what kind of idiot...

removes a tiny piece of wire from wired ribbon, about 2" long, with a tight loop at one end..... then proceeds to walk out of the room with other things in hand, places tiny wire into mouth so as not to drop it where small humans will acquire and consume... then one proceeds to inexplicably twist said wire, while on the tongue and thereby producing a small yet excruciatingly effective tastebud tourniquet, if you will. At this point one realizes the idiocy of her ways and at least has a small quantity of neurons firing which tell her to proceed directly to the bathroom mirror to untwist this loop of taste-bud death before ripping it from the tongue.

Today I recomend..

going to allrecipes.com and looking up Belles hamburger buns, Spicy turkery burgers, and Fab homemade bread.

really, go there, look them up, make them. They are great!!!

also- would you look at that, I figured out how to include links correctly. oh happy day.

No yarn in sight

...but I've been really into cooking lately and finding new recipes that are yummy and easy. While doing so, I've seen tons of pics of food and it always looks so great- so I thought- geesh- does mine even look half that good? I don't know, but here they are.

First we have the cute girl making pizza- the sauce is very very serious work as you can see. She tends to lay it on a little thick, but her pizza is the.best.I.ever.had. Of course.

Then we have http://familiabencomo.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/californian-lemon-chicken-soup/ which was perfect timing. Just perfect --because the day before I had roasted a chicken with rosemary, so I used that and carrots and onions- so I used those. I also added a little garlic, because thats how I roll, and I only had minute brown rice, so I used that. Yum.

And to go with it, bread which was from this recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fabulous-Homemade-Bread/Detail.aspx which I would definately recomend- it was so so good. It calls for 6 loaves, and I cut it in half. Didn't want to have 6 yucky loaves, so this was a test batch.

Can you tell I'm *really* trying to dodge that quilt project? (oye)

Oh and this

This is a shirt (and my foot- and yes, I'm wearing pajamas- whatever). I've had it for years. When wearing it, I looked pregnant when I wasn't and when I was pregnant, this shirt was too small. So it made its way to a give away bag, . For whatever reason (Jen!) I decided to poke thru the bag before sending it on its merry way. And the shirt got me again. I actually made a few more changes after she tried it on, but you get the general idea. Its not perfect, but it cost nothing more then about 43 minutes, give or take, so I think it will make a great play dress.

Tags, fuz and fleece everywhere...

So you know that the cute kid would want a taggie just like her baby, so I whipped that out today. Well, not really, in fact I made a huuuuuge mistake putting the ribbons on. Then I thought I could fix it easily (ie- not involving a seam ripper) which turned into a bigger fiasco than I had planned. Whatever. Its done now- maybe not the color ribbons I would have chose, and there are a few quirks, but I guess among the preschool set, this is the bees knees because she loved it.

I also made 2 smaller ones for new babies- also, just for you Jen- the flip sides are repurposed shirts.

It doesn't look like much here...

in the picture, but here is another sling, its a gift and I even eeked out a little stuff sack for it with the leftover fabric. This pattern takes just a yard and its very easy- plus as you can see if you're very frugal (and don't mind some extra seams!) you can get the bag too.

The great thing about the sling is sleeping babies. ;-)

$6, less than one hour

And I made this 'tag' blanket. (do you know these things cost like $20???) Its sooo soft, but what a nuisance fleece is to work with- too slippery, too fuzzy all over the place. (well, ok thats b/c I gave the cute kid a piece of fleece and some scissors) I made one mistake because I was in such a hurry to turn and top stitch that I forgot to trim the seam allowances, so the edges are bit bulkier than I would like, but its still cute, I think, soft and good for a baby- what else matters?

I've been busy...

I've made a few things, but you know I also had a baby, so I've been kinda busy with that and all. So I'm way behind here- I have no idea what order most of these things were done in, but I've made about 4 baby slings- here are pics of 2 of them. The solid brown one turned out really to be too small, but the leaf one works nicely, we keep it in the diaper bag, so it also has a small stuff sack I made for it. I also made another flannel crib sheet and a cute strawberry print, so next time I have that on the *never slept in* crib, I'll get a pic. Oh and also, another changing pad.

More of the same....

Another changing pad, and another sheet. The cute girl insisted on trying out the sheet during the test fitting and was quite beside herself to learn it wasn't for her! I kinda wish it was now b/c I love that print, oh well!

productive!

I've been pretty busy in the knitting department- and even more so with sewing, which is so rare for me. Anyway, I made this red felted bag for a gift- (the picture with the pen is prefelted)- I used up some of that red novelty yarn I loathe, but not nearly enough. Oooh- but the cool part is the person getting it got a matching scarf last year, well I think its cool.

Next is a changing pad, which I totally screwed up and had to start over after I started sewing all the layers together in the wrong order. Its not funny. Anyway, its a prototype, but I'm pretty happy with it, and all its wonkiness.

And finally a very retro flannel crib sheet (my gram gave me this flannel- which I think may have been around since I was born)- I made 2 of these and really I want to make a few more from some super cute fabric I have, but how many crib sheets do we need around here anyway?

Some progress has been made

I had grand plans to knit *alot* when we went to Colorado. It didn't happen. Pathetic really- hours and hours of driving, no knitting. Anyway... moving on...

I have finished a set of felted heart shaped coasters and a heart dish, where are the pics? I dunno....

....and a "Neopolitan" Sophie bag (colors are much nicer in person) for a gift, then I got out my sewing machine (huge news) and whipped out a "wet bag" for soiled cloth diapers (exciting, huh?) and 2 re-usable grocery bags, and made a box of crayon costume for that cute kid that lives here. I'm actually knitting a small red (felted) clutch, and then I'll probably start on felted clogs, again for that cute girl. I'm really scared of them, though, since I'm skeered they'll turn out like the socks I have started 4 times.... and have no complete socks to date. Oye.

11th hour hat

Ok so I had alot more than the last minute to make this hat, but I thought it would be a nice use of these lovely and fuzzy coordinating handspun yarns. Yum. I love these colors together- oranges, pinks, etc. (11th hour hat pattern from Knitpicks)

So if you get this for Christmas in a few months be surprised, 'kay?

Teeny, tiny baby

This sweater went so fast, and it came out so cute! I loved loved loved working with this yarn- thanks Julie- and its so soft and snuggly! It reminds me of old fashioned candy.

Amelia- Done!

Its big. I did a swatch, I swear. Its just a big hat. So....I'm thinking maybe the first thing I knit for myself I'll give to my mom. Big hear, owe her a hat. I dunno. Its so warm and fuzzy and soft.

Thanks Teresita for the crochet finish!

Sophie bag, blocked

I like it. Not what I was planning, but I like it.

Sophie- pre- felted.

Big error here. Huge. Can you spot it? ok- give up? One of the shades is a superwash! oops! Actually it worked out ok b/c it was the smallest stripe and near the top, so the bag, while not what I was expecting is still pretty cool. I'm blocking it right now. I'm not sure who this if for yet- I'm trying to work on some stash busting.

I also got my lovely handspun "It takes two" in the mail today, so I swatched that to start Ruby's Cardigan. Of course, this yarn and pattern are from http://heyjulie.wordpress.com/ A million thanks!!!

If only I could crochet...

Then Amelia would be done http://www.berroco.com/229/229_uma_amelia_pv.html. I made myself a crazy bomber hat in softy snow bunny and suede palomino. I live in California, so it seems perfectly practical, right? HA!
I'm hoping to get some crochet help in Friday so if it gets done, I 'll post a pic soon.

Its done!!

Whew!!! You know it only took 6 months.... but the pink sweater is finished and it even fits the girl. Yes, its July, but I feel confident it will fit in the fall/winter, too.

Here we see her doing her best to be miserable while trying it on. I'm really happy with how it came out- there are a few quirks- (what, you think I'm going to point them out?) but overall its very good and it was pretty complex for me, so I'm happy.

Cascade 220 in

Cotton candy and the pattern is Blossom Sweater by Knitting at Knoon

uh, yeah

So I still have a few things outstanding, but I wanted to try and get my groove back by starting a new project, something small, but cool that would get me back on track. So I did "Fake Isle". Somehow it came out GINORMOUS, (anyone think I should bother to swatch, much?) which was quite disheartening considering that it came out nice with the pattern and colors. Anyway, I decided to try and felt it, "just a little". You know where this is going- I'll show you what it looked like before felting, i'll even show you the inside b/c it wasn't the tangled mess I expected.... and I still owe my mom a few hat. argh

socks, part duh

So I'm trying socks again- nevermind that half sock I have stuffed somewhere in shame. I'm starting all over again. Socks for my mother in law- for her birthday, which is tomorrow. oops . Barely there teeny tiny cuff socks w/ alpaca. Will this work out? Who can say, but nonetheless, I am 3 rows in on the ribbing. Did I mention size 1 needles w/ very splitty yarn?
Please, just don't ask me about the pink sweater yet :drama: