Guest blog: Cathy's knitting, crocheting, and jewelry

Today's post is brought to you by Cathy.  She's a new friend from Ontario, and her name is in the antique Fenton bowl along with Carol's to win a Xuron 4 in 1 Crimper tool.

Here's what Cathy sent in (with a little bit of editing on my part so the two e-mails blend together nicely):

Hi Traci!

Love your sites!  And your FB page!  I sent you a friend request - we have a lot in common!  I love to bead and I do everything needle-crafty under the sun!  I've always crocheted, but then the knitting bug hit, then macramé back in the day, hand embroidery, quilting, sewing, beading, now silversmithing and lapidary - it never ends - I hope.  I love it all - there's not enough time to learn it all.  I just get happily into one thing and "poof" something new catches my eye and I'm off trying something else.  My poor husband.  We downsized last year from a two-story, 4 bedroom, full-basement house to a 43' motorhome and 2 storage lockers!  What a mountain of crafty stuff I sold and gave away. ((BIG SAD FACE)) That was hard.  But I still knit and make jewelry, etc. etc. to my hearts content - I just don't carry so much stuff around with me while I'm doing it! 

So, having rambled on, I'll share some pictures with you.  Last year, my nephew-in-law and his wife had a new baby and so did a good friend of ours, so I knit and crocheted a plethora of stuff to send to each.  Here's some of it:

I asked what the big round things were - they looked like enormous doilies to me, and she replied:

The big round thingies are shawls to wrap baby in or lay him on.  The purple one actually went to my friend to use as a comfort shawl for her - she lives in Northern Ontario and was cold all the time, so she was pleased to get that.

The orange things were knitted bibs. One for each baby - one bib I had enough yarn so I made a quick pair of baby booties to go too.  There was one blue blanket with the chevron ends on it - that was just a small crocheted blanket - good for the buggy.  There was a bib also that was knit with the back strap already knitted on so the bib would have to go over the head - probably not be good for too many months, but interesting to make.

I also made a couple of sleep sack combos - one for a nurse who works in the nursing home where my mom is - she had a girl a year or so ago.  Here it is:

And one for my girlfriend who had her baby 8 months ago:

She said he quite enjoyed being inside it.  This pattern was found on Ravelry - Laura Nelkin if I remember correctly.

I knit a shawl with one of Laura Nelkin's classes on Craftsy - Skywalker.  It's here:

Goodness, has she been busy!  That's not all, though:

Plus, last winter we spent three months in Arizona.  The store in Casa Grande where I've been learning great things about jewelry is called Pink Pear, and Bonnie Light is the proprietor.  She is absolutely amazing - I can't wait until we go back again in October!  These were some of my class projects:

Cathy, thank you for sharing so many of your lovely projects with us!  Good luck in your future endeavors, and I hope to share some more of your projects in the future!

Just like Cathy, you can send me some pictures and enter my Xuron 4 in 1 Crimper giveaway!  Click here for all the details on how to enter.