Sewing Mojo up and running

I was seriously concerned about the lack of creative sewing I've done with my sewing machine. Little did I know, but all it took was the simple act of taking it out of Ava's closet. Now, it sits patiently side by side with Rich's Memoir '44 game. But I have plans, ha, ha, ha!

Last night, after a fun-filled day in 103 degree weather with 2 kiddos, I dragged it out and started to work. I made a fun jacket for Kate's little one - can't post it yet, I want it to be a surprise. Then BOOM, with that little project finished, the creative juices started to flow. Now, I have cut out a new bag, and 2 coat jacket bags.

Does that look like the sleeve of a jacket? Why yes, dear reader, it is! The lining of my new bag is made of an old early 90's GAP jacket and I used the sleeves to make little bags. The little bags are not for me though, maybe I can sell them or something. Maybe my knitting friends can use them to hold their notions. The purse is from Anna Maria Horner's book "Seams to Me". The coat sleeve bag is from Last Minute Fabric Gifts. I've had both books for a few years and just now have some time to work from them. There are some CUTE projects in both books!

And I'm OBSESSED with this mystery yarn lady who is trying to sell her friend's stash. Like 2500 POUNDS of it. I can only hope that her stash had it's own room or something. I can't imagine what it even looks like. And I thought a closet shelf full of yarn was a problem.....

Father's Day Crafting

For Father's Day, Rich had a few simple requests: a new picture of the kiddos for work and no BBQ-ing (he's mowing 4 yards while his mom is in NY for a few weeks.). Of course, any holiday is an excuse for crafting something. After ruling out bookmarks, we made this:
Painting is not easy for me, but it works. If you look very closely, you can see Vincent and Ava's handprint. We did this at a playdate at Purple Glaze. But I learned that you can't put light on dark paint. Oh well, Rich is relaxing with the TV after mowing 2 lawns in 90 degree weather. He's a great dad and husband and deserves a little rest and relaxation.

This weekend we went to OKC to see my family which calls for knitting all the way up I-44. What is it that I'm working on?? Another mitered kitchen towel from the Mason-Dixon girls!

This one goes to my dad as a part of his Father's Day gift when it's finished. Well, it's time for Ava's nap, I can hear it from the bedroom....

Embroidery Storm

After finishing the blooming cotton scarf, I cast on for another ravelry favorite: clapotis. But I got bored with it real fast. I mean, who needs a scarf when it is 95 degrees in the shade in Tulsa? So I moved on to other brighter things, like embroidering this tote from Jenny Hart. Which also prompted me to organize my thread stash by color.

My embroidery thread stash was, in a large part, given to me from friends and family who have given up on embroidery. Halfway through a tv "timeout"at my house and Ava's nap, Vincent informed me that Ava is awake. He said, "she must have heard my stomping." I have this mound of thread to wind on bobbins and continue sorting:

Yeah, right. I think we need to further discuss the importance of napping.

Frogged!

I've been taking a break from socks. Granted, they are fun, portable and I'm getting pretty savvy at turning that heel. But the bulk of my stash is a DK weight yarn, Peaches and Creme. The ladies of Mason Dixon Knitting enabled me a year ago to buy 4 bags of "dishcloth cotton." In about a week, I whipped up 3 dish towels for my 3 classroom volunteers. Now, using the leftovers, I made one for my own kitchen.

Then I turned to some other DK weight yarn, Cotton Fleece. Ah, I was supposed to use

this yarn to make something for Ava's room. But, then I didn't like how it was looking, so I frogged it. Since then, it has been a coachella, and various hats, and also gifted to my sisters to further enable their knitting obsession. Now, I bring you the beginning of Blooming Cotton Scarf.

I was going along, with this 400 stitch wide scarf, until I noticed that my stitches were twisted. Twisted stitches are the bane of my existence in knitting in the round. I hate it. I hate doing the work to make sure you don't have to redo it again. But, I did and here it is now. It's about half finished. There are supposed to be 14 stripes of colorwork. But at this rate, I think it will be too wide. Being short, I don't want the scarf to take over my head. The jewel tones are pretty!

I have an idea for a purse that repurposes a seersucker suit from the 90's that I've kept for some reason. I'm thinking a bucket style, with some embroidery from jenny hart. Sublime Stitching is what started the whole crafting thing for me. It will probably end up being another knitting bag of sorts or a smaller diaper bag for the lady Ava.

Happy Spring Sewing!

Now that the birthday cake crumbs have settled, aquarium field trip finished, and most everyone is on the mend from a cold, here are some pictures of Ava's summer dresses.

The first dress is one those criss-cross smocks - she might be able to wear it this week, since the weather's supposed to be actually be spring-like and sunny. The middle is a "repurposed" dress shirt from Rich, aka Da...da! The right is a kimono shirt and shorts. I just need to put the buttons on it.

Now for a little heart to heart.  Those with more than one child: how do you find time to exercise? Aside from getting up at 5am (crack o'dawn) to go run on the treadmill, when do you work out? I still have the last 15-ish pounds to lose and I tried dieting only. It doesn't work, because eventually, I eat a lot of ice cream.  Or chips. Or (gasp!) the cafeteria lunch for the day. In my pre-Ava years, I would work out before I picked Vincent up from day care. Now I feel like there are always piles of something to do + working out.  I guess i fell off the bandwagon when I was pregnant and i'm having trouble getting back on. I love my runner's high and miss it greatly.  When i exercise i drink more water. My skin looks great, my body is strong. I'm not hungry for cookies or ice cream.

So, my goal this week is to get my rear-end up and just go. Cold or not. Sleepy or not. Hungry or not. Oh yeah and start another pair of socks.  

Spring Break Craftiness

 Hospital visits aside, I did get to some sewing during Spring Break. To sum up, I made some gifts for a certain little girl who was born almost a year ago today.  I'll be writing about these for a while...so let's get with the pictures!

This is the bunny hat from Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats book. It's a basic hat patt

ern and then you divide for the ears. You sew little pleats in the ears to shape them.  It's quite easy-peasy.  I knit it in one day at the ER. 

Here's another hat made the Miss Ava. It is the birthday hat from the same author and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites to make 1 year olds.  We'll see how long she wears it, but it will go with her tutu...

I've been thinking a lot about my little girl and how amazing she is.  Her birth story is just as amazing.  Not to go into too many details, but I was truly empowered by my doctor as she came into the world with very little drugs - no epidural. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, she is the youngest of our family and I think she isn't crawling much because of that.  We kept her busy with her toys surrounding her, why would she need to crawl? There goes without saying that the second child gets to hang out a lot more than the first.  With Vincent, we were on top of everything, and working constantly with him to make sure he met those monthly guidelines. But with Ava, I slowed down and snuggled and held her more.  Knowing she is the last (which is very good), I think I may have inadvertently made her stay a baby longer. But, she isn't much of a baby anymore.  She's scooting all over the place and grabbing for everything. I think she wishes she had another arm, so she could carry something and scoot at the same time. Frustration incurs when she wants to carry something and move at the same time.  We are working with her legs and encouraging her to put weight on them.  

As an experienced mom, I know that she will not nurse until she's 35 (although it feels like it sometimes) and yes, she will walk when she is ready.  But for now, I'm savoring the snuggle bunny moments and those coy little smiles:

Spinner-ette!

My first handspun! I went to the Tulsa Handspinners Guild meeting and met a bunch of new fiber friends! In about an hour, I spun this little jewel using a low-whorl drop spindle. Don't ask what all of those words mean. I need to buy a spindle and practice more so I can learn the language of spinning.

Don't be alarmed: I'm not, repeat NOT going to buy a spinning wheel. It's a long process to make your own yarn and I am not sure I want to sit still for that long. But, that said, I am knitting socks on toothpicks, so who knows?? It's cool that the same people who spin usually dye their own yarn. Now THAT is interesting.....