« | Main | Christmas 2005: Last Things First, Vol. III »
December 29, 2005
Christmas 2005: Last Things First, Vol. II
Welcome to the second installation of Christmas gifts by Gringa, better known as...
Robbie Cleans Up
As the newest member of the clan, it's only right that Robbie made a killing for Christmas this year. When we made our 8-hour visit to New York on the 27th, his mom told us that they hadn't even had time to finish opening his gifts yet. Not to miss out on the fun, we added to his haul with a couple toys, and -- of course -- some knitted goods!
Robbie's mom Lauren loves sea turtles, and when she was expecting Robbie she painted his nursery blue and gave it a sea creatures theme. A few weeks after Robbie was born, I was flipping through a Patternworks catalog and found a felted turtle kit*. I'd long wanted to try felting, but since wool in most forms doesn't feel pleasant to me (see: wool allergies) I could never bring myself to make and felt a handbag that was meant to be carried close to the body. I know, I'm weird. Anyway, this was a perfect opportunity to felt something and to give a gift that I was sure would be well-received. And would you just look at these guys?
After felting, you just add some stuffing to make them squeezable and eyes to give them some personality. The pattern recommends buttons or googlie eyes, but since these turtles will be hands-on toys I decided to embroider the eyes to minimize the choking hazard. I knew they were a hit when Lauren threatened to keep one of them for herself!
Finally, I gave Robbie his definitely-not-a-Christmas gift. Remember when I swore that his blocks were definitely NOT coming back to Massachusetts with me from Thanksgiving? I busted my butt to get all of the pieces knit and blocked, and sewed them all together in time but the foam blocks that I'd had cut at the fabric store were crooked. It's difficult to get straight lines on such small pieces with a foam cutter, but these were particularly bad. And since Lauren had shown such genuine enthusiasm for these blocks since well before Robbie came along, I just couldn't have them being crooked. So they came back to Boston with me after all, and I got new (straight) foam cut. Almost five months to the day after he was born, I finally gave the little guy his blocks... and he promptly tried to shove the R block into his mouth. There's no greater compliment than that!
*It's actually a Felted Turtle & Starfish kit!
Posted by shannon at December 29, 2005 2:54 PM | For related posts: Christmas Knitting 2005, For Robbie, Robbie's Blocks
Comments
Oh, I love the felted turtles, and the block patterns. Where did you get the block pattern again? I might need to stock up on baby patterns soon (not for me, let me assure you).
Posted by: Colleen at December 29, 2005 4:07 PM
The baby blocks are from Knitting for Baby, though the intarsia letters were my addition -- with a little help from Excel!
Posted by: shannon at December 29, 2005 4:53 PM
The sea turtles are oh so cute! I just love them! And Robbie got his blocks! Such a sweet gift!
Posted by: Wanda at December 29, 2005 11:59 PM
Más vale tarde que nunca! :)
And anybody would wait for those cute blocks! :) (and for the turtles too!)
Congratulations!
Posted by: betty at December 30, 2005 3:02 PM
Those turtles came out great! And the blocks look like your best yet.
What a merry Christmas you made for everyone. :)
Posted by: alison at January 1, 2006 10:30 AM