mama day give-away winners

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment for my Mama Day give-away! I decided to draw one name for every 10 comments. Because many people left comments on Facebook instead of the actual blog post, I've added those names at the end of the list from the previous post. I've just drawn 5 random numbers:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28
2
14
45
33

Timestamp: 2010-05-09 16:05:05 UTC

And the names of those commenters are the following:

Natalie Goulden (from FB)
Schmath
Kelly-Ann
Patricia Small (from FB)
Tipsy Cassaday (from FB) (sorry I had to edit this from my first posting - I copied the wrong name)

You each win a PDF copy of the toy pattern of your choice (the pattern books are not included). You can look on Ravelry or Etsy if you're not sure which one you'd like. I'll need your email address to send you the pattern, but I'll try contacting you directly once this is posted. If you don't hear from me soon, please contact me (barbara at fuzzymitten dot com).

Happy Mama's Day everyone!

mama day give-away

I was chatting with my girl-friends the other day about mothers and mothers' day (which is this Sunday in Canada). Throughout the conversation, I kept remembering little stories about all the cute or funny things Lev has done lately. One of my friends exclaimed, "Now I get why people have kids! They're lots of fun!" It's true that some parts have been difficult, frustrating, exhausting, and even scary (especially when he started climbing things) - and he's only a year and a half! But I believe I have laughed more in that time than I have since I was a kid. I love him to pieces, and I'm so lucky to be his Mama (or Mam, as he calls me).

Reading with my mom. I'm in the purple PJ's, and about 6 years old.

Sadly, I've forgotten to send my Mom anything, but hopefully a long phone-call will help. We don't talk as much as I'd like, since she works odd hours, and there's a 3 hour time difference between us. One of the things I love most about my Mom is all the things she taught me over the years. Reading first, then sewing and embroidery, plus cooking and baking. She was also my Girl Guide leader, and was always challenging me to learn more about all kinds of things there. I wish I'd nagged her more to teach me knitting, as I wonder how far ahead I would be with another 15-20 years experience, but at least it's now a hobby we can enjoy together.

Taken with the camera on my laptop, about a month ago.

We haven't made any plans to celebrate Mother's Day in our little family, but I think a trip to a greenhouse for plants to fill my flower boxes would be just right (wink wink). To continue my earlier story, I came home from visiting my friends, to discover Mr. Mitten working on a super special gift for me (he has a little talent that he doesn't practice enough). I was so surprised and overwhelmed I got a little teary. Maybe he'll let me share the drawing once he's finished.

To celebrate Mothers everywhere, the things they teach us, and the laughter they share with us, I'm running a little give-away. You just need to leave a brief comment sharing something you love about your Mother, or about being a Mother. On Sunday morning (May 9), I'll draw some names, and the winners will receive a free pattern of their choice*.  It will help if you leave your email address or Ravelry name with your comment, but if you don't want to do that, check back here to see if you won.

*If you happen to have all the patterns you'd like, I'd happily send the free pattern as a gift to whomever you choose.

bit of this and that

That was a long and not really intentional blog break! Mr. Mitten had 2 weeks off from work to help out with a bunch of projects we needed to do around the house. I was so busy helping him, and running around after Lev, I didn't even get on the computer most days. Added to that was an injury to my wrist which kept me away from knitting for more than a week, so I didn't have much to share with you in that way. It's feeling a bit better now, but I'm taking it slow because I really, really don't want to get tendinitis. That would be a quick end to my career as a knitting designer!

In good news, my garden is growing well, I got some sewing projects done, and I've spent lots of time just playing with Lev. He loves the outside as much as I did as a kid, so it's going to be a fun summer!

These tulips are called "Apricot Beauty" and the colour has been stunning and so much more than I expected. They started out pale apricot (like in the photo), and have deepened to dark orange with dark pink mid-ribs. They are also giant tulips, so the flowers are waist high, and longer than my hands!

The jonquils I planted for a bit more colour, and their delicious scent. I'm glad I planted them just outside our living-room window.

One of the sewing projects I completed was a set of quilted cushion covers. The little tree squares are made from this tutorial (no mods), and I found them quite easy to put together, and very satisfying! I've only done a tiny bit of quilting before, even though I've been sewing garments since I was a kid. This was a great project to learn more about piecing something more complex than squares and rectangles.

And here's a couple pictures of my little cutie. Although, he's really getting quite big! He's into full-on toddlerhood now, running everywhere, climbing everything (or trying to), and getting into everything! He's slowly picking up more words and concepts, but I'm trying to enjoy this stage, as I know once the talking starts, it won't stop until he's a teen.

His personality is definitely developing as well, with a bit of Mama and Dada, and lots of himself. He's goofy and playful, friendly and easygoing, but also serious and thoughtful when he's trying to learn something.

kits and pouches

My Etsy shop update is finally done! You can find kits here, and zip pouches here. I know the Mama and Baby bunny kits are a bit pricey, but there's a lot of stuff in them! I half thought to separate the Mama and Baby supplies so the cost would be more reasonable, but since the patterns come together, it made sense to sell the kits together. As always, the patterns are sold separately from the kits because so many of you already have the patterns (saves us both the trouble of a Paypal refund).

I'm really happy with this batch of pouches too. I usually want to keep at least one, and this time that turquoise with brown dots is really calling me (good thing I have more of both those fabrics)! However, I am running low on nice fabric, so it might be a while before I have a chance to sew some more.

in between

As the weather warms up here, and there are so many things to do outside, I will likely be writing here less and less. But I'm sure you're all busy too! I love this time of year, with the sunshine and rain, the fresh green leaves, and all the noisy birds. It's been exciting to introduce the outside world to Lev - last year he was really too young to do much more than pull up grass to put in his mouth. Plus, I have new flower and veggie gardens to watch and fuss over. Once things start to flower I'll have to get some photos to share.

In between the playing, gardening, visiting, and knitting I've done this past week, I did manage to fit in a bit of time to make some more kits for my Etsy shop. I've got 2 Mama and Baby bunny kits, 2 Owl and Baby kits, and a Pug kit all made up, just waiting for me to get photos. Plus, I have 6 zip pouches I sewed weeks ago. I had all this planned for a big Mother's Day shop update, and I'm glad my planning worked out for once! I'll be sure to post here when everything is in the shop and ready for you.

Anyway, with the sunshine peeping out between the showers, I think I need to dash outside for a bit of gardening. I hope you're all enjoying your Sunday in the ways you like best!

lambs!

Yesterday got away from me a bit, and I forgot all about the post on lambs from our KAL! However, I do have a freshly dug veggie garden; and the post will be enjoyed just as much today, I'm sure.

First, I have to share with you a pair of curly grey lambs by amybd. I think these cuties are going to have a lifetime of snuggles!

Next is a very sweet lamb in a cozy blue cardigan, by yarngirl69. She looks quite at home in all that pretty heather.

Here is a lovely lamb by patologica. He looks so proud of his fuzzy fleece and pretty flower pin!

This blue lamb by ilovewool looks like he's cheering on Spring! I hear you, little guy, the flowers and leaves can't come fast enough for me.

And last is this stunning lamb by corien. Toys like this are one of the major reasons I don't list any yarn brands on my pattern. If I tried to restrict what type of yarns knitters use, I might never get to see beautiful results like this!

By the way, if you'd like to knit a lamb yourself, you can download the pattern for free.

bunnies!

We had a lot of fun with the Spring Knit-Along, over on Ravelry. It's been over for a week or so now, but I thought it was a good time to show off some of the toys that were made. Today is for bunnies!

This is Blackberry Bunny, by froggyster. She looks very cozy in those fluffy pink flowers.

Next is this sweet and fuzzy bunny by stitchingdragon. It reminds me of all that fuzzy yarn in my stash, which is waiting to become fuzzy bunnies.

wrchili knit a pair of Mama bunnies in pink, and they're both so adorable and cuddly, it makes me want to knit the pattern again, in something more interesting than brown or grey.

This little bunny by bluesocks is all ready for Spring in her cherry-blossom pullover.

And the last one for today is this Scraps Chaps bunny by Je55ie, who looks like he got a little too close to the Easter egg dye!