The Cake Parlour

The bug bit me.

The bug so bit me.

My long-time friend Sarah taught me how to crochet several weeks ago while her baby boy was in the hospital. And, of course, all the crochet going on in all the blogs. The ripple along, and the granny along, and Dawn's amazing blanket, and Alicia Paulson's amazing EVERYTHING.

Of course, everyone's doing ripples, and I wanted to so badly, and I got a whole swatch of beautiful perfect ripples going, but couldn't manage to figure out the ends at all! It was driving me insane. So, I thought maybe it would be best to make my first blanket a straight-striped one. So I'm just double crocheting everything. The ends still look ridiculous.

The stripe pattern? Well, does anyone remember this table? It hasn't left my mind, not one smidge. It's not a duplicate, but I put all the colors in the generator and found one that at least gave me the same impression.

The "white" is actually the palest of pinks...that frosty, cherry-blossom color that I love so, so much. And speaking of the cherry blossoms, I drove around for about an hour this evening at dusk, just up and down cherry-tree lined streets, marveling at how lavender-gray they look in the dim of twilight. I love those trees. Of course, who doesn't? The big, sprawling, stretchy ones and the frothy round ones. But my favorites are the little ones, no bigger than me. The toddlers...like precious little baby girls in their Easter dresses.

love.

Hearts and Snow

So when I was little I had this My Little Ponies picture book of all the seasons...months, actually, and what I remember most brilliantly was February. There was a schoolhouse, and a billion hearts, and ponies, and, most importantly....snow.

I think that picture has always been lodged in my subconscious, of hearts and snow, and I think I kind of decided that February was when it snowed, although I never got to see it because I grew up on the southern coast of Alabama. That picture is so vivid in my mind this morning.

Snow isn't a big deal to most people, some people probably hate it, but to me it is pure magic. Especially right before the sun rises. I knew our neighborhood would be the most beautiful covered with a blanket of snow...Manley and I got up and walked around in it at dawn and it was just, all....Christmas card-y.

And so quiet. And I don't think Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow here...which is just fine by me.

P.S. I like these guys. They were very, very cold and had to snuggle together.

Uh, sure...I can sew.

This is my friend Margaret. (Some may remember her as the flower girl at my wedding.) Actually, she is one of my best friends. I would rather spend time with her than most of the adults I have met. Her attention span is a thousand times better than mine, and she likes to talk and have these long, really mature conversations. She is 9, by the way.

Anyway, her mom has hired me to (cue laugh machine!) teach her sewing lessons (of all things!) and we've been working that this week. Have we been having fun! This morning, we browsed through Textile Fabrics for Amy Butler prints. She picked out a precious stripe, and all by herself (well, maybe with a little supervision) made this really cute snap belt.

Watchout, Project Runway!

The weather is, once again, totally perfect. It makes me want to clean. Is it so weird that I like to clean the house when it's nice out? I feel like I'm going to bring some of it in or something. So. Off to do that, I guess!

Well, what did you expect?

I finished them last night, of course. All ready to go by December 1st. They look so pretty on my front door wreath it was difficult to take them off! It's going to be a pink-and-red Chrismas for us this year, as you will soon start to notice more and more. I've never understood the "stress" of the holidays until now. Beth and I were talking about this the other night...it is both of our first married holiday seasons (that probably could have been said in a much more concise way, anyway...) and it's quite a bit different when you aren't automatically spending the bulk of them at your parent's house. Not that I'm not enjoying the idea of it immensely, of course. (I mean, the decorating, organizing, and planning. Mom are you reading this? I don't mean not spending it at your house. RRRR! I can't say anything correctly this morning!) Let the festivies begin!!

Second Ornament

It came in the mail the day before Thanksgiving. Isn't it lovely? It's from Joybucket designs, and I saw it on her blog before receiving it in the mail, hoping she was in my swap group. This little embroidered bee is so cute in person, the pictures can't really do it justice. Did everyone have a lovely Thanksgiving? And stuff yourselves silly? I sure hope so. I sure did. My main focus for this week will be finishing MY ornaments and getting them off in the mail on Friday. Friday is December 1st. I'm a deadline person.

First Ornament!

For the Holiday Ornament Swap. I got it yesterday from Maitreya at Craftlog. Isn't it sweet? And I love her blog, too. You should check it out. I'm starting on mine this morning and should have them finished in a couple of days. Today is a cleaning and organizing day. I'm sitting here with my coffee trying to tear myself away from the computer. You know how it is.

I am a baker, NOT a crafter!

I haven't the slightest idea how to knit, what a crochet needle looks like, or how to read a pattern. I do, however, have a very cute sewing machine that looks like a toy and love to play with it. In fact, I completely love to sew, I just have no idea what I am doing. I'm the kind of person who will buy scraps of silk taffeta and linen and nubby upholstery fabric and stuff it in a basket because I like the way it feels but the minute I bring it out and put stitches in it, I know it's all over. But I just get so inspired reading all the crafty blogs that I'm hooked on (thank you, crafty bloggers, from the bottom of my heart, for inspiring me so) that I would love to start making actual things sometimes. Attempt #1: This 70's printed linen came from Zan's (I wish they had a website, I would post a link. It's that fabulous vintage textile shop underneath Moxie art gallery in Forest Park) a while back.
After much thought and lots of coffee, this apron was born. I actually used an apron I already had and eyeballed all the peices (I still have no idea how to read a pattern), but somehow it worked. To be completely honest, I still have no idea what I'm doing. But, at least I have something instead of a wad of stiched-together-mess. And I think I've now caught the sewing bug, whatever that is. Actually, I'm really giggling right now becuase I just had to add a "craftiness" category to my list. We'll see how many entries that gets.
Typepad is really growing on me now. It took me a few days to figure out my way around it, but I'm glad I switched. The real, official, just-a-few-days countdown to moving has begun, so I'm afraid I may have to go a week or so without Internet access. I am seriously dreading it. We won't even talk about how sad that is.