blog.

I want to blog.

life is not letting me.

I want to sit down and tell you 

what we've been doing and 

what we're making and 

where we've been and what we've seen.

but everything else keeps getting in the way...

a doll needed a shoe.

(just one.)

a small boy needed a birthday crown.

a brother (uncle) needed a birthday bookmark

drawn by his 4-almost-5-year-old niece.

(extra credit if you can tell me 

whose picture is on the bookmark!)

and all this (and much much more) has been more important than words in a computer.  

However, I do like the peacefulness of sorting pictures and thoughts.  

So as soon as I have more than a half-moment to spare, I'll sit here and do more of that.  

Hope you're getting time to sort your own, this lovely mid-winter...

We've been making a few little things around here.

For small cousin's birthday banner, K wanted to embroider "a butterfly with a flower"... and she did - designed it herself and made it all at once!  Of course little G needed to do one, too.  I suggested hearts, so she did her own flag.

We're so busy this time of year (who isn't?) but I have so many ideas, in my tired head, that I'd like to try...  K's tiny felted bowl (I crocheted of scrap yarn, she felted) has really inspired me.

I love this tiny thing!

So many other projects going on, and a collection of knitting patterns waiting to go on the needles... I really must stop going to the library.

But I'm really thinking this overcast chilly morning needs some cinnamon roll muffins.  Then maybe I can think again.  

(Sugar and caffeine clears your brain, right?!)

Hope you have some time to bake, craft, and maybe relax this weekend, too!

Have a lovely one!

on the list.

happy me - I have a full list of craft projects that are being checked off, one by one, as they are needed! it really is such a good, fulfilling, feeling to not only be working on something that is due soon enough to feel justified sitting down to knit, but also to have finished some gifts, then have more on the way!! yay! I'd like to share with you:

finally a green vest - my very first adult clothing piece. I do love it!



it's finished, blocked, fits perfectly... and is TOO HOT. so I will enjoy looking at it on my dresser until the temps fall, which will be too soon for me.

but at least I'll have a cute vest to wear!

~
along with a birthday, my sis-in-law and my husband's brother celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this month.

I had been meaning to make them Alicia Paulson's family tree from her book "Stitched in Time" for some time. the timing for summer worked well for me to do it, and, blanket stitching the afternoon I was going to bring it to them, I finished it in time!




I very much like how it turned out, however, I found out that I don't have the patience for embroidery like I do for yarn work or sewing. maybe it's keeping all those little stitches even, maybe struggling with hoop/needle/knots, or perhaps it's just that I haven't done it as much. ah, well, I did enjoy the process.

note - I did not do the project exactly as suggested by Alicia. I didn't make little bird appliqués to blind stitch on, I used iron-on light adhesive for everything, and whip stitched everything instead of just the tree/leaves. I also decided I liked the simple, more representative than obvious look of leaving off the embroidered names. (Alicia's bird family has the mother/father/child's names embroidered on them).

~
and there's more and more.... baby shower next week, Ren Fest with two of four family members needing new clothes (and I really do need a new skirt), and more birthdays.

.... and someday a new porch to decorate!

*happy sigh*

there WILL be a green vest

once upon a time, I started a green vest.

to protect the innocent (...wait, they're not innocent, they're the ones who made the terrible pattern) I'm not going to get into it, but about 2/3rds of the way through I found out the pattern I was using didn't work the way it was given. I didn't feel like calculating and re-writing it, then try to match up what I'd finished with what was left.

so, for the largest project I've attempted, it ended up frogged.

and the green yarn sat.

and sat.

finally, in a burst of wanting to USE this yarn, I went through my patterns and, without over thinking it, started on a cute, fast and easy vest (ripple-lace V-neck top). I'm quite happy with how it's coming along, quickly and easily, with a fun pattern that isn't boring.


not quite half-way finished, we'll see how the rest goes. I'm still nervous about the finishing stages, such as stitching it all together, but we'll take that as it comes! I'd like to get it off the hook so that I can start more knitting projects, (telling myself I'm not going to start more than one yarn project at once!)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and on that, a blog production note (which will also apply to all my blogs).

for the time being, as if this is any different than normal, I'm not going to blog as much or regularly at all. I'm taking an internet break these next couple months, as over this time I will be gone more weekends than I'll be home - involving 2 weddings, a trip (which hopefully will be a vacation, also), a dress to sew, 5 days of crafts to plan for 50 kids, a(nother) half-marathon to run, a garden to plant, and the small matter of raising 2 kids and running a household.

so as fun crafty stuff comes up, I still hope to blog, but I'm not going to be around much, which probably doesn't make much of a difference in anyone's life but mine ;)

(thank you)

interview and crochet book give-a-way!

This morning I am excited to introduce Stacey Trock,
author of Cuddly Crochet and the blog "Stacey Trock's Fresh Stitching"!

Stacey is a fun gal from the East Coast who was nice enough to answer some interview questions for her blog tour, that's stopping by here today! Welcome, Stacey!

1) When and how did the steps work to take you from a regular old crocheter/knitter to having a published book? When did you feel like writing a book was something you could and wanted to do?

Well, it all happened pretty fast, to be honest! I finished school in May 2008, and thought that continuing in that path just wasn't what I wanted to do with my life. So, I thought... hmm, what would make me happy? And, I'd always loved crocheting, and I decided to try my hand at designing. The next month, I had designed two amigurumi, and decided that it was something that I wanted to become serious about. And, since I didn't have regular employment, I figured that if I wanted to make a living, I had to become pretty serious! So, by September, I had begun designing animals in earnest, setting up my website, www.freshstitches.com, and had assembled a book proposal. For me, a book seemed to be a natural extension of designing and teaching crochet.

Although, looking back, I'm always a little surprised at how quickly I pulled it all together :)

2) When you were first learning and crocheting (and knitting), did you follow patterns or make them up on your own? Are you a pattern-follower or maker-upper now?

Can I be both? I learned to crochet from my Mom, who doesn't read patterns. So, when I started, I didn't read patterns, either. I don't really know when (or how) I started reading patterns, but I remember being 16 and asking for gift certificates to book stores so I could buy crochet books... so I was definitely reading patterns by then.

Now, I do both. Of course, I love designing and making up patterns on my own, because it's what I do all day :) And, I'm very happy to alter a pattern that I see so that it works better for me. But at the same time, I know that there are people who are more skilled at making sweaters/socks/whatever than I am, and I'm happy to make use of their abilities and read the patterns that they wrote!

3) When did you discover that you could make designs, and make them so that people knew what you were talking about and could do them themselves?

I learned fairly early on that I could come up with my own designs... when I was little, I would make (admittedly, strange) things and enter them in the County Fair and win awards. But it wasn't until I decided to make crocheting my profession that I really sat down and thought, 'what do I need to do to make this accessible to others?' By that point in my life, though, I had been reading patterns for over 10 years, so I had a fairly good grasp of what a standard crochet pattern looked like.

The other thing I tell myself is that I'm allowed to make mistakes. For example, when I first started writing patterns, I said, 'chain 2 together' instead of 'single crochet 2 together'... I think because that's what my mom says (or, I made it up... I have no idea!). When I realized that this was totally wacky, I tried not to beat myself up about it. I wrote blog posts explaining my strangeness, corrected my previous patterns and apologized profusely :) I think that philosophy has helped me not be too afraid to start designing.

I also really try my hardest to provide great customer support by answering emails, posting videos and tips on my blog. So, even if someone is having trouble reading a pattern, they can go to my site and find a video to help them. I think it's important to realize that everyone learned to crochet in a different way, and although super-clear instructions are useful to some, other people benefit from seeing a video, or from looking at other examples. I just try it all!

4) I am not one, but do you have any advice for would-be designers?

Well, as you can tell from my last answer... one thing is to not beat yourself up. I'm not saying that you want to publish patterns willy-nilly, and assume that everything will be fine... but everyone makes mistakes. All you can do is try your hardest, test the pattern a couple of times, proofread it and then let it go! It's intimidating to look at 'big designers' because they hire proofreaders, test crocheters, photographers, etc... but that isn't feasible when you're just starting out.

And, be aware that some people might not like what you design. That's okay, it's not personal. They just have different likes than you. In the internet age, it's so easy to find out what everyone thinks about what you're doing, and it can hurt. For example, some people just don't like that I crochet through the back loop. I read on a discussion board where someone said my wombat looked like an armadillo, and someone else called the back loop ridges 'unsightly'. But, that's life! (and, it's great news that people at least know about my patterns!)

My final piece of advice is to decide what role designing is going to play in your life. I have decided that I want to be able to travel (for up to a month at a time) and don't want to go into debt for my business. I also want flexibility in my schedule, so that I can make bread in the middle of the day, if I want. For that reason, I've decided not to publish print patterns for sale in a yarn store, because the up-front cost of printing and the requirement that you be home to ship patterns out just didn't work for me. Therefore, all of my sales are internet sales that I can manage from anywhere in the world, and I can schedule to be home around my book-writing schedule. Other designers have the goal of making 'a real salary', and their lives can be quite different. They work with representatives who sell their patterns to yarn stores, they have shipping centers in their homes (or rent offices), they have employees working for them... and it's exactly what they want to be doing. I think it's useful to decide in advance where you want your design life to take you, because it will help shape the choices you'll make.

5) What's your favorite thing to design? (animal, "guy"....) Who's the recipient of all the fun when you're finished crocheting these cuties?

Oh, I am in love with designing felted animals. They haven't been too popular as patterns (I have no idea why not!), but they are so fun to make! I have a couple of designs that make 12" tall animals that are sooo hug-able, and remind me of toys I had as a child.

I make a lot of animals, and I don't know nearly enough children. So, while a couple go to kids I know, most of them are for sale at a local artist's shop. When I move away from my local shop (which will be this summer), they'll be for sale on my etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FreshStitches.

6) What inspires you?

In a broad sense, the finished product always inspires me to keep making more! Not to toot my own horn, but I'm often surprised at how cute the animals turn out to be! And, the responses that I get from my customers make the whole job really fun & exciting.

From a design perspective, cartoon animals really help shape how I think about crocheted animals. I often see a cartoon and think, 'hmm... that pig just has a big circle for a snout... that would look great crocheted!'

7) What does a typical day look like for you?

Today is a pretty typical day :) I wake up at 8am, eat breakfast, go running with my boyfriend, shower, and 'go to work' (which means, walk the 5 ft from the sofa to my desk) at around 9am. I check emails, write a blog post and do 'computer-y stuff' first. Today, that's answering blog-tour interview questions :), but sometimes it's posting my patterns on different websites, typing up my patterns, photoshop-ing pictures, editing my website... stuff like that.

After I've finished computer stuff, I sit on the sofa and crochet or knit 'for work'. Sometimes it's crocheting my amigurumi, sometimes it's working on a knit design, sometimes it's making a sample item for a class I'm teaching. Right now, I'm spending my 'work knitting time' on a baby blanket that I'm test-knitting for someone else. When I'm knitting or crocheting, I usually watch tv, so it's a fun time!

I often either take a nap (I need sleep!) or take a long lunch break to go to the Farmer's Market or read a book or get outside and do something, and then get back to my knitting/crocheting. I'll work until my boyfriend gets home (usually 7-8pm), and then we'll have dinner and talk about our days.

In the evening, I sometimes do something fun (like go out) or I do 'fun knitting/crochet' (things for me!), although during a busy time, this may become 'work knitting/crochet' as well!
Then, I go to bed.... pretty simple life, really!

8) Are you a morning person or a night owl? When do you feel you're the most creative?

I'm a morning person, and I always do my best work in the morning. By lunchtime, I'm feeling a little brain-dead, and so that's why I tend to do my manual labor then!

9) How about your "dream day"?

Well, I have to say that every day is pretty darn good right now. I get to sit at home in my jammies (yes, I'm in jammies unless I need to go out in public) and do what I love!

But, if you want to get even better... my absolute favorite days are spent in wonderful weather, where my entire day revolves around eating, and I can sit outside and knit or crochet or read a book during the breaks. I love the European-style lunches and dinners where you sit and talk with friends and spend 3 hours at lunch with beautiful, fresh food. Heaven!

10) Just for fun: are you a lake, river, or ocean kind of gal?

Ocean! Although, I've been informed by my Australian sweetheart that the things I've been calling 'oceans' all my life (growing up on the East coast of the US) are actually quite sad... and I've been learning the ways of the Aussie beach. Much bigger waves! I get knocked over fairly often, but I love boogie boarding, the smell & sounds of the ocean and seashells!

Thank you so much, Stacey!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stacey's book is filled with fun gifts that would be perfect for a baby shower or to make for friends or family with little ones. Many (if not all, if your little girl loves trucks, as mine did!) of the designs would work equally as well for a boy or a girl, and yarn color changes would be so easy for a pink-loving toddler girl or red-loving boy.

Win a copy of Cuddly Crochet by leaving a comment to this post... tell us what your favorite (or not-so-favorite) gift was when you had a baby shower, or if you don't have kids, a favorite child's gift!

Comments will be closed and the winner announced a week from now - Tuesday the 20th, at 8:00 am Central.

Sorry, no international shipping!

(I made the blue bird into a chick for little g for Easter, and he was a big hit!)

comments closed....

" 'tainer" in little g's words

I had a few minutes the past couple days, and pulled out some snippets of yarn. little g has been using, in her room, an upside down little toy hat as a going-to-bed catch-all for hair binders and clippies. I thought she could really use a proper basket, so I crocheted up a little container - completely using up these little bits of weird yarn. crazily enough, the bluish color is almost the same color as her room, completely random.

I'm not going to bother blocking it, but doing so would make the sides nice and straight and the bottom nice and flat, so you can imagine it that way and pretend I did.


and yes, I was much more excited about it than she... which is fine, because we yarnies all know that giving a hand-made gift is more for us than the recipient sometimes!

****
counting down: next week tuesday will be the interview with Stacey Trock, and the crochet book give-a-way! huzzah!

circulars, cables, and a special event!

This, right here, is the real reason I've always wanted to knit.

Who knew it was so much easier than it seems?! (um, most real knitters, I'm sure)


My paternal grandmother, who is my inspiration for knitting in general, inspires me every time I pick up any of the knit things we have around the house. She knit so. much... I wish she was still around so I could give her awesome yarn (she'd never purchase awesome yarn herself, being a "child of the depression"!) and have her show me how to do some of this stuff.

I wonder how many other newbie knitters out there are now learning through their LYS or google what many years ago we'd learn from our mothers and grandmothers? (no offense, Mom, you taught me lots of other neat stuff, like how to do a french seam and put in a button hole ;)

I finished my first hat - you can see it on K here while she pets snakes and millipedes - and finding it wasn't as bad as all that, moved on to a simple cable-knit hat. The pattern is here: Chunky Cable Hat by Emily Wessel. The yarn I'm using isn't chunky, therefore it will be a hat for little G, probably, but I'm loving doing it so much - it's so much fun!

As for the needles I'm using, I invested in a big splurge for myself. I joked with Jeff that he doesn't have a wife who shops, I don't buy shoes or clothes, but when it comes to supplies, I have a hard time not getting the best I can find... I needed a circular (owning none), and the next day, ended up with this set from my LYS, Shepherd's Choice.

(sorry Jeff)

********
Last but very much not least, I have a very fun announcement!

Stacy Trock, author of the new book Cuddly Crochet, will be stopping by in April!

She will be on a blog tour for her incredibly cute book of baby toys and accessories, we'll have a little interview, and we'll even have a give-away for a copy of her book! (maybe even a crochet-a-long, if I get my act together!)

So stay tuned and be sure to stop by for all the fun!!

now I don't wear pants in the kitchen.

it's been since last fall, when Jeff finished the outside kitchen window, but we finally have a curtain up. previously there was a cheapy big-box fabric store fabric valance and curtain that I just hemmed the edges and made a place for the rod to pass through, fine but boring and dingy.

Susan Cropper's "Vintage Crochet" is a lovely lovely book, which I bought mainly for Alicia Paulson's two patterns, but I still adore the rest of the book, even if some of it is impractical (um, egg cozy?!). I liked the Cafe Curtain pattern, but had to enlarge it quite a bit to fit our giant 90-year-old window. the problems probably come from this larger size... the curtain doesn't hang right when it's closed, it sags in the middle and bows in on the sides. since I was out of this yarn, literally finished at the last stitch, I also couldn't do the final row of single crochet around the boarder, so perhaps that contributes, too. maybe I'll go back and do that in another color I have.

all in all, I'm not happy, but I am. the curtain looks nice open, which is when we mostly see it, and although I wouldn't have chosen these colors from the yarn store, the only thing it cost me was time, since the yarn was free from a friend.

(and yes, I do wear pants in the kitchen still. but I don't have to...)

on the hook

having a little something on the hook (and another on deck) keeps me going thorough the day, even if I don' t get a chance to work on it. just the thought that it's there, waiting, is a joy!

some old, some new, tiny preview

for mother's day, k helped me make teacup pincushions for the moms. she picked out the fabric and the cups, and helped me put them together.

being how I am, of course I forgot to take a pic of one before boxing one up/giving one away.

instead, here's a pic of the one I made for myself.


and here's the cute tutorial on which I loosely based all of my cups!

~
here's another basket, finished last month:


which now sits beside my bed and holds my lip balm, and my cotton gloves for winter skincare.
it makes me happy.

~
I'm looking forward to starting this project soon:


my side of the road find in west des moines, magically brought back to MN by a feat of engineering from my very own engineer (they're very handy that way)... a light sanding, a coat of rustoleum, and some nice cushions and I'm sipping lemonaid (um, white wine?) in style while the kids play in the backyard...

~
on a final note, I am excruciatingly excited to share some photos with you, but I have decided to wait until the day, a couple weeks from now, on which they will be more pertinent... it's killing me, though, so here is a teeny-tiny sneak peek:

(a little something special from my very favorite "local" photographer)

this and that in this new year's start

I whined Jeff yesterday "I don't feel like I've done anything today..."

he started listing what I did do: lots of laundry, lots of dishes, vacuuming, bathrooms, bread baking, teaching k to do crossword puzzles (she got a clue I couldn't get out of monday's new york times), teaching little g some letters, etc, etc....etc.

getting back into daily life hasn't been bad. I do wish little g would sleep a bit more in the mornings, but that's just me and my still catching up on being awake all night, um, helping a little with a baby as I'm sure you've heard... our days are simple and as gentle as I can make them.

I like to make our house a comfortable home, which for me isn't the toys on the floor (little g decided the giant 2nd hand doll house need to go in the middle of the living room rug), but rather good meals and keeping on top of daily chores. I'm really trying to keep that up and keep our home cozy through these long winter days.

I haven't been able to get back into a good craft mode, though, and if it wasn't for stockinette stitch, I'd be a little bummed...!

;)

I don't have the wherewithal to get my butt onto the porch to craft and sew these last few days, as we were getting over stomach stuff and sleep stuff and stuff stuff, but as I looked at yet another dishcloth with a hole in it (yay all our neat dishcloths from grandma r) I thought it was time to get out the needles again. I certainly can make a square!! I tell myself...

the first time I tried knitting I was using some silly plastic needles from a cheapy kit I picked up on clearance. wasn't even worth the yarn... the knitting was incredibly terrible - I see now it was probably the bad needles and bad yarn...

I pulled out the needles I inherited from my grandmother (I wish I would have gotten all of them!) and cast on with some leftover yarn from somewhere... pulled out "the complete guide to needlework" and started up some stockinette stitch.

...it's very relaxing...
:)

what I'm ignoring but still excited about is the "country lane" vest from more crocheted aran sweaters. it's a basketweave pattern that's a lot of fun, but I want to do it really well, so I've already ripped out 3 rows of the 6 I've done so far. I'm also concerned about running out of yarn, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!


this stitch is so awesomely thick - I can't wait to have it as a vest. someday. eventually.

it is my first adult garment, so I'm pretty pumped.


I was sure I took pics of the awesome crowns I made my niece and nephew, but I can't find the pics, of course. the etsy gifts were recieved with gratitude. christmas was a success.

my gift (from ALL) was the lens I wanted; I'm so happy with it - a 50mm fixed, 1.4.

it's so much fun.

more pics soon with it, and maybe even some pics from xmas, but this (SOOC) orchid is from the des moines botanical center where we brought the kids for a morning out.



thanks everyone!! (and Jeff for organizing the gift)

joy to all in this new year!