novamade

these are the sands of time

I am sure I have mentioned it before, I really don't like knitting scarves.  They seem to take forever to knit...they tend to get monotonous...etcetera, etcetera.  But when I asked for advice about what to do with the Mountain Mohair I got from Green Mountain Spinnery,

so many of you suggested a scarf, I felt like I couldn't do anything else...and really who would turn down an excuse to knit 30 bajillion cables?  Not me!

I have actually wanted to knit this scarf ever since Margaux's Malabrigo version (she knit two of them, I think;  the Sundara version is pretty spicy too).  So knit it I did.  And really, truth be told, it didn't take that long to knit (especially since I was using it to procrastinate, ahem).  Maybe the whole scarf thing isn't as bad as I thought?

The little guy kind of balks at the mohair content (and seriously, how Chuck Bass is my kid in this shot?), but that's okay, it not for him.  I actually knit if for myself.

I heart my new scarf, and I am not afraid to dork it up to prove it.  Deets in the gallery and on ravelry.

quixotic celebrator

Quixotic, is quite possibly, my favorite word in the English language.  It has a "Q," and an "X" and ever since I was able to assemble it on a Scrabble board with someone else's "C" I have been a fan.  Aside from all that,  it is the word that best describes my way of celebrating birthdays.  You (and I) never really know what kind of fun I will come up with.  Special K thinks it's a little crazy, the lengths I go to to celebrate a birthday, but I disagree.  I think birthdays should be celebrated with great fervor.  Sometimes it takes a little work to celebrate just the way you want.  But who says work can't be fun?

After seeing this great birthday banner that Rae put together, I knew I had to make one for Little Sir and the celebration of his second birthday. 

I saw all sorts of potential for the banner and using the distribution of letters from Scrabble as my guide, I made a whole bunch of letters (see first photo).  Should I ever have the opportunity to meet and throw a party for a Quincy, Xavier or Zarathustra (you never know), I totally can.  And I can do it in a very colorful way.

It was easy (albeit a bit time consuming, because I did 64 letters--plus one exclamationa point-- you don't have to do that many, but you totally could) but it was fun, and really I will take advantage of any excuse to whip out the hot glue gun (but with this project, I found cutting the letters out by free-hand to be kind of the best part).  I cut out sets of felt circles in 3.5" and 3.75" glued them together with a folded ribbon in the middle.  And, like Rae, I used ric rac for suspension.  And because I wanted to go crazy with color, I used 14 colors of felt (I left a lot of colors at the store, so I think I showed some restraint here).  That's a ton of fun for very little moolah.  You should make a banner too, you will be glad you did.

 

And I do have to apologize, if you came here looking for pie today.  I gave myself on out this week, or rather, it was a bye week for pie.  Because for birthdays, most people (especially if I am involved in the equation) get cake.  Little Sir is sort of a minimalist when it comes to desserts (sadly).  He usually opts for plain fresh fruit but he knows how to celebrate right and asked for a "banilla" cake with "banilla" frosting. 

And how fabulous is my new cake stand?!

For me this meant a classic white cake (best white cake recipe I have made to date) with buttercream frosting (the kid and I just made the frosting up as we went along).

Because he was helping me make the frosting I have no idea how much confectioner's sugar he scooped into the bowl, so I added butter, heavy cream and vanilla until it tasted good and looked spreadable. 

His enthusiasm for fire is not just a little concerning.

A little imprecise, but it was fun and tasty, so whatever.

I also wanted to make a quilt for the kid's birthday, but sometimes you have to cut your losses (so much for quixoticism). 

It became apparent to me that I would not finish this quilt in time, so I am saving it for the weekend (because it's just an excuse to drag the celebration out even more, in my opinion--yay for being quixotic!). 

So yes, it was a lot of work, but really when your kid thanks you with kisses, it's totally worth it.

making things for others

It's what I do.  It brings me joy, yadda yadda... I am back from vacation... Hey, look at this!

I made this apron a while ago, but since I am trotting out all of my productivity for this wee parade of sorts (to divert your attention from other projects, ahem), I thought I'd share it. 

Little Sir impressed me by saying "ceviche" while watching the Food Network (in our house, this is considered "educational television viewing") and asked why the cook wasn't wearing an apron.  "Because he's Rocco DiSpirito," wasn't really an acceptable answer, in hindsight, I realize this.  And since my kid isn't Rocco (yet), I figured he needed an apron.  So I made one. 

I have already mentioned that my sewing is pretty mediocre.  I am also one who tends to like guidance (i.e. directions, patterns, templates, something); but, I figured it was an apron, how hard could it be?  DIY-time! I took a look at my apron and cut some upholstery fabric samples I picked up 5 years ago for no reason other than they were in the sale bin (I was less discriminating back then).  It's not perfect, but it's an apron, the point is to keep the kid's pajamas clean.

Because Little Sir is totally my sous chef.  I mean really, have you ever seen anyone handle an egg so chef-tastically?  I think not.

He helped me make today's pie, a Fresh Orange Tart with Hazlenut Crust a la Greenspan via epicurious.com. 

I We made today's Piehole Wednesday contribution for my friend M whose husband is going to Iraq on a photojournalism assignment.  She needed cheering.  The pies, they bring cheer, especially this one.  It's a good one...but it's a little, shall we say, involved.

Luckily, I had help.

There is no heat involved here, don't get your panties in a twist.

And that is how I get all the baking done.  Secret's out.

welcome to the world, here's some pie

One of my oldest friends (perhaps the first I can remember having) had a baby recently (our parents grew up together in Florida--the dads-- and Korea--the moms-- and we lived across the street from each other when we were kids, she is kind of like my big sister, actually).  The baby is cute.  Cute babies deserve cute quilts (though I have made some quilts for some ugly babies too, so I guess cuteness isn't really a prerequisite for quilt making for me).  I am not sure if there is anyone else in Angie's life who feels the same way I do about the babies and the quilts, so I thought I should probably make sure Marley (that is said cute kid's name, how cute is that!) had a quilt to soil in creative ways love.  (Also, it was a great way to avoid weaving ends. And no, Minty, I am still not done.  That is how pathetic I am.)

I am not trying to kid myself or anyone else, my sewing skills are craptastic rudimentary, at best.  I need more practice to achieve the awesomeness adequate results that I can produce from knitting; but, honestly, I don't think I have it in me to knit a baby blanket.  I have crocheted them (though I really know very little about crochet); but knitting a blanket is like knitting a really wide and short scarf to me.  I hate knitting scarves. 

Anyway, this quilt...  I did a re ally good job piecing this quilt (if I do say so myself, and I do) and the layout is pretty cute--nothing like a charm quilt to emphasize fun creative fabric that one stumbles upon in Jo-Ann's.  Binding quilts make me nervous, but I think I did okay with that. 

I used Joelle Hoverson's method of machine binding because she is a genius (and also Marley had already entered the world at this point, so my deadline had come and gone so the binding needed doing lickety-quick-like). 

My problem is always the quilting.  I basted this thing like crazy; but, maybe I need to switch to basting without all the pins.  Also, I suppose it is a good idea to know how you are going to quilt the quilt before you baste.  I kind of made it up as I went un-clipping safety pins along the way.  Very inefficient (and just a little stupid) and, it didn't produce quite the finished look I was going for, but it is quilted.  It has also been packed, shipped and received.  Welcome to the world Marley. 

I hope you enjoy your quilt, because you certainly can not enjoy the pie I made for this week's cyber consumption.

It is a simple pear pie.

The filling is quartered pears with sugar, cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon.  It was supposed to have a walnut pastry crust; but, I left out the walnuts. 

It was still pretty good though.

I left out the walnuts because I got distracted.  I was working on Marley's quilt.  You know, priorities. 

i'm all about productivity

So right about now, you are probably wondering if I actually finish anything.  So to prove that I do, I thought I should show some proof of productivity.

I knit these fingerless mitts (Evangelines) in no time at all, but then I let the ends (all 8 of them for the set) derail the finishing. 

I know, it's kind of ridiculous.  In any case, while procrastinating the tomten, I finished them.  I think they are pretty fantastic, I hope the recipient does too.  I will pop the details in the gallery.

The mitts were knit in Andy's Merino (that's the name of the wool source) from Farmhouse Yarns .  I love Farmhouse Yarns, the colors are phenomenal.

So, I am on vacation right now, spring break, as it were.  I don't have internet accessibility in my room, I have not yet decided whether this is a blessing or a curse; but, I was able to post this, so I should still be able to share some pie and another fo on Wednesday.  Because, you know, I am all about pie (and apparently, finished objects).

procrastination in e major

This post might make you wonder about me a little; but hey, I walk around wearing chocolate as an accessory, so there you are...

Because I have become an expert in the fine art of project avoidance and procrastination in general, I thought I would deliver today’s post in song (or lyrics), to the tune of the Major General Song with some a ton of variation here and there (with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan and to you, really).

I am a fine example of a modern knit-procrastinator

I have so many ufo’s they can’t be counted with a calculator

There is a tomten needing ends weaved in

But weaving ends does not make me grin

Even though it involves touching wool

And though that usually makes me drool

I just don’t think weaving ends is that cool.

To avoid weaving in my ends

I make the most of gifts from friends

Kirsten sent me merino, take a look at this:

I spun the wool and set the twist

I really think it’s fabulous

I have no idea what to do with it

I don’t want to let it sit

But I try to be good and put it down

Then I pick up the tomten and go to town

But I want to knit everything I see—

This has been made worse by Ravelry.

Instead of weaving in my ends

I imagine purchasing new project bins

And filling the bins with yarn I do not need

Due to my very slow knitting speed

And my stash is larger than it seems

It is the stuff of knitting dreams

I’m not complaining

I’m just saying

I have a lot to occupy my time

And fitting in all my interests is an uphill climb

To achieve some balance I try and take a rest

But my conscience always becomes a pest

And I think about the tomten sitting in the wings

I know all the other projects are really flings

But every time I take time to sit

I find a way to procrasti-knit

In my weaker moments I rediscovered the quilting bug

Because to me, sending a quilt is just like sending a hug

I sew badly but make great haste

I take the time to pin and baste

And when it’s time to bind the quilt

I leave that too to try and spin some silk

(My procrastination knows no bounds

It’s not as bad as it probably sounds)

When my hands get tired, I turn to the internet

There’s so much inspiration there, I kind of need some limits set

First Brooke began her weaving kick

Her work is so amazing it kind of makes me sick

I would love to weave things half as good

But I don’t weave and instead of knitting as I should

I troll the web for some sort of simple loom

Special K says, “you’re crazy we have no room”

But I think something small and simple would be fine

And it would likely not take up a lot of time

And time is quite the commodity

But still I return to the internet to scope what else there is to see

But I try to avoid spending more time on Ravelry

And then I go to flickr and note that Mandy dyed some wool

That struck me as really cool

Have you seen the singles, I don’t think the yarn will pool

When all is said and done, I just go and bake a pie for fuel

Because it’s Wednesday and I am a pie-baking fool

And I am still avoiding all those ends

I need to find a way to make amends

But there are so many ends to weave in it’s ridiculous

They make me feel like Sisyphus

But I am not discouraged because I like to procrasti-knit

And I’ll always find a way to let the knitting sit

It’s not as though I’ll every quit

Because I love knitting and it loves me

But weaving ends is as dull as dull can be

And I’d rather ignore all the ends I see

But then Little Sir gives me a face

And it puts me in my place

So I pick up the knitting and weave in ends

Keeping in mind advice from friends

I’ll finish the tomten, but bit by bit

Because I’ll still be prone to procrasti-knit.

I know.  It’s a special kind of crazy.  Info about today’s pie is in flickr.  Things should return to normal (which for me, admittedly, is still a little crazy) at the end of the week.  There may even be an fo!  No, not the bain of my existence tomten...