warmth and love

the sun has just come up and revealed the most beautiful layer of frost on the ground. it's like a wonderland out there and i can hardly wait for the kids to get up so i can share it with them.

in anticipation to the cold weather, i crafted up a wooly hat and mittens for the kids using some thrifted sweaters.

it's hard to find wool sweaters in southeast texas. after months of looking i came across two very cute sweaters. i didn't know what i was going to use them for initially, but i was sure the purpose would come to me. i went ahead and felted them right away, so i'd be ready when the inspiration came.

to felt the sweaters i washed them on hot with some towels. then they were machine dried.

when i heard that it was going to snow yesterday, i instantly knew the purpose of these sweaters.

buddy didn't have a warm enough hat to wear, so i set to making a hat first off. i measured his head and then divided the diameter by 5. i made a pattern to match this spec and cut out 5 panels. i was then reminded of my horrible math skills when i found that the hat was way too big for him. i took out one panel, and it's still too big, but very comfy and usable! i stitched up all the panels together, added the elastic waste band from the sweater to the bottom and added some 'spaghetti' to the top. he loves it!

after making the hat, i thought to make some mittens. this was my favorite part! they were so easy and quick to make! i traced the kid's hands (in a mitten shape), added about 1/2 inch seam allowance, stitched them up, and turned them inside out. they took about 10 minutes to make from the tracing to the flipping inside out. on buddy's i added a little blanket stitch around the cuff.

there is something so sweet about wrapping your little ones in such a tangible form of warmth and love...