Posted on

knitted: golightly gloves

Yes. I still knit. It may be hard to believe with all of my crochet posts, but I still do. Nothing compares to knitting in the round on double pointed needles. I LOVE it.

mason dixon go lightly gloves

Last weekend I knit up a pair of Golightly Gloves as a bridal shower gift and they were so much fun. The pattern is a simple 2×2 rib in dishcloth cotton. These are totally silly and I really want a pair for myself, too. I might knit a detachable cuff because I always wind up with holes in my glove fingers.

mason dixon go lightly gloves

project info: I’m usually not a fan of ombre yarn because the colors tend to pool in weird shapes. I love how these turned out more uniformly striped. Peaches and cream cotton from my stash. Pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines.

Posted on

my creative space

my creative space

In my creative space today I’m still thinking about sleeves. I’m not sure if I’m going to make a shirt from scratch or use these pattern pieces on an existing garment. Can’t. Stop. Thinking. About. Sleeves.

What creative things are you thinking about today? Don’t forget to check in on the great creative minds over at Kirsty’s blog.

Posted on

wardrobe refashion: hippie shirt

thrifted hippie tunic

It occurred to me as I got dressed this morning that I never blogged about one of my favorite refashions: the hippie shirt. I love the look of these style tunics, but they’re not the most flattering for me. I really need a defined waist.

I refashioned this last year before I ever attempted to remove a sleeve from a shirt. I just used my 80s sweater method and took it in a little bit under the arms and around the waist.

Luckily this material was forgiving and it turned out pretty good. I’d like to do the same to some of my knit jersey shirts, but I think I’m going to have to take the sleeves apart to alter them. I plan to practice on a few of my thrifted shirts. Hopefully, I’ll have some success stories to post soon!

Posted on

fave crafts blog hop: land’s end squares

lands end charity blanket squares

My Land’s End Share the Warmth squares are due at the end of the week. I didn’t finish as many as I would have liked. My wrists are feeling better — thank you for all of the well wishes — but the past few weeks have been slow-going.

Before this project I had three squares finished. I completed six for this particular project. That leaves three more before the end of the year to make my goal of one a month for 2010.

Have you been working on any charity projects?

Check out other finished projects over at the Fave Crafts blog.

Posted on

my daughter’s nature collection

elk pioneers park

As I write this it is cold, rainy and a little snowy. It’s hard to believe that a few days ago we were visiting the bison and elk in 70 degree weather. We have had a beautiful Fall this year. The weather has been warm and the ragweed season was short thanks to an early frost. The leaves have been brilliant and the sun has been shining strong in bright blue skies.

nature collection

We have made the most of our weather with picnics after school and “nature walks” at the park. There are a lot of souvenirs from the season: pine cones from Densmore Park, acorns from Tierra Park, dried berries from Stransky Park, rocks from Pioneers Park. My daughter insists that the rocks are fossils, just like in Don’s nature collection.

playground tierra park

I’ll be honest. There have been afternoons where I would have preferred to be sewing or planning my next project. I might have missed a blog post here and there. Now that winter is in our neck of the woods, I am so grateful for our time outdoors. Pretty soon we’ll be dealing with negative wind chills, blizzard warnings and playing with Indoor Snow.

I’ll be saving the nature collection to remind us of the warmer days. Maybe I’ll even print out a few pictures, too. After I spend a little time with my sewing machine, though. I found lots of fun things at the thrift store today that need refashioning!

Posted on

my creative space

baseball amigurumi bookmark

In my creative space today, I’m slowly getting back into my crochet groove. These little circles are actually baseball bookmarks for party favors. I’m thinking they would make cute Christmas ornament bookmarks — something handmade to go along with a book as a gift. Pattern coming soon.

More creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog. Enjoy the crafty goodness!

recycle: Bookmarks made from last week’s sweater yarn.

Posted on

reuse: oatmeal containers for storing artwork

oatmeal container storage

I’ve been saving our empty oatmeal containers on the top shelf of the pantry for awhile. My plan is to use them for storing my daughter’s artwork. Right now, most of what we want to keep is stored flat in my office closet, which is pretty packed. I’d like to sort and move them to the top shelf of her closet, which is pretty empty.

oatmeal container storage

Of course, she has other ideas. After taking the photo for the blog, she informed me that, “No artwork should be stored in Puppy Dog’s rocket!” As you can see, she’s also in charge of decorating the containers.

reuse: How do you reuse oatmeal containers? I think they would be great for packaging holiday cookies.

Posted on

putting some apples by for winter

big canning apples

This weekend I canned apples. Before I moved to Nebraska, canning anything would have never crossed my mind. Going to an orchard to pick my own apples never crossed my mind, either. Unfortunately, vacation and being sick kept us from prime picking season, but when we went to this pumpkin patch, they had local, harvested apples we could buy. Cool!

I was really nervous about doing this. The word “botulism” comes up quite frequently in the canning books. Yikes! It was really easy, though. To prepare, I bought a stock pot, jar lifter and wide mouth funnel. (The funnel comes in handy on a daily basis around here, since we store lots of things in mason jars.) I got the pint jars from the grocery store and used the Ball Blue Book as my guide. One peck of apples filled six pints almost perfectly.

What I’d really like to do is can soups. I dream of opening up the pantry on a cold, snowy day and pulling out a hearty, homemade soup instead of a can of Campbell’s. Most of the things I’d really like to can need a pressure canner. I’m definitely not ready to make that commitment. I figure I’ll try jam and pickles next and see how things go. Maybe in the Spring I’ll be ready to join a CSA and take the next step.

What about you? Do you grow and can your own produce? Buy from local farms? Love the idea or think it’s crazy? I’m curious!

Posted on

fun at roca berry farm

roca berry farm

One day during Fall Break we headed to Roca Berry Farm for an afternoon of fun with friends. Our first trip two years ago was so different. Not only was it freezing and we didn’t stay very long, but Bella was so little! Here are some pics of this trip with my Big Girl.

roca berry farm

roca berry farm

roca berry farm

Posted on

size matters not…

big knitting needles large crochet hook

…judge me by my size, do you?*

I’ve always wanted to try knitting with a set of really big needles.

Do or do not… there is no try.*

Whenever I see them in the craft store I wind up passing them by because I’ve already got too many things on my to-do list.

The other day in the thrift store, when I was buying the black and white sweater, I happened upon this set and a big hook, too. At thrift store prices, I couldn’t pass them up. The needles are US size 35 and the hook is a size Q.

My wrists are starting to feel better. These might be the perfect way to ease back into things. I’m thinking Purl Bee’s Eleventh-Hour Scarf with some Manos del Uruguay from my stash might make a nice weekend project.

What crafty projects do you have planned for the weekend?

*Yoda