Got Latte?

Michael Scott: Carol used to drink lattes. She would get this little foam mustache. And I used to say, “Hey, got latte?” and she’d say, “That’s not funny.”

The Office, Season 3, Episode 10

We've been doing a lot of traveling on the weekends due to my husband's job. In September he started a new job which is out of state. We are happy that he has a job, because we know so many people are faced with unemployment right now. We really want to let our son finish High School in the town he has grown up in, so we are commuting back and forth on weekends. Some weekends my son and I travel to Maine and then sometimes my husband travels to Massachusetts. Not the most ideal situation, but we are making the best of it.

I made myself this coffee cozy for traveling. It is a free pattern from Erin of House on Hill Road.

I made a couple of them. They are machine washable too.

The white cup is one of those I'm Not a Paper Cup ceramic coffee mugs with a silicone lid. Great for making you own coffee before you hit the road.

Embroidered Onesies

My brother and sister-in-law are expecting a baby in March. Their second child. At the baby shower for my nephew, their first child, my sister came up with this great idea of having everyone decorate a onesie with fabric paint for a little party activity. It was so much fun. A lot of their friends are very artistic, so the onesies were little works of art. The new baby will have a lot of wonderful hand me downs, but I wanted to make something new for the baby, so I embroidered some onesies.

The dog and bird pattern came from Meet Me at Mike's.

This pattern is Love Bear from Badbird's.

The hedgehog pattern came from Pimp Stitch.

I babysat my two year old nephew, Rowan, on Friday and Monday. He is so much fun. He told me he is going to have a brother. We'll see. My parents have 5 grandsons and zero granddaughters, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

On the knitting front: I'm all over the place with knitting. I'm ready to work the sleeves of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, but I got distracted by the Cabled Bolero which I'm almost done with, and I really want to make a Clapotis. Oh well.

Huswife

This weekend was a perfect weekend to work on this project. It was very cold outside and snowed almost the entire weekend, so we stayed by the fire, watched movies and tried to keep warm. This little piece of the past is called the huswife and the pattern is from Theresa of T Does Wool.


I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this project, from picking out the fabric, to hand stitching the pieces, to adding the scissors and the needle I used while sewing. It was such a peaceful project. It is hard for me to put it into words.


I love recreating these primitive type pieces from the past. Although you can use more modern fabric, I chose the primitive look.



I thought about the women and girls who had made them in the past and I thought about Theresa. Thanks for sharing the pattern with me, Theresa.


You have probably already been to her blog, but if you haven't you should check it out. You'll see what I mean about peaceful.

My Conspiracy Theory

It's the Girl Scouts. They are conspiring against me. It's a great organization. I was one once, and I learned a lot of different crafts at the meetings, but they are out to get me. I don't know why. I was a good Girl Scout.

Every year on New Year's Eve I make a resolution to eat healthier, more fruits and vegetables, less sugar and sweets. It probably has to do with all the Christmas gluttony I experience for the whole month of December. Then, for two weeks I eat nothing but healthy food. Cottage cheese on Ezekiel bread (because it is a vegetable, it's in the freezer section) and clementines for breakfast.


Salads for dinner or lunch, and lots of chicken.



I finally detox off the sugar. I don't even crave it anymore, and then they come. The Girl Scouts. They are everywhere. They don't just come to my door anymore, because they were on to me hiding behind the sofa, and pretending I was not home. Now, they stalk me. They know when I am going grocery shopping, so they set up their little trap for me at the exit. Pandering Trefoils and Thin Mints with cute smiles and big beautiful eyes. It's like selling drugs outside a rehab center. I'm onto their little tricks, so I stayed strong, didn't look them in the eye, kept walking past them, ignoring them. I got in the car, wiped the sweat off my brow, and drove straight home, relieved that I had survived the first of many attempts to get me hooked on sugar again.

I arrived home with the groceries and there on the counter are two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I stayed calm and asked my husband if someone at work was selling them, and he said, " No, I went to Lowes and the Girl Scouts ganged up on me when I was leaving. Wouldn't let me leave without buying some."

That just confirms my whole conspiracy theory. I just didn't realize how deep it went.

Refashion

I love the idea of refashioning something you already have in your closet, but never wear for one reason or another. I saw this idea to add a knit collar to a sweater on the blog Reserrection Fern. I had this brown cashmere sweater that had a small hole in the collar, but I couldn't get rid of it (after all it is cashmere). It was the perfect sweater for adding a new collar.

I sewed on some picot lace trim to the edge of the collar and then picked up and knit around the edge increasing on each side every few rows. I added some embroidered buttons.

And single crocheted some button loops.



Sweater = free
Yarn Plymouth Yarn Expression (3696)= 6.95
Button covers = 1.20 (with my 40% off coupon)
Total cost = $8.15

I love this idea. I see more refashioning in my future.

More Hand Knit Gifts:

Here are a few more gifts I knit. I guess I was busy. This explains a lot - like why my craft space looks like it was hit by a tornado! I've been cleaning it all week (well trying), but I keep getting distracted by the computer.



Another Clemence Cowl
by Katya Frankel
Knit One Crochet Two Ty-Dy Yarn
US 7 Circular needle




Another Toast
by Leslie Friend
Classic Elite Portland Tweed - Ruby Red
Us 7 double pointed needles

I decided to add some embroidery details to a pair of Toast wrist warmers. This pattern is so versatile. I made five pairs of these in different colors for gifts.


Basic Men's Mittens (for my step-daughter's husband)
Pattern found here Knitwithkt.blogspot.com (modified to adjust for gauge)
Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky - orange (his favorite color)
US 6 double pointed needles

Wisteria

I wasn't able to finish Wisteria in time for Christmas, but I did finish it before New Years. I can really say that I totally enjoyed this knit. The cables look very intricate, but it is pretty simple once you get used to the pattern. I loved the yarn too. I used some hand dyed yarn from one of my favorite yarn shops on the coast of Maine. It was really hard to capture the beauty of the yarn and the cables with the camera, but I tried my best. The first picture shows better detail of the cables, and the second picture captures the yarn color better (except for the shadows of the tree branches).

Pattern: Wisteria
By: Kate Gilbert
From: The Twist Collective
Yarn: String Theory Mosaic Yarn
Needle: US 8 circular

Once I lose the seven to eleven pounds of Christmas cookies and truffles I ate, I think it will look even better : )

I'm Back!

After a few weeks break, I'm back. I did a lot of Christmas gift knitting/making, but couldn't really show you the finished pieces just in case one of the recipients happened to be reading this blog. It really turned out to be a handmade holiday this year even though I didn't make any pledges. Here are a few items that I knit.

Cap'n Crunch Cowl
By Jennifer Adams
String Theory Worsted doubled
US size 10 straight needles

Clemence
by Katya Frankel
Laines Du Nord Cashsilk
Us size 7 (16 inch circular needle)

Toast
By Leslie Friend
Laines Du Nord Cashsilk
Us size 7 double pointed needles

Each of these projects was a free pattern. All of them were quick and the directions were easy to follow. I love the color of the String Theory hand dyed yarn, and the Laines Du Nord Cashsilk was dreamy to work with. It is a combination of extra fine merino, cashmere and silk.

I wasn't able to finish the Wisteria sweater before Christmas, but I did finish it before New Years. I'll have some pictures of it shortly. Off to clean my messy work space from a busy December.