Ladybug Daydreams

Day: April 20, 2012

Amigurumi Elephant

Posted on April 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

In case you don’t know, Amigurumi is the Japanese word for a crocheted or knitted stuffed toy. I’m just beginning to dabble in that particular art, and the elephant here is my first project. You might notice that he doesn’t have any eyes. That’s because as soon as I finished the head, both of my older boys decided they wanted one of these cute little creatures, even though my intention was to have this one be for the baby (the nursery theme is going to be elephants and giraffes). Knowing that I’d end up making at least 3, maybe 4, of these (I love elephants, too, so I might make a fourth to put up on my own shelf!), I opted not to sew the eyes onto any of them until all of them were completed. My thinking is that they’ll all have different colored eyes based on who they belong to – my 8 year old has green eyes, so his elephant will, too; my 5 year old has blue eyes, so his elephant will, too… you get the picture – but I don’t want to give a toy to one kid and not the other, so they’ve been told that neither will get one until both are completed. Similarly, I don’t want to have them mocking each other with “Mom already made mine!” even if they don’t technically have possession of it yet. Make sense? 🙂

For anyone interested in making your own “Baby’s Elephant,” click HERE for the free pattern, courtesy of Red Heart yarn.

Posted in: crochet | Tagged: amigurumi, elephant, gray, toy, yarn

Afghan 1 for Small Fry

Posted on April 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

I’ve always been afraid of crochet; my first two experiences with it weren’t exactly positive. The first was when I was pregnant with my oldest son. My late mother-in-law taught me a basic stitch so that I could make a baby blanket. The project took me most of the pregnancy, so I didn’t keep up with it – I’m an “instant gratification” kind of girl. When I got pregnant with my second son, I had an urge to make a similar blanket for him, so I did – my second major project. That one didn’t go any quicker than the first, so I dropped the hobby yet again.

When I stopped writing around December 2011/January 2012, my husband noticed that I seemed “aimless,” so he suggested I learn to knit. In his opinion, it would be a good hobby that I could do nearly anywhere. I thought, “What the heck,” and picked up some yarn and knitting needles from our local Jo-Ann store. Well, it turns out that knitting was even harder than crocheting! I tried for hours with YouTube videos and couldn’t get anything to stay on the needles, so the next day I went back to Jo-Ann and bought a set of crochet hooks instead – even if it was slow, at least I already knew how to do it. I had two skeins of yarn to use up, after all. My “first” project was a purse (essentially a piece of crochet “fabric” about 12×19 folded in half and sewn up the sides to make a pocket with a 3×36 strap). I was able to finish the entire thing (including a zippered liner sewn into the crocheted shell) in about 3 days. Talk about encouraging! I’d never been able to crochet that fast before. That took one full skein of yarn, but I still had one more. I headed back to YouTube to find a pattern I liked for a baby blanket. This was the one I came up with. We found out we were having another boy shortly before I finished this, so I added a royal blue border when I was done, and voilà! A baby blanket that didn’t take the entire pregnancy to complete!

Here’s the video I used for making this one:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBWx_QXfX_M&list=PL608EA64FF1FB88F7&index=2&feature=plpp_video]

Posted in: crochet | Tagged: afghan, aran fleck, blue, crochet, mesh, yarn

Knight Quilts

Posted on April 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

We recently redecorated my sons’ bedroom, and they chose a “Knights in Shining Armor” theme, so of course I had to make them new quilts to go with the new theme! I made the appliques from clip art images, and let each kid choose his own color for the background of the pictures. They both chose blue, but in different shades, so I used the leftovers from one’s for the sashing on the other’s. These took a bit of math, too, because their beds aren’t a standard American size. I planned them carefully so that they would be approximately the size of the beds. I love sneaking in on them while they’re sleeping and seeing the matching quilts keeping them warm!

Posted in: quilting/sewing | Tagged: applique, blue, broadcloth, cotton, quilt, sewing

Fan Quilt

Posted on April 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

You just saw this quilt underneath “Christmas Present Joe,” but it’s elaborate enough to get its own post! It was made in 2009, and took over a month to complete due to its 900+ individual pieces. I got the pattern from a library book.

Posted in: quilting/sewing | Tagged: cotton, patchwork, quilt, sewing

Christmas Present Joe

Posted on April 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

This little guy was a Christmas gift that my oldest son (8) chose to make for his little brother (5) in 2011. Daddy took the younger out for the afternoon while I stayed home with the elder and worked on the bear that has earned first place in my son’s life – I’ve even had to repair him twice already, and he’s only 4 months old! It’s gratifying to know that something I made (er, helped make) is so loved.

As a side note, he’s sitting on a quilt that I made in 2009. It’s the most elaborate one I’ve ever done with over 900 individual pieces, and took over a month to complete.

Posted in: quilting/sewing | Tagged: blue, flannel, red, sewing, toy

Welcome!

Welcome to Ladybug Daydreams! My name is Wendy, and I’m glad you’re here. I am a homeschooling mom to 5 boys. I write about homeschooling, homeschool curriculum, yarn (both knitting and crochet), and more! I hope you enjoy what you read.

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