Can you read my writing? It’s a bit dodgy isn’t it?
I have thoroughly enjoyed Lori’s African Journals - so much so I had to start one of my own. Just day-to-day journals… and I thought I would occasionally scan them in for you all to read.
Anyways… I had a fabulous Mother’s Day this past Sunday. Did you?
While Little John spent the night at his grandparent’s house, JK and I headed into a relaxing weekend.
Friday night we drove in the rain down to The Fiber Event in Greencastle. It was fun to reminisce about the first time I had gone to this event 9 years ago and how JK had teased me to death about going. This time he was driving me… =) 9 years go we were just getting to know each other. Just goes to show you what you will do for the one you love! Thanks, dear!
I browsed and browsed and reminisced about how big it used to be. I can’t believe how small it has become. Oh, what a pity. I think I’m going to be checking out some other fiber fairs from now on.
I always like to go to these events with a bit of a goal in mind. Otherwise I’m overwhelmed. But if I have something to hunt for it makes it fun. I found what I was looking for when I first walked in… made me laugh at myself!
What was I on a hunt for? A knitting dolly – do you remember those? I remember using one when I was a little girl in Africa. After reading Lori’s lovely post on them I thought that knitting dollies would be a fun thing to hunt for at fiber fairs.
And despite my promise to myself not to walk out with any fiber… I did buy a half a pound of fiber from Hidden Valley Farms
Which I promptly put to use the next morning.
I had been promising myself some spinning time for months and months. This was the one birthday thing I really wanted to do… have a morning to spin and spin.
JK poured me a glass of champagne (nothing like champagne in the morning) and went to town. It was bliss….
and managed to finish one big skein from fiber I purchased last year! =)
Today I’m off to be the knitting model for “Knitting for Dummies.” Yep… you can laugh. You can see the ones I did 3 years ago here. We’ll see how it goes… it’s usually a lot of work… big sigh… back to work…
crafting, Holidays, My Life, spinning, Weekending | 
2 Comments »
For my birthday dinner we ate outside. It was so lovely and we were headed into such dreadful weather over the weekend I couldn’t have us eat inside.
As you can see… John hates eating or coming to the table… ugh… such is life.
I set the table with some of the beautiful things I received.
An April Cornell tablecloth – isn’t it lovely!
Pink roses from my new rose bush for my garden
And blue & white dishes (my grandma’s pattern) to add to my little collection
And of course we had simple food – food that was my favorite… namely sausages on the grill from Goose the Market! Yum, yum.
It was simple but spectacular and made me sooooo happy!
It’s that time of year again – my birthday. Another excuse to gather friends and family and have a party.
My garden decided to give me a gift the morning of my birthday. I was so excited to find the first rose of the season had bloomed! Isn’t that fun?
I asked John if he wanted to smell the rose. “Sure.” He said and promptly began to blow on it. Didn’t know you could smell flowers by blowing on them. Made me laugh so hard. I think he got a little confused after hearing me say it was my “birthday rose.”
Then it was off to the gardens for a birthday lunch. Last year it was raining so hard we had to have the lunch at Heather’s house.
Heather made some scrumptious Coronation Chicken Salad (Yes, we’re getting ready for the Jubilee celebration in June). I can’t find the recipe she used, but let me tell you, it was spectacular.
And the cake! Did you see the cake? It was a Champagne cake with lemon curd, whipped cream, pineapple flowers and blackberries. Several people had seconds it was that good!
The little people were entertained with another Easter egg hunt and then begged us to play with them.
I love these photos of John and Laura interacting – or not. They treat one another as siblings. In other words… they fight a bit. It’s sooooo funny!
John really enjoyed having his very own Auntie A there.
What a fun memory!
One of the things that I remember about my childhood Easters are new dresses. My dad didn’t allow us to participate in Easter egg hunts or have Easter baskets but my mom, for whom Easter egg hunts and baskets were a part of her childhood, would always try to make us new dresses and a hat for Easter Sunday.
My favorite was a pink calico dress with little lace trim and a straw hat with a matching ribbon.
When was out on my own I would buy myself a new hat for Easter. (Yes, I adore hats.)
Now that I have my own little guy not only do I plan an Easter egg hunt for him and the cousins and an Easter basket but a new little something to wear is a must.
This year I made a little cotton vest and matching bow tie. The bow tie was sooooo much fun to make and hardly took anytime at all I plan on making a few more for Sundays. ( Lil J wore my outfit for Palm Sunday and an outfit his grandma purchased for him for Easter Sunday. But I did go ahead and make another tie for his Easter outfit. They are too much fun to make. )
I thought you all would have fun making them for your little ones so here is the pattern:
Bow Tie
Berroco Weekend i.e. cotton worsted weight yarn
US #7 needles
Tapetry needle
safety pin to secure neckband at back of collar
Co 10 sts.
Row 1: K
Row 2: K
Row 3: K
Row 4: K2, p6, k2
Repeat rows 3 &4 until piece measure 4″ from co edge to needles.
Row 5: K
Row 6: K
Row 7: K
Row 8: Bo in purl
Bow Tie Center
Co 3 sts and work 6 rows of garter stitch, bo 3 sts.
Neckband
co 3 sts and work in garter stitch for 11 – 12″ (depending on the collar size of your little one)
Using the tapestry needle and a piece of cotton, sew a running stitch up the center of the bow tie to gather it. Wrap the Bow tie center around the gathered section and sew the bow tie center together at the back. Find the mid point of the neck band and sew it onto the bow tie in the back. Steam lightly with a steam iron.
Note: the vest is my own pattern. If you are looking for a good substitute try Summer Vest by Tot Toppers
JK is reading me The Girl with a Pearl Earring while I knit at night. I’ve enjoyed it so far. I can relate to the descriptions of washing and ironing and scrubbing. Why do I find it so comforting to know that those menial tasks are so normal and have been part of life for centuries? We’ll see though… I am getting the feeling that the book is going to take a turn and I’m not going to like what is around the next corner.
Joining with Ginny…
Holidays, Inspiration, Knitting, Mothering, Patterns | 3 Comments »
For some reason I can never manage to host an event, take pictures and blog about it. Perhaps that skill of juggling everything will come to me one day. For now I’m just grateful for a sister who takes wonderful pictures and wrote a beautiful blog piece on the Easter dinner party I just hosted.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend full of rejoicing and family.
I’m savoring the memories of the wonderful day.
I’m also savoring the fact that I go all the napkin rings made. Hooray!
The family Easter dinner will be celebrated at my house this year. It’s always something fun to plan. Really it’s the first dinner party of the summer season.
This year I decided to have some “crafty” decorations. Well, to be honest, I am still finding inspiration from the original flower I made for the Mom’s Beads pattern.
This time I decided to use the basic flower to decorate napkin rings. They are so easy to make. I’ve been making them while I watch Lil John play outside.
Here’s the pattern:
You will need
US #7 needles – you can use straight, 2 dpns, circ – whatever you desire
US #1 needles – again you can use whatever you deisre, straight, circ, dpns
Worsted weight green cotton or wool
Sock yarn in bright colors – pink, blue, white, yellow
Assorted small buttons
tapestry needle
For the ring:
With the US #7 needle and the worsted weight green, co 6 stitches, knit 34 rows, bo leaving a long tail.
Sew the piece together using a tapestry needle, (end to end) to form a ring.
Next make a flower:
Small Flower:
Using a US #1 (2.25mm) , leaving a 4″ tail, cast on 3 sts.
Row 1, 3, 5, 7: P
Row 2: K1, yo, k1, yo, k1. (5 sts)
Row 4: K2, yo, k1, yo, k2. (7 sts)
Row 6: K3, yo, k1, yo, k3. (9 sts)
Row 8: K
Row 9: K
Row 10: BO in p.
Make 4 petals. Sew petals together, one over lapping the next, using the yarn tails and a tapestry needle. Wet block and pin into shape. Sew button into the center of the 4 petals.
Make the following number of small flowers: 3 white, 2 pink & 3 yellow.
Using a tapestry needle, weave in ends.
Now all you need to do is sew the flower to the ring. I made sure to sew my flowers to the ring where I had sewed the ring together so the seam did not show.
It get’s rather addicting to make the flowers - I need to make 17!
happy knitting!
crafting, Holidays, Knitting, My Life, Patterns | 3 Comments »
hello friends!
I hope you are all doing well in your various corners of the world.
We have been enjoying amazing weather this week. Absolutely fantastic weather for March. It’s nearly 80 F here today. The windows are open, the birds are singing and the leaves are popping!
It is the perfect time to show you what I have been knitting.
For the March newsletter pattern I designed a very whimsical lace wrap that is embellished with appliqued knitted flowers. For my shawl I went with bright colors – persimmon, lemon, kiwi, rose and white – but for a more subdued version you could do cream on white or white on green.
I used Anzula Cloud which had been gifted to me by my sister after a trip she took to NYC. Isn’t it fun when the yarn itself has a bit of a story to it? It is a lovely cashmere/merino blend with just a touch of nylon to add durability and strength. The cashmere makes the shawl soft and whisper like to the touch. But don’t worry, the shawl is knit using a #4 needle – you don’t have to dig out the teeny-tiny needles.
The appliqued flowers are so much fun to knit. I just grabbed a bunch of my stash yarn and went to town. In fact, I made a few extra flowers – wonder what I shawl do with them.
For those of you who receive my newsletter you have a 50% coupon to apply to this pattern making it just $2.00.
For those of you who haven’t yet subscribed – you should!
You can buy the pattern here
tomorrow I have a new online shop to introduce to you!
Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!
I know that not everyone always feels like celebrating Valentine’s Day. But in my family we celebrate the tiniest little thing. Sometimes I feel like I live in Tasha Tutor’s A Time to Keep.
And when I was growing up Valentine’s Day was celebrated in a big way.
There was always the Valentine’s Day mailbox filled with notes to one another we had spent the previous few days making.
There was fancy food for breakfast or lunch or dinner or tea time.
There was, of course, tea in the afternoon.
These days Valentine’s Day gets celebrated on the Sunday closest to the actual day. Heather usually hosts a big Sunday lunch and the table is loaded with treats and candies making it hard to concentrate on the actual sustaining food at hand.
But this year my younger sister had her own apartment and she hosted a lovely Valentine’s Day tea for several of us ladies.
The food was spectacular. The conversations were wonderful and the laughter soul reviving.
So, my friends, enjoy the day.
Live. Laugh. Love
Last year, on New Year’s Eve, I remember thinking, “I just have to get through one more year of JK’s studies, just one more year. You can do it.”
And now, that year has ended. JK has completed his last class – mind you, the last one wasn’t too hard… in fact… the last one consisted of sharing a bottle of wine with his professor at the Columbia Club (oh, and a lot of reading).
Even though it was a busy year, it had some really lovely moments. It was a hard year too – I’m sure a lot of you out there can attest to that fact… the Great Recession rolls on.
I have accomplished my goal of getting all of the last projects of my needles before the beginning of 2012. Yes, I do have a lot of finished projects to show you and some new patterns.
And… speaking of new things and new patterns, I am starting a newsletter for CCKnits. I will be sending out 50% coupon codes to all newsletter subscribers when new patterns go live – so you will want to make sure you are a newsletter Subscriber!
Ah, well, JK is back from getting a movie… I am ready to go knit!
I’ll see you in 2012!
Happy New Year!
