Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sherbet Slippers

So I got the first shipment of yarn that I was waiting for Friday. Here's the thing. HALF of what makes these slippers so delicious is using yummy yarn. The yarn arrived when Aunt Audrie, Uncle Val, and Aunt Betty were visiting with us in the living room<more on that here>. They can probably attest that I was VERY excited. I hurriedly opened the box, insisted that everyone feel the yarn, and look at it, and isn't it fabulous?! Then I proceeded to my room grabbed my crochet hook and sat right down to start those slippers.

This makes me think of my knitting calendar (ironically from Mark and Cindy) it is by Yarn Harlot she says:
You know you knit (crochet) too much when you buy yourself some new yarn at the shop and pick up some new knitting needles too. Not because you don't have 34 pairs that size (because you do), but because you want to start your new project right away, and you cant wait until you get home.

Had I purchased this yarn from the store I would have had to buy a hook too. Anyway, so I was so anxious to start the slippers I didn't think to take a picture of the delicious Debbie Bliss cotton dk yarn before I started using it. I think it's called Berry and Spicy Persimmon. The yarn must have "spoken" to me because look how they turned out!

They were big on me but I needed picture! The flowers were a final touch of whimsy I added at the end. I pulled the buttons from my JoAnnes "bogo" stash.
Their name WAS going to be inspired by Creamsicles.THAT reminded me of Baskin Robins' Rainbow Sherbet.

These slippers are Cindy's Sherbet Slippers.

Ps. This was my 200th post just in case you were wondering. I was trying to think of something special and then I forgot. When I came on to post the slippers I remembered, and then thought these ARE special. All my posts are special. Maybe something big will happen on 500?

PPs. There's still a listing in my ETSY shop, should you feel the urge to order slippers.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I <3 Yarn!

I've chosen my yarn for the special order slippers and am waiting for it to arrive in the mail. It is going to be scrumptious! I can't wait to work with it!


In the mean time I've been making hats and I also made these slippers for my friend Beth's 21st Birthday!

She got a Slankie (blanket with sleeves) from her boyfriend so slippers went right along with the theme. I had to con Val into modeling these guys for me since her feet are bigger than mine. Isnt that funny in our family the girls have stair step shoe sizes 6,7,8! Doesn't really make for a good lending program.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Vandal Fall

I loooooved fall in Moscow. There were football games, the air was crisp, and the leaves! Oooooh the leaves. They were fantastico! Color therapy everywhere I went! I just wanted to hug the trees! I took this picure on one of our (Jess and Luke) first outings to the arboretum. I keep it on display by my bed,and it isnspired me to ask for this handyed yarn from Lynda at Keep Me in Stitches in McCall.
I was holding out for the perfect pattern when I came across the foliage pattern on Ravelry. Ding ding ding ding ding! An alarm went off in my head an I did the little giddy dance. PERFECT!
This is how it turned out. I love it.
Youll have to pardon my dishevled look. I had to share my masterpiece with the world. No time to get ready for the day! Haha. Mom took this picture of me while on our morning walk!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Hermione Mother Hat

Alrighty then. Title explanation...it really is clever I promise. So I made this hat for my mother. The hat pattern is found on Ravelry and is called the Hermione Hat. It is called this because Hermione wears the hat in one of the Harry Potter movies. (I have no idea which one, I haven't watched the movies recently, if you know, please comment.) J.K. Rowling gave Hermione that name because it is pronounced her*my*own*knee meaning that the character is hers. Since my mother is my own...(I share her with my sister, but that's not the point.) It's my Hermione Mother Hat. Or MAYBE its a HermyONLY Mother Hat. Ooooh I like that! Ill change the name I gave it on Ravelry, but if I change the name of the post the whole explanation gets well more muddy than it is.

Here is Val modeling the hat at our college group picnic. She couldn't model it at home because we were late. I didn't want to forget to take a picture in the daylight. I asked her to model it because her dark hair shows off the lace! Wooh! I only messed up in two places and not a soul can tell!

I really liked how the hat decreased. The flower star shape makes me pretty happy. If attempting this pattern definitely read tips on Ravelry. I did the add 12 stitches option because...well...we all have large heads.
New story connected with this hat:
I've discovered why people started wearing rings. They were knitting, and they lost their stitch marker, and they couldn't get up or they'd lose count or momentum. So they took off their ring and used it instead. Thanks Luke for this glorified stitch marker! ;)
Ps. I found the lost one when I got up to take a picture!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sellin Some Slippers


In response to your overwhelmingly positive reactions to the slippers I made and your request for orders(I didn't actually know I was selling them haha), I decided that I could indeed fulfill your requests to order slippers. I have put up a listing for custom slippers in my ETSY shop. <HERE>

You can also contact me through my ETSY shop if you have other requests for custom items!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

One In Every Color-Cakestand


Much to Sam's dismay this isnt something I took my own photo of. I do however think that It would be cool if I could figure out how to make my own of these. They are by Iacoli & McCallister. Right now what they have in their shop is primarily yellow which makes me midly sad. Off to go make slippers and enjoy this rainy weather!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Slippin Into Fall!




Yep...these just in...minutes ago...literally...I finished crocheting them, put them on, took the pictures, and posted them. That is how excited I am.
Yarn is a cotton crocheted with a super soft synthetic from Lynda's shop, Keep Me In Stitches in McCall, Idaho. (The two separate yarns explains how I was able to pull that blue out for the trim.) Pattern is free on Ravelry and is called Mary Jane Slippers by Lisa Gutierrez. Pretty easy peasy. The buttons are old metal ones intended for some of my Grandma Peggy's (my mom's mom was an avid knitter, she could read while she knit!) projects. You can tell they're REALLY keeping my feet warm because the veins on my feet pop out when they get hot. Oooooh that's why they put hot packs on patients arms at the Cancer Center before they "go at" the patients with needles. Maybe they need arm slippers...oh wait...mittens.
I also discovered that once I finish making one I like to wear it while I work on the other. It's sort of encouragement. I was sitting (working on my slipper) at a friends house while her kids were sleeping so she could go out and get some shopping done. The littlest one woke up and I went to check on him/comfort him/ended up walking around with him til mom came home (maybe 5 min?) anyway when his mom came in she was entertained by my single slipper on.
These were initially for mom to put hot packs in the bottom but I don't think the bumps from the crochet will go well with her neuropathy. Darn. I'll have to keep em.

Friday, October 9, 2009

One Of Us

The other night I was babysitting C. We walked her dogs, went to CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) and just to check her interest level in "the crafting world" we stopped by JoAnns to "pick up some black yarn." Ladies and Gentlemen, she's hooked! She ooohed and ahhed at all the colors and fabrics and textures! When we got to this aisle she said "look at all the colors!" Then she hugged the fabric. Kindred spirit? I think so.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Pondering Production- Butler Busts Budgets

First I'm going to share these profound thoughts of the Yarn Harlot from her Never Not Knitting! Page-A-Day Calendar. Then I'm going to show you some pictures and I ask you to apply these thoughts to fabric.



1.) Life's too short to knit bad yarn. buy the best you can afford. -Yarn Harlot



2.)I am surprised all the time when I hear that knitters are saving their good yarn for when they are better knitters, since my experience is that using good yarn makes you a better knitter. It's inspiring, and it gives you something to live up to.



3.) Every once in a while when you are in a yarn shop, something bizarre happens. you're walking along, minding your own business, totally in charge of your purchases, when whammo! -- a yarn stops you dead in your tracks. You screech to a halt, pick up a skein, and whether you know it or not, it's game over. You are going to buy that yarn. you can play the game all you want, checking the yardage, taking it to the window to look at it in the light, multiplying the price by how many skeins you need and thinking about your budget, telling the shop owner that you can't really afford it and that you don't need it...but we all know by the look in your eye that you're done for. That yarn knew your secret knitter name, and when that happens, there's just no point in resisting.



Amy Butler fabric does this to me.
First her Daisy Chain Wildflowers Navy broadsided me. I purchased some. I stared at it.
Then I couldn't resist the others and more that complimented...but I wouldn't buy any that didn't speak to me. Then I had to find a pattern deserving of such glorious fabric. A pattern that screamed I'M THE ONE! (More on why THIS pattern was deserving later.)
Then the quilt begins to come together like painstaking magic. I have to raise my skill to the caliber of the fabric. I cannot dishonor such fabric with poor craftsmanship. I have utilize the best of my abilities.
It is such a work of love. A model for our personal relationships I think. I don't need pre-marriage counseling. I have quilting. (Joke)
Anyway, Amy Butler has done it again. Cindy was just checking Fabric Worm's website and right there, front and center was THE NEW AMY BUTLER FABRIC!!! and it's HEAVENLY! It swept me off my feet, I was done for. (Granted I haven't purchased it-take note of the budget geared title.)
Anyway, how beautiful are these!?





and some of them come in flannel, laminated, and home decor. Melt in my mouth. Sigh. And get this...it doesn't stop there. I send Luke this text:

"Why do I love color, fabric, textiles? I cant resist them. Amy Butler has a new line. I'm in trouble." and he writes back

"You love those things because it is part of your personality. You are naturally happy, those things are naturally happy. I think they are good for you. Just don't spend TOO much. "

Isn't he dreamy?

This just in:

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." -Oscar Wilde

Now I'm not saying I always agree...but maybe in this case?

Monday, October 5, 2009

This One Time, At Quilt Camp:

1.) I heard the work "farkle" used more times, and in more ways than ever.
2.) Someone measured my bicep.
3.) Cindy wore socks that matched her quilt blocks.

4.) We got a sewing machine maintenance lesson...and then the teacher broke Tanya's machine.
5.) We learned you can still sew if you machine is "off" (the only switch is the light switch.)
6.) I found a group of fabrics that makes me say "I love this fabric" and do a little wiggle dance after every little step to my quilt.

7.) Aunt Maggie sewed and ripped many a seam on her 3...2...1...2...1...3...2...1...blast off quilt. Like some NASA adventures this one took a few tries to get it right before blast off. But Look how GREAT it is!8.) Debbie F. attended her first quilt camp!

9.) The Needler worked on this quite fitting quilt filled with "blood red." I'm thinking "Needlers Twilight Chain" is my nickname for this quilt. (At least until I can come up with something that ties in Twilight which I conned her into reading and getting hooked on, and well needling.)

10.) Dottie made lots of lemons out of lemonade turning what might have been considered not so great salvaged quilt tops into great works of art! She's a quilting master!

11.) Cindy finished this great wedding quilt in the brides most favorite colors. (Not to be confused with my favorite colors.)12.) Jennifer played real life Farkle. Farkle is technically a game that she likes to play online. (A lot. I'm not sold yet, I still prefer Mafia Wars) While at quilt camp we decided that it could be substituted for other words.

I farkled your scissors. The tire on our car is farkled. You don't want to go over there...I farkled. Anyway. You get the point. That night we were all giggles with our farkle sentences.13.) Tanya finished this star-tlingly attractive quilt top! 14.) and these are the pieces I came home with. Far cry from the finished product but...

don't you just Loooooooooooooove the fabric?