have you any wool? or notebooks? or framed prints?

I love checking things off of a list.  Sometimes I'll even make a list, just so I can check things off of it.  Over the weekend,  I finished up some projects.  -and I checked them off of my list!   I finally framed my wool stitchery.  This is from Wee Wonderfuls and it is just the perfect little piece of needle work.  It stitched up quickly and for right now I'm enjoying it in my craft room.  I bought the frame from Joann's when they were having a 40% off sale.   And I matted it just like Kristyn's.  I loved the figgy pudding fabric that she used, so I shamelessly copied it! 

I also finished a couple more notebook slipcovers.  The blue and yellow one was meant to be for a mini binder, but I measured wrong and so it ended up being a spiral cover.  I used a hair band as an elastic closure.

 I covered the mini binder with an alternate fabric combination.  It holds my church notes.  Every week we get a handout that is hole punched and ready for a notebook and now, I've got one! 

The last little project that I completed this weekend was to print off one of Becky Higgins' comfort prints. (thanks Becky!)  I simply printed off a 5X7 size and popped it into a frame.  I love this quote.  Don't you agree that home is just the best comfort?

So, I don't know about you, but I'll keep on marching through this week and see what else I can check off the to-do list.  I hope that you're enjoying the comforts of home this week as we enter into autumn! (and I hope your list is getting shorter along the way!)  Happy days to you all! 

seashore shawl

I finished my Seashore Shawl about a week before summer ended. My timing is impeccable!   I saw a shawl similar to this when we went to North Myrtle Beach in July.  (thus the name "Seashore Shawl"  pretty original, huh?!) The owner had it draped over a chair and I kept going back to paw at it and try it on.   I bought the yarn at the local yarn shop and the shop owner was kind enough to give me the 'pattern".  I love this yarn so much.  It is so soft!  And it's machine washable due to the fact that it's a cotton/acrylic blend. 

 I think I could wrap up in this and take a nap. (if I were a napper that is....I'm not a napper- it's a shame.)   The color is pale enough that it works almost like a neutral. The color is called Matcha.  (?)  I'll be enjoying this for a few more weeks until it gets cold enough to bring out the wool....it's perfect for throwing over my shoulders in church or warding off the morning chill when I do my quiet time on the deck. 

The cast on edge starts off with ten stitches so you don't end up with a triangular point...it's gentle and it has a nice drape.  I used two skeins of Berrocco Weekend and it ended up the perfect size.  It's so easy....Cast on 10 stitches using a size 13 needle.  Increase at the beginning and end of each row until you have 8 inches - from then on, increase at the beginning only until you have 140-145 stitches.  Bind off loosely and enjoy!

Now, you can make your own Seashore Shawl....just in time for autumn! 

slipcovered

Gingercake has some great patterns in her shop.  I made some Lola the Owls back in the spring and  I've been eyeing her notebook slipcover for a while.  When Kristyn came into town for a visit, it was the perfect time to try it out.  

We headed to the fabric store for our supplies and after a couple of days of following two little boys around and playing, we got started.  I have to say that I am so glad to have had Kristyn here for this project. In addition to being so much fun.... She is meticulous.  She is careful.  She measures accurately.  She is so neat and careful.  I am not all of this....(at least not all at the same time).  I'm more of a "wing it and hope it works out" kinda girl. 

We talked through everything, because there were many numbers and measurements to figure out.  (I'm not saying it was hard, but you did have to be aware of each step as you measured and cut and went along.)  We helped each other think through the process as we went.

  We had so much fun making these slipcovers.  I even learned that my sewing machine has a thread clipper built into it! (who knew!?!)   When we got to the step where we were sewing the entire thing together, we had our fingers crossed.  And it worked out!!! (I love it when that happens)

 The notebooks were transformed from ordinary to extraordinary.  I'm using mine as my everything binder.  It holds my grocery lists, address book, gift idea lists, daily dockets and calendar.

A couple of days ago, I  made another cover.  This one was for my holiday planner.  The snowflakes and Christmas material were so fun and festive.

 I've got a bunch of other noteboks that could sure use some sprucing up and I really think these slipcovered notebooks would make great gifts for friends or even teachers.  After making the first slipcover, the second one was so much less taxing on my mind....it was easier and went together much faster.  (although it was 10 times less fun without Kristyn here!)  

Maybe this weekend will find me some more time for sewing and recovering... I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend and that you spend some time doing something you enjoy!  Oh, and I want to shout out a special thanks to Virginia of Gingercake for a great pattern! Check out her blog for tons of great inspiration. 

vine lace vest

I purchased some green cotton classic yarn about 2 years ago from a clearance table in a yarn shop in Lancaster, PA.  It's been waiting for the right pattern/project/time to come along and call its name.  At the beginning of July, Maggie was playing basketball in a tournament at Penn State and I figured I'd have a lot of knitting time in between games - so I pulled the pattern for the vine lace vest and loaded up my clearance yarn in my knitting bag and we headed to State College, PA.  I think I knit 2 rows the entire week....

It was a start however and I continued working on it throughout the summer. It became my traveling summer project.  It went to State College, Pennsylvania, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Hershey, Pennsylvania as well as several lakes and swimming pools.  My biggest dilemma was that I only had 4 skeins and I knew I was going to be pushing it to have enough yardage.  But in the end it all worked out.....I added some extra length to the body and omitted the ribbing on the sleeves. 

This is a great pattern for those of you who like very little seaming.  It is knit in one piece starting with the back and then splitting off for working each front side. 

When you are done with knitting the body, you seam the sides and pick up for the front bands and arm bands.  It's a freebie on Classic Elite's Website which makes it even better!

Here's my knitty gritty:
Pattern: Vines Lace Vest
Needles: sizes 6 and 9
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 4 skeins
Size: Medium
Modifications:  I added an extra 3 inches to the length of the vest.  I also seamed the armholes up a little more than the pattern indicated.  I left off the ribbing around each arm. 

Thanks to Maggie my crazy photographer...there's a reason all of these photos are headless.  In most of the photos I looked like this or goofier!   She gets me laughing so hard....

*** Thanks to everyone who checked in with me here regarding our week of weirdness.  We definitely felt the earthquake but everyone was safe and no damage was done. Irene blew through here on Saturday night and left a mess of leaves, sticks and branches in the yard...but thankfully that was all.  I hope this finds everyone safe and sound.   Here's to a week of sunshine and clear skies!

right around the corner

I've got some recently finished projects to share....soon.  Really, they are just around the corner and if I could just turn that corner, I'd get them posted.  But we're switching gears and heading into our school time routine and for some reason that just seems to stall me out.  It's all part of easing into the new routine.  Eventually I'll get moving again and when I do, I'll show you what I've finished up.    In the meantime, I'll leave you with some photos of our summer's end.....

[Kristyn came to visit. Whoo Hoo! We had a wonderful time catching up and making new memories- here we are heading out to dinner and to see the movie The Help]

[beautiful veggies from Kristyn's mom and dad ~ Thanks Jo Ellen and Howard. 

We've gobbled them all up!]

[John Samuel and Connor scootering down the street~ John Samuel was thrilled to have Connor here!]

[boys in shopping carts at the fabric store....a new project was in the works]

[a day at Greenbrier lake, playing and paddling]

[measuring and cutting...sewing, measuring and more measuring]

[tubing on Lake Meade....that's Maggie and her friend, Michelle]

[sunset on the lake and a very wonderful summer]

So, that's how we've been wrapping up our summer days.....I hope your summer is ending on a beautiful note as well and that you turn the corner into autumn with plenty of grace! 

to market, to market and home with more bags

I have an overabundance of plastic grocery bags....they are like rabbits.  Despite the fact that I grocery shop with reusable bags, I somehow still end up with a plethora of plastic ones.  I actually like to have some of them on hand for wastebasket liners and for bagging up things here and there. So I've been stuffing them in a bigger bag and keeping them in our laundry room. They started to take over my space.  I am certain that they were planning a coup.   They looked unassuming, but I could tell...they needed to be dealt with.  So I did.

 I made this adorable grocery bag holder.  It has elastic at the bottom so you can pull out one bag at a time.  It has a great big opening at the top for stuffing in more bags.  And it holds a lot of bags.  Whatever it doesn't hold, I've decided I don't need to keep.  I'll take them back to the store and recycle them at those big bin. 

I also like it because it's make out of cute fabric and it makes me smile.  It was super easy to make and because it's quilted, it seems to be pretty sturdy.  I didn't quilt mine quite as fancy as the tutorial suggested, but I like how it turned out.

 I used this tutorial (thanks AnneMarie!)  and made it from material that I had on hand.  I think it would make a pretty nice gift....in a practical, kind of way.  Not sure that a grocery bag holder has the same appeal as a piece of jewelry or a candle does in a gift giving situation, but still.  Since I was ambivalent about the gift-ability of the bag holder, I only made one.  for me. 

flubber fun

Looking for something fun to do the other night, John Samuel and I found ourselves in the kitchen looking for specific ingredients.  I didn't have enough cornstarch to make play dough.  We were all out of heavy cream, so homemade ice cream was out.  Then I remembered one of the girls having brought home some flubber from science class one time. 

We googled the directions and were on our way in no time concocting and discovering.  We used this video and got perfect results the first time. (it helps that I use the borax for our laundry detergent....that's the only odd ingredient involved)  

This was the perfect activity for my creative boy....he played for a long time with the flubber and was delighted to show his sisters when they returned home.  (they were pretty impressed) And although it looks messy...it really was quite contained and relatively 'clean'. 

We just used regular old dollar store glue and added some food coloring before mixing.  The trick is having two bowls...one with borax and water and the other with glue, food coloring and water.  You pour the glue mixture into the borax mixture and after some mixing....voila!!

We're already planning on a repeat performance when Connor comes....it's so much fun! 

If you're looking for a fast, fun project that keeps you out of the heat...I highly recommend flubber.  Even the name is fun!

....and his daddy discovered that when stored in a small container...it can be squished around to make totally cool sounds that boys will especially enjoy!