Present for Me

I posted previously some handmade gifts that I made but now I have show off the handmade that I got!!! 

While I was knitting away on my sister's radishes she was busy putting the finishing touches on my awesome new apron. 



I had seen some cool vintage styled aprons around at craft shows and on etsy and I thought well hell, I could do that. But then I realized my sister sews far better than I do and she knows how to use them pattern-y things and to cut fabric straight and do all the things that I tend to screw up when I sew.   So I hinted that this would be something I might like.   And by hinting I really mean saying, "Hey, you can make me this for my birthday/Hannukah/other gift giving opportunity!" 

Apparently forcing her to shop for fabric is similar to asking a knitter to shop for yarn not a big hardship for her there; something tells me she probably picked up a little something for herself along the way.

It's got some red to match the KitchenAid mixer (doesn't everyone accessorize to match their appliances?) and I totally never would have thought of florals for me but they are bright and happy and offset with polka dots (sis loves polka dots) and I love it. You can't really tell from the photo but it skirts out so I totally feel like I am channeling my inner Betty Draper from Mad Men when I wear it. Now I just have to get around to doing some cooking....

Phiaro for Paris

Remember a few posts back I said how I bought that beautiful Tilli Tomas red silk yarn for a gift for someone else? It is an early birthday present for my sister. She is turning a BIG birthday this year (ya know the kind that ends with a "0" or a "5"?) So for this big birthday she decided she wanted to go to Paris. I started thinking about it and decided she needed a chic scarf for this trip.

We looked at patterns on ravelry and narrowed it down to a few. This was not going to be a surprise gift, I figured she deserved to get exactly what she wanted and it was a good thing because she chose the Phiaro Scarf which I probably wouldn't have picked myself. A simple pattern with an interesting construction made it knit up pretty quick. The only strange part is that you end up dropping more than half the stitches you knit. It came out beautifully and has a such a great drape and my sister loved it.

I didn't get a chance to take any good photos of the scarf before my sister left so I made her promise to take some pictures of it in Paris. In fact, being the younger sister that I am I bugged the crap out of her that I wanted to see the Scarf at the Louvre, the Scarf at the Arch de Triomphe etc... and oh, she could be in the pictures too if she wanted.

Well, she is in Paris at this very moment and with the wonders of modern technology I have learned that Scarfy is enjoying itself and my niece is planning to write a story detailing its adventures in Paris.


Scarfy with a view of The Eiffel Tower


Scarfy at The Louvre


M & M & Scarfy

Brimfield

I took Friday off and joined my sister and brother-in-law at the monster antique-fest know as Brimfield. It is just fields and fields of antiques and junk.

We started off with clearly our most important purchase of the day. Amazingly silly matching rings for my sister and I, which gave us amazing Wonder Twin powers. Luckily my brother-in-law is a patient man 'cause my sis and I are together since we can be a wee bit goofy.



I had a few things I was looking for, for some DIY project ideas that are bumping around in my head. I got some vintage hooks, an old key and this great and amazingly heavy rotary phone.



My sister and hubby scored some great art pieces that are sure to look amazing in their already well-decorated home.

Marsy shows off her new Colman's Mustard poster.


While Charley's new game board will be a welcome addition to his collection.


I kept an eye out for knitting and fiber related items, but the $200 sterling silver knitting needles and the $700 whale bone swift from the 1800's were a bit out of my budget.

I did spot this spinning wheel....


I just love the amazing colors of these weaving bobbins.

Then literally moments after commenting on the lack of fiber goodness I stumble across - Yarn!!! A woman was selling some of her friend's yarn from Ragtime Farm in New Hampshire. Her friend does it all - raises sheep and goats cards the wool, spins, dyes etc...ya know I just had to support that. So I picked up this lovely hand-painted sportweight merino. The photo does not do it justice but it is just a gorgeous mix of blues and greens.

By the end of the day, my feet were sore, my arms a bit sunburnt and I was beyond exhausted but it was all totally worth it for such a great time.

Birthday Fairies

As is my tradition, I make my niece's birthday presents. Except for when she turned 3. But hell, with 4 out of 5 I am at an 80% handmade gift percentage, not bad. Did I mention I am a bit of a number dork? Anyway...my niece has moved out of the princess phase and into the fairy phase. Really, princesses are so last year.

The girl does not need anymore stuffed animals but since they just re-painted her room I figured she could use some room decor. Growing up I had all sorts of stuff hanging from my ceiling; origami birds, model planes, mobiles and a bunch of other stuff. So I decided to make some fairies to hang from her ceiling. I thought I gave myself a lot of time but A) I never give myself enough time and B) I got sick. So sick in fact that I didn't even have the energy to craft. I had knit up a bunch of small knitted dolls using this pattern.

But at the point I got sick all I had were a bunch of naked dolls. So I pulled an almost all-nighter to sew some outfits and wings for them. No this is not the first time I have seen the wee-hours in order to finish one of her gifts. Adults can handle a late gift but really try explaining to someone under 2 feet tall without feeling horrible.

Naked Dolls


The outfits came out okay, some are cuter than others but they were bald. Really do you realize how frakkin' long it takes to sew hair on a doll? The hair does look like it was done at 3am by someone a bit whacked on decongestant. They are a bit weird looking but I like to think of them as sort of Monet-ish and there are meant to look better from farther away then up close. But most importantly, they were received well and hopefully will keep good watch over her as she sleeps.


The Blue and Green Fairies hang out with my plants.

The Funky Fuschia Fairy gets into my vintage knitting needles.

The Purple Fairy says "Auntie Sarah you really ought to clean your house a bit more...."

I Knit Socks!!!

At this moment, some of my friends are doing happy dances at the thought that I may have finally broken my long-standing well, stand against knitting socks. But aha! I don't think these really count. But now we no longer have to worry about Soggy's feet getting chilly and him catching a cold.

And now for a gratuitous adorable niece shot.

A Stitch in the Right Direction

I mentioned in some earlier post that I was knitting a scarf for my brother. A normal statement for most people but for me it is well, huge. My brother and I have had had a difficult relationship for about the past 20 years so to knit for him is a big deal. But I dove right into the project with no second thoughts and never set the project aside to work on something else so maybe that is a sign of something. Like growing or forgiveness or some of that other junk.....we'll see -it is a new year after all.

We met up today with for me to give him the scarf and he seemed properly appreciative and wrapped it around his neck right away, could have also been the fact that it was something like 20 degrees out today.

Here's some knitting details on the scarf itself Irish Hiking Scarf knit with 2 skeins of Cascade 220. I forgot home something like a simple cable just looks so classic and in this colorway it just came out as such a good manly scarf.

I wasn't sure if my brother would want his photo the blog so I went and found another volunteer on Boston Common who was more than willing to take over modeling duties.



And a close-up

Happy Halloween!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Halloween. Since I have no crafts of my own to show off, I am going to let my nepotism run wild and lead you over to my sister's blog, so you can see the Halloween costume she made for my adorable niece. She's just booo-tiful!!! Sorry needed to throw a Halloween pun in here somewhere.

Really, between having a crafty mom and auntie the kid is pretty lucky.

Fruit of the Loom... well, needles...

I like to think I am pretty savvy. I have a healthy cynical streak that keeps me from falling for internet scams, magic cure-all pills and get rich quick schemes. But I will admit when I've been played. Oh yeah, and by a master manipulator at that. I got played by a four-year-old.



I gave my niece one of my felted pumpkins at dinner the other night. She adored it and could not stop playing with it; hugging it, admiring it and in one case looking like a chicken laying an egg with it. At that point I was literally in tears laughing so hard. But it was not until the next night that I fell into her trap.



This time we are at my sister's house and my niece is serving us pie from her pie shop. (Imaginary pie payable with imaginary money. I tried to pay in hugs and it was a no-go, she's a shrewd business-owner). So she serves me a special new pie flavor she's made up, Pumpkin-Oreo (I had knit her an Oreo in the past so she made an imaginary pie of just Auntie Sarah knits.) So I innocently ask her "Would you like me to make you other knit foods?" She replies "I loooooooove when you knit me things" with a smile that could melt the polar ice caps. That was it, I was a goner, it was like in The Grinch when his heart grew 3 sizes that day...

So really I had no choice to start making fruit (good pie-fillings) in a knitting frenzy. I figure by the time the holidays roll around I will be able to stock her toy kitchen and pie store with a Whole Foods worth of play food. For pattern details check out my ravelry projects.

The House in the Woods

Well, I am back from the wilds of Maine where I spent the holiday weekend. You've got to love a town where when the phone rings on the 4th of July it's the neighbors letting you know that a wild turkey and her babies are walking down the street.

I spent a lot of time doing my favorite activities, eating yummy breakfasts of waffles or pancakes and watching birdies out the windows. Below are my favorites the gold finch.


There were also a ton of humming birds but as much as I stalked them Sunday afternoon for a photo they could sense my presence and flitted away. As did the chipmunk and the blue jays and the dumb little chickadees who were confused by trying to drink out of the humming bird feeder. Cute birds but not the smartest. It is not unheard of for a chickadee to bonk into the kitchen window when overshooting the bird feeders. Don't worry they are okay, just a bit dazed for a moment.

I got absolutely no knitting done even with a last minute run to Woolcott when I realized I left my current project at home. I was forced, (forced I tell you!) to buy some Silky Wool for stranded mittens. I did finish "The Friday Night Knitting Club", an enjoyable read. I read most of it while sitting on the deck enjoying the view and my laughing companion. No, not my giggling niece although she can crack her self up. But this guy.





I did manage to get my ass in gear for an afternoon in Portland where I visited the Portland Fiber Gallery and Knit Wit . Both lovely shops that I hope to return to when I have more time. And in visiting the Fiber Gallery which has spinning supplies it came up in conversation that my sister has four drop spindles. How did I not know this? So I may have to borrow one and try my hand at spinning.

Well, I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Stamp and Deliver

So I've got some more projects from Craft Camp to show off. I took Mucho Gusto Grande taught by Traci Bunkers. For you fiber people out there besides just making cool journals, books, rubberstamps and etc she also spins and dyes yarn. It's sure is pur-ty. Anyway, back to class. This was the only class I ever took with my sister and we had a good time. We weren't too obnoxious and giggly even though my sister was a bit tipsy after the Manager's Reception a.k.a. Happy Hour. Here's a do not try this at home message for you kiddies out there --rum and linoleum cutters are not a wise move. No siblings were injured during the course of class but since both of us are extremenly squeemish at the sight of blood, we got lucky. So here are the stamps I made and the last one is the one I made for my mom for mother's day. Yes, it's Sisyphus pushing a boulder up the hill. She's always wanted a stamp with him on it and even though I find it depressing who am I to deny her? The stamps are a little rough around the edges, literally, but it's a fun quick project that I don't suck at.

My Blue Heaven

There's been a lot of home decorating talk going on in Sarahland recently. Between friends moving; looking for new apartments in far off lands :( , visiting the apartments of new friends for the first time and seeing the kick-ass way my sister's house has come together over the past few months, I have decorating on the brain. And when something is on my brain it also ends up on my blog reader.

I think my current favorite design blog is design*sponge. I especially like that they do DIY examples every Wednesday and Before and After's every Thursday. This taps into my crafty and thrifty sides with one of my favorite mantras "I can do that".

I recently stumbled across some "before" and "after" pictures I took of my kitchens chairs that I redid several years ago. Pre-digital camera, film pictures that I had planned to do something with to showcase my handiwork , but clearly never did. So I scanned those puppies and sent them off to design sponge and who knows maybe they'll be on the site some Thursday or maybe not. But it did remind me how proud of myself I was when I finished them and hopefully will inspire me to work on those other projects ruminating in my head or sitting half-done in my entryway. Whoops!

So here's the back story on the chairs. I was watching some tv sitcom and I saw blue kitchen chairs and decided that was what I wanted. But this was before everyone had embraced color in a big, bold way and I was clearly ahead of the curve. The only ones I saw were at the Crate & Barrel outlet up north and there were only 3 of them. Having only having 3 kitchen chairs was just wrong, uneven, unbalanced and just wouldn't do. So my quest continued.

Fortunately I am the child of antique dealers/pack rats/very weird people and my folks had these wooden chairs in the garage in Maine. So I picked up some paint at the local hardware store, some fabric at Fabric Place and voila - blue chairs! And to be even cuter a matching valance for the window. It wasn't really as easy it sounds as I recall a minor painting snafu (spray paint vs. brushes, brushes won - a graffiti artist I will never be) and there definite assistance from my mom since she is the one with the staple gun and the sewing machine (this was back in my pre-sewing machine owning days). Only thing that nags at me a little is that I wish I had bought more fabric to make a cafe curtain to go with the valence but we went back for more yardage but the fabric was gone. I keep an eye out for it every time I go with no luck.

Before & After

The Whole Set and the Valence

All in the Family

Recently my cousin, a hooker, uh, I mean crocheter decided to start knitting as well. So I passed along some books, needles and yarn to feed her new found habit. I had already introduced her to my own version of crack, ravelry, and she just got her invite. May the time sucking begin! Hopefully she will enjoy knitting as much as I do and I can't wait to see what she does! Knowing our family it will involve stuffed animals.

Last month I showed off the completed Elephant Sweater and I did say that I would post pictures when I finally gave Michelle her sweater so without further ado....



And because I am the world's biggest goofball I decided that since every little girl who loves elephants needs an elephant sweater then surely every elephant who loves a little girl needs a Michelle sweater. This is Soggy, Michelle's favorite stuffie, the beginning of her love of elephants and a very snazzy dresser. Funny thing is the Soggy sweater which I made in one night was just as big a hit as Michelle's sweater that I worked many, many hours on. Such is life.

Good-bye January!

First of all let me tell y'all what an idiot I am....I changed some option on my blog that made it so I had to moderate any comments before they could be published. (I had one instance of icky spam comment and I was trying to keep that from happening) but apparently I never set it up to tell me that I had comments a' waitin' for my moderation so they were sitting there for 2 weeks. Whoops. Just gave myself a dope slap. But since it happened in January I am not all that surprised. It was not that great of a month and I am very glad it is over. It kinda sucked. Luckily I had some really good people around to cheer me up so it could have been way worse.

But one good thing that I managed to accomplish this month was to finish the Michellephant sweater. My niece really, really likes elephants and has amassed quite a collection for such a young girl. So one day I was surfing around on ravelry ('cause that rarely happens) and did a pattern search for elephants and lo and behold this sweater comes up. I know that she would love it but then it turns out that the pattern is from a 2004 issue of Knit It! How the hell am I going to get my hands on that? So I put a notice on a ravelry forum and a lovely woman in Oregon has the magazine and will send it to me just for the cost of shipping. How cool is that?



I promise to add a photo when Michelle actually gets the sweater and is modeling it but I really wanted to post a photo of a FO and it's not like it will it ruin the surprise for her since she's not on the web. Yet.

My sister doubts that when Michelle looks at the sweater, she will say "Nice seaming, Auntie Sarah" but I am pretty proud of my seaming skills on this. Oh and in the theme of Fearless Knitting how great was it to tackle my first big intarsia project and have it come out looking like what it was supposed to?

Happy Birthday Marsy!!!!

Today is my sister's birthday and while I may (or may not) have made her something pretty I can't post pictures yet since she hasn't actually received it. So to fill up this space I'll share a few reasons why she's a cool big sister.

1. She will always be older than me, a bummer at age 12 but looking pretty good now.

2. She doesn't complain when I call her waaaaaaay too many times at work.

3. She gives me 2,000 googly eyes as a gift because she knows I will love it.

4. She is amazingly creative , far more than I could ever be.

5. She proves that there's someone normal who came out of our gene pool. The rest of us are playing Marco Polo in the deep end until we are all pruny.

6. She has put up with my request for a pony far longer than most people would.

7. She knows the difference between icing and frosting (well, now she does).

8. She is a great mom raising a truly amazing kid.

9. It's pretty easy to make her laugh hard enough for beverages to go up her nose. Every smartass (me) needs someone to crack up at family dinners.

10. She know she has to be nice to me or else I teach her daughter the bumblebee song.

I gave her a copy of this picture a few years back but it is really one of my favorite photos ever and damn, aren't we adorable?