Tiny Stars

One of the most satisfying things in the world to me is to spend time knitting and crocheting baby items. They are so like the sweet little bundles they will eventually find themselves snuggled around: tiny, soft, warm, delicate, and beautiful. Making a special gift for a baby can be done fairly quickly and conveys love to the expectant parents. When invited to a baby shower or "sprinkle", I much prefer to give a handmade gift than something purchased. A handknit item can be passed down through the years and achieve heirloom status. This set pictured above is one of my favorite baby gifts. I've used various fibers over the years but have decided I prefer Knit Picks Andean Treasure above all else. It's soft, breathable, one hundred percent baby alpaca and is available in an array of beautiful colors. Pictured here are Cherry Blossom, Fog Heather, and Finnley Heather. The hat is "Baby's Cabled Milk-Silk Cap" designed by Susan Boye. The leg warmers are "Cashmere Baby Leg Warmers" designed by Patti Ghezzi. 

 The lovely golden hat pictured above is "Merino-Silk Cables for Baby" designed by Isela Phelps. The buttery soft and bouncy yarn used to make this cabled hat is Sirdar Sublime Baby Cashmere. If you love to knit tiny baby hats you will really love this hat! It is too precious and it's unisex. So it's a win-win pattern and gift! A mommy can pass it along from baby to baby, especially when it's knit in a neutral color. What's not to love?! The patterns for both hats and the leg warmers can be found and purchased in this book on Amazon.

My absolute favorite baby booties (shown at top in the pink set) "Cute Cables" are designed by Frederique Alexandre and can be found in the book featured below, which can also be purchased on Amazon. The somewhat squared toe and multitextured effect of these booties never fails to cause delight, not only in the recipient, but in me every single time I knit a pair. They simply make me happy. Also, once again, they are unisex, making them an absolutely perfect pattern to return to time and time again.

There truly is something special about a couple of stolen hours in an afternoon spent quietly knitting baby items that's different than doing anything else. The stitches hold a particular charm unknown to all other pursuits. One can almost smell that magical essence of baby as the needles glide along smoothly. Baby knitting takes therapeutic value to a whole new level of nirvana. It must be experienced rather than described. If you love it like I do, you understand; it's a feeling, not an action. 

Choice of color and adding embellishment (or not) makes this exquisite cabled earflap hat unisex also. For my favorite go-to crocheted rose and leaf pattern you can hop over to Attic 24 and whip up as many May Roses as you like.

Few things fill my heart with the same measure of joy as the sight of one so fresh from God nestled warmly in one of my handknit items. Babies are like tiny stars dropped down from heaven sent to add sparkle to all the dim corners of the world. They grow and shine their light into every crack and crevice, helping us to focus on the bright and beautiful things in life. For that we owe them a great deal.

•                 “Like stars are to the sky, so are the children to our world. 
•                                          They deserve to shine!”
•                                           Chinonye J. Chidolue

Alpaca Love

My current knitting love affair is with Alpaca.

For those of you who have either

 knitted with this sumptuous fiber

yourself or have been the recipient

 of a gift made in alpaca or baby alpaca,

you totally understand the allure.

Alpaca is softness personified.

As it floats through my fingers...

 I lose myself in a daydream.

I feel the tension rising up and leaving my

 body as my mind relaxes into the rhythm

of needles while this delicate fiber dances along,

 whispering in soothing motions to my soul.

Quite happily, my last couple of custom orders

called for either Alpaca or Baby Alpaca.

The hat on the left is made using Knit Picks

Simply Alpaca Aran

in Alma, which is a soft creamy almond color.

Though it comes in hank form and I have two yarn swifts,

sometimes I find the slow process of 

hand winding yarn into a ball very soothing,

which is why you see it that way as opposed  to a yarn cake.

What I really love about this fiber is that it is unbelievably soft.

Also it is undyed and unbleached meaning that all the colors are 

naturally occurring and there are no chemicals involved,

making it a wonderful choice for sensitive skin. 

This was the first time I had used this particular alpaca yarn

 and I ordered only the one hank to see how I would like it. 

I've already decided I will be using it from now on.

The smaller hat on the right is knit from

 Andean Treasure, one of my favorite

Baby Alpaca's that I've used many times from Knit Picks.

This yarn is a Sport Weight. 

The hat is made in the color Fog Heather and I used

Dogwood Heather to crochet the little rose

for the larger hat to girlie it up.

While we're on the subject of "girlie-ness"

you'll see I've sewn a glass pearl into the center of the rose

for that extra touch of sweet femininity.

There's a pair of booties to go along with the grey hat.

This smaller set is for a baby boy. 

I love the versatility of the cable knit ear flap baby hats and booties

because I can knit them for either a baby girl or boy.

Over the years I've used wool, wool blends, 

organic cotton and cotton blends

to make these hats and booties.

Sometimes I sell them in sets and other times individually.

They are oftentimes my go to baby gift for family and friends.

My grandkids came home from the hospital in them.

I have to say I love them best in the alpaca or baby alpaca.

What a perfect way to combine two of my favorite things;

knitting for babies and knitting with alpaca.

As heavenly as these luxury fibers are to work with,

the real moment of pure ecstasy happens when the

item is all finished and I run my hands over it

and even gently squish it around.

There are times I even make my family

 give a little squeeze to the hats

 because I just love that divine feeling so much!

I'm telling you,

 if you don't work with Alpaca, 

you are missing out!

It's a whole mind, body, spirit experience

 as far as I'm concerned.

Also, it is absolutely perfect for delicate

baby skin that has just arrived fresh from God

and needs to be kept warm and snuggly.

Alpaca isn't prickly like wool and contains no lanolin,

causing garments made from it to be comfortable and hypoallergenic.

It's also warmer than wool and naturally water - repellant.

So if you have a little one in your life

or feel the need to wrap yourself in the 

most incredible softness you've ever known,

 I recommend you try some of this fabulous fiber.

I promise,  your heart will be blessed either way.

"Babies are such a nice way to start people."

Don Herold

To Market, To Market

I'm in a whirlwind of activity here...

Knitting needles, crochet hooks 

&

Yarn

are flying in an absolute storm around me

as fast as I can make them go!

On September 12, 13 & 14

I will have a booth at the 

Craft Faire

at our local

Pumpkin Festival,

along with my Monday night knitting girls :-)

We are so excited!

Anyone local can look for us under my business name ~

Front Porch Knits.

I had these darling tags custom made on an Etsy Shop.

There will of course be plenty of Pumpkin items for sale.

These are made from the Knit Picks patterns ~

Clove {crocheted}

&

Spice {knitted}

But you know me...

I can't show up without plenty of sweet little baby items as well.

Some covered baby hangers...

A pile of  baby hats...

The pattern for these can be found right 

here

And some booties for precious piggies.

These are just a sampling of my wares.

I will try to squeeze out the time to show some more before it all goes.

In the mean time,

Mr. Parker,

{look how fast they grow!}

my 3 month old grandson,

is keeping me busy 

Wednesday through Friday,

as his Mommy has returned to work.

A week ago Tuesday we had another new baby in our family.

My sister is now a Grammy for the first time.

Elijah Wade 

born August 18

weighing a whopping 

10 lbs. 6 oz. !!!

And my daughter Hilary is expecting her baby boy in a week or so!

PHEW!

It's a real good thing I love to make baby items :-)

Happy Holiday Weekend to All of You,

God Bless,

Xo

  Xo,

Danette

Spring Fling

I keep trying real hard to coax Spring weather

into my little corner of the world.

Everything I make looks like I'm on a 

definite Spring Fling!

When I saw this sweet crocheted amigurumi hat pincushion

in the latest Simply Crochet issue I knew I would have to 

give it a go :-)

Isn't it too darn cute?!!

Even its backside is pretty.

And it's nice for those of us who play with 

yarn because it holds anything

from regular pins and needles

to darning needles.

Of course I have also had my hands in a few 

more Springtime baby hats...

First a Flop Eared Bunny of my own design.

Flaunting a fluffy tail :-)

And a precious wee lamb hat.

I tweaked the original pattern here and there but only a very little.

The pattern was written by 

Becky Dossey

I actually purchased it from Craftsy.

I have been like a chicken

{notice I didn't say "Spring chicken"}

without a head lately

with so much yarn flying left and right.

I've been working at stocking my Etsy Shop,

taking care of some local orders,

teaching more knitting and crochet lessons 

than I usually do this time of year

plus....

getting ready for 

babies.

As it turns out 

Both

of my daughters are expecting them!!! 

Woo ~ Hoo !!! :-)))

Also, my sister is going to be Grammy for the first time.

In May I will have a grandson, 

in August my sister will have a grandbaby

& 

in September I will have another grandbaby.

We are still waiting to find out what the other two babes are.

I will get back to you as soon as I know.

After this never ending Winter

it's sure going to be a 

glorious Spring & Summer around here :-)))

The Pumpkin Patch

As knitter's, crocheter's, or crafter's of any kind we are usually working on more than one project at a time. So this is what I have been doing along side the pretty little pink sweater I just finished up. I've been working in the pumpkin patch! The small town I live in prides itself in being "the Pumpkin Capitol of the World" and every September we have....you guessed it....  a PUMPKIN FESTIVAL.
The gift shop downtown, LULU'S, that carries my handmade items sells these hats like there's no tomorrow. For a few weeks people in this town will buy ANYTHING that remotely resembles a pumpkin! This is the first year I have knit them up in this off white. I just LOVE it! Not being much of an orange lover,  I happen to prefer white pumpkins in all their creamy loveliness anyway. So I thought ... Hey, why not? And I think they are rather sweet and pure and soft.... just like a baby!

So now my workbasket {actually a Longaberger Pie Basket ~hmmm....must be dreaming of pumpkin pie while I knit!} is full of pumpkin making goodies. So the afternoon's find me sitting on my front porch swing with my knittting. As an added bonus each breeze brings with it the smell of Libby's Pumpkin Factory, which is just down the street and around the corner from my house. It permeates the whole town through August and September. It's what Fall smells like to us!
 

And notice the soft pumpkin shade of orange I use instead of a brighter shade. Much more to my liking. I think it has a nice vintage feel to it. I do occassionally make a bright orange one when someone requests it or just to offer up something different because we all have our own tastes. That's what makes life fun!

 

Hope you all have the best weekend ever. As for me... I'll be in the Pumpkin Patch!

Knit Night

As always Knit Night was SO MUCH FUN! Thanks Girls!!! We laughed, ate scones, drank tea, talked over each other, crocheted, knitted, swapped patterns, had show & tell, shared in each others lives and passed Sir Henry around all evening long until we just had no choice but to call it a night. Ahhh.... you are all so very good for my heart and soul! :) Next monday can't come soon enough.

Here's a recap of all that took place {well... at least all that can be mentioned... some things have to "stay in Vegas" so to speak}.

Mary Ann showed off her darling crocheted greyhound. I mean really ~ HOW CUTE!
Carey is almost finished crocheting that gorgeous doily baby blankie!
Erin knitted away on lovely little squares for a baby block.
Kathy got closer to the final stitches of a sweater she's knitting for Baby Weston ~ her first grandbaby who is due in March. Her daughter Renee is the cute mommy~ to~ be pictured next to Kathy.
Carey {Sir Henry's grandma} took a break to swaddle the wee little lord.
Erin & Malory worked away like busy little bee's {both of them are new mommy's for the 3rd time & enjoy some time when their busy hands are free enough for yarn!}
Grandma Brenda {my mom ~ our honorary member who is here to rock all babies} snatched Sir Henry at the first chance!
Miss Malory {Sir Henry's mommy}finished a beautiful sock. {That was sock #1 ~ NO 2nd sock syndrome. You MUST finish the other one now.}

See you all next week!