Sweater for baby E

My friend refers to her new daughter as "homegirl," and this will never, ever fail to make me smile.

This is her sweater, which judging from Homegirl's growing little self in my friend's FB posts, may actually fit her by now.  (Ha, just in time for summer in Las Vegas.  Perfect!)

Love, J

Homemade gifts

I didn't make as many Christmas gifts as usual this year, but there were a few good ones.

Blank birthday cards for Grandma R:
 

Ninja turtle cap for B-I-L:

Hat pattern here.  (You may need to be logged into Ravelry to follow the hat link.)
Mask pattern here

I just knit them both up, then stitched the mask to the hat, so it can flip up or down, depending on how cold it is/how Ninja Turtley he's feeling.

Also, the hubs decorated a mug for his mom:

There is a very popular tip on Pinterest claiming that if you decorate a ceramic dish with Sharpies and then bake it at 350 for 30 minutes, the picture will be permanent.  This is a lie.  

AFTER sweet hubs spent hours on his drawing and tried baking it, we discovered that the ink would still scrub off without much effort.  A Google search (which I admit I ought to have done initially), revealed that it's widely known that this tip is a dud.  

So I coated it with Mod Podge and now it's a pen or change holder, rather than something to drink out of.  Still good.

Love, J  

Some updates

1. Several emails this week have informed me that Blogger's being squirrely and only sporadically allowing people to post comments. I'm sorry. I don't know how to fix it, but hopefully it will be one of those problems that will just go away if I ignore it. (I love those kinds of problems.)

2. For all those sissies-like-me, my buddy Wesley sent over this link to tame Halloween movies. I think I'll for sure be checking out Idle Hands this year. Whatever cool points it loses for having Jessica Alba in it, it more than makes up with Seth Greene.

3. Little cousin was my first taker on the Owl. She's very excited to pick her own colors. I'm excited to knit something that giant. I'm also pleased to have this new way of getting to knit things I like without the chore of buying the yarn or having to figure out what to do with the damn things when they're done ; )

4. AAAND, the beans are flying off the shelves. We have a hit, people! I've only got one batch of quarts left, and fewer pints almost daily. It's crazy, and I am so, so grateful. Right now I'm getting a little bit of business coaching from a friend, and hopefully you'll soon be able to order my wares at a bar or two in town!

Love, J

An offer of an owl

Over the winter, I would like to knit this owl.

The thing is, I have no use for a giant, stuffed owl.

So if anyone out there would like this owl, but doesn't want to knit it, I'm your gal.

I won't get it done by Christmas, but Valentine's Day isn't out of the question.


Lemme know.

Love, J

Art for the Animals Submissions

If you make it to Art for the Animals this Friday, here's a little bit of what you'll see:

This sweater was made & donated by my lovely grandma

I suspect there will also be a lot of serious art there, so we definitely have our bases covered - something for everyone!

Love, J

Misc. rabbit stuff

First here are a couple of my homemade bunnies, which will be included in a silent auction basket at Art for the Animals at the end of the month:



And then, here are some funny rabbit shots we've recently captured. They mark their territory by "chinning" stuff, and Lily is constantly rubbing her dainty little chin on everything she encounters.



And this was just lucky timing with Bread licking his nose; so cute.

Love, J

Homemade present roundup

There are a couple more to finish up last minute, but here's everything I haven't posted yet:

The hubs got some close-ups of his brothers' and dad's favorite things.


Monogrammed handkerchiefs for Grandpa.


Flower pattern here.

I made these long enough ago that I can't remember where I found the pattern. The little one rattles, courtesy of an empty floss container and some flax seed.


Personal portrait of a certain cousin's puppy.

Love, J

T-shirt yarn belt

Inspired by this, I made these as Christmas gifts:



And I now love knitting with strips of old t-shirts. It's stretchy, soft, and super-absorbent. I also used it to make some washrags for the kitchen.


Love, J

PS ~ Something else I've learned from Alabama Chanin: a dress worn over a skirt looks pretty cool. I've been using this trick to stay warm!

Socks are done!

Pattern: "Ploughed Acre Knee Socks" from Knit Green by Joanne Seiff


These are:

1. The first stockings I've ever knit.

2. The first time I've knit a pair of anything without taking a break after completing the first one and leaving it mateless for several months.

3. The first time I've knit anything without needing to have my grandmother walk me through at least one step. (Which is silly, because it's also the first time I've knitted anything while living within biking distance of Grandma's house. It would have been MUCH easier to get help with this project than the many others she labored to explain to me over the phone when I lived in Seattle ; )

Love, J

Sock progress

I've figured it out!

Or rather, I decided I couldn't figure it out as written, so I changed it up to something I can understand.

Whatever.

But the heel went smoothly, and it's looking (and feeling!) good.

This is my first pair of stockings ever, so I've never tried the "normal" way, but in my opinion, toe-up is the only way to go. It lets you try them on as you go, to check the shaping, ensures you don't run out of yarn before you finish the toe, and gets all the tricky heel parts out of the way early on, so you don't knit forever only to reach the heel and screw everything up. Plus the heel was easier to turn than it seems to be on other patterns, where you have to go back and pick up stitches. I'm sold.

Another lesson I've learned from this project is that plastic needles break. Kind of easily. So I'm currently working with my remaining 2 full and 2 half needles, and teaching myself to eeease up on the tension. You'd think I was uptight or something.

Assuming I don't lose interest soon, I ought to actually finish these before the weather cools off enough to wear them this fall. Shocking!

Love, J

Today it rains

And rains and rains.


And I determine that the best thing to do is pull out one of the pattern books step-dad gave me for my birthday and try my knitting skills on some stockings.



If I don't answer my phone this evening, it's because I can't hear it over the sound of my own cursing. I do not understand this pattern, but I so badly want these stockings that I WILL figure it out.

Love, J

Both upsetting and sort of cute

These intrigue me.


Anyone who has these displayed in their home has a home I would like to see.


Buy the patterns or completed projects at this shop.

Love, J

Black fingerless gloves

Each glove took about 2 days to knit. The pair took about 2 months. Does anyone else knit pairs of things that way? When I start doing socks, I'm going to have to learn the two-at-a-time method, or I probably will lose interest after finishing the first one.


Next time (and there will be a next time, because I love these) I will use finer yarn. These hold my fingers apart like those little foam rows you wear when you're getting a pedicure.

Love, J

Blue & white checked sweater

My grandmother is moving to a slightly smaller apartment and is handing off her worldly possessions left and right so that she won't feel all cluttered in her new digs. Being the very good granddaughter I am, I went over there a few nights ago to root through the bags of things she no longer wants, and I came up with some major finds.


My favorite is this blue and white wool sweater. Grandma told me that either she or her mother knitted it, she can't remember which.


I spend plenty of time with my yarn and needles, but I can't imagine making so many clothes that I could knit a whole sweater and then forget I'd made it. Have you ever knit a sweater? Even if you're speedy, it takes quite a few hours. The only one I've made (that wasn't baby-size) took me two years off-and-on because I kept getting sick of it.


Anyway, it's warm and fits cute and if you spot me at the supermarket this winter, I will almost surely be wearing it.


On another topic, I have learned that it is very hard to take an un-blurry photograph of yourself in a mirror when you don't have good lighting. Especially if you try to do it with the camera away from your face while capturing more just your right hip or the very top of your head.

Love, J

Miss Productivity

This week I have made:

~ Around 500 flashcards

~ Some little knitted buddies for the ornament exchange with the aunts next week (pattern here)

~ The house all Christmas-ee

~ A date with G for 'ornament night' at her school (I'm not sure what this means, but it sounds fun...)

~ My way through 3 seasons of the Friends DVDs

~ A new friend in my neighbor Greta

~ And a pretty present for sweet Beth (man, it's hard not to show off all the homemade gifts! But trust me, it's good.)






And it's only Thursday!

Love, J

Yard work on a pretty day

Last weekend we spent the morning raking all the newly fallen leaves. Well, he raked. I took pictures.

Can you spot the raking man?

Before & after shot. This is why I love this chore so much - it's so satisfying to see the work you've done!

Catalog pose. I made this sweater for him a few years ago. I thought he didn't like it that much, but it turns out Seattle weather just wasn't cold enough. Now he wears it all the time!

It's been a while since I posted a picture of myself.

Love, J

PS:

When I wasn't either out in the yard or moping about failing the test, I spent my weekend time working on my most recent craft addiction, which turned into a small business venture when I spoke to my best friend from high school last week. Stay tuned...