House of Steph

Spare Time

...is getting sparse these days...

But I managed to crank out this little pin cushion the other night.  

I made it from some little Moda square cuts I got while I was in Gastonia the other day with Jean Marie!  We had a very fun day...  I love this line, but I can't think of the name of it...  Very cute and I will definitely go back for seconds.

The pattern is from "Last Minute Patchwork Gifts" and it was very quick and easy.  I love pin cushions!  

Lexi Dress

I have a favorite baby customer at work.  Her name is Lexi and she has the sweetest little smile ever!  Last week I decided she needed a little dress, so here it is.  :)  

Although it took me a week to actually finish it, the whole dress in reality took only about an hour and a half to make from cut to finish!  I love this cute little A-line pattern.  The simplicity of the design is what makes it so appealing to me.  

I serged the facing and the sides to polish-off the finishing, and did a rolled hem at the bottom.  I love rolled hems!  In general, rolled hem is what made me go out and buy a serger.  Yes, I love it that much.  

I just know Lexi will look so cute in this!  

Yay! Finished Anna Tunic

Aimee and did some sewing about a week ago (after our fabric extravaganza weekend with Jean Marie) and lookie what I got done! The Anna Tunic by Amy Butler. I love this dress!

Coming along...

I've been working on the Mason-Dixon mitered square blankie for what seems like FOREVER.  I decided recently that I'm going to finish it as a house-warming gift to myself when I get the hell out of this apartment - hopefully, early this summer.

We had a photo shoot tonight:

Babs thinks it's coming along nicely.  I don't know if somewhere in that doggie brain of his if he knows that this is going to be a blanket or something... He always comes around to snuggle when I'm knitting these squares.  Not to mention -  he SITS ON MY YARN a lot.  I started this project when I was in Hilton Head almost two years ago.  Time to get it DONE.  I've decided that I'm not going to weave the ends.  I'm going to crochet over them when I crochet the blocks together.  Yeah, that's the ticket!  No weaving ends.  Sounds like a plan!  

Slowly but surely...  I will get this done.

Looking through photos

...and decided I really like this tissue holder...

Mom mentioned it the other day, too, and I just happened across it tonight.  

I probably need to make a few more of these.  :)

Weaving is good.

I learned my first lesson in yarn choice on the loom recently.  I was all jazzed up about using the J.knits superwash sock yarn (warped) and the Queensland Kathmandu (woven) to make a nice little scarf.  My original plan was to weave it slightly looser than my previous scarf so that the colors would peek through to make it vertically striped.  That didn't work out.  It looked like a kindergartener wove it.  I started packing the weave a little tighter, and even though it didn't look exactly like I wanted it, the scarf looked a lot better. 

Wow.  When I took it off the loom...  WHAT A MESS.  Half was kindergartener and half was carpet.  Yuck.  I was ready to trash it, but I realized one good thing about weaving:  It makes FABRIC.   And fabric, friends, can be cut and sewn into something else!!  So that's just what I did:

Everyone who knows me knows that I love zipper pouches!  And I love love love to make them.   I often challenge myself to get the corners just right and the zipper exactly straight (because nobody likes wonky zippers) and the lining just right so it doesn't bunch up inside the pouch.  I am excited to say that this one was almost 100% there.  

I have been itching to put something else on the loom--perhaps some cotton yarns to make a pillow cover?  Maybe a scarf for mom?  (Remi said she wants a scarf, too!)  One thing's for sure:  I love my loom!  :)  I hope Remi starts carrying them soon....  I might need to get a stand.  Happy weaving.

Daisy Chain Quilt Coming Soon

I don't think I've mentioned that I found the legendary Mary Jo's Cloth Store a few months back.  In fact, I've known it was there for the entire time I've lived in Charlotte, and when visiting Tennessee, people used to always ask me if I've been there.  Now I can say yes.  And boy am I spoiled!  I don't think I can ever go back to spending $12+ per yard on Amy Butler fabric again!  Everything is very reasonably priced there, with most of the name brand stuff not exceeding $7 or 8.  Wow.  I think I got the daisy chain fabric for $6.95 per yard, in fact.  YES!  (The knits are a little high, though.  Not sure why.  I got some recently to try out some of the projects in Sew U Home Stretch--what a great book.)  Mary Jo's is a warehouse of wall-to-wall fabrics, ranging from cottons, to knits, to flannels, to bridal, to decorator fabric, then add in the WALL of buttons, and the trim section, and the notions section, and the thread section, and the pattern section.  

One can find ANYthing at Mary Jo's, and it makes me very happy. 

I got this Daisy Chain fabric at Mary Jo's a few months back when Aimee, Dani and I went.  What a fun day!  I thought I would like this to be a log cabin piece, but I couldn't bear to break up the awesome pattern of the fabric.  This is what I got done in about three hours of concentrated time alone with the room, the machine, some shears, some music and some wine.  I plan to put more of the white kona cotton on the edge, then back it with gray solid fabric.  Can't wait until it's done.  I love it already.  We need a new quilt around the house.

I just got back from pillaging the Peace of Yarn's 75% off store closing sale...  I didn't think there would be that much left, and I was RIGHT!  Lots of mohair and other frou-frou stuff, which I don't like.  The middle section was completely empty, and there was only one section of shelving in the front room that had anything left.  But I managed to find some good baby blanket yarn, some accessories and notions, and a couple of patterns for 50c each!  

I am happy with my purchase, but with a side of guilt...  I really did like Cindy's shop, and it's one of the first shops I found in town when I first started knitting.  (My first yarn shop experience was with Ma at the place called The Courtyard in Matthews when she visited one time...  Remember that, Ma?  How could we forget?  Imagine if we could do THAT again... Sigh...)  However, I definitely found myself going there less because of my loyalty and favoritism toward Charlotte Yarn.  I feel almost like I'm cheating on Remi if I shop anywhere else!  Oh how I love my Charlotte Yarn!

Pictured here is:  6 balls of Crystal Palace Bamboozle in gray-blue, 6 balls of Bamboozle in baby blue variegated, 9 pink Bamboozle (can you tell I liked it? Might be good for blankies, etc.), one Arucania Pomaire (yummy!), 4 skeins of Cascade Sierra, one Berocco Linen Jeans, one Rowan all-season cotton, one random cotton sock yarn for practicing, buttons for a couple of cardigans I'm planning, a couple of closures, some suspender clips that will be purse handle attachments, and some more buttons.  Wow.  All for $65.  They had to give it to me in a kitchen-sized trash bag!!  HAHAHA!  The comedy.  

In the midst of my spree, I called Aimee to tell her about the Plymouth Royal Cashmere for 75% off.  She of course had to get the pink. :)  

Today has proven to be a good start to the birthday hiatus.

New Year of Finished Stuff

Well, since it's been a while, I have a little bit of stuffs to show.  :)  (The hiatus came from a Visa card change-over and a typepad mixup.  But who cares.  I'm back.)  Wow.  Fun stuff has happened in my crafting world.  I have made a shirt that actually fits, some mittens, some baby blankets, a couple of hats, a WOVEN scarf and most of a sweater (francis).  February lady sweater is giving me FITS and TANTRUMS several times over.  I've ripped back more than I've actually knitted on this thing!  The wrist is bad, but I'm still knitting.  No surprises here, right?  

Okay.  On with the FO's...  just a medium-sized sample of some of the favs:

Simplicity Built by Wendy, Built by You shirt pattern.  Love it!  Love the fabric (Heather Bailey) and I love love love the pattern.  Only mod I will make next time is to take out some of the fabric at the middle pleats.  Idiots ask me if it's a maternity shirt sometimes...  I HATE THAT.  

Next:  The "just enough blankies".  One for Radha's granddaughter, and one for Courtney's new bebe.  The solid pink is made of Encore bulky and the multi one is made of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.  I love this as a quickie baby gift!  I'll probably make more.  I might even make a bigger one for the house.  

Next:  The Woven Scarf!  First FO on the new loom...  (Uh... Yes.  I said Loom!  Aimee and I accidentally bought 26" Ashford Knitter's Looms as a New Year's gift for ourselves.  :)  As if we needed it or something!  ha)  The scarf is warped with Berroco Ultra Alpaca and woven with Mango Moon cotton/silk/viscose blend.  Love it!  Don't worry, Ma.  You'll get a scarf, too.  Just be patient!  

Tuff:

Sweet little needle roll for mom's friend Kathryn:

The purple is Kaffe Fassett, the green dots are stuff I've had in the stash for a while, and the multi-green is Marimekko I found at Crate & Barrel!  Oh yeah, and speaking of Crate and Barrel, IKEA just opened and it's AWESOME!  Oh how I wish I could win the Cash5!

Hope everyone's having a nice Thursday.   

 

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

I'm back!  ;) 

Gots lots of knitting to show.  Wee hoo!  It's been a whole holiday season since I posted.  Lots of stuffs to show. 

Happy Thanksgiving from Me and the Boys

Hope everyone had as nice a Thanksgiving as we did.  Such awesome weather....  The domestic goddess in me came out and pulled off a great meal...  There was knitting and cooking, and Braveheart, and sewing, and poker and eating, and laughing and walking outdoors, and lots of photos.  Wouldn't change a thing about it.  :)  Lovely.

Happy Turkey Day!  (or in our case, Ham)

I'll keel you!

Arrrrrr!!!!

Knitting Knitting and More Knitting

Knitting and no blogging.  More working than knitting and more sleeping than desired.  Knitting is getting done, though, and that's good.

 

Koiguuuuu.

Babs is modeling the Gloria Cowl I finished just after SAFF.  So handsome.

The body of Francis Revisited is done, but I just can't seem to motivate myself to pick up the needles again!!  I.Don't.Know.Why.

I've been kind-of silent these days.  Even though things are going well on most fronts, I just don't have that much to say.  Shopping spree coming tomorrow.  :)  Shoes and work clothes are greatly needed.  The fall foliage is extremely nice these days.  Been getting lost in beauty every time I'm able to get out in it.  LOVE fall foliage.  There were two deer out walking around the apartment complex while I was out with Roosevelt today, too.  LOVE the fall.  They didn't want their picture taken, though.  So I'll show one of Mom and Phil.

Big Pink

I got a hair cut the other day.  I wanted something different...  A little shocking maybe?  I absolutely LOVE the outcome!  

I'm calling it "big pink".  It's definitely 90s.  Been listening to Pearl Jam and lots of REM and Nirvana these days and thinking I'm much cooler than I probably really am...  So hence...  Pink hair!  

Have lots to talk about...  Poker winnings, a day at the spa, a couple of GREAT serger classes for the new machine...  Life is pretty good these days, I guess.  Finished a scarf in about two hours on Sunday...  You know, BEFORE the new 'do.

Seven strands held together:  Koigu, Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, Ella Rae Kasbah, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, Rowan Tweed (that I've had FOR-ever since the FIRST time I ever went to Purl) (two different-colored strands of that), and some Paca Peds.  I'm in love.  It took NO time whatsoever.  

Tonight I made a quickie little linen bag using both the Janome and the serger.  I flat-locked a Japanese kokka scrap to the linen and went to town.  I think it turned out cute.  Originally I made it for a lady at work, but somehow I think this might be added to my little collection...

Just ignore the fuzziness of the photos... These were taken with the iPhone.  

I loved this little scrap since the first day I picked it up at Purl.  Wish I had more of it.  

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely LOVE the serger?  Can't wait to make some easy quickie blankets on it...  Learned some great tricks at the sewing class on Thursday.  Need more hours in the day.

So here's the real haircut:

It's cut REALLY different from the previous look, but only cool people actually noticed I got it done.  Boring assholes at work.  Whatever.  I like it.  :)  Goodnight.

Woof!

I found this cute little doggie linen at Purl on Friday while I was in the City.  This was just what I had in mind for it:

Next up:  A scarf for Roosevelt!  :)  He definitely approves.  

Hey Babs, DO some YOGA!  

He looks so damn silly in that shirt!!  

haha, hee hee...  hahaha, hee hee hee...  giggle...