DIY Coasters

I found an awesome DIY coaster tutorial on Pinterest the other day and made my own today!

woo hoo!

They are incredibly simple to make; seriously the hardest part is choosing your paper and waiting for them to dry! You use scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, ceramic tiles, those little felt round sticky things, and a spray sealant. 

If you are interested in making your own, check out her blog (and scroll down a bit for the tutorial). Here is her pin on Pinterest:

                                                                             Source: wifeandlife.com via Jesse on Pinterest

And here is one of my coasters in action:

I think they will make great Christmas gifts as well. Yep, I'm already thinking about Christmas gifts :) I'm planning on knitting a bunch of them again this year so I should probably start soon.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!

Wonderful Monday

Yes, I am still talking about Monday. This is because it was a LOVELY mail day yesterday!

The first package was from Allison at field wonderful. She had a giveaway the other week for Job's Tears, and she was so nice and ended up sending all of us a package!

I love handwritten notes so much <3

I just love that she made her own envelope!! I am definitely going to try and make my own too!

Job's Tears

Thank you so much, Allison, for the Job's Tears! They are so beautiful. I had never heard or seen Job's Tears before. I am so excited to make something with them! I am considering a necklace and maybe some nice, lightweight stitch markers.

And, Allison is having another giveaway right now! What a kind and generous lady. Visit her blog and enter to win a beautiful skein of Malabrigo Sock Yarn!

 
The second package is the cutest thing ever!!! It's from Casey at Tangerine Designs and as soon as I saw the photo of this bag, I wanted it:

The Lorax is KNITTING!!!!!!!

My socks fit perfectly, with plenty of room to spare. I really like the cinch closure at the top and it is so well crafted. With my socks and yarn in the bag, it sits perfectly up by itself :) It is the perfect knitting bag! I really am looking forward to a long and loving relationship with my new Lorax knitting bag!!

I also adored these pins so much, so I bought them too. Hehe... I think they are just so cute!

Thank you, Casey, for the most adorable knitting bag and pins ever! I think she had listed three Lorax bags on her Etsy, and they were all snatched up like that! Casey has a bunch of other cute knitting bags, like Star Wars and anatomical hearts with knitting needles, and notions on her Etsy, check it out! Also, help her celebrate her Etsy one year anniversary in the month of June!

Now I have to get back to knitting! Happy Tuesday!

WIP Monday

What's on the needles:

I pulled this faux cabled afghan out again because I really would like to finish it. I vowed to knit one twelve-row pattern repeat a day. So far, I have pretty much stuck to it, but it's only been three days since I made that vow! Right now it's 36" long! I started with six skeins and I'm on the fifth now. I think I will need to buy one or two more.

Happy/Elate socks are still going! This photo is showing my wrap and turn heel. I am becoming more comfortable with this technique. As far as progress on the socks, I am actually past the heel flap and am on the leg. I'm not really knitting this at full force, just when I need some easy knitting :)

Tina the Tap Dancing T-Rex is happening! This photo is a bit dated, she has arms, a tail, and a belly panel now! I have one of her legs almost finished, and will just need to knit a second. Legs and arms are the worst parts for me - I always dilly dally on them!

The card I made for my dad, for Father's Day. We celebrated last night since they were gone last weekend.

I had to sneak two photos of Berny in... the other day she was lying on the couch, halfway on this blanket. The rules are she can be on the couch as long as she's on a blanket. So I pulled the blanket up under her rump and she fell into this position (with her rump more elevated than her head)... and stayed in it! It was so cute.

Happy Monday everyone!

WIP: Diagonal Lace Socks

I cast on this pair the other day:

Pattern: Diagonal Lace Socks by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in Harvest Tonal
Needles: 2.00 mm 
Size: Medium-size (as written in pattern)

It's a very simple lace pattern and the repeats are fairy easy to memorize; a perfect pattern where you can devote your attention to it without having your eyes stuck to the pattern. The pattern is also free on Ravelry, but I am pretty positive I want to own the book :)

Happy Father's Day!

Taken in the 1990s sometime, in the Big Flat area. I learned to ride a horse by myself when I was very young, and whenever I rode with my dad this is how we always sat.

This is probably one of my favorite photos of my dad. Taken around 2006 at the old house.


Happy Father's Day, dad! Hope you're enjoying your vacation in Canada!

BookCraftsWineSnacks Club

The first meeting of the BookCraftsWineSnacks Club happened last night and it was excellent! We had to get a lot of logistics out of the way first (club name, who was bringing the next snacks, which wine to open first, etc).

We met at Autumn's house and there were plenty of wine and snacks...

Tina and the wine

... and lots of laughter and crafts :)

Autumn made super rings from old sheet music:

Abbey sewed a girl owl together:

(I forgot to take a picture of my craft, but it was sock knitting)

Katie led the group discussion about our book, Bossypants by Tina Fey: 

She forgot to bring a craft but I think one of these times, Katie is going to show us how to make really cute flowers from scrapbook paper on canvas ! Maybe next BCWS club meeting?

Me, Katie, Abbey, Autumn

 Yay! The first meeting was awesome and I think we are all looking forward to the next one :)

for the record, we did NOT drink all that wine!!!

ssksk12in12: 7 finished!

Two pairs are finished! These are the Brown Socks and the Scrappy Socks, and I realize they have very creative names :)

And, more for my own record than anything, the information:

Brown Socks
Yarn: Regia Silk (from Christmas)
Needles: 2.0 mm
Stitches: 64, I think
Toe up

Scrappy Socks
Yarn: Regia Silk, Berroco Sox, Alpaca Sox, and a little Cascade in Sweet Stripes
Needles: 2.25 mm
Stitches: 60 sts
Toe up 

And here's the pair on the needles now:

It's Knit Picks Felici in Rainbow. So happy!! I'm calling them the I am Happy I am Elate Socks because they make me so happy, and the crazy, laughing yoga guy makes me so happy too.

Happy Tuesday, everyone. I'm in the middle of washing/drying my fabric for the quilt!

Monster of another variety..

Wheee!!! He was made for Scott, from fleece and felt and is so perfectly squishy :) He's about the size of small couch pillow.

This last weekend was our sixth anniversary! We both had the weekend off, which is a rarity, and we had such a nice time relaxing and spending time with each other.

In other news, I finished two pairs of socks! My count for finished in 2012 is seven pairs! I took some photos today and I will post them tomorrow. Today has been an excellent Monday :) I hope your day was good too!

Ack! I apologize

I just found out tonight that I've been responding (via email) to comments you've left here, which are being delivered to who knows where. I have responded to each comment because I love reading them and I appreciate your time and compassion, so I am so sad that none of my replies have reached you.

I will be taking some time to reply to comments now.


Many thanks to Andi. If it weren't for your help, I'd still be emailing the black hole of cyberspace. Good grief.

I've been nominated!

I had such a nice surprise the other day when I found out I was nominated by sparklesness for the Versatile Blogger Award! I think Beks's blog is the essence of versatility: she blogs about knitting, cooking, music, travels, books... how much more versatile can you get? :) She is someone I also follow on Instagram, and her feed is always fabulous! Thank you again, Beks, for nominating me! 


Now, the rules for the VBA from their website are: 


If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

•  Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
•  Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
•  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
•  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
•  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

I nominate the following bloggers for this award:


1. Tanis Fiber Arts - um..gorgeous, hand-dyed yarns, beautiful knits, cutest Whippet; just a few reasons why I love this blog!
2. My Sister's Knitter - I love Andi so much for her enabling! Plus, she is the sock queen
3. life on coyote hill - Katie shares bits of her daily life and I especially love her posts about gardening!

4. mirrormirror - she can take a photo of anything and it's beautiful
5. Rebecca Danger - monsters and dinosaurs! Plus, she took monthly photos of her newborn and it was awesome seeing him change!
6. not martha - such a creative gal!
7. Susan B. Anderson - Susan seems like a very down to earth person and I love reading her posts about life and knitting
8. Knitting Like Crazy - a new to me blog, but I loved knitting Jen's Faux Cable socks and she knits such beautiful things
9. New Dress a Day - Marisa is a genius! Proficient blogger and seamstress! If you need sewing inspiration, check her out :)
10. A Great Leap in the Dark - this blog follows a couple who is in the process of building a tiny house and making it into a home. It's great to see the progress! Plus, I have a deep fascination with little houses, not that I could live in one (with all my stuff)
11.  Sew, Mama, Sew! - since I'm just learning to sew, this is a great blog to read and familiarize myself with techniques and projects!
12. Knit, Stitch, Click! - Dani is a knitting, sewing, weaving queen! I love seeing her new creations
13. North of 49 - I always enjoying reading this blog; Kristie blogs about a wide variety of things
14. Do You Mind if I Knit - whimsical is a great word to describe this blog!
15. Whiskers & Wool - a mix of crochet and cats


Seven Things About Me:

1. I like sneezing
2. I've seen every episode of the Golden Girls about a thousand times
3. I hate soggy cereal, but Scott will actually let his cereal sit to get soggy
4. When I was young, I wanted to live in a lighthouse
5. I'm very OCD about some things, like keeping the kitchen sink clean
6. I magic loop socks, but I think socks on double pointed needles is more aesthetically pleasing
7. Yesterday when I called in a prescription at work, the guy on the other end said I had a nice voice and that if I read a book to someone, they would fall asleep. Kind of weird, right?


I hope you all have a great weekend!! It's our anniversary so we are planning something fun!

Adventures in Sewing!

Happy Sunday, everyone :)

My adventure actually began yesterday, when I went to garage sales with Abbey and Autumn. Unfortunately, it poured all day. Almost all of the sales we went to were outside, and I felt awful for the sellers. Some had plastic or tarps over their tables, but most of the wares were wet anyway.

After the garage sales, we went to JoAnn Fabrics and I think all three of us left inspired! We found some great sewing books and adorable fabrics! I picked out a little bag to make from this book:

this is such a fun book! I love all the patterns in it :) once my sewing skills improve, there's an awesome knitting bag I want to sew!

So last night I dug through grandma's sewing box and found coordinating yarn and made sure I had all the materials. And this morning (before my first cup of coffee no less!) I got down to business!

Woo hoo! I learned a lot just from making this little purse: how to thread a bobbin, how to change the little sewing foot (I had to use a zipper foot). And my iron actually made a rare appearance.

Tah-da!! I am tickled with this bag!!! It's lined with a different fabric too :) 

This is just what I need, another hobby! Ha! This adventure has given me so much more confidence with using a sewing machine and sewing in general. I am sure there will be more posts about sewing :)