September 6th, 2010
by Christina
What a week it has been!
One of those jumble-up weeks that totally changes your world and left my whole family praying hard.
I woke up from the daze of this past week and realized that Autumn is nipping at the heels of Summer. So I had to sit down for a wee bit of tea to take it all in.
Even though I will not be as “early” as I wanted to be with the fall collection. Fall/Winter patterns will be making their way to you! There are several fun pieces in the works – two in the hands in the test knitters right now!
It’s going to be a glorious Autumn! We must soak it up!
Happy Knitting!
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August 31st, 2010
by Christina
Ah, life has taken me on a ride
and I haven’t been able to post about John’s b’day.
Both celebrations were delightful.
Although, you can see, he did not like his hat.
Chocolate cake was not a big winner either.
But he loved his presents – after all, who will turn down a new toy?
and he adored playing with his cousins
although little Laura wasn’t so thrilled with him.
at the end of the day we had a very tired boy!
On a side note: the only thing about John to identify him as my son is his thumb sucking and ear rubbing.
I did the exact same thing as a child.
JK did not.
Now, tell me which gene tells you to suck your thumb! Bizarre!
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August 19th, 2010
by Christina
There are several birthdays throughout the course of life that are HUGE. Your first birthday is one of them.
I was telling JK the other day that John’s birthday on Monday seems to be more of a celebration that we made it through the first year of parenthood without breaking him! Dear little guy – he was so tiny at first it was quiet a scary thought to think that we were solely responsible for his care.
But that aside… one of the traditions in my family is to decorate the hutch or mantle for big occasions. We usually do it for the seasons and holidays. I decided it would be fun to decorate the hutch for John’s 1st Birthday.
I gathered up his “teddies” – you can see how Doggy is a bit dirty from being “loved”…
…included the “older” generation of teddies – the little threadbare one is my mother’s teddy from her childhood years.
…knitted some bunting – very easy to do and a ton of fun to make. Very Ysolda-ish, don’t you think?
I knitted a birthday hat using the Celebrate Hat from Petite Purls summer issue. My modifications were: making it larger, made it with DK weight yarn, a crochet ruffle for the knitted hat, a bigger pom pom and of course, the knitted #1. Loved the pattern! They have a crochet version too!
As one of his birthday gifts I made him a puppet. Yes, I know, What is it? The Frog King? Well, it was supposed to be a modification of the Monkey from Susan B Anderson’s “Itty Bitty Toys.” However, I really wanted to use Boku because of the self-striping qualities of the yarn and my LYS only had a green – well, they had another color that had purple in it and I just couldn’t see John going for a purple Monkey. So, we have a green Monkey that looks like a Frog King – Oh, my! I’ll try again … perhaps for Christmas. He adores puppets so I can’t wait to show him this one.
I have a little vest for him still on the needles. We’ll see if it makes it’s way off the needles by Monday. There’s a lot happening around here so I don’t have much hope.
Well, that’s all for the “knitted” side of John’s 1st Birthday. He has lots of cars and balls (he loves to say “ball”) and an airplane coming his way – but they are not knitted so of course you don’t want to see them!
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August 17th, 2010
by Christina
I will always think of this summer as “The Lost Summer.”
It was startling to realize that my niece and nephews went back to school this week. I feel like I have been waiting, week after week, for “summer” to begin.
I suppose that is because my idea of summer was this: more time with JK because he would be out of school, summer vacation to Maine and lazy weekends going to the Farmer’s Market.
The only thing we have been able to do is go to the Farmer’s Market (without the lazy bit). We have been hard at word trying to first figure out what the problem with our house was, and then if we could save our moldy house, and then saving our moldy house. Even though the “big” construction is done. We still have sanding and painting to do and hardwood floors to put in.
The vacation to Maine was cancelled.
And JK has not had more time – he’s been busy on another project that came up as well as the house issue.
JK and I were reflecting that we first discovered the leak in our bedroom which then lead to the discovery of the mold on May 20 – i.e. the beginning of summer. So, yes, it has been a lost summer.
But I have hope. Hope that with a healthy house, a solid house, we will have a golden autumn that will turn into a cozy winter.
One thing I am thankful for and the one thing I will fight for because it has made me feel as if I have an some kind of a summer – Saturday morning coffee at the Farmer’s Market. So what if it’s at 7:30 in the morning and only lasts an hour! It’s fun!
I do hope that all of you have had a lovely summer, and if you haven’t, that you too will have a golden fall.
I have some lovely patterns planned for fall/winter….. that will be something to look forward to!
happy knitting to all!
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August 11th, 2010
by Christina
Several weeks ago I updated my Woodland Shawl Pattern to include more stitch counts so you can check yourself along the way, a clearer transition & edging chart and correct instructions for the bind off!
As my test knitters knit away I decided to knit one too and pulled out some of my own hand dyed yarn and went to work. This time I wanted a smaller shawl so, instead of using lace yarn and really tiny needles, I just used sock yarn and #2 needles. I love it! It is a perfect neckerchief/scarf for this fall.
I had it on my dress form (which is residing in our living room right now while our house is torn up from the mold debacle) and my mom stopped by. She fell in love with the color of yarn because it is the same color as her hair — it really does look stunning on her. So this shawl is headed off to my mom now and think she’ll get a lot of use out of it!
You can find the Woodland Shawl on Ravelry or in my shop
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August 10th, 2010
by Christina
We had a great celebration in honor of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s 100th birthday last night! You can read more about it here!
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August 2nd, 2010
by Christina
My hairdresser says she spends oodles of hours on Etsy just oogling the items for sale. I believe her. This amazing inspiration came from The Faerie Market – isn’t absolutely imaginatively wonderful!
Another breathtaking colorway from “Knitting Wounded Yarns.” Ahh… sigh… drool…
Some squishy fiber from Fiberphile – don’t you just want to sit and spin?
Just a few ideas from Etsy to get your creative juices running!
Happy creating this week, everyone!
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August 1st, 2010
by Christina
It’s the start of the summer birthdays around here. The first of them is my mother. And I thought, of course, I have to do a post about my mom’s birthday, she is the one who taught me there was such a thing as creativity!
Mom grew up having her birthdays on the beach (she grew up on Long Island, NY). The best we could do was BBQ. No beach in Indianapolis. Just mud holes. Sorry to be so blunt folks. We do love the mud holes, though. They are better than nothing.
and of course there was fabulous food and wine — two bottles in fact – just for the three of us!
I love you, Mom! Thanks being such a great mom!
I hope I’ll be at least half as good of a mom as you are!
Happy Birthday, again! =)
My Life | 1 Comment »
July 31st, 2010
by Christina
One of the great sources of summer cooking inspiration is the farmer’s market. I hate to miss it and really look forward to it each Saturday morning. Because John is an early riser it has been fairly easy to arrive at 8 am, right as the market is opening, get some lovely produce and then go to our favorite coffee shop for a nice cuppa before we head back home to put John down for his nap. We have tried to keep up this Saturday morning ritual, even with our moldy house issues, just because it makes us feel, for an hour or so, as if we have no cares in the world. Ah…. that’s a nice feeling! =)
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July 24th, 2010
by Christina
{This Moment}
Soule Mama has some good ideas – one of them is her “this moment” photos. One photo every week that she wants to savor.
So here is my “this moment” photo from the week.
John flopped on the floor next to his daddy – We couldn’t figure out why. John never lays on his back on the floor. It took JK and I a moment to realize it but we think he was trying to copy JK’s pose. Amazing.
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