Rocks Paper Scissors

ALMOST 4 YEARS!

2011-03-22T09:03:00.004-04:00

How do I know how long it took? I bought the yarn on one of my first trips to see brand new baby Oliver who is turning 4 in May. Granted I took a long break when I was knitting it. It's Lorna's lace and very much like knitting with a spider web.

I made stuff!

2011-03-02T11:23:00.000-05:00

I'm home sick and am catching up on downloading pictures and stuff like that. I figured I'd be crazy and post something that I made for my friend's daughters for Christmas---some flower barrettes and pony tail bands. CJ, grow some hair so I can make some for you!

Pants!

2010-06-10T10:40:00.004-04:00

I think it was on the Made blog that I saw a tutorial for making simple pull-on pants for boys. So obvious, really, but I never would have thought of it myself. You just trace a pair that you already have, cut out 4 pieces, and sew them together. Oh, wait. I forgot the step where you rip it out umpteen times because you can't figure out how the heck pants are assembled.

Anyway, this super-cute elephant fabric jumped out at me when I went to Spool in Philadelphia a few months ago. I had to get some since Z loves elephants. I was pretty happy with how the pants turned out, and Zack seemed to be OK with them, too.

Note the armful of trucks. This is a constant around our house.

And they worked for an impromptu dip in the pool, too.

I was so amused with these that I had to make him another pair. This is a craptastic picture, but I love this pair--gray cotton with a chartreuse waistband. He looks like a little yoga boy when he wears them with his Crocs.

After making these I had a sudden flash of brilliance--that this technique would probably work for simple drawstring pajama shorts for me, too! I wear pj shorts all year long, but the only ones that I can find that I like only come in flannel, cost an annoying amount for what they are, and, well, flannel in summer? Not so much. So I tried it--traced a pair of the ones that I like, used some cotton that I had, and sewed them up (after ripping them out about 3 times). I used grosgrain ribbon for the tie. And now they're in the laundry, so no pictures. But as far as I'm concerned, the experiment was a success that resulted in some lightweight pj bottoms that I'll wear a lot. Woo hoo!

Spring Stuff & a little bit of Christmas!

2010-04-15T10:20:00.009-04:00

I started this small Christmas sampler about 2 years ago but lost interest in it because it was sort of insignificant looking. I got the idea to use a memory box to frame it and make it more interesting. Good thing I have so much Christmas stuff. I crawled through alot of boxs to find this stuff!

I realize this may not be to everyone's liking but I have a thing for old tombstones. It was a ton of stitching but was the first new project I had done in cross stitching in a long time. It was also fun to put together. Got me up at that sewing machine.

This is my bits and bobs necklace. Just old 'junk' I picked up here and there. Every time I have it on it gets noticed. Must be the disco ball;). I am thinking of doing more since I have LOTS of 'junk'.

Some of the stones for these necklaces came from our trip to Yellowstone. I didn't know what to do with them but then I saw the site (Tweak? Treet?) on PW's blog and thought I'd give it a try.

The pear is stitched on all 3 sides with different motifs and sat unfinished for 3 or more years. I was afraid of the finishing job. It's scary to cut into fabric that not only ravels like crazy but has a significant amount of stitching on it. It actually went well once I got brave.

So that's it! I should have broken these up into 5 separate blogs but I figured I would just lay it on you all at once.

It's Finished & It Fits!!

2010-03-15T11:13:00.002-04:00

Wow! It's been so long since I posted I almost forgot how. I finished Oliver's sweater and amazingly it fits, well, like it was made for him. I didn't change a single thing from the pattern. I LOVED that there was not one single seam. It was a fun pattern to do. Now if I could just knit faster. I also made the mask and Oliver liked it. He's big into super heroes right now. Working on some other things so maybe it won't be forever until I post again.

The drought has ended.

2010-02-22T09:03:00.005-05:00

So I've made some stuff. Actually, I've been making lots of stuff, I just don't quite get around to posting.

So in some strange way, this is my favorite corner of the house, though I don't seem to be able to photograph it very well. Something about the Zack-height hooks, with the little coats, and the little boots just gets me. And I've just added a little bag to the hooks, to wrangle his hats and mittens.

A closer look.

The owner of these little hats, coats and boots just turned 2. Somehow. I'm not entirely sure how. But he is quite quick to tell you how old he is when asked.

Less than a week before his birthday party I got the idea that he needed a Birthday Crown. And wouldn't it be cute if I were to give those away as favors to the other kids? Though at the time of this brilliant idea, only one other little girl was coming. In the end, 5 other kids came. So I made 6 crowns.

This is Zack's.

These are the rest.

Here's an action shot.

I must say that the crowns weren't a bit hit with the under-10 crowd. The kids were either in the don't-put-anything-on-my-head stage, or the I'm-too-cool/old-for-this stage. But I knew it was a bit of a crap shoot going in, and I had a lot of fun making them, so I didn't really mind.

A hat

2009-10-16T13:02:00.003-04:00

I know that anything I make right now it completely trumped by what Kristen made.

And what Kristen made is remarkably adorable and I'm totally in love with her even if I've never met her and I'm horribly jealous of Patti right now. And if more pictures of this sweet little girl were to be sent to me, I wouldn't complain one bit.

Can I just take a moment to say how strange it is to see another baby in our carseat? I can't quite explain it, but it's STRANGE. Because Z was NEVER that small. Even if he was the exact same size as Caroline when he was born. Ahem.

But I'll post my meager little creation anyway. I made a hat for another baby that was born recently, Ella, who is the daughter of Rob's biological brother. Ella (and her parents) live in New Hampshire, so I thought she'd probably need something to keep her ears warm.

I tried to get a modeled shot, but, well, you can see that the model was being temperamental.

So here's a still.

It's Knitty.com's Toasty Topper, in Berocco's Ultra Alpaca. I've made this before and it's just a great hat. Zack's still fits him from last year, it stays on, it's not too itchy. And the best part? Only one end to weave in. Woo hoo!

I knit a sweater. And it fits.

2009-10-05T10:10:00.003-04:00

This really is something of a miracle, as none of the baby sweaters I've knit have ever fit. Neither of the ones that I've made for Zack did. I made one for the daughter of a friend of mine and it was closer to fitting my friend than her daughter. I have gauge and choice-of-yarn issues.

So this year when we were on vacation and went to the lovely little yarn store in Mystic and Rob said "Hey, this yarn would make a great sweater for Zack", I think I cringed because we'd done the same song and dance the previous year and got one of the aforementioned poorly fitting sweaters. But I like to encourage Rob in his aiding and abetting of buying wool, so I sighed and resigned myself. He was right--it was beautiful yarn, a great color for Zack. So I asked one of the helpful ladies at the store what pattern would be good for the yarn, something simple, no bells and whistles. And she pulled out a pattern that I never would have given a second thought, but is, in fact, brilliant and perfect for me. It's knit all in one piece from the top down--so no seaming. I cast on Monday morning while I waiting at the hospital for Rob to have some tests done and finished it Friday night. And yes, it is a merino sweater for a 19 month old. But I had such fun knitting it I can't wait to knit another one!

Most importantly (and amazingly!), it fits. And may fit him next year (though I may have to extend the sleeves). While (dare I say) the choice of model helps with the presentation, I think it turned out pretty well.

The nursery

2009-09-25T08:17:00.005-04:00

Here's some pictures of the little outlaw's room -- its finally coming together after a missed furniture delivery, a crib skirt sewing meltdown, and a serious tussle with some oversized curtains. What do you think? Note all the special treats that make the room gorgeous -- mom's "coming home from the hospital" outfits sitting on the changing pad -- ready to go!, auntie amy's quilt at the foot of the bed, and auntie erica's quilt over the back of E's grandmother's rocker. Not to mention the bookshelf made for me by Poppa almost 10 years ago and her Atlanta Braves mobile! Its very cozy, and it gets wonderful afternoon sunshine. What you can't see is raggedy ann, sitting in the crib and making me cry everytime I get a glimpse of her. Thanks mom! :)

At the bottom you'll see a picture of the new house -- mom's been asking what it looks like so I snapped a photo this morning. Note the grey skies, heavy with another 5 days of rain that's coming this afternoon!

Let me know what you think. The only things left to do are to hang the artwork, put her clothes in the drawers, and spend some quality time with the goo gone, getting the warning stickers off the wood crib. Who does that??!

'Round and 'round and 'round she goes....

2009-07-27T11:36:00.004-04:00

I've been going around in circles lately.

First I made the Hemlock Ring Shawl. I think his photos are what did me in--I'd want to knit a toilet paper cozy if he photographed it.

My pictures aren't nearly so lovely, but I hope you get the idea. It's knit in this absolutely yummy alpaca that we'd bought in Santa Fe, originally intended for a sweater for Rob. Until we realized that he'd die of heat exhaustion if he were to wear it. Instead he became concerned that I was going to start knitting doilies, not an entirely unfounded concern since this is a doily pattern just knit in heavier yarn.

Hemlock Ring ended up being very small, but I loved knitting in circles. So I started on Shipwreck.

This is also out of alpaca that I'd gotten at Maryland Sheep and Wool a couple years ago for something else entirely. This went very, very quickly and is a lot bigger.

It's big enough and airy enough that I could double it and wear it as a shawl, albeit a shawl that will shed white fibers all over everything.

Shipwreck is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi shawl from Knitter's Almanac. Being somewhat obsessed at this point, and having a gift certificate to my LYS courtesy of my brother (thanks, DB!), I went and got the book. It's a very cool pattern that you can modify in countless ways, but I kept it simple. I used Churro wool that I bought at Tierra Wools the first time I went to New Mexico in 1998. Rob and I drove our rented Seabring over the mountains through a snow storm to the miniscule town of Los Ojos to go to this hand weaving store that I'd read about on the internet. I'm quite certain he thought I was insane. We picked out this yarn with the intention of it becoming a blanket some day. It only took 11 years. But I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it.

It's really wide--about 5 feet. And wow, is it warm!

Can I just go on a minute about how I've become a complete convert to blocking? Washing the wool and stretching it out just makes such a difference in how the blanket looks and feels. Particularly this last one. It's now so drapy and soft, and the pattern pops out so much more than it did unblocked.

The morals of the story:
1. Knitting in circles is a lot of fun--no purling! I'm working on another top secret one now.
2. Go ahead and buy that yarn--you'll use it eventually.
3. Blocking rocks!

More from Quincy

2009-07-06T21:02:00.002-04:00

happy belated 4th.
here is the crayon bag that i made for my friend brandi's little girl, addie. it's for her birthday which was in april. oops! better late than never, right? the draw string bag is for brandi's birthday which was last week. i'll be seeing her on wednesday so i hope she doesn't follow this blog or i've ruined the surprise. i hope you all had a nice 4th.

summah? it's almost wintah!

2009-06-18T20:14:00.005-04:00

here are some projects i've been working on over the past-i'd rather not say how long. this hat was my first done on circular needles, which i still hate them.

this is a scarf knitted with fabric. the knitting was really quick but the cutting and tying the strips together was the time consuming part.
these are some wall hangings i made for my mom and myself. so i made 8 altogether 2 of each design. i had quite the assembly line going.

these were also my first attempt at machine quilting. i didn't use a template or anything. i pretty much just closed my eyes and did it.
this extra long skinny scarf is cool because i got the yarn at the east aurora dollar store. so it's a $2.00 scarf.

As requested..

2009-04-28T14:18:00.003-04:00

Trying some new techniques. It is a mix of old and a little new. I will need to scour the flea markets if I want to make more. Keep your eyes open for junky old stuff that can be taken apart.

A New Baby Gift

2009-04-24T11:21:00.004-04:00

A gift for a little baby named Henry who is due to make his appearance any day now. I knitted his big sister a blanket when she was born but didn't want to knit another so I did this simpler and faster blanket. Of course, I had to knit something and fell back on the old reliable umbilical cord hat. I just love this pattern. I realize this seems like a heavy gift for a spring baby but after all he does live in OR.

Anyone else making anything? I need some inspiration. Finally a nice weekend here-in the 70s so maybe I'll do some gardening? Patti

I'm still here and I'm still crafting

2009-03-09T20:04:00.007-04:00

i've been gone awhile (i guess that's what happens when you have a baby). Erica, you amaze me with all your crafting. i don't know how you do it. i thought i would share some of my most recent crafty projects. first, i made oliver an alphabet book/scrapbook. i had the cardstock letters and decided i could make a cool book about the alphabet and oliver. i don't know why the pictures are turned. i tried it twice but i think you can still get the idea.

next, i made this fabric book, again for oliver. this was so easy. i bought the fabric in east aurora.

front cover

Finally, this project was inspired by the choo,choo blanket (AKA thomas the train blanket) that nonna made oliver. we were in joann fabrics getting nonna a gift card for her birthday and oliver found the Nemo fleece. how could i say no to that cute little boy? so one side is Nemo and the other is cookie monster (another favorite right now). this fleece tie blanket was so easy, i couldn't believe it. i made it in less than an hour. crazy.

i hope you enjoyed my return to our fabulous blog. i'll try not to be such a stranger.

Parts!

2009-03-05T10:28:00.002-05:00

This is what I did yesterday. The watch is an old Bulova given to me by a red headed high school boyfriend. The chain is a flea market find and the dangles are from necklaces I already had . Is it wrong to use my diamond neclaces like this instead of wearing them on seperate chains? I quess I can undo this and return them to their proper places where they will probably get stuck in the back of my jewelry box and be forgotten.

How is everyone? Me, I'm longing for spring. In other news I joined a real gym and am questioning the sanity of my decisions. Maybe the second week will be easier?

Miss You~Patti

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

2009-02-25T14:24:00.003-05:00

I made some hearts for the little sweeties in my life (Kayla, Haley, and Zack).

I conveniently got sick before Valentine's Day and this was the perfect project for recuperating. I used absurdly expensive wool felt from PurlSoho. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to use craft felt again. I'm not a huge fan of hand stitching, but these were small and simple enough that they were fun to make.

Stuff!

2009-02-10T10:10:00.003-05:00

I made a mouse for one of my wall boxes. It took me back to my folk art days when I was doing shows. I REALLY enjoyed only having to do one instead of a dozen. Made me wonder how I ever got all that stuff done. Do I miss it, you ask? Not one little bit. I am concerned about myself tho as I find I have named the mouse and am making up stories about his adventures. Stay alert! I may need an intervention.

These are Oliver's Valentine present. Made out of polar fleece. Don't worry, they are not as long as this photo makes them appear.

This project was done at Christmas time and makes me smile whenever I catch a glimpse of her sparkling in the sunlight, which hasn't been all that often in EA this winter. I got to use some stuff from my stash. The idea came from a magazine, maybe Cloth Paper Scissors...

That's all I've got for now. Oh wait! I made a pair of cropped pants out of brown knit and they seem to have turned out OK. Will let you know after I get to wear them.

Love~Patti

Christmas has come...and gone

2009-01-29T08:57:00.007-05:00

As most of you know, I've now got a "helper" in the crafts department.

Like a moth to a flame, as soon as I start knitting he's there, doing his best to unravel the ball of yarn or impale himself on knitting needles.

This cuts back on productivity.

But I did manage to make a few things for Christmas that I thought I'd share. Most were for my friend Deb's daughters, Kayla and Haley.

They both got splat mats, made from laminated cotton. (You can see the one I made for Zack in the picture above--it's the polka-dotted thing). (Edited to add: The tutorial I based these on is here, though I made some mods.)

I also made them hats, like the one that I made for Zack.
It's the Knitty pattern Toasty Topper, in the yarn called for. I made Kayla's (the purple one) a little bigger by knitting a little looser and adding a few rows, but I don't think I would have needed to.

I also made a cowl for K, which I suppose I should let her blog about, but she's busy with that new company of hers, so I'll post for her.
It's Anne Hanson's Spiraluscious pattern. I used Koigu KPPPM, which I'd heard people rave about before, and now I can understand why. It's really nice to knit with and I loved watching the colors change as I knit. The pattern was lots of fun, too. Except for the part where I realized that I was knitting the trim on the bottom completely backwards. Not only was I on the wrong side, but I'd been systematically reading the pattern backwards--brilliant. So I had to rip out about 1/3 of the trim and redo it.

Now K can post action shots.

Christmas is coming!

2008-12-05T10:50:00.003-05:00

I decorated for xmas this year -- haven't done that in a long while because honestly I haven't been entertaining and my old house wasn't particularly inspiring. But this year, my new employees are coming over for cocktails for the holidays, (and I have MANTLES -- one in every room!) and so I pulled out all the stops. The porch took me all of Thanksgiving day (and I could walk the rest of the weekend because of going up the ladder so many times!).
What do you think??

A gift...

2008-11-18T08:56:00.002-05:00

... for Adam's friend. Adam and Mike have been friends since high school along with Matt. All three now have beautiful little boys! Patti

Baby's got brand new hat!

2008-11-11T12:02:00.002-05:00

It's the Toasty Topper from Knitty.com. I knit it in a day. It's a great pattern--only one end to sew in! I used the yarn it called for, though in Erica Blue (though I don't think that's what they called it on the label). I like it because it keeps his neck warm, it stays on, and it doesn't fall over his eyes.

Rhinebeck

2008-10-31T13:45:00.000-04:00

I'm such a bad blogger. These are the only 3 pictures I took at Rhinebeck.

This is the angora goat that Margaret wanted to take home.
I did buy yarn, though. I tried to stay away from Erica Blue and Weimaraner again, and I did pretty well.

This one is actually very subtle shades of green and gold and isn't as drab as it seems here.
You can see it a little better here. That's 2500 yards of lace weight, baby!
The hank shows the colors of this one better, but I like the yarn cake pictures.
There had to be just a little bit of my blue.
I'm curious to see how it'll knit up.

So Rhinebeck was good, but I'm not sure why it's better than MD Sheep and Wool. Except for the time of year. Scenes like this
and this
make you feel more like knitting than a nice May day. But I don't think there were any more vendors at Rhinebeck, I'm not sure the vendors were better, and you had to pay to get in. Plus, there wasn't nearly as much lamb to be eaten. I'm not sure I'd make the trek if we didn't have friends that live so close by.

But since we do, I may just invite myself up again next year.

What..me swatch? NEVER!

2008-10-28T10:24:00.004-04:00

See this cute "little" pumpkin hat I knit for Oliver? Who needs to swatch? It's just a hat ...Adam was very diplomatic when he called to say the package had arrived and it was a bit big but very cute.

OK, Adam. I get it. It's ENORMOUS.

I sat down and actually swatched! I discovered I needed to go down 2 needle sizes and I cut the circumference by 8 stitches. I'm mailing the new one today and have my fingers crossed.

Lesson learned! Patti

Look, I made two green things!

2008-10-16T12:01:00.005-04:00

I made this guy...
...a sweater.
Yarn look familiar, K? There's still some left, if you want it back.
It's from Weekend Knits, and made of linen yarn, generously donated by K. Maybe if I wasn't actually attending to the baby I was making the sweater for, it would have been done in a weekend. Suffice it to say, it was not. It's too big, but it's in the washer as we speak, and I figure he'll fit into it before the winter is out.

The second green thing is a scarf.

Imagine, me making a scarf. Oh, the novelty.

The pattern, from Green Mountain Spinnery, and the yarn were purchased this past May at MDSW.
I'm totally enthralled by these stitches that are super simple but make the fabric turn into some shape other than square. I'm making another scarf like that now, and it's just amuses me to no end.

Not that it takes much.

I've also decided that I REALLY like sock yarn for scarves. Making socks holds no interest for me (which I think may be blasphemy these days, but so be it), but the yarn rocks for scarves. Soft, drapy, and shows patterns fabulously. I think I'll be looking for some more when I'm at Rhinebeck this weekend.

Oh, wait, did I tell you I was going to Rhinebeck? Turns out, our friends Dom & Margaret live about 30 minutes away from it and Margaret has wanted to check it out for awhile now, but never has.

Which was all the opening I needed to invite ourselves up for the weekend.

Happy Birthday Dear Erica ...

2008-10-12T19:56:00.004-04:00

I did the math tonight, my almost sister -- we've been friends for going on 16 years now. And here's what I know ...

Whether you're dressing up for Halloween using only dorm-room supplies ....

Having a good laugh (was it my bad posture, frighteningly red lipstick/fingernails, or gay soon-to-be-husband that you found so funny?)

Sipping gin and tonics before an impending downpour ...

Parading around in your underwear ... Giving me a dirty look for taking your picture when your feet hurt and you can't do the conversion from Danish Kroners to American dollars in your head ...
Or about to birth a baby ANY MINUTE ...
You just keep getting more and more beautiful! Love you E -- have the best birthday ever!

Deck to Patio

2008-09-25T18:42:00.003-04:00

This is what was left of the old deck as the project began. Wood is all removed and the jack hammers were brought in to break up the OLD cement under the deck. The noise rattled my brain and set my teeth on edge.
Here comes the cement truck. It ran over my ferns and left huges tire tracks in the lawn. One can only hope that the snow will cover the destruction and in the spring everything will will be magically healed. Yea, right!

Mark waded right in and I was regretting the BRIGHT ORANGE color. They assured me that the antiquing and drying process would mellow it all out. P.S. I think Mark's wife should kick his butt for coming home with boots caked in cement.

Finally, after whatt seemed like forever, they started stamping. I now understand when someone says it's as boring as waiting for cement to dry. Everything turned to a very dusty gray. Good Lord! What have I done?
Finally, the antiquing/release agent is washed off and I start to relax.
This London cobblestone looks pretty good , if I do say so myself....
Yup, I really think I like it. What do you think?

Posted by Patti/Mom/Nonna

Geckos!!

2008-09-16T10:41:00.003-04:00

This was a fun little project I did before I left for Boston last week! Who doesn't love pajama pants?

Oliver did love them but he loved my cell phone better. I made a quick trip to JoAnn's and bought some dinosaur fabric and some fire engine fabric but sadly, they were out of cell phones.

The only complication was the elastic waist band. I had to shorten the elastic twice. Who knew a toddler's waist was so small?

Zack's Sack

2008-08-14T10:06:00.006-04:00

I did a little sewing last weekend.

It's a zipper bag for those times when we don't want to lug the diaper bag, but have a few more Zack-related items than will fit in the Skip Hop (which we use all the time, K--thanks!).
(Note the tomatoes from our garden in the background. The ones I manged to pick before someone stole them.)

It's about 12" x 14", and I had the brilliant idea to add a handle to it. Now I want to make another one for me to use as a clutch.
A gratuitous Zack shot, with his Sack.
"Thanks, Mom"

I'm moving on up ...

2008-07-26T12:35:00.004-04:00

In the immortal words of George Jefferson, I AM moving on up -- up the street, in fact, to a new neighborhood (more neighbors, fewer murders) and a new "southern front porch" way of life (I've mastered mint juleps but still can't stomach sweet tea). Its hard to quantify how much happeir I am here -- its just so great to see people out walking around the neighborhood, to be able to walk down the street to a park, restaurant, or bank, and just generally to have outdoor space. My neighbor loaned me her pool pass last week, for goodness sake!!

Let's take a tour, shall we?

Walking up the steps -- the landscaping looked better before 2 solid years of outdoor watering restrictions, I'm sure....

And the front porch. Ferns were the first thing I bought for the new place, and they're not even dead yet. Whoo hoo! A whomping big ceiling fan keeps bugs at bay (and me busy, relighting candles).
Walking in the living room, with the front door at my back. Each room has a fireplace, though none of them work any more.
And another view of the living room, now facing the front door. I need a bigger couch -- that's my mini white couch, with the ottoman next to it.
The big room -- or party room, as its been monikered by someone who likes to race cars down the length of it. Sorry the picture is so dark -- I tried at a couple times of day and couldn't get a better one. The walls are a really cool olive green. This is probably a dining room, but used now mostly as an office space. I didn't take a picture of the desk -- you just don't need to see that!
The red room, entered by taking a hard right from the front door. A very cozy place to sit and watch TV -- and listen to the neighbors non-stop "sitting on the porch, smoking and listening to Phil Collins" groove. Boy, they love their Phil Collins. But at least they're not killing each other. Gotta keep things in perspective. My hope is to buy a leather couch for this room, and move the red couch out of the red room sometime soon. Because all that red makes my brain hurt a little!
The kitchen, all the way in the back of the house. You can get here from the party room on the lefthand side OR by walking down the hallway on the right hand side. From the vantage point of this picture, if you turned left you'd be back in the hallway, near the 2nd bedroom and the bathroom (coming up next). If you turned right, you'd be on the back porch, exiting to the backyard and driveway.

The second bedroom. I need help with this one, kids. The walls are painted with a kind of stucco paint. The ideal position for the bed is against the wall, but the paint would be too scratchy to sleep against. I need a good idea for a more "cozy" wall covering. I had this grand thought of hanging felt, and then cutting out stick up shapes (a la tommy tooth, mom)... Things like roads, trees, and trucks. Think that would work? Other thoughts??

Exiting this bedroom, and walking back up the hallway toward the front door, we go past the bathroom (claw foot tub) -- its really hard to take a good picture of a bathroom.
And then the big bedroom. I still need a dresser -- suitcases of various clothing types were kicked out of the way of this shot.

So that's it! What do you think???

I'm smitten...too bad its 95 degrees

2008-07-13T15:14:00.002-04:00

I finished my Japanese Vines scarf awhile ago and it's been sitting around looking like this:
I steam blocked it yesterday and now it looks like this:
It drapes soooo nicely! I can't wait to wear it--which will either entail cranking the AC to about 60, taking a vacation in Antarctica, or waiting until my birthday rolls around.

Sigh.

I made this with the Neighborhood Fiber Company sock yarn that I bought at MDSW. Granted, it's the little things these days, but that rule I placed on myself was great--I really enjoyed knitting something that wasn't Erica Blue or Abi Grey. The green yarn I got is kinda rocking my world, too. Who knows, I may go for fuschia next!

Before I Leave..

2008-06-09T14:24:00.002-04:00

I'm heading to Boston to spent 9 (maybe 10 days) with Oliver. Oh, and Adam and Amy too;).
Erica might remember the locket. It's the one I got at Renninger's the day we met there. I had collected all the beads awhile ago but procrastinated when it came to putting it together. Sorry about the glare. Just couldn't seem to get a good picture. I think you can get the general idea of it tho. All 4 pictures are of Oliver so I guess I'll name it Oliver's locket. Aren't I the clever one....????
So off I go into the wild blue yonder. Love, Patti

Progress & Something From Kristen

2008-06-02T16:03:00.003-04:00

Here's the necklace with the final modifications. I like the sparkly bead. It perks it up a bit. Thanks for the suggestion! The shawl is slowly growing. I think I sorta, kinda have the pattern under control. The stitch markers have really helped me keep my place. So far, I've only resorted to the lifeline once and that was way at the beginning;).
Since K is busy jetting around, packing to move and running a business, I thought I'd post this necklace she made. I sorta, kinda borrowed it..OK , stole it from her when we were in Boston. She made 2 other ones and I had a tough time deciding which one to steal..err, borrow. That's all I've got for now! Hope you are doing things you love..
Love, Patti

REMEMBER THESE?

2008-05-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

Thought I'd try to get this together despite my managled hand. This is the bead I wanted to use with the raspberry garnets and labradorite. Decided to use just silver since I don't have a single silver necklace. I think it turned out OK despite my awkward use of the pliers. Let's take a vote on the dangling chain with the leaf. Leave it or ditch it? I did start the small triangle shawl before I was injured;) but haven't knitted anymore for a week since the yarn catches on either the flap of skin or the band-aid. So gross! Do you like it so far. I love the yarn but am wondering if it would look better used in a simpler pattern. Like a moss stitch shoulder shrug?? Opinions, please.
Hope everything is rosy in your little corner of the world. Love~Patti

The Birthday Girl!

2008-05-09T19:49:00.002-04:00

36 years, 12hours, 30 minutes ago you entered the world and changed our lives forever! We

love you more than ever...Mom & Dad

A Few Highlights From Our Weekend!

2008-05-07T14:15:00.003-04:00

Lunch break. Zack has his eye on our gelato.

Zack takes time out from fabric shopping for a snack.

How nice of those sheep to line up like that for the picture..

Speaking of snacks!

Awwwwww!

Have You Seen This Book?-plus a bonus

2008-05-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

The Yarn Harlot talked about this book on her blog so I requested it from the library to see what it was all about. I had to wait for it because it was on order but I got to to be the first person to crack it open. It seems to have some good patterns. The patterns are sorted by yarn weight. There are some lace patterns, Erica. Kristen sends the best packages and they always come as a surprise! This is a birthday/Mother's Day package. The necklace is so cool. It is an old needle case!! Mix and match perfume, a change purse for all my money, shopping bags so I don't pollute the earth and one cute hippo. Thanks, K!!

Love, Patti

VERDIGRIS PATINA

2008-04-27T17:24:00.002-04:00

I have this ugly, old pipe sticking up in the middle of my front garden. It is the well cap but we no longer use the well and even when we did I tried many creative ways to hide it. Today I painted it with a verdigris patina and placed this weather vein (a JoAnn's find) on top. So far it's my best solution. I plan on planting some more around it to camouflage it even better. It has been an unbelievably nice April here. It feels more like June but I think that's about to change!

I MISS YOU ALL! Love, Patti

I wanted to share...

2008-02-29T12:20:00.004-05:00

....my beautiful birthday flowers with you. If you close your eyes and inhale, I'm sure you'll be able to smell them. Love, Patti

Happy Birthday, Nonna!!!

2008-02-27T11:34:00.004-05:00

I love you!!!! I miss you!!!! I hope you have a great day!!!

Love, Oliver

Look what Erica and Rob made!!!

2008-02-25T09:36:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the world Zachary Cole! We can't WAIT to make you wonderful things and give you lots of love!!!!

Christmas crafts

2008-01-15T10:25:00.001-05:00

Now that gifts have been given, I can blog about the stuff I did before Christmas (that wasn't for me). And I have to show you the miracle that is blocking. I have to admit that I always poo-pooed blocking as a waste of time, until I started knitting lace. I may be a convert now.

Case in point:

What appears to be a mangled tangle of yarn. And I did NOT smush this up any more than it already was before taking the picture.
Soaked and stretched out on an old beach towel.
Et voila! No longer a mangled tangle of yarn, but a presentable scarf for my mom.
This is the Falling Water scarf.
This is K's.
This is Grandma's.
This is Deb's.
These are the scarves with their matching bags
and Grandma's bag.

Gumdrops

2007-12-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

My amusement at making blocks may be over, but I think Gumdrops are pretty sweet.

It's Amy Butler's Gumdrop pillow. Aside from the 10 lb box of polyfill I had to buy, I used stash. And a pattern.

Hell can freeze over now.

Baby Blocks

2007-11-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

Here are my blocks. No pattern really necessary other than the cute designs. There are suppose to be 6 blocks but i miscalculated my interfacing. Must get some more. Hope the babies that I made these for will like them.

May I introduce you...

2007-11-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

...to the gnomes?

Many thanks to K for helping to pick out the backing. It's perfect!

We went to Babies R Us last night to register and I saw some soft blocks and thought "How hard could those be?"

So I made a cube today.

"Cube" being a term that is loosely used in this particular context. It seems that making a cube requires some precision in both cutting and sewing. Patti, these are right up your alley.

You'll be happy to know that I've recovered my sanity after having briefly considered making one of these for each letter of the alphabet.

And look what I did. I've got a bird...
...and a bee.

happy halloween!!!!

2007-10-31T09:13:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to Me....

2007-10-18T09:49:00.000-04:00

I've got birthday stuff to report! I had a very happy birthday weekend. Rob was off to Connecticut fishing (that's not why I had a good weekend) so I was expecting to just have a low key weekend, work on some projects, and start painting the baby's room.

The weekend started with Leslie, Rob's biological mom, staying the night on her way to Williamsburg. We went to downtown Silver Spring for a bite to eat and got to witness the excitement of the evening--someone threatening to jump from the top of the parking garage. As far as we can tell, he was talked down. At least that's what we told ourselves.

She left early the next morning and I got started priming the walls of the mini-Maloot's room. I forgot to take pictures, but after priming only 2 walls, the room already looks bigger. Why didn't we do this sooner??? In the middle of painting (read: unshowered, in crappy clothes, covered in paint) my phone kept ringing. It was my neighbor, Cecelia, calling to wish me a happy birthday and to see if I wanted to go to a movie! She caught me off guard, being covered in paint and all, but how sweet was that! She arrived to pick me up bearing this:
and off we went to see the new Elizabeth movie, which was just gorgeous, and it's got Clive Owen in it, so what more could one want? Really, a lovely, unexpected afternoon.

The yarn under the mum is from Stitches, which I went to on Sunday. Here's a close up.
The greyish is yak and silk (yilk?) and really is that shiny, the blue is alpaca, and the plum is merino. I'm sure the knitting gods will strike me down for saying this, but I think I like MD Sheep and Wool a lot better than Stitches. MDSW has more stuff from little shops and independent spinners that you can't get anywhere else. Most of what was at Stitches I could get online. Plus the food at MDSW is SO much better!

I did end up doing a bit of sewing. This little bag was supposed to be for my mom for her birthday, but I liked it too much and it holds my scarf project perfectly, so I have to make another one.
Here's a glimpse of the gnomes.
And Rob came home Sunday afternoon bearing tulips and chocolate torte. What a guy!
And lest you think that my birthday ended on Sunday, there was a box waiting for me yesterday when I arrived home. And holy %$##, K did make stuff last weekend! The first thing in the box was some Egyptian Magic which I think has already changed my life. I've wanted to try this but never got around to picking some up. It may just clear up all the crazy stuff my skin has been doing lately.

And in the bottom of the box was this:
Abi looks underwhelmed, doesn't she? I would be too, if all I had to look at were the horrible pictures that I took of the absolutely amazing wrap the K made for me. Here's a detail shot, which still doesn't come close to doing it justice.
It's linen with silk on the edges and some lace on the other side and it's handstitched at the ends and it just drapes gorgeously and I totally love it! And my pictures are in no way a reflection of how much I love it. Now if only the weather would get cooler again so that I could wear it! Thanks so very, very much.

Holy #@)! I made something!

2007-10-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

It's been a long drought, ladies, with my sewing room sitting empty and sad (except for the piles of fabric waiting, waiting, waiting and taunting me everytime I walked in there. But yesterday was the day -- in honor of our fair Erica's birthday, I busted it out.

First of all, I have to tell you how much I love my new purchase. Joann's had cutting tables on sale, and my goodness -- what a different THAT makes! It's higher than a regular table so there's no stooping, and much much bigger than any other table I own so there's no sliding pulling messing everything up shenanigans. Best of all, it folds down so I can stash it in a corner when I'm done.

Thus empowered, I pulled all my piles out and I spent the whole day skipping around from one project to another. AND I actually finished a variety of things, only a few of which I can post -- but I made a skirt (it actually fits, after no small amount of fussing)-- and a special treat for Mr. Oliver's Halloween - a festive car seat/buggy blanket. Yay for breaking the drought!

Erica, I hope you had a beautiful birthday yesterday. I missed you! Please post all the wonderful things I know you bought at Stitches!

Fiber Fest

2007-09-27T19:13:00.000-04:00

Box1
Well, I took the plunge and have made these 4 things to be (hopefully) sold at the FiberFest in East Aurora this weekend. I have a good friend who paints wonderful animal pictures, water colors and oils, who has participated as a vendor in the show for at least 2 years. She has done well selling her paitings there and she graciously offered to take a few of my things to sort of test the waters.

Box2

back of both boxes

That meant the pressure was on to put my money where my mouth is. It was a bit difficult to come up with sheep related themes but this is the end result. 2 collage boxes and 2 knitting bags.

Bags have knitting related charms.

I am on my way to Boston tomorrow but I'll let you know what happened next week.......

Posted by Patti

A Santa Fe Teaser

2007-09-23T21:08:00.000-04:00

The first is what I came home with. The second is La Lana Wool in Taos--a wonder I didn't come back with more.

Though I need to say that Rob is an enabler--I have 6 more balls of yarn than I would have without his input.

It seemed like it had been far less than a year and a half since K and Patti and I had been there. It was so great to be back. I posted more pictures here and you can check out my other post here. We took so many pictures! And had a ton of fun. I'll have more pictures of treasures to post soon.

I do just want to mention that I am still creeped out by the fact that I could tell that a spider was crossing the road as we drove by at about 50 mph.

Moving on...

2007-09-09T12:37:00.001-04:00

Things work out much better when I stick with knitting projects where the gauge doesn't matter.

Case in point: I finished the Hanami shawl last week.
It's hard to get a good photograph of a shawl.
Allow me to be less-than-humble and say that I absolutely love it! I'm definately going to use this yarn (Handmaiden Sea Silk) again, it's just so soft and so nice to knit with. The pattern wasn't dificult, and it really didn't take me that long (I started in mid-July). So nice to have a success following a, well, less than successful project.

Swatches are big fat liars, or a message from the Knitting Gods

2007-08-31T09:19:00.000-04:00

I went up to see my friend Deb and her brand new daughter, Haley, last weekend. Do I have pictures of Haley? No, I do not. But you can see her and her sister Kayla here. Suffice it to say that they are both adorable and sweet and lovely.

I was working on a little kimono sweater for her all summer (which should not have taken all summer and I finished the Friday night I got to PA but we won't discuss that). I swatched for it. I made gauge. I stuck with the newborn size because I know I knit loosely. I had the perfect ribbon for the tie.
It turned out wide enough to fit Deb.
Deb was gracious, said that it'd be fine after layering a Tshirt underneath it, blah, blah. (Oh please--you'd have to layer so many Tshirts under it that the kid wouldn't be able to move!)

But really? This is a sign from the Knitting Gods. And I'm listening. See me, Knitting Gods? I give up, my hands are in the air, I surrender. From here on out, new babies will get hats or quilts. No more articles of clothing to be worn below the chin.

A Sunny Friday To You!!

2007-08-16T18:54:00.000-04:00

Sunflowers from the farmer's market......

STUFF

2007-08-03T10:25:00.000-04:00

So, in an effort to stop missing Oliver I have roused myself long enough to take a picture of the shawl...which Erica requested a long time ago. I am just finishing my second skein of yarn so I figure I'm not even 1/2 way there. I do like kinitting it but wish it went a little faster because I want to use it NOW. I have no knack for memorizing the pattern so I have to keep the directions right in front of my face.

This is the bracelet K made for me. The pictures do not do it justice. (I can't seem to get a close up without it being blurry..any suggestions?) It is really lovely and antiquey looking. The locket opens and is quite deep. Whose picture should I put in it??? Thank you, K. I love it!

We are taking a baseball trip this weeknd to PA. I'm hoping to find some fabric shops and Chuck has promised a stop at Schopps(sp?) Grove. If I'm really good maybe I can work Renninger's in too. Have a great weekend...Patti

New things

2007-07-30T10:25:00.000-04:00

Whilst you are all in your own worlds--Kristen in Proposal Land, Amy and Patti in Oliver Land--I'll just keep sewing and posting and keeping y'all (hopefully) amused.

I may or may not have told you I bought the Bend the Rules sewing book. I really like it, but I'm not sure why. It's not like she says anything revolutionary or earth-shattering in the book, but she makes it all sound so do-able and unrarefied. And I think that's where I get stuck with sewing sometimes, that it's all got to be perfect and done a certain way (though goodness knows I don't actually follow through with that). And there are lots of neat little tips in it--like how she never prewashes fabric for quilts because then when you wash the final product it gets that neat wrinkly old look. Who knew?

All that to say that the book was my friend this weekend. Stacey, my friend Deb's sister-in-law-of-bug-quilt-fame, had her baby a month early so I was totally unprepared. Not that it's likely I would have been prepared if she'd gone on time, but.... So I whipped up 2 bibs from the bug fabric, with white-with-red-polka-dots flannel on the back.
What refused to be photographed were the snaps--they're set-in snaps, not sewn on. The book convinced me this was not hard to do, and lo and behold, it wasn't, so look for more snaps in the future.

Another project in the book was little zipper bags. I improvised and made a big zipper bag (12 x 14") for toting around knitting projects and broke out the zipper foot for the first time. Pretty nifty device! The bag also features the other new thing I've found--printable fabric. There's the fabric I printed before, as well as an ee cummings poem I just did this weekend. Both were washed and they held up fabulously!
It's even lined.

Who knows, at the rate I'm going, I might even break out the button holer in a few weekends!

And then hell will freeze over.

Thank you!/ Me, indecisive? /Rockin' my world!

2007-07-25T20:26:00.000-04:00

Thank you.
There are some people who always seem to do the perfect thing. K would be one of those people (I think she was taught well). I got home tonight to find a lovely little package waiting for me. Along with a yummy smelling bar of soap and a CD, there was this:
Now, here is the conversation I had with myself, just so you know what a ditz I am:
"Wow! what a lovely necklace! It's so cool! A little short though. But it should be OK. How do I put it on? What the...she attached the toggle to the rest of the necklace and forgot a loop for it to hook into. Well, I can fix that, but I'll have to take a picture and tease her about it......"

"..........."

"....Erica, you're a dumbass. It's a bracelet, for christ's sake!"

And indeed, it is a bracelet. With lots of channeling of saints and good stuff, but that's a story for another day.
*********************************************************************
Me, Indecisive?
Remember the Hanami shawl I was going to start? And the yarn I picked out? Well Debbie Bliss Pure Silk pills like all get out, and was already quite pilly an inch into the thing. I just couldn't see spending all that time on a shawl to get a bit pill out of it. So I returned that yarn and got this:
Erica-blue cashmere. Fabulous and I was assured it wouldn't pill. I decided do it in this color, all cherry blossom symbollism be damned.

Well, at least until I went to Portland and went to Knit Purl. Wow, drool city! If you ever go to Portland, go here. Amazing yarn, they're so nice, they offered me iced tea and were just ready to chat all day. That's where I found Sea Silk. It's silk and Sea Cell, which is made from kelp. I got it in Pumpkin, but the pictures don't really do it justice.
It's more of a gold with a pink overlay. It's fabulous to knit with, shows of the pattern so well, and I just love it. So this is my Hanami yarn and I'm sticking with it!
*********************************************************************
Rockin' My World
You think this is just an ordinary sheet of paper, don't you? But it's not! It's a fabric sheet for inkjet printers! And this is a sheet of fabric that I printed from this picture.
All I have to do now is peel off the backing and wash it. Can I tell you how exciting this is? I can make labels, I can print out phrases... Woo hoo! I got it from Joann's.

A "See You Soon" gift

2007-07-08T16:17:00.000-04:00

The Center for Family Research at GWU, where I worked through grad school and afterwards, is closing in the next month. This means that many old friends are moving on to new adventures. My dear friend Mignon, who was also our genius grants administrator, is moving to join her family in Texas. I made this for her so that she has something to hang on the wall of her new office when she gets down there.

Behavioral change

2007-07-01T13:54:00.000-04:00

I feel like I need to preface this post by saying that I have NO explaination for my recent fascination with lace and shawls. There is NO good reason for this abrupt shift from bulky yarn and size 13 needles to lace weight yarn and size 5 needles (every project I'm working on right now is on size 5's.). None whatsoever. But I'm oddly thoroughly enjoying this odd change in behavior.

Here's one shawl I"ve been working on, from the Folk Shawls book. I'm using chocolate brown Helen's Lace that I got from Lint in Portland.
And here is what I just abandoned it for. At least you can be assured that my short attention span hasn't changed.
The pattern is from Pink Lemon Twist. I don't even remember how I happened upon her site or that pattern, but when I saw it I knew that it was the pattern I needed to work on now. It's called the Hanami shawl. Hanami is the Japanese word for looking at the cherry blossoms. Here's how far I've gotten.
Well, I did only start last night. It's this lovely lavender-grey silk that probably isn't captured at all in the photo. Can you see the beaded cast-on? That totally rocked my world and I wish I'd known about it for my brown shawl. But if you think I'm going to rip out all the brown to put some beads in.....

And a bit of sewing. After that 6.5 Stitches quilt that we all know and love.
Rob and I both think that the bare linen part needs something. I think I've figured out what, but just haven't had a chance to do it. I've been working on something for a friend who's leaving GW which I'll share with you in another post, or will add to this one later.

Rock A Bye Baby

2007-06-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

This is how I spent my week. I had so much fun!
I decided it was time to get the cradle ready for Oliver's first visit to East Aurora-date to be determined-but I wanted to make sure I was ready.

I loved the baby quilt I saw at 6.5 sts and thought this would be an opportunity to try a similar one on a small scale.

I recovered the bumper pad that came with the cradle and made sheets because I couldn't find any ready made that were the right size. I just made them like a big pillow case with extra room at the bottom opening for tucking in. I also thought a couple of wet proof pads might help out since I only made 2 sheets. I came up empty handed when I tried to find the water resistant pads for them so I used inexpensive placemats cut down and covered with fabric and a layer of thin batting. Doesn't that sound cheesy? Honestly, no one would ever guess so don't tell.

One more little project will complete the cradle and then we will be already for our babe's visit.

Patti aka Nonna

a new model for nonna!

2007-06-05T20:46:00.000-04:00

knitted with love in the fall...

Welcome to the world, Oliver Charles!

2007-05-30T07:04:00.000-04:00

He's on the outside, now! Oliver Charles was born at 5:30 this morning. Everyone is doing well. We LOVE having a new baby to craft for! Congrats!

Skirt or Purse Lining

2007-05-25T09:26:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Memorial Day weekend. How is everyone and what are your plans for the weekend? I know what Amy will be doing since today is the official due date!

I bought this fabric and want to make a skirt but I am wondering if it is ugly? Does it look like shamrocks? I really don't need a shamrock skirt. So, what do you think?

Wish you were all closer so we could have a big old fashioned Memorial Day picnic complete with hot dogs and watermelon.

Love~Patti

Cosy shawl

2007-05-20T19:22:00.000-04:00

Here's the shawl that I finished a few weeks ago. It's the Cosy Shawl from Knitty, with bamboo yarn. I need to block it a bit more at some point, but I love it as is--it's got great drape.
And by the way, do you follow Knit and Tonic's blog? She's been talking a lot about Temari balls lately. They seem like they'd be either really fun to make or something that I'd be all thumbs at. Definately gorgeous, though!

PDX

2007-05-17T20:33:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I met Rob in Portland for a long weekend. What a funky town! A combination of hippies trying too hard and high end design, all of whom are very, very nice. Very lush, amazing bungalows, lots of funky stores, amazing coffee. Here's my beautiful latte in the lobby of our hotel.
Incredible rhododendrons. And this is one of the less amazing ones.
A William Wegman sculpture. It's the dog bowl, which is a running fountain, on the checkerboard.
A view from our Saturday morning hike. Brad & Julie, our friends out there, kept apologizing for the hike because it wasn't very good. I'm not sure I could handle the beauty of a good hike!
Brad & Julie's amazing house, where we went for dinner and had the absolutely most amazing, melt-in-your mouth salmon I've ever had in my life. Great fun!
Now for the stash. My new cute shoes. You'll never guess the brand. Wanna take a stab?
They're Doc Martins. Who knew?

Some new letter stamps, a rare font apparently, from Office.
Some great fabrics and ribbon from Bolt. They're heavier cottons. What a great store this was! Little, but I would have bought just about every fabric and ribbon in the place. Rob restrained me.

I also went to Lint, a great little yarn shop. I got some Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace (scroll down) in chocolate to make a shawl. Don't worry--it's knit on 7's to get 4 st/inch!

There were lots more great little independent shops, artists, and some great restaurants, as well. We had great weather, though a little chillier than we'd anticipated. Can't complain too much though, since it only rained one night while we were inside eating dinner. Quite a nice little weekend away!

For A Friend's Birthday

2007-05-11T13:59:00.000-04:00

This is the finished bag. It took way longer than it should have! As usual, I over thought it. I'm pretty tired of dealing with it right now so tell me what YOU think.

I did 2 pictures so hopefully you can double click at least one to see it up close.

Happy weekend!!!!!Patti

Post # 100!

2007-05-01T10:36:00.000-04:00

Drum roll, please.......! Can you believe we've posted 100 times? We should celebrate.

Anyhow.. I don't have anything brand new but here is a collage type thing I put together using some things I had already made or had. It's very cheery and spring-like. It will probably stay on the kitchen table until fall, unless I get really tired of it before then. If you look closely you will see parts of a new project behind the bird cage but that's a secret for now.

Next is a wonderful surprise I received in the mail. I love it when Kristen decides to experiment and I am the recipient. It's for my flea market jaunts but I used it yesterday when I walked for my library books and it worked perfectly. Notice the wavy seams, soft linen, and silky lining. I ask you, what's not to love?

I thought you might like to see my new penny rug. I have wanted one for a long time and always thought I'd get around to making one. When I finally realized that it was never going to happen, I splurged and grabbed this one. I almost bought one when I was with Amy in Boston but talked myself out of it. However, I kept obsessing about it and when I saw this one it became a done deal.

That's it for now! Remember to celebrate!

The bugs are done

2007-04-22T11:09:00.000-04:00

I finished the bugs this morning, so they'll get shipped off this week.
One thing I discovered with this project is that I really like working with linen and how it looks and feels in a quilt. So I took advantage of the G Street sale and coupon and bought 2 more yards to play with. Expect to see more linen in the future!

Don't let the bedbugs bite!

2007-04-16T20:13:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was really icky out--grey, rainy (more like monsoon-y) and really windy--perfect for doing some sewing!

As some background, my dear friend Deb's sister-in-law, Stacey, is expecting in August and she asked me to make her a baby quilt. The fabric she picked out for the baby's room is the bug fabric and I added the rest.
I had some company while I was working.
This little mourning dove kept sitting on the ledge outside my window, cooing up a storm, all afternoon. I think love is in the air given the rather...umm...excited....cooing coming from the bushes the other weekend.

Anyhoo, here's the front. There will be a red binding as the border and bug fabric as the back when I put it all together.
Abi's impressed.

After a long drought!

2007-04-14T18:14:00.000-04:00

I finally got a chance to be productive in a non-paperwork way. That is a good thing, since my hands were very jealous of all the work my brain was doing! There were a good number of projects on the docket, and I enjoyed switching between all of them in my extremely non-linear, non-patterned, very messy sort of way all afternoon long....

The first project is a quilt I made for my former coworker Cindy, who just had a baby boy named Bennett. I used fabric from my stash for the top of the quilt, but struggled a bit with the backing until I decided to go simple and just use cream flannel (I didn't think my old standby of fleece would work, since this is a California baby). Of course, one layer of flannel still showed through, so I had to do two layers. Orange rickrack around the edge was the finishing touch. And yes -- I did pick the tiger because he matched.

Then I moved on to an experiment of sorts. Erica will remember this fabric from some stash augmentation we did in DC last time I was there. I decided to use it to do some improvizational quilting where I kinda just started sewing stuff together. I'm not sure, honestly, how I feel about how its working out. I will tell you that there's not a straight line in the thing, so I have no idea how, if ever, I'm going to finish it with a backing and such. But for now its fun, even if its not particularly efficient with fabric!

Mom, are you twitching yet??

There were other things too, but of course those are surprises so I can't post them, but I imagine you'll see them soon enough! I'm off to Walmart to buy wrapping supplies so I can send the baby gift on its way!

Hoppy Easter!

2007-04-06T08:02:00.000-04:00

An old recipe...

...gets an Eastery twist.
Hope the Easter Bunny is good to all of you!

The Never Ending Birthday!

2007-04-02T12:19:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not I got more birthday presents over the weekend. You see, I had not seen my sisters since my birthday and Friday night we all got together for dinner.

A storybook for grandmothers and a bunny candle that I was advised was not edible! My youngest sister is sure I am such a chocolate fiend that she must warn me and she's right! It sure smells like chocolate.

A hummingbird feeder and food from my ever so thoughtful nephews. They claimed they shopped for hours;).

A beautiful glass latern and yummy smelling candle from my line dancing buddy. The book, I am told was not part of the present, just something my sister thought I would enjoy. What's wrong with my neck?

These bunnies are what I made my sisters for their Easter gifts. They seemed to really like them and I had a blast making them. The bunnies were totally unadorned. I found them at Vidlers-i love Vidlers-! They definitely needed some dressing up!

I apologize if the pictures are blurry~ I am a bit under the weather and everything seems to be fuzzy to me. Just a bit of a cold. I'm going to go nap now and by tomorrow I'll be right as rain.

Love~Patti

two paper projects

2007-03-29T10:10:00.000-04:00

i made these two things yesterday. the "h" was suppose to be my first experiment with embellishing letters. but i had to do Harry's first. the "h" is paper mache. i just torn pieces of scrapping paper and mod podged them on and sealed them. very easy. the address book was a kit i got at papersource. love that store. this was also very easy by just mod podgeing (is that a word?) the paper on the cardboard for the top and bottom of the book. then sandwich the actual address book between them. i've also been working on a lot of cards, will post them soon.

P.S.- notice in the top picture (upper right corner) some little beagle feet and legs. she just had to get in the picture somewhere.

Christmas in March

2007-03-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

My Grandma is selling her house.
It's the house that she and my late Grandpa built 50+ years ago. I love this house and wish I could teleport it to Silver Spring. But NASA and the Army aren't returning my calls, so I guess that's not going to happen. It's a very large house, not in a McMansion-y sort of way--very comfortable and cozy, but big enough for me to have plenty of space to do gymnastics in the living room when I was (much) younger.

I went up on Saturday to help go through things and I just have to share a bit of the treasure that I returned with.
Most of this is her Christmas ornaments. Grandma hasn't had a tree for a number of years for various reasons. I've always loved her ornaments andI was not about to say No when she said I could have them now. I was a little afraid that reality wouldn't live up to my memories, but for the most part I wasn't disappointed.

These were given to my Grandma by her mother-in-law.
These you put over the lights (those old, big ones--I've got those, too) and they spin.
I was only disappointed by these.
You're supposed to stick them on the lights and they look like glowing snow. At the moment, they kind of look like matted cotton and I'm pretty sure they're made of fiber glass. These might go away.

A box of bulbs for the outdoor lights. And yep, they're as big as you think they are.
A postcard of my grandparent's restaurant.
A crock.
A cactus. Have I ever told you about Grandma and her cacti? That's another post.
I'm now ready for any entertaining emergency with tablecloths and napkins.
And the coup de grace---The Chicken.
Yep, ugly as sin. But if I remember anything from my Grandma's house, it's The Chicken. Grandpa was in the chicken business, so there were lots of random chicken things in the house, but everyone knows which chicken is meant by "the chicken". Funny how your memory tricks you bit. I would have sworn that this was made of tin because the tail feathers are sharp, but it's ceramic. One of the tail feathers broke in transit, so some repair will be necessary.

Rob and I haven't had a Christmas tree for 2 years--I can't wait to have a truly special one this year adorned with Grandma's treasure.

2007-03-26T09:45:00.000-04:00

here's harry with the adorable hat and shoes that patti made. sorry you can't see the hat too well. i focused on the shoes 'cause they were too cute for words. enjoy!!

Long time coming

2007-03-25T08:17:00.000-04:00

A little while back my good friend Erica sent me a treat -- out of the blue sky! The best surprises are the ones you never see coming. And since I'm not going to be able to post any of my own creations anytime soon (unless you want to see the pile of papers and used coffee cups that is my desk) I thought I'd share a picture of the treat. I should have posted it long ago! That E -- she takes good care of me. Power to the super crafty women! (And yes -- sometimes tea does turn into cocktail hour! But there's also that risk at coffee break, lunchtime ...)

A Manageable Yo-Yo project?

2007-03-22T11:55:00.000-04:00

Check out this bracelet! I think I could manage enough yo-yo's to do something like that. Hmmmm.....

A tisket, a tocket...

2007-03-20T19:36:00.000-04:00

...an Erica-blue smocket...

Many thanks to Mayfly for providing the pattern for this adorable little smocket. This one is for my dear friend Deb's daughter, Kayla. It was fun to make and really pretty easy. The patch on the front is a pocket.
Though you'll note a small flaw. Despite my brain constantly saying "Erica, pay attention to the direction of the fabric", the Dick and Jane fabric ended up upside down on the inside. My brain then said, "well, that way if she wears it reversed, Kayla can read the print."
Sure, whatever.

Now that I've made one, I think I'll be making a lot more. See, they don't take much fabric, so I can actually use up some of my stash. Which means I'll have to do more stash augmentation! Woo hoo!

Whilst I was posting, I though I'd also show you the curtains that I made for the office/studio, which I'm really loving and I think make the room. As always, the effect is much better in person.

Another gift for Harry

2007-03-18T19:20:00.000-04:00

Here is the crafty thing i made for my baby nephew. I took some wooden letters and embellished them. i used scrapbooking paper, tags, stamps, ribbons, stickers and buttons. The colors are blue, green, brown and yellow. I've seen this letter idea in many magazines and blogs so i had to try it. I'm off from work tomorrow and spending the day with baby harry so we will see if he likes his letters.

..the rest

2007-03-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

Baby Harry's gift is done and will be mailed in the next day or two. The hat pattern is called umbilical cord and was very easy and so much fun to do. I used TLC Cotton Plus yarn from Jo ann's. I really liked working with this yarn. It is 51% cotton and 49% acrylic and just feels nice as you knit.

The Bitty Bootie pattern was from a blog I like. I used wool felt and although not hard, I did struggle a bit due to the diminutive size but they are very cute. Hope everything will fit and that I left a little room for growing. Maybe if we asked nice, Amy would post a picture???

Patti

Banner

2007-03-12T09:43:00.000-04:00

This was my weekend project. I had so fun much doing it. What you can't see in the picture is that all the papers and ribbons are sewn on (remind me to get a new needle for my machine). The letters were traced from a stencil and then glittered. I am working on a couple more little surprises to add to the gift and then off it goes to Amy's brand new nephew.

Anyone want to come and vacuum up all the spilled glitter?~~~~~Patti

7 Degrees!

2007-03-07T09:05:00.000-05:00

What does one do when it is March and the high for the day is 7 degrees?

I grumbled and moaned and decided there would never be a better excuse to bake. Oatmeal cookies came to mind because oatmeal is good for you right?

Next I decided to do a little crafting. I fooled around with my computer and some old book pages and managed to print some images right on the pages. I am sure there must be an easier way but it's a start. Once the images were printed I made them into tags. I used stamps and markers and made a lovely mess. Oh so satisfying.

The mailman brought me a special treat. ( I should have given him a cookie.) Last week I bid on this item and I WON! Yes, it is a paper peanut. Take a peek inside. I couldn't resist it since our expected babe is nicknamed Peanut. It required a bit of glue to get it back into shape but is tip top now.

It was getting close to 5:00-somewhere- and I really felt a tropical drink might lift my spirits. Not having to much available in the house and deciding that I was not going to venture out, I scrounged around. Champaigne and strawberries worked quite nicely. Put on my favorite Jimmy Buffet CD and for a few moments-until I had to go put on a 2nd pair of socks- I could almost believe.

Somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd glass of bubbly I remebered the stew I had put in the crockpot earlier and was so happy I had the foresight to make sure we would eat on such a cold, cold day.

Today it is still cold but I am going OUT. Anywhere, somewhere but out! Much as I loved my day in hibernation I am stir crazy. Think I'll make an appointment for a facial or go and augment my stash. Who knows, if I have enough clothes on maybe I could do both.

Patti

The weekend of a domestic goddess

2007-03-04T12:06:00.000-05:00

I felt like being domestic this weekend, so I turned to Nigella. I love Nigella. I've never watched her show, but I love how she writes in her books. For example, "While the icing's still soft, smear messily over the cooled and waiting cupcakes." I think I could like this woman.
I got up first thing Saturday morning to start baking. I like having the kitchen to myself with some good music on. However, I wasn't entirely alone:
My first task was to start the dough for a few loaves of bread. Mmmmm...not much smells better than getting the yeast started before adding all of the other stuff.
All of the other stuff.
(The coffee was for me, not the bread.)

Then I started making cupcakes to take to Paul's house warming party. I tried two that I'd never made before: Burnt Butter Brown Sugar and Dense Chocolate, both from Nigella. So yes, I was using Paul's guests as guinea pigs. They all survived, as best I can tell.
Here they are, all finished, in the Cupcake Courier that Kristen sent to me out of the blue. Isn't it great?! I see alot more cupcakes in my future.
The verdict on the experiment: the chocolate ones were fab, the BBBS were a distant 2nd. Ah well.
The cleanup crew:

I had enough of the kitchen yesterday, so today I decided to start in on the stash that was augmented on Thursday (we were NOT shopping). Here's what I got:
The task was to make a small quilt for the opening in one of our new walls. In the addition we had these two openings put in the walls that look out from the 2nd floor into the new room. These are great--they look neat and they let more light into the upstairs. At some point there will be sandblasted glass in them, but we haven't reached that point yet.

So what's the problem, you may ask? Well, the problem is that the one on the left opens into the upstairs bathroom. No big deal if it's just Rob and I, but things quickly become slightly more awkward when anyone else comes over. Thus the small quilt.
Here's a closeup of the final product.
And a further-away shot.
I think the rest of the day I'll go for a walk and take a nap. All this domesticity makes me tired!

Stash To Go

2007-03-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

This is the knitting bag I worked on yesterday. I ran into a few problems and had to change the way I did the handles since I wanted to use the plastic handles. All in all, I think it will serve the purpose for which it was intended and-this is major- I used fabric and trims that I already HAD! I will admit to fighting the urge to run out and buy interfacing when I discovered I didn't have a piece big enough. I fought the urge and with a little counseling from K, I was able to carry on.

Here are a couple of web sites, just for fun. I do love the craft apron and it seems right up Erica's alley since there is no pattern, it's random squares and I can picture words on it.

http://www.pickupsticksonline.com/index.php

http://www.pamgarrison.typepad.com/

Happy weekend to all! I will try not to think about K & E being together in D.C. Remember you promised-NO shopping!:]

Patti

A quest

2007-03-01T09:43:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've all seen the cinematic classic "Jaws", and may even remember the character of the Mayor of Amity -- "These beaches will be open". Well, there's a certain someone in my life with a birthday coming up who LOVES the Mayor's signature sportcoat.

Yep that one. The blue one. With the anchors. You may be able to better see it here: http://www.angryalien.com/0804/jawsbunnies.asp

Anyhow, here's the help I need -- I need to find that fabric. Keep your eagle eyes peeled, ladies. 4 yards should do it.

More Wonderful Surprises!

2007-02-28T08:42:00.000-05:00

Look at what I got yesterday! Beautiful flowers from Kristen and I do mean beautiful. I have never seen such huge blossoms on roses. They smell divine .

Guess what's in this box?

Raspberry peach tea and raspberry peach champaigne jam from Amy & Adam. Yummy!

I'm going to make some toast and tea as soon as I finish this post.

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you, thank you! I miss you all terribly.

What A Wonderful Surprise!

2007-02-27T09:51:00.000-05:00

Look what I got in the mail for my birthday. A silk neckroll for my always sore neck. It's filled with the best smelling lavender and has tiny fairies stamped on it. The words say "her fairies followed her wherever she went". Last but not least it is green, and you know how much I love green. Thank You, Erica! I love it.

Just for fun look at this website. Some of the fabric is cool and different.
www.superbuzzy.com

Also go to one of my favorite knitting sites and look at the book reviews.
www.masondixonknitting.com
I thought the books sounded like fun but I think I'd have to see them to browse thru before purchasing.

Have a great day all! Chuck has already spoiled me with a pork roast dinner he cooked last night and today we are going to see "Dream Girls". Patti

The Reinvigoration of Blog

2007-02-25T17:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday there were crocuses...

...today there was a wintry mix. Sigh.

So there was really nothing to do but go for a walk in the snow with Rob and the pooch, then sit inside and drink hot chocolate (oh, my, did I get some good stuff--it's "drinking chocolate". YUMMMMMM!) and be domestic.

One thing I worked on was the baby blanket that my friend Suzanne is having me knit for her to give to her sister. It's a simple pattern, just basket weave, but it's good in-front-of-the-TV knitting. And the yarn she picked out is really nice--Plymouth Yarn Jean nee (with an accent). Cotton and acrylic--super soft.

This second project, however, gave me a headache. It's a quilt for Rob's parents' Christmas present. Yes, Christmas 2006. We're hoping that "Better late than never" applies here. Rob wanted to help design it. So this is what he came up with:

Rob is nothing if not optimistic.

Not only do I tend to work only in squares, but you all know I'm spatially challenged to boot.

I had to resort to a paper mock up to figure out the easiest way to do the stripes in the triangles. I drew the pattern on paper and cut out the triangles (there were 4, but I lost one).

Then I rearranged them to figure out how I could cut a square in half to make my life easier.

Even with that, I've got the stripes on the triangles going 2 differnet ways.

The final product turned out alright though, I think (the pooch was pooped after her romp in the snow). But a further challenge was cutting out the blue triangles that go between the patterned squares. I made about 4 trips to G Street in 3 days because I can't figure out how much fabric I need to save my life. And you know, in the course of only a few hours they ran out of the dark blue. Figures.

Rain after a drought

2007-02-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

Enough is enough! As cute as that baby sweater and hat are, I think it's time to move on!

My project this weekend was to cover up the ugly electric box in our laundry/mud room. You'd think in this day and age this would be a non-issue, but nooooo...

I spent a lot of time trying to find a fun quote--"Cleanliness is next to godliness" wasn't doing it for me. ee cummings to the rescue once again!

The fabric the words are on is actually an aqua-y "iridescent" linen (the warp and weft threads are different colors).

Can't wait to hear about Patti's travels! Happy February (especially since Puxatawny Phil didn't see his shadow!)

Knitted Baby Set

2007-01-08T20:26:00.000-05:00

Here is the adorable set.

Yarn Challenge of 2007

2007-01-07T09:30:00.000-05:00

I mailed out the yarn yesterday! I hope I sent you something that was inspiring in some way, shape or form. Do you want to keep the deadline open? I guess we at least have to make it for after Patti gets back from Florida (lucky duck!).

Happy knitting (or whatever you decide to do with it)!

A Totally Made Up Baby Hat

2007-01-03T14:53:00.000-05:00

Just had to post this little hat. I really did mostly make it up and so I have no way of knowing if it will fit a newborn's head. Guess we will have to wait until May to find out. (I will put it in the mail before we leave, Amy.)

Merry Christmas from Quincy

2006-12-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

merry christmas, my crafty ladies. i made these quilted beauties for my mom for christmas. the wreath i acutally made last year but i needed to add a sleeve on the back for hanging it. the cat christmas panel was bought in EA after last christmas. i hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow. may santa bring you many crafty surprises.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-21T16:02:00.000-05:00

And a Happy, Crafty New Year to my craft-acular pals! Many thanks to you for inspiration, ideas and general good times. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2007 brings our way.

Love,

Erica

Finished!

2006-11-27T15:27:00.000-05:00

The throw is finished! Although not a hard project, it was alot of sewing and thinking.

The back is black polar fleece.

Patti

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T10:14:00.000-05:00

I am thankful to have such creative, funny & caring friends and daughters in my life!

With love to all~Patti

As Requested

2006-11-21T20:16:00.000-05:00

These are the decoupaged plates. I am pretty happy with them but I would do a few things a bit different if I do more. The inspiration plates were $58 mine are about $4 each, if that! I am going to put the plate in a square basket, standing upright with a loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread for my sister-in law for Thanksgiving. I would like to make some Christmas plates for hostess gift giving .

As we speak, I am putting the binding on the throw. Tomorrrow I will add a stamped patch or two and it will be done! I will post then.~Patti

Birthday gift!

2006-11-12T19:02:00.000-05:00

We went up to PA this weekend and I wanted to show off my birthday gift from my friend, Deb. She got me a bunch of fabric samples, you know, from those sample books that we covet. An absolutely fabulous gift!

We made the observation that there aren't many people who would get so excited over this type of thing.

Yarn & Fabric

2006-11-12T13:44:00.000-05:00

Here are some projects I am going to tackle.

The first is a throw to help tie the colors of the living room together. The fabric on the far left covers the seats on the dining room chairs. It is very busy so picking fabrics is not very easy. I went to the sewing center in EA and was mildly surprised at the cost per yard of these beauties-$9. Is that alot or am I out of touch? I really need some more prints I think. Three just isn't going to cut it. The striped fabric is green, even though it appears dark in the picture. I'm thinking, black of some sort for certain. Tell me what you think..all suggestions welcome.

The second project is a for a baby blanket. Amy picked out the pattern last weekend and I went to Wooly Lamb and picked out this yarn. It is so soft. It is knit in strips so it should be pretty quick. I can't wait to start it!

That's it from here!~Patti

While we're on the subject of Halloween...

2006-11-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

...here's a quilt I made for my favorite 1 year old, Kayla.

Costumes and pumpkins!

2006-11-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

Look at the Halloween costume I made my favorite 2 year old! it will probably fit him next year, so the plan is to find lots more cool patches for him in the meantime. And isn't it cool that they do Mr. Potatohead pieces for pumpkins?