Summer Sun

Emma and I are back from our whirlwind adventure in California. It was a great family reunion with some fun outings and a little bit of drama.

Let's go in chronological order. We arrived late on Saturday night and stayed with some old friends of ours. Sunday was full of visiting with them, rides in Ben's new 67' Mustang (do I even have to mention that I'm a bit jealous?) and a nice trip to the beach.


Emma saw the ocean for the first time and loved having me hold her above the waves as they came in so she could squeal with delight. Next it was time for some sand play and sunbathing. Loved it, loved it.



That evening we settled in with Morgan's family for the reunion and it was great. There was good company and good food in a beautiful setting. What more could you ask for?



On Tuesday we went to Sea World and it was a blast! Emma loved seeing the whales and seals and used her big words to express herself. Mainly lots of "Wow!" It would be great to be able to visit there again in smaller time chunks because Emma got so worn out we only saw about 1/4 of the park.



Of course, we had to make a morning excursion to the local yarn store and the most awesome quilting store I've ever seen. I was good and didn't go overboard though I did bring home some souvenir yarn and fabric. The yarn is Misti Cotton (83% Pima Cotton, 17% Silk) in this lovely sage/sea green color and I loooooove the hand and drape of it. I started Matador while I was there, but more on knitting later. The fabric is a bundle of 5" charm squares of, get this, sock monkeys. The sock monkeys wear hats, bounce on pogo sticks, dance around, ride scooters and just generally be monkeys. How stinkin' cool is that?!?! I plan to make Emma a really cute little quilt out of them.

Thursday night Emma had a really nasty fever (104 degrees) for the second night in a row and I totally panicked and we went to the ER to find out poor baby has an ear infection. She's recovering nicely, thank you.

The trek home began Saturday and we finally arrived at Home Sweet Home on Sunday afternoon. *phew* I love to travel but man, it feels good to be home. :)

They grow up so quickly...

Phoenix is off to a new home. After being available for sale for one day, she was quickly picked from the line-up. Bye-bye baby!

I finished a skirt to take with me on the trip to Cali and I even took pictures...only to realize that I had already packed the camera cable in a burst of energetic packing. Oh well, maybe I'll get real pictures with me in the dress and skirt to put up instead of them on the hanger. Anyway, Miss Emma and I are off tomorrow morning for our week-long adventure. Miss us!

More Lovely Ladies

Today I have more lovely ladies to show you all. May I present Phoenix and Black Cherry:

Phoenix is a fingering weight yarn that is so bright and breath-taking I might be more than a little in love with her. She loves fireworks and spicy food. :)


Black Cherry is a lace weight yarn in a demure but rich shade somewhere between dark pink, light purple and might be best called "mauve-ish". She enjoys a good book and loves to hunt for antique china.

And no, I'm not crazy. I'm just "unique". Now I'm off to sew some skirts for my trip to California next week. More yarn and sewing projects soon to come. I have another skein of lace weight yarn sitting on the stove cooling and those skirts will be done by tonight. :)

Woo Hoo!!

Yay! It happened! I sold my first order of yarn today. Birthday Cake is now it's way to a new home. I'm so happy I'm doing a little happy dance. *insert mental image of me dancing around like an idiot with a big grin*

Have an excellent Tuesday!

Emma's Socks

Because I am easily distracted with my knitting, I made Emma some socks. Very cute socks. *smiles*

Pattern: Toddler Socks from Lion Brand Yarn
Yarn: Magic Stripes by Lion Brand. I have no idea what this colorway is called because I lost the ball band and it's been discontinued. :(
Modifications: I did a short row heel instead of a heel flap and I am so happy with it. I think all my future socks will involve short row heels. Also, I did a round toe instead of a wedge-shaped toe.

Some Goodies

Still out of batteries for the camera but in lieu of my usual poor pictures I have one from my camera phone. Yesterday I had to bake cookies and drink coffee. Just *had to*. It's all part of my diet plan. And yes, I am doing pretty well. Officially, I have 9 lbs left to go before I get back to my pre-pregnant weight. Whoo hooo!

Mostly, I just wanted to share with y'all the best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. For ages I used to think that I couldn't bake and after many sacrificial offerings of burnt bread, pies, flat cakes and crappy cookies I have learned I can bake some. This is by far the best simple cookie recipe I have found and I vary it by doing milk chocolate chips, white chocolate or peanut butter and using vanilla instead of brandy. Give it a whirl and see if you like it.

Another good one is this Crustless Spinach Quiche. I made it on Sunday for the third time and everyone loves it. :) Just in time for lunch!

Up to?

*Warning: No pictures, the camera is dead until I buy more batteries. Sorry!*

What have I been doing this last week? Lots. And I have more planned for this week! :::insert maniacal laugher:::

Last week I got crackin' on my Central Park Hoodie and now all I have left is the sleeves. I also managed to nearly finish Emma's pair of socks, dye some lace weight yarn (No, I haven't sold any yet, Annie *sniff* ), bake some cakes and cookies, try a new Aqua Cardio class at the gym and organize my craft room with the new bookcase.

Morgan kept himself plenty busy and on Saturday he made me a lego ball-winder. Very cool but not really sturdy enough to do an entire hank of yarn. *sigh* He promises he'll make me a real one and I use my reverse psychology on him and say, "Sure ya will, honey." I expect one done within the month. :) The hilarious thing about my sweetie is that he really likes to help me, or at least doesn't mind a bit, with the yarn stuff. He'll build me a ball-winder, fix my niddy-noddy that I poorly made (from dowels, no less), untangle all my messy yarn, and admire my dye work but never once does he want me to make him anything or use my yarn. I think this is the perfect scenario for marital harmony and ultimate crafty-ness. I have a craft gnome to do my bidding who requires no payment.

In my random internet browsing I found so many neat ideas that I'm itching to start and plan to work on this week. That's the thing about crafty blogs, they get me all excited to work on something else and they're such great inspiration. This coming week I really want to make this cute smock for me and a little apron or top for Emma with big pockets for her to put her treasures in. This gallery of adorable handmade aprons on Flickr, called Tie One On, is so cute and it's really awesome to see what other people come up with. It's got my motor running.

Next in line are a pair of booties for my step-brother's baby due in a bout a month. Brooklyn Tweed has the cutest baby projects lately and I think I have the bug to make baby stuff. What lucky friends I have!

Also, it occurred to me that I do need to remember to finish the Seven Year Quilt to take to Sally. This poor quilt. I literally started it seven years ago and have since broken a sewing machine, moved countless times, torn the thing apart because it was crap, and then rebuilt it. It now has the top done (except for the edging) and the layers simply need to be tied together. Then bound. Ya think I can do it in the next 35 days? Here's hope-in'.

Happy Birthday, America!

Today is the Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and I know you all will do it justice with lots of flag-waving, fire-cracking and BBQ-ing. Did that sound condescending? It wasn't. The 4th of July was first celebrated with 13 gun salutes, grand state dinners, doubled rum rations for troops (thanks to George Washington himself) and fireworks. I say we keep up the tradition and do the holiday justice. Have a Happy 4th of July!

In honor of such, may I present Birthday Cake.

Open Your Own Treasure House

I like Koans. Enjoy!

Open Your Own Treasure House

Daiju visited the master Baso in China. Baso asked: "What do you seek?"

"Enlightenment," replied Daiju.

"You have your own treasure house. Why do you search outside?" Baso asked.

Daiju inquired: "Where is my treasure house?"

Baso answered: "What you are asking is your treasure house."

Daiju was enlightened! Ever after he urged his friends: "Open your own treasure house and use those treasures."

This Just In!

May I present my first self-striping, two colored yarn. I named it Strawberry Patch. :)

I did it!

Today I took a deep breath and posted two skeins of yarn for sale at my new shop, Mountain Sheep Yarn. I also added a link at the top right of this blog so you can check it out whenever you fancy to. If you have any feedback or comments on the shop I would love to hear it.



I know, it's only two skeins, but it's a start and now that I have them posted I can start working on the next batch. Stay tuned. The next round is going to be self-striping yarn in yummy flavors. *big smile*