Who Could Forget... Mr. Bomb Omb?

Who could forget Marios Bros Nintendo Game? Growing up I would look forward to going to my grandparents or the neighbor kids place because - hello - hey had a Nintendo!! I was not very good at Mario Brothers games. Throw any version of that game at me and I had fun playing it but was not about to be saving the princess any time soon, or ever. Yeah, never ever... ^-^. But that's okay! I still have fond memories of playing the game and seeing it progress to the point where Mario could ride on a Yoshi and do amazing and incredible things! Still, no saving the princess for me lol.

In any case, a few years back a request for a Mario Bomb Omb plush was submitted to me and I recently was complimented on the design. Complement = Dawn encouraged and inspired = must share with the world!

So today I share my very first published pattern with you from my etsy shop!! The link on etsy can be found here to purchase and the link to the pattern to purchase on ravelry is here.

I can appreciate that someone told me my design takes the cake, 

because the details are important to me. :)

Also, a few years back I was asked to make a basketball size Bom Omb - did I oblige this request?! YES. Unfortunately I can only find a few pics of this large dude. Wish I would have taken more!! :D 

Here's a picture to give you an idea of how big Mr. Omb really was. 

Which do you like better? The big one? Or the tiny one? 

Edna Mae - What a Beautiful Lady - Remembering Grandma...

I'm currently unemployed, it's true. This isn't a pity party post though, no sir! :) ;) (also, why has blogger not enabled emoticons?! I NEED them to talk at you! O.O ;)). This is a short reflective post! One of the projects I have on my list for the not too distant future is to make two hats for my friends little girls (ages 2 months & 2 years old - joy! :D). The girls are adorable I assure you! :D In any case, the hat project had me perusing my crochet pinterest board (see it here - oh and follow too! ^-^) to show me all the goodies I've found on previous pinterest adventures! I worked my way to the bottom of the board and my eyes settled on a photo that made me slightly nostalgic... if you've been following my blog for a while you might remember it from this post.

I've been totally blessed by an outpouring of thoughtful people in my life who have passed on to me their yarn, their nicknacks, their stories of knitting/crochetting/tatting/crafting times gone by, their time and their patience. Namely I have to say my late Grandma Fagner was one of thee biggest gifters of her talents and time to me. She was involved in so many things throughout her lifetime and I realize she shared her passions as much as she could with me, my siblings, my cousins and so so many others. Here's a shot of my siblings, my mom and Grandma :) - this was the last time I saw her in person before she passed away. Isn't she adorable?!?!

Grandma lived an amazing life, she was 90 when she passed, though admittedly I thought she'd live to be 100 ;-), the lady had some spunk I'm telling you! After I was out of the Air Force I got to spend a lot of time with her, gardening, dancing & crafting. I am so fortunate to have had that time with her. I know she knew Jesus and that when the time comes I will see her again. Selfishly, of course I would rather have kept her here with us :). God's timing is perfect though and I trust that. Grandma looked beautiful and peaceful when I saw her for the last time at her funeral - the casket was perfect for her too! It had a lovely feminine touch with flowers and a beautiful light mauve color on the outside. The inside was a wonderful lavender and there was one embroidered flower. A lady til the end :). Grandma's are the best!

Over the years I've realized it was Grandma Fagner and my mothers love for peonies that encouraged my appreciation for this kind of flower... I was SO excited when I found out our last house grew them!! It's only fitting I share a photo of one of the blooms with you here ;)

And a few flowers I discovered existed in the past few years that I love too! :D

 Ranunculus'! 

Anemones!

Photo credit goes to Clarevision from their original post here.

"But Dawn, what is the point of your post?", you might be asking. 

Well, the point is, rather the points are: 

 - Hands down, my grandma was awesome. 

 - Thank the people that take the time to spend the time with you daily, you'll never regret it.

 - The flowers I like have everything to do with the beauty they are and that they remind me of my childhood.     Yes.

 - I have a lot of yarn I need to tend to and projects to make in between looking for jobs. ;) 

I hope this finds you doing well! now go do something the future you would thank you for! ;)

Gah! Where are those emoticons!!! XD

  *************

Knit Beer Mitt Cozy for my Brother & his friend Colin

This project is a long time coming... My brother requested not one, but two beer mitt cozies to be knit last June (yes, it's been a year and some since O.o)...I said I would make them, but will admit, I was not feeling up to the task... being a bit overwhelmed by the idea of having to figure out the pattern for a mitten with specific dimensions for a mans hand knowing that knitting items other than scarves are not my strong suit... this project took a back seat for bit. I'm not sure when or how it happened but I did a query on ravelry one day and found this beer mitt cozy pattern in 3 different sizes! Gnarly man-hand size included!!! Okay, they originally called that size Large ;). I had my husband try it on for size as I worked them up. And yes, when I say I worked them up, I mean I worked them both up at once. My knitting tension varies from day to day so in an effort to make them the same large gnarly man hand size, this was just how it had to be... here are a few pictures of the finished products and the process as I worked them up on cable needles... cast on is such a mind boggle when I do this, but it is absolutely necessary. :)

Please note, the yellow added to the beer mitt cozy is embroidery thread. My brothers friends name is Colin and he thought it'd be absolutely hilarious to have C-Man noted on his cozy with a smiley face. I improvised and used the knit rows and stitches as markers after I'd graphed out how/where to put the words. I think he'll enjoy how it turned out lol :). The blue & back striped one is my brothers, made with some of my late grandmothers blue yarn. Always trying to pass on a sentimental feel for family projects. I think its important.

Also, should you want to make on yourself here is the link to the pattern. Thanks to knitty.com. :D

Lastly, for my fellow knitters out there, I will tell you I used size 10 cable needles and held two strands of worsted weight throughout (pulling yarn from inside and outside the skein simultaneously.)