Christmas Surprise

Earlier this year I fell in love with some dinnerware at Anthropologie. It was way out of my price range and I coveted it from afar. I loved this set but I put it out of my mind once I realized that it was not going to happen. I could not justify the expense.
Never have a loved plates as I did these.

Fast forward to December 25 and Brian is carrying box after enormous box down the stairs on Christmas morning. I was thinking, what could possibly be in these boxes? Nothing I mentioned wanting or needing could be this big....

I knew what it was immediatley when I opened the first box and it revealed many smaller boxes labeled 20,000 leagues. He bought me the whole set. The whole damn set. 8 of the large Octo plates,8 of the salad plates in each variation, and 8 bowls.

They are so beautiful and I will cherish them forever. They were such a huge surprise. He had bought them in May and had been storing them for months.





Now that Christmas is over I am so, so, happy to be finished making presents for people. I gifted 7 knitted items-4 scarves and 3 hats. My fingers are wrists are exhausted.
Brian's mother gave me a $75 gift certificate for my favorite new yarn place in Wheaton and I am currently working on something for myself! I haven't made anything for myself at all.
I can't wait to use my certificate but I have skein after skein of yarn in storage so I really have to use some of the stuff I already have before I redeem it.

Beautiful disaster

I made something beautiful and it fell apart.

It was a project I was rushing because I wanted to wear it on Saturday. I finished it within a couple days, about 5 hours total, but didn't heed the warning of "practice this stitch before you try it on a project"
I got the hang of it but I started it wrong and it's all coming unraveled. Not even worth the effort of blocking it.

The pattern was lovely, I will try it again. One for me and one as a gift.

I am sick to death of scarves. They are so tedious.

Rabble Rabble

Brian and I attended the rally to restore sanity. We only caught the last 10 minutes of it because we really didn't anticipate such congestion on the metro. I'm glad we went because I saw a lot of hilarious signage and I put a lot of effort into making/carrying my own. As the title of this blog may lead you to believe I am a fan of south park. May I present the sign:




It was well received by people who knew what it meant. Some people did and some didn't, but the ones that did would rabble when they saw it, so a lot of my day was accompanied by the sound of rabbling which was highly amusing.

I finally finished staining the deck (yes, the one I started several months ago), voted, and yesterday I turned 27. I had a nice Birthday and am enjoying my new kindle even though I don't have much time to read with the impending holidays.

Puttin' in work

I have been spending every moment of spare time making things for the impending cold. Yesterday I decided to officially give up on craft store yarn. It's just not worth it. I'm spoiled by the local luxury yarns and don't' care that I spend more on each project. I'd rather give something well made with good quality materials than put so much effort into something and have it last only one season. This happened after I bought 9 skeins of two types of yarn and both of them sucked in too many ways to describe here.

So, time for project pictures!

Finished cabled scarf:




Two of 3 hats. Darker/multi colored cabled items do not photograph well. They look better in person.

Black one for Brian:



Multi-Red. Intended for my Mother but it was too small for her big Texas hair. I will try to give it to someone for Christmas? Not sure who yet.




Otto is a nosy little creature

My plants deserve an honorable mention. This giant dendrobium cane came out of nowhere. 2 months ago it was a teeny tiny little cane and now it has dwarfed all of the others and should bloom soon. I didn't expect that.





So, that's pretty much it. I'm leaving out a bunch of stuff going on in life but I really don't feel like acknowledging that my root canal last week failed and I'm on day 9 of being in pain, and that our water heater is leaking all over the basement and has to be replaced ASAP.

I'd rather think about my projects, luxurious fibers with which to create garments, thriving plants, and my adorable sleeping dogs.




The end.

An exciting development

*drum roll*

I have finally tried cables. They were much more simple than I anticipated and I am beaming with pride about this new discovery.

Last week I had to run a work errand to Bethesda and I had a lot of time to spare so I visited Knit+Stich=Bliss on Wisconsin Ave. I really didn't intend to buy anything but I found the most beautiful baby alpaca yarn by Plymouth. I have made a few things with this and I think it has become my favorite fiber. It's thick, but not too bulky, knits up quick, and is oh so soft. The colors really grabbed me. I had to have it. I bought it with a person in mind but not a particular project, and the more I thought about it the more I really wanted to make something different that would show off the hand dyed quality. It's working up very quickly and I memorized the pattern so I have been able to work this scarf without really thinking about it. I may need more yarn, which means it will be the most expensive item I have made thus far...




I wish I had a better picture. I will take one when the project is finished.

As I work through this project I have been thinking about the quality of the things I have made and whether or not they will hold up and how they are received by the people that I give them to. I have only been doing this for a year. I still feel like an amateur and when I give things to people I feel like a little kid giving someone macaroni art. Am I crazy? I guess we all experience doubt when it comes to the things that we make by hand.
I look at this project and I see the things that I have done wrong and where I need to improve and I wonder if I will ever really "get it"

When I started doing this a year ago I really didn't think much would come of it. I just wanted to make something and in all honesty I figured I would get tired of it and give up after a month or so. But I wanted to make something and feel like it had a purpose. The more I did it the more I enjoyed the process of starting something with little knowledge of it, working through it, and finishing it. It is a good feeling.

Home sweet home

Picture post....


I visited family this past weekend and stopped by to check out my Mother's impressive summer garden. It was larger this year than I have ever seen it before. I think now that I'm an adult I can appreciate the slow pace and the simple pleasures of country life.

The house where I spent most of my life has been a work in progress for as long as I can remember. No matter how many improvements are made to it the house still looks and feels a hundred years old.



The Garden!

20 tomato plants, 5 types. Eggplant. Cucumbers. 4 types of squash and zucchini, 4 types of hot peppers. Green bell peppers. Red bell peppers. Pumpkins. Sunflowers.



My mom is not big on pesticides or damage control. She lets the plants do their thing and it usually works for her. This dill plant lost the fight to these parsley worms.



This week I gave my coworker the blanket I made for her baby, who will be here in a few short weeks. Here is the finished blanket.






Finally, my current project. A "wave scarf" with Plymouth Trabajos Del Peru Merino wool. A gift for an old friend.

Deck restoration week 1

Restoring a 20 year old weathered deck is hard work.
This deck had never been sealed, stained, or treated in any way. It has withstood the elements for 20 years completley unprotected. This project is a testament to why things should be maintained rather than restored after years of abuse.

So, here is progress after week one. I haven't stripped the rails yet and hope to do more of that during the week if I have enough daylight and energy.



I hope we can get it done in 3 weekends max, but that timeframe is really dependent on the weather. There is so much surface area to cover and I'm not even trying to do the steps off the deck. Maybe next summer.