Crafts for Boys

What can I do Mum?

posted by Helen

It's a phrase often heard round here and my reply is often a list of crafty things in the hope that I might inspire Tom to leave the computer or my phone for half an hour atleast. Today, after running through all the usual options which were greated with slience, I tried a different tack and suggested sewing and knitting, which to my great surprise resulted in an enthusiastic, "oh yes, we could knit a shark for me to cuddle in bed!!!!!!!!!"

I'm not sure the words cuddly and shark appear together very often, but it is very Tom, so we set off on a hunt for some grey wool. Now I like a challenge but i did think this time we'd bitten off more than we could chew. But after scratching my head and sketching for 5 minutes I came up with a basic pattern and with varying amounts of help from Tom (it did take a little longer than half an hour) we succeeded. Apparently it's not as big as Tom had hoped, but there was only a little bit of grey wool (actually left over from a tea cosy I made for Cara ) so that was my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Rather than two identical halves, I just made the body to be stuffed, leaving the tail and fin as single pieces. I incorporated a red section for the mouth, then crotcheted some teeth on afterwards. So here he is, Tom's new friend, Sharky, a smily and cuddly knitted shark!

(Please scroll down for the photos!)

Baby gifts

posted by Cara

I just wanted to share a few gorgeous baby gifts that I recently received for Hector.  My good friend Susan sent this fantastic blanket that she made!

 
At first, I saw the back of it and immediately fell in love.  It truly is the softest blanket ever.

 
Then I turned it around and got all teary eyed!

 
 
Duggan was my mom's maiden name, I love that she included his middle name.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this blanket :D  It's in his cradle (along with one my Nannie knit when Jacques was born) and keeps him warm while he sleeps.

Next, is this precious cross stitch that Henar, my SIL and Hector's godmother, made for him.  So sweet and pretty.  It's going up over his crib.

 
 

This is a snuggly blanket that Meaghan, my future SIL (and future wife of Hector's godfather) made. Pretty and practical :D  This is in his baby seat and keeps him cuddly warm during the day.

 
 

Thanks ladies for all the love and hard work that went into these gifts :D

Our four bears

posted by Helen

There are many amazingly realistic soft toys available these days (how old do I sound??), but I love my seventies bear with her round legs and squashy nose! My husband has a very similar bear ( except his is pink!!) so when I found out I was expecting for the first time, I decided to make a similar bear for my new baby.  My mum found an old knitting pattern in a Woman's Weekly (probably from the same era and in all likelihood by the very talented designer Jean Greenhowe) so having plenty of time on my hands I made one for Tom. 

Having set the precedent, when I found out I was pregnant again, baby number two was going to have to have a bear too.  Of course this time I didn't have hours to while away, so I've just finished Joe's bear - in time for his first birthday!!

 

Being super organised, I couldn't find the pattern from the first bear so I decided to have a go at copying it... with mixed results.  He's a bit on the wonky side, and rather bigger than the others, but I'm sure Joe will love him.  His bear family already do!

 

 

 

Environmentally friendly fabrics.

posted by Helen and Mae Betts

So far we have posted several items which reuse fabric or are designed to prolong the life of garments, but I also wanted to pass on some information about options to consider for new but environmentally friendly fabrics.

I first met Mae nearly ten years ago. To this day I have yet to meet anyone else who is so commited to living in harmony with our planet.  For her wedding, Mae knitted a beautiful dress in bamboo fibre.  When I wanted to post about sources of 'eco-friendly' fabric, I knew straight who to turn to for advice. In fact the response I received was so detailed there seemed little point in re-writing it. I hope you won't mind Mae! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with us:

 

The fabrics and fibres that I have managed to source for my own use are:

Organic cotton fabric (simply to use as floor sheets for our yoga classes)
Organic linen
(both from Greenfibres)

'Baby Bamboo' - bamboo-wool mix yarn
'Just Soya' - 100% soya yarn
'Eco Wool' - sheep's wool in natural colours, undyed
(all made by Sirdar and from my local yarn shop)

'Bamboo Tape' - 100% bamboo yarn
(made by Rowan and from my local yarn shop)

I have bought clothes and towels in organic cotton, hemp, soya and bamboo. What I am aware constitutes good practice are the following:

- organic cotton is certified organic by bodies such as the Soil Association
- the dyes used to colour the fabrics are also environmentally friendly, in particular, look for 'azo-free' dyes
- the fabrics do not contain other harmful substances used to treat the material, for example, a typical cotton t-shirt can be only 73% cotton with the rest being made up of dyes and chemicals
- if the fabric is white, look for what is called 'eco-white', that is not having been chlorine bleached

I read recently that conventional cotton fields only have 0.3% live matter in the soil, and the soil is hard like tarmac. Organic cotton fields have five times that, and the earth is more springy underfoot, making it a happy place for earthworms, and porous enough to hold water. Many chemicals used in cotton farming are acutely toxic. There is more information on the environmental and human cost of pesticide use in conventional cotton production here:
http://www.pan-uk.org/Projects/Cotton/Resources/downloads/deadly.htm
http://www.peopletree.co.uk/content/organic_cotton_fibre.php
And more on organically-produced textiles here:
http://www.soilassociation.org/Takeaction/Buyorganic/Textiles/FAQs/tabid/344/Default.aspx

Here are links to online stores where you can purchase eco friendly textiles:

Greenfibres
a good range of organic cottons, wools, linens and hemp
http://www.greenfibres.com/product/2/materials--fabrics.htm

Gossypium
a range of organic cotton fabrics
http://www.gossypium.co.uk/
click on 'Materials and Fabrics'

Well Cultivated
a good range of bamboo fabrics
http://www.wellcultivated.co.uk/bamboo-fabric

Here is a useful interesting guide to the different eco friendly fabrics:
http://www.wellcultivated.co.uk/blog/2008/12/eco-fabrics-%E2%80%93-sorting-the-truth-out-from-the-hype/

Knitting for Boys

posted by Cara

Knitting is one of my favourite activities at the moment.  I'm not one who likes to sit idle.  While watching TV or a movie, I fold clothes, when we go somewhere in the car, even 30 mins away, I need a book or something to do.  Even in morning traffic, I can just sit there doing nothing, even though we are usually only stuck for 5 mins or so LOL!  I have knitting in my car so that I can knit during that time!  At the end of my pregnancy, there wasn't a whole lot of activities left that I could do, except for knitting.  Knitting kept my hands occupied so that I wouldn't go crazy just sitting around because I was too tired to do anything else ;)  I kept casting on new projects and nothing is really finished, except that sweater for Hector.  

Boy projects on my needles at the moment include a sweater for my DH that was supposed to be for Christmas, but now it's for his birthday in a month's time (don't worry he doesn't read my blog and he doesn't know what DH means anyway, LOL!!).  It's almost done, just about 1/3 or so of a sleeve left.  It's a pattern from the Yarn Girl's Guide to Knits for all Seasons.

  Next, is a cardigan for Anthony.  It's been a challenge knitting with a French pattern (from Bergere de France), but I'm getting along okay.  I just hope to finish it before it's too small for him! 

 

And just recently I cast on this sweater for Jacques.  It's because of SouleMama, everytime she shows us a project that she's finished, I feel the need to make one too.  She did this in a smaller size for her youngest, it's a pattern by Veera Valimaki on ravelry.com.  I did add a bit of fun to the front because I found it sort of blah, but I really like the pattern.

I'm getting pretty good at knitting and nursing ;)