Triangle Patchwork Pillows

In order to practice my triangle piecing abilities (and to use up scraps in my stash), I created some pillow covers.  Easy, quick, and pretty adorable, if I may say so myself.

These pillow covers are now for sale in my Etsy shop.  They would be great for a splash of color in your living room or a child's bedroom/nursery!

Manda Ruth Cardigan

I love knitting pieces that have interesting texture.  Maybe it's because I'm lazy and don't want to change colors!   I wanted a basic cardigan that Baby Gus could wear with lots of outfits during the chilly spring (last spring of course!).  This great seed stitch cardigan is "Manda Ruth" by Jane Richmond Designs. I used madelinetosh chunky in "Winter Wheat." I made the 3 month size, and it fit him well during months 2, 3 & 4! See it on my ravelry page, here!

Jenny's Triangle Quilt

My friend Jenny saw my Instagram posts about my first triangle quilt.  She casually/jokingly asked if I would make her a pink & navy triangle quilt for her soon-to-arrive baby girl.  I sort of laughed and gave her a "I wish I had time for that..." response.  But then I could not stop thinking about how cute that would be.  Navy and Hot Pink?!  It had to happen.  And it happened.  In one weekend.  I just love it, don't you?

Basic Baby Pants

These Basic Baby Pants by Sweet Baby Dolly were so easy!  They are "newborn/infant" size -- I think they fit Gus for months 1-3. 

C'mon, Smile Gus!

 

Visit Sweet Baby Dolly's Etsy shop for more patterns, or just for yummy color combination inspiration!

Triangle Quilt

I just HAD to make a triangle quilt! I kept pinning them and pinning them.  With an auction for Henry's school coming up, I thought this could be a good way to get a triangle quilt out of my system.  All the fabric I used came from my stash!  I only had to buy the batting and back.

Planning

Cutting (300+ Triangles, if you're curious)

I used the Modern Ombre Black & White Triangle Quilt Tutorial from See Kate Sew.  (**Note: make sure you download the updated pattern piece if you are going to try this yourself!**)  Also see her notes on matching up the triangle points--very helpful.  My points aren't perfect, but I got better and better!

 

 

The Finished Top

 

 Binding - I love hand-binding my quilts!

All Done! 

 

  I used "Crosshatch In Grey" by Carolyn Friedlander for the back.  It's extra wide (108" so I could use one continuous piece). I've used it before for quilts and love it as a simple neutral!

 

I ALMOST didn't donate this to the auction, because I ended up loving it so much.  But I did, and I'm so happy that it has a new home.  There will be more triangle quilts in my future....

 



Garter Ear Flap Hat for Gus

I had yarn leftover from Gus's Baby Jumper, so I made this hat that I'd had my eye on--The Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho.  It was easy, fast, and so cute!  Find the pattern notes here on my Ravelry Page.


The quilt he is laying on in this picture is our family's Comfort Quilt!  Remember this?  Feels like we took that pic with Baby Henry just yesterday.  Love love.

Gus's Baby Quilt : Crib Size Deer and Geometric Quilt

I made Gus a quilt that matches his big brother's!  Here's a pic from when I first finished it, back in August.

Soooo....I know, I should have planned the baby's quilt before making yet another item for the big boy.  Well, that's life for the second-born, right?   I had ample fabric left over from Henry's big boy quilt.  Fabric that could not be used for just ANYthing...so I created a crib-sized quilt for Gus.  This time instead of straight-up 4" squares, I alternated skinnier rows, because some of my scraps weren't quite wide enough.  

Details:
Finished Size - 42" x 56"
Wide Rows: 5" squares
Skinny Rows: 3.5" wide scraps (varying lengths)
"Warm & Natural" Cotton Batting

 

 For the back and binding, I used "Vanes in Charcoal" by Hawthorne Threads:

The "now" picture, of my big boys:

But this baby face!!  Mmmmwah! 

Baby Jumper : Handknit Baby Pajamas

What is less practical than handknit baby pajamas?  Well, I can probably name a few more things, but this is pretty impractical.  But it was just one of those things that I wanted to knit for my sweet baby boy.  When you knit something for someone, it's like tangible evidence of thinking of that person.  With every stitch (well almost every stitch....I do watch football while I knit....) you are thinking about that person, remembering them or just dreaming about them, if they're not "here" yet!

So there I sat, in my orange chair with my feet up, usually before Henry's 6am wake-up, busting this thing out even though my hands were going numb (ugh, pregnancy) for my baby GusGus.

 Front

 

 

 Back

So sweet! 

And what did GusGus do every time I put him in this outfit?  Pooped on it of course, just like I thought he would!

Oh well. :)

Notes:  This pattern was "Baby Jumper" by Pinar Ürün Sizun, found on Ravelry.
Knit with Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in "Blue-Green" (1910)  <--machine p="" washable="">
If I were to knit it again (and I might!), I would make it more long and skinny, in the body, arms, and legs.  But I loved this pattern and it was quite easy!

The link to this project on my Ravelry page is here!

Foxy Boy

Auntie Alli made Gus this beyond-adorable crocheted fox hat, with matching mitts.  They were perfect for his newborn shoot (by Fritzi's Photography, of course)!  Love, love, love!

His other aunties had some more crocheted goodness for his shoot, too. A little pod and a diaper cover.  I just love my crafty fam!

Henry's Big Boy Quilt : Deer & Geometric Twin Quilt

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As weird as it was to face facts that Henry was going to be in a big-boy bed, I knew this was a perfect opportunity to add a crafty touch to his new room.  I fell in love with the deer, the triangles, just the colors in these two fabrics!  I used the deer and triangles to find matching solids, and used coordinating dots as well. 

"Elk Family Multi" by Jay-Cyn Designs

 

"Serengeti Right Angle" by Jay-Cyn Designs

 

I used a simple, straight-up square pattern.  Each square measures 5". The final dimensions of the quilt are 62 x 80 (approx. twin size).

Now the catch: the child refuses to sleep with a blanket on his bed!!  (Photo above is 100% staged.) I mean, not even folded up at the end, or tossed over the footboard!  So guess who uses this now? Me! I used a high-loft batting, which made it a little trickier for machine quilting (oops, tucks and gathers here and there)...but oh-so warm and cozy.  If he wants it back, he's going to have to fight me for it.

I'm BACK : with a new name!

Wow!  It's been almost exactly 2 years since my last post!  Can you guess why this blog fell out of use?  If you guessed "kids," then you are correct.  I now have TWO busy boys! Our littlest guy, Gus, was born last February.  Now that the first year is out of the way, it's time to start some updates. 

You may be asking yourself, what's with the name "five to six" ? Well, once upon a time, 5-6(am!) was my craftiest time.  I'm a morning person, so it was the best time to get things done.  Once upon a time.  Now times are very different.  What happens between 5-6am now?  My boys wake up!  It sounds weird, but that still makes it a very good time of day.  We wake up and have our beverages, stories & snuggles. 

This pic is from one year ago, but it's the exact same routine to this day (except Gus's bottle is bigger).

Every night when I put Henry to bed, I ask him to name his favorite part of the day.  More often than not, he says, "when we started the whole day."  He loves 5-6 too!  Maybe someday I will have creative time from five to six.  But for now, it's still my happy hour!