Betsy Bailey

Show us something[s] you made yourself.

The other day, HM called me out. "YOU are not a crafty mom," she accused.

(This after spending the weekend with her dad and soon-to-be stepmom, whereby said stepmom did – I mean helped with - B's school project. And it was a fabulous project, seeing as how said stepmom did helped out so much. B did work hard on it, too, though. By all accounts it does sound like it was very much collaborative.)

(HM was jealous. Because I don't help much with my kids' school projects and so they are probably just about the saddest looking projects in the class, seeing as how they are done by a child. She thinks I should be involved in their future projects such that they look more adult-like to match what the other kids "do.")

(And to clarify: I like their stepmom-to-be. I think she makes a tremendous effort to be a good parent. I also think it's cool that she helped B so enthusiastically with her project. But such things being complicated, it's true: I'm just a teensy-weensy little defensive that she came off like a better mommy than me. <pout>. However, they had a lot of fun and B got an A on her project and I want all of my children to have good relationships with all of the people parenting them. Of which there are many…)

Anyway.

I AM SO CRAFTY! See all those finished objects?????

(But really, HM was right, I'm not crafty much. I just like knitting and sometimes cross stitch. And then, only easy stuff.)

From top, here are some things I've knitted:

1. Einstein Coat I made for HM (ungrateful child!) in a bright fuchsia Lopi yarn. She's modeling it for you in this photo. She's actually very proud of it.

2. Felted bunny slippers. I made these for my toddler-age niece last Christmas. Aren't they the most DARLING things?? Incredibly easy and fast, too.

3. Everybody has to make a Booga Bag! (Especially since the pattern is free.) Knit with gorgeous Noro Kureyon color 95 on size 10.5 DPNs.

4. A Baby Albert Sweater, which is basically the same pattern as the Einstein Coat, but in infant size. I made this for another one of my nieces when she was born.

5. Joel's Scarf. I actually have made three of these – two for friends and one for Scott's mama. It's so fun and easy to knit and the color changes help keep from being overly tedious.

6. Bucket-o-Chic hat I made for myself (modeling). Regrettably, I used a wool/acrylic blend for this and it turned out a little too big. It needed to be felted down a bit – then it would have been cute. As it is, too big, and I don't like it. But still, I MADE IT MYSELF.

7. Felted mittens I made for B (modeling) – probably one of the more complicated patterns I've ever tackled (and they were still pretty easy). First outing using DPNs. This project predates our move from Ohio to Arizona…

8. Long skinny scarf I made for myself. It turned out very pretty. But I've since decided I don't like knitting with fancy fibers like that. It's just too much of a hassle to work with.

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