Doll Clothes to be

When I was out in Washington State it was made clear that my niece Eleanor could use some more clothing options for her babydolls, so this fabric is destined to be some doll clothes for her.




When I was about 13 my great great grandmother passed away and I received some of her doll clothing patterns and I think some of them will work well to make some clothing for Eleanor's dolls. In this way she can have a craft from me and in a way her great great great grandmother!

Sunday Inspirations

Recipe Inspirations:

I saw an article about Martabak on the Serious Eats blog and immediately thought it sounded yummy, I want to try this Martabak recipe/tutorial.

John's B-day Socks

You guys didn't get to see me start these, I started the late Spring this year, when I wasn't blogging. I just pulled these back out about a week ago to start working on them again. Each year I knit my brother-in-law, John, socks for his birthday. Last year I made matching socks for his daughter, Eleanor. This year, John, Eleanor, and my sister/his wife, Rhoni, will all get socks for John's birthday. All matching, Rhoni said Eleanor, she's 3, loves it when they wear their matching socks! So I thought this year it could be a family thing!

I think both of these first pictures are from May.






I'm just a couple stripes pass this now, since this photo was taken a few days ago.  Heels are done, forgot to take some pics of them, will make sure next post includes more detail pics.


Each stripe is a different color, so yes, I will have lots of ends to weave in, but there is a reason I did it this way. One, so I could have so many different colors. Two, because I want to try to scale each pair of socks so they are the same, so smaller stripes for each of the girls, so hopefully all 3 socks will match up with their stripes.

Unfortunately these colors have been discontinued, which is a huge shame! Love them and would definitely buy them again, if I could!

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Brights
Colors: Vibrant Violet, Snapdragon, Sour Apple, Razzleberry, Pucker, Hot Tamale, Electric Blue, Pickle Juice (from toe up)
Content: 75% Superwash Merino Wool, 25% Nylon
Care: Machine Wash and Dry
Needles: US 0 or 1
Pattern:my own

Lace and Cables

Still working on the test knit cardigan. I finished the body and am now working through the sleeves now, two-at-a-time so they are identical. After the sleeves I just have the button bands to do!




I am still enjoying knitting on it and am considering knitting a second one, we shall see!


Yarn: Eternal Arts and Crafts
Color: Bubble Gum Twist (Variegated Pink)
Content: 75% superwash Merino and 25% Nylon
Care: Machine Wash and Dry
Needles: US 3
Pattern: Test Knit
Size: Children's 6 - I am knitting this size and will probably give it to my niece Vera for her birthday next year.
Modifications: None

The house that Grandpa built...

When I was out in Washington State, my sister Rhoni and I went out to see what had happened to our grandparent's house. They passed away quite a few years ago now and their estate wasn't handled well and in legal battles and all that mumbo jumbo. Due to this reason no one has lived there for a while except squatters who ripped things out and stole some stuff. The inside of the house just isn't the same any more.

I should have take more pictures of it while I was out there as it seems that it is likely because of the above reasons, it is likely to be torn down when the land is sold. I completely forgot to take any pictures of the outside of the house or workshop.

Laine was my biological father's name and this is where at one point he carved his name into the wall.



Layers of flooring from many years.



My sister, Rhoni, on the phone in Grandma and Grandpa's room.



My Grandpa Gilbert built the house that he and my Grandma Eve lived in and carved their names and the date into the fireplace. (Gil-Eve-Dec-1961)



My Grandma's kitchen. Rhoni and I looked through the whole thing and it's still in such good condition.







Grandma's cellar where she kept all of her canning. It seemed so big and scary when we were kids, we would refuse to go down there!  Now it was awesome to see.



Grandpa also had a workshop.



With some of the weirdest stuff tied up in the rafters, like this bike, there was also a raft, a sled, some skis and some other things we couldn't identify!



They had 19.5 acres of land for their home.





When we were there our Uncle Ron let us look through some of their old belongings. Like the ration books from my Grandpa and his family:



And we got to take a few things, like a couple plates from Grandma's china plates she collected. The cross-stitch on is my favorite, she was wonderful at cross-stitch, her back and front looked the same.


I also got a carved wooden box that my biological father owned, but that will be a different post. It was nice and sad to go down memory lane while I was there.

Wookie Wednesday

I know, not many pictures this week, Mommy went back to work last week and she's slacking a little. Don't worry, I'll let her know this is not acceptable!

I love to show off my jumping skills by jumping on any benches, steps, etc.



Then I need to lay down on the bench, when jumping is done correctly it can be exhausting of course!



I love all the leaves falling, so many interesting smells and of course attacking leaves!



Napping is always important, Mommy loves using some of the Instagram filters on pictures of me. I think I look good in any filter!



Sleepy puppy tongue!

Sunday Inspirations - Knitty Deep Fall 2014

Ah, the new Knitty! I do love looking through the patterns.

Opus - - I love knitted toys and this Octopus is lovely realistic and so tempting to knit!

Nachtfalter - - I am very into knitting fingerless gloves right now, even if I don't wear them much myself. Also, I just love the squishiness of garter! Love the look of these!

Volteado - - Ah, love these socks! I definitely want to knit a pair soon!

Brindled - - Enjoying the color play in this hat. Think it would look good with a solid and a variegated/stripey/etc.

Smashing the Glass Ceiling - - Not something I'd knit, but artistically and visually love this!

Seattle - - Not only love for the name, but I do love the different colors and textures in this sweater! Now I just need to find someone to knit it for!

Krydda - - A lovely lace cardigan that I want to knit myself. I love that not all of it is lace and it has a nice balance of stockinette and lace.

Hugga - - I like the theory of this, not sure if I like the actual garment, but the more I look at it the more it grows on me.

Cubes - - Love the color contrast of this! Would knit it longer though, as I'm not a sweater ending at my waist kind of person.

Lace and Cables

This is a test knit I am doing . . .

First up is the yarn that I dyed for it, it is a 75% superwash Merino and 25% Nylon fingering weight base that I dyed with different strengths of Magenta! I wanted a variegated look.


A close-up.


Some detail of the cabling. You can see my blunt needle for weaving in ends, I am using it as a cable needle!


The front, you can see the inside cable for the back, as it will end up having bands knitting on the front of the cardigan.


The back.  I had to dye up two skeins to have enough yarn, so I am alternating skeins every other row to make it evenly uneven!



I am enjoying this knit and might make it again in the future, it has just enough detail to keep you thinking, but not too much as I have memorized the pattern rows now.


Yarn: Eternal Arts and Crafts
Color: Bubble Gum Twist (Variegated Pink)
Content: 75% superwash Merino and 25% Nylon
Care: Machine Wash and Dry
Needles: US 3
Pattern: Test Knit
Size: Children's 6 - I am knitting this size and will probably give it to my niece Vera for her birthday next year.
Modifications: None

Wookie Wednesday

What, don't you prefer to attack sharks on a yoga mat?



I know you think I am cute!



I always sleep in a pile of pillows and try to lay on at least one of the remotes . . . it give me a sense of power over my humans!



Now that Mommy is back home from her trip, I am sticking to her like glue . . . cannot trust her to just fly away to somewhere again!



This is Mommy's headrest thing she bought for the plane ride . . . I have decided to to my anger of her leaving out on it! I will kill it!




This is my cousin Daisy, she lives in Washington State and is a Great Dane!



Okay, time for another nap...


See everyone next week!

Elsa inspired Princess Dresses!

Well, I forgot to get some detailed pictures of the dresses before I gave them to the girls. But I do have pictures of while in work and on the girls.

These are Elsa inspired dresses, from the Disney movie Frozen. Made for my nieces, Vera and Eleanor. Even though, they are different ages, they are similar in size and I wanted the dresses to fit them for more than five seconds, so they are a little big on them. They are both made in a size 6.  Although, now that I have made these, they have actual Disney patterns for these dresses!


Here was when I was hand-stitching the collars.


Here is one of the tops almost finished, in the background you can see the second dress.


Here are the girls together, Eleanor on the right asked for her dress to be hemmed higher so she wouldn't walk on it.


Here they are posing right after they got them.



I made a few princess dresses for my niece, Justice, when she was little . . . more than six years ago, and remembered that they were a lot of work, but had forgot quite how much work. They weren't quite as nice as I had hoped, but there will be more in the future! :_)

Water Fight!

So for the last few years, we have a war of sorts when I go home. Last year it was condiments and the year before it was mud... we decided a little calmer this year and stick with water. Water balloons and water guns!

My niece Vera getting ready to start the war!


When one fights, you must have a "war face"!


My littlest sister, Echo, getting attacked! At one point people(adults) started getting tossed into the pool!






After we started tossing people into the pool, the little kids, Eleanor, Liam, and Vera all went up on the deck to be spectators instead! Here is Eleanor and Liam watching from safety.



All of the lovely water fight pictures were either taken by my sister, Rhoni, or her husband as they went in and out of the fight.

It was lots of fun and the least messy fight yet! Who knows what next year will bring! :)

Flower Hat

Yikes, so I disappeared for a few days. Our internet was down for a couple days last week so I couldn't do a Wookie Wednesday. They have been doing all kinds of construction in our neighborhood and I'm sure someone hit a line somewhere. Then I just got busy and spaced off blogging for a few days. I leave early Friday morning for Washington State to visit my family. I have been working on finishing up a couple princess dresses that I'll be showing here in a couple of days. I will also be starting a new job when I return from my vacation, so I had to get specific clothes and go to orientation. Lots of busy, lots of fun.


In the last few days I did this test-knit for Erica of DesigKnit tentatively called Flower Hat.












I made a magic ball with approximately 12 yards of each color, the ball originally included a yellow also, but I didn't need as much yarn as the pattern had estimated, this is probably due to my gauge, but I still love it even without the yellow and not all the orange. I thought about doing specific stripes, but for the sake of the test-knit I wanted to know my yardage.

I used acrylic because worsted weight is really the only weight were I have little to no wool, it's all acrylic or cotton.

I loved knitting the hat, from start to finish it only took me a few days . . . about 10 hours.


Yarn: Red Heart with Love Solids
Color: Black, Evergreen, True Blue, Aubergine, Holly Berry, Mango
Content: 100% Acrylic
Care: Machine Wash and Dry
Needle: US 5
Pattern: Test-knit Flower Hat