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:: photo friday :: yarn, yes yarn!

:: photo friday :: sewing!

30 days of thanks: day 21

What am I thankful for today?

Kitschy holiday crafts and the people who love me who refrain from making fun when I let my inner grandma out. Tiny trees! In mason jars!

toddler house

While you're waiting for me to get going on part 2 (part 1 is here), here's a look at a quick and easy toddler project I did recently! The resident toddler approves of it, very much so.

Recently, we got a dishwasher. Our landlord was at the house, doing something for the upstairs neighbors, and we got to talking and for some reason he asked us if there was anything we needed or wanted. We said, well, how about a dishwasher? And lo and behold...he said OK! It took forever but now, several months later, we have a dishwasher. I think I'm in love. Seriously. The dishes will be washing and I'll be doing something else and I'll remark to M how lovely it is.

Anyway!

This post is not about the dishwasher and how it makes me swoon. This post is about the box the dishwasher came in.

So, we're broke. You sort of know this anyway, if you read part 1 of my story. There's no way I can afford to buy E some sort of fancy little play house. I can't even buy her the materials to get all crafty and make her a fancy little play house. But with a giant leftover box (which we so conveniently happened to have), an exacto knife, some spraypaint and a bit of rope - voila! A (not so) fancy little play house!

And, really. Does she even know the difference?

She loves it. She loves to go in and close the door behind her. She loves to peek out the window at us and play peekaboo. She loves to peek out the "skylight" and giggle at us. She loves to open the door, toss something in and slam it shut again. (As much as a cardboard door can slam, that is...) She loves it!

So do the cats...but that's another story.

So what did I do to make this masterpiece of modern architecture and engineering? Well, we cut the bottom off the box. (Or, I should say, the guy who installed the dishwasher did. To, y'know, get the dishwasher out.) Then I cut a door as straightly as possible, and bent it so it would open and close. I cut some windows. (I may add curtains...we'll see.) I also poked a little hole where a doorknob would be, poked a small length of rope through it and tied it on both sides. That's it! So simple! I then spent under $10 for some spraypaint and painted the walls a beautiful buttery yellow and the door and roof a nice dark brown.

It's the easiest thing in the world. And the best part is that when she outgrows it, we can just pitch it in the recycling bin!

Until then...

Rhinebeck, Rhinebeck, Rhinebeck!

In theory, this post is about a sheep and wool festival and some sweaters. In reality, it's about those things and toddlers.

Last weekend at this time, I was in Rhinebeck, NY for a sheep and wool festival. Now, if you knit, you might know what a big deal this is. It seems like nearly everyone I know was there. I met so! many! knitters! People I'd known for years online, but had never met in person. It was awesome. And, oh yeah, there were sheep. And tons of wool. I'm not a spinner, though sometimes I pretend to be, so I focused on the already-spun wool and browsed the booths and booths of yarn. (Booths and booths. Holy crap, I don't think I've ever seen so much yarn in one place! And I didn't even get to see it all!) I managed to keep my purchases small(ish) and only came home with two skeins of yarn. I'm going to knit me some socks this winter!

We had a great time. Though I wouldn't recommend traveling 6 hours in a car with two toddlers on a regular basis. All in all, they were fairly well-behaved, but between trying to get them to sleep in the car, nap in the stroller, or to sleep in a room with other toddlers, it was...a challenge...to put it politely. Good times were had, but not relaxing times, if you know what I mean! Travel with the little ones can be fun, certainly, but stressful too.

We had some truly wonderful moments though. I took E on the merry-go-round for the very first time. And oh, how I wish I had photos of it! Alas, I was holding on to both her and the neighboring horse to keep us all from falling off. If you had been watching, you would have seen my little girl literally shaking with a combination of glee and terror. I've never seen her so excited! We did, however, confirm her fear of sheep. *sigh* Apparently alpacas are pretty terrifying too.

I knit both of us Rhinebeck sweaters, which sounds a bit more impressive than it really is. Mine I started nearly a year ago and E's began life in March of this year. But I did finish them both! Although I fully admit to sewing the buttons on in the car and finishing the last buttonhole mere minutes before arrival at the Rhinebeck house.

E's sweater was the Eyelet Yoke Baby Cardigan which I modified somehow to make toddler-sized but I can't remember for the life of me now what I did. (Whatever it was, I did it in the springtime. And forgot to write it down. Silly me!) I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in cornmeal, which was left over from part of a baby blanket. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough to knit a whole sweater, so I had to order more! And now I have extra. Again. The pattern is super simple, even with fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants toddler mods. As you can see, it's a bit long on her - I was worried about it being too short, with her being such a tall kiddo and all, so I erred on the side of long. This way, she can wear it for a long time!

I love the eyelet details at the yoke and hems. They add just a touch of loveliness to an otherwise not-very-girly sweater.

My own sweater was the very popular Coraline. I knit it using my own hand dyed DK weight yarn in a 70% merino/30% silk blend. The only major modification was to make 3/4 length sleeves, for a couple of reasons. One, I was very afraid (needlessly, it turned out) that I was going to run out of yarn. And if I had, there was no just hopping to the store to buy more - I only had a certain number of skeins, and I didn't trust my ability to recreate the colors exactly! And the second reason was that I just generally prefer shorter sleeves. If my sweaters and tops are long-sleeved, you will almost always see me push them up. These sleeves hit just below my elbow, which is pretty much perfect for me.

The pattern has you knitting the bottom of the sweater then turning it over on itself and knitting it together before continuing up the length of the body. It makes for a wonderful turned hem, though I cursed at the time because all of sudden, you're knitting along and it's like you've only done half of what you've actually done! Not very satisfying. But it looks wonderful.

So now I'm missing my Rhinebeck friends but thoroughly enjoying some quiet time at home. And E and I both have gorgeous sweaters to wear! I admit - I've been wearing mine nearly every day since our return. And it's been glorious.

summertime, summertime

Oh, summer. What have I been up to? Clearly not blogging... Mostly because I've been, well, living.

Started off the season with some gorgeous flowers...hyacinths! (Which, if you've been 'round these parts very long, you know are some of my very favorites.)

There were also (and will always be) some whoopie pies. Oh, the deliciousness. My favorites come from the bakery down the street - Borealis Breads. Yum.

There was some music-ing...

And somebody's very first beach trip...

(Well, the first one where she could actually appreciate it, anyway...) Followed by some more beach trips...

And some more... Love that sand!

There were a lot of hot lazy days spent playing with blocks and baby pools.

There was even some sewing! Here, the lovely E is stacking some rings in her beautiful new handmade dress!

And some more sewing... Love that dress pattern!

I gardened. Quite a bit actually. And I had every intention of blogging about my experience, but...well...maybe I'll get around to an end-of-season recap?

We had play dates!

And parties!

And, of course, I just had to sew a party dress to go to some of those parties...

There was swinging and sliding...

I just had to sew another pair of shoes, before E outgrew the pattern...

There's been a lot of jam and jelly making and other preserving. Like whoa. A lot. Here, vanilla peach oolong. There's also been strawberry lime jam, blackberry jelly, maple strawberry smooch, strawberry lemonade concentrate, salsa verde and more on the agenda...

In addition to all that, I dyed yarn all summer for Picnic at the end of August. My first time vending as a yarnie! (I've done craft shows before, but not with the yarn...)

Finally, at the end of it all, when I was feeling a little stressed out by all that was happening, we went on vacation! A week at the lake, even if part of it is spent with no power or running water (thanks, Irene!) is a wondrous thing.

To top off the vacation, my dear father turned 60. Party! And he got to spend the day with his granddaughter. (Among others...) Possibly my favorite moment this summer.

So I may not have been blogging, or commenting on your blogs, or, honestly, even reading them most of the time, but I'm here. I've been checking in and catching up periodically but I feel like an ass commenting on months-old posts often, so I read, and move on. And live. It's been a good summer for us. I hope the same is true for you!

no spam here

I'm starting up a new mailing list for Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe. If my attention to blogging at the yarn blog is any indication, there won't be a lot of activity. Which is nice for those of you who may like to get notice of sales and coupons and other goings-on, but don't want to be inundated with email. I can assure you that won't happen!

Click on over here to join up - the inaugural issue will be going out later today or tomorrow and I can promise you there will be a coupon code! *wink, wink*

save the date!

What are you doing Saturday, August 27 from 11-6? Will you be in Lincoln Park in Portland, ME? I think you will.

You know why?

Because that way you'll get to join me and tons of other crafty vendors for the 4th annual Picnic Music+Arts Festival!

Picnic sez:

The Picnic Music+Arts Festival will feature clothing, jewelry, prints, accessories, bags, plush, stationery, photography, housewares, fine art, vintage goods and more. There will be live music and tasty food to enjoy all day.

I guess I fall into the "and more" category... Anyway, it'll be an excellent chance to check out my new yarn colors and squish it with your very own hands! Last year I attended (not as a vendor) with my teeny baby and it was loads of fun. Save the date and we'll look forward to seeing you!

:: photo friday :: things to come

Don't forget to check out the shop...new colors coming in the next couple of days!

:: photo friday :: finally got it right

It may have taken me a few previous (equally lovely) tries...