February 2nd, 2012
by Christina
Hello Friends!
I wanted to get this posted yesterday… but Lil John was under the weather again with a runny nose. Ugh.. being two is hard. Not only are you learning a million things a minute but your immune system is getting conditioned and knocked about. Poor little guy.
We had a lot of “car road” time and “pooh-bear” time yesterday. All the cars drive to “Gimmie’s House” where they eat apples and play with Gimmie and Papa. And Pooh-bear is a “silly-bear” who sometimes plays cars too. Oh, my – it’s fun to see John’s imagination.
The Rag Bag Cardi is almost finished! I can’t believe it. It has been so fast to knit – I think that is because it is so much fun to knit stripes.
I added some lace panels to the bottom. I think it adds a bit of contrast and interest to the piece.
I can’t wait to get the front band on and to give it a good bath and blocking session. Hopefully early next week we’ll have a ta-dah post!
Also, I do think bright stripes are a must for January knitting from now on out. It was so happy and fun to knit during the rather quiet month. It added such brightness and happiness to knit with happy colors…
Inspiration, Knitting, My Life, Patterns | 
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January 16th, 2012
by Christina
I wrote this post a little over a week ago but never got around to posting it. But I thought you would enjoy my reflections on a January Tea even if it is a little after the fact.
Today was a perfect January day. The temperatures outside were bitter and biting. The snow on the ground glittered and crunched under your feet.
John and I worked on chores and rewarded ourselves with a “project.” He chose the colors and car. I did the sewing while he watched, fascinated, on a chair beside me.
After lunch we packed the car up and headed off through the woods and over the resevoir to the cousins’ house where we spent our afternoon. Tea was savored – four kinds in fact, books were discussed, crazy events were laughed over, finished projects were displayed and current projects were worked on… all while the wind whistled and blew outside.
Yes, today was a perfect January day.
Inspiration, Knitting, My Life | No Comments »
January 15th, 2012
by Christina
One of the things I love about my family is how inspiring they are to me. My mom and sisters are wonderfully creative – amazingly creative. Each sister has a special talent. And my mom, well… she taught us all we know and then inspired us to go beyond her knowledge.
It was my older sister (I’m right in the middle, so I hope you can forgive me for referring to my sisters as older and younger) who inspired me to create the Mama & Baby Ruffles shawls.
She mentioned that we needed a cute “Baby” shawl for little Laura (her youngest) and of course I agreed. When it was finished she said, “Well, I want one too.” So Mama Ruffles was born. But then we all liked Mama Ruffles better than the first Baby Ruffles (now renamed Shoulder Ruffles) and another shawl was made (now the current Baby Ruffles).
Ah, you see how delightfully complicated inspiration is! =)
If I could dedicate patterns I think I would dedicate this pattern first to my Mom – who inspired me to be creative and then to my sis, Heather, who is a fabulous mother to 5 very creative children… and of course… to little Laura who has made it through so much. Love you little girl!
Here are the links for the patterns.
Mama Ruffles
Baby Ruffles
The new CCKnits Knitting News just went out and it contains a coupon for them. If you are not a subscriber – subscribe. You’ve missed out on this month’s patterns… but you are still in time for the rest of the year!
happy knitting!
C
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January 12th, 2012
by Christina
One of the things I love about winter walks is the starkness of the landscape. There is very little color but a lot of texture in winterscapes. It is as if you are glimpsing the undressed beauty of the earth.
On Sundays John, JK and I like to take walks. This past Sunday we discovered a new walk and were delighted with the experience. John said we were tracking Woozels (sp?) like Pooh and Piglet. We pretended right along with him and even found some deer tracks for him to inspect. I am really enjoying the wonders of my 2-year-old boy. What fun!
I hope you all had a grand, restful weekend.
So sorry for the terrible pics – I only had my phone with me.
And so sorry for the absence earlier in the week. I’ve been working behind the scenes to pull the January newsletter together. Monday is the release day for the newsletter and the new patterns. You’ll want to make sure you’ve signed up!
happy knitting!
Christina
Inspiration, Knitting, Weekending | No Comments »
January 4th, 2012
by Christina
Strange as it may sound, the other day I was musing on this Great Recession we are currently living through, and decided I wanted to come up with a piece that summarized and marked “The Great Recession,” for me.
Hardly anyone around me talks about The Great Recession. I hear about it on the news. I know it is evident in my budget every week when I go food shopping. I feel the pinch in other areas of the household. I know others are going through it too… but it is something that is not talked about in friendly chatter.
In that regard, The Great Recession feels rather lonely. Like something I am experiencing all by myself, when I know I’m not.
And so… I decided… I am going to mark this Great Recession in my own life by knitting a very creative sweater… out of my fingering weight/sock yarn odds and ends. I’m hoping to draw upon the “Make do and mend” mentality to put this piece together.
Perhaps it is my own little “bail-out” to bolster my spirit and soldier on. Hopefully it won’t fail! =)
We shall see how it comes out…but in meanwhile… do you and your friends talk about The Great Recession?
Inspiration, Knitting, My Life | 3 Comments »
December 28th, 2011
by Christina
When I was out and about getting ready for Christmas I popped into my local thrift shop and found some lovely Christmas tablecloths.
Not having any of my own I was so happy to find two!
I washed them, ironed them and got them ready to put on the tables the morning of Christmas Eve so we would have festive attire for the tables all through the weekend.
I tell you, I love thrifting… so many wonderful things can be found!
Inspiration, My Life | No Comments »
December 5th, 2011
by Christina
Saturday my sister and I gathered in my garage for a little homemade wreath making.
We made a big pot of tea, turned up the Christmas music and went to work.
We made 5 wreaths and 3 swags.
We were happy but tired at the end.
And we thought… wouldn’t that be fun to do every year… make wreaths and deliver them to our friends and family as a way of welcoming the Christmas holidays…. hm…
Emily loaded up the wreaths and swags and set about the process of delivering them … what fun…
Holidays, Inspiration, My Life | 1 Comment »
November 15th, 2011
by Christina
I have really been enjoying Wovember - a celebration of 100% wool and all it’s richness.
My Wovember pin arrived in the mail near the end of last week. I pinned it to my coat lapel immediately.
If you look really hard you can just see it by the blurr that is my hand.
Onward 100% wool!
Have any of you joined the Wovember campaign for wool?
Inspiration, Knitting, My Life | 2 Comments »
November 12th, 2011
by Christina
One of the things I love about weekending is the tiny bits of time to carve out some inspiration – times of feeding the creative heart.
I’ve been finding a ton of ideas over on Pinterest (and on the web, which I then pin to Pinterest).
You can find more of my musings on my Pinterest boards here
happy weekending!
Inspiration, My Life | No Comments »
November 11th, 2011
by Christina
Ah, my friends, I came to a full stop today. Sick in bed with a rather nasty cold. Tried to keep managing things from bed… until I gave up.
I’m watching the first snow flurries fall and musing upon these wonderful wooly posts here and here.
Inspiration, My Life | No Comments »
