Impaliens, Phone Sox, and a Good Sign

I have been meaning to knit these adorable mini aliens for a while… and when S1’s birthday loomed, I decided it was time.  Aren’t they cute?  I’m calling them “impaliens” because I had to impale them on spare dpns to pose the photo (they don’t stand up on their own).  I’m sure you can think of a ruder name, but let’s stick with “impaliens” for now, eh?

Here they are walking in a line (the pink one is losing focus):

And here they are at band practice – Blue is Lead Singer and the others are the backup singers:

These were so quick and fun to knit.  I used scraps from my worsted weight feltable wool stash, and I ordered the safety eyes (7.5 mm) from 6060.etsy.com.  They are super easy to use and come in a variety of colors and sizes.  The pattern gives directions for knitting these either flat or in the round – I chose to knit flat, which I think made it easier to apply the eyes and mouth.

S1 also wanted a phone sock of her own, and she liked the honeycomb pattern from Boy 1’s Socks-to-be-Electrified, so I whipped this up: It is just enough to keep a phone from getting banged up when it’s inside a larger bag.  I used Knit Picks Stroll Tonal left over from these socks.Those small items were secret knitting, unveiled on the day I returned from Sock Summit.  I couldn’t put them on the blog or Flickr or the secret would be out.

So that covers the impaliens and the phone sock.  Now for the Good Sign.  Yesterday we got news that the boys’ favorite babysitter has mono plus a bacterial infection and more.  She’s really sick.  She’s supposed to leave for a year abroad in Turkey in 2-3 weeks.  And if she looks as sick as she is now, they won’t let her on the airplane.  So we want her to get well fast.  Boy 2 made her this card (symmetry is very important right now):Note that he includes some temporary tattoos – just what every sick teenage girl wants!  But the inside is the best part – read this: “We’ll make something out of yarn.”  It’s not a good sign that Joanna is sick, but I’m taking it as a very good sign that Boy 2 thinks making her something out of yarn will help her get better.

So… we are going to make another impalien tonight.