:: 2009 ::

Happy New Year friends! Here's a way to cozy up!

Pattern here : The Beer Sweater

Knit with sport weight Nature Spun

Scandinavian Ornament

Whew! What a week. Add busy to an already busy time and you've got one crazy momma here.

I had a little elf working hard in her shop and she created these darling Scandinavian ornaments and sent them to me. I'm putting them in the shop so if you are looking for a last-minute gift or just something special for you or your tree I have 18 of them available. They should be up by later this afternoon.

That little elf is my other extremely talented Grandmother-in-law. I am going to showcase her work sometime soon on this blog. Most of my Christmas decorations I own were made by her. She is amazing!

PS. I have some knitting projects to post soon!

*Annie

In Honor of my Grandmother

I’m not sure where my desire to create with my hands came from but I have a hunch that my grandma had a big influence on me. My grandmother, who is 88 years old and still married to my grandpa who is 91 years old living on a farm in central Minnesota, is an artist at heart. When I was a young girl I would spend part of my summer vacation at my grandparent’s home and Grandma would always have some type of crafty project for me among other things to keep me entertained. I loved spending every minute there and have many memories I can draw upon when I need to reconnect with things that matter most in life. She was skilled at gardening, baking, crafting and had great intentions of opening a store to sell her handiwork. In fact, the store was going to be right there on the farm. Grandpa had even converted part of the garage into her shop. But unfortunately an accident prevented her from fulfilling her dream when she fell and broke her hip.
In 1991, she published a memoir titled “My Yesterday’s” and gave a copy to her children and grandchildren. I really need to reread it because she writes so eloquently. (I wish I would have inherited that trait) Towards the back of the book Grandma put together a list from A to Z about memorable things in her life and I read this:

C :: Crafts
My first try at doing craft work was to work with ceramics. I enjoyed doing ceramics but it eventually became too costly so I discontinued. I took lessons in rosemaling, a Swedish form of folk art, and painted the immigrant trunk which was in the attic of our house. I then had lessons in painting with acrylics. Other crafts I enjoy are counted cross-stitch, wood working, making dolls and sewing of any kind. I have also made quilts for each one in the family.

Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have received her quilts. This is the quilt I received from her when I was little. She uniquely made it mine. I remember the time when she asked me to sign my name and then proceeded to outline my hands. She included that in the quilt. There is also a piece of my mother's wedding dress embroidered on the quilt. Look closely at the dollar bill. I wonder how I managed to keep that intact.

This is one of the more recent quilts she made for my niece when she graduated high school.

So it is in honor of my grandmother that I open my Etsy shop. I wish she had a computer so I could show her the impact of those summer vacations I spent with her at the farm.

Stop by for a visit!

:: Annie :: Knitted Fresh Daily

Welcome December

I keep thinking I have lots of time before Christmas is here to knit gifts, decorate the house, etc. but it's already the first of December! This is the only decoration I have up. I love this. My mom picked it up for me at the Buffalo Nickel from this talented sewer.

To get me going here's a Christmas meme from this sweetie over here:

1. Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags? Love wrapping gifts

2. Real tree or artificial? Real.

3. When do you put up the tree? whenever I can drag my husband to the lot

4. When do you take down the tree? when it becomes a fire hazard (usually right after Christmas)

5. Do you like Egg Nog? not at all even the name makes me gag

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Barbie Dream House

7. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, a couple of them and my kids love setting them up

8. Hardest person to buy for? My mother-in-law

9. Easiest person to buy for? Me... it's not about me though is it...ok, my two kids

10. Mail or email Christmas Cards? I usually mail but this year I'm going to email (budget says so)

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Not a favorite but I find Elf very funny

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? black olives (don't ask)

13. Clear lights or coloured? Clear on Christmas tree; colored on outside trees

14. Favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas? Do both so we can be with each side of the families

16.Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeer? I can come close

17. Angel or Star on the top of the tree? an Angel that Grandma B made

18. Open presents Christmas Eve or Morning? Both

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? the buy this buy that commercials on TV

20. Which looks best, theme trees or homey trees? I like both. The main tree is homey with lots of memorable ornaments and the kids' playroom is going to have a themed tree this year -white tree with lots of bright colors

21. Gingerbread or Sugar Cookies? To eat? Definitely sugar cookies and I have the best recipe (which is my grandma's) To decorate? Gingerbread house, just picked one up today, a kit that is.

Dylan the Snowman

Another item to check off my list. I finished up another hat. This time it was from Susan's Itty Bitty Hats book. Like the last Snowman hat I made I used button eyes instead of knitting them. This one is a size 6-12 month and it's for a cute little guy named Dylan.

Well that Flickr thing didn't work out so well for me. I wanted to add a couple more pictures of the Elmo hat. One of the lining I worked in and one of just another view.

The holiday spirit is starting early with me. I usually have to get through Thanksgiving first but for some reason this year I'm ready for it. Last night a few of us went to the Minneapolis' Macy's 8th floor holiday display. It used to be Dayton's, then Marshall Field's, and now it's Macy's. I'm so glad they are continuing with this. It was darling. Every year they do a special theme and this year it was "A Day in the Life of an Elf at Macy's Santaland". I've been going to these for as long as I can remember. Go if you can.

Are you ready for Black Friday? I have to figure out my list and then decide whether or not I'm going to venture out with the other crazy people. Sipping mocha's, listening to Christmas music and crafting with the kids in our jammies sounds a little more enticing but there might be some fabulous deal that will have me up before the birds. Not.

Happy Thanksgiving!

La-la-la-la La-la-la-la....

PB254229, originally uploaded by knitted fresh daily.

...Elmo's world.
Sorry if that song gets stuck in your head. Why does that happen?

I knitted this for a friend's grand daughter who adores Elmo. I searched Ravelry for a pattern but didn't see one I liked so I made my own up. He has a felted nose and stuffed eyes with buttons. Since I knitted the red out of Lamb's Pride Bulky wool I added a fleece lining so no itchies will occur. I think the picture would be have been cuter on a cute head. But I didn't have the cute model available to me so the styrofoam ball will have to do.

PS I'm trying out this feature on flickr where you can click on "blog this" on a photo. I need to know if I can add more pictures to a posting but haven't figured that out yet. Anyone do this?

[edited a few minutes later] And it appears that it cuts off the photo

I've been diagnosed with M.P.S.

Multiple Project Syndrome

Do any of you suffer from this? I self diagnosed myself after making a list of what I need to complete and when I had to turn the page to continue writing I finally concluded that I suffer from this disease. Ok, maybe this isn't a disease but rather an overzealous desire to CREATE. Thankfully for this blog I can openly share my list and maybe that will hold me accountable for crossing things off of it. So here it goes (and guess what? this is just a partial list):

1. Find a button and sew onto neck warmer
2. Felt this red cardinal and embellish

3. Weave in ends and block capelet
4. Figure out what's what with this mess (it's going to be a floppy dog)

5. Finish this crochet bead necklace

No photo list:
Finish two hats for friend
Knit a Buddy Bag
Sew these cool headbands for daughter
Sew this cool toy for son
Creating stuff for a soon to open Etsy store

Plus my blog is overdue for a makeover
and many more things that I won't bore you with.


PS. Thank you for all of the kind comments on the Halloween costumes. They are pretty cute kids but I'm a little biased!

Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother

The fruits of my labor...

Prince Charming
and

the Fairy Godmother

I'm looking for a princess, my true love. Might you fit this glass slipper?

"You're really going to grant me my wish?"

and they all lived ...

Looking forward to trick-or-treats on Friday. Between last weekend and this coming weekend the kids will have lots of wear out of the costumes. They were so fun to create. The Fairy Godmother's was from a McCall's pattern and Prince Charming's was a doctored up suit I found at a second hand store. As thrifty as we are trying to be, going this route did not help us out but I hope the memory of the homemade costumes will be there for my children like they are for me from my mom. I tried to find a photo of the year when I was Cookie Monster and my sister was Big Bird. I'll keep looking. I loved that costume.

Happy Halloween!

Pure Wedding Bliss

Just a quick glimpse of the wedding I shot in September. Lovely day, fun couple, sweet kids, intimate wedding.

Hmm.hmm.hmm.hmm.hmm.hmm.hmm

That's the sound in our house lately. It comes from two sewing machines in operation. My daughter and I have taken over the formal dining room (who needs one anyways, right?) and have set up shop. I haven't purchased a machine yet but a sweet friend of mine is loaning me hers. My daughter got right into it. She started making things. I should really share what she has made so far. I'll do that in another post. Quite inventive I have to say. I found a cheap, working sewing machine at a thrift store for her and she just loves making "stuff". We have been sewing much and knitting not so much. This year for halloween I decided to sew the kids' costumes and it's been fun, challenging and definitely a chance to see what I really want in a machine when the time comes.
So how many three year olds do you know that want to be Prince Charming for Halloween?? That's what my little guy requested to be. He came up with the idea too. (I think from watching too much Cinderella, but he LOVES that movie :) Don't worry dear hubby, he did mention we wanted to be a pirate and some kind of superhero but that is not allowed at his preschool so Prince Charming it is! And I guess I'm supposed to be Cinderella (what a sweetheart) which leads us to my daughter's costume. I thought it would be cute for them to coordinate but since she has already been Cinderella in the past and she's way too cool for that now we opted for the Fairy Godmother. I've got to pull this all together in the next week. Halloween is celebrated big time here in the "Halloween capital of the world". Parades, Boo Bashes, 5K Gray Ghost Run, pumpkin carving contests, etc. etc.


Another sewing item completed is the bag I mentioned in a previous post. Love the fabrics but not so crazy about the functionality of it. Actually, it will make a nice small knitting project transporter. I just don't want to go digging for a cell phone, wallet, or keys in the thing.

Soccer has come to an end. She really enjoyed playing but has told me that she loved it because it's getting her in shape for the 5K Gray Ghost race!! She's going to run that with me.


Lastly, a picture that closes the chapter on summer and our garden. Did I mention what a flop our garden was? Some kind of mold or a white powdery substance took over. We picked a few cucumbers (that we never ate); there is tons of basil that's still there; beans that turned yellow (oops, I should have picked them on time); tons of carrots (why did I plant so many? Bandit, the guinea pig neighbor will love us though); one pea pod (mmm, that was good, for about a second); but thankfully we did have lots of yummy tomatoes and about ten zinnias that were cut and placed in vases. Live and learn.

I did it!

Sunday, October 5, 2008 Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile
My Time- 1:52:29

What an amazing journey! and I can't wait to do it again! The emotions I had when approaching and finally crossing the finish line were overwhelming. When my sister and I joined a running club back in June we had a very hard time believing that we were going to be able to run ten miles and survive to tell about it. But here we are :) Alive and well and maybe a little sore but so much stronger inside and out. I can't tell you how many times I heard people say "distance running is a huge mind game" and I beat it because at mile 8 my body was ready to quit. The rain didn't help either. I was soaking wet at the end.

Ok, so I'm not quite ready to run a marathon but I haven't given up on the idea just yet. I'm definitely doing this again. You should try it too!

Have you had your Honeycrisp today?

This past weekend we went to our favorite apple orchard in White Bear Lake. The weather was beautiful but it did seem a little strange wearing shorts. The kids had their pony rides, tractor rides, photo opps as well as their share of treats. Apple cinnamon donuts (served thumbs up style), carmel apples and a bag of Harrelson's is what I left with in my shopping bag.

Have you tried a Honeycrisp apple yet? They weren't ready at the orchard but a couple of grocery stores around us are now carrying them. It's my favorite eating apple. They are crisp, juicy and sweet-tart tasting. I guess they come at a premium price though. My MIL said last night that at the orchard they visited near Sioux Falls a bag of Honeycrisp was selling for $30!! Did they receive special sunshine or rain or something??



I paid $2.99 for a pound at my grocery which kind of hurt so I knit a special jacket to protect this piece of work. No, actually I am making these for my little guy's preschool teachers. It's Apple Day next week so they are each going to get one. The pattern is from here.

On another note I have received a couple of awards from some very sweet people that I haven't acknowledged here and I want to make sure that you know they are really appreciated. Life has just been a little overwhelming recently. So thank you, they made me smile and brightened my day.

From : Knitter Sue

From: Denise at The Knitting Den

And I'll get to that meme, Andrea :)

A List of Firsts

What I've been up to lately......

:: First family camping trip sporting a tent ::

:: First day of school ::

:: First time playing soccer (go #6!) ::

:: First year of piano ::

:: First day of preschool ::


:: First wedding photoshoot ::


:: First time training for a 10 mile race ::

Knitterella Inspiration

The opportunity arose to knit the Lacy Thong for a neighbor/friend who is getting married soon. The first I had heard of this idea was at Knitterella's blog and thought "how fun is that?" I had to knit these twice because the first go-round they would have probably insulted the tiny bride. I went down needles sizes and knitted the smallest size. They turned out much better. She did guess that they were from me but it took her a few seconds longer to realize that I had made them. Not a good picture of them as I was finishing them the second before I left for the shower! Nothing like a good ole last minute project. Seems to be the theme of my life right now. It's been a C R A Z Y August.

Here's one other project I had finished a while back but I had to thrift for awhile until I found the perfect pin to go with my cowl. Again inspired by Knitterella. I started making this cowl from the pattern of Last Minuted Knitted Gifts then began increases using the Dolores Park Cowl pattern. It ended up a little bit too big so I thought it would look nice pinned. I have one other cowl waiting for a button and then I'll post that one.

Did anyone do the Ravelympics? I thought "cool" I can finish a project in a few weeks. I picked an easy one too. Just knit and purl. It's a capelet. Did I finish? No... I was disqualified. I used the wrong size needle and forgot to switch needle sizes when stated in the pattern! DRATS! My hope for the gold will have to wait another four years.

That's all for now. I need to get to bed so that I can function tomorrow at school. Today was a struggle :(

Bear-y Buddy Bag

Just a quick post of a baby shower gift I've giving this weekend. It was created from this pattern. It turned out so cute that I think I might have to make a few more to have on hand for gifts. She is one talented knitter and designer!

This bag is perfect for that little toddler to tuck away a sippee cup and a book or some toys.

The two stripes are knitted from Vanna's Choice Baby for durability and machine-washability. I have to admit that I didn't enjoy working with this yarn but now I know. I'm going to try to find some nice cotton for the next go round.

Hopefully soon I'll be posting another project that I'm giving tomorrow at a bridal shower. It's currently in the blocking stage.

Have a great weekend.

Woolly Cardinal & some cheap thrills

I really thought that my knitting production would increase over the summer while I was off from school but that doesn't seem to be the case here. I've made a list and have well over 15+ projects that I've either started or have purchased to begin and that doesn't even include my notebook that's filled with ideas in which I want to create. I think I have discovered my passion. Wish it was financially sustainable but unfortunately it drains my pocketbook instead :) I'm thinking about an Etsy shop in the near future. If not knitted items I can at least sell my surplus of vintage buttons and wool sweaters. It's been fun thrifting for these items but how much is too much?? Anyone looking for some felted/unfelted wool?

Even though back to school for me isn't until the end of August I volunteered to be part of a grant-funded training class of digital video production. It will take me away from my summer break and kids for seven days but the dangled carrot is perhaps a new sewing machine or a camera upgrade as the result of my attendance. Yahoo!!

Finished up one Woolly Bird. I added an applique to his side and tried the blanket stitch. It would have been much easier to do if I hadn't already stuffed and sewn him shut. (Note to self for next one)

CHEAP THRILLS.... (even for adults) I was blog reading and you know how it goes, you click on one link which leads you to another and another and another (lost in blogosphere) but this was meant to be...somehow I found myself here and ten minutes later we were at Home Depot buying supplies for the marshmallow shooters and having a blast (sorry, no pun intended) It was less than $5 for everything.

I think we have a budding engineer. She worked on redesigning her shooter for over an hour and came up with all sorts of prototypes.

To work the shooter: simply drop in a mini marshmallow and blow real hard. When I tried they actually flew about 20 feet!

Go have some cheap fun!