Going by soooooo fast....

Whew,
It has been awhile since I've been back to the space to share with you all! It is not without good reason, though, we have just been so very busy. I have been knitting of course, as well as school and just making some necessary changing around the house. I'm hoping that now that our "life" routine has settled into a rhythm that works for us, that I can find a rhythm to my blogging as well. I have so much that I want to share with you all, my dear readers and dear friends- things from our adventures in learning, to things that make our lives and days better, to getting through the doldrums but coming out on top.....books I'm reading and of course, the things I have been knitting, especially in my Anderson/Anderson project! It's been a little difficult to share those lately because I've been working on several secret projects, so shhhhhhh.....I'll be posting some of those soon, I promise!
I have also re-opened my Etsy shop: MonkeyButtBabies, so if you are in the market for some custom longies, please look me up! I love my custom orders and coming up with cute creations for your little one's bums! My poor children can only wear so many pairs of pants and momma has so many ideas.
Here is one of my favorites I currently have listed in the shop, I call him "Cheshire", and I bet you can guess why!:




And here is a custom order I have out drying now, ready to ship off to it's new home on an Apple Orchard, how fitting!

(did you notice that little apple on the leg? And there is an apple tree on the bum! Head over to the shop to check it out!)


And as promised, my Anderson/Anderson fun-
Sail Hat for my Micah man who is still in his "blue" phase. He requested this hat for his birthday, instead of a cake hat like his sister and brother. I could not say no!


I knit his hat out of some Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton that I had leftover from knitting the vest off the cover of Living Crafts Summer 2010 magazine- loved this sweet knit and the boys will be sporting matching vests once I have the time to sew the boat on Peter's! If you have not knit with the skinny cotton, you must! It is simply a delight! The hat is perfect for our warmer weather, and the boat is just the right embellishment for my Pirate loving boy! And I think that the way the hat ties at the very top is just so sweet and unique. Wonderful boy knitting!

I kept with the tradition of knitting the kids a toy from Itty Bitty Toys, and Micah chose the Sock Monkey! He was such a fun little knit- I had the best time knitting him (ok, so maybe the sock weight yarn did get me a little worked up every once in a while.....) Micah was very adament that his monkey have some sort of "blue" to him, so I found the perfect yarn, Knit Picks Imagination, the colorway is called "Wild West". I am thinking that I am going to need to knit some of the Bears in this yarn, because it reminded me of the bears my mom sent them from Arizona when they were all little. I cannot believe how fast they grow up! Here's the best shot I have of Micah the Monkey! His monkey has joined his bedtime menagerie of toys, so I'll have to wait to bring him out for another photo shoot!


I'll leave you with just one last project! Micah asked me to knit this one as well, but I think Peter has played with just as much (and I think it's just the cutest little knit!) It's the Koala Mommy and Baby from Itty Bitty Toys. I LOVED everything about this knit. I knit it in the suggested yarn, Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton, but I changed the colors. I had some Thistle and some Lemongrass leftover from some other knitting and thought they just looked so cute together. I also decided to change the main color of the mommy and baby. They are such a cute little set. If you are a new knitter, or even considering knitting, this would be an excellent first project for you! The body's of the koalas are the Squishes, which is another pattern in the Itty Bitty Book! It is an excellent project for learning to knit in the round, work on your I-cord, and a great way to jump in for a quick, gratifying and sweet project! I just cannot say enough good things about this knit, I am in love! I cannot wait to knit some squishes now, especially since Peter loves throwing his toy balls, and they aren't always that soft. I am planning on using some hand dyed yarn that I won from my Ravelry friend over at : http://rlchase.blogspot.com/ She does some amazing dying and sewing work, so be sure to check out her Etsy shop as well!

Here's my Koala Family:


And now, if you don't mind, I have some knitting to get back to! I have some swap projects I need to get finished up (Teddy Bear Tea Party and Pirate related!) so that I will be ready for my Spud and Chloe Watermelon yarn when it arrives so I can join the Sweater Knit along on the Spud and Chloe Blog! Looking forward to it!

Best Wishes,
Jessica