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april showers

april showers

You may have heard we had some severe weather in the Midwest last weekend. I love taking pictures of the dramatic clouds, but these storms were different. The sky was cold and gloomy all day, so I grabbed my camera and tried to focus on the rain.

First I tried freezing the raindrops in motion. I sat in the garage for cover, but there wasn’t enough light to get a high enough shutter speed. Then I went on the deck, where I thought there would be more light, but had the same issue.

I decided if Mother Nature wouldn’t work with me, I’d have to work with her. I lowered my shutter speed and focused on showing the raindrops in motion. I managed to capture two droplets and show the water bouncing off of the wood. Even though the day was mainly gray, the trees in the background make it look bright and spring like.

I love this photo so much, I resized it into a desktop background. Feel free to download and share.

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this moment becomes this week

this moment
photo taken by my father

this week I:

watched my daughter have the time of her life with my parents – so thankful that they take the time to visit us in Nebraska

updated more on instagram, twitter and facebook than the blog – need to start using that wordpress app a little more

crocheted little pincushions out of my dyed yarn – just need to add fabric and stuffing and they’ll be finished

started Ballet Beautiful – thought it would be easier than P90X. It’s not.

cleaned piles off my sewing table – still haven’t sat down to actually sew something

listened to Mighty Be Our Powers – continue to be inspired by Leymah Gbowee

thought a lot about what the media does to women – proud of Ashley Judd for fighting back (her essay and interview)

vowed to start going to bed earlier and waking up earlier – I’d really like some quiet time in the beginning of the day when my brain is fresh. We’ll see how it goes.

How was your week?

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mini hanks of easter yarn

dyeing yarn with easter egg dye

I have never considered myself a yarn dyer. I have so many odds and ends in my stash, I can’t imagine ever needing a specific color for anything. But while I was cleaning up from Easter egg dyeing last Saturday, I decided to dunk a few balls of yarn in the leftover dye just for fun.

dyeing yarn with easter egg dye

It was a really sloppy attempt. I soaked my yarn under the kitchen faucet before plopping it into the cups. I let them sit for a long while before I remembered to microwave them. Some of the mini-hanks were wound too tightly and are pale on the inside. The colors, however, are absolutely beautiful! They make me want to try my hand at dyeing a larger amount.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with this little bit of yarn. Maybe I’ll crochet some eggs.

details: The white yarn is from my stash of unraveled sweaters. I didn’t follow a tutorial for dyeing the yarn. If you google “easter egg dye yarn” you’ll get a bunch of links.

I haven’t been spending a lot of time in front of my computer lately. Thanks for putting up with all of my instagram photos.

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two heels are better than one!

handknit socks

Fished out a pair of socks from the UFO pile. Started these almost two years ago! Yikes! Working on them two at a time and ready to turn both heels.

notes from my original post: Yarn is Sockittome by Cherry Tree Hill Yarn. Pattern is Diagonal Lace Socks by Wendy Johnson from Socks from the Toe Up. You can download the pattern for free, but make sure to check the errata on ravelry before you start knitting.

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the house that giacometti and biedrzycki built

giacometti and biedrzycki art project

Last month my daughter studied the artist Alberto Giacometti. For her project, she chose to make a sculpture in the style of The Palace at 4 a.m.

Also during March, her school was learning about David Biedrzycki and reading the Ace Lacewing Bug Detective series. Although odd to some, it made perfect sense to me when she decided to fill her house with insects. We started calling them her Biedrzycki bugs.

giacometti and biedrzycki art project

Most of the materials are wood: bamboo skewers, dowels, beads, toothpicks and sticks. There’s also a bit of yarn, foil and clay. I’m not sure what the pink stuff is! I can tell you that one of the pink bugs is a bee and the other is a cocoon with a little green caterpillar sticking out. Also taking up residence is a walking stick and spider.

giacometti and biedrzycki art project

There’s a front and back door, a shelf for holding books, knitting and crochet (yes! she drew yarn, needles and hooks on the shelves!), a table and a painting hanging on the “wall.”

I’m constantly amazed by this girl of mine and can’t help but wonder where her interests will lead her in life.

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granny square scarf from yarn scraps

granny scarf

Too many of my projects are in progress. I really needed to finish something, so I did what any crazy crafter would do. I started something new.

Last week I grabbed some scrap yarn from my bin of miscellaneous ends and started making squares. I used up almost every bit of these colors with about one yard of white and a few inches of pink left over.

I don’t know what I’m going to do with a kid-sized scarf at the beginning of spring. It was 80 degrees today! My daughter tried it on, but hasn’t asked for it. Maybe I’ll tuck it away and see if she changes her mind in the Fall.

pattern: the motif is from Red Heart’s Copenhagen pillow designed by Yvonne Eijkenduijn of Yvestown. I added an extra round to make the squares bigger — basically repeating round three with a chain between the double crochet clusters.

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trying to love spring cleaning

dusty deck furniture

Sometimes getting ready for the warm weather feels like a lot of work. Today I mowed the lawn, which is a new thing for me. I’m more of a inside chore girl, but I really like hanging out with my husband after work and so does my daughter. If I can mow the lawn during the day, that frees up evening and weekend hours for more family time.

I also tried to clear off some of the “prairie dust” from the furniture on the deck. It’s been so unseasonably warm that my daughter has been running through the sprinkler in the afternoons. There’s literally no place to sit that isn’t covered by a gritty layer of this muck. I’m not sure why it settles just on our deck. Maybe the direction of the wind? I battle it all summer long, but let it go during the winter months. I’m sure it’s a mix of great things like ragweed and grass pollen with a little bit of dirt thrown in for good measure.

Now I have a little spot to sit and knit while my daughter runs around outside. There’s still a lot more to be done, but until I know Spring is really here for good (we’ve gotten snow in April before) that’s all I’m doing.

Have you started spring cleaning yet?

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rainy days and mondays

Last Monday I planned to take a lot of crafty pictures for the blog. It was the first day after spring break and I was excited to get down to work. Within minutes of dropping my daughter off at school it got very, very, very dark. I couldn’t believe it! Huge storm clouds were rolling in. I was so bummed.

Then I thought: I can still take pictures, just not what I had originally planned. I stayed close to home because I was worried the sky would open up at any minute. I pushed myself discover something new within the familiar sights of the front yard.

Mother Nature didn’t give me a lot of time, but I got a few good shots before heading back inside. I love that little nest!

stormy pictures

stormy pictures

stormy pictures

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the cutest coffee pot ever

bialetti moka express

What is it about coffee?

There are so many things that I love about it: the rich aroma of a new bag of beans, freshly ground and percolating in the pot; the special rituals of my favorite mug and the perfect amount of milk (no thank you on the sugar); and how it pries even the sleepiest eyes open.

A few weeks ago our cappuccino machine died. The pump just stopped working. We had dug it out of the closet to replace our coffee maker, which had been turning itself on during the day for no reason (and with no water inside!). Both have served us well for at least 10 years, maybe even longer, so we really couldn’t complain.

However, the thought of replacing either one of them was overwhelming. My husband started researching online and I switched to green tea.

A few weeks later I saw this pot at a friend’s house. I was smitten with its design and simplicity — just three parts, no on/off switch and no pump. Could less really be more?

Oh, I am so in love with this little guy! I also bought a foaming wand for milk. The cappuccinos just might be the best I’ve ever tasted.

Apparently Italians have been using this to make espresso for over 75 years. L’omino con i baffi has a fascinating history. If you have a thing for product design and branding, it’s worth a read.

for the curious: I purchased the 6 cup Moka Express and Aerolatte foaming wand (links go to amazon.com). Note! 6 cups = 6 two-ounce espresso cups, not 6 eight-ounce cups. It’s a tiny little thing.

This is not a product endorsement or paid review. The Bialetti and Aerolatte folks have no idea who I am. I just love a good cup of cappuccino.