Sneak Peak

I'm pretty happy about this yarn. This beautiful stuff is Sublime 100% merino wool, DK weight. Supple and soft - perfect for a teddy bear baby gift!

I looked for a lighter brown, but on short notice, this dark chocolate brown is the best I could find. It might have a wonderful effect when it's all done - I can't wait to embellish the face :) I snagged a great deal on this stuff - $5 a skein at my local yarn store. The lady there is so nice - she gave me the sale price even though it wasn't on sale. She also was kind enough to give me a big bag of stuffing for free! She was using it for a small project and had a bunch left over. Perfect.

I think since this gift is for a little boy, I will knit up a little scarf using the bit of leftover yarn from my g'ma's blue hat. I've done most of the knitting on the bear's body, now I'm just trying to figure out the directions for the ears. Then I've got to get stuffing and weaving in ends.

Seven Year Pouch

This past month, H and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary!

We always use the chalice we used in our wedding ceremony, a Japanese tablecloth from my grandfather, and a couple of brass candlesticks from my sister that go very well with our chalice. We always give each other "traditional" gifts - this year it was wool. H decided to form an association called PAW (people against wool). He has had one too many scratchy sweaters in his life, and generally despises winter. I'm slowly introducing him to this luscious blend of cashmere, silk and merino wool however...


Pattern: Soft Drawstring Pouch from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (smallest of the three sizes)

Yarn: Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, leftover from these baby booties (I used every last inch of the leftover yarn!)

Needles: US 1 double pointed

He was terrified that his present was a pair of socks. Ha! This pouch was perfect - he doesn't have to wear it, and it will be useful for lots of things. In particular, as a travel pouch for his rolled up ties.

H gave me a beautiful creme wool beret which came in the mail a day or two after our celebration. In the meantime, he gave me the card you see in the second picture - incredibly sweet and meaningful to us. Soon I'll post pictures of my latest knitting project. Stay tuned...

Las Vegas

My sweetie and I just got back from fabulous Las Vegas - mostly a business trip, but we also squeezed in some fun!


These were the coolest freakin umbrellas I've ever seen. Look at those ruffles! Must figure out how to make these.

Serendipity 3 at Ceasars Palace - yummers!

Isn't this a beautiful awning? I love the white/gold/yellow and the fringe.

I would describe Las Vegas as more sumptuous than naughty. H and I figured that even if you win big, you are so surrounded by stuff to spend your money on that the house still wins.

This is the Fashion Show Mall, where I went to have my complimentary facial - there were a few perks to the conference we attended :)

Quite possibly my favorite part of the whole trip - the free lunch that came with my facial! It was fabulous except for the tea - I really didn't know what to make of it. It was some sort of herbal tea. I hate to admit it, but I'm not a tea connoisseur just yet. It is one of my foodie ambitions to appreciate good tea. As of now I like black tea with cream and sugar or plain green tea. Not too exciting...

Here is the Eiffel Tower's evil twin in Vegas. Thrilling to see it all lit up at night :)

This was one of the most spectacular things we saw - fantastic glass flowers on the ceiling of the Bellagio. Wow. That took a while.

These beauties are the crystal pillars in the lobby of Trump's Vegas hotel. Classy!

I can't wait to show you pictures of my latest knitting project - my anniversary gift to H. H and I just celebrated 7 years last night. Rather stunning - I still feel like a rather newly wed couple, very strange indeed. And fortunately I'm no itchier now than I was when we got married. Take THAT seven year itch!

Silly but Refreshing

Ridiculous to share pictures of bedding? Perhaps, but I was ridiculously excited to get these new-to-me sheets from my mom. I love them - they remind me a bit of anthropologie, and they are wonderfully crisp, especially for hand-me-down sheets. But then, my mother takes exceptionally good care of everything, so there you go.


I was trying to "make do" with whatever I had that would match this set of sheets when I realized I have a plain cotton sateen duvet cover I bought for nearly nothing in Boston years ago. I was delighted to see the effect this cream, semi-transparent duvet cover had when I slipped it over my blue duvet. It made this pale, minty-green that is hard to discern in the photos, but compliments the sheet pattern beautifully.

So yes, this is probably silly. But I figured anything I jumped around grinning about is worth sharing :)

Game Over

This is such a clever video by PES. I love the idea of battling with cupcakes and muffins with birthday candles!

Bird Totes

I thought I'd show you the totes I made my sisters and mother for Christmas a couple of years back. Please forgive my strange photo-shoot background...this was in my NYC apartment with zero space and weird lighting. I got the pattern from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, and slightly modified it by accident for each one I made :) The one above is for my mommy dearest. The top is the same fabric I used for my sister's purse, and the plaid is from my mother-in-law. Mom loves peach, bluebirds, and peonies, which formed the inspiration for this bag. I got the idea for the bird applique from Laura Gunn, who got the design from an Anthropologie dish towel. Cool huh?

This one, above, was for my eldest sister who is funky, sweet, and dreamy. Both top and bottom fabrics are from my MIL, and the cool spirals are from an April Cornell skirt I never wore. H is still upset that I cut it up - ahee. But isn't it a cool bird?

This bag was for my second eldest sister. She is warm, artsy, and bold. If I were to pick any of the bags for myself, this one would be it. We're the sisters with back-to-back birthdays, and oddly enough our tastes are very similar. The top is window curtain I scored at a thrifts store, the bottom matches mom's bag, and the bird is a rather bohemian scrap from my wedding quilt. Oh how I love that bird! It was the first one I tried, and my personal favorite.

This last tote was for my sister-in-law. She is hip, artsy, and loves jewel tones. The bottom fabric matches my eldest sister's, and the top fabric is a paisley that came from my MIL as well. The green bird is made from one of H's favorite fabrics, with light blue embroidery. She added a really cool button with her initial to the top and it really makes the bag super special.

What is thrilling is that they have been using their bags! That's always the most fun part of any project - to see it being used in the real world.

busy busy busy!

My fingers (and most of the rest of me) have been busy busy busy for the last few weeks. I was thrilled to finally find my missing knitting needles, which enabled me to finish my Grandmother's hats she requested. Yay! Both pink and blue hats are complete and safely in her hands. Just in time for summer - hmm.


Pattern: Modified Official Kitty62 Hat
Yarn: blast! I don't remember the brand. I know it's worsted weight merino wool.
Needles: US7 circulars and double pointed needles
Modifications: I added a few rows after the sead stitching and before the reduction rows, and left the ears off.

Here it is on my head (it looks soooo cute on my g'ma). Also my sister gave me that shirt - it's organic cotton and so pretty! I love it.


Here is a shot of the blue hat underway. I finished it in the car on the way home for my sister's and my birthday weekend, and attached the pompoms right there in her kitchen. The birthday weekend was tons of fun! Lots of eating out, visiting galleries, picture taking, cake eating, and general togetherness with family. My idea of a great time.


This here is my second try at homemade ice cream - strawberry! I've been wanting to try it ever since I read domesticat's post back in 2005. I go the recipe from Williams Sonoma (as usual). Very popular with yours truly, but not nearly as popular with H. He's partial to the chocolate batch. All the more for me :)


It was actually extremely hard not to eat the entire bowl of custard and strawberries in this stage. De-lishus.


Most recently of all I sorted through a huge stash of sewing supplies I got from my mother's gardening helper. Her mother died and left her with an enormous amount of crafting supplies. A lot of it was very costumey, but my mom and sisters and I managed to grab up some good stuff. My sister has been storing 5 trash bags full under her bed for months now. I finally got it over the birthday weekend. I think I still have to get some antique sewing patterns out of my mom's mini warehouse.


These beautiful lacy tablecloths and doilies are from my mother. They're old and stained, but I'm not sure I have it in me to cut them up, so we'll see what they become. Perhaps just tablecloths :) Can you believe how pretty that embroidery is?

I'm very excited about these particular fabrics too...and check out my pink and red ribbon! I have been dreaming about what I can do with that pink velvet ribbon. I see being busy in the future for sure...