Saturday Sew Day

Oh yes, I spent almost all of Saturday (and today, ahem...) sewing.

I have only recently heard about mug rugs but I am completely obsessed with them! They are like little quilts for your beverages or snacks:

This one I sort of made up as I went, and it turned out a little large. I really want to make this one too! This was a good, little project to help me practice and work on my sewing skills. By the third mug rug, I was getting pretty good ;) I also really liked the mock binding (I found the technique in a great quilting basics book called The Quilting Bible) and might use it for my quilt when the time comes.

I also sewed two WIP bags:

I used this fantastic tutorial for both of them, though I modified the pattern for a drawstring top.

I love these fabrics together!

I channeled my inner Zakka for the patchwork one with inspiration from this book:

The patchwork was really fun to make! Not too time consuming and I was able to use a lot of little scraps that I've been holding on to (hoarder).

One last thing:

blue skies for the first day in over a month! It has been incredibly smokey due to forest fires since before we left for the coast. It feels wonderful to have the mountains back. Happy Sunday, friends.

WIP Wednesday

Sunny Spread afghan in the works:

Pattern: Sunny Spread by Ellen Gormley
Yarn: Vanna's Choice in Fern, Magenta, Purple, and Sapphire
Hook: J (6.0mm)

I have to crochet at least 64 motifs, I'm in the mid 20 range. It's been a long time since I've been excited about crochet, but some mornings I wake up and want to crochet instead of knit! This is a really fun pattern, easy to memorize, and the blocks are fairly large.


And this pair of socks is for a friend:

Pattern: a secret.... (for now)
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL
Needles: 2.25 mm

I don't think she reads my blog, but just in case, I want to keep the color and pattern a secret. Last night I turned the heels, and I will pick up gusset stitches today (the one thing I hate most about cuff down socks!).

Enjoy your day, friends!

Finished at last!

Tina:

Pattern: Terence the Tap Dancing T-Rex by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Multy, Knit Picks Telemark in Northern Green and Aubergine
Needles: US 4 magic loop
Modifications: none!

She was almost finished about three months ago, I only had one leg to knit, but I kept putting it off to finish other projects. She was still very huggable even without legs. This is the first dinosaur I've knit of Rebecca Danger's trio of dancing dinosaurs; there's Sherman the Square Dancing Stegosaurus and Basil the Boogie-Woogie Brontosaurus.

Happy Hump Day!

Book Club

Ack. We have had two Book Crafts Wine Snacks club meetings that I haven't blogged about ... my problem is I forget to take pictures because I am snacking and crafting. I will try to be better about this because they really are fun events spent with awesome people.

The new book we chose to read is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Right now it is second on Amazon's Top 100 list! I spent the entire day yesterday reading because it is such a good book!

via Goodreads 
I am oocha on Goodreads if you want to be my friend!

A psychological thriller, narrated in two character voices (Nick and Amy, the married couple). It's difficult to know which character is trustworthy, if any, especially when they talk about the same event. I do think it's interesting that I enjoy reading Nick's narrative much more than reading Amy's, even though this is a female writer portraying the inner psyche of a male.

But, looking at the jacket cover now, I am curious why the author's name is the prominent, top-most print. Thoughts?

Happy Sunday everyone! Mine will be filled with Gone Girl, knitting, and NFL.

Oregon vacation 2012

So many things to share! Prepare yourself, lots of pictures to follow.

Scott and I spent the first part of September in Oregon! A much appreciated vacation in one of my favorite places. We camped the first four nights in four different locations, all the while driving towards the coast.

We (mainly Scott) had been preparing dehydrated food for this trip about a month in advance. All the recipes came from the Backpack Gourmet which I had nabbed for free on my Kindle. Some of the meals we made were Saucy Tuna, Summer Casserole, Chili, Meatless Lasagna, Apple Leather, Indian Heaven Balls, Baked Soybeans, and a Bruschetta with Oven Bread. I highly recommend making dehydrated food! Our basic routine would go like this: make meal (at home) and eat it for dinner, dehydrate leftovers (of which, there was always a lot!), double bag and refrigerate. Then while camping, pour amount in saucepan, cover with water and boil. Easy cheesy and so good!


Little Crater Lake:

Hiked to Bagby Hot Springs. Seriously hot water:

Portland, visited Powell's Bookstore (of course) and I did not buy one single book!! We only gave ourselves one hour to spend there, so it was unfortunately a little rushed.

Ate lunch sitting on these steps (left) from a Korean food cart (right). It was delicious.

The only yarn purchase I made! But it is highly coveted :)

The yarn stores I visited were Yarn Garden, Happy Knits, and Knit Purl. Respectively from each store, I bought Opal Vincent Van Gogh yarn, Knit Picks interchangeable Nickel-plated US 10 1/2 tips, and two of Rebecca Danger's dino patterns!











One of the highlights, Rogue Brewery in Newport. We went back several times...

Our favorite brews were Smoke Ale, Good Chit Pilsner, Dead Guy Ale, Chocolate Stout. Try it if you can :)

BEACH!

Aquarium:

A fantastic trip, many great memories, but very happy to be home too :)

Bi-Fold Wallet

Hi friends,

I thought I'd share Modest Maven's awesome tutorial with you! I sewed it up the other morning and it was super easy, the tutorial is excellent, and the wallet is so cute! (and functional!)

My wallet is nowhere perfect and I'd like to sew another now that I know all the steps, but I love it anyways!!

I ended up sewing velcro strips to close it (not shown)

space for cards

bill fold! no cash...

Woo hoo! If you are in need of a new wallet or just want to sew something quick, this is an excellent project! The tutorial is outstanding :)

Happy Thursday!

Jerry the Musical Monkey

I am completely in love with this little monkey:

Pattern: Jerry the Musical Monkey by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool in Brown and a lighter brown
Needle: Size 5, Magic Loop
Modifications: I did shorten up the arms, legs, and tail by about five rows each, I think. I also knit the arms and legs two at a time on Magic Loop, and it really does go much faster!

He is for an order and needed to be finished by September 18. Since we are leaving soon, I really wanted to be sure he was done before we left. And he is! Woo hoo :) He is probably one of the most huggable, snuggliest Danger pattern I've made so far, and it's going to be sooooo hard to give him away!

I am definitely going to be knitting more, especially one for me!

Rockefeller finished!

In my blogging absence, I've been busy finishing Rockefeller! It was finished waaaaay back on August 14, but it took me some time to block it, have Scott take photos, and then upload photos! I am way happy it is finished and am so pleased with it!

Pattern: Rockefeller by Stephen West, it was a Mystery KAL

Yarn: I ended up using FOUR different yarns because I kept running out... Color A (white) is Regia Extra Twist Merino and Classic Elite Alpaca Sox (I only needed the Sox for about four inches of a tip). Color B is Mountain Colors Crazyfoot in Big Sky and Mountain Tango. Big Sky was my initial color and is the mostly blue section, and Mountain Tango was used for the wings.
Needles: 3.00 mm
Modifications: none! 

So drapey!!

This was my first mystery knit-a-long and it was very exciting and fun! I have a feeling there are two different types of mystery knit-a-longers... One type who never look at the spoiler photos until they have completely finished knitting that clue, and the second type (me) who peeks at spoiler photos to see what they are in for. I just can't help myself :)

I have several projects going on right now, one is an order and has a deadline so I'm quickly knitting it. Pictures soon (psst...it's a monkey!). I am also putting together projects for the road because in less than one week we are taking a vacation to the Oregon coast!!! I am completely psyched :) We will be gone for ten days, camping, hiking, swimming, knitting, reading, driving, ..... !

Happy weekend friends!

Sunberry Waffle Socks

First finished Ravellenics project:

Pattern: Blueberry Waffle Socks by Sandy Turner
Needle: 2.75 mm
Yarn: Felici Sport in Sunny Day
Modifications: Adapted to toe up, 48 total stitches

They are also pair ten of twelve that I'm hoping to knit this year! (two more pairs to go! yay!) And they are modeled, for the first time, on the sock blockers Scott made me :) 

This pattern has become one of my favorites! It is easy to memorize and to adapt. And it is so quick in sport weight! It makes an excellent textured sock that works well with self-striping yarn (and is a little more interesting than plain stockinette socks).

My next Ravellenic project is Dot the Dress Up Box Monster for the Toy Toss event.

What events are you competing in?