Birthdays Galore

Well my baby is now 5 years old. Its still hard to believe. She had a great birthday with lots of Spiderman all over the place. It rained for about 2 hours before her party at the park so I had to call everyone all tell them even though it was raining we were still having it at the park. With all the luck in the world as soon as the party started the rained stopped and the sun came out. The older girls had fun drying all the park equipment with towels and all the kids ran around like crazy having fun.

This picture below is Victoria opening a talking Spiderman card that she got from her aunt that calls says happy birthday superhero with all this clapping and cheering. Can you tell that she really liked that and that we have heard it many many times since that day hehe.



Here is a photo of Victoria's reaction when she opened up her 3 Spiderman DVD movie set that we gave her for her birthday. She has since watched the 3rd Spiderman movie which she hadnt seen yet and deemed it just as great as the other ones.


I too had my birthday. Its was this past Tuesday the 24th. I am now 32 years old. I keep getting harassed that I am now old but I dont care about getting older. It doesnt bother me. My husband is another story. He will be 32 next month and is dreading it hehe. I got lots of cool gifts for my birthday but I thought I would just show knitting related gifts right now seeing how this is a knitting blog.
This first photo is of my bear that I have been waiting to pay off for ages. He wasnt really a birthday present but we paid him off last weekend close to my birthday so he kind of feels like one. Isnt he cute? The lady that made him turned out to be at the yarn shop when I went to pick him up which was really cool because I had never met her before. She was telling me that this bear is now special because the alpaca that yarn came from has since passed away and she wont be able to spin anymore yarn from his wool which she use to use all the time. So not only is he made from handspun alpaca but special handspun alpaca. I just love his little belly button, dont you?


My mummy sent me these two knitting books for my birthday. I have learnt all sorts of new felting techniques that I had never even seen before from looking at the felting book. It gives me so many interesting ideas for the future. The other book has all these little sayings and thoughts about knitting and a knitters lifestyle which I can totally relate to most of them so its a good giggle.


The felting book came in this special bag tied up with ribbon. I was very excited and surprised to learn that my mum had knitted the bag to put the book in and even took the flower pattern from the book that is inside it. I have a feeling this is the first knitting my mum has done in a long time. I dont know if she knows how much more it means to me to have the book in something that she knitted. She is the one who taught me how to knit and probably the reason for my being obsessed with crafting and creating my whole life.


This last picture is the dragon pyjama bag that I have been working on. When I took this photo I thought that he was all done only to realize that I have forgotten to add his little fork tongue. After a trip to the craft shop with my friend who ordered the pyjama bag we decided after they were all out of red felt that his tongue is going to be made from red ribbon. So all I have to do is cut out the fork tongue shape and make sure its stitched on very tightly. I have a feeling it will be played with alot. I will have to take a second shot with his little tongue. I finally got the wings done for this dragon after attempting it about 3,000 times. They still didnt come out the design I wanted but I have decided that this is as good as its going to get right now. Do you think they look like wings?

After getting my bear last weekend I was feeling inspired to knit some more toys. There is a free pattern by Fuzzy Mitten for a lamb that I have been wanting to try for ages so I am knee deep in lamb parts at the moment. He is actually all knitted up and I am up to the freaking out part of sewing him together. Fuzzy Mitten have these fabulous patterns for clothes to fit the knitted toys so I think I will have to get one because this little guy needs a jacket. I bought one of her patterns a long time ago and still havent knitted it up yet. Its a bear with a cardigan. I think I am going to have to attempt him after having so much fun with this pattern. I just found out that Victoria's new teacher collects teddy bears like me so I think she will have to get one. I have found the perfect yarn for knitting up toys. Its Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn. They colours are all so beautiful. That is what the lamb is being made with. I could see myself going crazy with that yarn and making all sorts of things. Its really cheap too. The lady that designs the patterns for Fuzzy Mitten is a really nice lady because she doesnt care if you sell the toys you make from her patterns and just requests that you mention her as the designer when you label the toy. I think thats just great.

I am getting closer to setting up my Etsy shop. My husband asked me tonight how much I need to set it up so I have been sitting down and figuring out what I want to get started. Another big thing I have to do is decide on the shop name, tag line and the look I want so I can order my banner, avatar and business cards. I think I have to get a notebook this weekend especially devoted to my shop to write all this stuff in and plan it all out. Its kind of exciting and scary to even think about. Its like a big step into the pond.

Two Wee Little Monkeys Having A Good Time

I finally finished this little monkey I have been working on for about a week. Its the same old monkey pattern I have done a ton of time but I wondered what it would look like if I used the thinner baby yarn that I had in my stash. I was inspired by a cute baby outfit I saw in these colours and went from there. Im not sure what I will do with the little guy but he sure is cute. I think I might save him for my Etsy store that I want to have up and running in the next two months. I have to keep in mind that I will need stock for it hehe.


It turns out this little guy loves hanging out amongst the flowers. He thinks their beautiful.


I caught a butt shot of him while he was enjoying the sun and checking out our garden.


The other monkey who has been having fun is Victoria. We went on a class trip last week to a place called Midway. It has lots of rides especially for kids her size. She just loved it there and wants to take her dad and Megan there this summer.

This is her riding the train.


This is her peddling around the peddle car course. She loved this because she got really good and really fast at it.


I was amazed at how quickly she picked up how to steer these paddle boats. She thought these were great. Please note that Victoria has become hooked on dresses and just had to wear this new one on this day. Who would have thought that a Spiderman and Ninja loving girl could also love dresses hehe. There are many facets to this girl hehe.


We also went to Church In The Park last weekend where they had a big blow up obstacle course. I will have to put some shots of that in my next post because the girls did the course together. It was the most amazing thing you ever saw. Victoria didnt give up halfway through like she did last year and Megan helped her little sister through the whole course without them having an argument. I wouldnt have believed it if I hadnt seen it for myself. There is hope for them yet.

This week I have been finishing off planning Victoria's birthday party. My baby girl will be 5 years old this Saturday. I cant believe it. I can remember Megan being 5 years old so clearly that I can hardly believe I have another 5 year old. Victoria finished Preschool last week and we visit her Kindergarten classroom this week. It should be interesting. We are having Victoria's party at the local park. This is risky because we have had alot of on and off rain this past couple of weeks. I have been crossing my fingers for no rain that day. Victoria just loves the park so she was so excited she could have her party there. I ordered the Spiderman cake she wants today and we picked out Spiderman party decorations on the weekend. Red and blue everywhere.

Megan is on her final week of school this week. She is down to half days but those days involve tests. She did a physical fitness test today to see if she was eligible to try out for the Grade 9 soccer team next year and she passed. She was very excited. She will only be in Grade 8 next year so that is why they had to do the test to make sure they could keep up with the older girls. She also found out that the same soccer league Victoria is doing opened up for her age so she will be playing soccer this summer. She is very very excited about that. Now Joe and I will have to figure out how to watch both girls play at the same time hehe.

Since I finally finished the little monkey I started on an order that I have for a pyjama bag that just got bumped up in priority. It is being knitted in cotton rather than fluffy yarn this time. I wasnt sure how it would look because I had always made them in fluffy yarn but this looks pretty good and cotton feels so soft. It is knitting up faster than the other yarn because its smooth. I started it on the weekend and the body and head are knitted up. This one is suppose to be a dragon. Mind you I have never done this pattern in anything other than a bunny so I am winging it. I hope it looks like the vision I have for it. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Bunnies All About And They Want Your Pyjamas

I managed to finished all the stuff that I wanted to give to the lady at MOPS today. She was very surprised to get her gift and just loved it all. She must have said to me 4 or 5 times how much she loved it all. She and a few other people kept insisting that I should sell my stuff. I told her that I was planning on opening an online shop and have been talking about it for about 2 years now. They all said I should do craft fairs but I dont like doing those sorts of things. You spend alot of time making things and may not even sell that much at the fair. You also have to spend all that time sitting at your booth and hauling all your products around. I much prefer to sell online and to do custom orders for people I know or online. I learned this from experience.

I decided a couple of months ago that I am definitely going to start my online shop this summer. For my birthday this month I am asking for money to put towards making my Etsy store the way I want it and getting the supplies I need to start it up. It doesnt cost very much doing it the Etsy way. It is what you make it I think. You can go all out or do little. Id like to be somewhere in the middle. I have been mulling over this in my mind over the past couple of weeks on what sort of name I should have. I have thought about using the regular name that I have used locally which is Nicole's Knits. I have also thought about using Jonicania which is a word that I made up using all our names combined which would make it completely unique. I like the store names that are catchy and give you an idea of what sort of products you have but I cant think of anything cute and catchy for knitting that I havent already heard. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. I just feel like the universe is telling me that the time is becoming right to do this. Several people over the last month or so have been telling me I should sell my stuff and with Victoria starting Kindergarten in September I will have more time I could devote to such a thing. Its a scary but exciting idea. I just feel like I should just try because I am going to drive myself crazy wondering if I could have made a real go of it and just never had to guts to put myself and my products out there. Well I guess thats my little rant about that hehe.

I dont know why I took so many photos of these bunnies. I guess I just got carried away hehe.


You've gotta have the bunny butt shot.


The cream one which looks just like Victoria's one.


His belly opening for all those cozy pjs. You can see his little pink nose in this shot too.


The reverse colours of the cream bunny. Victoria liked this one probably because it is pink.


The pink guys belly opening and his little cream nose.


This is the blanket that felt like it took forever to make. I usually like to take my photos in the day to get natural lighting in but I forgot and ended up taking these at night right before wrapping everything up.


A close up of the block pattern. The colours are looking very neon in these pictures. In real life they are alot more toned down, that darn flash. That will teach me not to take photos at the last minute.