Friday, June 20, 2008

ward update



today i packed my bag and i set out to do some serious work on ward. all things are going well with the two fronts finished and joined at the back. i am currently working my way down the back and have finished the two underarm shapings without any stress.

so far so good..

so…

yes, i am waiting for the revelation-




…where i went wrong .

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

ward- should i even continue?

yes.

since my last post i have ripped out numerous rows including taking the right front side back down to… zero.

i have so many annoying shaping errors (even though they don’t effect the pattern) visually, i could have made them more appealing.

…and i am not even half way though. just recently i hit a pattern phrase that begged me to ask the question whether or not to continue? a simple ‘reverse shaping’. reverse shaping is easy, nothing that has ever bothered me before but it is the ‘reverse shaping’ of the awful mess i got myself into in my last post.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

a repeat of a new beggining




see my pattern notes? i binned these (see multiple scratches). this pattern required a second attempt, as i had to take it out and redo my calculations…


with patience it will become 'ward' from kim hargreaves heartfelt pattern book. this pattern is knit in one piece with 5 skeins of rowan’s kid classic.

updates to follow…


Wednesday, June 04, 2008

bird

you can get this free embroidery pattern from hp. i need to find something to put it on....

Sunday, June 01, 2008

poms...

our first growing pomegranates (we have two)!


plus new flowers in the garden..


Saturday, May 31, 2008

happy birthday opal & jasper!

today we are off to a birthday party...
ms. opal turns 6 and mr. jasper turns 3.

i am pretty excited about this party as from what i understand there will be pony rides and a petting zoo. lucky little munchkins!

i am stuck on what to get mr. jasper. partly because he is a boy (which i never was) but mostly because he is 3. nothing like leaving it to the last minute...

for ms. opal i designed a cupcake library bag (she likes strawberry shortcake so i am hoping cupcakes are right up her alley as well)



and a last minute add-on is a little button flower pin (thank you artsy-crafty babe) i want a reason to make more and more of these!

Friday, May 30, 2008

macbook air screen protector



after this past trip i came to the conclusion that the little foam like insert that comes with your macbook air separating the screen from the keyboard has just about had it. in an effort to keep my screen scratch free i decided to make a replacement (this is all my husband- you see, if it was me i would have tossed it with the rest of the packaging which came with the computer) and then had a screen full of scratches by now.


i used a purple 100% wool felt. (it is much softer than the acrylic). just for fun i embroidered the bunny- and yes it is wearing sylvia’s teal mother’s day scarf.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

today i feel like...



after a long flight and a bad nights rest... today i feel like a very tired ms. opal.

Monday, May 26, 2008

dorset piddle brewery


from the back of a beer mat:



piddle 1. spend time in trifling
activities such as drinking
beer 2. (as adj. piddling)
pathetically trifling or
drinking more beer. 3. (as
adj. piddled) end of
activities have drunk too
much beer. 4. (pro noun
piddle) river or stream in
dorset




anthony had his piddle and i had a yogi from ye olde george inn in christchurch.

yummm...

Thursday, May 22, 2008

design?

what i am working on...






candy- baby pullover with key hole neckline, cap sleeve and bow tie front closure.





sunflower- green raglan sleeve sweater with a crochet petal collar .

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

custom made anniversary bag



have you seen one of these little pieces of handiness? it is a bias tape maker by dritz (mine is a single fold 1/2 in.)

imagine the possibilities!

i just took some medium weight white cotton fabric for this project. then cut it in a 1 in. strip to the length i needed, pulled it through and ironed. done.

in my stash i have small stamp letters. and off i went..

the bag is made of 3 pieces of felt- two sides and an oval bottom. before sewing them together i sewed the tape into place, hemmed the top and then put the pieces together. i used a simple raffia cord to tie the bag with wooden beads on the ends so they would not pull through.


happy anniversary to us.

anthony click here!

Friday, May 16, 2008

happy me


my new book- full of knitting pattern happiness.

i put off buying this book with the thought that amazon(dot)com would get add it to their inventory- alas, i gave up waiting and ordered mine from the knitting garden in massachusetts. while it did take longer to get it than i would have liked it certainly beat amazon. while i feel a little sadness that amazon let me down- it was quickly replaced by ... well..... happy. happy. joy. joy.

thank you kim hargreaves.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

jolly 'ol santa claus


look what i found of my grandmothers. it is a "santa claus series no 2" postcard. can you even think about sending an international postcard for 2 cents? mind blowing.

below is the original, scanned and card stalk printed from original & scanned and photo printed from original.





















i love u santa- enjoying your champagne with your cigar.
you are the man..

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

gifties


nice gifts from nice people...

1. a coin purse from swff logistic committee chair.
2. yves delorme scented drawer flowers from bex.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

socks

i am in the mood for socks
these are some of my favorites (all from the fabulous sock shop sock dreams)



The above in order are: 1st b.ella missy; 2nd heather lace; 3rd cotton lace; 4th chevrons


Monday, May 12, 2008

I heart...

oliver peoples harlot sunglasses..


my new best friend

of course, anthony thinks they look like
sylvia weinstock's signature glasses.
i am ok with this because her
cakes are the bomb.........


Sunday, May 11, 2008

happy mother’s day weekend (part 3)




this is a lace pattern scarf done in multiples of 17 stitches in her favorite color- turquoise. since summertime is almost here and chilly desert nights in new mexico are upon us - i knit to 34 stitches; you can increase the width for a warmer cold weather option should your mother live in a colder climate.



mods:
length extended!





i could not help myself but to include a matching tweet dinner plate from anthropologie made by fredflare.com

fredflare.com tweet dinner plate set





















happy mother's day!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

happy mother's day weekend (part 2)

did you know that in england mother's day (mothering sunday) is celebrated on the 4th sunday in lent.

this was march second this year. we always struggle to get a card that early and i promise myself that i will buy one when they come on sale here in the states and keep it for the following year... now if i have done this i certainly would not know where to find it (or them!)

these were sent to her on time- one of the internet's greatest offerings to the world- a global marketplace full of vendors willing to overnight packages....

ahh wonderful isn't it?

happy mother's day!

Friday, May 09, 2008

happy mother's day weekend (part 1)


happy mother's day weekend to all of you mothers out there...
(especially you mom)
no one could ever wear glasses as cool as yours and look so stylish in them.

oh yeah, and thanks for the curly hair.....