Alright, guys, the more cowls I knit, the more difficult of a time I have naming them.  Seriously… cowlgirl?  And this is only the second one I’ve bothered to name.

Here’s the pretty cowlgirl:

Pure sweetness and light, this one.  My friend Angela here is sporting her new cowl, a belated birthday gift [...]]]>

Alright, guys, the more cowls I knit, the more difficult of a time I have naming them.  Seriously… cowlgirl?  And this is only the second one I’ve bothered to name.

Here’s the pretty cowlgirl:

Pure sweetness and light, this one.  My friend Angela here is sporting her new cowl, a belated birthday gift from me.  Angela and her hubby Marc are friends of ours who we met through assorted rad people.  First they were Fong’s-friends, and now they are just friend-friends.

I wanted to tell you a little about the cowl.  First, it’s this pattern called Stacked Eyelet Cowl by Ami Madison.  That’s a Ravelry link, because… you all have Ravelry accounts now, right guys?  Guys?

This version looks quite different than the ones pictured on Ravelry, though, and that’s not because I’m a total screw-up, it’s all about the yarn.

Speaking of yarn, you might recognize it from…

It’s the yarn from the Goodwill sweater!  As in, I totally frogged the hell out of that Goodwill sweater.

The yarn is 100% cotton and it behaves differently from wool or wool-blended yarn.  The cotton has some drape; it is not as stretchy or spring-y as the wool stuff.  Not better or worse, just different.  Cotton is less forgiving in that you can see the individual stiches better than wool.  Mistakes are amplified!  I guess, in that respect, it is worse.

Here are a few more close-up pictures:

I have PLENTY of this reclaimed sweater yarn left.  I’m working on a plain scarf with it now, just in time for… spring!?  Oh crap, what do knitters do when it’s warm?  I have yet to experience knitting through the seasons, I imagine it’s doable. Is it considered the off-season?  I’ve said it before… I have a lot to learn.

Here is another scarf I made for my soon-to-be sister-in-law for Christmas.  Yesterday I posted another version of the same scarf with the pattern link and more details. 

M is for Morgan:

Now that I have your attention…

Before my extended leave of absence, I mentioned that I’ve been into knitting lately.  It’s still true.  I don’t know how long I’ll be on this wild ride, but it’s sure been fun.

As a brand new knitter, I got a hot tip from my friends Heather and [...]]]>

Now that I have your attention…

Before my extended leave of absence, I mentioned that I’ve been into knitting lately.  It’s still true.  I don’t know how long I’ll be on this wild ride, but it’s sure been fun.

As a brand new knitter, I got a hot tip from my friends Heather and Jessica – to join ravelry.com, and am I ever glad I did!  The new fascination probably would have worn off by now otherwise. If you are a new knitter, or have an interest, this is your site.  Srrrsly.  There are tons of free (and for a fee) patterns to just about anything you could imagine.  Way beyond sweaters and scarves, people.

And really, it’s so easy to knit.  If you have the slightest interest, pick up a pair of needles some yarn and just give it a try.  YouTube is there for you.  I watched a few *short* videos over and over again until I got it.  Sure, there was a little bit of a learning curve (see my malformed “scarf” here).

To date, I’ve finished 4 scarves, 3 cowls, and one stocking hat.

I’ll share one project that I finished just before Christmas for my oldest son’s kindergarten teacher.

For this scarf I used Noro Kureyon yarn (don’t ask me which color, I didn’t think it was important at the time) and striped it with a solid color variety of Cascade, both wool blends.  The Noro yarn was variegated so it looks like I used more yarns than I actually did.

I really liked the colors of this one.  I guess I tend to gravitate to colors I like, even when making gifts for other people.  I want to like what I’m working on, after all.

This scarf was really fun to knit, I’ve done 3 scarves now in this same pattern – I’ll share the different color ways/pictures another day.  The pattern is called Noro Striped Scarf (<—Ravelry link).  It’s super easy, even for a beginner.

We did it both ways – we didn’t find out what we were having the first time around with Jude.  With our other two sons, we did find out at [...]]]> I just love surprises!  I love it when couples choose to be surprised by the gender of their baby on the day of birth. 

We did it both ways – we didn’t find out what we were having the first time around with Jude.  With our other two sons, we did find out at the 20-week ultrasound.  I would have chosen to be surprised with all of ‘em, but Josh wanted to find out, so that’s how we did it.  Granted, once the decision was made to find out, I couldn’t wait to find out!

I guess I’m telling you this because of a quilt I finished recently.  Our friends Lance and Nicole are pregnant with their first child.  They do not know what they are having.  But I still wanted to make them a quilt for a baby shower held at our church several weeks ago.

It’s tricky to make a baby quilt look like it could be for either a boy or girl.  Greens and yellows are good stand-bys.  I found a fabric line that fit perfectly, used a pattern I had designed quite awhile ago, and stitched it up.  And then I quilted the snot out of it.  Sorry, technical term.

My friend Tara is a great girl.  I love her lots.  She has always admired my quilts.  I don’t say that in a braggy way, like, “Hey everyone, look at my awesome quilts!   I’m so awesome!”  Not quite like that.  She just has always been so sweet about my crazy hobby and [...]]]> Here’s the story:

My friend Tara is a great girl.  I love her lots.  She has always admired my quilts.  I don’t say that in a braggy way, like, “Hey everyone, look at my awesome quilts!   I’m so awesome!”  Not quite like that.  She just has always been so sweet about my crazy hobby and appreciates the work that I put into them.  So much so that she’s often said (whiny voice), “When am I going to get a quilt?”  To which I would respond, “Just give me a reason.”

You see, Tara got married before I started quilting and as of this post date, is childless.  And those are two of the most common reasons I make quilts: to celebrate a marriage or a baby.

Lo and behold, Tara is now great with child.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Tara’s little boy is due at the end of April and last weekend I was invited to her baby shower.

I knew what had to be done.

The problem was this: I had my sewing machine here at the house but nothing else.  All of my fabric that I’ve accumulated over the years and my various notions were in storage.  I had to come to terms with departing with them when we decided to sell our house.

For weeks, I fooled myself into thinking I’d just buy her something else and make her baby a quilt when we moved into a new house.

Then last Monday rolled around, 6 days before the shower.  It was now or never.

So early the next morning, I took Jude and Jace to the quilt shop in town and picked out new fabric for the quilt; our mutual friend Ali helped me with the color scheme – Tara is decorating the nursery with primary colors.  After a short trip to our storage unit to get a few essentials, I got busy.

I knew the quilt had to be a fairly simple design; I didn’t have a lot of time.  Mix in three – nearly four – house showings*, oh yeah, and three boys, and by 1:30 am Saturday morning, I had this:

*Friday as I was working feverishly to finish the quilt, a realtor called and asked if she could show the house that evening, so I put all my sewing stuff away, cleaned so that it looked like no one lives here, and hauled the kids off to the in-laws’ house.  The realtor called my cell phone during the time they were supposed to be here to tell me they couldn’t make it.  Big-time FAIL.

First of all, what a neat package!  A clear paint bucket personalized with our last name initial on the lid.

And a heart on the flip side of the lid.  The [...]]]> My favorite Christmas gift this year wasn’t even for me.  Emily made my boys blocks for Christmas.  They are amazing.  Heirloom amazing.

First of all, what a neat package!  A clear paint bucket personalized with our last name initial on the lid.

And a heart on the flip side of the lid.  The bottom of the bucket it says Christmas ‘09, but I forgot to get a picture of that, dang it.

So, on 5 sides of all of the wooden blocks – which she and my Grandpa Bob cut – she has painted letters and numbers.

And on the sixth side, there is a special picture that she painted, which doubles as a puzzle:

This is so cool.  She painted three little boys in the landscape: one in the boat, one in the hot air balloon and one in a window of a building.  Speaking of the buildings, the yellow shape in front of the buildings is meant to look like an iPhone (one of their favorite “toys”).  See the silhouettes that are on The Beatles Help! album?  For their love of The Beatles. 

So special, so beautiful, the colors, the letter and number fonts… perfect!

And for one last hidden message.  The last two rows flipped over say…

Love Aunt Em.

I feel sorry for you guys who don’t have Emily as a sister.

I wanted to share with you one of the gifts my sister Emily gave my husband Josh.  It’s partially homemade.

Hilarious!

That’s my husband on the [...]]]> I’m posting this entry here under the Arts & Crafts section, although it really could have gone under any of the areas of Nothing Gets Crossed Out.

I wanted to share with you one of the gifts my sister Emily gave my husband Josh.  It’s partially homemade.

Hilarious!

That’s my husband on the cover.  As a strapping young lad of 17 years.  Emily had somehow acquired a photo of Josh pictured his junior year of high school after his track team won the conference meet.  She photoshopped the American flag and brilliant blue sky in the background.

Did you know that Josh was a track star?

Big time.

He ran sprints, but his major claim to fame was the high jump event.

His junior year, he actually got 2nd place at the state tournament by jumping a height of…

wait for it…

6’ 2”.

That wasn’t his highest jump, however; he also cleared 6’ 4” in his high school career.  Just a little tidbit in the history of Josh.

Another fact about Josh?  He hates inspirational sports movies.  It’s true. 

Rudy?  Nah.

Remember the Titans?  Nope.

The Blind Side?  Would never see it.

Insert any inspirational sports story ever told here and he wouldn’t like it.  Too cliché.  You knew he was kind of a snob, right?

That’s why this is so funny.  See the caption?

Emily was thorough… just take a look at the back:

And inside the case was a whole ‘nother gift.

A six-month subscription to Netflix!

We signed up Sunday night and have already received, watched and returned our first movie!  Pretty slick!

I’ll be featuring another gift from Emily here in Arts & Crafts tomorrow.  Stay tuned!  It’s a humdinger.