Baby Blanket

A good friend of mine just adopted a little girl from China. She brought her home a few weeks ago and she is just the cutest!! I thought that she would like to have a blanket of her own :o)
I hand stitched the name in purple DMC floss

A close up of the fabric - flannel and chenille


The back - pink fleece. I did this with my kids first blankets and they are so warm and cuddly.

Border stitching to keep it all in place. This is one of the stitches on my sewing machine.

This is how the border stitching looks on the chenille.

All folded up and ready to go!

Repurposed T-shirt

My now 14 year old daughter spent some time in her room yesterday. This is not something to worry about. She sometimes likes to read in "peace and quiet" which our home is not. She also does other things in there. I had an inkling that she was creating something because she was asking things like - "Can I borrow the turtle? (my pin cushion)" - "Can I use the sewing machine?" - and then I would hear some exclamations of distress from her room. But she did not need my help. Behold what she came up with from an old shirt that she could not bear to part with, though it had become much too small:

New accesories!!
Arm warmers

Head kerchief

New purse. Pretty neat!! If I do say so myself!

Short Rows

I just have to say.......I "hate" short rows! I know, "hate" is a pretty strong word to use and maybe by the end of this project I might begin to tolerate them, but right now they are so not fun!

Here is a section before I learned how to pick up the yarn for the "wrap & turn".
Here is a section after I learned how to pick up the yarn from the "wrap & turn". Much better however I am not going back to fix the other ones. I will just move forward.

Can you tell what it is??

It's the Lizard Ridge from Knitty by Laura Aylor and started 11/21/2006. I really do love the yarn - Karaoke - it is soft and so nice on the hands and such a great break from those ribbon shirts I have been making. I was yearning to make something with "real" yarn and this definitely fits the bill!

New pot

What happens when you don't want to work on any of the knitting, sewing, cross stitch, or crochet projects that are piled up around the house?? You (meaning me) gather some supplies that you have on hand and start a new project that has been rattling around your brain for a bit.

Gather: Terra cotta pot, fun napkins, paint, mod podge and sealer
Paint pot, let dry, paint second coat. Cut out fun motifs from napkins

Apply fun motifs to pot with mod podge, let dry, spray with sealant inside and out.

A fun pot to plant something in!!

Big Trouble

This is a new to us game that the kids are having a blast with. It talks to you and is loud and obnoxious but everyone has a great time playing it (even me!). It's really funny when we say "I'm in BIG trouble!". Or when any player plays the special cards and picks a victim I mean opponent.

The game in action. I was playing at the place where the coffee mug is! It's great fun and is another game that works for kids of all ages.

This summer has been so fun, so relaxing and so full of just hanging out, reading, playing games and taking some day trips. I truly am sorry that it will be ending soon and we will have to go back to our regular school schedule!

Xstitch Santa

More progress has been done on the Santa Cross Stitch Christmas Stocking.

Before is above and After is below. I love cross stitching (even though it would be easier with a lighted magnifying glass that I am to vain to use) each night when I sit down to stitch I keep thinking how great it is to do this. I can't wait to sit down tonight to work on it again :o)

Unfortunately I am only approximately 50% done. This approximation only includes the actual stitching - not the putting together to make it a stocking. Let's see.......it was started 12/29/2008 and we are more than half way through this year........I think much more stitching on a regular basis much be accomplished if I want to give this to DD#1 this Christmas. Hmmmmh.....and I thought I was doing so well!

Some Little Treats

I decided to make a few treats for a recent family gathering.

These are snookerdoodle cupcakes with a cinamon frosting topped with a blackberry. Very, very yummy!

These are my brownie recipe cut out with a circular biscuit cutter and then embellished with loops of colored chocolate. The decorations did not turn out like I wanted - I should have used a smaller tip on the decorating bag - Oh, Well....next time I'll know. They tasted just fine! The kids were asking the adults for their chocolate loops so they could have more :o)

A Very Berry T-shirt

It's done! I had tons of stitching time, though not for a very good reason. We had planned on going to our cabin in Kirkwood for a much deserved vacation. Packed up, kids excited, hubby and I excited. We drove there (4 hours) - looked around (cabin had sprung a leak on the top level and totally needs to be gutted) - called insurance - turned around and headed back home (4 hours). Lots of knitting time. Thanks to wonderful in-laws - they asked if we would like to use their condo in Monterey for a couple of days and we said "YES". Repacked and drove 1 1/2 hours to Monterey and tried to relax for a couple of days. It was so nice to be away even though we spent easily half of the time on the phone with insurance (so far they have been very easy to work with-knock on wood). Then drove 1 1/2 hours home. The day after we got back from Monterey, hubby and I drove back to Kirkwood to meet with insurance adjusters and miscellaneous other people who will be taking care of the demo and restoration of our cabin. Again the in-laws came to the rescue and stayed with the kids so they didn't also have to make the trip back to Kirkwood. What would we do without such great family around?!!


Anyway, back to the "T-shirt". I love this pattern!! It is well written, there are no mistakes and it is easy to complete. The construction happens all on it's own - the only seams are the underarm seams - it is knit totally in the round and goes so-so-so quickly.

A close up of the color on the top portion. No matter how many times I photgraphed this, I just could not get an accurate representation of the color. This is very close though.

Here's my cutie wearing it!

She does love a photo shoot....

And of course....the back.

Pattern: Very Berry T-shirt by Lucia Tedesco

Started: 7/18/2009

Finished: 7/28/2009 (this is a record for me!)

Needles: US7

Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn-Wool Ease Worsted Weight

Color: Black #153 Lot: 31037

80% Acrylic, 20% Wool
Yarn: Adriafil - Fluo trends

Color: #27 (multi) Lot: 1

I love, love, love this pattern and have another one planned for dd#3.

Spite and Malice

This is the name of a new card game that my sister-in-law and brother-in-law have taughter me. It is a very fun game and we played it quite a lot at the pool while the kids where having fun. The rules are here: http://www.pagat.com/patience/spitemal.html

The best part......my 11 yo and my 9 yo can now play. It takes two decks for two people, 3 decks for 3 people and so on - a perfectly adaptable game for my crowd!!

I am anxiously awaiting the oldest to come home from music camp so that we can teach her. She has been gone 6 days, we just got to see her last night (it is a 2 1/2 hour trip) to watch a concert and then take her out to dinner. We go pick her up in a week - much too long for me. I was sure that she would want to come home when she saw us, but while it was really evident that she missed us and her siblings, she was completly happy and had made a lot of new friends. After dinner she was ready to go back to camp for more music and festivities. My girl is growing up.