autumn

i love this time of the year. we have already noticed the change in the sunlight and some mornings we have fog. we are looking forward to seeing what a southern texas fall is going to be like. my most favorite part is the turning of the weather- still our days are in the 90’s but i am looking forward to a crisp morning or a night chill enough to really get back into knitting.

but to get me in the mood i have myself a pumpkin and i am already craving the fall squash soup anthony makes. we have been told about an outdoor cornfield maze which i think could be fun.

we have a few flowering additions to our yard that have appeared this late in the year. the first one i was sure was a type of hydrangea that was not getting enough food to bloom until it flowered. the other red beauty just popped up last night.

fab mail day- thank you postman!

i just want to make one thing clear. leigh- whatever you like i would be more than happy to make-boy or girl. be it my congratulations for being a godmother present! and thank you for the letter- what a day brightener.

ahh but it does not end there. for all those whose soil is 1in thick and their house sits on a rock- you know about hard water. the baggie of goodies i got to save my coffee pot, kettle, iron and dishwasher is amazing! they are some cleaver english people i am related too! amazing still was another package with loads of chocolate goodies including cadbury’s dairy milk turkish delight. and get this- a newspaper article about a new clothes dryer which eliminates the need to iron. a machine that dries your clothes and presses them too? what next you brits?! the machine is said to look like a refrigerator and on the inside like a wardrobe- price tag.. a mere 1,500 britsh pounds.



still more…. i have a new pack for rowan dunegal lambswool
tweed in pickle. enough to make “joy” from vintage style.

meet mister rabbit(s)

meet the rabbits. three boys and one girl. the pattern came from childhood treasures by caroline zoob. her book is full of wonderful things mostly aimed at creating a childhood atmosphere around your child’s personal spaces. the book has lots of beautiful inspirational pictures with a few patterns. i chose mister rabbit. if there had been a difficulty rating from one to ten (ten being the hardest) i would give it a two. if there was a fiddly time consuming rating i would have to give it the full ten. mister rabbit comes complete

with jodhpurs, laced boots, button up waist coat, coat (with pocket) and cravat. i thought we needed a lady rabbit (esp since my good friend rides) so i gave her a special pink coat, eyelashes and pearls. in for a penny, in for a pound.

austin city limits

i have been a bad blogger. i took a mental vacation from things i guess. the worst part is i have so much to share. starting off with austin city limits. what could have been more fun? to give you the low down of what we did:
(poor guy waiting for the shins to come on…)






friday:
post show concert by the shins @ stubbs



saturday:
secreat machines
shins
the raconteurs









sunday:
the flaming lips
experience: could not have been better. beer:good, food:local, shopping:great stuff, bands:awesome

praying mantis

look what anthony spotted on his way to work this morning on our back porch. knowing that these guys are carnivores (did you know this includes humming birds, mice and tree frogs?) we must be the perfect home for him.

now i must watch my dogs if they get too near...

tartan top

lucky me- i seem to be on a roll today. after much study of the japanese pattern #15 in 'every day' and with a bit-o-help from my learn to sew book i was able to complete the top just in time for austin city limits.

here are some of the bits and pieces spread out on my fancy sewing table (the floor)
not long after that i had halter top.
to the right is the completed top from the back side. and below is the top from the front.

book reviews cont.

another addition to my book collection is a much needed sewing for idiots book. i have, in the past, attempted sewing and learned simple techniques by mistakes or obvious instructions to most people, i botched and realized after the fact (too far after the fact). given i have been working patterns from japanese sewing books (no- i don’t understand anything other than the simplest of drawings) i thought it was time to invest in a simple how-to book on sewing. sew u is the book for me. it even includes adaptable full size patters for a skirt, top and pants. it remains to be seen if my sewing will improve but my next attempt from ‘every day’ will be this cute halter top in a tartan light wool.

book reviews

first i want to thank my husband for ordering me this wonderful book ‘wool rug hooking’

this summer i took a rug hooking class. i enjoyed it so much. the primitive designs and coloring and textures really appealed to me. if this is what you love about rug hooking then this is the book for you. full of traditional designs and practical advice- i could be where i am with my project without ever having taken a class with the advice from this book. the book has easy to follow step by step instructions for beginners, designs complete with full size patterns and thoughtful advice on designing your own piece. for what it is worth this is where i stand with my project- it has yet to be defined as what it will be when it grows up, if anyone has ideas (besides a drinks coaster) let me know.

meet my new friend

i took a break from knitting to meet some new friends.

i have to say that it was love at first sight.
i am not sure we could ever be apart now.
happy, happy girl.

snowball

after finishing the purple vest i am feeling a little braver and have decided to experiment with other yarns for this pattern. this will be the largest size i have knit in this pattern- for a two year old. i chose a white yarn that feels wonderfully soft and reminds me of a plush toy. the gauge is different from the pattern i am working with so i have had to make some alterations to get the dimensions right. for the substitute i chose caron bliss in snow. i cant believe how easy it is to work with given it is a boucle and the strand varies in size from quite thick to almost so thin you feels as if by knitting a stitch you will tear it off the needle. the result is a soft and textured knit. i have experimented with this yarn before thinking its texture would be perfect for home textiles. the problem was to make a relatively small pillow you need 5+ skeins of yarn so if frogged it pretty quickly- even for me.
this morning i completed the back. it is hard to see the texture in the picture but i will post the finished sweater when it is done.

back to work?

well now that our guests have gone- it is time to get back to work. we really enjoyed the visit of anthony’s parents so now i am feeling a little lost without them.

time to focus…
getting my priorities straight here:
number 1 (& most important) find a job
number 2 (& so exciting) i have been entered into a holiday craft fair. this makes me a little bit nervous because the things i make have always been gifts- never for $. so i am hoping that people would actually pay for what i make. that is the hard part with knitting yarn. the cost of the finished project has to at least cover the cost of the yarn!

now the project also needs to be quick enough to make so that i have time to do other things such as priority number 1, eat and sleep. sadly, i live in texas- so nice big thick wooly yarn is out. (so are the traditional mittens, hats and scarves) i think i am left with children’s clothing. after some searching i found a vest pattern that might be weather appropriate for a texas winter.




i test knit one and kind of like it. i am working on another size of the pattern to see how it comes out. i also want to try it using other yarns to see the result.

stocks

lynne & peter brighten my day!

musa-blue java ice cream

believe it or not the musa 'blue java' ice cream is a banana tree. not just any banana tree but by far the fastest growing one. during a trip to the austin, tx farmers market during anthony's parents visit we became the proud owner of one of these palms. a gift from anthony's father~ we hope to have fruit as early as next year.

pepper's new haircut

pepper in boston sporting his cable knit sweater called "cabled delight" designed by jil eaton knit with hand-dyed manos del uruguay yarn.

peppers new hair cut part 2

now pepper with his san antonio military shave.

what a cute boy.

~~~~~~~~~

happy birthday grandma

happy birthday to grandma! she turns 89 today and to celebrate we took her to have chicken fired steak. for those who don't know, chicken fried steak is neither chicken or steak but rather a cheap piece of beef that has been beaten until it can be beaten no more, breaded and fried like chicken- always served with mashed potatoes and gravy. this is one of our families favorite treats. as a gift i made her a giant cupcake. yummy.

congratulations anthony

i don't feel the need to explain.
for all my friends who are interested in all of the good eats we had while my concert twin was here and some other food goodies, reviews and home made recipes check out her awesome blog on my links "sunday night dinner"

new friend

i found a new friend today. he seems to not be very camera shy.

could this be the next contender to the geico gecko?

baby dress

i owe a good friend of mine a gift for her (semi) newborn ms lizzy rose. even her name makes me smile nevermind her q-t pictures.
everything for baby has a good selection of gifts for newborns.


the book comes complete with full size patterns for all of the projects in the back of the book. it also rates each project by ease and estimates the time it would take to complete the project. i chose linen dress on page 85 for a 6m-12m baby. i think the book assumes more than basic sewing knowledge and terms. i looked up how to add bias to an armhole and ended up leaving out the knife pleat because i was nervous her little arms may need a little more space as she grows. i embellished the dress with a set of cute gingham buttons that leigh gave me. i have just been waiting for the perfect project to use them.

look what came in the post today!

i love unexpected packages in the post. i love it even more when it is a thoughtful gift from a dear friend. most of the goodies came from the herb bar in austin, tx which is a must now on my list of places to visit.

thanks mer

cowboys

after a few margaritas at one of the best mexican restaurants in san antonio we worked up the nerve to head to the western bar cowboy dance hall. as unbelievable as it might sound we ended up going again the following night.

the evening was surreal. there was well over 1000 people there, live bull riding, an mechanical bull (and well~ anthony was the only brave one of us to give this a shot) and, of course, live country music. cowboys also came complete with pool tables, boot shine stand and shop (if you left your hat and belt buckle at home. )

***
"toto, we're not in kansas anymore"

j versus k/ bloc party @ stubbs

my concert twin is in town for a visit from boston. we have a weekend of food planned with a little free time for some other activities and stubbs had to be one of our top 5 places to go. i have to say that she was a real trooper~ with temperatures outside the entire night in the 90's. stubbs was the last show on bloc party's us tour, they played fab and we were treated to a new song they have never played before.

very satisfying.

mini takes the states

august 18th marks the beging of the road trip to end all road trips rally. i am one of 6000 beautiful coopers taking part. my registration materials have just arrived in the post & i think they are positively worth sharing.


the kit came with:
1)mini takes the states tavelogue
(where you can go through state customs and get your "passport" stamped at each rally point, mark off the license plates as you see them, keep track of your new motoring friends & keep a travel log on each location)
2)registered mini takes the state wrist band in order to participate.
3)mini quarantine kit
(for use to get you out of the office and on the road for the whole journey. complete with official letter to boss explaining illness.)

sadly i can't make my planned trip from the albuquerque/amarillo/dallas leg because we have family coming to stay- but i am planning on kidnapping them and hitting the road to take place in the dallas events
-zoom200

daisy

i love birthdays! "daisy" is a purse from the book junior knits patterns. the bag is knit in one piece starting with the stockinette stitch lining then knitting the outside of the bag in seed stitch.

this is a birthday present for hannah. hannah just turned 4 years old! we are going to her birthday party today.

*************

happy birthday hanna!