Easter bunny update

Here is an update on the bunnies I am making. This is the body without the ears or tail added.



The pattern directions say to make all the parts before putting it together. I decided to put the body together - which is made from a knit square - before finishing the second ear and tail. It's a good thing because as you can see here, the ears are a little too big!

Projects in progress

Here are a couple of things I am working on right now.

I am making a patchwork pillow for my son Painter Smurf out of Batman fabric. Here are a couple of strips. I put it aside because I am making knit bunnies for the kids Easter baskets.

I am also making a new scarf on the Knifty Knitter round looms. Those things are awesome. I always wanted to get into knitting, but I have a hard time keeping count of my stitches with the kids are around - which is always. The looms are great because you can put it down and pick it right back up.

It only comes with instructions on how to knit a round thing, like a hat, but there are a lot of resources where you can learn to knit flat pieces and also purl, so you can do almost any stitch that you can needle knit.

Here is the scarf I am working on. I am going to have to get back to my bunnies (which I have no pictures of), so I will have to finish this later.

Klutz Quilting

I've always wanted to learn quilting, but I have never been able to find a totally idiot proof, super-simple beginner quilting book that comes with all of the starter supplies and is affordable. Then I saw the Klutz Quilting book at Michael's craft store. I asked my husband to get it for me for Christmas.

It is really neat and it comes with some pretty fabric and all the other supplies you need. It's made for teens, so it is really easy to follow. Now I feel like I have a base of knowledge to go forward with on to bigger quilting projects.

The first thing I made was this table mat. It came out pretty nice.



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Soap Making

Today I tried my hand at soap making. For my first experience, I decided to do a simple melt and pour glycerin soap. The soap comes in a big chunk and you cut it into smaller pieces and melt it in a double boiler. (You can also microwave it.) After the soap is liquefied, you pour it into a mold. You can add colors, fragrances or other additives.

For my first soaps, I left them clear and unscented. One I left plain, to one I added oats, and to the third, I added some dried lavender. They came out pretty good. In this picture, the lavender looks kind of dark. That's because all of the lavender floated on top, which is the bottom of the soap, when inverted.

Bob and Larry together again

I finally made a Larry the cucumber to go with Bob. Like Bob, he is made from worsted weight yarn knit on a round loom (smaller size), stuffed with Poly-fil, and his features are made from felt attached with hot glue.

Of course, Bob and Larry are characters from Big Idea Productions hit cartoon, Veggie Tales. Visit www.bigidea.com.

Bob the Tomato

This is a stuffed toy I made for Baby Smurf. It is Bob the Tomato from VeggieTales.

I made it by knitting on a round knitting loom with two strands of red worsted weight yarn. It is stuffed with Poly-fil. The features are made of felt and hot-glued in place.