Goodbye Knitsational

This is my last post at this blog. No, I am not moving to another blog host, again. But, instead, I am closing Knitsational altogether. I have been weighing this in my mind for quite awhile and have decided that I really want to change it completely. I have been feeling blocked in by Knitsational, the name, the brand I have been building. I know, I know, it's all in my mind but I need to feel good about it in my mind. You see, there is so much of me that I feel abit hesitant to share yet I want to share. So, I have given my shop, my blog, myself? abit of a make-over and now I want to share my new home with you. This Cosy Life I really hope to be able to shake off the restraints that, I myself, have placed on my blog and be able to share more of myself with you. This is important to me. Opening myself up. I will share more on this later. I do hope you will join me in my new place. My new page starts with a homepage and links will direct you to my blog and new shop. I have removed to Followers widget there but still invite you to follow. You can Subscribe or if you have a Blogger account you can, of course, cut and paste the URL into the Add box in you Reading List. I will be posting there next. I am going to have a little giveaway to kick things off. I have also marked down everything left in my Knitsational shop.

Someone's Having a Giveaway

Molly over at Whimsy House is having a fabulous giveaway over on her blog to celebrate her first year selling in her Etsy shop. She makes the cutest accessories from felt and vintage findings.




So hop on over to her blog for 5, yes 5! chances to win.

Do You Realize That Easter......

is only about a week and a half away?! This came as a shock to this morning. It always kinda sneaks up on me. But, fortunately there are so many great projects over on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog for a lovely, handmade Easter. Like these fabric eggs.

We can't go near the real thing as Kaiya is sooo allergic and I hate those crappy plastic ones. I'll definately be making some of these. They come from Retro Mama's blog. And a couple of these from Molly Chicken.

How cute!
This morning I made a new game for the girls, got the idea from here, who got it from here. And now you, gentle reader are finding it here!
A sweet little Montessori inspired button learning game. The girls love matching the colorful felt squares and trying to work the buttons through. I decided to make a little bag to keep the pieces in.

I just cut a rectangle from another piece of felt and sewed up the sides. Then I cut five holes on each side, cut 2 pieces of ribbon (enough to go all the way around and have have extra for the handle). I then threaded one through each hole, ends coming out of the same side and did the same for the other except they came out the opposite side. Tie the ends and pull closed. Took just a couple of extra minutes. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Amigurumi Love

We had a lovely, lazy weekend here. Yes, I needed to paint/clean the house. But, instead, I chose to make my little ones some new toys and try my hand at amigurumi. The itch came after these patterns showed up in my inbox. They are egg cozies but I chose to stuff them and finish off the bottom.

After them I was "hooked", (pun intended) and went searching for more sweet little critters to work up. how could I resist this guy?!

I found these on the Lion's Brand site, and they have so many more I can't wait to make.
Now I'm off to do something productive. Happy Monday!

What I'm Loving Today

I am so excited to see this! Kaiya just loves this book and I love reading it to her (I think I may even love reading it more than she does). And the trailer looks amazing. I can't wait!


And this play tent tutorial over on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog.
How fun!

And last but not least, this sweet little game from Mama Roots. Which, I am wishing I had right now. We've been stuck in the house for the past couple of days. Rain, rain, go away......

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Paying it Forward-Handmade Style!

I got this from Alisa. What a sweet idea! Here's how it works; the first three people to leave me a comment on this post, will recieve an item, handmade by me, in the mail within the next three months. One day, out of the blue. What could be better than that?
Only catch is, you must post this on your own blog (which means you do need to have a blog to participate)and give three items yourself. And don't forget to leave me your mailing address, you can contact me by email (in my profile).

Getting Our Hands Dirty

I had abit of help in the garden today.

We've had a streak of excellent weather and the girls are just eating it up. If only I could convince them not to drench my poor flowers. Oh, and we have puppies!

Show and Tell Sunday

This is my new favortite website. I found it the other day while I was searching for a tutorial for making Waldorf inspired dolls. It has so much; how to make different types of slings, dolls, wooden toys, clothes, food!

I am scared to use any type of saw but I think that even I could make these.

I am on a mission to de-plastic my house, right down to (gasp!) the kids toys. Replacing them with with as much handmade as they can possibly stand. I hate plastic toys and like most idealistic new moms, wanted none of it for my kids. Then came birthdays and Christmas and quick trips to the $ stores and now we have plastic coming out the whazoo. Well, I'm not so new new anymore, but I think (or would like to think) that perhaps it's better I got that out of my system. I only wished I would have before we amassed so much junk. Now we are paring down and looking for quality and made with love, not to mention natural materials.

Now the hard part, convincing my girls to "trade in" their plastics......

Why go plastic free?
No More Junk Toys: Rethinking Children's Gifts
Toxic Toy Story
Life Without Plastic

Everyday Fancy

There is never a bad time for shiny red shoes. Even when playing in the dirt with one's cousin.
Here's hoping you have a fun and fancy weekend!

Hello Again

I went to the grocery store late this afternoon. When I got back I was greeted by the sweet scent of wild onions. The girls had been running around outside with Tait while I was gone and had apparently been pulling them up in the yard (hmmmm...perhaps time to break out the mower?). I love this little sign of spring. The trees have already begun to bloom and I started planting the garden last weekend.


Perfect days for going to the park with our new group.


I've started a little spring knitting project as well.

A cotton cardigan, with raglan sleeves, of course. Is there really any other way to go? Who knows, I may even keep this this little ditty for myself.