Dreams of Yarn

Shannon November 18th, 2008

So on the back of each quilt I plan to have a little block of white fabric with an embroidered image and a little note. Hopefully the girls will have these blankets for a while and every time they snuggle up with their blankies they will be reminded that it was made just for them. I fell in love with some designs over at Pimp Stitch, got the downloads and got to planning. I had to make a little trip to Michaels for some carbon paper, and pull my “Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework” off the shelf (awesome thrift store find ages ago)

Not bad for my first try at embroidery, the colors look a bit washed but you get the idea…

Its pretty plain, mostly backstitch, but you gotta start somewhere no? This little monkey will go on Rena’s and then I have another design for Rachels that I started last night. Whoot!

I’m actually pretty excited about these blankets!!

• Misc.Craftiness , Sewing
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Shannon November 17th, 2008

Christmas crafting that is. Although I havent exactly been knitting up a storm I have been getting all my projects going. Whenever I have a moment I’ve been working on my Old Shale Smoke ring, and in fact its almost done!

I’ve also been a busy little mum and have started the girls big Christmas gifts for this year. Shhhhhhh. I am making them each a blanket for their bed (quilted, to the best of my beginner abilities) The top for Rachels has already been assembled and looks like this

This was before I sewed it together but now it is one large piece. Renas will be similar but in blues and yellow/oranges.

Remember the blocks I bought?

On the back side of each I will have a little square sewed into each of their blankets that has a little hand embroidered image and a note from me to them. More on that later.

Christmas is creeping up folks!

• Misc.Craftiness , Sewing
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Shannon October 26th, 2008

Food. Knitting. Spinning. Sewing.

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I got ‘em all today. Yes seriously!

While I was making coffee this morning and the house was quiet, I was hovering by the slowly percolating coffee machine and mentally painting a picture of the day to come. Which of course included “What am I going to cook for dinner tonight?” which is part of the curse of being a mommy/wife/woman. You think about dinner at 8am on a Sunday morning. I figured I had all the makings of a good crock pot stew so while I was enjoying my first coffee I tossed all the ingredients in the crock pot and set it to low. Even as I type now I can smell the beginning of yummy.

I was struck by how pretty the veggies looked in the pot so i took a photo before i added the meat & onions.

I was walking through the produce section of the grocery store yesterday grinning like an idiot thinking about how beautiful & plentiful all the displays of the fall and root veggies looked. Bright red apples, gorgeous orange carrots, red onions & potatoes all piled high and vivid looking nestled between stacks of celery and fresh herbs and leafy things. I guess the idea for stew must have taken hold then. MMMmmmm

So on to the crafy. Last weekend I was happy happy happy to spend some time spinning with my spinning sisters Rochelle and Kimberly up at Maggies house.

We do these lovely days where we all bring some food to nosh on and our wheels and we sit together and puzzle over spinning or wheel problems we’ve encountered and do some spinning together. I truly love those days! And of course when we visit Maggie we beg her to bring out anything new she might have dyed for the shop. I bought some FABULOUS fibre and some yarn. Some of the yarn has already made its way onto my needles.

first it was hanging out on my swift

I never get tired of photos of yarn on the swift, that image just calls to me

And now it has become the beginning of the Old Shale Smoke Ring (search it on Ravelry)

And today I’m going to do some more sewing. I think Sundays have become sewing day. Yesterday I popped into my local Fabricland to pick up some RicRac and I discovered they are moving Good news its that they arent moving very far and that EVERYTHING in the store was on 50% clearance. YIPPEEEE KAY AH Mutha F$%*ers!

I picked up 4 meters of this fabric for jammies

AWWWWWWW

And a bunch of random fabrics for “things”

Good Haul. It was crazy in there. Woman everywhere snapping up large quantities of fabric hideous and gorgeous alike. I mean HUGE quantities. It was awesome.

Anyhow, if you made it to the end of this novella, happy knitting spinning, sewing and cooking to you! I’m off to create!

• Sewing , Spinning , knitting
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Shannon October 20th, 2008

When I can, I try to make more than one meal at once. I’m not Martha or anything, I just have a family to feed everyday and a full time job. Cooking healthy and tasty food during the work week is hard for me. I’m just wiped when I get home and pizza or swiss chalet always seem more appealing and I’d rather knit or sew than cook.

Sunday though, I totally set myself up for a successful week. First, I made a great big pot of Chili. Saturday at Maggies were were talking about Chili and I got my taste buds all geared up for it. Her and Kimberly both said they put Corn in theirs so I tried it. Big hit with the fam! We loved it. We had some for dinner and still put away two more meals worth in the freezer.

Then I made a big batch of Chicken and broccoli Alfredo sauce. This got portioned out into individual servings and will get reheated and served over whole wheat penne. I made this from scratch so I know its only got good stuff in it. Its creamy without being overly fatty. I used 2% milk and Parmesan for the sauce. I tossed in some low fat mozzarella for a little extra yum, ample amounts of cubed chicken, broccoli and diced red peppers.

Then I made Baked Apples with the girls. Hollow out some granny smith apples and stuff with walnuts, raisins, cinnamon and brown sugar…then bake.

After our chili I served these warm with vanilla ice cream.. Oh gosh so good.

Before baking…

After baking…

I had a few go ‘boom’ on me so I’ll cook them about 10 minutes less next time. And leftovers of the baked apples are AWESOME in your morning oatmeal.

• life
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Shannon October 13th, 2008

If you are a multi platform crafter, and dabble in many different mediums you probably have the same problems i do. TOO MANY IDEAS, and all of them scattered about. I get hit with bursts of creativity and collect wonderful ideas and then drift back off into my boring day job and the momentum is all but lost.

Well NO MORE!

I got myself a hard covered notebook at good ‘ole Wal-Mart and some colored pencils in my favorite colors and decided to start myself a wee crafting notebook. I can sketch out ideas I have for a project and record any inspirational sites or ideas that go along with it. Then I can flip through and see my actual project notes when I am ready to make an item again (I often like things so much i make another to give away!)

I loved this idea but I hated the plain black notebook. C’mon, plain black notebook… snore…. The crafting community at large didnt let me down, a quick search yeilded an awesome pattern for THIS Did you look? Seriously go look its cute.

So I took that idea and carried it out in a slightly different way and ended up with this

I’m so in love. I just love the fabric I used on the interior, its one of my favorites. I modified the pattern so that i created the sewn in pencil pockets before attaching the cover piece so that the stitching doesnt show on the outside. I like the cleaner look it gives. And then once i had sewn the inside and outside, I turned them right side out and then stitched around the outside again to give it a really finished look. I love the sheep ribbon i used to tie the whole thing together. Me likey.

• Sewing
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Shannon October 11th, 2008

Yesterday our beloved ‘Uncle B’ got married. We all took the day off and headed downtown to be there with him. They had a lovely ceremony at city hall and I was Uncle B’s Best Man, or I guess we could say Best Woman!

On the way down the Don Valley Parkway I shot some pictures from the car because the valley is GORGEOUS in fall and I couldnt resist.

After the ceremony we hung out for a bit at the peace garden at City Hall We had a little time before lunch with family at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

I love these shots…

Tomorrow I cook a feast for some friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!

• life
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Shannon October 2nd, 2008

Today I actually had to wear my vest in to work. The girls had heavy sweaters, there was a distinct chill in the air. Methinks we are about to enter that damp, rainy, chilly season we call fall.

Its so beautiful here in this part of the world during fall. The colors of the leaves are so vibrant and inspiring. Its my favorite season.

It must have been the impending chill that made me buy these:

Four beautiful Fat Quarter bundles. They are semi solid colors ranging from light to dark in each bundle. I got the Pink/Green for Rachel, my preppy little princess and the blue/orange-y yellow for Rena my Island princess. I think I will make them quilts based on these colors. Something simple that my newbie hands can master.

I dragged out my Better homes and Gardens learning to quilt book and I’ll be planning the quilt on the weekend. The Lovely and talented Rosa has been thinking about quilting lately as well and has inspired me to run with this desire I have to get quilting.

Well, it is sOctober now! So I resolve to not only finish up the pair of socks I currently have on the needles, but to make Renas birthday socks in advance. Look at me, attempting to plan and be ahead of the game!!

Happy Knitting, Spinning, Sewing to all!

• Sewing , knitting
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Shannon September 28th, 2008

A crafty weekend has been had indeed!

Most obviously I had some time to finish up the adorable details on the little doll house. Thank you so much for all your kind comments on it. I might have gone out today and checked out the larger (and slightly further away) FabricLand to pick up this:

Hopefully I’ll start on the pieces for that Barn tonight.

Just in case you were wondering, I do still knit Admittedly it hasnt been my first love these days but I worked on the socks while I was watching movies last night. We watched Wall-E with the kids and then Wanted with Angelina Jolie. Both decent movies. I think neither one was what i was hoping for / expected but they werent a waste of time.

Anyhow:

Cute, I really love this yarn. And two at time is pretty cool.

I also took some time to clean up my work space today. Because I reach those points where i buy more things and bring them home and cant find homes for them and am forced to tidy up.

I think the before and afters speak for themselves.

And this past week, I made my favorite homemade soup: Italian Wedding Soup

MMMmmmm Good. Doesnt look nearly as appetizing as it truly is. Those mini meatballs get me everytime.

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

Happy Knitting, Sewing, Spinning, and cooking to all!

• Socks , knitting , life
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Shannon September 27th, 2008

Ahhhhh, what a rush. The sweet satisfaction of finishing up a pretty little project like this.

awww, and inside

And another angle….

The tutorial was originally posted over at UK Lass HERE, if you are interested in giving it a try yourself. I loosely followed her directions and did the majority of the stitching with my machine, and some by hand. Its so beautiful. What a great hand made gift for my little Rena. And maybe a few girls we know.

What do you think? cute no?

• FO's , Sewing
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Shannon September 21st, 2008

I’m making a very conscious effort to do the things I love. I spun a little last night. I did some cross stitch yesterday. Today, I sewed. I’m well on my way to the little fabric doll house. its awesome

I cant wait to finish this one up. So many sweet embellishments are yet to come. Unfortunately it looks like this will be a killer week at work so i may not get a chance to come back to this for a few days.

Happy Crafting to all!

• Sewing
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