Crochet Amigurumi: Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington & Oogie Boogie

I saw these patterns on pinterest about two weeks ago and thought they were great and I would love to make them sometime.  Then my son was invited to a birthday party with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme and I knew what I was going to give him.  These are a free pattern on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/nicholes-nerdy-knots.  The patterns were very clear and everything came together quickly.  Jack has pipecleaners in his legs and he's slightly poseable.  Oogie Boogie has a pouch in his mouth and I stuffed a bunch of plastic insects in them.  These were fun to make and I'll be making more as birthday presents in the future.

Knitting: Gloves

I was wanting a pair of warm gloves.  I used the basic glove pattern from the wonderful book,"The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges," by Ann Budd.  There are basic patterns for gloves, mittens, hats, socks, scarfs, and sweaters.  You just plug in the gauge for the size yarn you are using and look for the size you want, this book also includes kids sizes, and work out your pattern.  The yarn I used for these gloves was Red Heart Boutique Treasure 70% acrylic/ 30% wool.  I used slightly more than one ball for these.

Knitting/Crochet: Baby Layettes

 These are from the Leisure Arts Leaflet 460 Baby Layettes To Knit and Crochet Book 2, 1986. This is the knitted booties, hat, and sweater.

This is the crochet sweater,

 I have been given a ton of different baby yarn and my goal for this year is to go through as much of it as I can.  These pieces were done from 6 skeins of Patons Gemstone Courtelle Double Crepe.  I didn't have enough to make longer sleeves for the crochet sweater but I think it makes a cute summer sweater.  These are both newborn sizes.  They are very easy to do and I've had this book for years and have made many of the knitted sweaters because they are just so pretty.  This yarn is a little stiff but I don't know how old it is as it was given to me.  The state fair here has a infant crisis category where you enter items and they are judged but then they are donated.  So that's where these will be going along with all the other sets I'll be making.