The Seven Year Quilt

It's done! It's finally done! Hot off the sewing machine I bring you :::drumroll please::: The Seven Year Quilt. No, that's not the pattern name, that's how long it took me to make this quilt. Everything has a story and it's about time this quilt had it's story told.

Over Christmas break in my freshman year of college (99' - 00') I worked at a guest ranch where another girl on the staff was making a puff-pillow quilt in her spare time. I thought it was lovely and since I was missing one of my best friends from high school I though I would make Sally one. Looked easy enough to make. Ha ha.

That January I took myself down to the fabric store and bought lots of fabric to make Sally a quilt. Now I know I really should have asked that girl how she was making this quilt before I dove in head first. *sigh* I botched it up and it was not to be. Over the next 3 years I attempted to will this quilt into being anytime I could steal a sewing machine long enough to work on it. Still, no dice. In 2003 I finally tore the little pillows apart and gave away what I couldn't tear up. In 2005 I was gifted a lovely old Pfaff by my mother-in-law so there was a light at the end of the tunnel. In 2006 I began a new concept and re-made the quilt top. Here I stalled in the fall because I had no idea how to go forward from there and I was terrified of messing it up. This week, with our impending trip to see Sally in Alaska, I bucked up and tied the quilt and just sewed the edges. The saga ends now.

It's a bit of a let-down to have this project over and a relief to see it put together and looking charming. I know it's nothing special to ya'll but this quilt holds some of my soul (and plenty of my pet's hair). Sally is eagerly anticipating it's arrival and I can't say I blame her. At least I know she'll love it and I can tell you, Sally must be the most patient friend there is. :)

Baby Booties

Pattern: Saartjes Booties
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease (I've been using a lot of Lion Brand lately totally on accident)
Needles: US 3

I've finished the baby booties for my step-brother's new baby boy! They are sooo cute and they just went in the mail this morning. :) The pattern was really simple and only took me two short evenings of sitting and TV knitting. I love the little buttons for Dylan, they just seem so "Little Boy Blue" to me. I hope they enjoy them. I'm always afraid the booties will be too small so I have to go measure them against Emma's 1 week-old foot print just to make sure. *sigh* Was she really that little? As an added bonus, Morgan always gets this cute "baby" smile when I show him baby booties. Just like the ones he used to give me when I was pregnant and he played with the belly or when Emma was itty bitty and sleeping. He still gives her that smile when she's wrapped up in a towel after a bath and just her little pink face is showing. There's just nothing like a baby.

The things kids say

My daughter amazes me. Lately she's been sneaking into the pantry and taking foodstuffs out and bringing them to me if she wants some. (Peanut butter is now a big hit in this house.) Yesterday she did this and brought me a bag for cereal saying, "Tooties!!" and desperately wanting some. Imagine my shock when the bag she brought me was a bag of Tutti Fruitis and I had never before used those words. I'd never bought them before and they've been sitting in the bottom of the pantry since Friday. I know a 19 month old can't read but this was still the funniest thing. How did she manage to pick the right name for them and call them Tooties?


I also have some pathetic news to report. I taught Emma to cuss. I was trying to give her some medicine the other day and she managed to dribble this pink goo all down the front of her and all over the carpet. "Sh!&" was my response. Sadly, it was also Emma's. The next day Morgan and I are cooking dinner and Emma starts walking around the kitchen chanting her new word. Morgan looks at me and asks, "Is she saying what I think she's saying?" My reply, "I hope not."

You see, Morgan is a mechanic and often his mouth lives up to that expectation. I was really sure Emma would be learning foul language from him since he is, shall we say, not so careful about what he says and I try really hard to watch my mouth around her. But no, the honor of teaching our daughter her first swear word goes to yours truly. *sigh* Someday I might get this Mommy gig straight but by then she'll be ready to move out.


Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Emma discovered markers...and she looooves them! Just a reminder, unless the package says they're washable, not all Crayola markers are washable. Ask me how I know.

Striking Gold!

A few months ago I told you all about this awesome find of vintage sewing patterns and pattern books at a garage sale. Now is your chance to share in the bounty, my friends. I went through the whole box and decided to sell whatever doesn't fit me or I really don't have a use for. The result: an e-bay listing of 8 items starting at 99 cents.

I put a link to the listings on the upper right corner of the page, next to my yarn shop link, so please feel free to check it out. Just as a teaser and to refresh your memory, here are some images of what I'm selling. I think the pattern books would make such awesome wall art if you were to take the pages out and frame them. Enjoy the eye candy!

So Much Fun!

I swear, I really do have ADD in the craft department. After spending all week in California watching the Home & Garden channel I have this desire to decorate and paint and stuff. Morgan doesn't really seem to be on the bandwagon with the whole moving Emma to a bigger room so I can decorate it with all sorts of Peter Rabbit stuff. Right now she's in this tiny room which is okay because she's tiny and so are her bed and belongings and we have this larger empty room that's supposed to be a guest room. The catch is that we don't even have a bed for the guest room and even if we did it would get used like 3 times a year at best. So why keep our daughter in the itty room when I can go wild with stuff I already have and decorate her a bigger room?

What's that you say? Don't I have other projects I should be focusing on? You mean, finishing that Central Park Hoodie, knitting those baby booties for my step-brother's new arrival (Hey Dylan! You're an adorable baby and Auntie Lisa will make you those booties before Christmas...but it's still too warm right now for booties anyway so you can wait, right kiddo? *wink*) and knitting Nick's stuffed monkey for his 1st birthday (Aug 19th)?

Ah, why stick to one project when I can try to do all 3 simultaneously. Besides, I need something to knit on the flight to Anchorage and back. :)

Little Shop of Horrors

I swear, my garden is something out of Little Shop of Horrors. The rhubarb is in there somewhere but the rest of the garden has been overrun by the pumpkin plants. Seriously, this is a 15' x 15' patch that is covered in pumpkin plants and it's even been branching 4' plus into the yard!!!! I'm even a little nervous to have Emma play too close to it because who knows if it might try to eat her. I have no idea why nothing else is growing in there but I've already been brokering deals with the neighbors to trade their raspberry shoots for some of my pumpkins this fall. I have this strange feeling you'll see me running a road-side stand of pumpkins or maybe a stall at the farmers market. How did this happen?

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*

Back in the Saddle

I have a few character traits that sometimes undermine my creative endeavors (impatient, overzealous, perfectionist come to mind) and others that only fan the flames (stubborn, hard-working, short memory of failure). Simply put, I refused to be bullied by the ghost of failed attempts so I went to it again dying yarn after I put Emma down for her nap.


"MMmm Ma, what's for lunch?"

This time? Success for the most part. I spend about an hour and a half washing, rinsing, dying, rinsing, washing and hanging three skeins of yarn. I'm super excited about the green, thought the yellow would be brighter and I'm starting to see some lighter patches in the purple. All in all not too bad and at least I didn't felt any of them within an inch of their lives. Of course, this time I put on some relaxing music, didn't have people yammering at me and I did my best to be very patient and not play with the yarn so much. *phew*



What do y'all think?

Ugh!

Last night I decided to do a bit more practice dying with some lace-weight yarn in the microwave (I have done it once before and it turned out fine, thankyouverymuch) since I can't dye the sock yarn yet. As you can guess, it turned out badly. I didn't let the yarn cool enough before I started to rinse it and then I played with it too much while I handled it. Result: yucky mass of felted wool in a very pretty color that reminded me of dusty antique roses. I know, I should chalk it up to practice and do better next time and blah blah blah but it broke my little heart to see it like that. Part of me doesn't want to dye anymore of the yarn because now I'm afraid I'll ruin it. Ugh.

Rest in peace sweet yarn.

It's Here!

Yay! My yarn is here and ready to dye...almost.


First I had to figure out how I want my pattern to look and how much yarn it would take for a repeat, yadda yadda yadda. Next I had to make it into really long loops so the pattern could repeat the way I want it to. And when I say really long, I do mean reaaaallly long. Seventy feet to be exact. But how in the heck do you make a 70 ft loop of yarn? By wrapping it around dowels attached to the railing of your very large deck. Or that's my method so far. The only snag (!) I've run into is that I tangled the yarn while running in circles around my deck and now I must wait for the Master Untangler himself to come home and rescue me.



It's not that I'm totally helpless, I just don't have the patience to stand in 97 degree heat and untangle wool under the beating sun. I'm sure it will be cooler tonight, I just have to finish before the moths come out!!! Yikes! I'd better stop blogging and get winding. More later....

Oh, and I finished a sock for Emma that I knit while waiting for the new yarn to come. I know you're disappointed in me, Annie.