Mittens and other stuff

I'm having some fun with the felted sweaters I've collected. These mittens are so warm and soft. They are lined with fleece to make them super soft inside. I know Betz White has a pattern in her Warm Fuzzies book but this was a pattern (very similar) from a friend who has caught the sweater-thrifting-felting-sewing bug. The first pair I made for myself. The second pair was a gift for a friend who generously loaned her sewing machine to me and I finally returned it to her because I bought one a couple months ago. Yipee! The third pair is a gift to have on hand. (no pun intended, ha!)

...and I made a couple 'custom order' photo albums.

So in the previous post I mentioned that we attended the Home and Garden Show and saw Shane Tallant. Here's what he autographed to my daughter. So true!!!

Finally, the birthday parties have come to an end and now we're left picking up the peanut shells, cardboard boxes, crumpled wrapping paper and empty cans. It was fun for all and many memories made.

Take care,

Annie

Hello

Life is sure getting in the way of blogging. I even had special requests to update this.

What's the update? Not much knitting but a whole lot of partying.

*We celebrated our daughter's ninth birthday a few weeks ago and tomorrow we celebrate our son's fourth birthday.
*My husband and I enjoyed a short stay on the North Shore at our favorite resort, Larsmont. We went snowshoeing on what we thought was a 3 mile loop and ended up being 5+ miles. I'm glad I survived to tell you about it.
*We attended the Mpls Home Show and heard Shane Tallant speak. He is quite funny and had some great stories. My daughter and I got his autograph afterwards and if I can figure out how to get a picture off my phone camera I will share with you. She's excited 'cause she's sitting in his lap. Lucky girl.
*Attended a Variety Show at my daughter's school. She was the accompanist and her friend sang. Very sweet.
*I won second place in a contest for a bathroom makeover. All the tile we need for our project was the prize.
* I've been sewing sweater mittens. (I'll post pictures later)
* I'm knitting some Fetching for a friend

See, I have excuses. What are yours?

Sweethearts

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Bear. These two chums brought lots of smiles to our home. I used Jelly Bum's bear pattern but changed it a little bit. I found some strong magnets and glued them to the inside of the embroidered nose so they can nuzzle noses. I put them in my Etsy store as a made-to-order. I still have lots of yarn leftover and wonder how far it will go.

Speaking of how far things will go, another sweetheart, my daughter, has an obsession with wheelchairs. Yes, you read correctly, wheelchairs. She has asked Santa for the last two years to bring one. He did not. One year he did bring her crutches (which weren't needed by the way) but they were on her list. She wanted them so badly. But a wheelchair? I usually have to steer her away from those Little Rascal carts in the stores. "No, Ella, you cannot sit in that chair!" Well, this last Monday and Tuesday she didn't have school and I found her in her room drawing this picture on her easel.

Nine different designs! Do you think she may be destined for a health related career? or rather some type of engineer? This child cracks me up. This is definitely one of those memories I need to document. That's why you are reading about it here.
You should see her notebook from today. She was home recovering from a case of the stomach bug. Her entire day was spent planning, drawing, and coloring her dream room while watching HGTV. I bet she's spent nine hours on this room. I'll share later. I have to sneak the notebook and snap some pictures of it. I guess it's fun dreaming.

May your dreams be sweet tonight!

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!

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.

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!

Win some....Loosen some

I will be loosening this one. Not a winner. Loved the sample in the store, even tried it on but just don't love this one on me. It's cute on her but not so much on me. So there it sat on my closet shelf for the entire winter season. Unworn. Sad. Lonely. Did you hear that noise in the background (ribbit, ribbit) I will be frogging this to make a cabled scarf instead, I think. It's too expensive to just sit on a shelf. Love the yarn: Chunky Misti Alpaca. It's so soft and squishy. Maybe I'll have to buzz over to Ravelry to see what else I might be able to make with this yarn.
I've noticed a theme in bloggyland lately. So many projects and ideas but so little time. I, too, have a list of things to knit, crochet, sew, paint, craft etc. but not enough time to begin or finish. High on my priority list right now is making a reversible purse I saw in the last issue of Sew Simple magazine. Hopefully I find it simple to make. My sewing skills are a bit rusty. I've borrowed a sewing machine from a friend and it's time to make use of it. Here's the scrumptious fabric I'll be using:

I want to bathe in it it's so divine. In fact her whole line is yummy. LOVE pinks and oranges right now. And it has a cute name ;) ha As I said earlier, the pattern is in the magazine and they give you a pattern but say to enlarge it by 400%. So I just measure all sides of the pattern and multiply each by 4 right? to give me the actual dimensions???? TIA

Then there's more sewing to come...have you seen Heather Bailey's new store and more specifically her patterns? Even though I'm way in debt I had to have this and this.
Ok, the last thing I'll mention about projects is that I want to make a recycled sweater blanket. I've been pretty lucky to find lots of woolly goodness at thrift stores and garage sales but I've come across a few cashmere sweaters and so now I'm on the lookout for more. I want a big throw for cuddling so I need a few more. It's going to be so snugly.

Lastly, we returned Monday evening from a mini trip to Duluth. We brought the kids to see an airshow featuring the Blue Angels. But I think the highlight of the trip for them was swimming in the pool at the hotel, and the big inflatable airplane they climbed and slid down (which lasted all of 15 seconds). It's the little things, I guess.

Summer's in full swing

We've been busy busy but it's all good.

1. Last week we had an awesome time at Vacation Bible School. The theme was Cosmic City. I photographed all the kids in a rocket ship.
2. I took a crochet class. Love it but still love knitting most.
3. The baby bird eggs hatched and survived and as of today, they have all left the nest.
4. Potty training well under way and going better than expected.
5. Training for the Twin Cities 10 mile run in October.
6. Lots of perennials blooming in our gardens.
7. Made strawberry jam last week. Yummy!
8. Our garden has been robbed. Suspect: Peter Rabbit!
9. Had fun blowing bubbles using this super-foam-erator over at Betz White's blog

10. and of course knitting stuff, more to follow...

Bolero is finero

<fin-er-o> def: finished!


She wore it on her last day of school. That was my goal and so the night before I was hunched over sewing together five pieces. My back sure hurts. I'm not so fond of the mattress stitch right now. Next garment I'll be checking to see how many pieces. For me, less is better :)

I'm loving my new photo shoot location. The picture above was taken in our garage, early morning sun pouring in through the windows and I love the partly painted cinder blocks as the backdrop. Straight out of the camera.

So remember in this previous post about letting her choose her own outfits? and me saying how this bolero isn't going to match much but she won't care? Take a lookie at the getup:

Gotta love it. That's my girl!

Memorial Weekend

Family, fun, and fishing.... (and some knitting too :)

My favorite M-Day card

I've received homemade cards from my daughter in the past but this is, by far, my favorite. I love her drawing of the needles (and spelling) and yarn and she told me that in the upper right corner is a picture of my arms with the yarn and needles knitting. But I treasure the inside even more; it wasn't a "copy this from the board, children" it was from her own blessed head:

It reads:

My Mom

My mom is very kind. (I appreciate that)
My mom likes to knit. (Yes, this is true)
My mom knows how to take care of sweet kids. (Sweet yes, but sometimes sour)
My mom can do lots of things. (Things can include knitting, baking, gardening, etc. but apparently not cleaning. see below :)
My mom says "I Love You" (Because I do)
My mom hopes to keep the house clean (hopes! bwaahaahaa This is so true - hopes! maybe it's because I'd rather knit)
My mom loves me. (Unconditionally)
My mom is very kind. (Thank you, Ella)

Oh, oh, oh, let's go fly a kite...

...up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear Oh, let's go fly a kite! Play Me
This is the day we've been waiting for. Not as warm as we'd like it but sunny and windy. Perfect for flying the kite that's been in the package waiting and waiting for this day. This evening we headed out to a wide open space and set Mickey free.

Ella's turn:

Then Anders' turn:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
These longer days equal an early riser toddler. I was so hoping to sleep in this morning. Didn't happen. This helped my morning though:While I was getting ready this morning I heard Anders in his room giggling and laughing hysterically. I snuck on over to see what he was up to and found him looking at a book:

I quickly got my camera and snapped this picture. I sure wish I had had my video camera. His laugh was priceless. He had this book we brought home from the library titled: Who's Hiding? by Satoru Onishi. I had never seen this book before but it's a rollicking good time for a three year old and apparently Anders find this page belly-laughable:

As you may not be able to see in the picture the question in the book is "Who's backwards?" and when we've read this together he thinks it's so funny that some of the animals are showing their backside.

Our morning consisted of a trip to Home Depot for the monthly kids workshop. Both Ella and Anders made this flower pencil holder. Very cute and fun and the best part is that it's free. Then we did a few more runs: Michaels, Costco (love this store but did I need to buy the ten pound bag of M&M's? I'll share the cookie recipe using the M&M's that I plan to bake at a later date) lunch at Culver's, and the library. I was hoping to hit up some garage sales but I got sick of driving around and getting a 3 year old in and out of a car seat so we headed home. I guess the thrifting will have to wait another week. (Hubby will like that :)


As far as knitting goes not much has been on the needles lately. Well, something is on the needles but moving very s-l-o-w-l-y. It's probably only another inch along since I took that photo. yikes! I better get busy But I actually have something started with a crochet hook. I've been teaching myself with various books I've had home from the library and it hasn't been too bad but I think I still want to take a class. It seems that the instructors at my LYS always have many tricks that you don't read about in books. So far I still enjoy knitting more than crocheting.

Happy Weekend!

Little Seedlings

Just in time for....next fall. Oh well, I'll have something to look forward to and use right away. This pattern is the Fetching fingerless gloves on Knitty. I think I'm going to like having these especially in my very cold work place! I changed the pattern a bit after reading some comments on Ravelry. I did a regular bind off and on the right glove I tried a different kind of thumb gusset to see if it was better. Unfortunately that change made me running to the yarn store for another skein. I was hoping to do it with one.

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needle: #6 dpn

Actually I'm very glad I won't be needing these gloves (now just watch, I'll have jinxed myself) because it was looking a bit like spring today. That put us in the mood for planning a garden. My daughter was home from school today with lovely strep throat which I also contracted so the three of us hung out together and did some planting. This is what it looked liked:

1. Pick out seed packets of things we might eat.
2. Scoop up dirt and place seeds in cup.
3. Poke seeds down according the depth required on packet.
4. Water.
5. Wait patiently.

I really hope something grows just because they worked so hard and are so excited. We've never had a garden before only perennials so this will be a fun adventure. Last spring we tried sunflowers only to see the sprouts go to the birds!!