I have a pretty cool robot

Tomorrow is the big day!!! I think I'm ready. Today I just need to finish sewing on labels and take some pictures of everything.

We had a fun Halloween this year!

Jack wanted to be a robot so hubby and I came up with a costume for him.

Hubby insisted on wiring it up with LED lights and I have to say, it came out so cool! I wish I could have gotten a picture in the dark so you could see the lights better.

Hope everyone had a fun week too!

summer fun

Last weekend we went to our local Hot Air Balloon Festival. I really look forward to this all summer because it is so beautiful to watch all the colorful balloons! It was a bit windy but a few balloons were able to inflate for the evening "glow".

The Forest Service had a trailer set up and a Smokey the Bear for the kids to say hi to. Jack was actually too scared to go up to Smokey when he waved to him but as soon as he turned his back, Jack followed him everywhere. It was pretty funny!

I have my finished Warm/Cool quilt to show you tomorrow!

my boy is not a baby anymore

Let's face it. Choosing the decor for a baby or toddler's room is really all about indulging my own style in a place where I wouldn't otherwise be able to show it.

1. Camper Wall Flag, 2. Woodlawn Campfire, 3. Retro Camper at night, 4. Birch Trees pillow, 5. big boy bed, 6. Circa60 Happy Summer, 7. Circa60 Happy Camping, 8. Poppin' Up!, 9. Retro Campfire Owl & Friends

We're about to move Jack into a big boy bed (he'll be 3 in September!) so I want to totally transform his room. Now that I have my ideas I can't wait to get started! The hardest part will be deciding on the paint color. Since we're on a shoestring budget I'm going to try to only spend money on paint and maybe a shelf or bookcase. I'd like to make a twin-sized quilt for the bed and I'm pretty sure between myself and my mom I'll have all the fabrics I want.

{new} knitting!

Wow, thank you so much for all the sweet comments on my quilt!

This fall weather has really gotten me back into the knitting mood. I have several projects all queued up with yarn, needles and pattern ready to go. More about those next time.

The first project I've started is the Snazzy Argyle Stocking that I mentioned a while back.I decided to go with something cheap and sturdy Wool-Ease Worsted in Grey Heather and Ranch Red. Oh no! I just noticed a mistake. Do you see it? it's a missed red stitch. Oh well, I might be able to live with it. Who has time to rip back? it's just a stocking.

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Isn't this a lovely rainbow of fabrics? These are for a new quilt and pattern. And I couldn't deprive you of a picture of my adorable puppy! I actually let him hold our TV remote in order to bribe him (yeah I admit it!) into standing still for the picture.

my weekend

My creative juices have really been flowing lately! Must be this fall weather we're having. Unfortunately, I'm not happy with my current knitting project. It started out okay, but now I'm not so sure. Sorry, no picture of it at the moment.


There is one thing I'm super excited about right now though. I'm working on writing up my first quilt pattern to sell! Look at these pinks on the chocolate brown background!Another thing that makes me happy right now are these pants:They are the Big Butt Baby Pants pattern from Made by Rae. Although my baby certainly does not have a big butt (he's a lean little thing!), they fit wonderfully if you just go down a size. They are sooooo easy to make and the directions are extremely well written. I've made two pairs for Jack, a pair for my neice, and two pair for a new baby gift. I'm making them all out of flannel since the weather is cooling down. They are great "lounge" pants!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

better late than never

I meant to post this last week after we had Jack's 2nd (!) birthday party! Oh it was so fun!

I made a simple scrappy bunting.

And puppy cupcakes from Hello Cupcake! (thanks Holli for turning me onto this book!)Unfortunately, the first thing he ate off his cupcake was the licorice jellybean nose...which he promptly spit out.Mama-made gift: On-The-Go Car Playmat. This was so fun to make and personalize!My favorite is the park.

Knitting content soon!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Happy Summer

The official start of summer may have been a few days ago but with temps at or near triple digits for the last month, summer's been here in Texas for a while! Not conducive to knitting I must say. However, I'm still slowly plugging away at my cardigan.

In the meantime, I've been very busy quilting! I just listed these little beauties in the shop. Despite the heat, we've still been enjoying the back patio in the evening. Especially when there is a cold treat involved. Jack loved his smoothie.

diversions

Happy Easter and Passover! I've already eaten too many Peeps!

This is really turning out to be a wonderful weekend! The weather could not be better and we've been enjoying it out on our back porch as much as possible. Jack LOVES going outside!

Oh look! could it be? yes, it's a real FO!

Pattern: Milkweed Shawl

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Merino superwash fingerling in Blue Fig; 1 and a half skeins

Needles: US #4

Notes: I didn't mean for this to turn into a sneaky project but a couple of weeks ago I decided to cast-on and did not put it down until it was finished! I'm so proud of myself for finishing it so quickly!

This yarn is "My Precious". Does anyone else have a special yarn that they've been hoarding since buying it years ago? I scored this Sweet Georgia yarn over at The Loopy Ewe when it was still a relatively new online yarn shop. At the time Sweet Georgia yarn was pretty tough to come by. I'm very happy with how I was able to finally use "my precious".

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

problem

Actually, two problems.

First of all....is anyone else having problems with Bloglines? It's not picking up new posts. I'm not sure what to do about it. All I know is that it's driving me nuts!

Second. Side Pooching:

A closer look:

This is my Ingenue. Remember how I said that all I had left was to knit the sleeves? Well, that wasn't the whole truth. You see, I have a somewhat long torso and this sweater (as written in the book) is very short. I didn't want to end up with a crop top so I lengthened the body. The problem seems to be with the stitch pattern at the hem. It really pulls in, causing a pooch on the sides just below the waist shaping. Now, the pattern has you start the bottom stitch pattern immediately after the waist shaping. I was totally in love with how this was fitting until I started to go past the waist shaping. It has just the amount of positive ease I am wanting and the hem just ruins the whole look. I guess I want the bottom to flare out a bit more.

I've been sitting on this problem for a looooong time now and I really want to do something about it because it is bothering me so much that I cannot move on to the sleeves or anything else until I get it figured out. I keep seeing every one's beautiful Olympics projects and it's making me want to finish something!

Anybody have any ideas? Should I reknit the bottom stitch pattern in bigger needles? I think I'll definitely go an inch or two shorter than the length it is now (it looks funny to me for some reason).

I'm really late to the game but a couple of weeks ago we had the most amazing record-breaking snow ever! I know people up north are probably so sick of seeing snow but it was a real treat for us.
Jack was not impressed at all!!! He's just too little to appreciate it just yet.

life as we know it....over

We have a crawler here!

At 8 months old, he has become such a busy little boy!

Unfortunately, my knitting time has gone way down because we have put our home for sale on the market and have been searching for something a little bigger. We are in a 2-bedroom house currently and would like to find something with at least 3 bedrooms and a little more elbow room, if you know what I mean.

But, I have managed to finish one of my stripey socks! Just plain stockingette stitch, this one really went fast. Also, I wanted to show off a new set of fabrics I got from Pink Chalk Fabrics. It's the Red Letter Day collection by Lizzy House. I totally fell in love with it when I saw it online. The picture does not do it justice. Since I am trying to keep the house spotless right now, I will have to settle for just drooling over it until after we move (and who knows when that will be).

fuzzy head.

This boy has his daddy's hair.

Butternut socks

These have been finished for weeks! I had a hard time getting good pictures but you get the idea.

Pattern: plain stockingette

Yarn: Yarn Pirate Booty Club Merino/Tensel in Butternut colorway

Needles: US#1

Notes: This yarn was so loosely plied that it made it splitty and hard to work with. I am happy with the finished result but don't think I would use it again. I have worn them many times already and they are warm and cozy just as handmade socks should be.

Jack Update: Jack is doing soooo much better now that he has his stitches out and we can go back to feeding him with a bottle! He is so much happier now and so am I!

Surgery

Hi all, sorry I haven't been around too much recently. I actually do have an FO to share.

Tomorrow (Monday) Jack is having surgery to repair his cleft lip and palate. In my head I know it will all be fine and that he won't remember it but my heart is dreading seeing him go under the knife and be in pain. My friend says that when you have kids it's like your heart is now outside your body. They expect him to heal pretty fast from it though. I'm sure the surgery will be harder for us (the parents) than it will be for Jack. I'm just ready for it to be over now. He has been so sweet lately! Smiling a LOT! and cooing and just being as cute as he can be. I'll try to post in a few days to let you all know how it went.