Mia & Maddie Designs

Free Online Pattern: "Snoozing Ned"

2010-06-30T22:57:00.004-04:00

I'm finishing up a knit softie owl pattern that I saw through the blog "Zakka Life". The pattern is actually a Lucinda Guy pattern but I don't know what the original link to the website is and I don't feel comfortable posting a direct link to the pattern and not to a website. So go over to Zakka Life and she has the pattern link there.

It's an adorable owl pattern and will make a great toy. I'm finishing up the details of the owl - and will hopefully have it posted in the next day or two. But I wanted to share the pattern for those of you looking for a basic softie pattern that is suitable for beginner knitters and is something that you can fully customize. I made my owl striped in yellow, orange, and red! Talk about a colorful owl...

So go take a look at Zakka Life and let me know what you think!

Phew! I completed some more projects...

2010-06-23T15:43:00.003-04:00

I've had a couple projects on my list of "to-do" for awhile. One of them being a cover for the infant car seat. A lot of people recommend having a light blanket that you throw over the car seat so that you can shade the baby in the sun or put over them when you're in the store to prevent strangers from touching your baby (Really?!?! That happens!?!? Hands off!) I've seen some sold in the store and coughed at the price. Baby items can be so expensive!
So with 1 1/4 yards of fabric (times two for a front and back) and a little bit of sewing time I made a cover for less than $6! I didn't follow a tutorial - the shape is so basic that it's pretty intuitive. I just made sure that I used an extremely lightweight fabric so that it was breathable and cool.

Some other projects that I knocked off my list were some burps clothes using the freebie pattern I have listed here. I used up scraps from other baby items I used by piecing the top and using terry cloth for the underside.

I also made a couple of knit soakers that are newborn sized. Most of my soakers were knit for about a 6-12 month old. So using the pattern from "Vintage Baby Knits" (pattern = Milo Soakers) and a pattern from Just Jussi blog (posted for free) I knit 2 soakers (and I even lanolized them already!!)
"Just Jussi" has the best pattern because it is super thick and absorbent through the crotch and is shaped in the butt. I like to knit the pattern in the round to avoid seaming. When I get to the crotch section I start knitting back and forth and continue knitting until I'm done with the short-row butt shaping. Then I seam them back to the section worked in the round with seamless kitchener stitch. I also cast on the leg ribbing and work on dpns. This way there's no seaming... yay!
The "Milo Soakers" were knit a little different from the pattern as well. I've knitted the Milo Soakers before and was unhappy with how it's written. First off, the pattern makes HUGE soakers with no shape. Talk about a huge booty! So I decided to make these changes:
1. Knit them in the round!!
2. Knit the ribbing in twisted rib on one size smaller needles (I used U.S. 2 needles)
3. Knit the body of the soakers in stockinette stitch NOT garter stitch (I really thought the soakers looked even more bulky in garter stitch and they look smoother and nicer in stockinette. Also by knitting in the round you avoid any purling...)
4. When you get to the crotch section (ribbing) work back and forth on both sides. Instead of knitting a 7" crotch - knit each side back and forth in ribbing for 3.5". Join the crotch at the middle with a 3 needle bind off.
5. Add leg ribbings for an even better fit (knit in the round with dpns)
This way they fit better and are seam free!! Yeah!

These are both knit in Knit Pick's Bare yarn (Just Jussi's are knit with a strand of aqua Shepherd's Wool in the crotch). I knit both pairs using size U.S. 3 needles. So it's a thick knit and smaller. They turned out exactly how I wanted them!!

Diamond Baby Sweater Finished

2010-06-17T11:22:00.003-04:00

I bought the knitting book "Vintage Baby Knits" awhile back on a whim when I was at JoAnn's Fabric Store. I had a 50% off coupon and thought a lot of the patterns looked really cute.
Since bringing the book home I've knit many of the patterns. Since these are vintage patterns - I think Kristin Rengren did a nice job updating the patterns for modern yarn and sensibilities. However, I still think that some of the fit is off. A lot of the patterns are a little large for the size listed (most notably the Milo Soakers, which I've knit several of - another post to follow soon on those).Here is a quick sweater that I knit from the book. I changed up the pattern in the diamond section a little bit to make it a little more boyish. I also knit in a LOT tighter of a gauge and went up a size just so it would be a lot thicker. The yarn is black Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (3 skeins) and I ran out of yarn on the sleeves so I was only able to make it short sleeves... oh well...

DIY Boppy Cover

2010-06-16T13:11:00.004-04:00

I received a "bare naked" Boppy as a shower gift with the intention of making a personalized cover. Every Tuesday my mother and I get together for a weekly lunch and we do something (ranges from a movie, pedicure, or a crafting project). My favorite is when we create something together. This week I had the Boppy Cover in mind. I googled Boppy Cover Tutorial and couldn't really find anything specific. So my mom and I made our own pattern - it took a couple hours (and still needs a little tweeking) but I think it turned out great! The most important part of the cover that is missing in most tutorials is a gusset in the cover. If you strictly trace around the pillow and make it like that it will be too small or really gathered and puckered. We put a gusset in the middle of the "horse shoe" and we put a zipper on the back. After we do a little more tweaking, I believe we'll start making and selling these (sorry, I'm not posting the pattern on here for free...)
Take a look at the basic cover - it's chenille on the back and cotton on the front. Next time I'm adding some piping and perhaps making a pieced front to match his quilt or room...

Freebie: Dotted Baby Hat

2010-06-13T23:12:00.009-04:00

Here's a quick freebie for those of you looking for an easy, but adorable baby hat to make in an evening or two.

It has a rolled brim and dotted with purled stitches for a little dimension and finished with a knotted top.Size - Newborn
Yarn - Gedifra Mayra Yarn (shown in color "cement")
Needles - U.S. 7 needles of choice for knitting in the round (I use small circulars) and a set of U.S. 7 DPNs for decreasing at top of hat.

Directions:

Body of Hat:
CO 66 stitches. Place marker to denote beginning of round.
Rounds 1 -8: Knit in stockinette stitch (every row knit).
Round 9: K3, *P1, K5, repeat from * until last 3 stitches, P1, K2.
Round 10: Knit across
Round 11: P1, *K5, P1, repeat from * until last 5 stitches, K5.
Round 12: Knit across.
Repeat rounds 9-12 until hat measures four inches from cast on edge.

Decreasing Crown of Hat:
Round 1: (K9, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 2: (K8, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 3: Knit across
Round 4: (K7, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 4: (K6, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 5: Knit across
Round 6: (K5, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 7: Knit across
Round 8: (K4, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 9: Knit across
Round 10: (K3, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 11: (K2, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 12: (K1, K2tog) repeat until end of round
Round 13: (K2tog) repeat until end of round (6 stitches remain)

I-Cord for top of hat:
Place 6 remaining stitches on one dpn. Knit 6 stitches for an I-cord (*Knit a row. Slide row to other end of needle. Do not turn the work. Repeat from * for two and a half (2.5) inches.
Cast off 6 stitches. Weave in ends. Tie I-cord in knot at top of hat.You're done! Congrats! Now place the hat on a cute, little baby...

Another Pair of Greemy Baby Booties

2010-06-12T20:51:00.007-04:00

I haven't knit any "Greemy Baby Booties" (pattern available for free from the wonderful Chopped Tomatoes blog) since finding out I am pregnant. When I was at the knit store the other day I picked up some wonderful yarn that screamed "BABY BOOTIES!" The pattern I turn to? Greemy Baby Booties! They are fabulous to knit - easy to make in a couple hours and turn out so cute!

I casted these booties on with size U.S. 2 needles and knit them with JoJoLand's Melody Superwash sock yarn. This made tiny newborn booties. They are super stretchy and I'm sure will fit great at birth.
Go over and take a look at Chopped Tomatoes Blog and make a pair today! They are great for charity knitters (hospitals are always looking for baby socks and booties for their baby patients since hats are always the "go-to" item...)

Baby Shower Gift

2010-06-11T14:59:00.005-04:00

My mother and I have been invited to my friend's baby shower this weekend. My friend is expecting TWIN GIRLS in the beginning of October! I'm so excited for her and can't wait to celebrate this weekend...
For a present we decided to team up and knit a little package for her precious bundles. My mom visited Nina's knit shop when she was in Chicago a couple months ago and bought some beautiful light pink (color "Shell") Organic Worsted Cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas. She worked hard on a gorgeous baby blanket using the pattern "Eyelet Baby Blanket" by designer Leslie Scanlon (available by Blue Sky Alpacas). This pattern calls for 7 skeins of yarn and U.S. 10 needles so it's a pretty quick knit for a blanket. I can tell it's a great pattern for the fact that my mom has knit 3 blankets (one for me, one for my friend, and one for charity!)
To go with the blanket she also bought some coordinating yarn by Blue Sky Alpacas called "Suri Merino" (in color "dawn"). It's a luscious yarn with great loft and is SUPER soft. It's definitely worth the price tag (all of Blue Sky Alpacas yarn is worth the pricey price tag in my opinion...) With a single skein of the Suri Merino I knit up 2 baby hats from the book "One Skein" by Leigh Radford and had enough left over to make at least one more.
I hope my friend enjoys her gift. It was knitted with love - and sure does look and feel heavenly. I might go out and buy some of the Suri Merino to make a baby hat for my little man. It's that wonderful (even though it has to be hand washed!)

Quick Baby Knit

2010-06-01T10:04:00.002-04:00

We're really doing our best trying to get our house sold. So for the past couple months we have been packing boxes for the move to try to empty our house out. This means that my yarn stash has found a new home in temporary storage (boo hoo!) But while packing my yarn I went through it and put it into three piles:
1. Keep and pack away
2. Make something quick with it (usually single skeins that were asking to be kept but were single skeins)
3. Donation (which I just shipped a big package out to the some people on Ravelry)

After going through my yarn I was stuck with a little pile of yarn that I loved but couldn't justify packing. So I quickly knit up some fun baby knits (hats, socks, mitts, etc.) The one project I've been meaning to try is the flower bib from "One Skein" by Leigh Radford. So using a little yellow cotton skein I knit the bib in an evening. It's a fun little project (even though I really had to pay attention to remember to knit the wraps back into the bib since there are a LOT of short rows).

Here it is:

Sleep Sack

2010-05-29T23:45:00.004-04:00

It's so hard to decide what type/size of baby clothes to buy. You always hear, "babies don't wear newborn sized clothes. They wear 0-3 months for only a couple weeks." So I never know what to buy, especially since I don't know when the little man will arrive. But I decided that you can't really go wrong with sleep sacks. But while looking at sleep sacks I realized that either the quality really lacked or they were crazy expensive. My solution? Make my own!I searched Etsy for a sleep sack pattern and came across one. I won't list the pattern because frankly it was a bear to work with and had a lot of problems - and I don't want to publicly insult the pattern maker. But after receiving the pattern I met with my mom for the afternoon and we worked on the sack. It was the perfect afternoon project. We picked out some polka dot fabric for the outside and blue stripe for the inside. After cutting out the pieces and reading the directions like 32 times (I'm not exaggerating. She read them, I read them, we read them together, we read them aloud, we read them silently, etc.) we just decided to wing it. A sleep sack is a pretty straight forward pattern (even more bewildering how the pattern managed to be so insanely complicated and backwards!!)After a couple hours we ended up with an adorable sleep sack for Little Man. Hopefully he enjoys it!!

Dexter is almost one!

2010-05-28T22:42:00.004-04:00

I can't believe that in a couple months Dexter will be one year old. Time sure does fly! I still remember picking up a little pathetic looking animal from my mom's farm and holding it in my hand. It was a tiny kitten just barely a week old. I didn't know if the kitten would survive and what I was getting myself into. But our love for this kitten grew and he was named "Dexter" and became a part of the family (and Mia's, our maltese, best friend).I always swore that I would never own a cat. They are affectionate at times, but they have no boundaries (always jumping and walking on everything) and they can really demand a lot of attention. But perhaps it's because he's still somewhat of a kitten. But nevertheless, here Mr. Dexter is - all big and grown up. Hard to imagine he used to weigh 3 oz...

Lots of wool baby knits

2010-05-28T22:24:00.002-04:00

I bought this knitting book a couple years ago because I couldn't resist the cute knitted bear outfit on the front. Well I finally got around to knitting some items from this great book. I first started with the elastic waist pants - I wanted to make some wool soakers and thought that pattern was perfect to knit up with some wool. They were quick to knit and turned out great. I still need to insert the elastic though...

After I was finished with the pants I had TONS of the aqua wool skein left. So I knit up the vest located in the book. I actually made a ton of changes to the pattern (knitted it in the round, omitted the buttons up the side, and only made it button on one sleeve). I wanted the vest to be as seamless as possible. I still need to add the buttons to the left shoulder...
After all this knitting was said and done, I still had some navy yarn and aqua yarn left over (I started with one 100G skein of each). So I knit up the hat in the book as well. It turned out so cute! All I have left is the tiniest bit of aqua left. I might knit it up into a little ball and felt it for a toy (either for the baby or for the dogs).
So that was a little knitting I've done in the last month. I still have TONS of projects to post to the blog. Currently I'm working on a sweater out of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for this winter for the baby. The pattern I'm using is out of Vintage Baby Knits. We'll see when that makes it to the blog (only the arms need to be knitted). I also have a couple of baby shower gifts that I need to finish for my friend who is expecting twin girls this September/October. All this knitting!

Beautiful Baby Shower

2010-05-27T16:48:00.006-04:00

Both my mother and mother-in-law threw me some amazing baby showers. I don't have any pictures from my mother-in-law's shower but I do have some pictures from my mother's shower.
My mother went with a bird nest theme for the shower. She held it at the local city park in a room overlooking the river. It was beautiful!She placed flower garland down the tables with little nests from Pottery Barn nestled among them (and filled with chocolate eggs, yum!) Candles were placed in antique blue Mason Jars filled with cracked corn.
The plates and glasses were all vintage/antique and again were mostly blue.

My mother surprised me with a beautiful baby quilt that she had made for the little man. Every guest was asked to write a little note for the little guy on the back. It was fun to read everyone's blessings when the shower was over.

And we can't forget the food!!! My dad was a huge help (as well as other family members). We had delicious chicken salad (my mom used dried cherries instead of cranberries) that we could put in huge croissants. We also had my Grandma's spinach salad, strawberries, and some amazing desserts. First off was my dad's famous hamentashens (we aren't Jewish, but my best friend was growing up and every Purim festival we would eat HUGE hamentashens and I begged my dad to come up with a recipe and we've used it ever since!) These are apricot, my favorite.
My dad also made some red velvet cupcakes and banana cupcakes that he decorated with coconut nests and little bird eggs.

The whole afternoon was just beautiful. And I received so many thoughtful presents and enjoyed catching up with people and celebrating the soon-to-be birth of our son. Our cloth diaper stash surely grew.

2 months later...

2010-05-27T16:31:00.003-04:00

I can't believe how long I've neglected this blog for! I'm so sorry. But I've been busy with a new job, being pregnant, and finding a new home in a new state. So I have a couple excuses... right?

(image via DryIcons.com)

Well, I guess I should publicly announce that we are expecting a little BOY. I know I didn't announce on the blog when we found out because I was waiting to surprise my family. The secret has been out for a while but I haven't been around to declare it publicly yet. We are super excited for his arrival and can't wait!
In the crafting sector - I've been busy at work with all sorts of projects for our son as well as a couple for the house and the dogs. The most important project that I have completed recently was my FIRST QUILT! Yes, you heard right - I finished a quilt. I'm a member of the Bernina Sewing Club at our local quilting store. Once a month they hold a class and teach you a new technique on your Bernina Sewing Machine. It's a nice afternoon that I spend with my mother (who is a great quilter). One of the projects last fall was a quilt that you quilted as you went along. So it was quilted block by block instead of quilted at the end. This was what allowed me to finally make a quilt. With my back injury I can't quilt the top of a large piece of fabric because it just makes my back throb. But since they were 16 inch blocks (I believe) it was much easier and I could do a little at a time. I started the project last November and finally finished the quilt which was laying in the closet last month.
Here it is! The fabric (I can't remember it's name) was purchased in a fat quarter bundle from Fat Quarter Shop online on SUPER SALE. I think it turned out summery and bright (I can't stand baby blue stuff for the baby). What do you think?

Cloth Diapering

2010-03-26T18:45:00.003-04:00

I apologize if baby posts take over this blog for a little while. But I'm getting so excited now that I'm almost 6 months pregnant!
My nausea has finally subsided and I'm able to function. Good thing because I started a new job a couple weeks ago! So I'm a busy lady lately. But I had managed to fit in a project or two in my spare time. The biggest project on the horizon is that I need to start sewing up some cloth diapers. We're planning on cloth diapering and I went and registered for them last weekend and was astounded at the price. $16-20 per diaper is so expensive! But I figured that I could try my hand at making some myself. I still plan on buying most of my cloth diapers (they will last longer and will be made of better materials) but I think I could also try to make a few. Here's my attempt this past weekend.
The first diaper is using a left over tank top of mine for the knit fabric outside and it's got a flannel lining. It's a soft pink and really beautiful. The next diaper is a blue knit fabric and lined with diaper cloth for the lining. I actually think the diaper cloth lining works better. Both have soaker pads made out of flannel and diaper cloth. I'll see how they fit once the baby comes. I purposely posted a blue and pink diaper because I didn't want anyone to know if this baby is going to be a boy or girl. I also figured that the color really doesn't matter since they will need a diaper cover anyway -- so truthfully they'll be covered up.
bAnyone out there sew their own cloth diapers? Any patterns you recommend? I used the pattern by Celtic Cloths available free online. I also tried the pattern by Little Comet Tails but I wasn't as successful at that one. I also didn't make the diapers "All in One" with a waterproof P.U.L. outer since P.U.L. is quite expensive and I don't know if these will even fit!

Mr. Monkey Man

2010-03-26T18:35:00.003-04:00

It was a HUGE surprise to hear that one of my best friends is expecting a little boy in July! I couldn't believe that we're both expecting at the same time. Too bad she lives across the country...

But the invitation to her baby shower ended up in the U.S. Post Office Abyss - so I only had about a week's worth of notice to get her a baby shower gift. Hmmm... my brain was spinning! I met my friend in nursing school and we formed a knit group with some other friends. We gathered once a week and knit and drank. It was always such a relaxing evening filled with lots of laughs. Remembering those good 'ol days I knew that even though I had such short notice I HAD to make her something knitted.
I started looking through some of my knitting books and ran across a pattern called "Monkey" in Reynolds Kids. It was the perfect pattern since this baby will be a July baby in Arizona. I couldn't knit a sweater for a sweltering hot Arizona baby! So I purchased my yarn (a cotton/wool blend yarn) and started knitting. It took about 40 hours of knitting to make this monkey from start to finish but it turned out so cute that I had a hard time giving it away!
But I know Mr. Monkey Man will have a wonderful home with Jenny, Kevin and their bouncing baby boy in July! Congrats, Jenny!!!

Meet another friend of mine...Leroy

2010-03-04T22:43:00.003-05:00

I received another nice email from a reader today named Joy with a picture of her little man in the Varsity Sweater (available as a freebie from this link). Leroy is a 15 1/2 year old maltese who looks absolutely handsome in his striped sweater.Thanks Joy for sharing your picture with me! If anyone else has pictures of their finished projects, please email me and I'll post them here online!

Free Online Pattern: Baby Booties

2010-03-02T21:14:00.011-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted a free online pattern. While looking at a couple blogs it was recommended to check out a pattern for baby booties by the blog Pickin' and Throwin'. So I headed over there and was surprised to see a pattern for some baby booties that are totally seamless. They are knitted on dpns and the bottom of the sole is finished with a 3-needle bind off. So when you're finished all you need to do is sew in your 2 yarn tails. Not too shabby!

So here are the details:
Pattern: Baby Booties
Designer: Pickin' and Throwin'
Yarn: Recommends dk or sport weight
Needles: Recommends U.S. 5 dpns
Notes: I made 3 pairs of these. The first pair I knit with Cashcotton dk yarn. The pattern does not list gauge - but I know that I'm a loose knitter and a lot of the comments mentioned that the booties turned out huge - so I used U.S. 3 needles. Boy am I glad I blindly made this choice - the booties still turned out pretty large! And I wasn't really a fan of how the Cashcotton yarn turned out. Since it's mainly a cotton yarn, the booties kind of lack shape.
So the second time around I picked some Reynolds Soft Sea Wool which is fingering weight yarn. I also chose to go down another size in needles to U.S. 2 dpns. This was the magical combination - small needles and a springy yarn. I also chose to knit the cuff in 1x1 rib instead of the 2x2 rib. I think it looks cuter that way.And then I knit this a third time (can you tell I enjoy this pattern?) This time I used Lorna's Laces Swirl DK and used U.S. 1 needles for a tight gauge. These turned out to be my absolute favorite combination. Thick, plush, and soft... yum!
Other than the modifications in needle size and 1x1 rib, I knit the pattern as written (I still need to add the tie for the booties through the eyelet round). It's a fabulous pattern. I memorized the whole pattern after the first booty was knit and there are no typos. So it's going to be a great project that will be easy to transport to doctor appointments, etc.
So head on over to Pickin' and Throwin' and check out the pattern. It's a great gift and a pair only takes about 6 hours. Have fun!

Debuting Our Baby

2010-02-28T12:35:00.003-05:00

I'm going to debut our little baby here on my blog. Here is the most recent ultrasound that we received - our little one is measuring a week ahead of schedule and I am more than halfway done with my pregnancy! Yeeha!I'm still nauseous in the morning but hopefully I will continue to feel better every day. We had a terrific ultrasound session this week that lasted for almost an hour. They measured every organ/body part and everything looked spectacular! For now we are still keeping the gender of this little one a secret, but it was confirmed to us. So we know for sure what we are having. It's so nice to be able to call the baby by name and also to start being able to buy stuff. I love me some shopping!
Now the knitting can begin! I did start knitting a sweater when we found out the "tentative" gender - but since it wasn't 100% I decided to knit the sweater in gender neutral colors. I figured the sweater could last for more than one baby too. I should have the last arm knitted this week and will post the finished project and details.
I also knit a "sleep sack" like item for baby. It's my own pattern and I hope to have it written up and posted as a freebie here soon. I knit it in gender neutral colors as well hoping to get more use out of it. I figured if I'm going to spend big bucks on expensive yarn and spend a lot of time making it - I better be able to use it for all my children! I also started that project before I knew the gender.
I also am finishing up a quilt - hopefully I will have the binding finished this coming week. Gosh! All these projects to finish! So that will be posted soon too.
Sorry I have been so absent. Not feeling well, lack of energy, and all the stuff that I need to accomplish in the next several months is really keeping me away from this blog. I'm hopefully starting a new job, I need to sell our current house, buy a new house in the city we're moving to, Sam is finishing up his PhD, have a baby, and move to our new city all in the next 4-5 months. Eeks! What do I start with first?? How about just starting with the craft projects that I listed in this post? Sounds like a good start to me!

I Could Tease My Mom All Day!

2010-02-05T20:15:00.005-05:00

(A random picture I took recently)

Hi Mom (I know you're reading this)! I'm sure you're sitting there now just beet red in the face because I'm being so stubborn. But I promise you, the news will be worth the wait...

To All Readers - I'm sure you're confused what I'm talking about. But yesterday Sam and I went to the OB office for a check-up (I wish I would have been warned about how long you can wait to be seen by the doctor!! It seems like 2 hours is the norm and I think that's just ridiculous!). After talking with the doctor and getting some useful information on my nausea she grabbed the doppler to listen for baby's heartbeat. She couldn't find it after some long searching. So she grabbed an ultrasound machine out of the hallway and placed the probe on my belly. Immediately our little bean starting doing the jig! Little Bean was sucking it's thumb and even waiving at us! Too cute and so exciting to see. I couldn't help myself, I asked the doctor if she could give us a gender determination. You see - we're excited to know what this bean is! I have to know if I should be knitting pink or blue!

After searching the ultrasound for a minute she was able to get the aptly named "toilet shot" for a gender prediction and gave us her *guess*. I say "guess" because she doesn't want to be held responsible for being wrong. But she was pretty sure and said that they can confirm at a high powered ultrasound in 2 1/2 weeks (our ultrasound was an oldie: Sam laughed when it popped up on the screen "Copyright: 1998").

So we celebrated the big news and are so excited to know if we will be having a little daughter or a little son. But I haven't popped the news to my parents yet and my mom is less than happy! But I'm kind of enjoying this little secret that Sam and I have. So you'll have to wait just a little longer mom!!

In craft news, there are a couple items that I have on my list of "To-Do's". Here are links to projects that I will be getting started on ASAP:

1. Sleep Sack Pattern by Twice As Nice Boutique. I just bought this pattern and can't wait to receive it in the mail. It will be a lot of fun to sew!!
2. Berroco Booklet #292 Patterns called "DK Baby". I want to buy this pattern book because there are a lot of cute patterns. Anyone ever made anything from this?
3. The 90 minute shirt by MADE. This is an awesome blog that I read regularly. This method for making a shirt is so cute!
4. Wee Weka Cloth Diapers. I've made tons of cloth diapers for baby gifts and now I'll need to start making some for myself. Let the sewing begin!

Dexter is growing up!

2010-01-31T16:59:00.002-05:00

Many of you know that I rescued a little kitty from a compost pile last August at a friend's farm. He was less than 2 weeks old and teeny tiny. Well... 5 months later he has grown into quite a cat! If you know me, you know that I don't like cats. I'm not a cat person and I don't think I ever will be. But somehow little Dexter made his way into my heart. So we permanently made him a member of our household and we haven't looked back.
He's become Mia's best friend. They sleep together in Mia's bed and they romp around the house playing with each other. Maddie will occasionally get in on the play but mainly her only interaction with the cat is if they are both lying next to me and then she'll let him groom her (Maddie never turns down a belly or back rub, no matter the species performing it!)
I just thought I would update you on our little man who is turning into quite a big man. He's about the size of Mia now...

Free Online Pattern: Garder Yoke Cardi

2010-01-31T16:06:00.006-05:00

So I started up knitting today for the first time in a couple months. I had a project sitting on my knitting pile screaming to be finished - all it had left to be completed was an arm! So I picked up and dove in and in less than an hour it was finished. And I have to say it turned out beautiful and really soft!
Pattern: Garder Yoke Baby Cardi by Jennifer Hoel (available free online)
Yarn: Calls for 3 skeins of Knit Picks Andean Treasure. I used 2 skeins of Sublime Yarn's Soya Cotton DK in Navy.
Needles: Calls for U.S. 4, I used U.S. 3 needles.
Details: This was a great pattern! Easy to follow and turned out so freakin' cute! I made the arm length shorter because I only had 2 skeins of yarn on hand and because the baby is due in July so long sleeves aren't necessary. Luckily I made that choice because when I casted off the sweater I had a whole 6 inches of yarn left! I was sweating towards the end and was so relieved when my last stitch was casted off.
It was wonderful to be knitting again. Hopefully I'll get rid of this nausea soon so that I have the energy to sit down and knit more often. Sam and I are excited to find out the gender of this baby in the coming month. So I'm sure my knitting will be revamped once we know if we can knit pink items or blue items.
So if you're looking for an easy pattern that turns out super cute and knits up quickly, this pattern is for you. Thanks Jennifer Hoel for taking the time to write up this pattern!!

Meet my new friend... Basil!

2010-01-28T02:20:00.006-05:00

So I have been feeling pretty icky lately and my day was just turned around when I got the sweetest email from a reader. It was from Eve from the U.K. and her little man, Basil. He's a 14 week old Yorkie and loves sporting his new Snuggie Sweater and he had to share with me how much he enjoyed being toasty warm:

Isn't he absolutely cute in his Snuggie!!!

It's emails like these that make it worth spending the time to write up the patterns that I knit. Like I've said before - I'm not a pattern maker. I don't make money off my patterns. I just knit for pleasure and enjoy making dog sweaters for my puppies. And I love to share my successes in making a sweater with other lovers of animals. And what is better than a free pattern? Sure I make typos (and I correct them as soon as I'm made aware) and sometimes I don't explain my methods in a way that everyone understands (that's the hard part about not having "test knitters" but making a pattern based off of making it once) - but when I get sweet, kind emails from readers that wanted to share their success stories and satisfaction with my patterns I just smile from ear to ear!!!Basil is sporting the Chevron Sweater and looks so handsome!

So not only was it great to hear from you, Eve, but it was nice to connect with someone out there in "Internet Land". It's nice to make new friends and it just reminds me of why I wanted to start this blog. I wanted to find other avid knitters and dog lovers. I want to swap stories, laugh, smile, and make a new friend. And today it happened... Thank you!

Oh Where Have I Been?

2010-01-13T15:51:00.003-05:00

Wowsers! It's been a couple months since my last post in November. I'm sure many of you were wondering if I was keeping up with this blog. I have to admit that posting hasn't been on my list of priorities, but I have been answering pattern questions and other knitting questions as quick as I possibly can. I've also been spending time thinking about what I would like to do with this blog in the coming year. I have some ideas for projects to post, tutorials to make, and things that I would like to get accomplished (a real, customized blog site for one). But this has all taken a back seat in the past several months since finding out I am...Yeppers - I found out a couple months ago that my husband and I will be expecting our first bundle of joy in early July. I've hit the second trimester and I am still waiting for my nausea and vomiting to taper off. No such luck! So I haven't picked up a pair of needles since November (other than to knit my mother-in-law a Christmas present that she wanted). I do apologize to all you guys who are waiting for new patterns to pop up - even my dogs look at me with slight disgust since they usually have new sweaters every couple of months. Last year Mia was still a puppy and I've found that this winter she really doesn't fit in many sweaters and Maddie's sweaters are too large for her. Every time I take the little pooch out I look at her freezing, pathetic face and feel terrible that I haven't made her a toasty sweater to stay warm in. She doesn't even fit in her snow suits from last year. Poor thing! Hopefully this will be our last frigid winter as we are moving to North Carolina this summer. I keep telling her that if she can hold out for now she'll be warmer next year.

So I promise you - I have plans in the works. I just need a little time to get my energy and stomach back. The thought of knitting right now makes my stomach churn - I get motion sick just walking up the stairs. I can't imagine looking at needles flying with yarn between them. But I do have pictures of November and December that should allow for a couple posts before I start my crafting again.

Until then: Happy 2010!! (oohh... it rhymes!)

Christmas Presents (Spoiler Alert for Family)

2009-11-17T23:10:00.004-05:00

(This is a picture of Mia when we got her at Christmas 2 years ago)

Okay, Okay... Christmas is in like 5 weeks! Crazy! Usually I have all of my shopping done by now and present are wrapped waiting for the Christmas tree. However I'm a little behind schedule this year due to all the craziness with my health.

This week I checked off my mother-in-law and sister-in-law off the "To-Do" list. I got both of their presents done. I knit a pair of Garden Trellis Mitts by Sharryknits (available free online) for my sister-in-law. (Sharryknits website seems pretty basic and I don't see the mitt pattern on her actual website. The link is to the free pattern on Ravelry - must register as a user to get access - again, free). The mitts were easy and fun to make. I knit the fingerless mitts in Panda Silk Dk (a mix of bamboo, wool, and silk) on U.S. 5 needles. The only alteration I made to the pattern was knitting 10 rows of ribbing at the beginning of the pattern instead of the recommended 7. This pattern turned out easy and seam free!

The most exciting thing I brought away from the pattern was learning the sewn cast off. I have never used this cast off before but used the tutorial from woolywonder (click link) and it was easy and most important - stretchy! I'll be using this cast off for MANY things. Nice to add it to my knitting arsenal.

The other project I finished this weekend was Robin's Egg Blue Hat by Rachel Iufer. This pattern was easy but also had some nice touches. My yarn (I used Plymouth Yarns Mushishi) was a worsted weight yarn instead of the bulky required. So I upped the number of stitches to 92 (instead of 80). Otherwise I followed the pattern as written. The hat fits nicely, a little loose (which my mother-in-law requested) and has a little pizazz to it for a simple cap. I still need to look for a couple standout buttons to finish the hat. All in all, great pattern.

So those are two of my finished gifts. It was a lot of knitting time but hopefully they like the finished items as much as I do. I'll have a hard time getting rid of the mitts - I L-O-V-E them!! I might have to make myself a pair!

Pictures will come post Christmas - I don't want to ruin the surprise entirely for any family who might check the blog.

Zig Zag Lace Vest

2009-11-12T10:24:00.007-05:00

I just finished blocking a beautiful "Eyelet Vest" by Debbie Bliss. I knitted this pattern for the first time a couple weeks ago (see here) in some Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I just received some beautiful Lorna's Laces Swirl Dk yarn in the mail from Jimmy Bean's Wool. The color "Bittersweet" was so enticing that I couldn't help casting on another vest.This time I decided to knit the bottom of the vest in the pattern "Lacey Zigzag" (pg 220) from the book "Lace & Eyelets, 250 Stitches to Knit". The stockinette stitch was boring to knit and I thought a patterned bottom would give a little more zip. It sure did! It turned out great!I still knitted the piece in the round to avoid seaming and casted off the shoulder using 3 needle bind-off. I also picked up the stitches for the arm and neck in the round. This way when I was finished there was absolutely NO seaming. Aahhh...I finished the sweater with a little bee button I had in my stash. All in all, this was a great pattern and I will have to sit on my hands to avoid knitting another one! I think this will be my standby baby shower gift.Thanks Debbie Bliss!

Crazy Weekend!

2009-11-09T15:33:00.005-05:00

As you already know from my last post, my little sister got married this weekend. It was a LONG weekend and I'm still trying to recover from all of the activity. My sister looked beautiful and extremely happy - and my mother did an amazing job at decorating the ballroom where the reception was held. Had it not been pitch black at both the wedding (held at the Botanical Gardens in the greenhouse when it was dark) and the reception, I would have some pictures to post here. All I have are some pretty pathetic attempts at trying to get a picture with my aperture set at f1.8 and a really long shutter speed...
I got Leah's present done in time. I made her an 8x8" scrapbook with pictures of her and her (now) husband that I had on my computer. It was a 20 page scrapbook that took a lot longer than I imagined. But I finished up the last page 3 hours before the ceremony! It didn't even dry all the way, but I threw it in the book anyway!
I also asked our family to send me favorite recipes to compile a cookbook for my sister. When I got married I was surprised by my mother in law with a recipe card box filled with favorite recipes from everyone attending our wedding. It was so thoughtful and so sweet that I had to do it for my sis. But knowing Leah, I am aware that she might not be good at keeping a box filled with individual recipe cards. So I enlisted the help of Google and found the website called "Tastebook". You upload recipes, notes, and pictures and they print and mail you a professional looking cookbook. It turned out spectacular! I loved it so much I had one made for myself!

Sunday I spent all day in bed with my back killing. I didn't even see Mia until it was time to go to bed because she was downstairs all day. But Dexter did lay with me and give me his cuddly sympathy...Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Going to the Chapel...

2009-11-07T02:19:00.002-05:00

My little sister is getting married today...

From this day forward,
may you share life's joys and trials,
may you always comfort one another
with a smile...
May you always be together through
both laughter and tears...
Depending on each other...
Loving happily ever after.

Best Wishes on Your Wedding Day Leah & Erin!
All my love,
Sarah

Eyelet Vest and New Yarn!

2009-11-04T16:42:00.012-05:00

I just weaved in the last of the ends on a project that I've been slowly working on for the last month. While Sam and I were traveling to Illinois last month I looked for a knitting project to bring along for the car ride. I looked through my patterns and found a little gem I've been meaning to knit for a year - the "Eyelet Vest" by Debbie Bliss from the book "Special Knits: 22 Gorgeous Handknits for Babies and Toddlers".This is one darling vest. It calls for Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (which I had on hand from an after season sale) and U.S. 2 needles. I've been putting off knitting it because it is knit on such small needles and because it has 6 inches of straight knitting. Talk about small, boring work! But it was these characteristics which made it perfect for the car. Since I can knit stockinette stitch in the round without looking down at my knitting, I knew I could keep my fingers busy without getting car sick and 6 inches of stockinette stitch on 160 or so stitches would be several hours of knitting.
So I casted on the back and the front simultaneously (I HATE seaming and it seemed pointless to knit them separately) and worked the piece in the round (including the neck and arm holes). I finished almost all of the stockinette knitting during our trip. When I got home the piece fell in to a pile of things to finish soon. So 2 days ago I picked up the vest and started working on it again. What a fun little project! The directions are correct but at times are not written very clear-cut so you have to really think about what you're doing (meaning I had to rip out a couple rows and re-do the decreases since I wasn't thinking). But after you understand what she's getting at, the piece flies off your needles!After I was done I wasn't too happy with the rolled edge design at the bottom of the vest. Everything else is so tailored and detailed and the rolled edge just seamed too messy. So I picked up the stitches at the bottom and knit 4 rows in garter stitch. Had I looked at Ravelry and seen all the finished projects I would have seen that this was a change many knitters made (and I could have avoided needing to pick up stitches!)But it's in the details that make it just gorgeous. The eyelet holes around the vest call for a beautiful thin ribbon and I had a perfect ribbon on hand. My mother always surprises me by picking up beautiful, thin, hand-dyed, silk ribbons for me at various art shows/stores. A silk ribbon dyed in shades of rose, light pink and deep pink looked beautiful woven through the eyelets. I finished the little vest with a tiny mother of pearl finished button.This turned out so cute that I'm keeping it for myself. This is an heirloom and pictures just don't do it justice!!
I really recommend this pattern!!
After I took pictures of this project I went and got my mail out of my mailbox and was surprised by a package from Jimmy Beans Wool. I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again, this is the best yarn store to order online from! They are located in Reno, NV but somehow they get your yarn out to you in days!The yarn I ordered was some Lorna's Laces Swirl Dk Yarn which is on sale for 50% off (get it while they still have some)!!! Normally $13/skein and I got it for $6.50! Can't get any better than that!! I ordered 2 skeins of three different colorways and they are so much prettier in person than on the computer and are so soft! The colorways are Aslan (natural colors), Tickled Pink (pinks), and Bittersweet (pinks and oranges). Now what shall I do with them??

October Crafts & Free Online Pattern

2009-10-31T13:46:00.004-04:00

This month I placed an order with the "Fat Quarter Shop" and received some beautiful fat quarter bundles. I ordered the Aspen Wildwood Fat Quarter Bundle (bottom right) and another bundle (top left) that was clearanced and no longer offered. Fat Quarter Shop mailed out my order quickly and it was packaged really professionally. I will surely shop there again! Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to make with my purchases...
I'm also finishing up my sister's wedding gift. Scrapbooking takes so much time! But it's almost finished and should be ready for her wedding this weekend.
The top right is a preview of the stroller blanket I am writing up as a freebie. I still need to finish the seaming and sewing on the fabric backing. With so many other projects as a higher priority, I'm trying my hardest to get it finished. But I realized with this project that I HATE seaming garter stitch. Stockinette seaming is much, much easier and cleaner-looking.
The bottom middle picture is another Bobbled Bloomer by Kat Coyle in "Boho Baby Knits". I'm addicted to the pattern!! This time I made it in a cotton yarn so it's purely decorative and not functional as a diaper cover (how functional can bobbled bottoms be anyway?)
I did, however, make a pair of baby socks to match the bloomers with the leftover yarn. It's a free pattern available online by Valley Cafe called "North Country Cotton Baby Socks".

I'll have a freebie soon... I promise!

2009-10-28T12:32:00.003-04:00

I'm currently working on finishing up a freebie to post here... soon! It's a lot of knitting compared to a little dog sweater. I had 4 skeins of cotton yarn laying around that has been asking me to make it into a blanket. So inspired by the blankets that I make for charity - I'm knitting up a mitered blanket for a stroller (or hospital crib as it is for charity). I'm hoping to put a cotton backing on the blanket with a corded edging. The knitting is finally knit (!) but I still have the seaming and sewing that needs to happen. Hopefully it will be ready for it's debut this weekend.

Until then, not much is happening around here. My sister is getting married next week so I have a lot of projects that I'm trying hard to complete by then. I'm not posting them here until the wedding so I don't ruin the surprise. But one of the finished projects has shipped so I should have part one of my gift soon.

The weather is warming up slightly here. The dogs are hoping for a trip to the dog park but it's been rainy so they are hyper running around the house with kitty Dexter. Who knew that the cat could keep them so entertained!
Hope you're having a great Wednesday!

Crafty Links

2009-10-27T21:42:00.003-04:00

Here are some crafts that I've found inspiring and would love to create...
1. Free Halloween Doodle Embroidery Patterns: Perfect for a treat bag or even a onesie.
2. T-Shirt Yarn Tutorial: I've made some (boy is it fun and turns out great). I'm slowly working on a scrap rug for under the dog dishes. Tip - use your sewing machine to reinforce the T-shirt seams.
3. Daily Drop Cap: Each day there is a new decorative initial from Typographer, Jessica Hische.
4. Don't Get Out of Bed Pants: pdf pattern available to make your own PJ pants (learn from my mistake and don't use a pair with an elastic waist unless you stretch the elastic to make the pattern... mine turned out with a tiny waist!)
5. Let's Make Pet Pouches: Little pouches perfect to make to carry "poop bags".
6. DIY Boxer Shorts: My hubbie has asked me to make him boxers since I bought my serger.

I know I treat my cat like a dog...

2009-10-26T12:20:00.004-04:00

So this morning I was taking a shower and had a little visitor - Dexter. He has been interested in the shower since he was born - jumping in it from the moment he was able to jump. But this morning I was surprised to find him in the shower while it was on. Since I was done with my shower and about to get out I decided to give him a bath. I give him a bath weekly in the bathroom sink but since he was so interested in the shower I thought it might be quicker and easier (yup, it was). I know people are probably thinking "You bathe your cat weekly? Cats hate water". I hear this from a lot of people who hear what we do with Dexter. I even give him a good blow dry when we bathe him - it dries him off and prevents really any extra shedding. He is also so fluffy and smells delicious!
But the funniest part about all of this is the explanation of the coat he is wearing in the picture above. After I blow dried him he was still shaking from the cold (we haven't turned our heat on yet and it's a cool 63 degrees in our house). Since I've been sorting through the dog coats for the blog I thought I would try on one of Mia's coats from when she was a little puppy. It fit him like a glove. Sure, he was a little weirded out by the coat. But after he rolled around a couple times and acting like a limp, dead kitten, he sprang back to life and is nice and toasty. I promise - I won't make a habit out of this strange behavior of putting a coat on a cat - but when it's necessary, I'll do anything for my animals :-)
All in all, Dexter is doing wonderful. He's become a great part of our families. He's certainly won over a dog lover. I've never had a cat and certainly don't know how to treat a cat like a cat - but whatever I'm doing must be working because he's a friendly, sweet cat.
I've gotten some looks when I mention that our kitten is "crate trained" (he sleeps in his crate and is put in his crate when we need him out of the way and he likes it). We also get stares when I mention that we bathe and blow dry him weekly with the dogs. Heck, he even plays with the dogs like he is a dog.
Dexter has never known another cat. His mom left him when he was a little over a week old. So he grew up and learned from our dogs. It's interesting to see the dog-like characteristics he has learned and the cat characteristics that are just engraved into his brain (litter box use and when he goes on the prowl).
So I'll admit, I treat my cat like a dog. But who cares - he's sure one cute, loveable dog-cat!

Bobbled Bloomers without the Bobbles

2009-10-17T16:08:00.005-04:00

I ordered some yarn from Jimmy Bean's Wool (my favorite online yarn store by far!) and accidentally only ordered a single skein of some Jezebel yarn by South West Trading Company. I didn't know what on earth I could make with a single skein but the yarn was too beautiful to sit and do nothing with! It's 100% wool that is hand dyed in luscious colors - far more beautiful in person than on the computer monitor. I was knitting a pair of Bobbled Bloomers by Cat Coyle from "Boho Baby Knits" for my cousin's new baby and thought that the single skein might make a itty-bitty pair of soakers for a newborn. So I casted on the medium sized pattern on U.S. 3 needles (since the yarn is a sock weight) and followed it using the single color and just followed the shaping. The result was a perfect tiny soaker - fit for a newborn.I love taking patterns and adjusting the size using different needles. Often if you choose to go down 3 sizes on needles (like I did on this pattern) you should go up a size on the pattern. If I had knit the smallest sized pattern with the sock weight yarn and U.S. 3 needles I would have ended up with a soaker that would fit a Cabbage Patch Kid... So take the time to knit up a swatch for gauge and with a little simple math (and a leap of faith) you can pretty much adjust any pattern for your sizing needs.This idea works well with many of my dog sweater patterns. Since I casually list these patterns for free from my experience knitting for my dogs - they are usually sized for a 6-10 lb dog. But adjusting a needle size up or down and yarn weight you can easily make the sizing for a 2-4 lb dog or 15-20 lb dog. Give it a try, it's kind of fun..

Izzy's Dog Sweater Leg Opening Help

2009-10-17T14:22:00.003-04:00

I've received a couple emails asking for help on Izzy's dog sweater for the area between the legs. I thought that I would make a quick post trying to explain how the leg openings work. Here's the info I've sent a couple people:

Basically the leg openings cannot be knit in the round since you will not be knitting some of the stitches to make an opening.
Let's start at the directions that say "To make leg openings"...
1. You are starting at the beginning of the round (you should have a stitch marker placed here to denote beginning of round) and you should have 44 stitches on your needles. You will knit 2 stitches and cast off 4 stitches (the casted off 4 stitches will be your first leg opening).
2. You then will knit to last 6 stitches of round. You'll cast off 4 stitches (again, this is your 2nd leg opening) and knit the last 2 stitches of the round.
3. You will then knit your 2 stitches before your leg opening. Your original 44 stitches should be broken down to 2 stitches after stitch marker, 4 casted off stitches for 1st leg opening, 32 main body stitches, 4 casted off stitches for 2nd leg opening, and 2 stitches before stitch maker. You will break the yarn leaving a really long tail to knit with (or you can just use a separate ball of yarn or the other end of the ball of yarn - basically you will be knitting 2 separate areas simultaneously so you need 2 working tails of yarn). Main ball is rejoined to the stitch after the 1st leg opening. **again - you should have yarn attached to main knitting area (the 32 stitches between leg openings) and the little area between the leg openings (the 4 stitches). You will start knitting back and forth (not in the round) on these stitches working both sections at the same time using the correct ball of yarn attached to them.
4. When it says to knit 32 stitches (that should be the stitch count between leg openings), knit those stitches. When you reach the next leg opening you should turn your work (there isn't any yarn attached to that side of the 4 stitches between the leg openings). Purl the 32 stitches you just knitted to the 1st leg opening. Now you should have the little ball of yarn/long tail of yarn that you left on the 4 stitches between the leg openings. Using the little ball of yarn purl the 4 stitches. Now turn your work again and knit those 4 stitches between the leg openings. Then using main ball of yarn knit the main 32 stitches. Continue knitting back and forth on both sections simultaneously using the correct ball of yarn (main ball for the main section, little ball for the 4 stitches between the leg openings).
5. When you've finished the leg openings directions you need to now close the legs.
6. Knit 2 stitches, cast on 4 stitches over the leg opening (now closing the leg opening), continue to knit the next 32 stitches, cast on 4 stitches over the next leg opening, and finish the round by knitting the last 2 stitches. You now have a complete round and can begin knitting in the round again.

Hope this helps!!

Chicago in October

2009-10-12T19:56:00.008-04:00

Sam and I have taken a weekend trip to the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana with a quick detour in downtown Chicago. We were in downtown Chicago yesterday and had a very quick stay at the Westin hotel on Dearborn Street (Hotwire got us a rate of $90/night). I really love Westin Hotels. They have the best beds of all hotels and with my back problems, it's hard to find a bed (other than my own) that I find comfortable. I would buy a Westin bed if I needed one.We had dinner at Rockit Bar & Grill at the recommendation of the hotel concierge. At it was a great recommendation! Since it was a Sunday evening it wasn't a terribly long wait. The bar was hopping because there were several football games on TV. But when we finally got seated we were pleasantly surprised with all the wonderful choices for dinner.

Sam was starving so we started out with an appetizer - the "Rockcorn Shrimp" (crispy fried shrimp in a chili lime sauce). It was slightly Asian inspired in flavor. It was good but nothing I would get again or write home about. But when we were on to the main entrees that was ENTIRELY different! I ordered the "Grilled Turkey Burger" (turkey burger with sliced avocado, chipotle mayonnaise, and I added goat cheese to it). It was delicious! It was served with huge french fries that were crisp on the outside and soft and perfect on the inside... heaven! Sam ordered what Good Morning America rated the best burger in America - kobe beef patty, melted brie, fried shallots, and medijool date aioli and served with a side of truffle oil fries. Sam reported that the burger was the best burger he has ever had (and he's had a lot of them). But for the steep price of $19 it better be good (the rest of the food was reasonably priced, however). He washed his dinner down with a couple of Goose Island Seasonal beers and he declared it one of the best meals... ever. So we'll definitely visit there again!

(This picture is of a cartoon in the museum that used both Sam and my names - hilarious!)

This morning we woke up and went to the Museum of Science and Industry for a quick trip before leaving downtown for the University of Illinois. We were horrified when we pulled up to park and the price was a whopping $14!! Can you believe that? Parking in Chicago is a killer - we paid $48 to park our car at the hotel overnight. That's crazy! But when we went into the museum to buy admission we didn't care about the parking anymore because we happened to be at the museum on a free admission day! So the $14 for parking was all we had to pay.
The museum was interesting. Sam had been there with his parents to look at the "Body Worlds" exhibit several years back. But he didn't look around much. It is a huge museum with a lot of things going on. We enjoyed looking at the U-505 sub that was towed to Chicago in the '50s. It was the most interesting (and most mature) exhibit at the museum. Everything else was a little too child-focused for us. We just browsed the exhibits quickly before we had to leave to make the 2.5 hour drive to Champaign-Urbana (CU).We're now here in CU. I'm taking the evening easy and watching a little TV and putting my feet up. Tomorrow I hope to drive around the area and see what CU has to offer. It's a pretty small city. I googled knit shops and came up with one local store so I might hit that up.
I hope all of you had an enjoyable weekend!

Baby Shower Gift

2009-10-11T02:06:00.004-04:00

My cousin and her new husband (as of June this year) are expecting a bundle of joy this coming January. Since they are very green and plan on cloth diapering their little man I thought I would send them a package that would help get them started. I included a wool diaper cover that I made following Cat Coyle's Bobbled Bloomers from Boho Baby Knits. If you recognize the name it's because I've made the pattern before and loved it. It was easy to follow, fairly quick (about 5-6 hours), and seam-free. The first time I followed the pattern as written and they turned out darn cute but this time I thought I would omit the bobbles (they might be irritating to sit on) and instead just make them striped in black and blue (6 rows blue to 2 rows black) in Knit Picks Merino Wool Yarn. I think they turned out adorable!
To finish off the package I made 2 newborn sized fitted diapers and stenciled a onesie with a whale motif to match the diaper cover. I also included 3 burp cloths that I sewed from flannel and organic cotton. I thought the package turned out beautiful and I should have taken a picture before I wrapped it all up!
Hopefully they find the presents helpful and they live up to the wear and tear of baby. But most of all I wish them the happiest and most precious moments in the new year with their little boy. Congrats Todd & Bethany!

Dexter at 8 wks old

2009-10-11T01:52:00.004-04:00

Gosh our little man has grown! This week I'm finally calling him a real kitten. He's getting in all sorts of trouble - jumping on tables, playing with anything that hangs (including yarn and electrical cords), running around the house like a crazy cat, and eating up a storm!
I think I can finally stop the week by week description of him because he's finally just in the growing stage. I can't believe how much a cat can change in a month. But he's turned into a great kitten and I believe we're going to keep him...But having a kitten can be a HUGE hassle sometimes while owning a food-crazed Maltese. Mia has always been very food driven. For a 6 lb dog she sure likes to eat... anything! If it's edible (and sometimes that criteria doesn't even need to be met) she'll eat it - including lettuce, uncooked pasta, skittles, grass, earplugs (one of her favorites), and (drum roll please)... cat food! Yeppers, I got home last week and found the 6 lb bag of kitten food ripped open and about 3 lbs of it missing. Mia instantly had a "I'm guilty but I hope you don't notice me" look on her face. She put her head down and crawled to her bed. At the time I thought it was guilt and shame. Now I know it was probably the churning and upset that was happening in her little stomach.
Mia was sick for a week. Not just "sick" but "SICK". I was irritated with the vomiting and diarrhea for about an hour. Then I just felt so bad for the little miserable ball of fluff. She didn't move from her bed for a week. And it took a good week for her stomach to come back to normal. It was tortuous for her and for us (thanks to the getting up to let her out every 3 hours at night). But we survived and luckily she did too.
But did she learn? Heck no! I think she would eat another 3 lbs without even thinking about it. So since we're keeping the cat we have to come up with a way to feed the little man and keep his food out of Mia's little paws. Currently we feed him on the 2nd story of his kitty condo and that seems to work. But you never know...

A Picture I've Gotta Post

2009-10-05T01:35:00.003-04:00

This is just too hilarious not to post!!

Can you see what is in Maddie's mouth??If you guessed a chicken nugget... you're right! I gave her a chicken nugget and she walked around for several minutes just holding it in her mouth like this. Too hilarious!

Dexter at 7 wks

2009-10-05T01:20:00.004-04:00

Sam was lucky enough to catch this incredible picture with his iPhone one night while we were watching television. Maddie was snuggled up next to Dexter on the couch with her paw wrapped over him. So he's definitely found Maddie's soft spot.

Dexter was 7 weeks this past week. He weighs in at shy of 2 lbs. He's really just growing into a real looking cat. His legs have lengthened, his body has slimmed down and developed muscle and his snout has grown. His whiskers are also extremely long now! And man can he jump and run!!

It's been an amazing journey to see this kitten grow up. I still can't believe that we got him from a compost pile in 90 degree heat and saved his little life. I've never really been a fan of cats. I can't stand shedding and hair (that's why we have a poodle and maltese) so a cat wasn't on my list of things to own. They've also always kind of scared me. I worked at a vet and cats always seemed so unpredictable and crazy. They don't respond to commands, they don't snuggle up to you and look to you for love the way a dog does. There are a lot of things that I didn't understand in cat owners. But after having Dexter for the last 6 weeks I'm starting to understand. Dexter has this way of stealing your heart. He doesn't ask to be fed like the dogs (puppy dog eyes and sometimes begging) but demands to be fed (mewing like he has to be fed now!) When he snuggles up on our laps he demands to be pet the right way, held the right way, and not be moved until he's ready. If you don't listen to these needs again he lets out an unhappy mew and walks away. It's almost like you have to earn his love - the opposite of my dogs. It's an interesting relationship that I'm falling for.

We took care of this kitten expecting it to be a short term relationship. We expected to get him to 10 weeks old and probably find him a home with my husband's parents or someone else we know. But as time passes we are having a harder time with this, especially seeing the relationship the dogs have developed with this cat. Maddie loves to sleep with him and Mia just loves to play with him. So we're taking it week by week to see where this kitten ends up. I have a feeling that he will have a place in our home forever.

Freebie: Ribbed Sweater Vest

2009-09-27T18:21:00.009-04:00

This weekend it finally feels like fall is here. It's slightly chilly with the cool breeze and the leaves are beginning to change to shades of crimson and marigold. This is the time of the year that I enjoy the most. I get out my cuddly sweaters, my cherished hand knits and of course - the dog's fall wardrobe.

While I was unpacking my sweaters I ran across a J Crew sweater vest that I own. It's a chunky knit sweater vest in a creamy off-white. It's a go-to item for fall because I can wear it over a simple long sleeve T-shirt for cool weather or I can pair it with something warmer like a fine gauge sweater for cold weather.
Inspired by how versatile the piece is I decided to whip one up for my little Mia. She's the dog, if you remember from last winter, that gets chilled to the bone in 60 degree weather. So I thought that a sweater vest would give me the option to layer it over other clothes when the temperature starts to plummet.
Well here is the final product. Knit in an acrylic yarn for easy care it took about one hour. How easy is that? Nothing beats the speed of U.S. 15 needles!
The vest is knit in a 1x1 ribbing for the ability to stretch to fit a wide range of chest measurements. If your dog is larger than Mia (the sweater dimensions are listed on the pattern), the chest probably doesn't need alteration but perhaps you'll want to make the body of the sweater longer (remembering to insert a buttonhole every 9th row). The vest is also knit so that you don't have to pull the sweater over your dog's head. It can button up on the chest (my dogs don't mind sweaters being pulled over their head so I tacked closed the opening but still have functional buttons for looks).

Take a look (download here) and please - leave me a comment to tell me how it went!!
**Thanks to a knitter, it was noticed that there was a error in the finished stitch count in the first pattern (says at the collar there are 20 sts when it should say 18 sts). I have corrected the error in the pattern currently linked to. However, if you have downloaded a copy prior to 1/22/10 you might have to correct your stitch count at the collar from 20 sts to 18 sts).**

Online Patterns: Projects sitting in my Queue

2009-09-26T14:23:00.005-04:00

I love my Google Reader! It has to be the handiest way to keep up to date on all the blogs I follow. And following all sorts of blogs is pure inspiration.

Every time I open Google Reader I am confronted with the hard work and creativity of individuals over in blogosphere which just gets my creative juices pumping. But I can't work on every project that I am inspired by. Unfortunately I just don't have time (or the right recipient). So these projects make their way into my "Queue of things to do".

I have quite a long list of "To-Do" projects. They range from knitted dresses to sewn juice pouch purses. And since these bloggers have spent the time and energy to share their creative works for free with the world - I want to give a little "shout out" to some of the ones that I have been itching to make. Hopefully you will find a project that you find as interesting and inspired as I have. And if you feel so inclined to try your hand at making one of them - leave the author a comment. They love to know that someone loves the project as much as they do...

Zipper Pouch Tutorial from Twelve22
Adult Twirly Skirt Tutorial from House on Hill Road
Kid's Tiered Skirt Tutorial from Kuky Ideas
Kid's Ruffle Sleeve Top Tutorial from Sparkle Power!
Juice Pouch Purses from Crafty Chic
Baby Kimono from Habitual
Poodle Stencil from Real Simple (I want to use the stencil for a wax paper stencil on a bag)
Nine Patch Door Stop by Oh, Fransson!
The Market Skirt by Made
Fabric Blocks by Sew, Mama, Sew
Softie Scottie Dog by Allsorts
Roman Blind Tutorial by Jen Duncan

Thanks, bloggers! And I hope I make it to your project soon...

D.I.Y Laundry Soap

2009-09-26T13:58:00.004-04:00

Last April I wrote about my experiment to try out a recipe for making my own laundry detergent. It was a success and I was instantly hooked. After buying the necessary ingredients (bar of soap, borax, and washing soda) I was on my way. I was able to fill 4 old laundry detergent containers with the amount of soap it made and it lasted our house (which consists of just me, my husband and our 2 dogs) over 4 months. Usually we buy a container of detergent a month. So it saved us approximately $14/month in detergent costs.

After 4 months of use our clothes are clean and smell great. I don't think we'll ever buy another bottle of detergent again! The recipe to make your own costs:

1 Box of Borax = $4
1 Box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda = $3.75
1 Box (contains 2 bars) of Yardley Soap = $1
Total = $8.75 for more than a year of detergent for us.

We now spend about $0.75 a month for our laundry soap compared to over $14/month! Now that's some savings!

Some of you might be asking about the time or hassle it takes to make your own soap. I agree: It's not worth making some of these things when the time to make something takes hours or days. However, this small change takes about 30 minutes every 4 months and is actually kind of fun.

What are some changes that your family has made to save money in these tough times?

Dexter at 6 wks old

2009-09-24T19:15:00.006-04:00

I'm trying to remember to update everyone on my little man Dexter on a weekly basis as he grows and turns into a little kitty. This has been quite a busy week for Dexter and he has changed a ton! First off, he learned to go up and down our hardwood stairs when he was about 5 wks 5 days old. I was lying in bed on Saturday morning and all of a sudden had a kitten in my face. I knew Sam had brought him down to the basement to eat and use his litter box and left him there. But all of a sudden he was upstairs and somehow managed to climb up our really tall bed (so tall that the dogs use stairs halfway and jump up the rest of the way). I think he used his claws to climb up the mattress. So now he has free range of our entire house meaning I have no way to get away from him!
The second (and most important) change this week has been his ability to eat solid food and get weaned off the bottle entirely. This happened in a very strange way. I had been trying for a week to get him to eat wet kitten food and he was just not interested. Well, apparently he is willing to give up the bottle for french fries since his first attempt at eating solid food was snatching a french fry from my plate. I gave him the fry and he's been eating kitten food mixed with KMR (kitten milk) ever since. Thank you McDonalds!
Basically Dexter has entered the crazy stage of kittenhood. He's running around, learning to jump, climb, and "hunt" basically everything - feet, ankles, dogs (Run! Maddie and Mia, run!)...
But he's a happy and healthy kitten. That's all we could ask for.

Free Online Patterns: 20 from STC Craft

2009-09-24T11:59:00.006-04:00

The publishers of STC Craft have put out an online collection of 20 free patterns from a wide selection of their books. Patterns are available for crafting, sewing and knitting and look like a lot of fun. Some of the projects I have made because they are a part of the books I own (apparently I own a lot of STC Craft books!)

The patterns include (these aren't the titles of the project but an explanation of what they are):

Knitted Flower Washcloths from "Weekend Knitting"
Sewn Garden Gloves from "Weekend Sewing"
Patchwork Pillows from "Last minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts"
Knitted Hats from "Handknit Holidays"
Stamped Journal Covers from "Printing by Hand"
Knitted Baby Booties from "Vintage Baby Knits"
Knitted Handwarmers from "Punk Knits"
Felted Necklace from "AlterKnits Felt"
Fabric Envelopes from "Last Minute Fabric Gifts"
Knitted Pointy Hats from "KnitAlong"
Knitted Ruffle Scarf from "Knitting New Scarves"
Stripey Socks from "Weekend Knitting"
Knitted Sweater from "Custom Knits"
Stamped Fabric Produce Totes from "Sewing Green"
Knitted Mittens from "Knitting New Mittens & Gloves"
Knit Bag from "Greeting from Knit Cafe"
Knit Baby Bonnet from "Vintage Baby Knits"
Fabric Needle Case from "Kids Embroidery"
Kids Tunic Dress from "Weekend Sewing"

So take a look at the website and see if there are any projects that you can start for holiday gifting.

Happy Crafting!!

Freebie: Varsity Dog Sweater

2009-09-22T17:56:00.004-04:00

Here it is ya'll! I finally sat down this afternoon and wrote up the pattern. I didn't have any test knitters so if you find a mistake please email me and let me know.

The sweater is written for 3 sizes (shown on my poodle is the medium) and would be the perfect sweater to knit for your pooch in your favorite team colors.

The pattern is available in pdf format for free here. Please leave a comment and let me know how it goes!

Happy Fall!

Sneak Peek... new dog sweater!

2009-09-18T11:52:00.004-04:00

Here it is! I'm still writing up the pattern. I hope to seriously have it posted by this weekend for free. I really appreciate comments from individuals who are thinking of making the project or have made it (I love pictures even more of the finished sweaters!!)
This sweater is totally seam free. You even knit the pocket straight on to the back of the sweater so you don't have to sew the pocket on. I knit this first sweater out of red and white worsted weight yarn - but my next sweater for Mia will be made out of maize and blue for the University of Michigan ("Go Blue!") So I'm calling this the "Varsity Sweater" - make it in your favorite team colors!
This sweater is written for 3 sizes - from a 6 lb maltese sized dog to a 20 lb. schnauzer. Come back soon for the finished pattern!

Dexter at 5 wks old

2009-09-18T11:46:00.004-04:00

These pictures could give you a wrong impression of this kitten - a sleepy, cuddly kitten - the type we had just a week ago. But you would be very wrong... this kitten has finally found his legs and his energy! Luckily we have the dogs to keep him entertained (and sleep next to him as you see Maddie underneath him)!

New Freebie Dog Sweater - Coming Soon!

2009-09-13T22:53:00.003-04:00

I finished a dog sweater yesterday evening and will be writing up the pattern this coming week. It is a striped sweater with a pocket on the back that is knit directly onto the sweater with no seaming. It could be called the "Seam-free Rugby Sweater". But I'll try to come up with something more swanky to call it. I also knit up another sweater that turned out beautiful, however, I'm not thrilled with the way the pattern worked up on the chest so I'll have to tinker with it a bit...
But since the fall knitting season is coming I thought I better come up with some new creations to keep your pups warm this winter!

Please, keep the pictures coming of all the sweaters you finish for your little ones!

My Birthday

2009-09-13T22:03:00.004-04:00

Today my parents threw a little birthday celebration for me at their house. It was a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon - my brother was even in town from Chicago. We had a wonderful brunch and cake for dessert (yummy Hummingbird Cake from Zingerman's). It was a delicious meal and I was stuffed!!
After the wonderful meal we (my parents, husband, grandparents, brother, and aunt) played a hand of cards called "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" (known as "Oh Hell" to others). I didn't win - couldn't they have let the birthday girl win??
I also got to open presents and my husband surprised me with a new lens for my camera - the "Nikon 35 mm f/1.8 AF-S Dx." It's great for low light situations so I don't need to use a flash so often which is fabulous.
A gift that you crafters would be interested in is a BAG FULL of yarn from my Grandparents. They gave me 4 skeins of wool yarn in 3 different, coordinating colors for a total of almost 2000 yards of yarn! I'm thinking I might made a felted carpet bag from the yarn. Any other suggestions?
We brought our animals over to my parents house, including little "Dexter" hoping that the added interaction with people would help him learn social skills. He had a blast running around with Mia and snuggling with every family member. He's still bottle feeding and has absolutely no interest in trying to eat anything other than something coming out of a little latex nipple. But I'm sure he won't eat out of a bottle forever so I guess I just need a little patience....So today was a nice Sunday afternoon. A day filled with great food, presents, my brother I never see, and the love of my family. Now it's time for the week to begin...

Dexter at almost 4 wks old

2009-09-08T17:18:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that it's been 2 weeks since we got Dexter! He was such a tiny, helpless kitty when I brought him home. But since we got him he's really developed into such a sweet and healthy kitten - full of life and energy!

Since Dexter is 4 weeks old we're starting to think about how we're going to wean him from the bottle feedings. I still feed him KMR (kitten milk replacement) every four hours or so (when he's hungry) with the bottle. Hopefully he'll be interesting in starting to lap up the formula sometime this week. He's starting to lick his paws and clean himself. We also introduced him to the litter box which we filled with "Yesterday's News" since it's dust free and won't get stuck in his paws and he can't eat it. The first time we sat him down on the litter he peed on his own! Man, that instinct must just be burned into them. But he doesn't do it all the time but he's on his way.

Dexter is also starting to really play like a kitten. He and Mia play all the time! Luckily Mia plays really gentle with him and Dexter is getting really good at walking so he can scurry under the couch if he's had enough.

I am really enjoying watching this kitten grow up. It's quite an experience.

Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm Mighty Giveaway

2009-09-07T22:39:00.003-04:00

Happy Labor Day! As many of you know I am a member of the fiber CSA through Martha Vineyard's Fiber Farm. I am so excited to receive my share of yarn spun from the spring flock!
Martha Vineyard's Farm is a great farm which raises registered Angora Goats, registered Cormo, Cotswold and Babydoll Southdown sheep on an all natural pasture and hay diet. The shepherd, Susan Gibbs, takes wonderful care of her animals and keeps her CSA members up-to-date with a wonderful blog posted with pictures and updates on her farm and animals. From her posts you can tell how wonderfully dedicated and in-love with her animals she is.
If you haven't checked out her blog, please do so here!
Susan is currently having a massive giveaway to those of you who are interested in living the shepherd life in a smaller way. She currently has more angora goats than she needs and she never sells her animals for meat or to auction - so she is open for finding a wonderful home who is interested in developing their own small flock. She is giving away a hand-spinners flock and the people at Sand Creek Post and Barn are giving the chosen entry a custom made run-in shed.
Go over to Susan's blog and look at the rules for entry (this is an essay contest that is reviewed by Susan). This is a HUGE deal for Susan and she isn't just giving away her animals. She is looking to spread the love to people dedicated and interested in loving their own flock.
If you've always wanted to expand your knitting to raising a flock for fiber, this is your perfect opportunity. Check it out!

Nichols Arboretum at the University of Michigan

2009-09-06T19:06:00.005-04:00

What an enjoyable Sunday afternoon I had with my husband and dogs. We took an hour to walk around "Nichols Arboretum" downtown Ann Arbor. It was a warm, sunny day and it was a busy day at the park. We started at the Washington Heights entrance which is mid-elevation near the University Hospital and then we walked down towards the river. We finished our walk when we got to the River Entry. I sat and waited in the parking lot and Sam retrieved the car. The dogs had a blast running up and down the hills and sniffing all the smells and I enjoyed spending the afternoon with my dear husband.What else is Labor Day weekend for? It's time to relax and enjoy friends and family...

"The Big House" and Heating Pad Cover

2009-09-05T15:45:00.006-04:00

Aahh... college football season has started! My Alma mater, the University of Michigan, has their first game of the year vs. Western Michigan University. We should win... but I'll bite my tongue until we have it in the bag.

On a crafting note, I finished a quilted cover for a heating pad. I was tired of the ugly cover that came with the pad (and it wasn't padded enough so even on the lowest setting the pad burned my skin). So using scraps that I had around from a couple projects I whipped up an impromptu cover. I didn't follow any pattern hence it's about 1/2" too short in length (darn it!) but it turned out cute for costing zero dollars!
I used batting between the layers so I could quilt it which also gives a little buffer between your skin and the hot pad. The back side of the cover is just a double layer of off-white quilter's flannel. I made little ties with scraps so the pad couldn't fall out of the cover.All in all, I'm pleased. Next time I'll measure twice and cut once to avoid the size problem!

Dexter at 3 wks old

2009-09-04T17:11:00.004-04:00

The changes that this little kitten make day by day are amazing! I've had Dexter for 10 days now and he's now a 3 week old kitten. What do 3 week old kittens do exactly? For starters, they now have their eyes wide open and can follow you. He can see my dogs when they are a couple feet away and he gets up on his little legs and will run (if that's what you call it) after them. He's not so wobbly on his legs anymore although he still falls over if he moves too fast.
Dexter is still drinking from a little bottle that I fill with kitten milk replacement. He drinks a whole 2 tablespoons at a time (compared with about 1/2 tablespoon when we got him). He sucks it down quickly too! He's growing every day. Today he weighs exactly 12 oz - up from 6 oz when we got him 10 days ago. His ears are totally erect now which makes him look so much more like a kitten than his baby ferret face that I said he looked like last week.He still needs help going to the bathroom but hopefully will start being able to go on his own next week so we can introduce him to the litter box. I also hope to start introducing him to wet kitten food by next week so we can start the weaning process. He just started to lick himself so he finally understands how is tongue works which is vital for the weaning process.All in all, he's a great little kitty! We're going to have a hard time giving him up since he's become best buds with our dogs and has wrapped my husband around his little paw! Take a look... isn't he cute!

Baby Socks from Harris Tweed Pattern

2009-09-02T17:17:00.004-04:00

I posted before that I made a pair of "Harris Tweed Socks" (available for free download), the first adult sized socks that I've knitted in years. Well, since I had a little bit of the skein of sock yarn left over that I decided to knit up a pair of pint sized socks... itsy bitsy baby socks. I casted on 32 stitches and followed the pattern changing the heel flap, instep, and toe box to match a little baby sock I had on hand for size reference. They turned out really cute! Since socks have such a basic overall pattern to them I figured it would be easy to wing a smaller size. Sure enough, it was! So feel inspired and next time try your favorite sock pattern... in a really small size!

Sirdar Baby Sweater Finished

2009-09-01T13:25:00.006-04:00

I knitted another sweater from the book, "Early Arrivals 3" by Sirdar. The book is meant to knit small treasures for little babies who arrive too early. I thought this would be the perfect book of patterns for my charity knitting since most of the babies are extremely tiny. However, the patterns are pretty poorly written. This pattern, named specifically "Pattern A", is a V neck sweater with a raglan sleeve. The pattern has a stitch count problem (many times it didn't match with the amount of stitches I had on my needles) and the raglan decrease section was extremely poorly written - hard to follow which led to a messy looking raglan. So I just "winged it" when it came to the raglan, placing a stitch marker at the appropriate spot for the raglan and just made the decreases as I saw fit. This turned the sleeve much neater looking and all in all the sweater turned out just fine. However, if you're new to knitting and want a pattern that is quick and easy to follow - this is not it.I knitted the sweater in inexpensive Vanna's Choice (by Lion Brand) Baby in the color Cayenne (a orange-red color) I'm not thrilled with Vanna's Choice yarn which is 100% acrylic, but I had a skein on hand and thought it would be easy to care for with the hospital washing machines. But I don't think the yarn is soft enough for such small preemies. If I had this to knit over I would probably use a cotton/bamboo blend.All in all, the sweater is finished and ready for donation. I think I've given up on this book of patterns - too much headache for something that should be so easy! F.Y.I...

Free Online Pattern: Harris Tweed Socks

2009-08-31T13:42:00.003-04:00

I finished my first pair of adult sized socks in a couple years! I hate knitting socks because once one sock is done you have a whole other one to knit (unless you knit them both at the same time using the magic loop method...) But I'm getting ready for Christmas and this is one present off my "to-do" list!
These are the "Harris Tweed Socks" by Ali Green available online for free here.
This picture didn't turn out all that well - the coloration is a little off and the detail isn't really obvious, but this was a quick, fun pattern to knit up. I used a wool/bamboo blend yarn (with a little bit of nylon for strength) in a blue and green coloration. These are soft and hopefully will wear well. I did make an alteration to the pattern - I made my toe box the "traditional" way instead of the really wedged toe like the pattern suggests.

Goodbye, August

2009-08-31T13:27:00.006-04:00

This month seemed to come and go at the blink of an eye! I guess summer is a busy time for all - but I feel guilty for my lack of updates lately.My first update is about a new (*temporary*) part of our family - a little kitten named "Dexter". In this picture he's a little over 2 weeks old. Just started to really open his eyes and his ears finally popped up. We got him when he was just barely 2 weeks old (from the way he looked). My mother's friend lives on a farm where a feral cat abandoned the little kitty in the compost pile. She didn't come back for the kitten for days and finally my mother's friend (and daughter who was visiting) called me. When I got the kitten he was dehydrated and very skinny but with some kitten replacement milk, a tiny bottle, and a heating pad - we got this kitten up and moving! I weighed little "Dexter" when we got him and he was about 6 oz. and today he's a whopping 9 oz! His appetite has really picked up and he's gotten accustomed to the latex nipple which was hard for him at first. But man are these kittens a lot of work this early on! We have to feed him, make him go the bathroom (kittens are unable to do this on their own until about 4 wks old), and keep him warm (again, kittens this young don't shiver or produce their own body heat efficiently). But he's enjoying our family and especially our dogs. I'll keep you updated as he grows and gets ready for a new home!

Free Online Pattern: Sundress

2009-08-11T21:23:00.001-04:00

The blog Habitual has a free pattern available online for a child's sundress that is quite adorable. Using french seams and a large ribbon for the neck, it has simple shaping that will allow a dress to become a top once your child grows out of it.
I gave a gift last month of a dress made from this pattern. I didn't get a picture of the dress I gifted since it was last minute, but I did take some pictures of the first dress I made. I can't say I'm proud of my sewing skills or the choice of fabric on the first try but it gets the point across. I think this dress would be pretty is a fabric that has some flow. Give it a go...

Update on the Playmat Project...

2009-08-09T00:05:00.005-04:00

Ugh! I am not a fan of unfinished projects. I like things completed before I move on to another project... so my stack of yarn and strips of knitting in the corner of my family room is driving me bonkers!! I have been working on the "Playmat" blanket from Debbie Abraham's book "100 more afghan squares to knit". I got the book at the library and have been working on this darn project since March 11...The project is long and not tons of fun. I knit a square or two and then put it aside for a couple weeks. So I've only finished 3.5 strips (7 squares per strip) out of the 7 total strips. So if my math is correct, I've knitted 24 squares out of the 49 total squares! I'm 50% done...
I ordered the Debbie Bliss Stella (cotton, silk blend) Yarn online from Jimmy Beans Wool (located in Reno, NV I believe) at 1/2 price. The skeins were marked down to $3.50. Needing 28 skeins of yarn was going to be expensive at anything more than that! I really enjoy the yarn but the colors came and were quite surprising! The monitor didn't match the colors I received. The colors were extremely bright and vibrant (very anti-Sarah). So it's pretty gaudy but it's meant for a kid and gaudy will be fun.Here are a couple pictures from the progress I've made. Sorry that the pictures are terrible - it's been raining all day and I had the knitting out so I was going to take pictures no matter what.
I'm aiming to have this project done before my fingers crack off because of old age. Who knows if that will happen... Perhaps if I was more in love with the colors or had more fun doing it I would be done by now....

Happy Weekend

2009-08-08T23:28:00.005-04:00

This Saturday has been one of those days that you just want to cuddle up with your hubby (or any person of your choosing) on the couch, pop a movie in, and do a little crafting. I woke up this morning to pouring rain and it has continued to rain for most of the day. So I got a little knitting done (yes!) The "project du jour" was finishing up a sweater from a new book I got at my most recent trip to the local yarn store. I finally got the project casted off and blocked today. I still have to sew up the arm pit - but I'm close enough to call it done.
The book I knit the sweater from is called "Early Arrivals 3" by Sirdar. It was 25 designs that they recommend using Snuggly DK and 4 ply yarn for. The designs are for super tiny preemies to 12 months. I got the book because it's extremely hard to find cute patterns for preemies and the hospital could use some cute donations.
To kick off the book I knit the "Frill Edge Cardigan" following the directions for the V neck cardigan version (they also offer a round neck version). I knit the 0-6 month size using Sirdar's Juicy Dk yarn (a cotton/bamboo blend) in place of the recommended Snuggly Dk yarn. The Juicy yarn translated fine in the pattern - my gauge was perfect using size U.S. 5 needles (one size smaller than the recommended U.S. 6 - but I knit loosely). All in all, the sweater turned out ok. The pattern was pretty easy to read. I believe there must be errata out there somewhere for this cardigan because I ran into a stitch count problem towards the end of the pattern but I was able to wing it just fine. I also winged a couple of areas where they had you do some counter intuitive knitting steps and I overruled them:

Sleeves - they have you knit them flat and seam them. I just knitted them in the round and boy I am I glad I did. When the sweater was done I only had armpit holes to seam.
You have to cast on hundreds of stitches for the ruffle at the bottom. I used the 2 skein technique to avoid running out of yarn which I do so often with the long tail cast on method (you knot the ends of two skeins together and start casting on at the knot with the long tail method. When you have the desired amount of stitches you cut the yarn you don't plan to knit with and weave in the end. You then knit with the yarn that is left. Voila! You can't run out of yarn!)
They have you cast off the remaining stitches when you are finished with the back of the sweater. Keep those stitches on a needle holder!! You will knit them when you pick up stitches around the edge for the button border! It makes it much quicker as you don't have to pick up so many stitches and it really looks cleaner.

OK - enough about the pattern. All in all it was a decently written pattern. Not the way I like to knit but it worked. Moving on to the decisions that I made: The Yarn. The Sirdar Juicy yarn is super soft and slinky which is perfect for a baby but it was also extremely easy to split since there is no twist to the yarn. Therefore there are 3 areas where there is a split thread that shows. On wool I don't think you would notice, but this yarn is not forgiving! It shows every little detail of your knitting - from even gauge (or lack thereof) to little splits. Would I knit with this again? No, probably not. I would knit with a yarn that has a little more spring in it but that's my personal preference. I'm not a fan of slinky yarns.
The color of the yarn was called papaya even though it is a very khaki colored yarn. When I think of papaya I think of peach or oranges but there's not a hint of that here (thank goodness). I finished the cardigan off with a little silver elephant button which I thought was kind of cute.
All in all this project took me 3 evenings to complete.

Sorry about my ramblings. Since this book is fairly new I thought I would review the pattern. Next I'm moving on to knit the "Design A" raglan cardigan in the smallest preemie size - a whopping 10 1/4 inch chest measurement. It will be like knitting doll clothes, I'm sure.

Mia and Maddie's Favorite Dog Treats!

2009-08-02T14:31:00.006-04:00

I am sharing Maddie and Mia's absolutely favorite dog treat recipe. This recipe has been passed to me via who-knows-where. It's fabulous and the dogs go crazy for them. So beware! (I learned how crazy they are for them when Maddie got into my purse and ate an entire bag of them!)

This recipe is quite large when you're making them for small dogs. I mix up the dough and split the dough into 2 packages - one for the freezer for future treats and one for the fridge to rest for the recommended hour until you shape and bake them. If you're worried about food allergies with dogs these treats work well using alternative flours. Also make sure you use all natural products - applesauce and peanut butter have the tendency to have additives such as sugar in them.

Okay, okay... I hear all the dogs out there barking and whining, begging for the treat recipe ASAP. Here it is:Mia and Maddie's Favorite Dog Treats
Ingredients

4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cup cornmeal
6 tablespoons Missing Link (optional - I add it for nutritional value).
6 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 cup natural applesauce (I make my own from scratch)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I usually use soy milk but use cow milk sometimes, too.)
Egg for basting (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in a stand mixer. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well (I like to use the stand mixer). Let the dough stand for 1 hour in the fridge. Roll the dough to 1/4" thick and cut with small 1" cookie cutters (or make larger cookies if you would like). Baste with egg to make the cookies look beautiful and professional. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. This makes approx. 80 small treats.

I store these treats in the freezer since it slows the dogs down when they eat them. But I'm sure you can store them at room temperature for a little while but I can't recommend how long...

Freebie: "Stripey Baby Leg Warmies"

2009-08-02T01:54:00.009-04:00

I was at Target the other day doing some shopping when on the end of an aisle were some pairs of leg warmers for babies. I have to admit that I was somewhat baffled as to why a baby would want leg warmers when I read the back of the package explaining all of the different uses. All of a sudden it seemed like a pretty decent idea.
I've been working on a baby gift for this winter that includes some items for the cloth diapering mama - wool soakers, cloth diapers, cloth wipes, waterproof wet-bag, etc. Then I thought that it would be cute to include some leg warmers especially since it will be a January baby. I didn't want to shell out $15 for a pair of acrylic leg warmers that looked insanely easy to knit myself. So I sat down this week and finished a pair in 2 evenings.

Here are the details if you're interested.
Yarn: Cream Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (left over of a skein) & Forest Green Louet Gem Sport Weight.
Needles: A set of U.S. size 2 double pointed and a pair of U.S. size 5 needles
Gauge: I'll post this when I have a chance to measure it.

Pattern:
CO 48 stitches on U.S. 5 needles (this makes the cast on edge stretchy) in main color (for me it was the green). Move stitches over to smaller needles and space evenly over 3 needles (16 stitches on each needle). Place marker to denote beginning of round.
Beginning knitting in round on U.S. 2 needles in K1, P1 ribbing for one inch. After you have knit one inch in main color ribbing switch to stockinette stitch for the next 6 inches of knitting as follows:
Round 1: With main color (MC) knit one round
Round 2: With contrasting color (CC) knit one round
Repeat rounds 1 and 2 making a striped warmer. Carry the yarns up the inside of the leg warmers making sure to twist the yarns when you start a new color. This twisting will prevent gaps. Also make sure you keep an even gauge when you switch yarns. Pulling too tight at the beginning of the round causes bunching of the colors and the leg warmer won't look seamless.
After repeating rounds 1 & 2 to complete the striped stockinette portion for 6 inches (total length so far should be 7 inches) switch to main color and work for an additional one inch in K1, P1 ribbing.
Cast off using U.S. size 5 needles so that the bind off is stretchy (you can also use any stretchy bind off of your choosing).
Feel free to change up the pattern using a solid color, more colored stripes, ribbing the whole way, etc.

This used up the little portions of 2 skeins that I had laying around. Perfect stashbuster! And much cheaper than $15... Enjoy!

Peach Preserves

2009-08-02T01:48:00.003-04:00

Happy Weekend! This last weekend I spent the afternoon finally making some peach jam that has been on my list of things to-do. I had the peaches ripening on our counter for a couple days and finally got them canned! Apparently I didn't cook them long enough because it is a soft set jam - but personally I like it better that way. I gifted a jar to my parents and grandparents. Hopefully they are enjoying the fresh preserves as much as I am on my morning bagel. Next on my list of canning is to can as many jars of fresh salsa as I can! Now I just have to wait for the tomatoes in my back yard to get ripe...

Free Online Pattern: Baby Sophisticate

2009-07-27T21:08:00.004-04:00

I've got many things finished and some things in the works. It's been a crafty week for me - a lot of sewing, some knitting, and some photography. I always notice that when my urge for creativity goes up it is indicative of high stress. This week has just been hectic! So crafting is the perfect therapy for me - slows me down, gets me thinking, creating, and focuses me on the here and now. When I'm finished and look at my completed project I have a sense of peace and control.
This week I whipped out in an evening the baby sweater "Baby Sophisticate" by Stockinette. The sweater is written as a classic "Grandpa" sweater - a button down cardigan with a large fold-over lapel. I didn't have enough stash yarn on hand and liked the basic idea for the sweater but wanted it to be unisex so I came up with a pull-over style. I haven't placed the button on the collar yet (I will wait until I know who the recipient is so that I can pick a button that is more feminine or masculine). I will definitely knit this pattern again as written. It's quick and fun and Stockinette's version is just so darn cute! Take a look at her blog for the "real" version - which is much more successful than my adapted pattern.

Abundance of Zucchini

2009-07-25T00:24:00.004-04:00

Our kind neighbor came knocking on our door yesterday with an arm full of zucchini ranging in size from a 1/2 lb all the way to a 4 lb. zucchini!! I wish I had taken a picture of all the zucchini before I started baking with them. My neighbor started a garden and the veggies are all doing extremely well. She said that she has dozens of zucchini every week and is up to her ears in zucchini bread so she thought she would pass along the fruits of her labor.
This morning I stared at the pile of veggies and tried to think about what I could make with all of them. I decided to make a zucchini cake... ever heard of that? I really enjoy making carrot cake and thought that zucchini cake would be just as tasty so I pulled out my red Betty Crocker cook book and followed the recipe for the Carrot Cake (available free online) substituting cup for cup shredded zucchini for the carrots. I just made sure to really dry the shredded zucchini by pressing the veggies on a fine mesh sieve to rid it of the cup fulls of water embedded in it. I also substituted natural applesauce for the vegetable oil and egg whites for the whole eggs to make it a low fat dessert (well, as low as it can get). I topped the cake with some cream cheese frosting and "yummy, yummy in my tummy!"

Leaf Yoke Cardigan Finished!

2009-07-24T17:31:00.005-04:00

I bought the book, "Bloom" by Nashua Handknits in the Spring of 2007 at my local yarn store because I loved so many of the timeless but fun patterns. I knitted the "Patchwork Blanket" first and enjoyed it very much. But the book found itself hibernating in my knitting book stash for a couple years. I finally pulled it out again because I was looking for a little pattern that packed a punch. I wanted to knit something fun, different, and slightly challenging. From the 10 patterns that were available it was hard to choose. So instead I looked at my yarn stash and found 3 skeins of Rowan RYC Cashcotton 4 ply (cotton, angora, nylon, and cashmere blend) in a heathered purple that helped point me in the right direction. I ended up deciding to cast on the project "Leaf Yoke Cardigan". Since I didn't have the right weight yarn (the Cashcotton is a fingering weight yarn and the pattern calls for a worsted weight), I decided to double the strands. I knew that would make a bulkier yarn than a worsted weight so I went down to U.S. 4 needles instead of the U.S. 6 needles that are recommended. I chose the 0-3 month size to knit since I only had 3 skeins (which again were being double knitted) and was afraid I would run out of yarn. But since my gauge ended up being a bit bulky, I noticed that my knitting the 0-3 was actually giving me the 6 month old size. So I followed the 0-3 but knit the lengths to the 6 month old size and ended up with a perfectly sized 6 month sweater!The cashcotton is a bear to knit with. It's soft and pretty but I HATE knitting with cotton sometimes since it has no give and can really hurt your fingers and hands. I've never had such hand cramps! But the pattern is addictive and I found that I couldn't stop knitting the first night until the whole leaf section of the yoke was finished. So in 3 nights I had the whole sweater knitted. There weren't any mistakes in the pattern and the leaves were all perfectly placed and the sweater turned out pretty cute. I have no idea what I will do with it. This one is so cute I might hold on to it myself... I'll have to pack it away somewhere until perhaps there is a use for it.
All in all, give this pattern a go. It's fun and I believe it can easily be a girl or boy sweater. If I was making it for a boy I would make it in a natural color and add buttons down the whole front of the sweater. Cute!

Another Pair of Soakers... I am so addicted!

2009-07-23T23:27:00.003-04:00

Okay, okay - I can't help it! These things are just so enjoyable to knit and relaxing. Simple shaping but the patterned crotch area keeps things interesting (the possibilities are endless!) This time I decided to knit Justine Turner's Knitted Soakers in a skein of purple Cascade Yarn's 220 Paints and the accent color is Knit Picks Palette yarn in gray (I doubled the strands since it's fingering weight. The soakers took me 2 evenings to knit and will be gifted this coming winter. I think I might sew up a pair of cloth diapers for the baby gift (the recipient mother is very eco-friendly!) I'll let you know how that goes.

Happy Birthday, Izzy!

2009-07-17T22:01:00.003-04:00

Today I attended a birthday party for my aunt's dog, Izzy. Yes, you read that right - a first birthday party! All of the dogs had a blast playing with the new toys that were gifted to her and eating the doggie cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, Izzy!

Art in the blistering heat

2009-07-15T23:51:00.006-04:00

The Ann Arbor Art Fair is in full effect! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the large fair here's the knitty gritty:
The Ann Arbor Art Fairs consist of four "award-winning" different shows (the "Original" Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair, the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, and the Ann Arbor South University Art Fair).It is estimated that almost a half million people attend the various fairs that take over the entire downtown Ann Arbor, MI area. The roads are shut down and booths are set up in the streets. Artists, vendors, and local shops set up elaborate booths and sell their goods for 4 days (this year it started today and goes until Saturday).
As an "Ann Arborite" it is interesting to see the reaction of other locals to the show. Many locals HATE and I mean despise the shows. Traffic in the area is greatly increased with people unfamiliar with the roads. Streets are shut down and the summer lull (Ann Arbor is a drastically different town once the university students leave for the summer) is transformed into a loud buzz. I, however, enjoy the fairs. Each year I attend and enjoy people watching and looking at all of the different art available. As an attendee each year, I have noticed that a lot of the artisans have the exact same work (which is a real downer) but when I run across a new artist with a new craft it is exciting! It's fun to see all of the crazy ideas running through other creative people's brains. A lot of time it gives me inspiration or ideas for my own work. I also enjoy all of the sales from the local botiques in the area. It's the perfect time to purchase Christmas presents (gasp, I know).
Since I can't walk very far, Sam and I just did one block of the fair. But it was a real enjoyable evening even though it was humid and hot! And we also enjoyed a sunset...Does anyone else have a local fair that they enjoy? Do you make any purchases or sell at a fair?

A Weekend in Review: Dogs and Cats

2009-07-12T12:30:00.011-04:00

This weekend has been filled with some animal photography. My dogs were in an unusually photogenic mood on Saturday and posed for an impromptu photo session in the living room. These are some of the pictures that we ended up with.
For those of you who don't read my blog often, the dog on the left is Maddie (6 year old miniature poodle) and the dog on the right is Mia (1 1/2 year old Maltese). They are the best of buddies and play with each other all day long!
Maddie poses for the camera and gets her minute in the limelight.

And Mia gives her stereotypical "I'm just a little puppy - I look so innocent". She has some good puppy dog eyes (has anyone seen the Pixar movie "Bolt" - she's got that look down to a science!)

Enough of my puppies. About 3 weeks ago I noticed that the people who live next door to me have a small colony of feral cats living under their deck. They never go in their backyard so the deck is just abandoned. The neighbor on the other side of me feeds the cats and looks after them. I keep telling myself that I need to trap them to get them spayed/neutered. But I haven't done it yet. Here is the mamma and son which like to come onto our patio and sun themselves. They are beautiful cats.
So that was my weekend - filled with dogs and cats! And a trip to the local Farmer's market...

Another Confection Baby Shrug

2009-07-09T21:56:00.007-04:00

This was such a fun pattern to make that I couldn't help but knit another one last evening. This "Confection Baby Shrug" is such a cute, quick pattern and used a single skein of Jaeger Yarn's "Chamonix" in colorway 904 (a muted grayish purple). I really did enjoy knitting with the Chamonix and will buy more skeins of this yarn - it's a mix of angora, wool and nylon. The finished knit was thick and soft (I did knit the shrug on size US 6 needles which is a small needle for this bulky yarn but I like the thick knit it produced).For the back on this shrug I put in a panel of “King Charles Brocade”:
1st row (right side): P2, K2tog, (K1, yo)twice, K1, sl1, K1, psso, P2
2nd row and every alt row:K2, P7, K2
3rd row: P2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, sl1, k1, psso, p2
5th row: P2, k1, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k1, k2tog, yo, k1, p2
7th row: P2, k2, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k2, p2
8th row: Same as 2nd row
I repeated these rows 4 times total.

A Quick Pic

2009-07-06T20:40:00.002-04:00

I've always had a fascination with windmills. When I was a child I made my parents pull over to take pictures and look in awe at the various windmill fields in California. This week I came across this old charmer...

Free Online Pattern: "Confection Baby Shrug"

2009-07-05T15:32:00.004-04:00

This is a cute, quick pattern that can be made up in a matter of 2 quick evenings. I am mailing out a baby shower gift this week and wanted to spruce up the purchased dress with something handmade. I browsed Ravelry and came across this free pattern from Tonya Wagner called "Confection Baby Shrug." She rates the shrug as "easy" and I have to agree. It's not a super beginner pattern since there are some increases and lots of stitches to pick up around the edge - but if you have knit almost anything before this pattern should be easy for you.
I chose to knit this shrug in Rowan Yarn's All Season Cotton in color #178 Organic (an off white) on US 5 needles. It took just a tad over 1 skein of yarn. I did shorten the arm length from 3 inches of stockinette stitch to 2 inches because I wanted it to be more like a 3/4 length sleeve for a summer baby. I also knitted the sleeves in the round since I hate any seaming and I am sure glad I did that. There is no reason why you would knit them flat and seam them unless you're not comfortable knitting in the round on double pointed needles. The only other changes I made was knitting a lace pattern down the back panel. The pattern is written as knitted in plain stockinette stitch the entire way. In the middle 9 stitches on the back panel I knit a panel of lace:
1st row (right side): K1, yo, k2, sl1, k2tog, psso, k2, yo, k1
2nd row: Purl
3rd row: k2, yo, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1, yo, k2
4th row: Purl
5th row: k3, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo k3
6th row: Purl
I repeated these rows a total of 5 times for the back panel (for the 3 month old size). The resulting lace panel I think is suitable for a baby girl or baby boy. It's an easy 6 row repeat and spruces up the shrug a little.
I hope you all go over to Tonya Wagner's blog called "The Shizknit" and check out her patterns!

Chunky Knit Cardigan

2009-07-04T20:29:00.004-04:00

I finished a fun project this last week - the "Chunky Knit Cardigan" by Erica Knight published in the book "Simple Knits for Cherished Babies". I love this book! The patterns are classic, simple, straightforward patterns. I have made almost every pattern from this book numerous times in various different yarns. They are a pleasure to knit. OK, enough about the book, let's talk about the project! I knit in a single evening (ok... it was a slightly long evening!) this sweater out of my current favorite yarn (Mirasol Yarn's Cotanani). The Cotanani is a cotton and merino wool blend with lovely stitch definition and super soft. The colorways I chose were navy and burgundy (even though I would describe the colors as purple and purple-blue heather). I was even happier with my choice of Cotanani when I read about the Mirasol Project. Mirasol yarn is a Fairtrade yarn (the producers receive a fair price that covers sustainable production plus an extra premium that is invested in social or economic development projects) and a percentage of each sale of yarn goes directly to the Mirasol Project. Great yarn that is also helping people in Peru - how can you not love this yarn?The sweater was knit on size U.S. 7 needles. And I knit the sweater to pattern. I still haven't put buttons on the sweater yet (I haven't found some that I love yet). I did, however, knit the sleeves in the round and also attached the shoulders using 3-needle bind off to minimize any seaming (if you follow this blog you will know that the motto "the less seaming, the happier Sarah") All in all, kudos to Erica Knight for another great pattern.

Happy Fourth!

2009-07-04T19:54:00.007-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! It's a beautiful day here in Michigan. Last night we celebrated the fourth with my parents and my sister and her fiancee at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village. The Greenfield Village is an 80-acre village that is a replica of the mid 19th century. There is a replica home of Thomas Edison's library and the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law in addition to many other interesting sites. It was a perfect backdrop for a patriotic celebration. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra played a concert while all 10,000 concert-goers sat on the lawn and enjoyed a picnic. Our family has been doing this for almost all 17 years that the concert has been taking place. This year we had homemade fried chicken (courtesy of my mother), Barefoot Contessa's panzanella, pesto pasta salad, fresh fruit salad, and a three berry pie for dessert. It was all delicious.
So we had a terrific Independence Day celebration and I'm wishing all of you a fun 4th of July as well!

Free Online Pattern: Better than Booties Baby Socks

2009-07-02T21:29:00.005-04:00

Here is another pair of baby socks that is my favorite pair to knit for charity. You can knit a sock a night and I have the pattern memorized already! Really, if you're looking to do some charity knitting or looking for a baby sock pattern check this one out! This time I did the decorative top edging but I decided that I would focus on the beautiful Panda Silk yarn by Crystal Palace Yarns and I knit the socks in plain stockinette stitch. They turned out beautiful I have to admit!
I also used up a left over skein of "who-knows-what" and made another pair. Take a peek...

My First Quilt

2009-07-02T20:03:00.004-04:00

I've been taking a monthly sewing class at a local quilt shop for the past several months. It's been enjoyable to see all the other ladies handiwork and think about how wonderful it would be if I could be as talented in the sewing department as they are. This last month I set my reservations aside and decided to jump feet first in quilting and bought fabric for my very first attempt at a quilt. It calls for 20 fat quarters! And man was it hard to find 20 fabrics that I liked that all went together. I felt like I was buying out the whole quilt shop!
But here is my stack of fabrics...
I'm really excited about this project. With the expert guidance of my mother (an extremely talented quilter) I'm sure this will turn out beautiful. Cross your fingers (and toes) for me!!

Busy Little Bee

2009-07-02T00:50:00.004-04:00

I've been a busy little bee - crafting and enjoying the summer sun! So I apologize for not updating this as often as I would like! I have several projects in the pipeline (including my first quilt!!) But I haven't had time to upload pictures from my camera. So you'll have to wait in anticipation for the multiple pairs of socks, a couple wool soakers, some hats for charity, and an extremely cute sweater that I've made. I'll also update you on the quilt that I started (and will hopefully have finished piecing in the next couple weeks).
I grabbed a couple knitting books from the local library and used a couple of skeins of extra yarn for some charity hat knitting. I set the goal that I would finish 100 hats for charity by the end of the year. I've finished about 40 hats already, but the year is more than half done - so I better get working!
Here is a charity hat that I knitted from the book "101 Designer One Skein Wonders" edited by Judith Durant. The hat is the "Edge of Lace" hat. I added a row of bobbles and for symmetry added another section of garter stitch above the bobbles. It made it a little more interesting of a hat. The hat was knit in some left-over Gedifra Mayra yarn.I'm glad that I have the opportunity to review books from the library before purchasing them for my own library. I was actually quite disappointed with the 101 designer one skein wonders. There were only a couple of projects that I was interested in making - and that was just because the patterns were free. Most of the projects in the book are generic and not all that useful. I know it's hard to have a super ingenious, useful projects to make out of a single skein of yarn - but that's the challenge and interest of the book. Take your imagination and let it run wild!! In contrast, I ran across a really fun one-skein project that's available for free online from the talented Susan B. Anderson (author of some amazing books). The pattern is called, "Ribbit" and it uses a single skein of a new yarn called "Spud & Chloe". I haven't worked with the yarn, but I am super interested since it's a mix of wool and cotton, my favorite combination yarn! The colors look luscious and I will be on the look out for a couple skeins! Hmmm... all the things I could make with it.
I'll get my camera out and update this site soon. I promise!

Embroidery Experiment

2009-06-16T00:57:00.002-04:00

I'm trying my hand at embroidery for the first time. I thought I would start out extremely small scale and hand embroider a couple of burp cloths. I bought pre-packaged Gerber Birdseye Cloth Diapers and sewed a rectangle of quilters flannel down the center (I embroidered them first). This is how my little experiment turned out...

Apples & Pears Tote

2009-06-16T00:49:00.002-04:00

After making my cousin a Reversible Shoulder Bag by Lula Louise I wanted to make one of my own. I have to say that it was MUCH easier the second time around (and not using denim which gave my machine a work out). I used a pear and apple fabric in bright colors that seemed perfect for the market or grocery shopping. On the reverse side (the bag is reversible, hence the name) is just white twill fabric. I did the top stitching in bright red that matched the fabric and it really pops off the white twill. Total time to make the tote was about 2.5 hrs. It calls for 1 yard of two coordinating fabrics. There's a lot of leftover fabric, but if you aren't using home decor fabric that is long (then you can get away with 1/2 yard), you can't fit the whole pattern down lengthwise and you need the full yard.
So here it is:

Free Online Pattern: "Better than booties baby socks"

2009-06-13T00:41:00.001-04:00

Like I said in my previous post, I finished a couple pairs of socks using the freebie pattern online available by Ann Budd called "Better than booties baby socks."
It's a great pattern that was a lot of fun to make. This pair of socks was made on U.S. 1 needles with Panda Silk yarn that I purchased at my local yarn store, "Knit Around." The single skein made two pairs of socks with about a 4 inch tail to spare! The skein of yarn was full priced at $9.00 - so each pair of socks turned out to be about $4.50, a good price to pay for socks that are so soft and luxurious! I really recommend this pattern and as I said before, I would rate the pattern as a medium-difficult pattern as there are a couple tricky steps if you aren't familiar with sock construction. But they are a breeze for a seasoned knitter. Total time to make a pair of socks is a couple of evenings. Have fun!

Free Online Pattern: "Pleated Purse"

2009-06-13T00:33:00.002-04:00

The blog, My Spare Time, has a free pattern available online called "Pleated Purse". I needed a roomy small bag to take with me to appointments and decided to give it a whirl. It's a straightforward design and is quite cute. However, there must be a mistake with her measurements (or I just can't read her Ikea-like picture directions) because the pleat dimensions just didn't work. So I came up with my own pleat dimensions after a bunch of fussing with it. The basic shape of the bag is cute with a center pleat and side pleats. If you are a seasoned sewer (or better at reading diagrams) - try this pattern out. I made the bag in some cheapo cotton fabric from JoAnn's that I had laying around. I never do a good job at a project the first time around, so I'll make this pattern again with the revised dimensions in a nicer fabric when the bag gets worn out.Total bag cost - $6. Total time - With lots of fussing = 6 hrs. Next time? Probably 4 hrs.

The sun WAS shining...

2009-06-11T14:10:00.005-04:00

Last week was beautiful out - the sun was shining, the air was warm, and the breeze was cool. However, this week is NOT working out the same. It's been raining for days! I'm so disappointed because my parents are on vacation and they left me their convertible mustang to drive if I would take in their mail and newspaper. I only have had one day where I could put the top down. Ugh!
But to reminisce about last week, I have a dog park picture or two for ya'll. Maddie and Mia really enjoyed their time running around in the wind.As you can see from the above picture, our little 5.5 lb Maltese decided she didn't want to play with the cute little red ball we brought from home. Instead she found some dirty, full sized tennis ball in the park that she could barely fit her mouth around. She's so funny sometimes. But she had fun (and we did too), so that's all that really matters I guess.

On to projects that I'm currently working on -
1. I just finished two pairs of "Better than booties" baby socks written by Ann Budd available for free download from Knitting Daily. I made two pairs from a skein of Panda Silk Yarn. I had seriously an extra 4 inches of yarn left over when I was done with the pairs. I was sweating bullets at the end thinking I wouldn't have enough to finish the last sock! I knitted the pair on size U.S. 1 needles in a beautiful bamboo green color. The first pair I knitted were the "Chevron Lace" version and the second pair was the "Chevron Lace" but I adapted the lace pattern to be a reflection of itself so the lace came out looking like diamonds instead of chevrons. It was a fun pattern and I enjoyed learning a new technique for the toe. Try them out - it's a good pattern (but slightly difficult if you're new to sewing. I would rate this pattern as a moderately difficult pattern).
2. I just purchased the book "Vintage Baby Knits" by Kristen Rengren. I'm not usually one to purchase a book without trying it out at the library first, but it was so darn cute and had some really neat looking patterns. Most of the patterns look slightly fussy with construction. They are vintage, so there seams to be a lot of construction to them (meaning a LOT of seaming). But the patterns look timeless and matter-of-fact. I made the soakers first, deciding to knit them in the round and doing a double needle bind off at the crotch so I avoided all seaming. It was a very basic construction - not much to it. I probably won't make them again. But then again, they give the stitch count, etc. and they are a pretty basic pattern that you could spiffy up in a jiffy. So perhaps I might give it more thought.

That's it for now. I'm still working hard on the Playmat Blanket - I have 3 strips out of the 7 strips done. I pick it up every so often and work on it. I don't want to make it a chore, but actually enjoy it. Hopefully I'll be done with the blanket sometime this century... Keeping my fingers crossed.

Free Online Pattern: "Reversible Shoulder Bag"

2009-06-07T02:01:00.007-04:00

A project I just recently finished was the "Reversible Shoulder Bag" by Lula Louise. The pattern for the bag is available online from their website for free. It even has a step-by-step tutorial to guide you through making the bag.
I made this bag with the idea in mind that it would be a great market tote. My cousin is getting married this next week and I wanted to make a handmade gift for them. She and her soon-to-be husband are pretty "green" so I thought it would be nice to make them a package for the market (the tag in the picture with the flower is just a removable tag I made describing the bag for my cousin). I included in their gift the Reversible Shoulder Bag made of denim and a blue checkered shirt fabric and a set of four produce bags. The produce bags are a brain child of mine. If anyone is interested leave me a comment and I'll post the directions. I wanted to spiffy up the produce bags so I adorned them with labels from vintage fruit crates and added grommets to put the string through the bag. They turned out nicely and I think will make a nice gift.
The shoulder bag took a good 8 hours to make. But the produce bags can be pumped out once you get the hang of how to "conveyor belt sew them".
Now I need to make myself a bag...

Chicago in May

2009-06-07T01:50:00.005-04:00

We went to Chicago with my parents for the weekend in May to enjoy a show (we saw Mary Poppins), visit my brother who lives in Wicker Park, and to simultaneously celebrate Mother's Day and my mother's birthday. We had an enjoyable time.One morning for breakfast we drove to Wicker Park from the Westin Hotel on the Magnificent Mile (I LOVE their beds!) and had brunch at "The Bongo Room". I had heard reports that their food was worth the line (there are no reservations). So we sent my brother there a little earlier to put our name on the list (an expected 2 hr wait was cut short to 50 minutes or so). The food was just delicious. I plan on eating there again when I'm in Chicago and the prices are reasonable.
We also ate at the Atwood Cafe before seeing "Mary Poppins". The food was magnificent and the atmosphere was quiet and intimate. It was a nice place to get dinner before the show because it is located in the theater district and just a couple of blocks from where we were headed. Mary Poppins was a surprisingly great show. I found myself laughing and smiling through the whole program which says something about what I was watching. I would recommend it to almost anyone, especially anyone with kids. It's something they would enjoy and you would enjoy simultaneously.
This is a picture taken from my brother's condo. He's got an amazing view of the city from one side of the condo and a view of the lake from the other side. A much cooler view than the view from my Michigan home!

It's been forever!

2009-06-07T01:40:00.008-04:00

You can tell that the summer is here because life is getting busy for me and it's hard to spend the time to update this blog! But I finally sat down at my computer and uploaded pictures from my camera for the past 2 months. Eeks! But after downloading, sorting, and editing - here is an assortment to show you where I've been...This is a picture of a tiger from an anniversary trip to the Detroit zoo with my husband. We celebrated 6 years together. The weather was sunny and cool - perfect for a walk at the zoo.The giraffes were another fun set of animals to watch. I wish they had gotten a little closer.The area for the seals was beautiful.
They have a tube that you can walk through the middle of the water exhibit and see the seals swimming above and around you.
All in all, we had a nice afternoon at the Detroit Zoo. We saw lots of animals, ate a delicious picnic, and most of all made some memories.

Almost finished with single skeins...

2009-05-05T22:37:00.002-04:00

I'm finishing up my last lone skeins in my stash. This is a pair of Crofter Baby Shorts (see my free pattern) that I made out of a skein of Diakeito Diafuran yarn from Japan. It was a skein passed on to me from the bottom of my mother's stash. She probably has had it for years (hence the difficulty to find more). It's the softest 100% wool yarn that I have EVER felt. It's soft and lofty and a gem to knit with. The yarn has an interesting construction that I have never worked with before, it has a chain link construction instead of the typical spun wool construction. I believe this is what makes it so incredibly light. Each 40G skein has 161 yards of yarn to work with which gave me plenty for this pattern. Even though this would usually be the weight of a fingering-weight yarn, I worked these on U.S. 5 needles and got a gauge of 19 sts and 28 rows in four inches. The suble striping effect of this yarn was hard to pick up on camera but each row was slightly different. At first I bawked at the price tag of $15.40 for the skein but now I understand why. I would knit a sweater in this in a heartbeat. Heaven...
Now I just need to find someone who carries it...

April showers do bring May flowers

2009-05-03T17:10:00.003-04:00

Some pictures of the flowers that are in bloom in our garden. "Aaah, I love this weather!"

A little unsightly, but it's green...

2009-05-03T17:00:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to install a rain barrel in my backyard for some time now. It's been on my list of "to-do's" and we finally got around to it this weekend. We picked up the "rain barrel kit" from our local botanical gardens for $54. It included the recycled commercial food drum and the fittings for the spigot. All we needed was a way to hook it up to our gutter and a hose for the overflow.
With the help of my father, it was installed in less than a couple hours (including shopping time). So it was a quick project. It was slightly more expensive than I thought it would be (total came out to be around $80) but you can't put a price on minimizing water run-off, can you? When you search for rain barrels online the prices are well over $100 - so I guess eighty bucks isn't too bad...I'm debating over painting the barrel or putting up a screen/fence in front of it. Currently it really does look like a giant drum of cooking oil!

40 Ways to Go Green

2009-05-02T12:45:00.002-04:00

Happy Saturday Afternoon! I've been working on a list of ways to go green. I've compiled some ideas that I've seen and added a few of my own. The highlighted ideas are ones that I personally do or try to do most of the time.

40 Quick Ways to Go Green:

Use the dishwasher – doing a full load is more efficient than hand-washing.
Plant an herb garden indoors or outside
Plant a vegetable garden. Some areas have plots you can rent.
Switch lightbulbs to CFLs - or how about LEDs?
Replace your shower head with a lower flow model (could save 14,000 gallons/year)
Create a homemade compost bin or a worm bin
Stop using disposable bags and make or buy your own
Buy a reusable water bottle
Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot
Turn off lights when you leave a room
Open your curtains and use natural light when possible
Share a car, carpool, take the bus or bike to your destination
Shop at your local farmer's market (ours is here)
Sign up for green power from the electric company (DTE offers it here)
Pay your bills online
Put a stop to unsolicited mail and opt-out
Reuse scrap paper
Check Craig's List or Freecycle before purchasing something new
Fix leaky faucets
Make your own household cleaners and laundry soap
Repurpose something: how about making a shopping bag out of an old shirt?
Switch to cloth diapers – or at least combine with disposables
Switch to shade grown and fair trade coffee
Use reusable dishtowels instead of paper towels and reusable dishcloths instead of sponges.
Use cloth napkins instead of paper
Cut down on the amount of time you take to shower
Donate (and shop at) thrift stores such as Goodwill.
Replace a vinyl shower curtain with one that's washable
Place an aerator on your sinks to cut down on water usage
Get a programmable thermostat
Use drapes to keep the sun out in the summer (which will keep your house cooler)
Start a "no shoes" policy in your home. This will improve air quality and lower need for cleaners.
Choose LCD televisions over plasma (saves $36/year in electricity)
Unplug unused chargers or electronics or use a Smart Power Strip.
Use old t-shirts or towels as rags for cleaning instead of using paper towels.
Insulate your water heater and turn down the temperature 20 degrees (you'll save $20/year)
Ditch the paper bags and sue a reusable lunch bag to pack your lunch
Use a rain barrel for watering your garden
Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth
Use refillable office supplies such as pens and pencils.

So as you can see, I still have a couple more items that I need t o do or get in the habit of doing more often. I'm extremely guilty of taking long showers. I need to get out of the habit of that…

Another pair of Crofter Baby Shorts

2009-05-02T00:12:00.004-04:00

The pattern I wrote out for the Crofter Baby Shorts is such a great way to use up those excess little skeins that I couldn't help myself from whipping out another pair from a skein of "Mini Mochi" in a beautiful palette of magenta, orange and deep blue. This time I made my cuff a fold-under cuff (no ribbing) and I made the crotch area in stockinette instead of the ribbing. I guess I wasn't in the mood for any ribbing...They turned out cute and were fast to make. And yes, if you're wondering... that is my car seat under the shorts. I was in the car when I finished the project and snapped a picture for ya'll.

It was rainy again today but the forecast looks better for the weekend. Hopefully tomorrow we'll make it to the local botanical gardens to pick up a Rain Barrel. It's been on my list of to-do's for quite some time. I have the location behind my house scouted out for it and will hopefully have it installed by the end of the weekend. It's on my list of things to do to make myself even more green. I've compiled a list of things to do to be come a little more environmentally conscious. Hopefully I'll post it by the end of the weekend. TGIF!

Freebie: "Crofter Baby Shorts"

2009-04-28T01:34:00.008-04:00

Here is a freebie for you! I am still trying to use up the occasional single skein of yarn that I have laying around. This weekend I came across Crofter Dk by Sirdar. It's a Fair Isle effect Dk in "Shade 51" (how specific!) Since they didn't name the shade, I would describe it as a Fair Isle in the colors of muted pinks, purples and blacks.

It's an easy pattern so I didn't make a pdf file for it yet. Hopefully I'll get around to it, but here are my notes in the mean time. This is sized for 0-3 months since I only had one skein to make them.

Crofter Baby Shorts

Materials needed:

1 skein of Crofter Dk (50g/184 yds)
One pair of U.S. 3 circular needles and set of U.S. 3 dpns.
Darning needle
Marker for beginning of round
Stitch holder or scrap piece of yarn

Work Body of Shorts: Cast on 92 sts on U.S. 3 needles (using any method that you prefer for circular knitting) . Work in 2x2 rib for 1 1/4 inches. Then switch to stockinette stitch and work in the round for an additional 6 more inches (total inches = 7.25).
Work Leg Openings of Shorts: At the beginning of next round knit back and forth on first 7 sts in 1x1 rib for 7 rows. Cut yarn and leave long tail. Slip next 39 sts. Place marker. Knit next 7 sts in 1x1 rib (place marker). Repeat 1x1 ribbing for a total of 7 rows and break yarn leaving a long tail. *You should have two sets of 7 sts between markers with 39 stitches on both sides of them.*
Using a 3 needle bind off technique, bind off the two sets of 7 stitches together. You will now have two leg openings of 39 stitches each with a 7 stitch grafted crotch area.
Work Legs of Shorts: Place one set of 39 stitches on a stitch holder or a length of scrap yarn. Working on one set of 39 stitches at a time, join yarn to the first stitch past the worked crotch. Work row in stockinette stitch. When you reach the end of the first round where the crotch section is, pick up 9 sts evenly across the area. Continue working in the round for 2.5 inches. Then switch to 2x2 rib and work for another 1 inch. Cast off using a stretchy cast off technique or using large needles (you don't want the leg openings to be binding). Repeat this section for other leg.
To Finish: Weave in loose ends and enjoy!

Addendum: Here is another pair I whipped up (this time making the crotch in stockinette stitch and folding under the cuffs, not making them ribbing):

Nice and Toasty Out

2009-04-28T01:27:00.004-04:00

It's a gorgeous day outside! I was marveling at the tulips that have popped up in our front yard. There are so many different shapes and colors to look at. I just wish the tulip season lasted longer!Sam got the gardening itch this weekend and spent a day in the dirt planting some shrubs on our dreaded hill in the backyard. To make a hill worse, it's made of clay. So not much grows back there. But we're hoping to sell this place later this year and move so we needed to get that area in check. He did a nice job of planting after spending several hours researching the best plants. Now we just need to cross our fingers and hope for the best!

Weekend Experiments

2009-04-27T00:34:00.003-04:00

This weekend flew by for me! It felt like just yesterday was Friday morning and it's already time for Monday. Ugh!
We did a lot of stuff this weekend - from dodging hale storms on Saturday afternoon after a quick walk around the farmer's market for the first time this season (luckily we were in the midst of eating some yummy Zingerman's sandwiches and their outdoor tent held up to the pounding winds) to making homemade laundry soap.
Most of my activities turned out to be a lot of fun. I really enjoyed dodging the hale storm. Every person in a 2 mile radius ran inside for cover. I think I was the only fool standing outside! We decided that it would be fun to walk around downtown with Mia in tow. But since we had a dog with us, we were stuck outside (even though the nice folks at Zingerman's did offer me to come in the entrance for the storm but I declined). My husband was safe inside - ordering the sandwiches for us. But the bad part of the storm only lasted 5 minutes and it will be a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life. I was hysterically laughing - trying my hardest to get in the middle of the tent so the balls of ice wouldn't hit me or Mia. The wind was so strong that it just pelted the rain sideways into the tent. But little Mia just slept in the bag that I was carrying her in. She paid absolutely no attention to the what-felt-like-a-hurricane!
The laundry soap project has been on my list of to-do's for months. It seemed like an easy thing for me to do that was economical and green. There are many recipes out there (all are the same ingredients but have different ratios). I chose to follow the one here. We'll see how it washes clothes...
I have other projects to post, but I'll check in with ya'll tomorrow...

Free Pattern in the Works: Wool Yoga Longies

2009-04-24T23:35:00.004-04:00

I gotta say that I finished a really cute project today. I had some yarn that I picked up for sale at Knit Around Yarn shop here in town that is called "Reynolds Soft Sea Wool". It's a 100% wool in a dk weight that just screamed at me to buy it. So I did. I bought 3 skeins in fact. I loved the feel of it. The yarn has a really tight twist to it that gives it extra-springiness and the color was a muted blue/gray color. I couldn't resist and boy am I glad I didn't! I took those skeins home and placed them in my stash but kept looking at them like they were calling me, asking me to make something with them. So I did.
I pulled out my size U.S. 3 needles and started knitting. I wasn't sure what I was going to make. But I knew with the last 3 skeins that they had, it couldn't be anything really big. So I casted on some stitches and started working in the round in seed stitch. I figured I would make a hat for myself. But when I saw the springiness and the fact that it was 100% wool (not superwash), I figured it would be the perfect candidate for a "longie" (those of you that cloth diaper would know that it is a long pant version of a diaper cover). I made the longie look like my favorite pair of yoga pants with a fold-over waistband, slightly full legs, but tight in the upper portion of the pant. So that's where they got the name "Wool Yoga Longies". I'm happy with the finished product and have gotten requests for more pairs to be knit. Until then, I'll have to sit down and write out the super easy pattern for those of you interested in knitting a pair for yourself.
Until I do that - here's my pair. And they were knit for under $12 (less than 2 skeins of yarn).
With the left over skein I had, I made a matching pair of shorts. They aren't anything to write home about, but they feel fabulous. This yarn was a sheer pleasure to work with.

Birthday Celebrations

2009-04-23T00:22:00.007-04:00

Today we had a celebration for my grandparent's birthdays. They were turning an age that will remain anonymous (you're welcome, Grandma!) But my mother got my grandmother a large bouquet of daffodils filled with the number of flowers as her age. It was a beautiful bouquet.
My mom also dropped off a cake that she had baked for the family dinner tonight so that I could quickly ice and decorate it. I'm not all that proud of the results but it's the thought that matters, right? The cake was a cherry-pecan cake with a butter cream frosting. It was tasty!I made my grandma a purse for her birthday and I made in photoshop a personalized "tuckbox" (the box you put playing cards in) for my grandfather. We grew up playing cards, especially Euchre, with them so I thought a personalized card deck would be a thrifty and thoughtful present. I also handmade them a couple cards. This was the card I made my grandfather. It was a paper pieced fish that was then stitched and placed on foam adhesive for some added height. It turned out okay...

And finally, here is the birthday couple in all their glory. They were party poopers and claimed they didn't want a "bondfire on top of the cake" so they kindly refused to blow out any candles...

Happy Birthday, Oma and Opa

2009-04-22T00:12:00.002-04:00

I wanted to send out the warmest and sweetest birthday wishes to my grandparents! Their birthdays are right next to each other so it makes for a great celebration (and their anniversary shares the same week!)
We love you!

Paper, Printer, Photoshop, Scissors & Glue

2009-04-21T23:34:00.004-04:00

Good evening! I'm sure some of you are wondering what the items in the title of this post add up to. Well... they add up to "Save the Date" invites for my sister's wedding in November. She purchased all of the pieces for the invites almost 2 months ago but they still were sitting in the bag they were purchased in. So today we dove in and worked on putting them together.
It was a long afternoon filled with a couple curse words (oops... sorry!), a little bit of sweat, but a lot of quality time with my mother and sister. Hopefully she's happy with the start of the invites (they might take a couple more days to finish) and she still has some steam left in her to finish them. She plans on doing her own calligraphy for the addresses so I'm sure she'll spend several evenings in front of the TV with a pen in her hand (Good luck with that, Leah!) Maybe she'll get desperate and her soon-to-be-hubbie will be put to work...
Until then we have the actual "Save the dates" printed and decorated, the hotel info sheet designed (still needs to be printed, cut, and have the decorative touches added), and the invite list made. Now we need to finish all the pieces and put them together. Boy am I glad that I'm done getting married! I remember the late nights making all of my handmade invites.
Oh, boy... and these are just the "Save the Dates" - wait for the real invites!

Bobbled Bloomers

2009-04-20T16:44:00.004-04:00

Good afternoon! Today I have been having an awful day. It's raining outside and I feel like I have a big black cloud just looming over me. I've been dropping things all day long and I was running late all day because I just can't get things right the first time I do them. But the worst part of the day came this afternoon. After I was done working out I went to the supermarket to get stuff for dinner. I forgot my reusable bags in the car and had to use the store's bags (big mistake!) - so when I was walking from my car to my house (in the POURING rain), one of the bags ripped open at the bottom and a glass bottle of Perrier water fell out and hit the ground. It didn't just break, it EXPLODED! Glass shrapnel shot through the air and sliced my leg open and got all over the sidewalk. So I spend 15 minutes picking up all of the glass in the thunderstorm that was passing through. When I thought my bad luck was over I made the mistake of trying to make my own almond butter for lunch. I had purchased a bag of organic almonds at the store and had read blogs of people who commonly make their own almond or nut-of-any-kind butter. So I stuck the nuts in the Cuisenart and started pulsing it into a creamy butter. It seemed to work just fine when all of a sudden smoke started billowing out of the machine and little flames started flickering out a opening. Insane! I'm just going to sit in a padded room for the rest of the day...

In knitting news: I finished these soaker shorts a couple weeks ago as part of my working through the "Boho Baby Knits" book. This was a great pattern and a pleasure to knit. If you are not fond of making bobbles, I don't recommend this pattern. I know some knitters hate making bobbles because they take a couple moments each, but I think they add a little bit of a fun touch to the shorts. I knit these soakers in Cascade 220 Solids and Heathers in shades of greys and blues. It took less than 1/2 of a skein per color.
I also knit the bobbled "topper" hat but can't find where I put it. I might have donated it already without taking a picture! Oh well, I'll just have to knit another...