I have been looking at my Amanda doll, and feeling sad that she had no eyebrows, and so, even though previous attempts at given her eyebrows had been an utter failure...I determined to try again. As it turns out, the trick to getting them to look halfway decent was not to try and stitch all the way through the knitting, but instead make nice small stitches, just through the topmost layer of the yarn. Only, now I am looking at her face and thinking she needs a nose, or something, but I'm not sure how I should make it. I might also fix her mouth.

I made these for the July 2006 Birthday Swap on Craftster. Basically, if your birthday is in July, you could post a list of things you would like other people to make for you, and some basic information about your likes and dislikes, and then people would volunteer to craft for you. The person I chose listed fingerless mittens as something she would like to receive, and said that her favorite colors were purple and "peacock" colors. I love making fingerless mittens, and this seemed like a good opportunity to use up some yarn that I happened to have. I am really happy with the way they turned out, and as it happens, have enough yarn that I could make another pair in this colorway, either for myself, or someone else. =)

I picked up Lily Pond Dreams from the frame shop this morning, and it looks fantastic. I love it, and I hope ionia_dreaming will love it, too. I can't wait for extra_joker and I to see her so we can give it to her. The two of us worked very hard on this. design by Black Swan Designs Changed fabric color to a hand-dyed grey/slate evenweave, which I think looks really pretty with this design. Made minor alterations to the skin color and shape of the face. Changed ball shaped flowers on either side to irises and added greenery. I am particularly pleased with the way this turned out, even though it was a pain in the butt. Next time I decide to re-chart something, I am going to try not to double the amount of stitching needed.

Leave it to me to sign up to make someone a pair of fingerless mittens during a heatwave. Go me! Anyway, here are some art shots of the yarn I am using, 'cause it's pretty. God it's hot, and the last thing on earth that I want to do right now is knit with wool. Blah.

I received the best package ever for the I Love Ewe swap.

 This is all the stuff. A cute bag with a felt sheep on it (which has pockets and things for knitting needles or whatever. A little pouch with a sheep needle felted onto it. And a sculpy covered tin with a sheep on it. 

 Closeup of the needle felted sheep. She was hard to take a picture of, so you will have to trust me that she is even cuter than this picture suggests.

 Closeup of the top of the tin. Yes. It is a zombie sheep. This is just about the most awesome thing ever. I love it. Zombie sheep. Baaaaaaaaa.

 Inside the tin is some little knitting supplies: measuring tape, scissors, row counter, tape measure, and stitch markers made with felted beads. Cute, no? My partner is the bomb, yo. Seriously, this was an awesome package. Yay!

Look at me, finishing stuff all over the place. Heh. Okay, so I got it into my head that it would be funny to make Dresden Dolls dolls...adapting the rock star pattern from SnB Nation. So, I started with Amanda: Only, I am not entirely happy with the way she turned out, so I don't know that I will make Brian. Maybe I'll do them both out of felt.

Another item for the sheep swap: Sheep notecards. I was going to write silly things on them like, "Have a Be-EWE-tiful Day!" but then that was too corny, even for me.

I finished my first sock! Woo! and also Hoo! Pretty spiffy, eh? Now I just have to see if I remember how to do the toe part, so I can start on its mate.

So...some of you may know that I am working on a swap on Craftster which is sheep themed. The send out date isn't for 2 weeks, but I feel the need to share the cute sheep things now. First up, we have an assortment of hair thingies: The thing on the left is a headband...it looks kind of silly without a head to put it on, but at least you can see the cute sheep fabric. The hair clips were made with sheep shaped buttons, and I really like them. In fact, I made some for myself. Here I am, modeling one of the sheep clips. I am wearing them today to test how well they hold up. Cause if the sheep fall off halfway through the day, I will not, in fact, be sending them to my swap partner...unless I can figure out a better way to attach them. But I am hopeful that they will be okay. I have already opened and closed the clip several times, trying to get it in my hair, and it seems to be okay so far. And finally, at least for now, here is my sheep shaped pillow: This is my new favorite thing that I have ever made. It's sewn with fleece, so it's very soft, and extra squishy, and damned cute (if I do say so myself). I almost hate to send it to my pal....but I have enough fleece to make a second one for me. =)

Mystery Shawl Yes. My mystery shawl is, in fact, complete. And only 4 months behind schedule. Go me! Okay, I look completely stupid in this picture, so just ignore me and look at the pretty, pretty shawl.