I Am Working Away

Long time no blog! I have actually been working a ton, but mostly for other people. Pant hems are not so interesting to blog about. But here are a few things that I have managed to make for myself. Appreciate that these photos were taken by my four year old. I think that I have a budding artist on my hands! I got "Sew U" for Christmas, and I was inspired to make a few things for myself. This is the first one I have finished. I think this skirt looks a little like an apron, but it's fun and springy. This sweater I didn't knit, but I added the zipper and the embroidery.

"Olive" Dolls and New Laundry Bags

So, no knitting right now, but I have been doing some sewing! These are the cute "Olive" dolls that I made the girls for Christmas. I think Sylvan's came out particularly cute with the tutu. :) And these are the new and desperately needed laundry bags I made while I was procrastinating recently. I decided that they could be cute as well as functional, so I made them out of some of the fabric that I had left from Sylvan's curtains. I just have to say that I love ricrac!

Flip Flop Socks!

I finally finished something that I can actually put up! I have done a bunch of Christmas craft things, but I keep giving them away before I remember to take pictures. But, here are my lovely flip flop socks. I've been wearing them a lot. I am totally getting addicted to handmade socks. I'll try and take pictures soon of the "Archie and Olive" dolls that I am making for the girls for Christmas. They turned out so cute!

My Life and Stuff

So, I don't know if you have heard, but my life is unbelievably bad right now. My husband has asked for a divorce. I am looking at being a single mom of a six month old and a three year old, and I am currently unemployed. And I got the stomach flu for Thanksgiving. On the up side I have an amazing family that has rushed in to help me out, and I have great friends who have offered everything from legal services to more meals than I can eat. That said my knitting has been a little erratic. I made a tiny comfort blanket for my baby which I don't have a picture of. I made a Christmas hat for a friend overseas that I also don't have a picture of. I have started a Christmas scarf and hat out of some lovely Malabrigo, a pair of tabi socks, and made plans for several things, but nothing is even close to being done. So, what I really want to post about is all the lovely new blogs I have been reading. This is from a pattern from WeeWonderfuls a super sweet blog with a totally cute store that I want everything out of. The other site that I am currently obsessed with is called Sew, Mama, Sew! and she is doing this amazing 30 days of gifts to sew. She has tons of easy sewing ideas for great gifts with tutorials, and patterns. She also has a store where you can buy super cute fabric! Amy Butler and all kinds of other amazing stuff.

Sweater is Done!!

My red sweater is done! My red sweater is done! and when I wore it to church on Sunday everyone admired it, and would have placed orders if I had the time fore it! It's so nice to feel like my crafts turn out well. I love the Drops site! Every pattern I have used from there has been lovely. I wish I had a better camera, but you can see it at knitting on Weds.

Other People's Knits

So, I thought since I don't have any photos of my stuff, that I would post some pics of the cute knits that I have gotten for Ember. These are the super cute matching socks that Suzanne made for us. The beautiful bonnet that Chauntel made. And then Ember was done modeling! (This is a hat that my friend Brenda in Colorado made) Maybe another day I'll have more pics including some of Ember in the dress that I made. :)

Downs and Ups

So, I'm not actually sure if anyone is still reading this blog, but I am going to keep posting anyway. :) Life sort of imploded for us in the last month or so. I feel like all I have been doing is crying lately. Crying in the grocery store, crying at church, crying at home. It sucked. Maybe I should have anticipated it, since this year Peter and I both turned 30, had our 7th anniversary, and our second child. Everything was sort of touch and go for awhile there, but I feel like now we are at least moving toward reconciliation and healing, and maybe now I can stop crying. :) We are seeing an excellent therapist, and our excellent pastor, so that should help. I also just have to look at my kids to remember things aren't so bad. My baby is beautiful, and is laughing all the time now. There is no one that can make you feel more like an awesome stand up comedian than a three month old baby. She is in some danger of being smashed flat by her sister's over enthusiastic kisses, but in general we all just love her. On a lighter note I finished the body of my sweater and almost one sleeve. I am shooting for Halloween as my finishing goal instead of Christmas. :) I think I may do socks again next. I really love the simple wool ankle socks that I made last year. I may try some tabi socks to wear with my ever constant flip flops. I am trying not to feel guilty for not working on the nursing wrap, but it's still just too much for me right now. I think that I am also going to take the plunge and put some stuff up on Etsy. I think that this first offering will be a little random, since it will just be all the projects I have laying around in my sewing area. I am excited at the prospect of starting to make some unique things just for this site though. I will keep you all posted about what is going on with that.

Funny

Peter found this and said it reminded him of me :)

HP and Other Things

So, no real progress to report. I missed knitting this week, and last week I tried to go, but it sounds like we all missed each other. I am still knitting away on my red sweater. I figure I'll have it done by the time we actually have cold weather here (like maybe December). :) I turned 30 on July 15th, and has a little celebration with my sweet sister, who flew out from Aspen to celebrate with me. She is awesome. We went to tea at the Biltmore, and it was delicious and so fun! If you like tea at all, or just want to be girly, or what to pretend that you are British make up a reason to celebrate! I highly recommend it. We also went to Aqua Nail Bar to get mani/pedis, and that was great too. They don't do acrylics there, so it wasn't stinky at all! and very reasonably priced. Peter and I also got to have a date to go and see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! we got a baby sitter for Sylvan, and the baby came with. Ember slept through most of it, and we had a great time! The movie was good too. I also ended up buying the new book, even though I had intended to be frugal and wait to get it at the library. They had a book display with glitter and balloons right in the front at Ralph's the day it came out. Somehow, that just tickled my funny bone so much, that combined with my desire to read it, I just had to buy it! I'm not actually done yet, because Peter really wanted to read out loud together. We have been enjoying the communal experience. I think we only have one chapter left. I have been reading other things at the same time, so that I don't go totally crazy waiting. Peter also keeps hiding the book from me while he is working. :)

Baby Viking Helmet

Another amusing submission from Boing Boing via Peter: Knit your own Baby Viking Helmet Instructions. I particularly like the fake blond braids!

Starting All Kinds of Things

So I stared my lovely nursing shawl, and ended up throwing the yarn and needles across the room. I have set myself a daunting task. This is the intarsia border pattern that I have created for myself (imagine the florecent green part as a darker red, it was just easier to see this way): I think I have to wait until I'm getting more sleep to tackle it. I have also started this jacket: The yarn it's shown in is really ugly, but I'm using the knitpicks bulky in wine. It's really simple knitting, but that's good right now. It's circular from the center back, and I have been wanting to try that for awhile. If this one turns out well I might try this one, which I love, but is not simple knitting. It's in alpaca, so I need to save my pennies. :)

Jumping on the Visiual DNA Bandwagon

This is Sylvan's (who knew she liked coffee so much?):

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

And this is Mine:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

And Peter's:

Read my VisualDNA™     Get your own VisualDNA™

She's Here!

Ember Isabelle Stradinger has arrived! She was born on thursday May 17th at 8:20pm. She was 8lbs. 6oz. (exactly the same as her sister), and 20.5 in. long. If you want to hear the whole story check out my Mommy Blog

Humorous Adult Content

So, Peter obsessively reads Boing Boing, and he found these things that I thought my crafty friends would appreciate. These beautifully embroidered "sweet and dirty" shirts are pretty funny: Here's the article and a link to the site they are from. The other article is about an amazing toilet paper wedding dress competition! Cool dress, don't you think?

A Few More Things, and No Baby Yet

So, I decided to do a little embroidery on this sweet little suit for the new baby. I was looking for a special first gown, but there were none to be found in Ventura, so we settled on this organic cotton suit with a little personal embroidery. My mom and sister and I searched high and low, but I think it's between seasons or something, because we couldn't find a thing. I like how it turned out though. :) This is a dress that Sylvan and I collaborated on. I was thinking that it would just be a simple little summer dress made out of this fabric with Popsicles we found at Craft Essentials, but Sylvan had other ideas. She decided on the length (it is in fact shorter than she really wanted), and added the bows and the sleeves. So as my sister said, it looks a little like a crazy 80's prom dress. I think that it may end up in the dress up clothes, but you may see it around town first. :)

Nesting Projects

So, still no baby. My mom is here, and we have been running around getting last things. Right now, she is off doing all my laundry! How lucky am I. :) Here are some of the things that I have finished lately. Some fur mittens for Sylvan. She is totally obsessed with all the weather that we don't have here: snow, and lots of rain. :) So, we have several umbrellas, hats, and mittens. Two dresses for the new baby: And a quilted sling. There are a few other things, but these are the hightlights. :)

Lots of Lovely Things

Well, I just realized that most of April has vanished, and I am now "full term" which means that the baby could come any time in the next six weeks (not an exact science). I have finished all my work projects, and have been nesting like mad, which mostly means starting projects like crazy. The pink dress is almost done, and I will get to make the hat next. :) I really love the Drops patterns. I went to BB's and got some lovely and amazing alpaca to make my nursing poncho. I couldn't resist it with the sale and all. So, we will see if I can make something lovely for my self out of them. Sylvan also found something for the new baby: She insists that it should be a pillow, and that the car buttons are necessary. :) We'll see what I can do with it. I also have all this other yarn that I bought thinking that I might use it for baby things. I still think that it's fun, but it feels to bright to knit with right now. I feel like I have been dropped into a lake of calm. Peter says that he can remember this happening the last month or so last time too. We are just waiting now, and knitting, and sewing. I have sewn a bunch of things, so maybe I'll post about those tomorrow. I also had a lovely baby shower today, and got all kinds of wonderful things. I will try and get some pics of that too.

Alpaca Love

I love the Misti Alpaca Sport weight that I got for the baby set I'm making for the new baby! I want to knit only in alpaca. This is the pattern that I'm working on, and here is a picture of my progress.

Slow as Molasses

So...not much happening here knitting wise. I did finish the bag for Sylvan at knitting last week. I've decided to hang on to it as part of the gift I'm getting together for the day the baby is born. I thought that I would make a little activity bag for her. I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of it though. I am finishing the booties with a little scalloped edge all around, but it's not done yet. I ended up inventing the scallop pattern, because I couldn't figure out how to do the backwards crochet they suggested. I also bought some really sweet light pink alpaca for a baby set, but haven't had the oomph to start it yet. Maybe, I'll just pet the new alpaca and wait for inspiration. I could do a gage swatch...

Picture Problem Fixed

Here is the picture of Sylvan in her dress, looking super cute if I do say so myself. Here are the booties and beach bag too. And finally, a funny picture of Peter in his sweater.