Hoot

There's nothing like having your girls sitting around your living room, knitting and gabbing to kick off the weekend. I cast on a cute little cardigan for myself. I haven't had anything major on my needles in sort of a while, much less anything for me. I have a super-soft merino wool lace weight yarn in red that has just been begging to be made into something special. It won't be practical or washable, but it should be really cute!
Oh - and I made a chocolate cake for the girls. My friend Denise brought some freshly-ground Starbucks decaf that pair oh-so-nicely with warm chocolate cake topped with melt-y chocolate chips. And yarn. It paired oh-so-nicely with all the yarn. Come to think of it, coffee pairs nicely with just about everything I can think of.
Once everyone cleared out, I did a little bit more work on that owl-y project. I thought I'd give you a sneak peek. Aren't those owls just the cutest?

And orange ric-rack! Sigh.

It's almost finished, but I can only sneak fifteen minutes in here or there on it, so I'm thinking it will probably be a couple more days before it's all done. Especially when you consider that I have homework to do these days!

But finish it, I shall. I really do love finishing things.

Daily Bliss: I did say chocolate cake, didn't I? With melted chocolate chips on top?
Wake-up Playlist: Kings of Leon, Use Somebody

Crafty Gifties

It's getting to be about time for a crafty post around here, don't you think? It's been a long, dry month as far as creativity is concerned for me. Lest you think I've been making things all January long, you need to know that what I'm about to show you is partly Christmas craft. Mindy and her Christmas apron have been very hard to photograph. She prefers to be behind the camera, I think. I finally cornered her tonight at a family get-together (in celebration of her & my mom's birthdays). Unfortunately, it was already dark, we were inside, and my camera's aperture only opens up to 2.8. Sorry that these are not sharp and beautiful photos. Also, I had to resort to using the flash.
Apologies aside, here's the cute little apron. It's from the "A is for Aprons" book that I bought earlier this year. I wasn't completely in love with the pattern once I started making it. I'm something of a sewing novice and the instructions weren't as clear as I'd like them to have been. But I managed to muddle through and pull it together.

I saw this cute fabric in an online fabric store. It's a Japanese cotton print by Lecien. I love it. I saw those little squirrels and the red partridge and it just screamed "Mindy!" to me.

I love how it looks with the red and white polka dots so much, but when you trim it up with this sweet little green velvet ribbon? Oh, my. I can't take it.

So, Mindy's birthday is around the corner, too. But since it's so close to my mom's birthday, we usually celebrate them together. I knew she'd been wanting one of these slouchy berets - the Le Slouch by Wendy Bernard. I had the wrong weight of yarn, so I had to fudge the pattern a little bit. Heh. Is anybody out there surprised that I tinkered with the pattern? I didn't think so.


Anyway, I was doubtful as I knit it up. It seemed like it was too small. It didn't seem like it was going to slouch right. I re-started it no less than three times. but as soon as I started the decreases at the top of the hat, I was in love. I may even make one for myself!

Because I'm pretty sure Mindy's keeping this one.

DAILY BLISS: taking in a matinee