a little inspiration

I'm a little knitting obsessed right now.  I just don't seem to be able to stop.  This morning I finished another Barley for John and already I've started a Clayoquot for Anjali.   Today is slightly cool and over cast.  I have several hours of work to do while the apartment is empty.  And, of course, I had to start a new project?  Clearly, there is something just a little bit wrong with me. Before either of those hats there was a sweater for Anjali completed.  I really love the patterns from Tin Can Knits (could you tell?) Even as a total novice knitter I feel empowered to start color work and pick up stitches and use DPN's like I know what I am doing.  This sweater didn't come out perfect (nothing has yet! :) but it is perfectly wearable and fits her great.  Cute as a button if I do say so myself. I made her the 2-4 year old size with shorted sleeves.  I'm hoping she'll be able to wear it next year with the sleeves at 3/4 ...

A funny thing happens at the end of July or the beginning of August each year .  Suddenly I have trouble thinking of anything but sweaters.  You'd think it'd be too hot to pick up a crochet hook or knitting needles and handle wool but somehow it isn't.  I start thinking of how the little people in my house will be cold in the mornings soon.  In need of an extra layer on round bellies and and little arms.  How their heads should be covered, their ears kept warm. It makes sense, really.  A sweater does not make itself over night.  And now that I am knitting as well, who knows if the project will come out at all?  Who knows who it will fit?  (okay- I'll admit I am swatching today.) E received the first thing this year.  Using the left over yarn from his baby blanket (which was one of the first things I crocheted !) I used the Barley pattern from the Tin Can Knits Simple collection . (I have both of the sweaters on my list to ...

In my constant search for inspiration I've stumbled onto Zen Habits  and can't believe it has taken me so long to find it.  I have no idea why I chose to read Everything that Remains  in the first place but what a revelation it has been.  Leading me to so many new places.  Zen Habits is definitely up my alley.  He sounds a bit like the voice in my head already. And, of course, I like that.  Who wouldn't want to hear advice and ideas that sound like you only wiser and more concise? We should all read his book The One Skill : The Letting Go eBook and then go on from there and read all the rest of his words.  It is such a powerful little book, an idea that will serve you in every facet of your life.  Every. Single. One. Go check it out.  Tell me what you think.  Tell him too.

Next up? Minimalism.   This is an exciting topic to me, one with many, many branches and sprouts growing off of it. I hope you'll explore it with me. At the time that we moved from the first house we rented in Asheville to the apartment we are in now we threw out so much stuff I can't even begin to describe it all.  I wish there was a picture.  A 12 foot box truck would have been full.  And this was after a move just one year before!  Some of it was forced because of a moldy basement and some of it was baby things outgrown, but much of it was just too much stuff.  Too much!! I am the type of person who remembers where almost everything in my house came from.  I know which of Anjali's clothes came from which person, I think of them every time she wears them.  I know who gave us the shower curtain for our wedding (10! years ago) and think of them when I see it.  I remember who sent each toy, where I bought each shirt and piece ...

Last year at the sewing retreat I had a colossal fail  (but look how tiny she was!!) when I tried to make a bag.  I will admit, it was good for me.  This had never happened to me before.  And in the time in between I don't think I made any bags at all (except perhaps a library tote for E?)  This was a little odd for me because I have made quite a lot of bags and really got sewing as an adult because of them.  I've used patterns and made up things, done simple and embellished. Anyway, last year was a disaster and I wanted to redeem myself (okay, maybe it was sub-conscious...) and when I came across the Cooper from Colette Patterns I knew I had just the right thing. I spent a lot of time online looking at what others had done to figure out what kinds of fabric combinations I really loved and then I spent a few more hours looking at fabric online to pick just the right combination for me.  I searched around quite a bit for the hardware. ...

People.  I am actually knitting.  And it is fun!  And going well. I decided that 2014 will be the year I actually get the hang of knitting.  I've tried a number of times and it always ends in boredom or tears.  I think this time it will be different.  I've even already finished a project! I got this book because I saw the review on Amy Karol's blog and I loved all the images of the patterns it offers.  I have to say I am glad that I already knew the basics of knitting though and I've been grateful for knittinghelp.com.  Unless it is just that I am unable to focus any longer due to the influence of children, I would say that it'd be pretty hard to figure out how to knit for the first time just from this book.  But the patterns?  Still gorgeous and I am hoping do-able with a little internet and in person tutelage.   I made a hat from it for Emerson.  I didn't have the right sized yarn or needles (you need a lot ...

We had a great weekend in Raleigh with some of our very favorite ladies.  The Bug had a blast in the giant tub with jacuzzi jets and a "fishing" activity that kept him very, very clean.  There were about a thousand dolphin shows.  :) We were also spoiled with amazing homemade food every day.  Have you ever had fresh made english muffins?  We had them two days in a row.  The Bug now calls them "bagel muffins" and the first day home woke up crying that needed them. We also went to Monkey Joes .  Oh, my!  We all had way too much fun there.  Don't believe what they say about adults not being able to play.  We all went down the big slide several times. The next day we went to the Natural History Museum and saw dinosaurs, butterflies and many other bugs.  He cried more when we left there than the jumping place. In the mean time I am trying to get pictures off of the camera but the little converter has been broken (hmm, wonder by who...

Sweater pants , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . I finally downloaded the pictures to the computer. It was sort of like a million tiny accomplishments happening all over again because it has a couple months worth of photos on it. This is a wonderful thing to relive and shows me just how busy I have been. And knowing that it only takes in the things I have taken pictures of, no dinner making, school work, or business making captured here. Whew. Feels good! Anyway, I think I mentioned that I made sweater pants for the Bug. These are they ;-) I used an old sweater of Seniors which had to be retired due to a hole in the shoulder. I threw it in the wash on hot and dried it on super hot. Then I cut off the sleeves and sewed them together. I followed the Green Kitchen's tutorial very loosely. We all like these pants. They can be used as a diaper cover or over one. They stretch out and have to be washed and dried in the machine so they don't fall down. ...

Today Senor and the Bug are visiting grandma's house.  So I have been working on this: And this: And these: The sweater is a new sample for the baby sweater class ( I just realized I never put up a picture of that.  I am far too distracted!) I teach at Lovely Yarns in Hamden.  I am taking July and August off (you know because I work sooo much :) and finishing up a few new patterns (like for the cape ) to teach starting in the Fall.  I have a couple of these on order for babies arriving towards the end of summer.  I love crocheting for babies.  I feel like you can add love and blessings in each stitch. The blanket is for a wonderful friend who keeps coming back for more items.  It seems like every time she has a gift to give she asks if I can make it.  I love that.  I can't even begin to tell you what a compliment it is.  There will be many more of these little quote blankets I am sure. The last picture is silliness....

This last week I have been rocking my way through a long action item list and feeling very good about it. My whole life is ups and downs of productivity like anyone (?) but I do a whole lot more thinking about doing than actually doing. But when the list gets longer I just have to get to work because it messes with my head space. (Ignore the dirty floor but check out the passed out pooch. So sweet, she wanted to help.) The first thing I had to complete was our donation for Craft Hope . They are organizing the donation of probably millions of towels to help with cleaning animals affected by the oil spill. I don't have a good picture of the finished project because the light was bad. (Which hardly matters. It just looks like stacks of fabric anyway.) I only have this picture of the left overs. Senor (the saint) and I stayed up late one night this week and cut up about 50 t shirts that his company had given us to do this with. That works out to something like 250 washcloth...

I have been doing plenty of sewing and making and have taken no pictures. There is a wedding coming up for my very best friend and his darling darling so you know, I had to get in on it. I made them a little tiny ring pillow. Very simple, a square about 4" with a pretty ribbon making an "x" in the center and two ribbons to tie the rings on. And then I found out she didn't yet have a veil so I had to make that too. Also, très simple, just a double layer of tulle gathered and of course I had to put in a few glass beads to give a little glimmer. For the dress I bought with Cindy the other week I decided bloomers were needed. It is just too cute not to have them and it will make chasing the Bug around less scary if I'm not so worried about my unders showing and no one else has to look at them. :) I am using this pattern . In a aqua to match my shoes. I also made a little turquoise bead necklace with silver accents. I can't help it, the dress needs it. ...

He is now crawling for real. And trying to pull up on anything he can reach. And getting black eyes and many kisses for the effort. This is part of growing up right? Becoming aware of where your head is. Without banging it on everything how the heck do you learn where it is? You can't see it. Poor guy! Can anyone recommend good socks with grippies on the bottom? I am tired of buying ones that don't stay on. The best ones we have are bamboo infant sized ones- but I have no idea who made them! Speaking of bamboo, I love doing my own diapers! I am not sure I would have loved it before EC when we were going through so many poopy ones, but really the diapers are so nice and soft, I love folding them and putting them away. We use a combination of fitted and prefolds (all with covers .) It works great. I know I heard a few mama's tell me that prefolds are useless except as dust rags but I almost could say I like using them better than the fitted diapers. The prefo...

Ever since I began sewing I have been eager to sew clothing for myself but after a few attempts with commercial patterns I gave up. I can draft a skirt pattern and make that , no problem. Thanks to Sew What? Skirts! One day I will even put a zipper in a skirt and the possibilities will expand boundlessly! :) But I have been afraid to try a blouse because it just doesn't seem like something that will work. Pattern sizing is weird and in the last 18 months my measurements have fluctuated. A lot. And so it has been something I thought about a lot but not something to do. For fear. For laziness. Of course, like every other crafty girl out there I read Amy Karol's blog . And she has been encouraging and challenging me lately with the beautiful things she has made. Watching someone else pump out cute stuff from a pattern means it isn't the pattern that is the issue, right? So I bought the one she's been using . But I already had another pattern from two years ago ...

Okay- what I am about to show you may not be brilliant or anything but I do think it is cute, and hope it will be helpful. Ever since I saw Amy over at Angry Chicken make these simple envelopes with magazine pages I have been a little obsessed with using catalog and magazines pages. Luckily, this is the time of year where you wrap lots of things in paper! So first we just used the envelope idea to wrap our homemade, everyone gets it gift. We do this every year- pick a nice gift that everyone can use or enjoy and personalize it. Last year we made calendars (which were a huge hit, maybe we will do that again next year.) One year we made cook books, one year Christmas cards- anyway, you get the idea. The draw back to giving out a gift that is the same is it is the same. Does that make sense? I mean, trust me, I have thought of every person who we are giving this gift to and though they are different I can imagine them all using this gift, but still the sameness is a little boring...

Happy 200 posts to me! I can't believe that two years ago I started writing this because I was wanting to craft and be part of the amazing crafting/blogging community I had discovered. These amazing , vivacious artists , mothers and creators . Everyday I would read their blogs and be blown away by beautiful pictures of wonderful things that they were creating. And they had other jobs like being mama or owning a shop. I was inspired! And then we moved into this wonderful house and a month later Senor gave me a sewing machine. I was floored because it meant he believed I could really create something. My family and friends have always been supportive but this was somehow different. Senor has this almost magical ability to take my ideas and help turn them into reality. Okay- before I diverge and wax on endlessly, let us just say, "And the rest is in my archives!" :) I am also proud to present little a! My new business! For this moment I am only taking special o...

One day last week I could feel September in the air. I somehow ended up at Anthropologie recently and found myself trying on sweaters and capes and all things fall/winter. I am very excited about the feeling in the air today, the clothing we will all soon be wearing and of course, the chance to dress the Bug in beautiful handmade items. So I got out my crochet hooks and checked in with Ravelry to find some fun things. And then I got to work. Last week I finished this little sweater as much as I will until I think he is ready to wear it. It may fit just the way it is or I may be adding to it. He grows so fast I have no idea. It was super quick, easy and so sweet I want to eat it. I made it from the yarn I had left over from the cloche I felted last year. Such wonderful wool! This hat I started on Saturday and just finished up. I used two strings of sock yarn to get the gauge and I think it will fit him by the winter. It is a merino bamboo blend. Yummy. All of this is a li...

Cool things are/have already happened this weekend. Right now Senor is working on a project I can't wait to see the end result of. It is very cool to hear and talk and think about a project for a short while and then have it come together in an afternoon. (well, fingers crossed for the afternoon thing) We also managed to get a bunch of errands run today (all of the ones we wanted, in fact.) How often does that happen? At the beginning of our errand running I turned the radio to NPR and Senor turned to me and said, "You know, running errands on the weekend and listening to the radio is one of my favorite things." I thought this was very, very cool as I have a special relationship with doing this as well. When we were kids, we lived in a little community in southern Virginia and every Sunday after church we had to drive about an hour to the next, bigger town, to run errands. It happened to be the hour when Prairie Home Companion was on the air and to me that was th...

I was lucky enough to get to see my father last week. We met up in Silver Spring and ate Burmese food on the day Seńor got into the accident. I had the intention that we would bring a Father's Day card or something but, you know, it was a pretty full day and so I blanked on it... This morning I looked at Seńor and said, “Oh no, tomorrow is Father's Day!” “Well I got your dad a broken motorcycle. What'd you get him?” So there you go. I guess I got my dad a husband to wreck a motorcycle for him...

Here. It is so wonderful how the world can offer you what you need when you need it. What lovely, thoughtful words. Thank you.

Finally, someone who gets it .