Saturday, February 27, 2010

Simple apron

It's difficult to put into words how much my daughter is an amazing person. It's never about her; always about others. Checking - are you OK, is everything fine, what can I do to help... Last year she had a request ''when you have time, no rush mom, I would love to have a handmade apron from you''. Last month I made her this apron. Nothing fancy, plain and simple just like she would love it to be. After this picture was taken, I sewed a tiny little red heart button on the front pocket. She is my heart and soul that girl !

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Assignment :: lines and movement

I had an assignment as homework for my photography class. Seeing the beautiful day we were having I headed out the door to snap a few shots for my assignment. As the saying goes ''practice makes perfect''. I must point out that I don't edit my photos, what you see is what you get.

Line leading you into the picture. (If I was editing this picture, that stump on the lower right would be gone).

Again, line leading you into the picture. (A couple of hours more, the sun would have been at the perfect location and that shadow would not have been there. Although, it makes for an interesting shape).

Showing movement with a water fall. (Look at all that frozen water).

More gentle movement.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

My knitted socks

I've been knitting for about two years now and I have to admit that I am hooked. Every spare minute I have I go for my needles. I've made scarfs, hats, shawls, dish towels, etc. but I've always been scared to take up knitting socks. Don't know, the thought of knitting with 4 needles just did'nt cut it for me. However, I kept the idea of my first pair of socks in back of my mind. I knew I wanted to take up the challenge but did'nt know when. Until, two weeks ago, one quiet night at 10 p.m. I cast on 44 stitches and tonight I present to you my very first pair of wool socks. The following picture was taken a few weeks back when I had the first sock finished. That heel you see there was frogged four times before I got it right. I am a self-thought learner. I like to learn things on my own terms. So with the help of many inspirational fellow bloggers and a few you tube videos here are my wood socks.

I used a nice Paton classic marino in a grey mix. I had one ball but it was a fairly big ball of yarn so I knew I would have enough for two socks. Half-way through my second sock I came to the realization that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish the second sock.

So I had to cut it short by an inch. But I am not bothered by this fact at all. I am so proud of these woolen lovelies. And they are for me (I want to wear them as slippers) so I don't mind at all that one is an inch shorter than the other. Plus, when I have them on my feet you can't tell.

Yes, I have already cast on for the next pair. You can see the yarn in the second picture.

Theme party :: glam nite

We had another theme party last night - glam nite/red carpet. These are house parties with a bunch of very good friends wanting to laugh and enjoy life.

Here I am arriving on the red carpet.



Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Knitted love, mail and frenchy finds

I always have a project on my needles. I just finished this shawl last week. It's not for me, I might give it to someone special. (It looks like someone is modeling the shawl but it's actually drapped over my sewing machine).

Look at what arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago. It's from here. It was immediately framed and hung in my craft room. If you don't already visit Heather's blog, well you should. She's amazing. She's the second blog I discovered almost three years ago. The way I found out about blogging (I was clueless about blogs) was with this blog. Her soaps are so delicious smelling you want to have a bit. And let me tell you, she has the cutest little boy.

And last but not least - some Frenchy treasures I found in one 10 minute visit last week. Look at all this bright colored fabrics.

And in the same stash, there were these 8 black and white samples. I'm thinking a simple quilt for a teenager maybe...


And a wooden spool holder. My 10 minute shopping spree at Frenchy's cost me $2.25.

I am teaching myself to knit socks, with the help of You Tube videos and very clear and simple instructions from so many inspirational blogs. I'm almost done with the first sock, I'll post pictures. Things are going well so far, fingers crossed please.