artsy-crafty babe

what's that?

Can it be?  I'm actually in the process of making a bag!  It feels like ages since I've made a bag, but in reality it hasn't been all that long.  If all goes well, this will be the product of my next pattern.  I'm doing a little self pattern testing.

I didn't plan to make a bag today, but after a visit from a dear friend, I was inspired.  All that crafty talk got my creative juices flowing!  Thanks T, we loved having you over :)  Oh, if I get this bag sewn up in the next day or so, you can have this one for your auction instead of the other - it's up to you.

I'm happy to get my sewing groove back.  I'm afraid that all my knitting has caused me some wrist/hand pain, so I need to lay off the needles for a while.  Bummer.  Oh well, that just means that I get to focus my creativity on something else for a change.  It's all good.

frogging right along

I used to be afraid to frog my knits, but I fear no longer.  Sometimes it's the only solution.  Being so busy these last few weeks, I've been mindlessly knitting.  Knitting and knitting, not paying so much attention to my pattern.  When I finally measured what I had done, I discovered that I knitted my body about 4 inches too long.  Hmmm, I kept on, joined my front pieces, thinking that I'd just end up with a deeper neckline than the pattern called for.  Then I tried it on.  Those extra inches made a BIG difference.  So, I frogged about 6 inches or so.  Did you catch that?  I misread the pattern and ripped out too much.  Oh boy. 

I've also frogged my cropped cardigan.  It just wasn't working.  I tried to make it work, but it didn't.  I will make that pattern again, but next time I'll follow the directions.  Those patterns seem to know what they're talking about.

friends

This past weekend was my 15 year high school reunion.  I have to admit, I wasn't particularly looking forward to it.  This ended up being the most fun weekend that I've had in a very long time. 

At the last minute, I invited my friend Laura (that's her in the middle) and her family to stay with us.  I was a little worried - I've never had anyone stay with us before, I haven't seen her in 15 years, I've never met her husband, and she has three little ones 4 and under.  I wasn't sure how 4 adults and 6 kids would work out in my house.  It couldn't have been more perfect!  We all got along great and had a fantastic time.

On Friday night, we had a little pre-party get together with a few of us at my friend Alison's mom's house (that's Alison on the left).   There were drinks, food, and looking at our classmates' myspace pages.  Need I say more?  We were supposed to make name tags, but that never happened. 

Oh my goodness - the reunion itself was a hoot!  We're so classy down here that we had it at a bar.  One of our classmates owns the place, so we got a good deal.  I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just say that it was lots of fun :-)

I had no intention of posting pictures from this event (there are lots of embarrassing ones of moi), but when I found the one above of the three of us back then and now, I couldn't resist.  Just excuse the stupid look on my face.  I sure hope that we don't wait another 15 years before we do it again. 

My group of friends from high school are a pretty great bunch.  Most are all over the place and doing all sorts of interesting things.  Reconnecting with them has been a good thing - now I know why we were friends in the first place.

home sewing

Last night I tackled some long waiting projects on my to-do list - the chair slipcover and the burlap table skirt.

I'm still not finished with the slipcover, but it's good enough for now.  I still need to cover the seat cushion (the fabric is only wrapped at the moment), and either hem the bottom or add a skirt.  A skirt is preferred, but I don't think I have enough fabric.  I cut it close on this one!  I like how the chair now blends in with Matt's leather recliner (ugh).

Sewing this burlap was a mess.  Just a little tip - don't wear black when cutting and or sewing burlap.  I ended up binding the bottom in bias binding because the thought of turning and hemming that burlap made my head hurt.  I really like how it turned out, even though it is a tad bit long.

Ah, now I can relax for the weekend.   My friend and her family should be arriving any minute now and we have a whole weekend of class reunion festivities planned.  Happy weekend, friends!!

that gosh darned balance

Why is it so hard to achieve?   I'm afraid that this craft/sewing blog has become quite boring lately.  The problem is that I've become caught up in taking care of the house.  This happens to me every fall - I want to clean, organize, rearrange, etc.  Well, now I have house guests coming this weekend, my leisurely pace has cranked up into high gear.  Good thing I was already in the house mode.  So far, the sewing room has been organized, the patio has been made, the kids rooms have been cleaned, I finally installed a curtain rod and hung curtains in the living room, and I organized my book shelves.  Doing all that leaves little time for creating fun stuff.  I'd love to get a slipcover for the wingback made before this weekend, but I'm not sure that's going to happen.  Whew! 

I promise, this will once again return to a craft blog - with sewing ;-)

twelve by twelve

After seeing the group participation in virtual quilting bees here, here, and here, I decided that I'd like to participate in one too.  It looks like so much fun that I decided to come up with one myself.  Just call me a big ole copy cat.  I emailed 11 fabulous blogging buddies and asked if they'd like to play along.  Thankfully, they did.  So, twelve by twelve was born.  I can't take credit for the clever name, that was Tracy.  Isn't it great?  Twelve of us each making twelve blocks over twelve months - too perfect.  The participants are me, Tracy, Autum, Chris, Sarah, Jessica, Jade, Katie, Kathryn, Jona, Melissa, and Kristena.

I decided to take the first month, and as you can see, I'm a little late.  Sorry ladies!  I really wanted them to all have the fabric at least a week ago, but I lost track of time.  How can it be the second month of October already?  All the packages are out of my house and on their way.  Thankfully, this will be a laid back gig, so being  a little late is no big deal, right?  I told then that I wanted stripes.  I sent off a piece of fabric from Amy Butler's Ginger Bliss collection along with another print.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!  I'm very much looking forward to this year long adventure.  Thanks girls for doing this with me!!

Oh, I got my sewing machine back the other day.  Um, it wasn't broken at all.  Turns out that it wasn't threaded correctly,  Yeah, I feel stupid!  I promise, I usually check for that sort of thing, but I assumed that because I just got it back that it was broken again. I was so embarrassed!!!

what a weekend

If being exhausted at the end of a weekend is a sign of a weekend well spent, then i had a great weekend.  I spent the majority of it working my bootay off, but it was worth it.

See?  I made a patio.  Mostly all by myself.  Matt originally lay out most of the pavers, but I spaced them, then he helped unload the pea gravel, but I did the rest.  I feel like I lost 5 lbs.  There's nothing like a good sweat.

It was lovely having my coffee out there this morning along with a little knitting.  It was only 68 degrees - practically frigid for these parts.  At that point the patio wasn't finished, but I took care of that this afternoon.

In the middle of all my manual labor I had a night out with the girls in New Orleans.  Fun, fun!  The company was great and the meal was superb.  Good stuff all around.  We started with drinks at The Delchaise, then had dinner at Cafe Atchafalaya.  I brought my camera but failed to take any pictures.  I hate when that happens!

My patio isn't totally finished - there are a still a few accessories to add like an outdoor rug for the table and a seating area, but it's mostly done.  It's just what I was going for - rustic and imperfect.  Ah, I can see many good times spent out there.  I'm slowly getting there, but my house is finally coming together.  It feels good :)

I knit...

I knit..

• in my bed
• on the sofa
• in my car in the passenger seat
• in my car in the driver's seat
• in my friend's car in the backseat
• in waiting rooms
• in the dentist chair
• at my desk (during my lunch break after scarfing down my food)
• at soccer practice
• at the hair salon
• in various lobbies
• at Starbuck's
• on my backyard swing
• at my grandma's house
• at my sister-in-law's house
• in restaurants
• while my kids are in the tub
• while my kids are falling asleep

My 4 WIP's are almost done, I have 4 more waiting in the wings.  Yes, I am a knitter and damn proud of it!!!

I am absolutely thirilled that it is October, one of my most favorite months.  We are experiencing gorgeous fall weather in south Louisiana, which makes me very happy.  Good things are happening this month - I want to enjoy every single second of it!!!