Katie Can Knit!

moving!

2011-06-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

obviously this blog has been taken over by life other than knitting, and I've decided to move on ... please visit me at makeaheadmommy.blogspot.com

to-do list

2011-03-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

in 11 days (or less?!) I'll be face to face with my baby boy. there's lots I want to do before then and I need to write it all down or I'll forget ... the nursery is done for all practical purposes, but there are still some decorative touches I want to add before he comes or I know it won't get done (same for Leila's room!). Tomorrow Mrs Harmony is coming over for a craft date and I am so looking forward to a morning of chatting and getting some fun projects done (if Leila lets us!). I want to make lots of buntings!!! It's been so fun browsing weheartit.com for ideas beyond the standard triangles on a string. I can't wait until it's all done so I can post pictures!

TO-DO BEFORE MARCH 15

bunting for above baby boy's crib (need to buy some Toy Story fabric at Joann's this week - 40% off!)

bunting for Leila's room using leftover fabric from the pillow project (also, one last pillow to make!)

name bunting for the doors of Leila's room, brother's room and "Alice's" (guest) room

finish hanging decals and bulletin board in nursery

IKEA

2011-02-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

tomorrow Wes is taking me to IKEA to buy nursery furniture for our new baby (five weeks to go!)!! I love IKEA. love it so much. it's been lots of fun planning a new nursery and planning how to fill in the spaces in Leila's room that will be emptier after moving some stuff over ... can't wait to share pictures of the finished product!! as of right now it's just notes and scribbles and plans, but here is some of my inspiration!

Thanksgiving Treats

2010-11-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

I got to bring dessert to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house this weekend. First I made this yummy yummy pumpkin crunch cheesecake. The recipe came from the same place as the spider cookies (a Betty Crocker mini-mag that I picked up at the grocery store before Halloween and is proving to be a great purchase!).

My favorite part of this dessert is the pecan topping. I don't usually like pecan pie but this topping was just enough sweet, maple-y, crunchy perfection. The cheesecake flavor wasn't too pronounced so I think next year I'll buy a store bought pie and make the same topping to add at the last minute. Same flavor - a lot less dishes and time!

As yummy as this pie was, not everyone in my family (ahem, Wes) is a fan of cheesecake or pumpkin! So, I also made these special little treats.

This recipe came from the Rice Krispies website and boy are they ugly! I said that to Wes after I had assembled a couple and he reminded me that real turkeys aren't that good looking either but they sure are delicious!

can't deny it

2010-11-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

... Christmas IS coming! I'm not in a huge hurry to take down my autumn leaves, but I have started knitting Leila a Christmas stocking (well, really I picked up what I started last year but never finished) to go with the ones I made for Wes and I many years ago.

I'm making pretty good progress on it (this picture is actually from a couple days ago and now I'm down to the toe already!) so I might even attempt to make one for baby brother too since I could add the name later. I have a feeling that next Christmas I won't really have a ton of time to make new things.

Also, earlier this week I got an email from shimelle to announce that it's almost time to start this year's edition of Journal Your Christmas!

I am super excited about this because I feel like I sort of know what to expect whereas last year I was a little overwhelmed. Also, I am accepting the challenge to make this a non-expensive (maybe even free?) project. Since this class is a one-time fee, and I paid last year, I don't have to pay to participate ever again (which I think is a really really sweet thing for shimelle to do!). Plus, I have a lot of stuff leftover from last year so depending on what format I decide to go with, I might not need to buy anything other than the actual album ... we'll see. First I need to finish up my album from last year! I got as far as December 21 before houseguests arrived and things got crazy. I'm not going to do every page, but I want to pick out my favorite photos from the family celebrations and at least get those in the album so in 20 years I can remember what we did for the actual celebration and not just the stuff leading up to December 25.

welcome autumn

2010-11-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

I don't really care for the spooky Halloween decorations, but I love autumn! Our new house doesn't have a ton of room for knick-nacks and accessories, but I've put up a couple of things with a fall leaf theme:

Kristen and I made cute leaf garlands out of felt and embroidery floss a few months ago. They're based on something we saw on elsie's blog ... she never posted an official tutorial so we just winged it.

Our picture wall is mostly rectangle and square frames so I wanted to make a fun wreath to compliment the clock at the other end of the wall. This was super easy to make with strips of fabric and a wreath frame. I made it in a naptime and still had time to eat lunch and do laundry. I love that it's totally autumn with the orange and the leaves, but since I have splashes of orange throughout our living room, I could keep it up year-round. But I think I'll definitely make a new one with Christmas fabric next month to swap out for a little while :)

Halloween at our house

2010-10-31T21:06:00.001-07:00

Halloween is pretty quiet around here since Wes has to work all weekend. Tonight I took Leila trick-or-treating with some other friends from church but mostly it was just for me to be social and out of the house since she's too little to eat all that candy.

But we've had some fun around here celebrating the season ...

last week we took Leila to Underwood Family Farms in her costume (just like last year! so weird to look back at those pictures) ...

and I made these yummy spider cookies!! They're peanut butter with Rolos, Reese's Pieces and Red Vines. so good.

I've been working on some other autumn-y projects for the house too which I'll share soon! Happy Halloween!

fun at Renegade

2010-07-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

rather than fight traffic and search aimlessly for parking, we took the train to Union Station!

then we only had to walk a few blocks to get to the park and all the fun goodness.

for a while we all stuck together, but there was so much to see and everyone had different interests so we spread out after a short time.

but we came together for fun tutorials, like this one at Sew LA's booth. we all made reusable fabric coffee cozies. Ashley used a sewing machine for the first time! (Kristen and I are in the background putting the final, finishing touches on our cozies.)

another favorite tutorial was these cute feathered hairpieces. on the return train trip, Michaela and I had fun pretending to be Indians!

we thought we should be serious for this one, but it was too silly.

Kristen and I each think that we have the best husband in the world - I know that I do, but sometimes I let Kristen think she's winning :)

Renegade!

2010-07-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

had the best day on Saturday at the Renegade Craft Fair!! Kristen, Michaela, Noelle, Ashley and I met early to take the train to Los Angeles and spent the rest of the day applying sunscreen, taking tutorials, grabbing business cards, paying $3 for water, losing each other in the crowd, finding each other again, people watching, sweating, meeting look-alikes, winning free stuff, buying cuteness and taking photo booth pictures!!! later this week I'll share my favorite purchases. xo.

Katie & TupperWave

2010-07-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

so that post title isn't as charming or alliterate as "Julie & Julia"but that is how I am feeling right now. I just finished reading J&J last week and just as Julie cooked her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," I am cooking my way through the TupperWave microwave cooker recipes. Ok, so maybe it's not just as Julie & Julia, but so far we are 3-for-3 in delicious microwave meals! whoo!

A few nights ago I made rice and beans in the cooker using Tupperware's Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend to accompany my (not Tupperware) skillet fajitas and oh gosh it was delicious. that seasoning blend is super spicy though - I need to make a note and recommend at parties to start out with half the recommended amount. or maybe I'm just a wuss!

Last night we had a steak, cheese and prosciutto omelet and also banana bread baked simultaneously in the TupperWave. to pour over the bread, I sautéed canned pineapple rings in a sauce made with Tupperware's Cinnamon-Vanilla Seasoning Blend and that was another knock-out-of-the-park meal! yum! there was even enough leftovers for breakfast this morning which was a nice change from cold cereal and milk. I really loved how the eggs turned out in the TupperWave cooker because I hate runny eggs so I often end up over cooking them and getting some of that icky brown crust on the bottom. but last night's eggs were fluffy and firm, not runny and not at all rubbery or weird.

Tonight I was a little nervous because I have never cooked chicken in the microwave before. I've heated up leftovers lots of times, but never cooked from raw. I crusted the chicken with Italian breadcrumbs and some other seasonings and also cooked orzo pasta with chicken broth. When it was done cooking, I tossed the pasta with come grated parmesan (not the powdered stuff) and wow, was it all good!! the chicken was cooked all the way through and so juicy! and pasta+parm is pretty much the best thing ever in my opinion so it's hard to screw that up. the only thing I missed from oven baking the chicken was that good crunchy crust, but the overall flavor and the juiciness of the meat definitely made up for it. also, not having to turn on my oven late in the afternoon in the middle of summer is a real bonus!!

with my most recent party, I ordered the colander insert for the TupperWave which will make it even easier to get a complete meal done all at once in less than 30 minutes because I'll be able to steam veggies! that order is in transit now and I can't wait!!

so, in case you haven't guessed yet, YES, I am a Tupperware consultant and please forgive the sales pitch, but I would love to make all your Tupperware dreams come true! Parties are still the #1 way to order products and I travel most anywhere in central and southern California. Online ordering is also available and we even have gift registries and e-gift certificates! Check it out!!

celebrating America

2010-07-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

growing up in Huntington Beach, it was impossible to be unpatriotic on the 4th of July. of course, I thought patriotic was what it meant to put on every red, white and/or blue article of clothing I owned, go downtown, get my face painted by the YMCA Indian Guides and eat as many cherry, coconut and blueberry Jelly Bellies possible over the duration of the largest Independence Day parade west of the Mississippi.

Every year we set up camp on the curb outside Esther's house on Main Street and thanked the Good Lord above that we went to the same church as someone who lived on the parade route and lovingly opened her home to the congregation!

Since getting married and moving north, I've missed the parade but this year we decided that Leila needed to experience an HB 4th for herself. She and I wore our new outfits that I sewed Friday night while Wes was working. It was a little cold in the morning, but by the halfway point of the parade, it was plenty warm enough to bare our shoulders!

It's so easy on a beautiful day at the beach to focus on the sun, bike rides and beer selections but I hope that most people took time yesterday to pause and appreciate how blessed we are in our country.

late night

2010-07-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

tank done! now off to bed!!!

rare opportunity

2010-07-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

tonight Wes picked up an extra shift so after I put Leila to bed, I decided to spend my night alone with my sewing machine! I've had One Yard Wonders for a few months now and have bought lots of fabric with the intention of making some cute things, but living my life as I do in two- or three-hour increments between naptimes I rarely sit down to sew, especially in the last couple of months during the remodel. so since there isn't any artificial light in my "craft" room yet, I dragged the machine out to the living room and made this romper for Leila to wear on Sunday! the smallest pattern size given was 2T and Leila is just barely starting to fit in 12-18 month clothes now so I took an inch off the pattern all the way around and am hoping for the best! she's a tall girl and instead of elastic, I put in a halter tie at the top so hope that will make it fit.

it's hard to see in the poor light (one of my many projects I need to finish before I consider our home "finished" ha ha), but the fabric is lots of different patterned stars scattered across navy fabric. I never sleep well when Wes is working night shift, so rather than go to bed and lie awake for the next two hours, I'm going to tackle one of emma's tank tops from RVA summer camp using the leftover fabric from the romper. whoo!!

volunteer photography

2010-06-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

this week was Vacation Bible School at our church and I volunteered to be the photographer. I took over 1,900 pictures over four nights. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

perfect day

2010-06-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Kristen (a.k.a. Mrs Harmony) came over yesterday and we shared some of our favorite things!

(image from weheartit.com)

Cha-cha-chai lattes

wish I could say we made this cute banner, but it's from weheartit.com - however, I am totally inspired to make one of my own soon! But we did spend time poring over Song of Solomon for inspiration for crafty gifts for our husbands.

delicious pasta salad - yay Trader Joe's!

and in addition to all the chatting, sharing and general catching up we did - we also made cute hair clips inspired by Elsie's project from RVA summer camp! such a fun idea and now I am on the lookout for more cute fabric patterns that I can turn into hair clips to spice up my daily "mom" hairdo of a messy bun!

why father's day is the best

2010-06-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

yesterday was Father's Day! Father's Day is great because all guys really want to do with "their" day is relax and watch TV (or at least that's all Wes really wants!) so the agenda yesterday was: watch some World Cup soccer then go to church. After church Leila took a nap, Wes went to hit some golf balls and I got started on my gift to Wes of a clean BBQ, then we had lunch and took Leila to the park. while she took her afternoon nap, Wes settled down to watch some golf on TV and I had some time to start on my next project from RVA summer camp!

I got five t-shirts cut and wound before Leila woke up for dinner and then after she went to bed for the night I started turning the "yarn" into a welcome mat for our back door! I love this project because other than buying a huge crochet hook (less than $2), it's free! As a runner I have an abundance of white tshirts from different races and events, many which don't fit because they decide that the one-size-fits-all for runners is XL. Once I finish with my all-white mat, I think I'll make a multi-colored mat (race tshirts come in colors other than white, sometimes) for the garage door too. With the new wood floors, we're trying hard to keep as much dirt and dust outside as possible, so these mats are perfect for trapping a lot of stuff before we get too far inside the house.

Leila's Daddy

2010-06-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

We love you so much!

i love puns

2010-06-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

this afternoon during naptime I completed my first project from RVA Summer Camp! it is an adorable journal covered in woodgrain fabric to be a "summer log" (get it? i wish I could take credit for that little pun, but the creator of the project also made the joke first).

here are pictures of my completed log:

front

back - the color is a little wonky in this one, the first picture is closer to reality

all the pretty pages inside!

no time to start filling it now, Leila is making her presence known from her crib :)

Go USA!

2010-06-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

we had a party today for the US vs. England World Cup game and of course, Leila needed something appropriate to wear! due to all the recent remodeling, my sewing machine isn't available for use yet so I had to get creative with what was easily available.

I started with this Angels dress ... and a little felt and some embroidery floss later ...

we're ready for game time!!! (let's say that the A on the skirt is for America and ignore the fact that I was not about to attempt an embroidered soccer ball pattern on a circle of felt.)

here's Wes in his "vintage" '94 jersey celebrating after the US tied it up in the 40th minute!

it was so fun to welcome friends to our updated home! lots of people dressed in patriotic colors (the Pelascini girls even showed up with face glitter and star stickers) and there was plenty of yummy food to go around. in fact, I have a fridge full of shepherd's pie, watermelon, lemonade and apple pie if anyone wants to come over and help polish it off :)

dreamy home

2010-06-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

it's been so fun over the past few weeks to see the ideas I've been holding in my head for years actually coming true in our kitchen! I have been thinking a lot lately about what makes a house a home and what takes a home to that next level of being a "dream home" ... everyone has different ideas about their dream home but I love this one!

photo credit: Elsie Flannigan

for three years after my brother and I were both out of the house, my parents traveled by RV all over the Western US, even going all the way up to Alaska! And while I know my mom is so thrilled to be back to her "dream house" without wheels (the home we grew up in back in Huntington Beach), I still think of them and their adventures when I see an RV driving down the highway or camped along PCH or when I come across something cute like this painting!

functional

2010-06-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

as of a quarter-to-nine last night, Wes and I are now the proud owners of a fully functional kitchen once again!

just a few little projects to officially be DONE - install the hood (tomorrow), put up another row of shelves (maybe this weekend?), get a new microwave (far down on the priority list right now) and decide what to do about a backsplash. but the important thing is, the oven cooks, the sink and dishwasher clean and my number one project for today is to figure out what I'll be cooking Wes for our first home-cooked dinner in over a month!

vacation memories

2010-06-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

first stop when we got into town - lunch at Tyler's!

lots of time in the pool

kisses from Daddy at dinner

Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Springs

Grandpa "babysitting"

packed up and ready to hit the road for home!

whoohoo!

2010-06-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

we're on vacation!

ready for a break

2010-05-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

you can still see lots of not-yet-put-away stuff behind Leila ... most of my cabinets are filled but there is still some random pieces that I don't necessarily want to get rid of but they don't really have a place either. single dishes that don't match any sets (in size or design), my fourth fondue pot, and miscellaneous kitchen utensils that I use only once in a while. other than that, mostly what's over there is food since our pantry is currently unavailable due to an unforeseen problem in our renovation process.

tomorrow we're leaving all this behind and heading to Palm Springs for a week of playing in the pool, lots of golf (for Wes), margaritas downtown (after Leila's bedtime, of course) and visiting with some favorite friends. as soon as we come home again it will be back to work setting up our kitchen for functional use again, but until then we're going to forget all about it!

collections

2010-05-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

I collect cookbooks. I love them. I love bright pictures of beautiful food. I love to read about new techniques and cooking methods and flavors to try. I love to sit down with a pile of cookbooks each Saturday afternoon and plan out my menu for the week ahead (of course trying to overlap ingredients as often as possible to save money on the grocery bill, but still have unique and interesting meals each night). This is my cookbook collection as it looks right now ... stacked up in our guestroom, far away from its home in the kitchen. Dad and Wes built me a shelf to house my cookbooks in another week or so when this chaos is behind us. I hope it's strong enough to hold them all!

What do you collect?

Happy Thought of the Day

2010-05-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Happiness is ... upacking your wedding china after 3+ years of being in storage and loving it just as much as the day you added it to your registry.

summer camp

2010-05-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

first I need to apologize to anyone reading this who expected to find some sort of craft or yarn projects being highlighted on this blog. obviously things are a little chaotic at my house this month and I'm not getting any projects done. But that's about to change and I'm so excited!! Kristen and I are signed up for six weeks of projects and inspiration starting in June :) Mostly I am looking forward to spending some time with Kristen making crafts and chatting and eating yummy snacks. All the fun projects (and the fact that if I have time to craft, that means my house is back in order) will be a bonus.

so close

2010-05-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

so close to a finished kitchen ... just need the range to be delivered and installed, the faucet and dishwasher to be installed and one other cabinet to be installed. had a little snafu with that last cabinet, but at least I can start unpacking boxes and putting the majority of the kitchen in order. this is the fun part! there are a number of boxes that I packed up over three years ago when we moved from our big apartment in Ventura to the smaller place (in order to save more money on rent to purchase our home! it was a good decision at the time, but I miss all my pretty wedding dishes). like Christmas in May - can't wait to open all the boxes and see what surprises I find.

Visiting GreatGrandpas

2010-05-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

this weekend we strapped Leila in the car for a road trip to Oregon! she was quite the trooper for seven hours in the car on Thursday and Friday and a long 14 hours on Sunday. Three days of driving for one day of visiting isn't the best ratio but between Wes' work and our big kitchen project, that's the best we could manage this year.

Friday morning we had breakfast with Wes' Grandpa Jim and his wife, Mary Lyn before heading to Redwood Country and back to the 101 for the final push into Brookings, OR.

Grandpa has a large piece of property in back of his house with tons of animals that roam in the hills. He puts out deer feed every morning and it was enchanting to watch them emerge out of the trees to eat breakfast.

Since it was raining pretty hard on Saturday, after feeding the animals we just hung out inside most of the day. Leila enjoyed exploring a new house and even pulled herself up to standing for the first time! She didn't get totally upright, but this is the first time she's gotten her legs under her on her own, so that was exciting for all of us to see.

Later she celebrated her accomplishments by blowing raspberries with Uncle Luke.

Sunday morning we got up early and said goodbye.

Four generations!

Leila in the car - five hours down, just nine to go. She did great until Santa Barbara. By then it was way past her bedtime and even though we put her in pajamas and she nodded off, the headlights of cars behind us kept waking her up and mostly she was just so sick of the car! Thankfully from SB it's less than an hour to home. She is so happy to be in her own house (even though it's noisy and confusing with all the workers here today) that all morning she has been crawling back and forth looking at her toys and books and jabbering to herself cheerfully.

the big day!

2010-05-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

here is our IKEA kitchen flatpacked in the garage! after today all of this will be ...

here ...

and here!

It's so exciting and a little hectic around here. I'll be back later with pictures from our road trip to Oregon :)

like a whole new house

2010-05-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

the new floor is so close to being done I can taste it!

here is the kitchen which they finished yesterday. (see the blue walls! the white patches are where the new cabinets will go next week.)

this was taken standing in the kitchen looking out into the great room. (the blue tape is holding down the planks they laid today until the glue dries.)

now Wes and Wayne are definitely in the homestretch! just these awkward angles around the front door and bathroom door and it's all done! next we'll have to put in new baseboards, but I think that should be much easier and faster than the whole floor installation. I am beyond thrilled right now and so incredibly thankful for Wes' willingness to do this for me and for Wayne's willingness to help!

new floor!!

2010-05-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

last night Wayne came over again to help pull up all the old carpet.

We're going to be replacing all the flooring in the downstairs of our house with the exception of the bathroom and extra bedroom.

This morning work started bright and early. First they had to scrape up all the linoleum that was under the carpet (original to the house!) and clean up the debris. It was pretty noisy so Leila is glad they didn't try to do it last night after she went to bed.

Now they're actually staring to lay the planks and it's so exciting! I keep sneaking downstairs and just staring. Pictures of the good stuff to come soon!

drywall

2010-05-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law, Wayne, came over this afternoon to help Wes patch all the holes left behind from the demo. I can't wait until it's dry so I can start painting!! Installation of the new floor is scheduled to begin Tuesday so time is getting tight. plus, I just really love painting. is that weird?

our cowgirl

2010-05-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

back in August Wes played in a golf tournament sponsored by the FBI. At the after-golf BBQ, he bought some raffle tickets and scored this awesome rocking horse built by inmates in the LASD correction center. We've been setting Leila on it ever since Wes brought it home (when she was just five weeks old!) but only recently is she able to sit on it without support and hold on while I rock it for her! She just loves it and I love having such a fine handcrafted toy for her room that even adds to the cowgirl theme.

aftermath

2010-05-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Good-bye kitchen!

2010-05-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Bright and early tomorrow guys are coming to demo our kitchen!

Can't wait!

We'll be putting in new floors ...

... and new lights too!

Thursday picnic

2010-04-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Leila and I are in Huntington Beach for a few days visiting my parents and yesterday we met up with my friend Leanna and her husband and parents for a picnic at Lake Park. Leila loved crawling around outside and discovering the eucalyptus leaves scattered across the grass just beyond the boundaries of our picnic blanket. She also tasted some new foods courtesy of my adventurous and cultured friends.

after lunch we played on the swings, which is pretty much Leila's most favorite thing in life besides her Daddy!

Also, I should point out that Leila's outfit was handmade by Leanna's cousin. I am not sure if she sells them on etsy or anything ... I'll have to ask!

Great Race of Agoura 10k

2010-03-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

My #1 fan after the Old Agoura 10k! It felt so great to race again ... my last "race" was the 2009 Surf City Half in which I was 14 weeks pregnant so didn't really give it my all. I've been running a lot and was hoping to come somewhere close to my pre-baby PR which I had in my head as 50 minutes. Then I looked it up and realized it was way faster than that ... but I stuck with my 50 minute goal for the 6.2 mile, incredibly hilly and challenging course.

I started out too fast and sort of fizzled in the fifth mile but still finished strong with a time of 52:32 and eighth in my age group out of 170 women! I loved seeing Leila and Wes cheering for me at the finish line. Such a great push for the last 100 yards. Now I'm on the lookout for a FLAT 10k to do soon and try to get under 50 minutes!

My sister-in-law, Whitney, completed her first half marathon today too! way to go, Whit!!

training for the Great Race

2010-03-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited for my first post-baby 10k next week! The Great Race of Agoura is a super hilly course so this weekend while visiting Mom & Dad I took the opportunity to run some hill repeats at Central Park where our conference championship races were held in high school. It's always fun to run on familiar paths. Dad pushed Leila in the stroller while I was running and took these pictures from the top of the hill.

baby sling

2010-03-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

after lunch and crawling around on the grass yesterday, Maddie wanted to feed the ducks so we walked the kids over to the pond. I didn't get Leila's stroller out when we first arrived and after carrying her around the pond for a while I was again reminded of how big she is getting! I am also reminded when I am shopping places that don't have carts and are too small for my big stroller. A few weeks ago I came across this tutorial and today I decided was the time to use it!

I didn't take pictures of the process (the linked tutorial has great photos of each step), but here is the finished sling with Leila riding high in it!

(she looks grumpy because right after her nap I just stuck her in the sling to see how it fit and I haven't fed her yet ... the bunny ears are to show "look ma, no hands!")

It's a little challenging to get her into the sling, but once she's in it's very comfortable and she seems to like it, despite the look on her face here. I guess the real test will be an afternoon of errands!

baby park date

2010-03-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

today it was such a beautiful day!! Leila and I met my friend Melissa and her kids, Maddie and Hudson, for a picnic in the park. Hudson is Leila's "boyfriend" and they had a wonderful time playing together outside.

She Likes It!

2010-02-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

Leila's cutest ugly friend

2010-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

my favorite jeans got a huge hole in the knee as a result of wearing them as often as possible for the past four years and now crawling around on the floor after Leila. Since my foot gets stuck in the hole every time I try to get into these jeans now, I decided to turn them into cutoffs and hope summer comes early this year, then make a stuffed toy for Leila out of the bottoms!

Step One: Cut off your jeans!

Step Two: cut out the body and appendages from the fabric (two matching pieces of each! I made mine so that the legs are included with the body, so I only had to cut out arm pieces separately.)

Step Three: Decorate! Sadly, I ran out of daylight to take pictures during this step ... but I used felt and buttons to make eyes, ears, a big button tail and also a nosegay for one hand. Before I stuffed and sewed the body together, I reinforced the backs of all the button stitching with craft glue to prevent Leila from pulling the buttons off and sticking them in her mouth. A smarter idea for a seven-month-old would, of course, be to not use buttons.

I don't have pictures of the next steps, but I'll try to explain as best I can.

Step Four: After all the decorating is finished, sew and stuff any appendages (but NOT the body) and sandwich the pieces together in this order:

back of ugly face up (decoration facing you).

appendages (arms, legs, ears, tentacles, etc.). make sure they are pointing in, for example, if you have arm pieces, lay them so that it looks like your ugly is hugging itself.

front of ugly face down.

Step Five: Pin around all the edges, especially where there are extra layers of appendages.

Step Six: Stitch around the edge of your ugly leaving a quarter-inch edge and a four-inch hole for turning.

Step Seven: Turn ugly right-side out through the four-inch hole you left. If you pinned the appendages right, they should all stand out in the correct places!

Step Eight: Stuff the ugly and sew up the opening using a slip stitch. I used standard polyfil for the stuffing, but a greener option would be to use clean plastic shopping bags. This would also create the "crinkle" effect that babies are so fascinated with!

Here is my finished ugly toy for Leila. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be - the ears are sort of bearish but it stands up on only two legs, so your guess is as good as mine. She is sleeping now, so we'll have to wait for tomorrow to see if she likes it.

1.5 years later

2010-02-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

a year-and-a-half ago I started knitting a tank for Taylor. between other projects, my pregnancy-induced knitting hiatus and moving to a new house it never got finished but while packing for Leila's first road trip to Arizona this week I made sure to bring along the UFO and all necessary elements to turn it into an FO! I must have had the gauge way off when I cast on for this because though I intended this tank for two-and-a-half year old Taylor, it is even too big for almost-four year old Taylor!

The stripes under the bust are made using leftover yarn from the jumper I made when she was just a little thing.

Our trip was my birthday present from Wes and it was wonderful. I always love visiting our Arizona family and it was so so fun introducing everyone to Leila!

She read books with Diana, cuddled with Renee and laughed when Kristina tickled her. Saturday night Kristina planned a special birthday dinner of chicken fajitas (BBQed by Andy) and dessert out of my new favorite cookbook! The best part was Friday night when Kristina watched Leila so Wes and I could have a date night! Going out to dinner with no bibs or watching the clock to hurry home for bedtime and avoid a meltdown was such a treat!

no photos for now

2010-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

FYI - my camera is out for repair so can't post pictures of the cute Christmas ornaments I made for the family or my journal :(

what we're doing this morning

2009-12-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

Leila fell asleep on me as we wound down playtime this morning. Since my laptop was in reach, I'm catching up on some blog reading while I'm immobile. Here are a few of my favorite posts:

Elsie's Handmade Holiday Shopping Guide

How About Orange's Printable Pillow Box

Katie.Cupcake's Felt Polaroid Christmas Tree Ornament

Holly's Marshmallow Cravings

Bakerella's Farm Chick Swag

and, I entered to win this awesome book! I am loving Grandma's sewing machine, but large quantities of fabric do intimidate me. The projects in this book all use one yard of fabric or less, so would be good practice of my slow-developing sewing skills.

Christmas Journal, Day 1

2009-12-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of a new tradition - to Journal My Christmas! I am so excited about this and hope I can really keep it up until January 6 (I definitely can't commit to posting my pages here each day, but I'll try to share every once in a while). Each day I receive a prompt in my email for a new page and today the goal was to create a "manifesto" - a statement of intent to take time every day for myself and my Christmas journal and also the reason why I have decided to commit to this project. Here is my page from day one - December 1!

Thankful Thursday, Part 3

2009-11-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

There is so much to be thankful for this year - but the best (and cutest) reason is this healthy, sweet, beautiful girl:

Dream Craft Kit

2009-11-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

I finished my Dream Craft Kit for Mom's preschool auction (this was also one of the projects from the RVA Autumn class). I am so thrilled with how it turned out! here are some pictures:

I found this train case on etsy. This is the "before" picture and you can see it is in relatively good condition. All I've done so far is painted the inside edges white so that the blue doesn't show through the fabric.

Here it is finished and full! I wish I had taken more pictures of the process of recovering the interior of the case. Let's just say that with a sewing machine and hot glue gun, I can do anything!!

For the inside of the lid, I made a small pocket to hold a needle book I made out of felt and cardboard from a funky-colored soda box. I also sewed in pen pockets and included a disappearing ink pen for embroidery and a crochet hook. The felt heart is just for cuteness and to draw out the blue of the rick-rack edging on the pockets.

Inside the case I included three colors of yarn, two tea towels and a canvas bag to be embroidered (along with a copy of elsie's neverland patterns and directions to visit redvelvetart.com to buy more cute patterns), an embroidery hoop and floss (wrapped individually on bobbins made from the same funky-colored soda box as the needle book and tied with cute ribbon), squares of felt (possibly my new favorite crafting material), buttons in a handmade pouch, three homemade journals (also a separate project from the RVA class), scissors (also in a felt pouch so no one gets poked), Mod Podge and a sponge brush.

The outside of the case I left pretty much alone except for adding this adorable vinyl sticker from the RVA shop. I bought a ton more and if this was for me to keep I would have decked this thing out with stickers, but since I don't know who will ultimately receive this case after the auction, I left it simple but did include a camera sticker inside the kit.

That's it! I was sad to hand this over to Mom, but so happy to know that it's going to a good cause! I hope whoever wins this auction is in for some fun times with all the goodies I packed away.

Thankful Thursday, Part 2

2009-11-19T16:19:00.001-08:00

today's is simple: I am thankful for new my new sports bra! we did some running without the strollers at my workout this week and it felt great to run hard for the first time in a loooooong time! with Thanksgiving coming up next week, I am especially glad to have a comfortable way to work off all that delicious food! Last year I had a pretty sever aversion to poultry and did not really enjoy Thanksgiving at all. This year ... BRING IT ON!

Swap No. 2 of the week

2009-11-19T10:13:00.001-08:00

this afternoon Leila and I will be taking a walk to the post office to send off my second swap this week! (I have one more to send next week and then I'm taking a break until after Christmas.) There was no real theme to this swap, just a chance for "newbies" to send and receive a package and build up ratings. I received a lovely homemade cookbook full of recipes a week or so ago and have been feeling the pressure to get my package out the door soon, but as I mentioned on Tuesday, there is a lot going on this week and to add to it all, Leila had a bad reaction to her rotavirus vaccine later that afternoon and got really sick all over me multiple times and then fell asleep on me before I could clean either of us up and move her to her crib. Other than the throwing up part, I really didn't mind an afternoon of holding her in my arms, but now that she's better, I still have deadlines to meet.
So, my partner for this swap stated that she likes blue and flowers, hates pink, and owns a very spoiled chihuahua named Sophie. Even though I am not a dog lover, I came up with a cute idea to send.

I'm not sure what the official name for this item is, but it's something that attaches on a dog leash and carries plastic bags for disposing of doggie doo. My idea was to make this a little cuter by creating a personalized tag for Sophie to hang on the bag dispenser that I picked up at Old Navy.

I cut out two circles of felt and some little orange felt flowers. Then used black embroidery thread to attach the flowers to the first felt circle and also back-stitch the letter 'S' for the dog's name. I added ribbon for hanging and sandwiched it between the top and bottom layer of felt and used the blanket stitch to close it up and hide the back of my embroidery. This was my first time using the blanket stitch and I like how it turned out! Not only did it bring the two circles together but also added a cute scalloped edge to the whole project.

I think what I like about swap-bot the best isn't the sending and receiving mail (although it's always fun to get something in the mailbox that isn't a bill or catalog) ... I like the challenge to create something new that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. All I know about the people I send to is what they put on their user profiles and oftentimes (like this one) they aren't that specific so I get to put on my thinking cap and come up with totally random (for me) ideas about gifts for dogs and whatnot. I never would have thought of this little felt tag without the challenge of this swap, but now I am dreaming up reasons to make more!

Bible Verse Swap

2009-11-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

Even though I don't work in an office anymore, I still have some deadlines to hit! There are two swaps that need to be mailed out this week and I also am working on a craft kit to donate to the silent auction at Mom's preschool/church this weekend.
The first swap due this week is for two decorated cards with Bible verses. The first card was easy for me to create - some of you may recognize it :)

On the back of the card, I printed Colossians 2:7 from the New Living Translation Bible, I just love this translation of the verse:

Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.

For my second card, I used verses that we've been discussing a lot in Wes and my Thursday night small group regarding the condition of your heart (the front and back of the cards are pictured below).

The verses compliment each other and are both a good reminder to me to guard my heart for what I hold in my heart will come out of my mouth! Another passage that goes right along side these verses is Philippians 4:8.

Such fun to create the cards and also get a little reminder from the Word of God while I craft. My current favorite music to have on while I work on projects is an album of hymns by Chris Rice. It is a little slower tempo than I usually like my music, but perfectly relaxing for what I'm doing now.

P.S. the fabric in the background is a little sneak peak of the project I'm working on for the silent auction! More on that later :)

keeping apples warm in the winter

2009-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas my mom puts out a big bowl of red apples with green ribbons tied on the stems. How cute would that same bowl be with a couple of sweatered apples thrown in the mix? Apple Cozy is definitely a new concept to me, but the pattern looked easy and since I needed a quick project to keep my knitting brain functioning, I cast on for this a few days ago. It was a really fast knit. In my previous life before Leila, I probably could have cranked out a few of these in one of Wes' night shifts. As it is, this project took me three days, but I only worked on it for an hour or less each of those days. I am thrilled that I remembered how to cast on and off, increase and decrease, and most importantly, knit and purl!
The yarn is Lorna's Laces Bittersweet. The apples I have on hand to "model" are pretty small; I think a larger apple would fill this cozy out perfectly. But as it is, it's adorable and also will keep the apple from bruising if I throw it in my bag for a snack on the go. I plan on making a couple more of these to add to Christmas gifts, but if you want to make one for yourself, here is the pattern. (There are also crochet versions available, but since I'm more comfortable knitting, that's what I chose. However, if you do a google search for crochet apple cozy patterns, you should get more than one to choose from.)

starting a Christmas tradition

2009-11-13T15:35:00.000-08:00

it's almost Thanksgiving and even though I never intentionally listen to Christmas music (though today while browing iTunes I found out that Weezer has a Christmas album!) or watch Elf before the last Friday of November, I have had Christmas gifts on my mind for a while now since I plan on handmaking many presents this year. I have started on a few, but can't share too many details here :)

However, I can share that I am so excited because I just signed up to "Journal My Christmas." Each day during the month of December through January 6 (the twelfth day of Christmas) I will receive journaling prompts and printable scrapbook art. This is great because I while have had the best of intentions about keeping better notes and journals during these first few months of Leila's life, I haven't done a very good job. (lots of pictures, but not a lot of words to go with them.) But Christmas is pretty much my most favorite thing in the world and I am so thrilled to have daily reminders to take a minute and record what we're doing to celebrate. I have been going back and forth about signing up for a couple weeks now, but what finally sold me on it is that this is a "lifetime membership" type of thing where by signing up once, I can participate for years to come. I hope that as Leila gets older she will enjoy looking through the scrapbook/journals I will create and find joy in them.
(photo from shimelle.com)

Thankful Thursday, Part 1

2009-11-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

This week I am thankful for wonderful friends who motivate me to get out of the house and walk in the mornings! The miles are much more enjoyable with someone to talk to along the way. Next week I'm going to challenge myself to do a little more running!

this photo of Tia and I was taken at the Casa Pacifica Wine and Food Festival three years ago.

this photo of Nicole and I was taken at her house in July, just three days before my water broke and Leila arrived!

finally sewing

2009-11-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

When my Grandma Leila passed away in January, I asked if I could "inherit" her sewing machine. I have many happy memories of sewing with Grandma throughout my life and now I'm ready to try some projects on my own. Grandma was always gracious about letting me sew some of my own things on her machine and I thought it would be no problem for me to jump in and start sewing! However, I realized once I had the machine in my house that while I was allowed to sew seams on my own, Grandma always had the needle threaded and the bobbin wound before I showed up to "help." I've had the machine in my possession since May, but it took a couple of months for me to find the time and patience to sit down with the instruction manual and figure out how to set things up, but I finally did it!

There are quite a few projects from the RVA Autumn class that require the use of a sewing machine so I've been sadly putting them off. But Leila has been taking longer afternoon naps lately so on Friday I found myself with a couple of breast milk and poop-free hours and I spent them with my (new-to-me) sewing machine.

I found an already-loaded bobbin in Grandma's supply chest, so that saved one big step. Once I followed the instructions to thread the machine and the tiny needle, I found some scraps of material that I'd saved from the embroidery hoop frame project and ran some test rows of stitches. So far so good!

I was feeling pretty confident now so decided to dive right into an actual project! I can't tell you what it is (never know who could be reading this and Christmas is right around the corner ...) but let's just say it's for a "domesticated lady." I was able to get one half of the project done before Leila woke up and finished the rest of it during Saturday nap-time. I am so thrilled with the finished product! I know the recipient will love it ... here's just a sneak peak :)

And something else fun - I found the sales receipt in with the instruction manual and other brochures for the sewing machine and realized that my Grandma bought it just a few weeks after I was born! That means that this is the machine she used to sew dresses for me and my dolls when I was little. And now I'll use it to sew dresses and doll clothes for my little Leila.

interpretations of Alice

2009-11-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

a couple weeks ago I posted about swap-bot and since then have found myself involved in a couple of the featured swaps. I enjoyed receiving treats from England in a candy swap and a homemade recipe book in a surprise swap. This week I sent off my first attempt at ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) in an Alice In Wonderland-themed swap.

I took a "less is more" approach to my cards and took inspiration from the scene where the Queen of Hearts plays croquet using flamingoes as mallets. Since I needed to send a card to two different recipients, I cut a playing card in half and used one half on each card. Then, using elsie's embroidery pattern as a reference, I cut out the flamingo body from construction paper and glued it on. The eye and beak are drawn with ink pen, but the legs are stitched with grey embroidery floss and the wings and feather detail are stitched with pink floss.
The back of the card is just paper (mostly to cover the back of the embroidery) the color of Alice's blue dress with swirls on it that make me think of the crazy helter-skelter-ness of Alice's adventures in Wonderland.
I also received cards from two different swappers - those are pictured here (one artist sent an extra card just for fun!):

Making an ATC was fun, but I don't know if I would do it again. I've heard that many people collect ATCs like baseball cards, but I'm not interested in that. I mostly decided to do this swap because of the Alice in Wonderland theme. I have an idea for what I'll do with my received Alice ATCs, but for now I'm keeping it a secret :)

unexpected find

2009-11-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

spent a little time at Michael's this afternoon to pick up supplies for some homemade Christmas presents and while wandering the aisles, I stumbled across a light box! I was so so so excited because I have been wanting to get a light box for a long time, but never thought to look at Michael's. I figured I would need to go to a photo supply shop, and those are rare around here.

But this light box will make it so much easier to complete embroidery projects. Previously I'd just hold the pattern and fabric up to a window, but it's hard to keep everything aligned when it's vertical. I am so excited about this light box that I am going to spend the rest of Leila's naptime this afternoon embroidering! But first I have to share with you my favorite unexpected find from yesterday ... it's in the top right corner of the picture above, but it's hard to see ... here's a better picture, but really you should go and get some of these yourself because the picture does not to justice the deliciousness of these little chocolatey/pepperminty/salty bites. I predict that I will not be hungry for dinner due to an overdose of pretzel perfection, but it will be so worth it!

more pumpkin deliciousness

2009-11-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

here is a picture of my breakfast this morning ... orange juice, yogurt and a little pumpkin biscuit! so delicious :)
I got some pumpkin pancake mix at Trader Joe's last week, forgetting that Wes hates all things pumpkin (yeah, I don't understand either.) and when am I going to make a batch of pancakes just for myself? I mulled it over for a few days and then remembered how much I love strawberry shortcake biscuits made out of bisquick. Since bisquick and what I have in my pantry from TJ's are first and foremost pancake mix, I figured I could make similar biscuits from the pumpkin mix and yum yum, was I right!
You can find the recipe here, or on a box of bisquick, but if you don't happen to have one of those in your pantry, here is the recipe I used to make four biscuits:

1 cup Trader Joe's pumpkin pancake mix (or bisquick)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup milk

(that's it!)

stir ingredients together and separate dough into fourths.

drop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.

the biscuits are great warm, straight from the oven but were a little chewy when cooled, but I will definitely make these again! I think next time I'll try making a cinnamon glaze for the topping.

p.s.

2009-10-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

yay youtube!

alone on halloween

2009-10-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Leila is asleep, Wes is at work, the trick-or-treaters have stopped ... I'm sitting here watching Game 3 of the World Series (mad I forgot to turn it on earlier because I heard the cast of Glee sang the National Anthem) with a mug of hot apple cider (let it simmer on my stove top all evening while I handed out candy) and some funfetti cookies debating what project to get started on with a whole night ahead of me!

Last night I started on an embroidery project that will be a Christmas gift, so I could continue that project, but it's a continuing repeat of the same pattern over and over. Yesterday I did six repeats and I'm feeling the need for a break before I finish it.

I need to make Leila a Christmas stocking to hang with the two I made for Wes and myself for our first Christmas together, but that would involve going into a room with no lights (on Halloween, eek!) to dig through lots of yarn before I can start.

For a new swap I need to create two Alice In Wonderland-themed ATCs. I have my design in mind, it's just a matter of putting it together.

My mom is on the board of a preschool and I promised to put something together for their silent auction next month. My plan is to create a dream craft kit (one of the projects from RVA Autumn class) but I need a carrying case to really get started on this, so I could troll etsy for something vintage.

But to be perfectly honest, all I want to do is read through this stack of cookbooks I got at the library this afternoon :) The baseball game's almost over ... I know what I'm going to do once the last out is made!

p.s. Happy Halloween!

ready for Halloween!

2009-10-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't even started any of the projects mentioned in the last post, but Leila and I are ready for Halloween! Last Monday Wes and I took Leila to the pumpkin patch at Underwood Family Farms in her cute onesie (one of my art projects from the RVA class!):

and this afternoon, I finished mine!

planning for next week

2009-10-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday afternoon and I am busy making a menu for next week's dinners (carne asada from TJ's on Monday, egg mcmuffins on Tuesday, tuna and white bean salad for lunches!) so I can go to the grocery store. Planning the meals also requires me to look at our activities for next week and it looks like if both the NLCS and ALCS go 7 games, we'll have baseball every night this week!! yay!
So I realized that with all this baseball watching, I might have some time to do some crafty goodness in the evenings too ... here is my current "to make" list:

Arm Warmers: I haven't knitted in a long long time, and this is a good new (fast!) project to reintroduce myself to my needles and also clear out some of my yarn stash ... (photo credit: holly at RVA)

Guest room pillow: I have decided to do an Alice in Wonderland themed guest room and I really want to make a cute throw pillow for the bed covered in felt flowers like this one. (photo credit from idotakeu on etsy) This project will be more challenging than the arm warmers because I don't have a pattern for it ... I'll have to eyeball the flowers and figure out some way to attach them to fabric before (or after?) sewing said fabric into a pocket for stuffing to make a pillow ... I don't know yet.

Embroidered Totes: I am also so so so far behind on all the cute projects from the RVA Autumn class, but one of the projects I am most excited about is to make cute (reusable) totes, embroidered with autumn-themed patterns ... I saw new totes at Michael's that would work just fine, but in keeping with the "reusable" theme, I really want to check out a few thrift stores to find some totes that I can clean up and add cuteness to. Haven't had time to do that kind of shopping yet ... but maybe soon! (photo credit: elsie flannigan)

So, it's unlikely that I'll get even one of those projects done in the next week, but it's always fun to dream! It's about time to start thinking about Christmas projects too ... maybe next week!

cookie monster

2009-10-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

Wes has been hard at work the last few weekends fixing up the master bath shower so that we can actually use it ... while he's busy and Leila is sleeping, I have been making cookies! Last week I made your standard peanut butter and today I got a little crazy with some mini-peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's. I made the Nestle Tollhouse recipe, but subbed in these little cups of goodness. They taste delicious but look a little funky, so no picture to share :)

craft corner

2009-10-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

when we moved into our new house, I was so excited for the extra room downstairs ... I immediately decided I wanted it to be the place to house all my craft supplies, extra yarn and sewing machine. This was a welcome suggestion to Wes because he's been living with my projects spread out over our apartment living room since we got married four years ago.
The room has a long way to go (it's still sharing space with boxes of stuff that I'm not going to unpack until we have our kitchen remodel next spring), but I especially love the work table I got super on sale at IKEA this summer.
Wes and I just got new dressers in our room to match our new bed so we moved Wes' old dresser down to the craft room to hold lots of supplies. It's also a good spot to rest my laptop while I'm working on projects from the RVA Autumn Craft Class. Once the boxes are unpacked I'll be able to spread out a little bit more, but for now this is great. I like being able to look out the window into our backyard too. I'll have to move the folded-up ping-pong table to expand my view!
This afternoon with Leila napping I took advantage of the quiet time to work on her Halloween costume. The pattern came from one of our class projects and I am excited to make it for her. I had to order the black onesie online (black isn't a common color for infants, I guess) but I found the fabric paint at Michael's. I need to do another coat of paint in a couple hours, then I'll stitch on a felt heart to make it extra cute. She's going to be the sweetest little skeleton ever :)

pumpkin deliciousness

2009-10-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

It was my turn to bring snack to Bible study last night so I made these cute pumpkin pie bites from Bakerella. Mine didn't turn out quite as cute as hers ... I didn't have time to put the faces on to make them jack-o-lanterns, and I think next time I make these I won't have so much of the crust over the lip of the mini-muffin cup. But they were so delicious! There is cream cheese in the batter, so they were a little cheesecake-y too. yum yum. They were a big hit with the group and not too terribly hard to make. The hardest part was fitting the crust in the cups, I got frozen crust and even though I defrosted it thoroughly, it was still sort of brittle.
I had leftover crust scraps and some pie batter too, so I just layered the crust bits in an oven proof bowl and poured in the leftover batter and had a delicious bowl of pumpkin to snack on today.

More new favorite things: Poladroid!

2009-10-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

oh my goodness, just found this web application that makes your photos look like polaroids! so cute!!! here is one of Leila and I at the beach last weekend and also a funny one of Luke and Kristen ... so easy to get this effect, just drag and drop and the photos slowly appear on the screen, just like a real Polaroid, but no shaking necessary!

new fun stuff: swap-bot!

2009-09-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

while reading through comments and posts for my online art class, someone mentioned swap-bot. I had never heard of swap-bot, so I looked it up on google and found a whole new community of fun arty people and ideas!
The "bot" is an automated system that randomly assigns partners for a "swap" set up by various moderators throughout the world. Swaps are quick and inexpensive (Favorite Candy Bar) or elaborate and expensive (Disney Scavenger Hunt) with specific themes and requirements. Some swaps allow the participants to share handcrafted items while others are designed to clean out stashes of art supplies. One trait is common among many of the swaps - participants must be "rated" in order to participate. It's sort of the catch-22 of looking for work right out of college where no one will hire someone without experience, but how do you get experience without first being hired? Since you must participate in swaps to be rated (the partner you send to gives a rating after receiving their packages to show that you completed the swap in a timely manner and according to the directions of the swap), there are some swaps aimed specifically at "newbies" to try out the swapping system and get ratings in order to join some of the more fun and serious swaps.
I decided to join one of these "newbie" swaps in order to see if I have time to participate in something like this between caring for sweet Leila, keeping the house somewhat clean (ha) and completing projects for art class. The requirement of the swap was to send one item of each color - red, blue, yellow, green and black - and also one "surprise" item based on what my partners shared in their user profiles. I was floored by the detail that some people gave in their profiles to share their interests, likes and dislikes, but I guess if you want to like what you receive in the mail, you need to be specific.
I sent one of my partners the five colors of embroidery floss and also two fat quarters of fabric in designs I hope she likes! My other partner had specifics in her profile that were unusual, but fun to strive for. She collects bottle caps of unusual beverages so I took a trip to Rocket Fizz (my new favorite place, more about that later!) and picked out sodas based purely on the color of their bottle caps. As I enjoyed the sodas, I saved the caps to send to my partner. She also indicated that she loves kitchen accessories such as hand towels and aprons, so I was excited about the opportunity to embroider a towel for her. Here are pictures of the finished product:

The pattern is from Sublime Stitching, one of my favorite places to find patterns. The picture on the left shows a cupcake with two battered spoons crossed underneath. I thought it looks like the skull and crossbones of pirates :) On the right is a clumsy waitress spilling cups and bowls off of her tray.

It was fun to participate in this swap and send off packages and also receive things (I got some great stickers, stamps and also a really pretty bracelet!) but since I have so little free time to myself these days, I don't think I'll be joining too many more swaps right now. Though I did sign up for the candy swap! I couldn't resist :)

ahhh!

2009-09-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

been waiting all week for online art class login and it just came ... right as it's time to feed Leila and get ready for Bible study! argh! I don't think I'll mind waking up early tomorrow ... I'll get my supply list ready before I head north for lunch with Kristen and shopping at The Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria! yay :)

there are two projects already posted ... both would make adorable Christmas presents, I just need to decide who the recipients will be :)

Back to "School"

2009-09-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

this morning I enrolled in an online craft class put on by Elsie, creator of my favorite embroidery patterns! It is an eight-week class and by the end we'll finish 30 projects! Thankfully, the instructions and class outlines will be available oneline for a year, since I am still very busy being Leila's Mom and Wesley's Wife every day, so I'm not sure if I could get everything done in the eight weeks. However, I have so missed being crafty and now that I am getting some energy back (recovered from giving birth and regularly getting 6-7 hours of sleep at night) these projects will give me motivation and inspiration to make some cute projects and get back into the swing of creativity. I am so excited!

back again!

2009-09-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

lots of changes since February ... and lots of UFOs too ... after Lola's jumper I started a Dale of Norway hat for the baby, but had trouble reading the pattern and in the crankiness of my pregnancy, didn't really have the patience to figure out what exactly went wrong. Same with my other projects ... but now baby Leila is here AND we've moved into a new house with lots of rooms to decorate and projects to work on! The nursery is painted green and mostly finished except for curtains. I also want to make a bed skirt for the crib so we can store still-too-big clothes in spacebags underneath. But my main focus now is for the guest room ... we just painted an accent wall in that room "Fairy Tale Blue" and the bedspread is Nautica's Huntington pattern. A while back I bought elsiecake's Wonderland craft kit and plan to use that as inspiration ... there are a few cute prints that I'll put on the wall and also scraps to make a great collage. Pictures to come as I make progress! Warren and Jasmine are coming to stay with us in a few weeks, so I have some good motivation to get it done!

Eventually, I'll get back to knitting, but it's too hot to really think about yarn at this point anyway :)

how the blanket came to be

2009-02-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, Grandma mentioned that she was ready for a new project and may want to pick up knitting again. I had seen this blanket pattern on Knit & Tonic, and suggested it to her since it was pretty simple knitting for the body of the blanket and then crochet edging. However, it had been so long since Grandma picked up knitting needles that even the simple decreases to create the "seam" up the middle of each square seemed difficult, however, the triple crochet edging (foreign to me!) sounded interesting, so I said that I would work on the body of the blanket (I cast on 10 extra stitches per square and also used size 8 needles to make this a little larger for a non-premie baby) and then pass it along to Grandma to finish the edging. I decided I would keep this blanket for myself to use whenever I have babies someday ... I liked the idea of having something that Grandma and I worked on together. Even though she helped me talk me through through lots of difficult patterns and stitches, I don't have anything that both she and I stiched on together.
Sadly, Grandma started failing before I could get my part completed. I don't know how to crochet more than the most basic of beginning steps and I don't feel right asking someone else to complete it for me, so the blanket will remain as it is now. And in July, Wes and I will welcome our firstborn home in this blanket and know that Grandma is loving her greatgrandbaby from heaven.

Baby Otis

2008-12-23T10:21:00.001-08:00

My old college roommate and running partner, Tia, is having a baby next month! They aren't finding out if it's a boy or a girl, but the nursery is jungle-themed so for the shower a couple weeks ago I made some generic animal onesies and wrapped them up with bibs from her registery and some all-purpose pads to look like a sushi roll ... something Tia's had to do without over the course of her pregnancy and I know she misses it!! I got the sushi idea from etsy a while ago and hung onto it since I knew I could make it for Tia myself with homemade goodies :)

Charlotte Rose

2008-12-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

my boss, Christie, had a little girl in October named Charlotte Rose so I used my new Alice in Wonderland-themed embroidery patterns to make her a onesie with a rose theme ... The front has "painting the roses red" and the back has a rose on the butt, like Lola's pirate :)

I also made an Alice tank for Charlotte's big sister, Kate:
with Alice and the Cheshire Cat on the front and a "bread & butterfly" on the back"

Lola Pearl Murphy

2008-12-23T09:49:00.003-08:00

when my friend Heather said she was pregnant with a little girl, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her ... anything with pirates on it!! :) Since I am totally in love with all things elsiecake, I first went to work on embroidering a onesie with a cute skull on the lower back, because I knew Lola would be sassy.

next I revisited a favorite pattern (Taylor's Jumper!) and altered it a bit to be 100% pink with just one skull pocket. I took the skull pattern from a patch in Son of Stitch 'N Bitch and it fit perfectly! The buttons also have skulls on them - I found them at The Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria!

I know Heather will love it ... what do you expect from someone who throws a Dia De Los Muertos baby shower?? :)

Never Neverland

2008-09-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

A little more embroidery to show off. These Neverland patterns are from elsiecake on etsy. I love the towel to show all the different Neverland aspects and will be using the pirates on baby stuff for Lola too. I just started on Wonderland (like Alice in...) embroidery this weekend and will share pictures when I have more to show. For now, here is a little more detail on Neverland.

embroidery!

2008-09-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

been spending more time embroidering than knitting recently ... shown here is a towel I stitched using "Krazy Kitchen" from sublime stitching, which has been my favorite place to find embroidery patterns for a long time. However, I recently discovered elsiecake on etsy, and might have a new favorite!! I am currently working on a neverland-themed towel and plan to use the same patterns on some items for soon-to-be-here baby Lola Pearl Murphy!! I also recently purchased alice in wonderland-themed patterns and can't wait to get to work on those!! thanks to Monday Night Football, I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot more crafting/knitting/embroidering now, and I'm so excited!!! :)
so anyway, about this kitchen towel: the two spoons are on opposite corners on one side and along the opposite edge is a row of all the other kitchen appliances ... there were too many to show in one long picture. but i think it turned out really cute and I am so proud of the french knots on the stand mixer!! a new first for me!! after embroidering so much for other people, I am glad to have some embroidery that I can use in my own kitchen! after I finish the neverland towel, I will get back to work on presents for others, but I have to admit I am enjoying this little bit of selfishness ...

Taylor, part 2

2008-07-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wes and I took a little road trip to AZ last weekend. I was so excited about all that time in the car for some knitting, I started a new project for Miss Taylor. The adorable Girl's Skinny Tank by Wendy Bernard from Blue Sky Alpaca. I thought I could finish it all in the car on the way out there, ha ha ha ... forgot about how long it takes me to cast on (hours, apparently) and dinner breaks (greasy fingers aren't good for knitting) and the inevitable darkness that comes when you drive from LA to Arizona and don't leave LA until after 4pm. But I got a good start and made really good progress on the way home (actually stopping for dinner and being able to wash my hands after makes all the difference!) and now I am just about finished on this cute thing. It does call for an i-cord bind off which I haven't ever done before, so I am excited about the chance to learn something new!
Also, as a bonus, I am making the tank in navy blue, which I bought new, but for the stripes I am using the leftover sky blue and magenta from Taylor's jumper! so cute!!

awake

2008-06-26T04:46:00.001-07:00

so Wes has been in his new position of DETECTIVE for a few months now and I have gotten used to having him around at night and on the weekends and looooove it! I love it so much that I forget he is on call 24 hours a day, which means when something goes down in Carp. at 3 in the morning, he gets a call and has to report ASAP ... which is what happened today. and of course now I can't get back to sleep - so I have a little unexpected time to work on the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan. I have been working on it more this week and I am really enjoying it after a little break. Of course, I would not trade in time with my husband for more knitting time, but I am glad to have something to fill the time without him, even if I should be asleep!
but this seems like an appropriate time to recommend Power of A Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. When Wes was on night shift, I'd read a chapter a night in the chronological order in which they were written. Now, I flip right to the chapter that I think Wes needs the most at the time. Today's chapter: Protection.

Picking it back up

2008-06-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

Though im making good progress on the front of flutter sleeve, as i packed for a quick trip to vegas to visit our fulfillment center i decided i needed something smaller to stick in my carryon. Reintroducing clessidra! Havent worked this pattern in 7 months or more but it is coming back pretty easily. I think i just needed a break from the details but now i am enjoying it

Distractions and Progress

2008-06-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

it's been a long month without knitting around here ... first I was distracted by crochet ... then a trip that despite being a passenger on train, plane and car (the latter for over 24 hours of awake time), produced no stitches ... then this weekend Wes and I got a Wii!! however, tonight in front of TRIPLE overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (go Pens!) I pulled out the Flutter-Sleeve Cardigan and got to work.
I haven't been able to figure out what went wrong on the back ... if it was my misinterpreting the pattern as I tried to make short-row shoulders, or if I just miscounted the rows, but I threaded in a lifeline and started ripping out the last few inches and of course, didn't thread very evenly so this frogging will take more work than I thought.
Instead of getting discouraged, I just left the back on the lifeline and cast on for the first front half!! so far so good there :) I'm going to try and solve the back problem before I get to the shoulders on the front so I can decide to try short-rows, or just bind off as the pattern suggests, but no thinking tonight ... I'm writing now in the intermission between 2OT and 3OT and the game is back on!!

This is new ...

2008-05-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

Crochet!?!? Striped scarf from Happy Hooker my beginning chain was too tight so it is curling a bit as my stitches are getting looser as i get the hang of it. we'll see how it turns out. im just glad to be using up the yarn from Taylor's jumper finally

best husband ever

2008-04-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of Wes for getting an awesome promotion and starting Tuesday he won't have to work night shift anymore! Of course, this will cut into my knitting time a bit, but I am so excited about having more time to spend together!!

2.25 FOs

2008-03-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

The two refers to Stine's socks and the .25 to the half of the back of my flutter sleeve cardigan! I went with size 6 needles for the under-bust ribbing and when I measured it came out perfectly! The real test will be when I put it on, but of course won't know that until a lot more knitting is complete!

did they not consider MY needs?

2008-03-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

having a little bit of frustration with the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan. Thanks to lots of good knitting time last week I have finished the back up to the under-bust ribbing! Unfortunately, the ribbing is supposed to be done with a needle that is four sizes smaller than the largest needle used to knit the body. since I am using a size 9 for the main body knitting, I needed a size 5 to knit the ribbing ... one of the few needle sizes I do not own. so, my project was put on hold for a few days until I could get to AFY on my way home from work today. imagine my surprise when I pulled up (just 10 minutes before closing, new job is a little farther away than my old job) and saw the closed sign on the door. now really, I shouldn't be surprised, AFY has been closed every Monday for the past two years, but really shouldn't they be open on the one day of the week that is convenient for me to stop by?
so, headed down to the local Michael's to see what I could find - while I was mesmerized by the spring silk flowers for 50% off, I was very disenchanted when I discovered that Michael's does not sell circular needles smaller than size 6. I have plenty of size six needles and plenty of size fours, but come on! what I really need is some size fives. I am bound and determined to get some knitting in tonight, so now I am faced with the decision of whether I should go a bit smaller or a big larger than recomended. normally I would go a bit smaller, but my lack-of-excessive-running gut is telling me to go a bit larger. if my brain could keep up, I could always knit one row with 4 and one with 6 and hope for the best, but I think I would forget and then it would look even weirder to have half the ribbing coming out to about a 5 and the other half (when I inevitably forget to switch at the end of a row) either too small or too big.

new sweater cast on!

2008-03-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Wes is back on night shift and since my new job is in the same city that he patrols, I had the brilliant idea to stick around until after his briefing and have dinner together tonight! I figured I'd be knitting at home anyway, may as well knit in my car, looking at the beach, and then get to see my handsome husband for a little while. It was a good use of time and I was so happy when I left work to know that I had lots of knitting time in front of me, instead of a drive. Traffic isn't too bad usually, but it's certainly better at 7:30 than at 5pm.
So, I made good progress today on the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan from the Spring issue of Interweave Knits. I was frustrated while doing the gauge because the pattern calls for size 7 needles and I know I usually need to go up one or two sizes, but I wasn't able to get gauge with 10.5! but then I double-checked the pattern and realized that size 9 was perfect, so still two sizes above pattern, as usual.
Above is a badly lit picture (the yarn is actually a lovely shade of pink, not white as it looks) of my progress so far. It's 108 stitches across the back so taking a while to get lots of length, but I am already starting to decrease for the waist shaping. There aren't too many decreases though because in order to get the waist band, I'll just switch to a smaller needle size and do some ribbing to create the smaller waist. So far I am loving the yarn (Rowan - Calmer in shade 495). It is really easy to work with and creating a nice fabric.

general news and updates

2008-03-02T14:47:00.001-08:00

so the last few months I have not been a very good blogger - that can be attributed to lots of reasons: we were out of town for two weeks, it was Christmas and New Year's, then I was a desperate housewife who only really had time to start on one pair of socks (Stine's Irving Park) before I got a new job at CKE Restaurants where I am blocked from blogging at work, unlike at my old job where the majority of blogging was done from work. so it will take a little extra effort to keep this up, but I have such great projects ready to start I want to share them!! I am almost finished with Stine's socks - just a few more inches on the cuff to go! Then I was seduced by Interweave Knits' spring preview a month or so ago and had to rush out to buy the new issue and yarn to complete the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan right away.
So, like I mentioned, Wes is back on night shifts now so I think tonight I will make my swatch for the Cardigan and make sure I have the right needle size and enough yarn to start this project. The socks can be finished in a couple more lunch breaks while looking out at the ocean from the bluffs of Carpinteria :)

My new lunchtime knitting view

2008-02-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

It really is too hot to knit today but the ocean breeze makes it bearable :) so these are stine's socks that didnt get finished before i saw her for dinner last nite. But i have good motivation to finish them now that wes is back on nite shift

Hawaii socks done!

2008-01-08T15:32:00.001-08:00

today I finished up another pair of toe-up socks ... again in Lorna's Laces and this time in Hawaii! I solved the too-tight at the top problem by casting off using size 10.5 needles ... a huge size difference, but it worked. The tops are perfectly stretchy. I didn't realize it would come off the needles so stripy. When they opened up the skein to wind it at AFY, half was pure white and the other half was a blend of the green, blue and purple, but I still like it. I had these in mind for Tia, not for anything special, just that I saw the colors and thought she would like it, so I hope she is pleased! We have the same size feet, so I didn't have to do any extra math to make the pattern work. Also in the picture is the start of another pair in Irving Park - Stine's choice for her socks. So far all I have is the toes on dpns, but plan to work on them the rest of the afternoon. One of the luxuries of not working right now :)

a month later

2007-12-31T16:32:00.000-08:00

The day of my last post was my last day of work ... it's been almost a month but between the trip to DC and all the Christmas excitment I haven't really noticed until now. Today is the first day I am a little bored being at home and I've even gotten the apartment the most organized it's been since we moved in eight months ago.
So, I am ready to get into some good knitting and take advantage of this time off. I have to finish the Hawaii socks and then I would love to finish up the brown hoodie already.
P.S. the picture is Wes and I in DC both wearing headgear knit by me :) Wes in his celtic beanie and me in Calorimetry! The National Archives are behind us (where all the official documents of our country are stored - the Declaration, Constitution, etc).

you wanna hurry this up, Clark? I'm freezing my baguettes off.

2007-12-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

been working on the hat for Wes a little more this week. Once I got past the bottom ribbing (hard in double-knit! lots to keep track of), it has been going pretty smoothly. Just follow the color-work chart visible in the picture to the left. That picture was taken on Tuesday at lunch - I was just starting the first row of colorwork. I have had time this week to knit at night and at lunch a couple of days, so I have made pretty good progress! Tuesday night Wayne came over and we just relaxed since everyone had to get up early for work and tests so I was able to get in a few rows. Last night was really mellow too - Wes and I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (I still like Elf better!) and I kept knitting after dinner.
So after a few quality chances to knit (finally! I haven't had that much time all at once since we flew back from Austin in October), I am almost finished with the colorwork. The double-knitting isn't a problem as I switch between the two colors like I was worried about. I have a pretty good rhythm and it is coming along faster than i thought it would. I actually think it is easier to do colorwork in double-knit than in regular knit since you don't have to worry about where to carry the unused yarn across the back and if you're pulling too tight, etc. It all just gets worked at the same time. Since there are large sections of color as opposed to just a few stitches at a time like on the argyle scarf, I don't have to refer to the chart every other stitch which saves time too. Once the color is finished, it will just be straight double-knitting and decreasing rows to the end so it should be finished in the next few days, if I have time to work on it. We have a busy couple of days until we get on the plane Tuesday morning, but it snowed in DC yesterday (wedding day forecast is partly cloudy and a high of 43), so I have extra motivation to get this hat finished ASAP!

knitting for warmth

2007-12-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

Wes and I fly to Washington DC in eight days! I am so excited for the vacation and the fun times we are going to have with Wes' brothers, sister and significant others (pictured from our 2005 trip to Kansas: Ashley, Wayne, Whitney, Jasmine, Warren, Wes, me. missing: Whitney's BF Goo) celebrating Warren and Jasmine's wedding :)
According to the 10-day forecast, our trip will be about the same temperatures it has been here the past few days which is COLD (to a native California girl and boy) and rainy. So, while I am very anxious for my argyle scarf (in turquoise and grey ... so pretty!) I need to focus a little more on keeping Wes warm too and he needs a hat! In the new Stitch 'N Bitch (for guys!), the pattern directly after the double-knit argyle scarf is for a double-knit beanie with a Celtic knot pattern.
I already had enough yarn because Wes had asked me to knit him a beanie last spring when the weather was unpredictable, but by the time i bought the yarn it was mostly warm so I never got around to it as I was distracted by Mom's shawl and learning to knit socks. But Wes liked the beanie pattern and I was excited to continue my venture into double-knitting, so I used the already purchased yarn and cast on for the Celtic Beanie. It took a long time to set up, but I got in a few good rows at lunch today while listening to my favorite Christmas CD in my car at the tennis club parking lot near work (also where we got married!). Not sure what tonight has in store for Wes and I but getting this beanie done before we land next Tuesday is definitely a priority. Socks (even the soclosetobeingdone hawaii toe-ups and all pairs planned for the lorna's laces order that arrived this week) are on hold until after DC.

In other exciting news ... this is my last week of work at Ehlert! Then DC, then Christmas, then ... ??? who knows! I have some things in the works, but nothing for sure yet.

perfect storage

2007-11-29T15:32:00.001-08:00

I have always admired the needle pouches sold on websites such as StitchDiva, but they are so expensive! So, I decided to try and make my own and I asked Grandma to help me with the sewing machine stuff and making sure that my idea was even possible.
I had in mind a kind of tri-fold wallet with pouches, but didn't really plan it out until Grandma and I were at the fabric store.
I fell in love with the green corduroy for the outside and found the paisley fabric with similar green and it all came together! We had a little math mishap on how much paisley we needed, but other than that it came together pretty well! I am very pleased with the finished result, it cost less than $12 all together and loved spending some time with Grandma too! Since it folds flat it is easy to store with my project bins and I love not having to dig through bins of knitting odds and ends to find the right size needles. My next project will be for dpns ... but I don't have a master plan for that yet ...
Here are some pictures of the finished project (the lovely brown background is our new, super-comfy, amazing couch):

ta-dah!!! there are three rows of four pouches each, so I can hold twelve different sizes. I have a lot of duplicate sizes for socks, but I store them in the same pouch.

and an extra special THANK YOU to Grandma for putting up with my crazy ideas and letting me mostly figure stuff out for myself :) and of course for putting in all the sewing time! I had a really fun day - thank you!

argyle!!!!!

2007-11-27T13:09:00.000-08:00

my book came!! I'm off for some lunchtime yarn shopping ... hurray!

sock portrait

2007-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

finally a picture of some FINISHED socks! the all navy blue ones are Wes, I started that pair in my first "learn to knit socks class" last year and finished them just before we left for Colorado for our anniversary. it has been sooo cold the last couple of nights, so even though it was hot in Colorado and he didnt' need them, I am glad they are finished now!
the purple/blue/green ones are me and those are the socks I made in the "toe-up sock class" last month. I finished them a few weeks ago. I knit the two cuffs at the same time and got a little greedy on finishing up the whole ball of yarn, so the second sock to be bound off it a little tight at the top because I was running out of yarn. It's just a little hard to get on and off, once they are on it isn't too tight and they are sooo warm. Perfect for lounging on our new couch in handknit socks! :)

motivation ...

2007-10-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

... to finish my brown hoodie

p.s. and I hope this goes on sale before we fly to DC!

finally finishing these socks

2007-10-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

After a Saturday shopping excursion with Tia, I made it over to AFY to learn what I missed in toe-up sock class last week. Turning the heel on toe-up socks is way easy - I think I am going to make toe-up socks as often as possible!! Once I turned both heels, I put both socks on the same needles, so I could knit around and around until I run out of yarn, or I could be about done with this pair, pictured on the right, and use the leftover yarn to make matching socks for Taylor!! But if I keep making mine higher, they'll be warmer. It has been cold in our apartment the last few nights ... bring on fall!!

socks, interrupted

2007-10-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

had an unexpected family emergency last weekend that preempted knitting classes and other activities for a few days. thankfully, everyone is understanding when sick grandmothers are involved so tomorrow I can go to AFY and meet with Karin to finish up learning about toe-up socks, even though I missed the official class last week. before we knew we'd have to fly to Texas, I had finished through the instep of both socks and was all set to start the heel. I am hoping Karin can also show me how to knit both socks at the same time when I meet with her tomorrow. My Lorna's Laces order from last week was placed with specific people in mind, and I also just promised to make socks for Renee, Kristina and their girls. Luckily the little girl's pairs will go quickly - I brought materials to cast on for Taylor's with me to Texas, but spent most of the waiting around time on Clessidra. I have just one and a half more cable pattern repeats (18 rounds total) to go before I start turning the heel on the first sock. These are taking such a long time due to the tiny needles, so I am anxious to get some worsted weight socks going too. I think I'll take a break from Clessidra tonight and cast on for Taylor's little pair and maybe practice knitting both at the same time too ... it's easier to try new things on little socks, because it doesn't take as long to start over.

instead of dishcloths ...

2007-10-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

thanks to Lois at AFY for helping me get all the beautiful colors of Lorna's Laces I want to knit socks with! I stopped by last night and put in the order, so soon I will have way too much yarn hanging around my house! I think I might make worsted-weight socks be my new car-knitting project. The dishcloths are great for practicing lace (so maybe I can finally cast on for the Lucky wrap cardigan that I bought yarn for over a year ago?), but there is a definite chill in the air and I am about to dive head first into warm sock mode. Last night during The Office and Grey's (yeah TiVo!) I finished up through the gusset on my second toe-up sock for class on Saturday. I am hoping that Karin will show us how to knit both socks at the same time after we learn the heel shaping so that from here on out, all my pairs can be completed at the same time, which will ensure that both socks in the pair get made in a timely maner :)

want some socks?

2007-10-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

went to the first of two Saturday classes this week to learn how to knit socks from the toe up, as opposed to the traditional cuff-down style. The pattern we are using is totally customizable for each individual person, so if you want me to make you a pair of socks, measure the length of your foot (stand on a tape measure and note how far it is from your longest toe to where your heel hits the ground) and around the widest part of your foot (where your foot connects to your leg) in centimeters. The measurements should be fairly close (mine are two cm off, which is more than usual. a lot of ladies in my class had the same measurements for each part of the foot). Don't forget to pick a color and send me your request :)