Back to Basics



You're not playing right until you've got sidewalk chalk on your backside!

Every so often, or more like at least a few times a month I slip into my ritual of "overhaul,
shovel out, regroup, and begin again," although I didn't have categories, or tidy little names thought up for it 'til just now, it's something I've done since I don't know when. 

I have the tendency to stress out for the sake of stressing out, it seems.  I try not to identify with it, or allow it to become my "story," but whilst my head is ever reaching toward the clouds, with my feet buried in earth, sometimes I get stretched a little too thin, and have to come back to center to get a grip again ... and sometimes I receive help from the unlikeliest places!

They say, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."  Ok, ok I said that in my yearbook quote, thanks to some guy called Ferris Bueller (I know, lame right?  I used a movie quote *gag*) but I still stand by it!  If you're not enjoying it, you're missing (not only the point, but) "it" completely. 

My winning equation this time?  Quite simply: (Little boy + Sunny day) x (Sprinkler) = AWESOME!  It took me a couple of weeks still to move through the categories listed above, but I'm finally at my Begin Again point, and ready for something new to be born.  Not yet fully recharged, but ready to allow new ideas, new designs, and new creations to flow through me again.  Despite the fact that I'm a highly strung wreck through part of the month (yes, every month), I am thankful that through it all I've been given the ability to slow down, and appreciate everything around me ... even if sometimes I have to be reminded by chasing a soaked critter through a sprinkler (gratitude is a terrible thing to waste)!

When was the last time YOU felt this good?

Wrappin' it up!

Here we are at the end of June, and I thought we'd go out with a freebie.  I've worked up an easy to follow set of instructions for a somewhat quick project, and thought I'd share.  This is a perfect Beginner pattern to learn, and even better for the yet-to-begin-ner, so if you've been too timid to give knitting a try grab some needles, and let's go!

We're going to be making, what I call, the Pouch Hat since it looks a little like a sack to stow some treasures in.  It's a bit of a throw back to 90's fashion - Grunge, but cleaned up!  While I know not everyone shares my obsessive love of floral dresses over long sleeved t-shirts, clunky boots, and vulgar amounts of flannel, this hat easily coexists with trendier pieces in even the most updated wardrobe ... and is soon to be my newest favorite!

Yarn: Cherrycola by Red Heart

Materials:
Knitting needles size 9 (5.5 mm)
Yarn used in photo: (1 skein per hat)
Color: Marrakesh by Red Heart
Color: Oatmeal by Vanna's Choice for Lion Brand
Large-Eye Blunt End Needles 6-Pack

Cast on 84 stitches.

Work entire piece in Garter stitch (knit every row) until it measures 12.5" from needle to cast-on edge. 

Bind off. 

Next cut your yarn leaving a long enough tail to sew up your seam once you've folded your work in half with the wrong sides facing each other.  (How can you tell if it's the right or wrong side?  Look at your cast-on row, the right side should lay nicely with your other rows in a tight little twist.  The wrong side is "loopy" looking.)

Sew your seam, but reverse it for approximately the last 3" of your piece by turning your newly formed tube right side out, and finishing the seam from this side.  This will give you a finished looking cuff when you fold it up.

For the cord to cinch your hat, crochet a single chain, or create a single row of successive slip knots using your fingers.  The length depends on how large you want your bow to be, but a good starting point is approximately 24.5". 

Thread the tail of your cord through your large-eye blunt needle.  *Measuring down 2" from the bind-off end of your hat begin feeding your cord through the hat, skipping over 3 or 4 stitches.  I rock my bow to the side, so I didn't begin feeding my cord through the dead center front of my hat.  Using your seam as the center back guide to your hat, measure in about 5" and begin feeding your cord. 

*The cord for the oatmeal colored hat was started 1.5" down from the bind-off edge of the hat.

Weave in your yarn ends, and voila!  You've got a new hat!

Did Somebody Say...

SUMMER?!?!

The weather this weekend has been exceptionally gorgeous, and you know there's only one thing to do on such an occasion (in my book anyway)! 

That's right! Load up and hit the beach, even if it's just a little sliver along the Sound. People 'round

these parts KNOW you don't waste a sunny day inside, no matter what.  No, that's not me on the sailboat -- I wish, I'd be having a total Duran Duran, Rio moment if I had one (when I have one).  Knowing how to sail might be slightly important though...

We were landlubbers this time, well for the most part, that is!  My dad's wife teases me -- when I see a beach I act like I'm about five years old.  This is no secret!  Shoes off.  Pants rolled up.  Soaked by a rogue wave.  Not only do these things happen every time, it's just expected by now.  I wouldn't have it any other way!  Besides, Puppy couldn't have ALL the fun...

xoxo

I Scream

Admittedly not very effectively whilst shoveling this into my gullet, but still...

Sometimes vanilla ice cream just seems to solve all the world's problems ... but make it vanilla caramel swirl ice cream topped with piping hot, home made applesauce, and you've got a transcendental experience on your hands!  There's a lot happening in the bowl, and I had to be quite quick on the camera's trigger since the whole point of this dessert is for the applesauce to be hot like a fresh pie out of the oven, but to eat it before the whole thing melts into a weird sugary soup. 

I happily report: crisis averted!

Everything's Coming Up Roses (fooor meeeeEEEEeeee!)

I've never really been a roses kind of gal, but I could be if this keeps up!

The picture isn't doing it justice, trust me, the bloom was larger than my outstretched hand (spider's legs fingers included).

I had an uncle who loved roses, I'm not really sure why.  He never told me.  I never asked.  But we all knew he thought they were beautiful, and they were his favorite of all flowers.  I think I can see why, now. 

There's something so safe in the reserved nature of a tightly rolled bud.  Long, and sleek; protected.  In full bloom there is also much to appreciate.  Vulnerability at its best, I think.  Delicate, open, and unafraid all at once. 

If "HERE I AM!" could be screamed without causing a sound, I think she's figured out how to do it.

By the way, if you want lots of little deliveries you're not supposed to talk about go here, and see if you qualify!

Christmas in June

Sneaking a peek at a partial Winter 2011 color pallet

I've had several deliveries this week ... one I'm not allowed to talk about (what a tease!), one I'm not ready to talk about (just a little longer), and the one seen above!  It's felt like a veritable Christmas Day around these parts, which is pretty appropriate since this last delivery is all about preparing for the holiday season on Etsy.  What has hot-pink, hairy, Muppet-like yarn got to do with Christmas, you ask?  Well, my deahs, just yoo wait and see! ;-)

Breakin' Up is Hard to Do

Engaged in a little re-organizing tonight I came across these gems ... they don't look like "gems" anymore, they've definitely seen better days, but I never had the heart to throw them out.  Tonight, however, I found the courage to finally tell them it's over.

I'd say after 14 years it's well past expiration, granted I probably haven't worn them in the last ten, making it even sillier that I've hung onto them for so long, lugging them from place to place, ensuring safe lodgings in the back of closets.  It was time, my poor dust covered flower shoes with their broken buckles, worn soles, and scuffed toes - they're so deliciously 90s though, aren't they?  No, no I can't ... I have to end it for real this time, I can't take this yo-yo relationship anymore - taking each other for granted, it's just too much ...

... Though, I find myself hanging onto an old love letter or two.  What can I say?  So here I'm sat with peppermint tea, graham crackers, and a late night viewing of Gidget (one of my all time favorite movies) licking my wounds.  But it's nothing a wholesome movie with a wonderful lesson can't cure, you know, if you can get past the antiquated quips on gender roles to see that you always win when you have the courage to be yourself.  Little Gidg's fatal flaw?  Going with Moondoggie when Big Kahuna is the clear choice, but I won't hold it against her.  Now if only surf lessons came with a swingin' pipeline soundtrack!

xoxo

Sweater Song

Two-ish weeks in, and here's what we've got ... me standing on a coffee table, oh yeah and a nearly finished sweater, the back view anyway.  So I'm following the Lionbrand pattern #L0613, if you're a knitter or interested in following along or trying it out yourself.  It's slated to be knit with wool yarn, which totally was not going to work for me, instead I swapped it out for 9 skeins of this (color: oatmeal) which turned out to be a perfect trade off gauge wise. 

I'm not exactly sure why I fell in love with this pattern, or wanted it to be my first sweater, but there was just something about it that made it a bit timeless to me anyway - a little bit now, a little bit '70s, a little kimono-ish like a shrunken down Poiret opera coat all in one, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  And I'm not disappointed I did, I've learned a lot of things I didn't know before to tuck into my repertoire so I can move on to making garments of my own design, and that's never a bad thing!

The sweater bug first bit me back in 2009 when this was gracing news stands everywhere I looked.  You'll notice what I'm knitting now is nothing like it, BUT it is a sweater, and once I'm finished I think I'll be able to step it up and figure out how to create my very own variation of that hot-pink dream come true!  We'll see, but before that day comes I've got one collar, and two front ribbed bands to finish on this guy ... stay tuned!