Another hat

I made these hats a while back using Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn bits and pieces left from various projects. Spud and Chloe sweater is such a soft combination of wool and cotton in an easy care yarn that any kid will love to wear.  This is a variation of the Marley hats in Susan B. Anderson's "Itty Bitty Hats" book.  Susan is so creative and I love using her patterns as a jumping off point to create simple hats with the yarns I have on hand.  She includes a lot of fun adornments to make each hat unique. 

Aprons

 

I remember my grandmother always wearing an apron whenever in the kitchen.  I am not sure I have any photos of her without her apron!  She was a hard working farm wife who was always cooking or baking something.  The backdrop is my grandma's Hoosier Cupboard that was in the pantry of the old farm house.  The apron looks right at home with Grandma's cream pitcher and old mixing bowl.   On the farm in western Minnesota there were 5 meals a day....breakfast, "forenoon lunch", dinner at noon, "afternoon lunch" and supper in the evening.  It is kind of funny how things changed when I moved to the Twin Cities metro area.  The city folks had breakfast, lunch at noon and dinner in the evening.  Our forenoon and afternoon lunches became "coffee breaks" or snacks.  I smile as I think back all those years ago when this farm girl made the transition to city life.

I gifted this apron to my oldest daughter for her birthday.  I used the gift bag that Sylvia created by attaching pattern pieces to a craft bag using Mod Podge®.  She presented it to me with a gift but I think the bag was a gift too!  I passed it to Ali as I wanted to keep it in the family.  Will be interesting to see how many times it is passed among us!  

 

   

I needed a wedding shower gift earlier this fall and decided to make another apron to personalize the usual kitchen shower gift.  The fabric is a print of handwritten recipe cards.  Might be kind of fun to try the one the recipes!  The entire border is finished with bias tape making it a fast sew.  I hope the bride enjoys it. 

 

 

Baby Gift

 

A quick quilt project for a baby shower gift.  I used a pretty print for the front and a plain pink for the back side using a contrasting color thread to do the quilting.  I simply drew an arc at each corner and than followed the arc until they met in the center.  I did not worry about making them equal so they do not meet directly in the center making the design a bit more abstract.  I used my walking foot which works great for keeping the layers even and has a guide to keep the lines parallel.  I wish I had thought to take a photo of the entire back side so show off the finished quilting but it has already been gifted.   I will remember to take more photos in the future.  I had enough fabric left to include a matching bib for the new baby girl. 

Retro Romper

I did it! I have published my first "self published" knitting pattern for sale on Ravelry!  You can find it here... Retro Romper.  For you non-knitters, Ravelry is a online source for knitting and crochet patterns and provides a place to record and share your creations with the world.  I have a number of patterns that I designed for Blue Sky Alpacas on Ravelry which are available at local yarn stores that carry Blue Sky Alpacas patterns.  I will always be grateful to them for having faith in me and my ability to bring their vision for a new pattern to completion.  One of the most challenging of those designs was the Audrey Coat.  I had the privilege of attending TNNA (the yarn industry's trade show) that year and seeing my design on the runway.  I will always remember the great people I met there who were so encouraging to me. 

I love to look at vintage knitting pattern books and especially love some of the baby clothes.  This design is an updated romper using Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton.  This cotton worsted yarn works up  into a beautiful fabric that any baby will love to wear.  It is so soft.  This baby is one of my grandsons, Henry.  He has grown a bit since this photo was taken, they grow up way to fast. 

I hope you enjoy this new pattern.  This would be a quick knit for a baby boy shower gift that is a bit unique.  If you are looking for a baby sweater and quilt pattern consider the Cotton Baby Set I designed for Blue Sky Alpacas out of this same yarn.  One of my granddaughters is the model for that one!  I have another childrens pattern nearly finished and hope to get that one up soon so stay tuned. 

Dancing Princess Dress

Eliza has been asking for a "dancing princess" dress. I did some hunting and was underwhelmed with what I saw in the toy section. I grabbed some clearance satin and some tulle and dug out a pattern and got to work. She was delighted with the result!







Mods: doubled strap length and inserted elastic, tulle ruffle added to strap, attached gathered tulle to lining, replaced zipper with Velcro, gathered up hem in 2 places, no sash

In other news... my salsa turned out great. I've been enjoying it on my eggs each morning. Yum!

Fermented Salsa

Today I chopped my veggies for a new food I've been wanting to try. I've been reading about fermented foods and their numerous health benefits. This seemed like a good place to start. Next up: water kefir. I found the salsa recipe here. I left out the whey this time. I will report back after I sample the salsa.

Brown Sugar

I ran to the store the other day and realized I had forgotten the brown sugar. Ack! Packing up 2 toddlers a second time was not an option. A quick Internet search and some serious stirring yielded this:

Delightfully fresh brown sugar. You can get the recipe here.