busy bee

I just got the promo cards for the Handmade Harvest craft show I'll be doing the first Saturday in November! Yay, I'm really excited about this!

This year I'm making Kindle covers and iPad covers in addition to quilts and table runners.

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Not with sewing but just creatively and feeling like I can never "keep up" with everyone. I mean, the way that some people really crank out all these great ideas, take perfect pictures, blog about them, have sponsors, respond to every comment, create patterns and just seem to have their hand in everything. It's really intimidating.
I just have to remember that I do this blog just for fun and as a creative outlet for myself. I just don't have time to keep up with blogs, Craftsy, Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest and who knows what else. Right now I limit myself to keeping up with a manageable number of blogs, Flickr and browsing Pinterest now and then. I already feel like I spend way too much time on the computer. Sometimes I just need to give myself a reality check and let go of the imagined pressure to be like others. Well, I feel better getting that off my chest. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way sometimes. :)

blogging

The part of blogging that I struggle with is trying to take the "perfect" photo, then uploading it and editing. It sounds so simple but it always seems like such a pain to me.

I've been trying to find a way to streamline that process so I can more easily share things I'm working on here. I haven't been trying very hard mind you but the other day I downloaded the Flickr app to my phone. The idea of taking a picture and then uploading it to Flickr at the tap of a finger is extremely appealing to me! Granted, that means a cell phone picture. But, honestly, with instagram photos being all the rage these days, you don't have to have the "perfect" photo. I tried getting into instagram, I did, but it just wasn't for me. I like having this blog and documenting things I'm working on.

So, here I am sharing a photo I just took of a quilt I just laid out in preparation for assembling. It's just a simple disappearing  nine-patch but I love how it's looking!

I say I cell phone picture is better than no picture or blog post at all! What do you think?

Celebrating 3 years

I'm amazed that this blog is 3 years old! I may have slowed down a bit but I certainly have no intention of quitting this blog. I still enjoy the creative outlet it gives me to share my knitting and life projects. Thank you everyone for reading!

Now, to show you an FO! I have a brand new niece due in July and wanted to make something special for her.

Pattern: Topaz from Knitty Spring '09

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Coast Grey and Ballerina Pink (discontinued I think)

Needles: US #9

Notes: So quick and so cute! I think I successfully made the 6 mos size so that she will be able to wear it in the fall. The directions were very clear and easy to follow. The only thing I don't like on the finished garment is how the shoulder straps and armpit areas curl inward. I can't wait to see it modeled!

fresh

Even though I totally missed my blogiversary this year I wanted to go ahead and give the ole blog a fresh look. It's something I just made up quickly so we'll see how long it is before I get tired of it.
Happy Friday everyone!

And the winner is......

Drumroll please! randomly chosen......Wannabe! Congratulations! I'll be getting your lovely skein of Cherry Tree Hill in the mail this weekend. Y'all should definitely check her blog out and see the most adorable baby socks ever.

Thanks for playing everyone! I REALLY enjoyed reading everyone's stories...so inspirational!

Coming soon.....an FO!

One Year.

Happy one year Blogiversary to me! Well, technically it's tomorrow but...why wait?!!

It's amazing to look back one year ago and see how far I've come and how much I've learned about knitting and life in general! it blows my mind really. I've never been a real diary keeper type but this is the closest I've come to it. Yeah I don't share too many personal details here but just looking at the things I was making reminds me of other things that went on during those times. I had no idea if blogging would be just a passing obsession (not uncommon for me) or if I would even like it or have anything to say (the jury is still out on that one) but I found so much inspiration from other blogs and learned so many new techniques and tips about knitting that I wanted to share my experiences (good and bad!) to possibly help other knitters and sort of "give back". Reading other blogs also gave me the confidence that I don't think I would've had to just GO FOR IT! I mean, going from just garter stitch scarves to SO MUCH MORE. It's been really fun.

And to celebrate, MLE Knits will hold its first contest! It will be very simple. I want to know what first inspired your true love of knitting. Here is my story:

I've always been crafty at heart, thanks to my mother, an avid quilter and sewer who taught me so much. Skipping ahead to make a long story a little shorter. About two years ago I became interested in re-learning how to knit when a new friend of mind became pregant and started knitting baby items. So I learned. And I got a little book on chunky hats and scarves and that's what I knit for about a year. One day while surfing the net out of bordom, I stumbled upon Knit and Tonic. This, my friends, was the moment. The way Wendy wrote and the things she made totally inspired me and opened up a whole new world of modern, glamorous knitting for me. And I fell in love. I went back and read all her archives (she probably thought I was a stalker!) and not long after this I made my first garment. The rest is history folks! Isn't that funny how one thing can totally change your perspective on things.

So, just leave a little comment about what made you fall in love with yarn and knitting. It could be anything at all....a knitting book, a certain yarn, your grandmother, etc. Leave your comment before noon (CST) on Friday, May 4th and I will select one person randomly to win a prize! EVERYONE is welcome to participate! the more the merrier!

So, wanna see the prize? One skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Birches colorway.
To everyone who has left a comment, thank you! Your encouragement has meant a lot to me and made it all the more fun! And to all the lurkers, I know you're out there! Thanks for reading!

Housekeeping

Or, more accurately, blogkeeping, because if you ever stepped foot in my house you would know that I have yet to perfect the art of housekeeping.

Anyway, you'll see I've switched over to the nifty haloscan commenting/trackback manager thingy so that I can actually reply to your comments! and just because I just typed the work trackback doesn't mean I know what it means! uh, I always do first and learn later. :) Unfortunately, when you make the switch you loose all comments from Blogger :(

I've also gone all high-tech and got me a real live blogroll! Trust me people, I am NOT a computer genius at all! pretty much everything I've done to my blog I've learned from here. Of course, now with the new Blogger template editor it is so much easier! I'm really glad I switched.

However, there is a little finagling to be done to put a new banner image in. Here are the instructions I used to put my new banner in. Actually, what is in the main post didn't work for me but there are more ways to do it listed in the comments further down. For my banner, I just made an image in Photoshop that was 660x200 pixels (I'm lucky to have access to Photoshop at work). Unfortunately, I don't how you would do it if you didn't have Photoshop. And just FYI, if you do want to customize your blogger blog then it's best to start with the Minima template.

Thank you all for the nice comments on my new look, I'm glad y'all like it! Please let me know if anything is looking weird or not showing up correctly. I've noticed that my Percent Bars (which I got from Lickey Knits) are showing up fine on my 15" monitor at home but not on my 21" monitor at work. For some reason, the filler inside showing the percent is not FILLING up the bar box verticallywise. Hopefully, it's just me seeing that.