Archive for ‘Reviews’

March 1st, 2012

Small Things

by Christina

japanese crochet

Hello friends and a special welcome to Small Things readers.

Over the weekend I found these lovely crochet flowers in a cupboard drawer. Isn’t that terrible? These beautiful, colorful circles all crumpled together lying dormant and unused.

A year ago  I was inspired by Attic 24‘s lovely Japanese Flower Scarf and desperately wanted to start one of my own. You know how that goes, I hope. Peer pressure, envy, inspiration – at times they are one and the same. But I just didn’t have time to finish the scarf so my completed flowers lay for an entire year in a dark drawer.

“Why not stitch these flowers together and make a table runner.” I mused to myself. And so I did. While John played cars Monday morning I “played” cars with him and stitched these lovely flowers together. And now, voila, I have a lovely springy table runner.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, 68F and sunny. So I brought the table runner to the sun room, grabbed my work and did a little number crunching for a new pattern between little bits of playtime with John. Absolutely blissful.

PS: This month I’ve joined the sponsorship team over on Ginny’s wonderful blog, Small Things.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to spend time on her blog, head on over there. I’m sure you will be delighted with her writing style as I have. And don’t forget Yarn Along Wednesdays – I always look forward to that!

CategoryMothering, My Life, Reviews | Comment4 Comments »

February 23rd, 2012

Top Ten Knitting (and crochet) Blogs

by Christina

knitted lace shawl

At several of the last gatherings I’ve been to lately the topic of ,”What are your favorite blogs?” would eventually surface.

It’s rather fun to ask your friends. Some times you find that your friends read the same blogs and some times they lead you to discover a new one that you have never read before.

At one particular tea we all promised to send an email out with our top favorites. Well, you know how it is, one forgets, one gets busy, life pushes into the way.

Instead I thought I would list them here so that you all can check them out. Perhaps a few of them are your favorites already.

#1: Attic 24
Technically this is a crochet blog. But it is such a favorite of mine. Oh, my. Just a moment on Attic 24 can give me so much color inspiration. Lucy is a master painter with color.   Her chatter about her family and her home life is also encouraging because it is so similar to my own.

#2: Do you mind if I Knit?
Don’t you just love that name? And haven’t you found yourself asking that same question of your friends?  Vanessa Caban is a talented illustrator. In fact you may have read your child one of her books. I know I have. But her knitting…ah, there I loose myself… and her knitted dresses… some day I will knit myself more dresses.

#3 Curlew Country
I love Curlew Country’s outings with her children and family - oh, I could just live in those wonderful outing into the English countryside. They inspire me to get out into the nature around me.

 

#4 Posie Gets Cozy
I really appreciate Alicia’s simple take on knitting. It is refreshing, almost grounding. There is also something so comforting in seeing the simple aspects of knitting.
#5 Knitspot
Anne Hanson is a wonder at productivity. I love her blog because I can always count on a post. (Unlike spotty me). Her garden posts mark my summer days and encourage me along in my own garden.
#6 Lori times five

Lori is a recent discovery and I have enjoyed her photography and her knitting. The pictures of beach knitting make me want to fly away to the beach.

 

#7 Small Things
Ginny’s blog reminds me that life is simple so keep it simple. It is such a great blessing to be reminded of this fact. Her yarn alongs every Wednesday have become something I really look forward to.

 

#8 Blackberry Rambles
My sister’s blog. Even though we talk every day and live only 12 minutes away from each other there are aspects of her life that I miss and discover on her blog.  It is always a treat to read and an inspiration – well, she’s always been an inspiration to me – you know, the big sis that can do everything amazingly well.

 

#9 Soule Mama
Another blog that I love right now. There is something about her quietness, her joy she finds in her children and her simple knitting that soothes me. As a mom it is so helpful to hear other mothers talk about life with children.

#10 Needled
Kate Davies, isn’t she marvelous? The things she has been through and the things she has accomplished. I love it because her story is a story of strength and beauty. She uses the beauty of knitting and her designs to weave a tale of hope and that to me is quite inspiring.

What about you? Do you read some of these blogs? What are your favorites? Perhaps you have a few to introduce us to.

CategoryInspiration, Knitting, Reviews | Comment5 Comments »

November 27th, 2011

Thanksgiving

by Christina

thanksgiving activitiesthanksgiving activities

It always happens to me when I host Thanksgiving. Somehow in all the hustle and bustle the camera gets set down and never picked up again and I am left with no pictures of the day. Ah, well, thankfully I have photographers in the family.

The day was delightful – all that I hoped it would be. Emily came over and cooked with me in the kitchen – cooking with people is always better to me than cooking alone.

When everyone arrived we took a long walk in our local forest preserve. It got everyone chatting and interacting and hungry!

When we arrived home I found that I had not timed the turkey perfectly… and he was a little brown. But that didn’t matter… I was enjoying myself.

The children had some fun activities to do… making Mayflower boats, decorating the front bushes with Christmas Lights (all by themselves) and watching White Christmas

The day closed with Trader’s Point Creamery’s eggnog spiked with run and some wonderful desserts made by Heather.  (if you haven’t tasted TPC’s eggnog – you must – it’s the real deal and very good!)

And so my friends, we have entered the holiday season. I’m trying to savor each moment… the year always closes with such rapidity… I hate to see time pass so quickly….

 

Oooh… I have to let you know – the Beekman Boys Thanksgiving menu was impeccable! I loved cooking it – I kinda felt like I was cooking a “designer” menu. I loved having something you made ahead, somethings that popped in to the oven while you worked on a few things on the stove top…. I thought it was very well thought out. I haven’t gotten my hands on their new cookbook, but now I can’t wait! So… three cheers to the Beekman Boys for such wonderful food!

I finished the Beekman Boys’ other book right before Thanksgiving. If you have not read “The Bucolic Plague: How two manhattanites became gentlemen farmers” you really should – you will laugh and cry with them and be inspired. I just want them to get a few sheep now so they can sell their own wool and I can do a few designs for them! =)

CategoryHolidays, My Life, Reviews | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
November 8th, 2011

The arrival of Loft

by Christina

Brooklyn Tweed Loft
It only took a couple of days after Jared came out with his new line of wool, Loft, for me to decide I needed to try a skein.

The package arrived yesterday at the end of the day. The perfect time to cheer up a tired mama.

Brooklyn Tweed Loft

I tore in to the package eager to touch the skein and see what it is like.

Oh, the wonder of it! It is soft and squishy and lofty! No wonder why it is called Loft. This is a yarn that will have a lot of bloom to it.

I am terribly eager to get it on the needles.

Three cheers to Jared for giving us another great product – and an all American product at that.

Have any of you tried Loft yet? Is it on your wish list for Christmas?

CategoryKnitting, Reviews | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
November 1st, 2011

Simply Socks

by Christina

A few Saturdays ago I got up fairly early, stopped by my local Starbucks for a steaming cup of coffee, plugged in my ipod and hit the road for Fort Wayne, Indiana, the home town of Simply Socks.

If you are a die-hard sock knitter you will most likely know about Simply Socks and their wonderful online store. Well, they open their “warehouse” two Saturdays out of the month for knitters to come and shop in person.

I was a little unprepared for just how wonderful the warehouse would be. Allison, the wonderful owner, had just restored a 1948 Post Office and moved the warehouse there. You should check out the full restoration story here.

I wandered around between the shelves in awe. Skeins of yarn by Indie dyers that are hard to get because their Etsy shops sell out so quickly were sitting on the shelves. The complete list of yarn they carry is here.

Unfortunately I had a yarn budget I had to stick hard and fast to (don’t you hate to even bring up the word ‘yarn budget.’)

However, only my list to try next time is Black Trillium Fibre . It was a new dyer (to me) and I was thrilled with the sheen and vibrancy of the yarn.

I walked out with the following:

Fleece Artist Blue Face Leicester sock yarn in a crimson red.

Some of Tanis Fiber Arts sock yarn in a steel-blue gray. I’ve been wanting to try Tanis’ yarn for some time now.

And then Simply Socks’ own brand of sock yarn – a solid line with an amazing selection of colors.

My visit to Simply Socks was dual purposed. I was scheduled to meet Lara of the Math4Knitters Podcast. She wanted to interview me for her podcast airing in December. I was a little nervous to say the least. Lara turned out to be sooooo delightful and fun to talk to. If you are unfamiliar with her podcast or patterns for the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, you should definitely check them out. We did the interview in the cupcake bakery directly across the street from Simply Socks with steaming cups of coffee in our hands. I’m sure it wasn’t the best place to record an interview but it was certainly a comfortable and idyllic place.

Well, I had better run, more things to do before the little guy wakes from his gentle slumber!

ta-ta for now!

CategoryKnitting, My Life, Reviews | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
October 24th, 2011

Mothering Monday

by Christina

Green baby Shoes by Rose-Anne Russell

Wooden alphabet blocks by Magens Bay Designs

alphabet blocks by Little Sapling Toys

 

One of my favorite bloggers – A Cup of Jo – always has a Motherhood post among her monday write ups.

Her posts are simple, thoughtful and encouraging. Something that as a mother, you really need. Especially on a monday!

For some reason Mondays are the worst day of the week around our house. John is usually tired from a wonderful weekend – lots of rough and tumbly stuff with daddy when he can spare a moment and lots of variation from routine.

On Mondays we try to get back into the saddle of our weekly routine and well, it’s always rough.

So I thought I’d start some Mothering Monday posts. 1- to remind myself of the goodness of mothering and 2 – to hopefully encourage all of you starting your mondays with your little ones or the little ones you are around.

I don’t really want to call them “Motherhood Mondays” because – well, to be honest with you there are a few people in our day and age that are not mothers but do quite a bit of mothering.

With that… as you can see from the pictures above shoes and the alphabet are at the top of my mothering list right now.

In the shoe department I am trying to solve the dilemma of transitioning from summer  - where open shoes and no shoes were de rigueur  - to fall where we must where shoes to keep warm. John keeps taking his shoes off – even when I bought him the next size up.

I’m thinking soft shoes might be a good compromise…..

In the alphabet department I am realizing that it’s time for John to start learning his letters. Wow! How did we get here?

So much of mothering seems to be creating the right environment for a child to learn. Giving the child the next stepping stone when they are ready. Withholding some stepping stones when they seem overwhelmed or burdened by too much.

I was astounded to listen to John “read” our alphabet book to himself the other day (He tried but couldn’t go beyond A B C). He has a strong mastery of his colors and numbers up to 10 – I guess it is time for the alphabet!

 

CategoryMy Life, Reviews | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
October 20th, 2011

Shetland Wool Week

by Christina

Shetland Wool Week took place October 10 through the 16. I would have LOVED to have gone and soaked up all the knitterly wisdom and inspiration. But alas, that wasn’t in the forecast for me.

Instead I have been reading ferociously every little thing Needled (Kate Davies) posts about her time. If you haven’t read anything about the Shetland Wool Week you should grab a cup of tea and sit down for a good read. You won’t regret it – it has been terribly inspiring for me.

Don’t miss any one of Kate’s posts:

Shetland Knitting Inspiration

An Afternoon with Hazel Tindal

Knit Real Shetland

Shetland Wool Week

Shep Heid – a post about her lovely design for Shetland Wool Week

 

CategoryInspiration, Knitting, Reviews | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
September 30th, 2011

Finding a Jewel – The Winter Harbor Inn

by Christina

It was a cold, foggy morning in Maine. We were on our way to hike Schoodic in Acadia National Park when we saw the sign for the Winter Harbor Inn and the words “coffee bar.” “Now that sounds perfect.” said JK. So we decided to stop.

Before we unbuckled John and carted him and his perpetual load of cars and toys into the coffee bar, it was determined that JK should go inside and scout the place out. He came back rather quickly and said, “You’ve got to come in. This place is a gem.”

That was a big understatement.

We walked into a beautifully restored Inn and were welcomed by the most warm-hearted Innkeeper I have ever met. Elsie (the innkeeper) made us feel so welcome and at home even though we were just having a cup of coffee.

She was just about to make a fritta and begged us to try it. It was AMAZING! Roasted garlic, organic chicken, green peppers, roasted tomatoes, basil – it was soooo good. John, my persnickety eater, the boy I shed tears over because it is so hard to get him to eat ANYTHING, ate every bite we offered him! Fresh corn muffins and peach chutney accompanied the plate.

 

The new tin ceiling in the coffee bar - too cool for words

After the exhaustion of being sick being welcomed so warmly into a beautiful Inn and invited to partake of such delicious food felt like an angel had swooped down and taken care of us for an hour. I can’t even put into words how touched I was by the experience.

“JK, ” I said as we pulled away, ” I think I’ve come up with the perfect Maine vacation.”

“Okay.”

“Fly in to the Bar Harbor airport, take the ferry from Bar Harbor to Winter Harbor, stay at the Winter Harbor Inn and avoid all the crazy crowds in Bar Harbor and when you want to hike or spend time by the water, take the ferry back over to Bar Harbor and catch the Acadia National Park bus which will take you anywhere in the park for free. Talk about easy and carefree.”

He agreed!

I should note, just in case any of you should want to do this that if you stay at Elise’s Inn in Winter Harbor you get a huge discount on the ferry that takes you from Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor.

ah, now how to go back every week and have her yummy food! ?

CategoryMy Life, Reviews | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
August 12th, 2011

Nurture – The Store

by Christina

Wednesday, late morning, my sister and I packed John in the car and headed downtown Indianapolis for a little shopping.

One of my favorite stores to go into is on Mass Ave and is called”Nurture.” It is a lovely little boutique for children, filled to brim with adorable things.

This visit was a little different though. The sweet girl behind the counter immediately drew us into conversation. Excitedly she showed us things in the shop that are made by local Indiana artists – hats, bibs, bunting….

baby quilts – locally made

leather shoes – all hand sewn and locally made

adorable little toys – again, locally made

It was absolutely wonderful to see!

So if you are in the market for a special baby/children’s gift – you will definitely find it at Nurture.

I know I’m now wishing I had purchased this bib for John:

hmm…. I may just have to make another visit down there.

CategoryInspiration, Reviews | Comment1 Comment »

June 23rd, 2011

Summer Books

by Christina

I love NPR’s stories on “Summer Reads.” It’s so much fun to listen to. It always leads me to dreaming about lazy days on the beach with a good book in hand and a large hat on. Somehow that dream hasn’t become reality for awhile now. But, that’s okay! I can still enjoy good books.

The Knitter’s Year by Debbie Bliss is one that I am enjoying leafing through and soaking up the wonderful photography and colors. Simple, short projects is the name of the game in the book. It could really be a stash buster book! The tea cozy is going to be cast onto my needles soon – it’s so traditional, I’ve got to make it.

LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved this book on so many levels. One because I could relate to the small business/crafting side of it and on another because I have two sisters. This is a true story about a young woman in Afghanistan who starts a tailoring business to provide for her family. I found the heart Kamila has for helping her community and other women provide for their families extremely inspiring. What a woman and what a story!

…ah, yeah, I can’t believe I’m admitting it. I’m a fan of M.C. Beaton. Reading Beaton for me is like indulging in a bit of chocolate at the end of the day. It’s so light and funny and interesting. I love the way Beaton portrays people and their character. So yes, I had to read her newest Hamish MacBeth Mystery and I really enjoyed it.

Another book that is just blissful to leaf through. Ah… what fun! And to dream about making things I never have time to make. But you know, you can keep on dreaming, can’t you?

so what books are you leafing through?

PS: I am reading “The Fear” at the moment, by Peter Godwin. Peter is a Fabulous author! LOVE his books and I eat up his writing. I have read Peter’s two previous books about Zimbabwe and Africa. But I could hardly recommend this book as summer reading. It is heart breaking as it describes the political genocide that took place after the 2008 elections. I’ve had to take long breaks from it. But if you are at all interested in current world events it is a book to read.

CategoryInspiration, My Life, Reviews | CommentNo Comments »

« Older Entries