flowers of my labor

thought i'd show off a couple of pieces i made when the gals were over on sunday:


the flowers are based on a tiny piece of a larger aubrey beardsley illustration and i'm having a really, really difficult time not wearing 'em!* i think i'm going to have to make more pieces in this general direction...

the biggest win of that afternoon - other than spending time with my lovely ladies, of course - was the discovery by DM of the most wonderful pen in my collection. i'm not sure why i hadn't tried it out before, but man! these things sure are fine, and they don't bleed one bit! i promptly went out and bought an entire set in a slightly larger tip size (thank you, michael's coupon!).


i've also been knitting away at the hoodie and i've just approached the patterning on the back. it's sooo soft - can't wait to snuggle into this one!


*announcement to come in the next few weeks... stay tuned...

sense & sensibility, part II

on friday i finally succumbed to the sore throat and cough that had plagued me since a whirlwind day trip to salt lake city on tuesday (snow was involved). so i was a sensible girl and spent the day here:


mmm, it's a lovely new quilt we bought a couple weeks back. it's just the right weight and i adore it - and i spent many hours beneath it on friday, whilst checking my blackberry between naps and, ... why, what's this?


it appears to be a hood! (can't you tell?) well, the scarf had a bit of a mishap in the los angeles international airport and had to be ripped back. i was a bit despondent and being sick and all, i need something soft and scrunchy and nice to knit. oh, i do love this blue sky cotton!

i've since knit quite a bit more on this one - but was interrupted today when a couple of crafty ladies stopped by for brunch and jewelry making.


both gals proved quite adept and i sent them home with some spare sheets of shrink plastic to experiment further! such a nice sunday; such a relaxing, crafty weekend.

sense & sensibility

i can't help myself - the BBC version is on masterpiece theatre right now and i've only just completed this:


i absolutely adore this knit - worked all in one piece with very simple but flattering shaping. if it weren't for the miles of edging (350 stitches around the body, yikes!), the process would have been completely pleasant. and even so, the finishing wasn't too horrible at that - i think this may just be my favorite new stash buster!


close up! i know the hooks & eyes are on backwards but i tried 'em every which way, and this was the prettiest!

i am dying to start in on the olive branch yoga hoodie but alas! i waited until saturday to order the pattern and now it won't arrive until monday. i can't abide idle fingers so...


this is veronik avery's lace ribbon scarf. i've since jammed through a couple of pattern repeats and adore it!

for anyone who might be wondering, mr b is doing much better on his new medication. sweet little boy - i'll leave you with that.

feels like spring

(new print by ashley goldberg.)

a weekend's work

falling stars


the first spring leaves


stormy day


shooting stars
me and mr b are off to see the vet again - wish my little sneezy boy well!

the disturbance

hmm, what's maeve staring at?...


ah ha!

(this one's for you, sze! sorry i keep missing your calls!)

the color conundrum

i love love love knitting with color. so i end up with lots of stuff like this:


but when it comes to the wearing? let's just say that back in the day (you know, like, two whole years ago) more often than not i would wear the 'harry potter uniform' - all black. (for some reason everyone who worked on potter would show up to the office in all black all the time. i don't think we were all morbid.) since then i've added lots more color to my wardrobe but nothing quite as heavily saturated as the yarns i love to knit with. so i'm a bit outside my comfort zone with these pieces, but gosh do i love seeing 'em knit up!




guess i just need to become a bit more brazen. my first couch was lipstick red, for goodness sake! you think this would be easy for me!

what is easy for me? ordering a gorgeous permanent marker set for jewelry making via amazon prime.


i mean, really; have you ever seen anything this beautiful?

(new knitty is up. and i actually really like several of the patterns this time 'round!: talia, yosemite, honeycomb, and lace ribbon.)

it's an infatuation!

i'm starting to play with public domain images - and also making little custom gifts for friends! this is the BEST instant gratification craft!

sunday, lovely sunday*

a week or so ago i came across this awesome tutorial on shrinky dink rings in CRAFTzine's blog and i just had to give it a try:


i loved how these turned out and i decided i had to have a pair of earrings to go with my favorite of the rings:


the earrings are just as shiny as the ring but light's fading and 'yall know how that is for photos...


oh yeah, there's also a cascade of leaves in our house! it's been a weekend of the craft.


*someone was spoofing the bloody song somewhere in the ether this AM, and i can't for the life of me remember who or what or where.

glimpses

once

congratulations, glen hansard and marketa irglova. so very, very deserved.

so very done.

but it's pouring out, and there's no decent light to take photos. so, in the meantime, i've started in on some new projects*!


carie cropped cardi from stephanie japel's fitted knits. i am so very off gauge on this one, so i've ordered more yarn and need to rip back a bit. one more size up and i should be good to go. the cascade magnum called for must be amazingly poufy stuff to get 6 stitches per 4 inches on #15s - because rowan big wool comes nowhere close!


i have two balls of the rowan ryc soft tweed left over from my textured tunic and i need something mindless to knit right now. scarf it is!


*which i photographed yesterday AM while there was a bit of sun.

almost. there.

just awaiting buttons in the mail!

the long hike home

last week a nature-loving coworker suggested that i check out chantry flat, a gorgeous bit of the national forest about 20 minutes away. so yesterday b and i loaded up our backpacks and headed out to the hoegees camp loop hike, two miles of lush creek-filled forest followed by three miles of your standard mountainy socal brush. it was a beautiful hike - we'll definitely be going back.


of course, one and a half miles in i managed to fall into the creek. thank goodness for my wonderful hiking boots! my foot stayed warm even whilst soaked!

my quick demise

well, i lasted almost a week...



i was not the only victim...




yes, curiosity actually killed the cat!

(thanks, enchantknits, for a lovely death! the color matches my coat perfectly! with a little blocky blocky, she should be good to wear!)

hat attack!

and she's off! very, very cool pattern designed especially for this little diversion. i've been a good girl and haven't paid attention to the flutter of 'i'm done and it's posted' emails, so i've no idea if my assassin has already accomplished his/her work - nor where in the world s/he lives. i want my 'death' to be a complete and utter surprise! in the meantime, here are some close-ups:

fallen...

...to the flu that is. or a really, really bad cold. or something else undiagnosed.

so to take minds off the lack of knitting and dwindling sick days, let's look at photos from our trip to new york last week. beige trekked up from philly to join us (and model the tiny bed in our hotel room). most of these photos were taken by her abler camera - and eye.