I am down on the Cape, visiting Jenn (and Melyssa) and staying on The Island...
Island Time means LOTS of crafting...
I'm working on my Christmas cards...
If you would like to receive one, make sure you email me your address... If you got one last year, you'll be on this years mailing list!
I'm also using this time to get started on some knitting projects... This extra soft organic cotton creation will be someone's gift...
I miss home, but I looooove Island Time.
I haven't shared any creativeness in a while. What the heck is that about?
A couple weeks ago, my Jenn was here playing in MY CRAFT STUDIO, which was exciting for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I've never really had a space big enough to SHARE before. Good times, and M&M's were had by all.
So what have my little hands been up to?! Take a look....
FELT MONSTERS for the kiddos. Yup, with my van being on the fritz, it's going to be a low budget Christmas this year, but lucky for me, my kids haven't discovered iPods and Play Stations yet... Making these is so freaken easy, and UNBELIEVABLY fun!
Finished up 2 Monster hats (will be in contact if yours is done) and needed a little break from all the monster-ness, so decided to teach myself a new knitting technique called entrelac. Um, yeah, so can we just talk for a minute about how FUN this is? And HOW PRETTY?!! Loving it!
Haven't been doing much scrapbooking lately, but managed to squeeze this little lovely out. Oh, ya know... Just adoring my giant-type guy. Standing next to him feels good - even if it hurts my neck. Love is good. Life is good.
Have had lots of fall photo shoots this year, and still have three more on my plate! Working my way through proofing all the pictures, and stumbled on the above shot. Holy-take-my-breath-away. Some combination of that adorable little girl (the daughter of college friend), and that magnificent fall back-drop. I still have a long way to go before I am REALLY confident with my camera, but once-in-a-while I have to slow down and recognize that I am growing SO MUCH as a photographer.
And, it is November, and it is has been raining for three straight days... You know what that means, right?? Time for some Axl. Come on, click it, you know you want to....
Peace Out!
So... I finished the monster hat today...
I figured I would take some pictures of Keegan wearing it, so you could get the full idea...
Are you even sure you are ready for this?
I mean, seriously. Are you ready for this? Because I knew it would be cute, but I had NO IDEA that it would evoke such feelings of joy and hilarity from the very depths of my soul.
(Ok... I warned you.)
I had to bribe him with M&M's to even get him to leave the hat on long enough for a picture (hence the chocolate chin-debris.) He was definitely not really excited about wearing WOOL in the middle of JULY.
But seriously? I can't even stand the cuteness.
Oh, Keegan. I love you, and I am SO sorry. There are going to be lots of giggles directed at you this coming winter...
I've also decided that these hats are way too good not to share... If you are interested in one for your own little monster, leave a comment with your email addy and I'll send you info on ordering one... If you're interested in knitting one... The (free) pattern can be found here. It was really easy, and the hat is stretchy enough to fit an adult.
I mean, the joy-factor alone was worth ALL the effort.
(Next up is a purple one for the Sassafrass.)
So... I got my knit on over the weekend...
Finished my Noro Scarf, and I am in loooove with it! It is seriously so yummy in real life, I just want to wrap it around my face and eat it. I want to wear it all the time, except that wool is not exactly ideal for the beach...
I took entirely too many pictures of it. And of myself wearing it. And I am going to shamelessly share them, because its not very often that I am THIS proud of me. I'm not sure I've ever made anything this cool...
Jeff wanted some new head shots for his modeling portfolio, so I let him borrow the scarf.
Also... Finished these adorably cute little "mismatched mittens" for Sassafrass. This is a one-skein project using my favorite NORO yarn...
And... Last but not least... Made some progress on the first Monster Hat... (for Keegan). I added a big pom-pom to it because kids hats just NEED pom-poms on them, and also because I think making pom-poms is probably one of the funnest things I've ever done (I know, I need to get out more)... I also purchased the googly-eyes for it yesterday. Now I just gotta finish the earflaps, and then I can torture my children with it. I think it may become my mission in life to make sure that every child has a monster hat. I'm probably going to make one for myself... Actually, I definitely am.
That is all for today...
(Photo of monster hat stolen from www.ravelry.com)
Dear Keegan & Alyza,
I am very much planning on making you both one of these monster hats. You are both too little to realize how ridiculous this hat is, and I have absolutely no intentions of telling either of you. My intentions are specifically to place them upon your precious little heads, and squeal really loudly at how immeasurably adorable you both look. I also might indulge in a small large amount of giggling...
And someday when you sit down with your therapist and begin your session by saying: "I can trace it all back to the day my Mother made me wear that monster hat" it will all be worth it.
Because dressing you both in squeal-worthy apparel is the whole reason I became a parent in the first place.
Love,
Mom.
So because I am a reject, and I can not say no to people, because I can not handle guilt of any sort... I am up past midnight on a Sunday night, working on a wedding scrapbook for a co-worker. She asked me to make the book so she could gift it to her daughter (the gorgeous bride).
This is the first scrapbook I've ever made for someone I don't even know. Using pictures of people I don't even know (aside from my co-worker.) But let me just tell you...
IT. IS. HARD. TO. SCRAPBOOK. SOMEONE. ELSES. MOMENTS!
Holy Crap. Talk about a challenge. I mean, the photos are gorgeous. The people are gorgeous. The supplies I bought (with co-workers funds, WOOT!) are fabulous. But wow, what a wake-up call. I think it's pretty obvious the degree to which my own emotions spew out into my own creations. Working without those emotions is definitely different for me.
So, I threw together what I like to call the music playlist that is sappier-than-thou, and I imagined that Josh and Kara are the happiest couple to ever exist in all coupledome. I imagined them shattering all of my cynical feelings about love and marriage. I imagined them riding off into the sunset together in their electric wheelchairs at the nursing home, and low-and-behold the album came together piece by piece.
I have a few more pages to finish up, and then I will share it.
But for now... HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOVING THIS FREAKEN SCARF??!!?!!
I mean, can we just talk about this for a minute?? HOLY-YUMMY-RAINBOWEY-COLORED-NECK-WARMING-GOODNESS!! This, my friends, is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Because. It is late.
And I am hopped-up on allergy drugs that my Dad gave me.
And, I have Crafters Attention Deficit Disorder.
And I really should go to bed.
...one to go!
It's funny... I get picked on a lot for being so young and being into knitting. And it's ok, because I totally get it - knitting is for Grammies! I pick on myself all the time for it as well... Even though I can't really understand how white hair and wrinkles became a prerequisite for such a rewarding hobby...
But seriously! YAY! Sock #1 is done. It took me about 2 weeks to finish it, but still, it is done. When I complete the pair, I will make Jeff model them for us...
And Kim... to answer your Q about how I learned to read patterns...
Well, I did take a knitting class from a local shop, and I picked up a lot of tips from there. But if you google "knitting abbreviations" you can usually find a list that will help you, and then when I come across an abbreviation I don't know about, I look it up on YouTube and watch how it's done.
I freaken love the internet!!
I am officially OBSESSED with finishing this sock. Or I guess, finishing this pair of socks. I am not exactly sure why, but the fact that it actually looks like a sock is amusing me to the very core. I think I half-expected it to end up looking like a very deformed armadillo (it is my very first sock, after all)... But instead it looks exactly like the pattern, and that makes me feel like doing cartwheels...
The highlight of my week so far was when I showed the work-in-progress to Jeff and he said...
"BABY! It looks like a SOCK!"
(Apparently, he was envisioning the armadillo too.)
Just a few things to share...
I got all jealous of all the cute trendy skinny scarves that I have been seeing people wear lately. So I made me one. Me likey. Probably gonna make more.
And, I decided (again) to give socks a try... Even if they take forever. I figure the only way they have a chance at getting finished is if I make them for someone... So, operation boyfriend socks is now underway...
And, a silly magnet... Which is pretty much basically true.
and, a layout about fate. Because all I did all weekend was watch LOST season 3 on DVD, and there's lots of fate going on up in that show, and you know I'm a believer...
