Thursday, May 13, 2010

Why I've Been MIA This Week...

You might remember this post, where I shared the frog I knitted for Amy's teacher as an end of year gift. After I finished Freida, I started to work on the project I'd planned for Jessica's teacher. She is retiring this year after 28 years of teaching. She must have started when she was in her tweens because she is still very young, in my opinion. I had asked Jessica to ask her teacher what her favorite animal was and after a few tries, I found out that one animal she really likes is the polar bear. This was terrific as I had just found a pattern for a knitted baby polar bear! It took some time for me to find the right yarn. I had wanted to use the yarn I got from Susan at MaryJane's Tearoom, but I couldn't find a coordinating color in the right weight. I found some Sinfonia yarn at Hobby Lobby that had all the colors I wanted and it was the cotton type I was looking for. I've been working on it fairly consistently, but with the end of the year quickly approaching I decided to devote most of my time to the project this week. I am happy to share that I completed the project this morning! Yay!

I'd like to share with you, Candy (which is the name on the pattern):
Here she is sitting pretty on the teacart. I must apologize for the not so great photos. It's been awfully dreary in my neck of the woods (you might have heard that we had 2-3 inches of snow on the ground yesterday morning) and the sun wasn't cooperating when I took these shots.

Standing up now,  you can see a peek of her legs below the dungarees and above the oh so cute shoes and socks.

It was harder than I thought to get a good shot of her standing up!
I chose safety eyes and I even found a plastic nose...anything to avoid doing a lot of embroidery on yarn, although I did attempt a mouth this time. 

Here's the bib on her dungarees (love that word!) I did embroider that lazy daisy stitch and I didn't even have to look up how to make it. I remembered how all on my own. Yay, me. Her jumper (sweater) is a fun stripe pattern.

The straps even cross over on the back side. Here you can see the stripes a little better on her jumper.
Let me tell you, doing one part of the dungarees was an exercise in endurance...I had 121 stitches on my shortish needle and I had to knit 21 rows with 121 stitches on each row. But it was definitely worth it, I think! I'm just amazed I got it done and didn't procrastinate on that part. LOL

Love the little bow on her ear...

And the bows on her shoes. These bows were fun to make. And so were the shoes and socks.  They are one piece! Love that!

One last view so you can see her sort of okay looking mouth. She looks a little shy, but all in all, I think she came out pretty sweet.

And if you haven't figured it out by now, I got the pattern here at MaryJane's Tearoom. If her shop isn't open when you stop by, you may want to hop over to Ravelry and sign up(it's free). You can find the pattern there, too. I just love the adorable animals that Susan comes up with! They are fun to knit (not too complicated at all) and have such adorable personalities!

I sure hope Jessica's teacher will like her!

In addition to working on this, the school is having Walking and Wheeling week this week (even though it's been rather, shall we say, less than spring like). I'm helping out passing out healthy snacks to the kids who are participating. We also had skate night at the local roller rink to celebrate W/W week and the girls really wanted me to come along, so I did. It was a lot of fun. Jessica has Daisies this week and a field trip on Saturday to a local fire station. Guess you could say we are in a whirlwind of end of school year activities. LOL 

Thanks for stopping by. I sure appreciate your visits. I hope to make it back here soon, but if the weather cooperates, I really need to work on the weed patch garden to prepare it for planting this year's flowers.

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13 comments:

mE said...

OH MY GOODNESS!!

She is a BEAUTY!!!!!!!!!!

You are so kind and thoughtful!!! I am sure Jess's teacher would totally fall in love with her!

Have fun planting flowers!

Love,
E

Sparkplug17 said...

This is just adorable!

Laurel said...

Oh how cute!

Felicia Fernandez said...

As always, just as cute as can be! You've been busy the past few weeks. I sat down last week to catch up with you and gosh there was a lot. I love your cabinets and shelves! My dad built me some shelves when he was here but I don't know if I put the pics up on my blog yet. Anyway, I miss you and have been aching to visit. But who knows when that will be! Hugs!!!!!

Sharli Schaitberger said...

Jeanne,
Candy is just amazing - so many beautiful details!!! I'm sure she will be a treasured gift!

Hugs!

Beth aka BR-T said...

This is astounding! Beth

Sue Pinner said...

Hi Jeanne sooo cute love 'Candy' FAV COLOURS lol
Not only is it on cones but now we have moved the unit l get it from is within walking distance too!!....very dangerous very very dangerous
Promised to use what l have 1st hehe
Hugs XX

Kim Burmeister said...

Jeanne, Candy is AMAZING! Oh My! I can't choose which part is my favorite. Wow! She is going to love this. You ROCK!

Carolyn said...

How Stinkin Cute Is THAT!?! Who wouldn't love it! I'm sure Jessica's teacher will!! I love the cute shoes! :)

You Rock Jeanne!!

Kathi Carlson said...

The cutest EVER! What a sweet, thoughtful gift. She will love it.

Snow? Oooh. I'd probably take to my bed if it were to snow here. The sun is even out today ... finally! I'd almost forgotten what it looked like.

Sounds like you are busy with the girls. It's hard to believe another school year is coming to an end already.

Hope your weekend is a good one! Take care, sweet friend!

Alanna said...

WOW Jeanne, her teacher is super lucky to receive this. What a labor of love. All the details. You are truly an amazing woman.

Heather said...

What a true labor of love to give to a special person for a special occasion. I'd be so thrilled to receive something so wonderful. Someday I want to be able to make such things!!!

♥ Mary Janes TEAROOM said...

I have just found your little bear, Jeanne.
She is beautiful!!!
You have done a wonderful job and made some lovely yarn choices,
Susan x