Project Updates!

Two projects done in one week! Finished the scarf for my friend Sara's bridal shower on Friday [only took one week!] and finally broke out my sewing machine for its first test drive to finish the Snow Mum Pillow.

First things first, Penobscot Scarf: my first attempt at lace, pretty happy with how it turned out. I had to block it after I was done b/c it wanted to curl at the ends and throughout the length and after I was done it looked so good. I hope it keeps its shape. This was pretty easy to make in a week w/ some serious knitting time.


The next project is like 6 months in the making. The NWC got together to make this back in the winter and I bailed early b/c of the snow [which amounted to nothing]. I finally got my own sewing machine [thanks Grandma!] and set about to finish it this weekend. Now, this is a pretty forgiving project, the wool felt hides my crooked sewing and it still looks ok. The hardest part was sewing the petals on since my presser foot didn't really get up high enough. I learned that I don't know a lot about sewing and need to work on my technique...like remembering to put the presser foot down before sewing...but it's done!


I love the way it looks on our new-ish bedding. I have our summer chenille spread on w/ the shams from our duvet cover and the mum matches perfectly. I love the look. Now we just have to work on making the bed up more often so we get to see the full effect.


Now I just have to find my next project :-) Any suggestions...?

Baby Sweater Machine

Tomorrow I'm headed to my cousin's baby shower. She's having twin girls in September. She's the sixth friend/relative I have that either is having or had a baby this year. So I've been pretty busy knitting, which is actually pretty fun. Baby clothes are way easier than adult size and you can try out different yarns and patterns. I stuck w/ the same baby shrug for the twins as for another friend's girl since it was easy and I needed to get two of them done asap. Looking forward to the next project...but I need to know the sex of the December baby first. I'll pick a new pattern this time to try something new and hopefully perfect some skills. So, here are the baby shrugs I've made recently:
I've also started another knitting project for a friend. It's the wrong season for a scarf, but the name of the scarf reminds me of this person and I thought it would be a special gift. It's the first time I've done a lace pattern but so far its easy. I need to finish by Sunday though...so I'm on overdrive. I think I can do it though! I'll post the final when I'm done. Now I'm off for a knitting break!

I've joined the land of the sewing!

I'm back! And I'm gonna learn to sew :-) My mom dropped of my grandma's sewing machine today. It's a 13 year old Singer and it's basic but just what I need. Mom taught me how to thread it and we took it on a test run. Works fine, I just need to get some thread and get sewing. I'll finally get to finish my Snow Mum Pillow...at last. I won't have to borrow other New Wives machines and we can all sew together :-)

I'm looking forward to the project Beeps has proposed, a zippered clutch w/ a wrist-let. Can't wait. Now I have to start amassing large quantities of fabric and queue up some projects.

The only bad thing is now I have to choose between sewing and knitting, between the two the possibilities are endless!

Big Week

So, tomorrow I have a presentation to give at a conference, I'm a little nervous but finally to the point where I almost don't care, and if I could just give my presentation right now at like 8:30 at night I would. Then Thursday and Friday I head to anther conference out in Easton, MD. I have a presentation that ends at 3:45 Friday afternoon. At 4 pm I hope to be in my car and headed to Ocean City with some friends. I'm not quite done preparing the second presentation and it will need some practice- but I can hardly wait till I'm done and can finally relax. The past month or so has been pretty busy w/ a big work meeting and then preparing for these two presentations. I can't wait till work is back to normal for me.

So, just four more days of work, two presentations, and some stressing out, and I'm at the beach for three days! Don't even care if it's not that warm, I just want to relax, read a book, and have some drinks with friends.

One more craft to obsess over!

So, I'm falling to the pressures, I'm getting a sewing machine! My grandmother is graciously giving me hers. It's not quite as old as Beeps' machine though. My mom will have to re-teach me all I learned in middle school home economics class, but hopefully I'll be on my way sewing up a storm soon! I can finally finish my Snow Mum Pillow project...it's been sitting in a corner waiting for months. Then I'll have to look to my buddies [Beepsnrays, My Better Half, and cobble cobble] for some project ideas.

I'll be posting the recent fruits of my knitting labors soon [as soon as I finish]. A cute baby shrug for a friend who is due in July. Just found out another friend is expecting and due in December, and my cousin is having twins in October...so there are plenty of options for fun projects.

Kitty Post

This is what happens when I tried to put the clothes away the other day. First Betty settles in, then Meatball. They stayed there for hours. So cute.



Whenever I'm working at the computer Betty likes to sit between me and the computer. No matter how much room there is she squeezes in. She sits there at first and kinda lets me hug her. Then she eventually settles down and lays on my arm...making it a little hard to work. I usually just let her stay there though because she's so dang cute! She'll sit there till I move her or get up. Usually my arm falls asleep. While she was there today I had a little one armed photo shoot.

Newest Addition

So, our dryer broke back in February and we've [hah] been just air drying the clothes since then. Which, while very green, is not very fun. Takes too long and all my clothes feel crunchy afterward. And did I mention I HATE ironing? So, we finally decided to get a new set of washer/dryer a week ago b/c the washer finally crapped out too. Well, sort of. Months ago my husband 'fixed' the washer-the little switch that flips when you close the lid, so that the tub will stop spinning if you open the lid, broke and the wash would always get to the same spot in the cycle and just stop. So, in ultimate frustration we went and bought these:


So far so good, the clean and dry my clothes in a reasonable time, and that's all I can ask. We didn't shell out the $ for super efficient or front loading types, figuring it just wasn't worth the $. Now if I could just find someone else to do all the laundry....