Enjoying the Fall Weather

Just enjoying some great Fall weather, hanging out with the kids and cruising around town on the Madsen!

Madsen Box Playhouse

In case you were wondering ... Yes, the enormous box they use to ship the Madsen bike makes an excellent playhouse!  :-)

So, we bought a Madsen kg271 Cargo Bike

And here it is!...

Yes, that's me on our new Madsen Kg271 cargo bike. (If you're not familiar, see the Madsen site here). The bike is awesome so far (3 days). We were all able to go out this morning for a test ride with DH behind taking pics and making sure everything was going a-ok with the littles in the bucket.

I am so excited about this because up until now I've been walking the kids everywhere in my BOB duallie. And when I say WALKING and EVERYWHERE I mean... to and from preschool 2x/day, to the grocery store (with "miss A" kicking a gallon of milk the whole way home because there's nowhere to put groceries on the BOB), to the library, park, etc. and a 5 mile roundtrip to the Children's Museum about every other week. (Yes, I agree, a five mile trip deserves a bike!)

Not that I don't love walking, mind you, it's just so fun to ride a bike. And now that I can take the tots along with me it, well, it's just that much more fun! (BTW - miss A is only 12 months and I'm relieved to say she did great seatbelted in the Madsen bucket just like big bro!)

And, of course, after owning the Madsen for only a day I just couldn't wait to sew up an accessory for it... so I made up this soft cover for the bucket...

I first thought I'd make the cover out of a nice outdoor fabric, like Sunbrella. But then I found this buttery piece of heavyweight cotton twill in my fabric stash and I just couldn't resist. I love how it turned out! I'm sure it won't hold up as well as outdoor fabric, but now that I've made one, it'll be easy to whip up another should I fancy an upgrade down the line.

I'll be writing more about my experiences with the Madsen as time passes. In the meantime if you're interested in a couple of reviews by more experienced cyclists, there's a nice one here at A2W and another from Julian + family at Totcycle.

Happy riding!

New Ride

It's been awhile since I've updated the ol' blog here...Lots going on in the Herbst household (more to come!), so I haven't had much time for crafting... I have, however, recently become bike-obsessed.

I really, really wanted to upgrade my rusty town bike with a new ride. So after searching craigslist for weeks I finally found this super-sweet Gary Fisher Simple City 3.

It's not the pretty, girly aqua women's bike that I first fell in love with, but hey, that's craigslist. I got a great deal, the bike is like new and it turns out that the men's larger frame fits me much better than the women's medium frame anyway. It is sooo fun to ride. Yea!

And I had a great time making the bike a little more girly by adding these awesome fun reflector stickers a brass bell and a side basket. Isn't it cute!? Now if I can only figure out how to get the kids on board...

Crochet Pattern - LOOP Baby Toy

Now that my littlest is almost four months old, I've been working on some fun, grabby baby toys. This is a cute one that I'm calling "loop". I've sold a handful in the shop. They are super-easy to make, so I've decided to post a little tutorial so you can make them for the little one's in your life. Enjoy!
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"LOOP" - A Baby Rattle Grab Toy
by Amy Herbst

MATERIALS NEEDED:
-3.25 mm crochet hook
-Worsted weight yarn of your choice (here I've used Patons Classic Wool)
-1 or 2 small jingle bells (they just need to be small enough to fit in the large tube)
-Stuffing material

INSTRUCTIONS:
- Starting with the first small outer ring, chain 6.
- Slip stitch in the first chain you made to form a ring.
Stuff the tube lightly as you work
- Make 1 single crochet in each single crochet around until you have a little tube measuring 6 inches long.

-Bring the two ends of your 6" tube together to form a ring, stitch closed.
Repeat above instructions to make a total of two small rings.

For the large inner ring:
- Chain 12 (or 14, depending on your tension)--you want it to be nice and tight
- Slip stitch in the first chain you made to form a ring.
Stuff the tube firmly as you work, adding in a small jingle bell or two
- Make 1 single crochet in each single crochet (changing colors as desired) until you have a tube measuring 10.5 inches long.

- Slide the two small rings onto the large tube.
- Bring the ends of the large tube together to form a ring and stitch closed.

TA-DA! Easy-peasy. You just made a "Loop" baby toy!

Wow, has it been a year (almost)?...

I can't believe how time flies! It was almost a year ago that I called it quits on the ol' blog and took a much needed break from crafting.

Around the first of the year last year I got pregnant with our second. The second pregnacy, in some ways, was much more difficult than the first. I was just sooo tired all of the time. Growing a little person and chasing around a two-year-old at the same time is hard work! On September 22 we welcomed our new baby girl Aya Olive. :-)

Now that the baby is here I seem to have so much more energy (believe it or not!). I've found it difficult NOT to craft. So, among other things, I've been working hard to restock the shop .

I finally formatted my "Dot Dolly" pattern:

And a the little "Buzzy B. and Berry Bear" crochet pattern that I started working on eons ago:

I've also found myself recently addicted to knitting socks (something I thought I'd never have the patience for). Here's my third pair, in progress:

I just LOVE how those nifty stripes and patterns magically appear! And, surprise, this sock yarn is now available at Michael's.

Here's another tiny one that I made for Aya (below). Only it's too tiny for even her itty bitty foot, so I guess it's going on the Christmas tree!

If there's anyone still out there, I bid you a fond farewell...

Hiya. Well, my "make break" has gone on a little longer than I had planned. And although I wish I could report that all this time I've been secretly working on lots of exciting new items for my shop, alas, no. I've been chasing my little guy around the house, going for long relaxing walks, enjoying the freash air, catching up on celebrity gossip, and getting snuggled into bed BEFORE 10 p.m.. It's been dreamy. So dreamy, in fact, that I've decided to call it quits on the old blog (not that I was ever that on top if it anyway).

I'll still be around though. I've got loads of fabric and materials out in the studio that need to be used up, so I'm going to work on a shop listing from time to time. If you have any questions for me, want to chat, or just say Hi, you can always shoot me a convo over on Etsy. :-)

Thanks for all the support over the past few months. I wish you all the best in 2008!!

~Amy

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Wowee, I can't believe that Christmas is fast approaching! The shop is now 99% closed (my emailable PDF crochet pattern is still available) and I have to tell you as much as I appreciate all of sales this season (THANK YOU!), it's such a relief to not have to go to the post office again for awhile!! :-)

I'm going to be taking a break from Herbst Handmade during and after the the Holidays.... I'm not sure when I'll return. I plan to keep blogging, but I imagine the shop won't be restocked for quite some time. I've got quite a few projects for myself and our house that have been on the back burner for way too long. Also, I've got a growing list of changes I'd like to make in the new year, which are inevitably going to affect the way I work. I think it's going to be good. I just need some time to sort it all out.

We're heading to Ohio for Christmas so the next few days will be filled with last-minute planning, packing and all of the dread that goes along with traveling with a one-year-old during the Holidays. :-P (!)

I wish you all a wonderful, fun -filled Christmas!!!

BTW - The cute ornament at the top of this posting is a gift from my friend and fellow Etsian at Gemmielou. Thanks Gemmie!

Arggh!

So last night I sat down to crochet a little peppermint-striped Holiday monkey (in the shop today). Once I saw how the wide red and white stripes looked I thought.. "hmm,... sailor monkey?..." and then, of course, he just had to have an eyepatch! ;P

If you have my monkey + bear crochet pattern and you want to make a pirate version (and who wouldn't?), here's what I did:

Crocheted eyepatch to fit Lil' Monkey or Bitty Bear:
Using 3.50mm hook, with black yarn, chain 4
Row 1: Starting in 2nd ch from hook, sc 3 across
Row 2: Turn, skip first st, sc in next 2 sts
Row 3: Turn, skip first st, sc in next st. Bind off, leaving a length of yarn for sewing eypatch onto face.

Sew on eyepatch at the point in the pattern when you are sewing/embroidering the rest of the face/features.

Pirate monkey! :-)