Moving along on my socks

I'm just moving right along on my socks. I got both heels done. Yay me! I like the contrast color. And I will definitely have enough of the contrast for the toes.

I also made another pincushion. This one is for my Mom. Her birthday is Friday. I bought some nice bright pins to put in it too. Even if she never uses it, she can enjoy looking at it. Fun to make!

I took some of the cash I got for my birthday and bought myself a new sewing lamp. It's not an Ott light, but that's OK, it serves the purpose. It's so nice and bright. I love it! I haven't been sewing much lately, it's so hot and I just get real lazy when it's like this outside even with the AC turned on.

I still need to rearrange the sewing machine set up and get the old lamp out of there and put the new one on the sewing cabinet. And then sew! It will be really nice to have a bright light in that area. After writing about sewing, now I feel like sewing!

Fabulous Fabrics!

Thank you for the birthday wishes! I bought myself some goodies in celebration. Lately I have been totally in love with Matroyshka dolls, or Russian dolls or some call them Nesting dolls. I found this fabric and just HAD to have it. I'm going to make an apron from a pattern in this wonderful little book I got from the library, The Apron Book. A lot of interesting and wonderful information about aprons in the book. I may have to buy it someday.

I also bought some cotton calico and a new jammie pattern to make more jammie pants. I just can't stop making them. They are so incredibly comfy.

Then, I also got some fabric to make the witch for my door for Halloween time, and some bits and pieces of pretty fabrics to make little dolls called Dotee. My sister and I are in love with them and are going to have a craft night and make some. Stay tuned for that. I also found sequins and jewels and glitter and tulle and paint to decorate them with. I need to get some beads also. Can't wait! It will be a fun evening.

I have been working on my socks. I love to sit out on the deck in the evening and knit. I'm almost up to the heel on the second sock. The first one is waiting on old needles that I don't like. I'm hoping to do the heels one after the other that way I can see how much of the contrast yarn I'll be using before I get to the toes. So I'm just moving along on them. My daughter got me those two balls of Sugar & Cream for my birthday. I love that yarn!

And last, but not least, my daughter has been making beaded necklaces and I just had to show one off. I just love this one!

She's been getting very creative and enjoying her crafting time too. She won't have time for it once she goes back to school.

That's it for now. It started pouring down rain a few minutes ago, just pouring. A good time to stay inside and sew or knit or craft. Have a great weekend!

It's that time again

It's that time of year again where my age changes. Today is my birthday. I'm no longer 50. I'm now in my 50s. Scary. But I'm now one year closer to retirement if that should ever happen. My daughter got me this balloon and she bought a cake for us to eat later. Boston Cream Pie Cake! Can't wait to dig in.

I'm just moving right along on the sock. I got a lot done the other night at knit night with the girls. Such a nice, fun evening! I always enjoy it and no one ever spills hot tea on me. I am now at the part of the sock where I'm going to change colors for the heel, so I decided to start the second sock that way I can do both heels one after the other and watch how much yarn I'm using on the contrast ball.

Joann's had Butterick patterns on sale for 99 cents! So I picked up a couple. I just love the Halloween door hanging. I'm hoping to get started on that one soon.

And I just love buttons! I've picked up some really cute ones lately which were on sale. I don't know what I'll use them on, but I just HAD to have them, even if I just look at them and smile they are worth it. Cats and sheep!

I have nothing special on tap for the big day. I took the day off and so did my daughter. We may go out for dinner, don't know where yet, and we will definitely dig into that cake later! Here is where I wish I was spending my birthday, Houghton Lake, Michigan, my favorite place in the world.

I hate this muggy weather

It's been so humid lately. I get so lethargic when it's like this, don't want to move around, no ambition, haven't been doing much. Except for craft things! I made my very first pincushion. It was a fun little project. It's made with a cotton fat quarter and some felt. It's stuffed with a bamboo stuffing, very dense. I thought it looked plain on the top so I sewed on a button. The button is from my great aunt's button box which I received when she died. All kinds of wonderful old buttons in that button box!

The whole thing is sewed by hand, no sewing machine involved in the pincushion. I want to make more! I've been collecting all kinds of pincushion patterns. Fun little projects.

I did make another pair of jammie pants. Winnie the Pooh print! They are so comfy

I've made some progress with my sock. Even though it's wool, it's a small project so I've been able to stand touching it. A very easy pattern to memorize.

Just a couple more inches and I'll be at the heel. I'll learn how to do the wrap and turn technique. I'm pleased so far with the sock. The yarn is very soft and feels real nice.

And lastly, I picked my first tomatoes.

Cherry tomatoes. Nowhere on the stake did it say the plants were cherry tomatoes. I've been waiting all summer for a nice juicy tomato. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go to the farmers market for that. But I will enjoy the little tomatoes I'm growing.

I started some socks

Another hot steamy day in the neighborhood. Got the good ol' AC going. I went outside to water the flowers and it was miserable. Time to stay inside and knit and sew. I started a sock. I'm using some Whimsy-Pinzy sock yarn I got from Sonny and Shear. It's called Tippy Toes. There is a coordinating yarn for the heels and toes. It's going to take me a while to get to that point as I just got past the ribbing and did one pattern repeat. Maybe it will go faster now that I got past that boring 2 x 2 ribbing. The pattern is called Groovy socks and I found it on Ravelry.

I picked up some more cotton fabrics to make jammies, project bags, and I want to try my hand at making a pincushion. I'll use the fat quarters for a pincushion. All fun stuff!

And goodies arrived in my mailbox! Yay! I love buying homemade soaps from etsy shops. It's one of my little indulgences. This came today, goats milk soap. Smells yummy!

And some Japanese fabric I bought from an etsy vendor in China came today. I just love it! Cupcakes! I'd love to have a cupcake about now, but it's too darn hot to heat the oven.

Time to go get some crafting stuff done!

Monkey Jammies

Not much going on here. I did a little bit of sewing and made another pair of jammie pants. Silly little monkeys! They make me smile. They are cotton flannel. I made them in the shorter length and didn't put in the drawstring. I was lazy. I added the elastic though.

And no, I didn't forget how to knit. Just haven't been in the knitting frame of mind lately. I did make another dishcloth. A log cabin! It makes me want to go on vacation.

Fabric Buying Frenzy

The sewing bug bit me again, so I'm back in the sewing mood. I bought some new fabrics:

Bathtub duckies, monkeys, and popcorn boxes. Those are all cotton flannels. The Easter bunnies are a cotton. I'm going to make a project bag with that one, it would make a cute container for Easter goodies when that time rolls around again. With the popcorn boxes flannel I made jammie pants! I altered the pattern and made it shorter, into a capri/pedal pusher length. Very comfy!

I think they're perfect to wear while watching a movie!

I also made a project bag out of a cotton flannel with purses on it. So cute! I just love this fabric.

I think I'll keep this one for me!

I was going through my stash and found some Christmas cottons I had. They would make great little gift bags. I don't have a lot of yardage on those to make much else. They were leftover from something else. And my cat is still sick. I'm supposed to be making her food now, she's on a bland diet. So I pulled out my cat food cookbook. Haven't made anything yet, I'm still following the recipes the vet gave me. She won't eat the stuff I'm making, she's used to cat food, not people food. I made chicken and rice. I feel like I'm feeding her Chinese food.

There is a small amount of knitting going on. A kitty cat dishcloth, pretty in pink!

It's so muggy today, can't stand it, don't feel like doing much. I think I'll turn on the AC and cut out another pair of short jammie pants. They sew up very quickly.

Another Little Ornie

I got another ornie done. I cut the pattern out wrong on this one, forgot to add the quarter inch seams to the body so this one is skinny. I call it my anorexic ornie. I still think it's so cute! I'm going to send this one to my aunt. She just loves Christmas stuff.

Kind of hard to part with these little cuties.

Another three day weekend for me, yay! I'm going to Joann with my daughter tomorrow. Flannel prints are on sale, time to stock up for some more of those jammie pants. Too hot to even think about sewing them at the moment. But so fun to buy and look at fabric!

My Katie went back to the vet today for a recheck. Her skin problem has resolved, but now we have new issues. She can't keep food down. It's been really gross around here, I won't go into details. More medicine, and another shot, and another bite out of the wallet. Getting old sucks whether you're human or animal.

I found this photo of her on the computer. My daughter must have taken it. Look at those eyes!

I have a new cat

I've been wanting this cat pattern for a long time. Finally had my chance to get it. McCalls patterns were $1.99 over the weekend at Joann and I picked it up along with some fabric to make this cat. It was a lot of fun to make. I haven't made a stuffed animal in a long time.

That kept me busy over the weekend. Now you know what that mystery thing was on a previous post: The body.

I really haven't been in a knitting mood. It's been so hot I can't stand to touch wool. So I've been working on dishcloths. I can handle touching the cotton. This one is from the Monthly Knit-Along group on Yahoo. Love to Knit.

I'll get my knitting mojo back soon. I just don't know what to make yet, nothing is screaming at me to be knit. In the meantime, I'm very content making dishcloths. And sewing.

Cat Head

This is just cracking me up. I can't stop giggling.

Fat Quarters and Other Things

How was your 4th of July? Mine was grand! I went to Joann yesterday with my sister and my daughter. We had such a grand old time! We were there for three hours! I think we could have stayed longer, maybe stayed the night if they would have allowed it! We had so much fun just taking our time and looking at stuff. We spent the most time in the fat quarters area. They were on sale for 99 cents. Had to stock up! Here is some of what I bought:

I seem to have gotten lots of purple. That big piece is flannel. Don't know what I'm going to do with that yet, but I wanted it. Maybe I'll make another project bag. Haven't made one of those in a while. I've been working on this today:

Can you guess what it is?

I need to take my kitty back to the vet this week for a recheck. She is doing so well. You can see where her fur is growing back on her back. She's doing real well. Just a couple more days of getting the antibiotics in her. She's onto me. I've been getting very creative with stuffing her pill in a treat, or in tuna, any way I can get it into her. The other cats love it. They get treats at the same time, but no pill.

Hope you're having a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I am!

Little Things

The tomato plants are still alive, but not doing too well. I do have some tiny tomatoes on them. I planted them in pots this year because I kept getting animals gnawing away on my plants. I'm just going to be patient and wait and hopefully they will grow more. With all the rain we've had, I'm surprised they haven't drowned.

I did get another ornie done! A little angel. She's at the top of the plant.

I won a book on ebay. All kinds of patterns in it for sewing little things, really cute stuff!

I'm in love with this pattern from the book, little zebras! I need to keep an eye out for black and white striped fabric.

Don't ask me why I want to make the zebras, I just do. Got lots of things I want to sew. I still need to start buying fabric for my rag quilt. Might have to go calico shopping over the weekend. The nice 3 day weekend!

Still not much knitting going on. I just haven't been inspired to knit lately. I did start a dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth Knit-Along, I'm behind on it, but that's OK, it will get done. I have no idea what it will be.

My little ornies!

Now that my sewing room is nice and organized, I'm inspired to sew. I've been in the mood to sew something fun. So I made some little ornies. I used this pattern I got from Attic Raggedys dot com. Such cute stuff there!

I just love snowmen and I have some I keep out year round. The special ones. Here is my snowman ornie coming to life. First I had to cut him out.

Then I got the body parts sewed and stuffed.

It was quite tedious stuffing those little arms and legs. After that it was time to sew the body parts together.

Then I made his little clothes. In honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday I made this one in red, white and blue colors. A very patriotic snowman!

Then I added the finishing touches, such as face, hat and trim, etc.

And before I knew it, I had him all put together and decorated and he was done! So cute! In the end I changed the little pompom nose for a carrot. Much more snowman-y.

This little snowman was so much fun to make, I decided to make another one. I made a snowgirl next. She turned out really cute too!

Next up is a snow angel. Can't wait to get started on her. So that's what I've been doing with all that calico I've been buying. I still want to make more and since I'm in the sewing mood again that's what I'll be doing. I've set the knitting aside for a little bit until I can decide what I want to knit next.