works in progress

i started this shalom cardigan almost exactly a year ago.  last year my local yarn store had a super bowl sunday sale that i couldn't resist so i treated myself to this beautiful yarn (rowan cocoon) as a belated birthday present (yes my birthday is in november, so it was certainly belated, not early).

and then i knitted and knitted and knitted.  my first attempt at an adult sweater.  have i mentioned i'm a fairly beginner knitter?  as in the only knitting i have under my belt are a bunch of hats.  and have i mentioned that i find it absolutely impossible to follow a pattern without making any changes?  i don't know what compels me to make random changes, but with every pattern i use (whether knitting, crocheting, sewing) i find myself tweaking here and there, sometimes with no rhyme or reason.

and so keeping up with my tendencies, that's exactly what i did with this pattern.  it didn't help that i didn't make an accurate swatch.  and that the pattern isn't sized (in my head i was sizing it up a bit).  and so the end result was frogging hours and hours and hours and hours (2-3 skeins) of work.  i had finished the entire body and ended up ripping it out all the way up the yoke.  i waited to rip out all those hard worked stitches, tucking the sweater into my forgotten projects basket.  to pick it up when the pain of frogging all that work wouldn't be so sharp.  and it worked.  nearly a year later i ripped it all out and started fresh.  this time i've vowed to follow the damn pattern.  i will follow the pattern, i will follow the pattern, i will follow the pattern..... i mean, that is the point of a pattern, right?

along with the resurfacing of that sweater, came the resurfacing of a fascinating book that i purchased a few years ago.  i began devouring when it arrived, and then life happened.  two kids to be exact.  I pulled it off my bookshelf on sunday, blew the dust off of it, and got to work.

not quite what i bought it for, but the skills taught in this book worked perfectly for designing a series of labels for my mason jars that i have been envisioning for a few months now. 

labels that i will have available for a free download in the coming days!! 

my first download :)  so please so come back and check in a few days.  beautiful, informative labels for your quart sized mason jars that house your bulk foods (think quinoa, barley, steel cut oats).

finished views

last summer we completely gutted our kitchen to the studs and outer walls.  pat did all the work (except for the electric- original 1919 cloth wrapped wire and ceramic insulators!).  this was while he was working full time, we had a one year old running around, and i was very pregnant with bebe number two.  miraclulously our new kitchen came together fairly quickly from gutted to a fully functioning kitchen.  and then as i feared, as soon as it became functional work S-L-O-W-E-D to nonexistent.

the problem was that it was fully functional, but still lacked the details.  like the trim.  like a light over the sink.  we've been living with exposed door and window jams and a bare bulb haning from wires over the kitchen sink. 

but finally, finally, after more than a year hiatus, we (we as in mostly pat) jumped back in and got some of the trim sanded down and refinished.  we opted to refinish that gorgeously grained oak.  look at that grain!

and then finally i had a view that matched the rest of my beautiful kitchen.  while vending Clearwater on the Hudson i found the light i had been searching for.  i had met lennie the year before while vending Philly folk fest.  when i spotted him this past summer at clearwater i knew i had finally found my light.  goodbye bare bulb. 

the dishwashing view has just gotten a little prettier.

simple things- simple joys

tote full of water + wool sweaters + two sets of tiny helping hands + euclan + lots of squishing, splashing, and tugging = more excitement than i could have imagined 

short-changing sweater = cute vest

remember, oh like 2 years ago, when i made my first attempt at sweater knitting? 
i had almost finsihed the body before it dissapeared into the oblivion of set aside projects. 

only to be unearthed nearly 2 years later, just in time for noah.  i came across this half knitted hooded baby sweater in my knitting basket a few months ago.  by that time i didn't feel confident in trying to make it into a sleeved, hooded sweater- knowing perfectly well that i find it impossible to stick exactly to a pattern.  i had vague memories of altering the pattern here and there, but where those here and there were, i no longer knew.

so the perfect solution?  finish up the body, ditch the arms and hood, crochet a trim around the neck and armholes, throw a few cute fish buttons to the front, and call it the cutest baby sweater in the house :)

the pattern is loosely based on the Colorplay Baby Hoodie (a free pattern from Lion Brand) and those equally adorable tree pants are from my talented friend Justine of Potomac River Goods.

jamming out

lots of instruments playing.

lots of dancing.

lots of "play again! play again!" when favorites are played.

with my favorite part being that the phrase "jam out" made it into tanner's first handful of spoken phrases.  we do love music around here.

grated beets, sweet treats

what do they have in common?  everything when you mix in some chocolate chips and create a sweet little valentine treat that is yummy and healthy!  I'm a huge fan of throwing some grated beets into our baked goods and pancakes.  when mixed with other ingredients i find that beets blend right in while giving a huge color and nutrition punch. 


when i think of valentine's day, i think of pink, red, and chocolate.  for valentine's day this year i whipped up some healthy muffins (think whole wheat flour, apples, carrots, kefir) with grated beets and an abundance of mini chocolate chips (it wouldn't be valentine's without some chocolate!).  I mixed a little stevia into some cream cheese and topped the muffins with the mixture and some more mini chocolate chips.  the kids loved them! 


happy valentine's day! 

festive fabric bunting tutorial

With the start of February I said goodbye to the newest holiday crafty addition- a winter bunting for the front of our house.  A few weeks before Christmas I had the vision of something to spruce up the front of our house for not just Christmas, but the whole winter season.  I came up with the idea to do a bunting out of winter colors (for me I envision blues, white, and silver when I think of winter) and attach a strand of white lights to it.  Festive during both the day and night.  Perfect. 


With a pair of pinking shears, some scrap fabrics in my winter colors, and a few packs of bias tape, this project worked up quickly.    

There are tons of tutorials out there for buntings if you want a visual step by step process as well as many different styles and techniques to choose from.  I chose to keep my bunting as simple and quick as possible for two reasons.  First, I needed to be able to make the whole thing in less than a couple of hours while the boys were at Grammie's house.  I know myself too well, and know that these days if a project like this doesn't get done in those few precious hours, it's not getting done.  Secondly, I planned on having this bunting hanging outside for two months each year.  The sun is notorious for bleaching out fabric, so I didn't want to put a lot of time into something that I would possibly have to replace in just a few years due to the beating it would be taking hanging on my front porch. 

Here's what I did in a down and dirty tutorial... like I mentioned above, this is a really easy project but if you need more of a visual step by step tutorial do a quick search for "fabric bunting tutorial" on the web :)

Fabric Bunting Tutorial
Supplies:
various fabrics (this is a great scrap project)
pinking shears
scissors
bias tape
sewing machine and thread

Cut out your flags using your pinking shears to cut the side of the triangle and your regular scissors to cut the top of the triangle (the part that will be attached to the bias tape).  To do this I cut out a triangle shape out of paper and used this as a rough pattern. 

Determine how much bias tape you need.  I measured the length of our porch and then added a few feet so that I could have the strand arc down a bit in the middle (see picture above).  If you want an exact length you could take a ball of yarn and string it across wherever you plan on hanging you bunting, making sure to create the arc you would like.  Then measure the yarn.  Stitch together the ends of your bias tape if you need to piece together sections to get the right length (make sure you open the fold before stitching the ends together). 

Place your flags inside the fold of the bias tape, with the scissor cut edge enclosed in the bias tape.  I'm an experienced sewer so I opted to insert them as I sewed, eliminating the need for pinning.  I just sewed and measured as I went.  But you can pin each flag if you're more comfortable doing it that way.  I spaced my flags about every ten inches or so.  To determine how far apart I wanted the flags I laid out my bias tape on the floor and played around with the placement of the flags until I was happy. 

Stitch up your bias tape enclosed flags using a straight stitch, stitching as closely to the open edge of the bias tape as possible while still catching all layers.  A word of caution if buying store bought bias tape- sometimes it's not a perfect fold so one side of the fold is a bit longer than the other.  Just be aware of that while stitching to make sure you are catching all layers. 

To attach the string of lights, I laid my completed bunting out on the floor and stretched my strand of lights along it.  Every few flags I used a piece of matching yarn and tied the light strand to the bias tape to keep everything in place. 

Enjoy!

organized messes- the scrap bin

I’m a big fan of organized messes when it comes to getting stuff done with the kids around.  A few weeks ago I desperately wanted to finish up a baby quilt I had been working on.  It just so happens our upstairs hallway is the perfect working space for a baby quilt.  And it just so happens I had discovered what fun a big tote bin full of colorful scraps of fabrics is to two young kids (and I know plenty of crafty adults that would find digging through a bin of hand dyed hemp, soy and bamboo scraps just as entertaining!).  So I threw up the gate and let them have at it with the bin and an old sewing machine while I  crawled around just beyond the gate.  And wouldn’t you know, I managed to get the entire quilt pinned and my quilting lines marked out.

I also find organized messes work great when trying to get certain things done in the kitchen when four little helper hands would make things a bit too hard.  I set the boys up with things like small dried beans, popcorn kernels, flour if I need to do a thorough cleaning anyways (they love the flour).  The kitchen usually ends up looking like a small tornado ran through a bakery, but it’s worth the few minutes of vacuuming time for a task completed with all entertained.

into the woods

today was one of those rare days when everything falls into place so easily. it just so happened to be nearly 60 degrees on the last day of january, with both pat and i off from work on a tuesday, and a morning routine that was near perfectly smooth sailing (not typically an easy feat with two toddlers)- enabling us to get out of the house, packed with snacks (i whipped up these awesome granola bars yesterday with a friend), drinks, leashes, and carriers, before 11am. was that the light of a miracle i saw bursting through the clouds? haha!

i love days like today because it's not as often as i would like it that we all get into the woods together. pat's usually working or choosing to be a homebody when the kids, dog, and i head into the woods. we checked out a new trail today that turned out to be quite a nice little trail.

and not to mention that these unusually warm days (whatever be the cause) are the little gems that get me through the winter a little saner.