Christmastime, My Finished Bunny, and A New Business

It's Christmastime!!!

A picture I took of a bird near Constitution Village last Christmas season.

Long time, no see!  It has been a while, but I just have to write something before Christmas arrives.  I could go into all the ups and downs over the last month or so since I have written, but I don't even know if I could remember all the details to share with you.  Needless to say, it has been a blur. 

What I will tell you, is that I have had back trouble that is better now, and my husband is finished with his fall semester, thank goodness!  His next semester will be his last for his degree, and he will graduate in May.  Yay!  I am so excited that we have almost completed our goal!  It has been challenging for us, but I know it will be worth it.

Now we can enjoy Christmastime, and all the wonderful things that it brings.  I just love walking down a sidewalk on a cool, brisk winter day, enjoying the outdoors.  (That is what we were doing when I captured the picture above, last year.)  I love Christmas trees, Christmas lights, and watching children's faces when they see such things.  I love going to church events, singing Christmas songs, and remembering the true reason for the season:  Christ's humble birth, and the greatest Christmas gift of all--new life.  I hope you all enjoy the season as much as I do! 

As for knitting...
I don't think I have yet gotten to share with you my knitted bunny.  I finished it in time for Cosette's birthday and she loved it!  I gained a lot of confidence by knitting this bunny.  It was a lot of fun too!!! 

Here are some pictures of the various stages of knitting and sewing the bunny:

My Favorite Picture: 

The one of my daughter, Cosette, opening her bunny birthday present.

Some things I learned by knitting this bunny...

I learned how to increase by working in both the front and back of a stitch. This seemed difficult to understand until I looked at an online recording of it. It is really simple once you see it done by someone. I am glad to have learned how to do it.


It is also my first time to sew a knitted object together, so I learned the difference between backstitching and oversewing.  I had to redo the seams at one point because of this. (The first time I wasn’t backstitching, and I didn’t sew far enough down on the knitted fabric, so it stretched out and didn’t look very good.)

I followed the directions for the eyes and nose, though I used different colors (blue for the eyes and pink for the nose and mouth. Black seemed too harsh for this bunny.) I came up with my own mouth. I liked the way it looked rouned instead of in v’s. I have a little stitch holding it down at the bottom of each curve.

I didn’t follow the pattern for the twisted yarn bow. Instead, I improvised an I-cord scarf. I remembered how to do it from memory, as I had read about it in one of my Mom’s book, or somewhere, I can’t really remember. (It was really late when I was finishing this up, and the internet was down, so I just decided to try it out.)

The only problem I have noticed since I gave it to Cosette, is with the eyes.  She pulls on them sometimes, and I have to repair them with a crochet hook.  Otherwise, the little bunny is doing well! 

New Projects

I have been working on dishcloths (of course) and I started on a Jean Greenhowe Winter Mouse.  You can see which one I am talking about here:  http://www.jeangreenhowe.com/animals.html  I started and finished the skirt over the Thanksgiving holiday, and haven't been able to do more since.  My goal is to finish it by Christmas, which shouldn't be hard given how quickly I knitted up the skirt portion.

Today I finally got to work on Nathan's scarf again.  I sure hope I can finish it by Christmas!  I will be on a knitting marathon from now until then.  Hopefully I will have it ready to go under the tree by Christmas Eve. 

I would love to hear from you all about the Christmas gifts you are knitting, and about your status on finishing them!  Please write me and tell me about them! 

My New Iron in the Fire

While this has nothing to do with knitting, I really want to share it with you before I go.  I started my own Discovery Toys business!  :) 

In case you have never came across them, Discovery Toys makes high quality, safe, educational toys.  I was really impressed with Discovery toys a few years ago, when I came across them at a Christmas market.  I am picky when it comes to my child's toys, regarding their educational qualities and their safety standards.  Discovery Toys met and exceeded all my expections. 

Recently I was trying to figure out how to make some extra income with my crazy schedule, I thought of Discovery Toys.  It is a great fit for me! 

You can visit my website at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/faithbruner. 

Well, I hope you all have a great Christmas!
Faith