Washcloth

I found this pattern for a washcloth on Ravelry--very easy and fun to knit--this might end up way too big so I"ll have to experiment with a different size cotton yarn.

More Cupcakes!

Even though school is in, the cupcakes are still being made--these were for a small Sleeping Beauty performance put on by my granddaughter's dance class--she used these colors for the three fairies.

Chocolate with chocolate icing--here she was striving for a moist cake with a thicker icing--she was pretty happy with this batch----mmmm----me too!

A Felted Diaper Cover

I thought I'd try out a diaper cover with some left over wool I had on hand.  I'm not an avid knitter and it was the first time I did this brioche stitch (the very large ribbing going down the length of the diaper cover)  I had some trouble understanding the pattern.

After a few days, I finally sewed the side seams and came up with a long and very stretchy diaper cover--here's the front.

and back.  I noticed that all the diaper covers that work well are felted--this pattern didn't call for the felting, so I was afraid it would shrink too much, but I closed my eyes and tossed it in with a regular warm water wash--scary, this felting process!!

It really did shrink--it just might fit my grandson today, maybe not tomorrow!  You can barely tell the difference between the stitches--the brioche panel running down the front and back is thick and padded, which is good, but the waistline and leg openings are not very stretchy, so this might not work!  I did soak it in a lanolin solution after the washing, so as not to soak up too much wetness from the baby.  I'm experimenting--perhaps it would be better to felt the diaper cover, then add the waist and leg ribbing later.   Making sure from then on to wash in cold water by hand?
I guess this is an old time method of covering cloth diapers that has made a come back.  I don't remember having anything like this when my kids were babies--we had plastic diaper covers that would get brittle and scratchy with a lot of use,especially around the waist and legs.

The back.  We'll see if this fits and if it works!

Children's Crafts Fair 2014

Once again--time for the Children's Crafts Fair, put on by the Los Osos Library--it's free for the kids to set up their tables and they can keep any money they made--a very great idea!  This is our fifth year--you can see our past years, here--here--here and here.  This year, my granddaughter and her friend made the crafts.  I've often posted about how I tend to help out a little too much--so much so, that the crafts turn into my creations flavored with the artistic designs of my granddaughter, but I have to say, this year I only helped with some exacto knife cutting, putting O-rings on the charms, and helping with the table and display--not bad for me!!

They sold all these pressed flowers...

People could make their own charm bracelets...

with Shrinky Dink charms!

We sold some left over items from last year's booth,

I bought a pair of round needle nose pliers--my granddaughter learned how to make nice round little loops for making her earrings--I did have to help her by twisting the wire around pretty tightly and clipping close with the precision wire clippers, that I also bought--(I like crafting tools!!), But that's all I did---really!

She and her friend got together numerous times to make batch after batch of play-dough--we came home with just a handful of these left.

Because I really took a back seat this year, I could tell that she and her friend felt a greater sense of accomplishment, pride in their work and had lots of fun--plus they made some pocket money!  Then there's  the mad dash of trading toward the end, which is fun to watch!