Knitting for Dogs--Picture Book Review & Knitting for Kids Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As the days have truly grown colder here, winter has set in. It is a time to get cozy and of course that makes me think of knitting. Today I am going to share with you a fun new picture book about knitting as well as a round-up of knitting for kids ideas. The book is Knitting for Dogs by Laurel Molk. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Adorable Knitted Animals -- a Crafty Sundays Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Tomorrow is World Animal Day. To celebrate I am sharing a book to knit adorable stuffed animals. This way you can make an animal or two for your child to play with or for you to cuddle! The book is Adorable Knitted Animals: Cute Stuffed Toys to Knit the Japanese Way by Hiroko Ibuki. 

A Book to Teach Myself Some New Knitting Stitches

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you knit? I am a simple knit kind of girl. I tend to do things that don't require much of a pattern. I also tend to only do things that need me to knit and purl. I don't even change colors and really think of myself as a beginner even though I have been knitting for decades. For my Mommy Time Post I thought I would share a resource that has been helping me expand my knitting talent or at least trying to. The resource is Japanese Wonder Knitting by Nihon Vogue.

Finger Knitting for Kids Review

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am going to share a fun craft book for kids aged 7 to 12. It involves finger knitting. Finger knitting is a fun activity for kids. We learned about it back when we attended classes at the Waldorf School. All they need is some yarn. Today I am sharing Finger Knitting for Kids: Super Cute & Easy Things to Make by Eriko Teranishi. 

Easy Knitted Fingerless Gloves -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Fall begins tomorrow and soon the weather will catch back up with the seasons. It has been rather warm here this weekend. It is time to start thinking about the cooler weather and getting ready for it. Today I am going to share a book about knitting fingerless gloves. They are perfect for those cool days when your hands just feel cold but you still want use of your fingers. 

My Prayer Shawl -- a Crafty Weekends Link Party

It is time for Crafty Weekends!! This week I have been working on my prayer shawl which is finally almost finished. I started it over seven years ago. I had made my sister one rather quickly when she was going through a divorce and then I liked hers so much I wanted one in pink. I bought the organic yarn and started it. It is an easy pattern (which I still messed up); knit three, purl three. The three stitches represent the Trinity. The idea of a prayer shawl is the knitter says prayers for the person who uses it so the prayers are knit into it. One of my first experiences with prayer shawls was actually a prayer baby blanket. My aunt got one when I was pregnant with Hazel and my mother brought it to me when I was on bedrest. When Hazel was in the special care unit she had this blanket on her. Then my church gave me a prayer shawl to send my aunt when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

Anyone Can Knit -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Skyhorse Publishing sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Lately Hazel has been askign to learn to knit. I have attempted to teach her on my own, but it usually ends in a fight. My mother helped her a bit with it awhile ago, but Hazel hasn't really practiced and thus hasn't kept it yet. However I was excited to get Anyone Can Knit by Libby Summers in hopes it would help her. 

Gifts of Books -- Ideas for All Ages -- Crafts, Activities and Non-Fiction Books

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you love giving books as gifts? One of my sisters always gives Hazel books for a gift. I know I tend to love giving books to friends' children as well. Today I am sharing a variety of books for different ages and people in your life.

Books for the Younger Kids

Let's start with the youngest. Our first book is Hey, Baby! by Stephanie Warren Drimmer.

Fun with Stitchables -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

This week I am sharing another kid's craft book, however before I begin I thought I would share what craft I have been working on. I picked up a project that I started ages ago and haven't worked on in quite awhile. It is a prayer shawl that I am making for myself.

Increase Decrease -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Reminder this link party is for all types of crafts, craft tutorials and craft product reviews!

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Do you knit? I know the basics but get a bit nervous when it comes to harder things. Although my mother assures me I can do harder patterns. Well one of the things that always confuses me (and scares me) is when you have to increase or decrease your stitches. I only know a few basic ways to do this and it is not always the right way for the pattern. I found the perfect aid for me and it is Increase, Decrease by Judith Durant. 

Creative Kids Complete Photo Guide to Knitting -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

This week flew by and somehow I ended up very behind this weekend. So Crafty Weekends is starting later than usual. Though I am thinking it might be a better time since I have noticed people getting confused by Sharing Saturday and Crafty Weekends. What do you think? I would love to hear. This week we have been very busy crafting and decorating for Hazel's Wild Kratts themed birthday party which was today (and thus why I didn't pull it together to write the post before now). With many things to share about the party I thought I would give you a preview with this picture.

I am rather proud of my paper pom pom monkey head. As Hazel's party grew closer Hazel ended up staying home sick for two days. I took her to the doctor's office the first day to ensure she would be better for the party (after all we had ten of her friends coming this year). Luckily the antibiotics helped get rid of the fever and worst of the symptoms so she was able to have the party. On the second day she started getting her energy back and wanted to be entertained. We pulled out Creative Kids Complete Photo Guide to Knitting by Mary Scott Huff. 

Mini Knitted Christmas -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Search Press. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase from them.

Are you getting ready for Christmas? I know we are at my house. Advent starts this weekend and I had grand plans of knitting Hazel a Nativity set to put in her Advent calendar this year. I was so excited to see the patterns in Mini Knitted Christmas by Sue Stratford. 

This book has patterns for an entire Nativity set including the stable. The instructions are easy to follow and very clear. I however got myself confused and gave up on my Mary and stopped there. (This confusion was my own fault and not the book's.)

Finger Knitting Fun and Pom Pom Kits -- Product Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

What can you do with a ball of yarn? Lots of things, but here are some fun crafts that you do not need much more than a ball of yarn to make. Both of these crafts were handwork Hazel would have done if she remained in the Waldorf school, but since she is no longer attending there, I got to do them with her. The handwork was one of the things I loved about the Waldorf school. Hazel and I started with two Pompom kits. The first is Make Pompom Animals.

The kit comes with a book, six balls of yarn, two pompom makers in different sizes and some googly eyes and paper clips. I started by making a blue bird similar to the one on the cover.

Mini Knitted Woodland and Safari Book Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Search Press. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today I am reviewing two fun knitting books. Both books make miniature animals and accessories, one is safari animals and the other is woodland animals. Both are written by Sachiyo Ishii. 

We will start with Mini Knitted Safari. I mentioned my knitted hippo back in April when I began it, but then the end of the school year stuff got in the way. I finally finished it, and it really should not have taken more than a day if I knitted consistently and was not so tired and distracted. Once I picked it up again I finished it right up.

Sharing Saturday 13-22

I have a crazy day and a crazy week scheduled this coming week, so I am starting Sharing Saturday early and it will last two weeks! That way I will have two weeks to try to get the visiting done--especially since I cannot imagine getting much done the first week. There will be some features from last week this week as well as next week, so make sure you come back to see if you were featured. If you have not checked out the amazing ideas shared last week, you really should go and be inspired. Here are my features.

First I cannot let one of the farm playmats made from the swap I ran go by without featuring it. Look how great this one came out. (I still have a little more to do on Hazel's, but it is coming along.) This one is from My Rhythm and Rhyme in Motherhood.

Then there were a few themes from last week's shared posts. Today I am going to share some of the gardening themed posts.

1) From The Gift of Curiosity: Dissecting a Flower (I should note she also shared dyeing flowers last week too)

2) From Carrots Are Orange: Introducing Parts of a Seed to Preschoolers

3) From Fit Kids Clubhouse: Garden Math (I love that they are learning in the garden!! It is truly the best way to learn instead of cards and books.)

4) From Trillium Montessori: Flower Activities

5) From Making Boys Men: 5 Tips for Gardening with Kids

6) From Domestic Bliss Squared: Growing Potatoes in a Garbage Pail

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here or earlier this week, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess: Another busy week but we shared an American South Cinderella--The Talking Eggs, our small world jungle playscape and a Minnie Mouse outfit.

 

Now for This Week's Party 
 
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Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest. 

Knitted Farm Swap Update

Sharing Saturday is still open!! Please come share your child-oriented crafts and activities with us! 

My current GIVEAWAY is still open!!

Do you remember the Knitted Farm Swap for which I was looking for participants back in March? Well yesterday, I finally received the last of the squares and organized them all and sent them out. (This is what I was doing instead of getting Sharing Saturday up and running on time.) Today, I'm going to share with you the squares.

Crazy Week...Swimming, Sleeping Beauty, Peach and Raspberry Picking, Doll Doctoring...

Have you entered the giveaway yet? I am giving away a copy of My Garden by Kevin Henkes and many of the other blogs hosting this month's Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids are giving away some of his other books. Harper Collins is providing us with the books.

Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you haven't sat down, but also feel like you haven't done anything. That is me this week. Hazel had her last week of the summer swim lessons. They are redoing the YMCA indoor pool for the next three weeks or so and the next session doesn't start until after that. We also signed her up for a dance class to start in a couple of weeks. My goal is not to overbook her this year.

Tuesday we went to our local McDonalds and she met Sleeping Beauty. We took one of Steve's distant cousins with us who is eleven and Steve's mother met us there.The eleven-year-old loves to play with Hazel and Hazel loves playing with her. 

Wednesday we had her last swim lesson and then we went to the yarn store and then to Connors Farm to pick raspberries and peaches. We were there around lunch time, but the only prepared food they had was ice cream so we had frozen yogurt and raspberries for lunch. Oops! We are going to be making peach jam soon!

Today we were suppose to go to the zoo in Boston with a friend, but due to a stroller in the wrong car we didn't. We were tired and kind of wanting a day at home to sit and enjoy. Of course we went out and ran errands. I bought some knitting needles so I can start on Hazel's Three Little Pig dolls. I bought yarn yesterday for them. Tomorrow we are going to see a musical version of the story. Hazel is so excited!

While at Joann's we decided to look at fabric for Hazel's Halloween costume. She has decided she wants to be Rapunzel. I picked up a pattern last weekend when they were on sale for $1 and we decided to go with cotton instead of satin. I'm hoping she will be able to wear the dress for her birthday party as well since she wants it to be princess themed and thinks all of her dress up clothes are itchy. Though I did get a picture of her today dressed up in one. The expression is due to the itchiness.

Then of course I have been playing doll doctor. I'm making some progress. I haven't sewn on Carrie's hair yet, but at least have it ready to be sewn on. I'm still working on Angel's, but this type takes a long time and a lot of patience. Then I got this book from the library. It is by the person who wrote the pattern for Angel. My mother also made several others of her doll patterns which are in this book. There are also animal patterns including an entire Noah's Ark. I can't wait to try some of them. I bought a used copy off of Amazon and cannot wait to get it. 
What have you been up to this week?

Quick Knitted Bunny

Awhile ago I pinned this pattern on my Easter Pinterest Board. The pattern is from Mochimochi Land and is free. I made a few minor changes. I didn't have fingerweight yarn and couldn't find my small needles, so I used worset weight and number 5 needles. I also made the ears a bit longer. I also pulled a bit of the stuffing to be the tail. Without the ears and eyes the pattern would also make a nice Easter egg (especially with the right yarn).  That will be my next attempt.

It was really quick and easy to knit up. I did it in about an hour (once I found what I was going to use and sat down and did it). I'm going to put it in Hazel's Easter basket. I better make it a few friends though.

I'm guest posting over at Mama Mia's Heart2Heart! Come over and say hi!!

Happy Monday!! Hope you will join us tomorrow for Happy Family Times and share what you have been enjoying with your family! And Sharing Saturday is open through Wednesday!! Stop by to share or check out the amazing links that have already been shared!! I hope you have a great day!!

Knitted Farm Swap

Please note: All of the pictures in this post are from Living Crafts Magazine and are used with their permission. Please do not pin any of them since they are not mine.

Some of the patches closer up (Winter 2008)

Snowball Fight (Indoors) and weather related crafts

Well dear sweet Hazel has really been wanting to have a snowball fight and to make a snowman, but Father Winter has not been successful this year in letting it happen. (Though we may get some this weekend.) I decided to make her some indoor snowballs. This idea came to me when I made a needle felted wool ball to put in the dryer. Adding them to a load in the dryer decreases the amount of time needed in the dryer.  I used wool stuffing which happened to be white. Hazel saw them and called them snowballs. (I had made one for my mother since her dryer is horrible and takes forever to dry clothes.) She also told me she wanted one.

Since Hazel feel asleep on the way home from school, I had time to make these for her. When she woke up we had a snowball fight and we made a snowman. When Daddy came home, we repeated everything.

I also finished another owl this morning. I gave this one (and another one similar to the ones in this post) to Hazel's teacher for her classroom. Again I got the pattern at Natural Suburbia.

I made this one a snowy owl. The kids were fighting over them in school today.





Another craft we did this morning was one I saw on Pinterest, but the original came from Hands On: As We Grow. A fruity o's rainbow. I was thinking you could also do this with conversation hearts especially the Sweetheart ones since they have the nice blue ones.

I happened to have a box of Fruit Loops in the house because we strung them to make Hazel a necklace and bracelet last week. She enjoyed eating them while she glued them on.


We also finished up some valentines and this afternoon after her nap we got them mailed at the post office to my family. Since we add crafts, a picture frame with a picture, etc. we needed to go to the post office to see how much to put on them. Hopefully they will get there by Tuesday.

Anyway, that is how we spent our day. Tomorrow we are hoping to get outside for a bit since it is suppose to be close to 50 and Saturday we are suppose to get an arctic freeze and snow storm.

One final note, please go check out all the amazing Sharing Saturday entries this week. We have received a few in the past few days and I would love for you to see them. And of course come back to share with us again this weekend!!