Patriotic Dotee Doll Exchange

Finished our Patriotic Dotee Doll.  I happened to get the swap coordinator in this swap.  Boy am I intimidated.  This is only my second Dotee Doll swap!
So, I read that she has a 4 year old son that's into super heros.  I decided to pull out my little stuffed doll pattern too and make him a Captain America.  That's patriotic!
This picture is the ones to keep.  I had already sent our swap.  His Captain America looks much better than this one.  This was my first attempt.  But Frannie likes it. 
Frannie tells me that Captain America is Wonder Woman's boyfriend. ...  I think I know what I'm making next.
:)

Red, White and Blue Dishcloth Exchange

Yea!!  I finished the star shaped dishcloth!!  Took 2 tries but I think well worth it.  Very fun!

So the square dishcloth with the star pattern, this star shaped dishcloth and a soap sack in the same yarn.  I think that makes a really good exchange package.  I hope my partner likes it. 

I know we really only have to send one dishcloth, but I bought one skein of the red, white and blue cotton yarn and just kept on knitting.  I even got another smaller star shaped dishcloth to keep.

Another Dishcloth swap

I'm working on my next dishcloth swap.  It's a red, white, and blue theme.
Here's my star dishcloth.

I've been working on a star shaped dishcloth too but I had to start over.  I dropped 2 stitches in it!  I tried to recover them but...  I have plenty of yarn left over and was going to make one for Frannie too so I've started over.  I may try to fix the other one too.  If I can't I'll just start it over too.

Then I'll need to block.  Hoping to get them out the beginning of the week so I can start on my Dotee Doll.  2 swaps coming up...a patriotic one and one based on your partner's profile. 
Busy, busy, busy!!

International Yarn Bombing Day, June 9th, 2012

Saturday, June 9th, was International Yarn Bombing Day.

I knitted several bees to add to the Blue Trees near my work for Intl Yarn Bomb Day 2012.  The trees are for deforestation awareness so I wanted to add a few bees for bee awareness.
My first one didn't turn out too well.  I defied the pattern and did it in the round.  I don't think I put the wings on in quite the right place either.
I will follow the pattern for the next one.
I made 5 bees.  But I chickened out of adding them to the Blue Trees.  I've read quite a bit about some people thinking that yarn bombing is a bit like vandalism. 
After watching a couple of squirels stealing strawberries from our patch I decided to put them in the strawberry patch like scarecrows.  Hopefully they'll do the trick!!

Frannie's 6th Birthday Party - Facepainting

This week was consumed by Frannie's 6th Birthday.
Her birthday was on Tuesday, the 5th. 
Wednesday her Grammy, my Mom, came into town.
I took Thursday and Friday off work. 
Frannie had her 6 year check up at the Dr's on Thursday morning then we all spent the afternoon at the Pacific Science Center.  Grammy was quite impressed.  Lots of fun.
Friday, Mom and I spent the day together shopping and lunching and doing the last arrangements, cake and crafts, for the party.
Saturday was the party.  But Frannie had a ballet rehearsal before that.  Daddy took her to rehearsal so we could get the party ready.
The party was a great success!!  The weather held out so there was a lot of playing outside.  We also had balsa wood masks for the kids to color.  Only the girls were into that.  The boys played on our playground, mini trampoline and kicked the soccer ball around.  I love our backyard!!
Then we had a surprise visit from my friend Dorothy and her daughter Marina.  I didn't think they were going to make it.  But they did!  And they brought their whole facepainting business with them!
Check them out on Facebook:  Doelicious Designs - Facepainting & Glitter Tattoos.
Here are some pictures of their fabulous work!

First...the line up.

Frannie as a Butterfly.

Another Butterfly.

An awesome Monkey!

A Tiger.

Or two.

Even a little Puppy.

OH!  Can't forget Hello Kitty!

As they gather around the cake to sing Happy Birthday to Frannie, you can also see the fantastic Batman in the back.  And the green spider beside Frannie too.

A good time was had by all!!

Water Bottle Holder

My latest Finished Object...a water bottle holder.  Cute, easy and useful.

Newbie Sticker Swap received

We got an envelope from Israel today.  It was our stickers from our Swapbot Newbie Sticker swap!
How exciting!  From Israel!
Our partner didn't know what kind of stickers we would like but she knew I had a 5 year old (6 year old today!) little girl so she went for cute.

Very fun!  Frannie has already dived in and is making lovely pictures using her new stickers!
Have I said how much I love this Swapbot stuff?!
It's so much fun.  When I/we participate in one it makes checking the mail and adventure! 
We're still waiting on our Ocean Themed Dotee Doll!  Next is a Patriotic Dotee Doll swap in anticipation of July 4th!  Also a Red, White, and Blue knitted dishcloth one.
After that there's another Dotee Doll (I'm addicted!) and a surprise, stuffed envelope one full of random fun stuff.  Weeee!  Thank you Swapbot!

Soap Making with Kids

So, today Frannie and her cousin, Sarah Rose, needed entertaining.  I saw this on pinterest and decided to give it a try.
Put a bar of Ivory in your microwave (no rotating plate, on top of a napkin or wax paper) for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes and watch it morph into...

A soap cloud!

Give it a minute and it hardens.  Then you can crackle in into a powder.  This is a fun, messy step.

Be sure to sweep away any of the dust rather than wash it.  Otherwise you end up with a foamy mess.

Add a bit of water (like making a pie crust) to make a paste.  Then put it into cookie molds.

Let it dry (24 hrs or so) and pop them out and you have lovely little soaps. 
You can add coloring if you like.  I only had food coloring around and was afraid it would turn people colors so we left ours white.

It was fun and kept the girls entertained for a while.  The best part is the soap cloud!

Thanks pinterest!!







T-Shirt Vest

Still knitting but decided to try this Tshirt Vest that I saw on Pinterest.  Whatcha think? 

Here's the Tshirt...

Cut out the neck (fairly low.  I had to cut more.), cut out the side seams and sleeves.

Then you put it on.

I think it turned out ok.  There are lots of other Tshirt redos that I want to try!
So, stay tuned.