Knitting Content

And not much else.

Roll brim hat from a beautiful Australian yarn.

I love the colourway but then I love those bright yarns.

Plus an Unoriginal Hat and matching pick-pockets from my standard pattern.

My back is still bad and going to work is a struggle. Thus knitting is slow and life is slower.

Hope all is well in your world. Happy Tuesday, M

My Space

Who needs those internet meeting places?! I'd rather be in my own sewing room.

I love my sewing room. It's the tiniest bedroom in the house. It has a funny layout. It's overcrowded. There are too many pictures on the wall; too many bins, baskets and books on the shelves. And I could spend hours in there even if I wasn't sewing.


See the daybed over there under the window? It's very comfortable. It's in a little alcove and it faces the television/dvd player. I can nap in there with a couple of dogs, half hidden from the world, fully contented and daydreaming.

Or I could also be sewing, digging through stash, looking up patterns for a new scarf/hat/mittens. Creativity abounds in such a place as this.

Where do you go to be get inspired?

Happy Thursday, M

Crime and . . . ?

The victim:


The perpetrator:


Pretty funny to watch, not so funny to clean up.

Happy Wednesday, M

A Little Bit Of Pretty

Life can be rather gloomy in January. Some British scientist claims that yesterday has the dubious distinction of being the most depressing day of the year - Blue Monday.

Fortunately, I live in Saskatchewan and it's sunnier here than most places at this time of year. Even if it is blistering cold, at least it's bright.

Still . . . that blistering cold part can inspire thoughts of spring. This little piece of green is a reminder that winter doesn't last forever.


Thoughts of spring aside, I do love winter. It inspires me to make many warm things - mittens, quilts, and delicious food. Like this yummy pizza we had on the weekend:

Thin crust with spinach, shrimp, mushrooms and lots of soy cheese (my milk allergy doesn't allow the cow kind). Mmmm, I'm getting hungry just looking at it again!

Hoping you're keeping the January blues at bay, M

Go Forth and Multiply

It started out looking like this:

One giant, I mean seriously overstuffed, dog pillow. It's been in the basement since we moved in because the dogs didn't even like to sit on it.

It wasn't always that stuffed but during one of the moves, I had a bag of stuffing that just wasn't going to fit in the moving van. So I forced the issue by pushing it, with quite a bit of effort, into the dog bed. Then I fought to get that giant pillow into the moving van or the truck or wherever it wound up.

So yesterday, I decided it was time to fix it. Now we have these:

Three instead of one. Much better pillows and much more popular with the puppies.

The Winnie pillow was made from a used baby blanket from a thrift store with some scrap flannel on the back. The red/green pillow on the far right was a discount piece of fleece ($1, I think) that I got at a local fabric store. And now the original pillow is useable again. Cheap at twice the price!

Okay, I'm off to do some laundry and then out and about. Hoping my back/hip will be much better after a much needed massage today.

Have a great recycled weekend! M

It's Curtains For You

New houses need certain things. Besides trying to fit in all the existing stuff, there are often a few touches that are unique to each abode.

For me, in the Sugar Bowl House, it has been curtains.

After painting my bedroom, this was my window covering:

A sheet tacked to the frame. It's not even a flat sheet but a fitted sheet. One that I used to cover furniture while painting walls. Bad, I know.

So this weekend I decided to remedy the situation. And it was almost free - fabric given to me as a gift from a friend, scraps from a quilt I made a couple of years ago, and the white eyelet was donated by my mom.

I love how pretty they turned out.

And they look so good in my bedroom.


In fact, I did a lot of sewing this weekend. I made these two little cloth bags to keep in my desk at the office.


They're just to keep some personal stuff in the drawer - handy but hidden.

I love it when pretty things are functional, too.

I'll post more pictures of my exploits in coming days. For now, I'll sign off and wish you happy weekend crafting.

M

Whoa, Nelly!

I have been so busy this weekend! I love it when I get so much done. And even though I have a new job, it's a desk job - an accountant to be precise. Being so different from teaching, I find that I actually have energy left over at the end of the day. This means I have tons and tons left over by the weekend.

So this is what I accomplished:

Making cauliflower mushroom soup. So delicious.

Britt-Arnhild made some a couple of weeks ago and hers made my mouth water so I gave it a try. Mmm, mmm, good.


Baking oatmeal raisin cookies.

Very nice but not quite what I expected. If anyone has a recipe that they can recommend for some soft, chewy, more spread out cookies, I'd love to get it from you.

Chopping apples for making apple-carrot juice. Yummers.

I love to use this as a base for a breakfast smoothie with frozen fruit.

Knitting a new toque for walking to work.

It's a simple roll-brim hat from Pierrot Madil in green and pink. Very quick to knit and lots of texture. I have some coordinated mittens on the go, too, but they'll be a bit longer.

I've also baked some whole wheat bread, cleaned the house, done the grocery shopping, stopped at the LYS, dropped off a few books at the library, swept the walks of snow, sorted the recycling, and done the laundry. Whew!!! Gotta love it!

Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend, in whatever way works for you, M

A Quick Hello

Hi!

New job has been eating up a lot of time these days, about 8 hours a day actually. :)

Will post when I get a chance.

Hope you're all happy and crafting, M

Happy 2008!

This time of the year is usually a very reflective one for me. I often do a review of the year that was, but because of events this year, I've done enough reflecting to last at least a few New Year's Eves. Instead of my usual This Is What I've Done list I just want to say "So Long 2007. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

More upbeat were the celebrations with my friends last night. They were lovely, low key and late, but it was a grand way to start off 2008.

I delivered the basket of blessings


which held these lovely things:

I made the chocolate cranberry bread, which we couldn't eat together last night as one of the guests was severely allergic to cranberries. Poor guy. But the hosts can have it for breakfast today. (I hope it turned out well because I've never tried this recipe before, in fact, I made it up and didn't have time to do a tester.)

I also made the napkins, the table mat and the card for the basket.


I spent all day yesterday organizing the basket and I had a blast doing it. I wish I were that motivated and productive every day of the year! Just think how much I could accomplish!

Tomorrow I start a new job to go with my new house, my new city, and lots of other new things. I'm looking forward to having a routine outside of the house again. It's been a few months.

I sure hope this job thing doesn't cut into my crafting/blogging time! :P

Happy 2008! M