Knuffle Bunny

THANK YOU PLUCKY MOMO!

Emilie at Plucky Momo created a Knuffle Bunny pattern back in 2010 and I am so thankful.  Wren has been so in love with the book that we maxed out the renewals at the library.  When the book went missing I had a few moments where I wondered if her almost 2 year old brain was cagey enough to hide the book to avoid the return. 

When I came across the pattern I was super excited because I even had fabric in the exact right colour.  Sadly it is minky and I hate working with it.  It moves, it sheds and it is a bit thicker then I like to deal with normally. 

I made a few changes to Emilie's pattern.  I traced the pattern with the head and body already attached and made the ears entirely blue on the front.  These changes were both made to make my life easier, fewer steps for me. 

When I finished there was one very happy little girl in our house.  So far Chickenbutt has not asked for one.

Wall-E

I tried to avoid the Disneyfication of my kids. I really did. But it's everywhere. And they do a FANTASTIC job of advertising. Although we do have a few of the dolls we have avoided princess mania so far. The other day we did buy two fairies (with kids this close in age it is just easier to buy two of everything) but Chickenbutt wanted her Tinkerbell to play with Superfairy from Sesame Street. We added paper wings to a dancing Cinderella doll to create a reasonable facsimile of Superfairy.

We recently went to a Wall-E themed birthday party. A few days before the party I pulled the movie out of my stash and popped it in. This was on a Wednesday. By the time we went to the party on the Saturday we had watched Wall-E three times.  By the way, the cake at the party was AMAZING!  Honestly, you would think the Pixar people were involved.  It was a PERFECT Wall-E.

We are now BIG into Wall-E.  It is VERY hard to find anything Wall-E! In a moment of pure insanity I took Chickenbutt downstairs into the sewing cave and we chose the felt colours so I could make her a Wall-E.  Then I was under constant pressure and close supervision until he was finished.



Version 1
*Note the cockroach, our librarian gave it to Chickenbutt and I
got to spend an hour at the doctor's office asking her if she still had it.  That kid is weird!

"You can work on my Wall-E now if you want."

"Daddy, finish my Wall-E"  "Mommy has to, I don't know how."  "You just have to read the instructions"

"You have to take time now!"

"Apparently you need one more thing on my Wall-E.  He's missing his red button."

"You make one for Wren now!"





Version 2



 As with everything I am unsure of, I decided to make the first Wall-E out of felt.  I did find two cute crochet patterns but am not quite that skilled.  I am quite pleased to say I was really happy with how he turned out.  While I was working on him I took numerous photos with the thought of creating a tutorial.  Then I realized that Disney would break my legs.  And sue me.  Wall-E version 2 is made out of quilting fabric and I like him better except for the arms.  They are a bit wonky and too fat.  Wall-E version 3 (if he ever shows up) will be perfect!

"Now I need an EVE and a cleaning robot."

One Baby Gift Down...

I have been working on this quilt for a friend's baby for months now.  I started it before the baby was even born and he is now 8 months old.  I finally gave up.  There was one problem after another, I didn't like the colours, the stitching was a bit crooked, the binding wasn't straight.  The other night I noticed that the binding didn't catch in one spot.  Damn.  Enough!  Not only is the gift late but it has to go to DENMARK.  I packed up the other parts of the gift (a superman quilt, John Deere stuffie and sock monkey) and sent it off.

Of course I only took a photo of the sock monkey.

I must really love the little guy's mother because I really hate sock monkeys.  They are such a pain.  The sock rolls, it is so narrow and hard to turn out.  The thread is hard to see unless you use a contrasting colour but then you can see the stitches and mine are not always so neat.  I am pleased to say that this sock monkey only took an evening.  He worked out quite nicely.  One ear is a little off but that is the joy of a handmade item.

My oldest LOVED her sock monkey.  I was a little sad when she gave him up for her mass produced Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh.  He is starting to make a comeback which makes me happy.

Hmm, what does the Backson do?

According to Owl, "they use their horns to put hole in your socks,"

Chickenbutt is really into Winnie the Pooh right now.  Even with the movie just out it is hard to find Pooh toys beyond those for babies.   Creative Mommy  Santa's elves decided to create a Backson toy.  I am super proud of this little guy but a little disturbed by the resulting chaos in my home. 
I have found two socks with holes in them since the arrival of the Backson. 
Wren and Muffin are now able to open all the dresser drawers and enjoy pulling socks out.  The blind cat has a tendency to hunt socks and present them to us as if he were a real cat with access to mice and birds.  Could that explain the wrecked socks? 

I was quite happy with the final product except the arms.  I contemplated sewing the red and purple felt together to make a striped piece but for some reason decided against it.  I wish I would have now.  I don't like the way the arm stripes don't match up.  I was seriously considering remaking it until I remembered that Chickenbutt is only 2 and WON'T CARE OR NOTICE.  She was thrilled with it!


***Disney, please don't sue me!