sew it's still winter

it's still winter, it snowed overnight and the weather peeps are predicting a few more snow showers and cold temps through the weekend.... i'm not excited. i'm over winter. i LOVE winter, but i'm over it for this year season. i'll be happy to see the first flakes fall again by next december.... but for now, i would love to see some crocuses and daffodils and the tulips we planted in the fall fill the spaces where the brown, dried out, rotting leaves currently live.... so to fill my time i've been sewing again! this has been a bit of a seasonal thing for the past few years. i'm not going to let that happen again, i'm planning to make a few changes in my life in hopes to creating a bit of a small business by using my sewing machine. so, i hit the ground running with a few projects.

i had a baby shower to attend a few weekends ago, i dusted off the sewing machine and fired her up to make this little set:

the patterns are from Bend the Rules Sewing, by Amy Karol. I've sewn a few of these Scalloped baby blankets before. this one is the same as those, i used brown and white polka dot cotton on one side and a light blue, star embossed very, very soft chenille on the other. no flannel as interfacing inside like the pattern calls for. i used the same fabrics for the bib and burp cloth. i just LOVE this blankie pattern, it's really simple yet looks pretty cool with the scalloped edges. the bib whipped up in about 15 minutes! seriously! and i had made two burp cloths but managed to screw the 2nd one up pretty badly due to a brain malfunction that i can't believe i did... i'll discuss that later...

after i completed this project i was on sewing machine fire! so i collected up some of my fabric stash and made this:

it's pleated beauty again from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol.

the detail stitching on the front panel was a bit finicky and puckered quite a bit, i'm attributing that to the fact that the black fabric i was using was not 100% cotton and had a tendency to stretch while i was free styling it! oh well, lesson learned....

i'm moderately happy with this bag. i LOVE the size, love the accessibility to the inside and it was FUN to sew. however the straps are too thin, i prefer a heftier strap and they weren't reinforced into the bag very well, i've had a bit of pulling and i'm sure i will have to mend this one soon. it's also a bit on the floppy side, the next time i make this bag (ps there WILL be a next time and it will be very soon) i plan on using a stiff interfacing so that the sides have a bit more structure. i like to be able to put my bag on the floor and have it stand up on it's own.

as you can see, i also made a few zippered pouches that coordinate with the pleat fabric. this was my first exercise in sewing on a zipper! whoooo what fun!!! it was tiny bit daunting the first time, but since then, it's opened up a whole new world of bags for me! these zippered pouches contain 4 diapers and a half pack of kirkland brand wipes in the large pouch and a few of my small incidentals like chapped stick and other lip gloss tubes, tissues, and deodorant(!!) in the small pouch. due to the floppiness of the bag these items wouldn't stay put in the small interior pocket so they needed their own home....

as for my brain malfunction... man, looking back, i really can't believe i did this... i sewed the baby blankie, the bib, the burp cloths and the entire bag!!! with the needle inserted into the machine backwards... the top thread kept breaking and pulling and i had to rip out so much stitching, it was horrendous. lots of bad words were yelled and i even swatted at my machine once or twice, i was sooo frustrated. i finally was looking through the machine manual for something completely unrelated when i noticed a HUGE warning about how the flat side of the needle should be towards the back! i could have spit i was so ticked at myself... it caused me to spend about twice the normal amount of time on all said projects due to ripping and resewing numerous times... once i fixed the problem my machine sewed through many layers like it was sewing through butter.... i was THIS close to calling Singer for help....

birthday boy

andy turned 1 over the weekend! we just can't believe it! this year FLEW by! we celebrated with a party with some of our regular play date friends (who also wear the "knitting friends" hat on occasion too) and our family on sunday. it was a fun time and i think everyone had a good time too!












after everyone went home and the boys took a nap, we took them to the park to enjoy some of the sorta warm weather. although by that hour the temps had fallen a bit more than i had realized and about 10 minutes into running around and climbing up the slides, their hands were bright pink.... it was still fun to run around and breathe some fresh air.













coming up soon: knitting and sewing updates and maybe a few other crafty items too!

socks socks socks - kids kids kids

i have knit my first pair of socks!























TA DAA!

i whipped these out fairly quickly, i realize that they are ankle socks but for being my first pair, i'm happy that i knit them up in 15 days. that's fast for me... i used knit picks essentials in grass. as you can see, it fuzzed up a bit after washing. i'm ok with that though, they ARE socks and will be inside my shoes.... so i think it will be ok.

i'm already on to pair number two.






























so far, i like this yarn, patons kroy sock stripe. it's a bit scratchy but i hope that it will soften with some washing..... i hope. i love the coloway on the ball but knit into the lace pattern of the leg, it's a bit much... the color changes seem very abrupt. however, i really like how it looks in straight stockenette around the ankle and underside of the foot.


the boys.... wow. lots of new things to talk about. max has been talking a lot and has started to make up stories too. he tells me things like "elmo outside!" then shortly after "elmo on school bus!" then he giggles out of control. he also has decided that he really really wants to ride on a school bus. we've been talking about preschool here for a little while since we'll be enrolling him into a program for 3 yr olds that will start in the fall. so when we read books that have a school setting or talk about teachers, he then starts into this convo about how he wants to ride a school bus and he wants andy to go too and me and daddy too of course. it's cute as heck!

one strange language thing with max is that there are words that he used to know, some were his first words actually, he will NOT say those words now. he knows them but it's almost like he's embarrased and unsure of himself and he just won't say them. it's odd.

andy on the other hand is saying things too, he says dada (to everyone except max), he ON OCCASION will say mama, star, sock, bottle and kitty. they are all very rough around the edges but i know what he's saying. he's also eating all sorts of things and basically eats what we eat for meals. he's a good little eater too! he usually ends up eating more than max these days seeing that max is either in a slow growth period or something and will seriously eat 2 maybe 3 bites of a meal and call it quits. he then never asks for a snack either. i'm hoping this turns around soon because it makes me worry that he's not getting enough... andy will also play these little silly games with us, he gives us things then takes them back over and over and over and over again. it's really pretty cute. he also hides around and under and behind everything. then he pops out and acts like HE'S surprised! talk about funny!

knitting overview

lots of projects to sum up here....

birthday scarflet for mom, gifted on dec 6th:

i used this pattern and the buttons are from joanns. they are a little sparkly and fit my mom's tastes perfectly. i loved this piece and really wanted to keep it for myself. it was my first lace project that i blocked. wowee is that fun! and i'm happy to say there are NO mistakes in this project at all.

christmas scarf for heather, given dec 25th:

i used a lace patter from The Knitters Bible, it was called crest of the wave. very easy pattern to follow and i think it worked out well for a scarf. this was blocked project number two and woweeeeeeee was IT fun to block. the little wave crests/points looked great and the pattern really opened up. i did make one mistake but didn't even realize it until i had already bound off and woven in the ends... it was only a few days until christmas and there was no way that i could have fixed it without ripping back the entire piece and starting new.... so it goes.

knitted christmas balls, given dec 25th to each little family within our immediate family: my parents, chris's parents, my brother and his wife and chris's sister.


i knit four different ornaments using this pattern. they were super easy and fast to knit up and i think made nice little gifts. i wanted to knit a few for our tree but i ran out of time. one of my 2009 goals is to knit four felted stockings for our family for next christmas, i think i'll knit some of these to match.

billy's knit NYE hat, gifted dec 31st around 11:35 pm.

i used this pattern. i intended for the hat to be a solid color, the bottom orange/red color. however, i ran out of yarn. i do this TOO often.... i really need to start looking at yardage... luckily, when i purchased this yarn, i also purchased an identical skein in blue. thus the two colored hat was born. in reality, i think it was meant to be. the two colors really looked great together and i think the finished hat ended up looking better with the two colors than it would have if it was all one color. a happy mistake, i suppose.

next up, i'll be trying socks again, for me. i'll be using knitpicks Essential in grass. i'm awaiting its arrival.... not so patiently. i am planning on using the yarnharlot's sock recipe. i had attempted this a while back with no luck... i am blaming my lack of luck on the fact that i was using the wrong yarn for the job.... hopefully this will change, i really want to have some good luck with socks....

i have picked my "ugly" (thanks amanda *wink*) {ETA: don't think poorly of amanda for saying this. it really truly is an ugly blanket and to clarify, i'm pretty sure she said that the photos and colors looked ugly in my original photo... frankly that photo is worse that what it looks like in person... don't hate me for calling you out} log cabin blanket up again and have been mindlessly knitting that again. it currently just takes up way too much space in my yarn drawers so i'm doing this in an effort to make room and organize... i'm really bored with this project and i plan to only knit it between projects and until it's big enough to cover me or a kid while curled up on the couch. i don't have far to go but the garter monotony is killing what few brain cells i have....

over the holidays i received some knitting gifts. they were all items that i specifically asked for, so no surprises really. one item was a set of knit picks options. i'm totally perplexed as to how to store them though. i'm scared to take them off of their little paper thing with the elastic that they came in. i have a needle sizer hickey doo, so i'm sure that if they would come free of piece of paper, that i wouldn't be lost in a sea of unknown needles but it gives me a heart attack to think about the mess they would be if they weren't strapped all snugly into little homes with the elastic they came with..... any suggestions are WELCOME!

tagged: favorite ornament(s)

so about 3 weeks ago, michelle wrote this post. we were just putting our tree up at the time and i was trying to take photos when my camera bit the dust.

i ended up using chris's camera but he's in charge of downloading and uploading the images on that camera. so they sat. and sat. and then we feasted and then they sat some more until i really started to complain about it in the past few days. i have at least 3 different posts that i'm preparing to write but they are all heavily dependant on photos. so they were on hold until i got my damn photos. so finally, he did took care of them for me and here we are.

as per the assignment on the spice rack, i wanted to share my a few of my favorites (sorry i can't just share one, i have too many favorites to share only one). and i'm also sorry that these aren't more timely, i really wanted to get this one up before the 25th....

there are MORE actually than the few i'll talk about here, but these are at the top. i'll go in order of their age.

the "pregnant clown" one of my mom's good friends bought this for her when she was pregnant with me. over 32 years ago. (i just had my birthday and i'm just getting used to the fact that i'm THIRTY-TWO jeesh.... anyways). this clown has a big belly, and yarn hair and is really pretty silly looking but the meaning behind it is special and that makes it a favorite.

next up, ribbon angel. she's handmade, with a wooden ball head and a clothes pin as her body, her dress is ribbons and her wings are felt with gold string details and her halo is gold metalic pipe cleaner. her head is droopy. someone gave this ornament to my mom a long time ago, and she gave it to me to put on my little tree that i used to put up in my bedroom as a child. i've had it on my tree since i was a little girl and i've always loved it. it just makes me think of christmas and its modest, simple meaning. she's fragile, so i keep her out of reach from the kids.



third, frosted glass ball, decorated by a dear college friend, leo. leo is one of our best friends. chris was in his wedding last year, we just adore his wife, anne and their little girl, charolotte. leo made this ornament for chris and i while we were all in college. we put a tree up in our house, i lived with chris and two other guys and the five of us all would hang out a LOT. so while home for christmas with his family and his sisters he decorated this ornament for us. it was a craft project that his sisters were doing. he doesn't usually take up these sorts of passtimes on his own :) the ornament has two christmas trees, a snowman and the words: To: Chris, Cara, Blazic, Chi and Pauly (our golden retreiver's name) From: Leo '98' all drawn with metalic paint. i will always put this ornament on my tree, it brings back such fun memories of good times and friends that i just don't want to forget about. the five of us all keep in touch and see each other often.


last but not least, the christmas flip flops. purchased in maui in october 2003 on our honeymoon. fabulous trip, fabulous food, fabulous weather, fabulous sights, a loving companion, a wedding full of love and people who surrounded us with their love as we started such an awesome journey together. these remind me of the good times we've had and the even greater times to come. in the past 5 years together of our "married lives together" we've both changed and grown into such different people but we are always a couple and have gone through these changes together. i wouldn't be the person i am today without chris and i'm pretty sure he would say the same about me. we have two beautiful boys together and i wake up each day excited about playing with them and watching chris play with them. seeing us all grow and learn together is one of the most amazing things to ever witness.

i hope you all had a wonderful christmas with your families and wish you good will in 2009.