Planning My Year

In January, bloggers everywhere recall the past year and decide on goals for the new one. My favorite is Jessica's plan to wear more purple. What can I say? I think everyone should wear more of my favorite color - seeing it all over would make me very happy. I don't want to think about last year. It sucked. Besides my bout with depression, we lost some loved ones and it hit us hard. I'm focusing on looking ahead. When I started knitting I was entranced with gorgeous lace shawls. I bought several patterns and some skeins of laceweight yarn and quickly realized that my skills were lacking. Instead, I knit several fingering weight shawlettes that I never wear and decided to not knit any more accessories that will sit. Well, my attempts at sweaters haven't been great and it's starting to affect my mojo. When I was going through patterns, looking for something to knit for my OWL, I came across all of my wonderful shawl patterns and decided that it's time. Look at these:

These are a few of the patterns that have been waiting in a folder. I've gathered the yarn

and have started a couple

The pink is beaded and will be a stole, and the purple will be a giant maple leaf. Really. It's the result of peer pressure from my Ravenclaws - too many posts about colors and yarn ideas and I caved. It will be fun to wear a big leaf! I've been working on sewing, too. I have so many great patterns that I want to wear. By the end of summer I'll have a great wardrobe and will make sure to take loads of pictures so you all can see. It's been extremely cold for most of the country so far this year. Please stay warm and safe and make sure your loved ones are safe, too. Sub-zero wind chills aren't to be taken lightly. Bundle up if you have to go out! I'll see you again soon!

Sharing Some Love

I thought I'd end the year by linking you to some of the blogs I've been loving lately. First up are some super-stylish ladies. You've already heard about Vix. She's super cool - and on her way to a tropical vacation. Jealous! Sarah and Helga both have unique looks and amazing closets. Krista is so bright, has amazing hair, and is a creative and fun artist. Shelley has a cool sense of style and a great haircut. I don't know what to say about Desiree except wow. She is fearless. Melanie has such fun acting out the characters of her clothes - and painted a pair of jeans that make me drool with envy. Curtise rocks long floral skirts and boots like no one else and has photoshop skills to die for. Hollie looks like so much fun to be around and she organizes a ren faire and has an adorable little boy. Some of the sewists I follow are Lauren, who makes beautiful historical costumes and has a line of patterns from the 30s and 40s that are beautiful, Portia, who makes such classy separates, and Tilly, who is adorable and just started designing some patterns - and she was on the Great British Sewing Bee last spring. Another Lauren has mad sewing skills and isn't afraid to sew anything - check out her lace trench coat. Kristin makes such timeless clothes and hosted a couple of sewalongs this past year. Cation Designs makes amazing costumes and geek-inspired outfits. She made a gorgeous outfit to see Desolation of Smaug and has a wardrobe of dresses made from sheets. Roisin is adorable and makes the cutest dresses out of novelty printed fabrics - and wears them with magnificent shoes. Tempest hosted the Doctor Who sewalong (I failed) and makes awesome cosplay outfits for her family. They all look amazing! Nicole always looks so retro and hot. The last few here are blogs I don't know how to categorize, really. I look at the pictures and have spent much time going through their archives. Retrospace is full of the crazy goodies from (mostly) the 60s and 70s - everything from advertisements to television shows to movie posters. Sweet Jane and Emma Peelpants are usually scans of vintage magazine layouts and advertisements. They're both in England and have clothes that are so beautiful. Dolly Rocker Girl is a recent find - she posts about all sorts of people who inspire her and me - fashion icons, famous groupies, and rock stars. She has rekindled my love for classic rock chicks and seems like a very cool girl and I'd love to meet her. That's certainly not all of the blogs I read, but they're some of my favorites. I hope you find some new people to check out and don't hesitate to introduce me to any blogs you love. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Meet Joshua

Last fall I shared a picture of the kitty we had living with us. Unfortunately, she got out one might and disappeared. Khloe was devastated. So earlier this month I took her to the local shelter to pick out a new cat. It was a hard decision for her - she wanted to bring home all of them! She was particularly find of a pair of brothers, about two months old, who were frolicky and happy. Finally we went to the room with the sick kitties - ones with colds or who were taking other medicines. Khloe latched on to Joshua instantly - and he her. We picked him up a couple of days later. He loves being here. He's only five months old and is quite the active baby. I've been busy keeping him out of the things he's not supposed to get in to - like my plants and the dishwasher. Want to see him?

Khloe loves her new kitten. She's constantly loving him and playing with him. He is a bit of an attention fiend and is eating it up. He's also quite fond of Eric and has even helped him play facebook poker a few times. Me? I'm the one with the food. Joshua comes to me when he's hungry - and he's hungry a lot. He's filled out quite a bit since being with us. According to a chart, Joshua is the equivalent of a 13-year-old. He certainly eats like a teen. Thankfully he has no interest in going outside. Our Christmas was pretty good. Kerry got the shoes he's been wanting, Khloe got clothes (including the sweater in the picture), and I got some great red boots and a castle incense burner. Next up - my birthday! Stay warm and safe, please. I'll be back soon!

Thrift Shopping

Last week I made the rounds to the thrift and consignment shops in town - we have two thrift, two consignment, and one new charity in our smallish town. I found some goodies, but not all of the pictures turned out well. Since it's been so cold, I was glad to find this coat

It's almost full-length and lined. I barely feel the cold when I'm wearing it. The pockets are huge - plenty of room for mittens and car keys. I got some tops

and a dress

an embellished vest

and a cool pair of shoes

I really need to get to the shops more often. I've been volunteering at the charity shop once a week, but I may have to stop. I worked with a girl last week and she told me that anything I wouldn't wear goes in the box to ship to Africa. Well, honestly I wouldn't wear what she was wearing - I have too much respect for myself and the world around me to leave the house looking like crap in a tee that should be thrown out and old, worn-out pants. It's frustrating to be around people with small-minded attitudes about everything. Non-crafty people can't see beyond the finished item - a jacket isn't just a jacket, it's fabric and a long separating zipper and sometimes buttons or other embellishments. Clothes can be remade into other garments or completely different items. I get frustrated knowing that I will probably never find anything vintage here because of people like her, thinking that something old is essentially garbage and only good enough for shipping to another country. The Goodwill here seems to think it's a teen boutique and is full of mall brands in small sizes - I've not seen anything in my son's size range in years. Although I'm pleased with what I got last week I'm also discouraged by my town and will probably have to trek to Peoria once in a while to see what they have to offer. I guess it's one of the perils of small-town America.

Crafty Girl

Yesterday I was getting settled for a nap when Khloe came in and asked if we had a white pillowcase. I told her no, but the pillowcases are in the closet. Why? It's a surprise, she said. While I napped she made me this -

She made a heart stencil and painted me a pillowcase. Isn't it pretty? I'm a bit nervous about using it - the paint isn't for fabric, so it will probably rub off. I love it, though. She's such a sweetie. Have you had a surprise gift made for you? Please tell me about it!

Buttons!

While I was on hiatus I spent a great deal of time sorting out my button collection. I have loads of buttons - old, new, gifted, purchased...all are beautiful and wonderful. When I see a button jar at a thrift shop or yard sale I just have to have it. I love looking at them and imagining what the previous owner was going to use them for or how old they are. I have some that were my grandmother's and I try to imagine what she had in mind for them. Some of them are new and are from Joanne Fabrics or Wal Mart that I got because I had a project that didn't work out or they were cheap and cute. My button collection makes me very happy and keeps my imagination going. Here's what I've been doing with them:

I'm still sorting out some of them and haven't made jars for the metal ones. I have a jar for the leather ones that's not in the picture. So, what have I made with buttons lately? These!

These are the Forbidden Forest mitts from the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits book. It's a fast and easy pattern. I used some yarn from Storied Yarns called Irial. I don't remember what book the character came from that inspired the colorway, but I think it looks good with the pattern - and it gave me an opportunity to use some of my gray buttons. Later today I'll be adding more patterns to my pinterest board. I've hit a snag, though. The 80s are considered vintage. I'm not ready to classify my teenage years in the same range as my mother's, you know? I do have some 80s patterns that I don't have pictures of...but I'll get it done. Did you know that early 90s is also vintage? Seriously. (Don't get me started on the grunge comeback. Ugh.)

Back In Business

I'm back from my break - no ravelry or twitter for nearly a month and very few blogs. I spent a good deal of time figuring out things and feel better. What have I been doing? Knitting dishcloths -

Lots

and lots

of dishcloths

I made 47 in all. My mom has a table in a craft sale coming up and I'd like to earn a few extra bucks for Christmas - five kids gets expensive, even if I'm only really filling stockings.
As for sewing, I'm still working on getting a good fit on my faux-DVF wrap dress. It's almost there! I was going to make a Halloween costume but the time got away from me. I don't think we'll have any trick-or-treaters, anyway - it's supposed to storm all night. Eric is happy. He hates Halloween. Khloe and I love seeing all of the little kids dressed up and usually wind up chatting with every one of them. I guess we'll be stuck eating all this candy. Good thing it's the stuff we like!
Tempest is having a Doctor Who sew-along. I'm working on just the right thing. I already have the big stripey scarf. I'm not ready to make the Leela costume - my dream cosplay for when I ever get to go to Gallifrey One, the big Convention in Los Angeles every year. One thing almost every Doctor wore is a vest. I'm going to go through my stash and find some good vest fabric. I have a couple of different patterns, but they're kind of similar. I mean, vests are vests. You will see that soon.
Oh! I forgot to show you my Fall For Cotton dress! I got it turned in on flickr on time but didn't share it with you. The pattern is from the late 40s and was given to me from my aunt. The fabric is black with multi-colored polka dots that I got a Joanne Fabrics last spring.

It fits really well. There are a couple of places that I'll adjust next time, because there will be a next time. It's a great pattern. I'm planning on wearing it to Eric's mom's birthday party this weekend. So that's all for today. I'll be back soon!