Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Three Peas in a Pod




I recently whipped up a sweet little improvised set of peas in a pod for my best friend's son on the occasion of his first birthday. It was such a fun and easy project that I thought I'd share it with you. Keep in mind that, as with all of my instructions, they are a little sketchy.

I used a green ww yarn. In this case, Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille in "fern", and a hook only just large enough to grab the yarn. The fabric needs to be really tight to prevent the stuffing from showing through.

Pea Baby (make 3) foundation round: ch 2. 6 sc in second ch from hook.
rnd 1: 2 sc in every st. around (12 sts)
rnd 2: *sc, 2sc in next st* repeat around (18 sts)
rnds 3-5: sc in every st around
rnd 6: *sc, sc 2 tog* repeat around (12 sts)
firmly stuff the pea before the final round
rnd 7: sc 2 tog in every st. around (6 sts)
break end leaving a tail 8" or longer. Weave through each stitch around and pull firmly to close. Knot well and draw end through the pea a few times before cutting off.
Embroider face as desired.

Pea Pod (make 2)
Foundation row: ch 17. turn.
row 1: skipping first ch. from hook, sc across to last st. 2 sc in last st. (17 sts) ch 1 and turn.
rows 2-10: sc to last st. 2 sc in last st. ch 1 and turn.
Check whether your pod is wide enough to hold all 3 peas. If not, add a few more increase rows before moving on.
rows 11-15: sc across.
Break yarn leaving a tail about the length of your arm. Sew the two halves together.
Test the fit with your peas in the pod. If it is not deep enough to hold them in, single crochet around the top edge until you are happy with the fit.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

More Family snaps

So we went to the park this afternoon after Zach got home from work. It's the last week of tax season so we haven't seen much of him the last few days. We thought it would be nice to spend some time outdoors.
It wasn't as much fun as it looks. It was really windy and the little ones were pretty crabby. The kids all decided at the same time that they were really hungry and couldn't wait another moment for dinner, so we didn't stay too long. But for the time we did stay, Zach tried to go fishing and the kids tried to play in the sand. Then the boy got inconsolably grouchy about the wind so we had to go. It doesn't signify, because we had a few fun moments and I got some pretty cute photos. The one Zach took of me... well, I can't excuse his crooked photography. I was actually sitting on a hill.