Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Kitty Poufs and Little B......




Since making Kitty Poufs for my SIL in commemoration of the March on Washington I have had an idea.  I have had this bulkyish yarn that I thought could easily make some poufs and use up yarn from my stash.  A win-win!  I finished these poufs last weekend and they are off in the mail to my great nieces and nephew.  

The specifics: the Mini Kitty Pouf pattern, 4 skeins of Plymouth Yarn Haciendo, two in #109 purple and two in #110 a light turquoise blue.  These photos are rubbish due to the late afternoon sun.  Each pouf took one skein of yarn about 110 yards.  I cast on 60 stitches rather than the suggested 44 due to my yarn being only bulkyish not bulky.  I used size 11 needles.   They were a breeze to make and hopefully will make four little ones smile this week when they arrive.   These are for my brother's children's, children.  I have only met one of them and they need a reminder they have a Great Aunt Meredith who cares about them.  I am making two more for when my new family members arrive later this spring and summer.  Their older siblings will deserve a treat and this will be fun to already have completed. 


Little Buddy informed me yesterday it would be fun to paint.  So being the fun mom that I am I agreed.  Usually I am too tired after work to get much of a mess going, thus the fun mom sarcastic comment.  But we did paint, and guess who had fun?

31 comments:

Karen said...

I always dreaded the craft thing with my kids. But I do love watercolors, so they always knew they could talk me into that. His smile just lights up a room, Meredith.

Mylittlepieceofengland said...

It is fun to pain, glad you both had fun. Sweet little kitties xx

Andrea Ostapovitch said...

Painting is always a great time, but like you I was always reluctant to bring it out for fear of a huge mess to clean up. One day in summer, about 8 years ago or so, I put dollops of paint on a cookie sheet and took it outside. Then I laid out large sheets of paper and the kids had a great time painting with their feet. I was very proud of that "fun mom" moment. It took me a while to get their feet ready to go back into the house, but they loved the result so much, their paintings were up in their rooms for several years!

Those kitty poufs are adorable by the way.

Andrea

Vera said...

Such a grand smile. Who could resist doing what Little Buddy wants to do? Love your kitty poufs Meredith - they are great.

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

That happy little boy is a heart warmer. Hugs.
Joy

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Oh I love the bunny poofs and I know the little one's will enjoy them. Tiger loves to watercolor also. Painting is fun! Hugs!

Jo said...

Painting is fun really! I often get my girls to paint outside in the playhouse or do chalks on the yard - it is cheating but it works. The oil paint dramas of last week were actually unwritten on my blog. Let me just say I was crying while trying to get oil paint off the front and sleeve of my new nordic jumper mum knit for me! I did it through tears and prayer. Jo xxx

Bridget said...

The kitties are adorable!

Little Buddy looks like painting is his new favorite thing - maybe he'll become another Picasso ...

Araignee said...

Kitty poufs!!!! I love them. I have the pattern and the yarn but not the will. I promised Daughter them for Christmas. Aren't I terrible.

mamasmercantile said...

What a wonderful gift made with love and a real compassion for their futures. Always a delight to see Little Buddy and that gorgeous smile.

Needles and Wool said...

The kitty poufs are adorable! and Buddy looks like he is enjoying the painting!
Lisa

CJ said...

Well done you on the painting, I know exactly what you mean about being too tired for mess. Love the kitty poufs, and you're right, the older ones will love them too, it's sad to be left out just because you've grown. I am thinking about crocheting something. My knitting has just stuck, can't bring myself to get it out, but I hate not having something on the go. CJ xx

Teresa Kasner said...

Your kitty poufs adorable and so cuddly looking.. good on you! I loved seeing LB painting.. he looks very pleased with his artwork! Good for you to encourage his artistic endeavors. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

20 North Ora said...

Your kitty puffs are darling. What a great gift! My little ones love to paint at any time. Have you ever tried using the big zip-lock bags and squirting paint inside of them, then shutting them securely and letting him smoosh the paint around? Another thing the girls love to do is I take tv trays and spread shaving cream on them and let them draw and write on it. Lots of fun.

Judy

alexandra s.m. said...

Love the Kitty Poufs Meredith!
and nothing beats paint and little hands in my book!
Hugs~

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

The kitty poufs are great! Wish I could come paint with you and Z Man! :)

Blondie's Journal said...

Those poufs. I want to appliqué the pattern on the back of one of my jackets!

And that little Buddy. It's so fun to see the joy on his face. I was one of those moms who encouraged a lot of messy, creative projects...I think I did this to live vicariously through the kids, when I, myself, was always trying to keep the house looking clean and orderly! Ha! Blame the mess on them!!

Jane x

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

Kitty poufs are fun and that's a great idea! Buddy looks like he enjoyed his paint time. At least it's not too messy, mom. Thanks! Sometimes ya just gotta let 'em do when the creative mode strikes. I'm sure it put a smile on your face! Take care!

handmade by amalia said...

The kitty poufs are fun. And I suspect that you are quite the fun mom as well :-)
Amalia
xo

linda said...

They are so cute and what a great stash busting idea you are so kind hearted Meredith always making lovely gifts. Who could resist painting time with LB. :) xx

Anonymous said...

Love those kitty poufs :-)
And I'm so glad that you had fun painting <3

Crafty in the Med said...

What a great fun make. I just love those Kitty poufs!! Very creative!

When we are tired everything is so much of an effort however a little bit of artistic therapy can be so stimulating. Buddy certainly thinks so. Gorgeous photo!

keep well

Amanda xx

Anonymous said...

I am betting YOU had fun!!!! LOL

Little Buddy's face is looking SO grown up. The toddler look is gone and you have a brand new little MAN!!!

kathy b said...

Our old kitchen table had papers on it, but was fair game. I didnt want to be the mom who had a fit if it got something on it. Im thrilled you are encouraging the little artist! Im not surprised. And your kitty poufs are great on every level. it is hard to have family far away. I know. I don't see my Arizona nieces often but I try to contact them and let them know we love them. I know it is not as cozy as TV portrays, but living as a family on one big old ranch sounds darn good once in awhile. I know, maybe I should organize a one week reunion!

Betsy said...

Those kitty poufs are so great. I think Miss Piper would love one of those. I loved the picture of your little guy painting. What a smile! I fear I didn't encourage creative art play enough for my kids. Mandy is knitting now though and really enjoying it, so yay for that! Ha!
Blessings,
Betsy

Between Me and You said...

I'm still vacuuming up bits of glitter from Xmas Crafting with the grandbabies! Don't mention 'Playdoh', I hate the stuff!!Chunky crayons and colouring pencils are the tools of the trade in this house from now on!! That's one handsome little fella you have there. Love the Kitty Poufs. xxx

Melanie said...

I love your kitty poufs! I've been meaning to tell you...do you remember years ago when you made felted wool heart earrings for Valentine's Day - and Claudia sold them through her blog? I still have a pair of the pink ones and I wear them every Feb. around Valentine's Day. :-) I hope you had as much fun with the painting as Little Buddy did!

The Well Fed Wheel said...

Oh I love those kitty poufs! How fun! I would be tempted to do anything Little Buddy wanted just to get that smile. LOL And look how well he's staying on the paper! ;-) He's such a ray of sunshine!

Caffeine Girl said...

It seems like LB makes any activity fun. Of course, I've never met a creative activity that I didn't think was fun.

The poufs are adorable and sure to bring smiles to your great-nieces and nephews!

Babajeza said...

Happy knitting and painting! Hugs, Regula

Jodiebodie said...

I'm glad you decided to paint and that it was a happy afternoon. As a parent, one of the best pieces of advice I received for positive parenting was to make 'yes' the default position instead of 'no' which so often happens.

In our adult lives, we can be quick to default to 'no' - too busy, too messy, too hard, too costly, too complicated or whatever excuse we like to use and the reason is usually from an adult perspective.

I learned to lean towards 'yes' and examine the benefits for my children first against my 'adult' inconveniences and unless there was a bad outcome for the children, I would say 'yes'.

It made our family life happier and richer. Happy, occupied children are better than frustrated and angry ones. Yes, there was a mess but the children learned the lessons of how to clean up and the responsibility involved. These are important life skills (not to mention the physical coordination skills they were practising with their paint brushes and the emotional wellbeing of a creative activity).

It took a lot of effort on my part to help them and teach them to clean up the first time but they learned the skills and the expectation that, if they paint, they clean up too. It made activities a lot easier in the long term and my children became more confident with their growing independence.

Putting in this parenting 'work' is important for happy and healthy families. It isn't easy. I fear that many modern parents are either under so many pressures they don't have the energy to be bothered or commit to the effort (so say 'no') or they don't have the role models or education to know the work of parenting. I would love a greater emphasis and importance placed on the role of parents in society and an acknowledgment that it IS WORK that should be valued as much as paying taxes.

I love the happy photo of a busy Little Buddy! :-)