For Alanah

Sweater set for Alanah Armijo:

She's Chris's cousin's baby-to-be... due soon!

I finished this awhile ago, but I had to wait

until after the shower to post it.

I hope I get a modeled pic!

Craft Night!

Well, Craft Night was last weekend, but I haven't had a chance to upload the pics until now... It was Holiday themed, to get a head start and all that... Anyway, it was definitely the most productive one ever- most of the time we had ended up just hanging out, which is fine, but you know, less productive.

See, boys can come too! Chris is always looking for buddies to avoid the crafting. But these boys wanted to craft, too! In your face, Chris! Uh, I love you.

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We started with making some paper ornaments:

That one's mine- I made it ahead of time.

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This one is Jamie's.

Chris forgot to take a pic of Kathryn's, but I will add it later if I can get one...

I got the instructions from Heather Bailey ("Paper Globes" under "Free Patterns"). They're super easy- I highly recommend. I've seen them done with different edging, too... something to try later.

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Then we made clothespin dolls... I got the idea from Allsorts here (there are non-holiday Allsorts ones here, and a whole flickr group of different ones here). I bought the supplies ahead of time and glued together the three main pieces so they would be ready to paint.

Jamie's!

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Mine (I didn't finish until everyone left, though)

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Natalie v. Bob!

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Doug v. Kathryn!

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As you can see, much fun was had by all. There are few more more pics here. I hope to get another Craft Night together soon, and I have some more holiday crafts to post! Soon...

New Model

Olivia's here! Olivia Mary Williams

Thursday, November 20, 2008

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She wore the hat I knitted her home!

Quite a perfect little model, I think.

Congratulations, Beth & Jimmy!

Sweetness

Dear "New" Boots,

Thank you so much for being awesome.

Love,

Jessica

Vintage Italian Boots from Ebay

Black and white and gorgeous all over...

I have obtained two prints somewhat recently that I realized I haven't blogged...

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One from the amazing Elsita (Elsa Mora) that I haven't taken my own pic of, but it's on my wall right now:

I matted it in red with a black frame... I love it so much. Check out all of the tiny little hiding animals! I really want to buy out her entire Etsy store.
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And more recently I got this print from lalalaika (Donna Enticknap):

I contacted her after seeing this image on Flickr & had to have a print... she has more available if you contact her there. It's absolutely beautiful... it even has little hand-touched gold highlights! And check out that little hand-drawn thank you that I got with it! How did she know about my fox obsession?

Autumn Happiness

Kathryn's birthday is today & these were her presents:

Vintage Salt & Pepper Shakers

(She collects shakers)

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Acorn Earrings

(I might have to make myself a pair of these, too!)

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I suppose you can tell I'm in a Autumn-y mood...

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Here's my Thanksgiving tree:

I actually put it out in September, sans turkey ornaments, but the Halloween tree goes up in between...)

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The Porch:

I have a thing for acorns.

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I also must add how very happy I am... I'm so proud of our country today- there will be so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! Huzzah! <Picture me doing the Snoopy dance>

It is a bittersweet victory, though... I'm proud of the US, but disappointed by my love, California. Prop 8, people? Really? I suppose we're made huge strides lately towards erasing bigotry, but it looks like we've got a lot more work to do, and soon.

Maude!

Here's my costume:

Don't know who I am? Don't worry, no one else did either...

Maude! As in Harold & Maude, if it's been awhile. I carried the DVD in my pocket... I really didn't expect anyone to recognize me. One person actually guessed it, but really I blame Chris for not being my Harold. He's a pooper. Of the party variety. There are more pics of other peeps costumes here... some are out of control cute... I'm looking at you, Panda with Baby Panda.

Hallowe'en!!!

I loooooove Hallowe'en... it's my favorite holiday, really, even though that is based more on childhood memories than actual current celebrations. My fondest memories of childhood always include Hallowe'en: roaming the streets in a pack of kids (after dark!), getting to dress up as a fairy princess in public, pillowcases filled near to the top with way too much candy to ever finish... Kids don't get to do all this much anymore- it seems that the majority end up at parties, school functions, etc., which I'm sure is fun too... but it couldn't possibly be as fun. Or maybe I'm just suffering from nostalgia overload.

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Believe it or not, I didn't finish all the decorating I wanted.

Hallowe'en Tree.

Yes, I have a tree for pretty much every holiday.

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Bat & pumpkins knitted this year.

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Candy Bucket.

I made this last year to hang on our door after we went out.

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I'd decorate the whole house if I could, but my laziness always wins out in the end.

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Close-up of the wreath.

I made it with a cheap grapevine wreath, a black feather boa and a fake crow from the craft store.

I like white pumpkins... they're like the ghosts of orange pumpkins, and therefore scarier. Right?

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I will hopefully have pics of my costume after Friday... not of Chris's though, as he is a big party pooper and never dresses up.

Top 5.

My Top 5 Pets...

as in, the top 5 that I don't have, but want desperately.

As in, I can't actually talk Chris into bringing these home...

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(in no particular order)

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Pygmy Hedgehog

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Fennec Fox

(That's right. A fox. That you can keep as a pet. I KNOW.)

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Miniature Pony
(They're dog-sized! Ahhhh!)

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Bunnies
(one Angora)

(...and one Dwarf)
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Sheep/Goats
(I put them together because they're pretty close, really...

except personality-wise... sheep pretty much hate people.

Mine will have to get over it. Because I will hug it. Daily.)

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And I leave you with this:
In case you haven't already died from cute.

(All pictures from Cute Overload)

The 2nd Annual Mills College MFA Table-Tennis Mac-Off Tournament of Champions Winners!

We won one part!

Last Friday, I won the Mac & Cheese cooking contest for Chris...
(Mine's in the pink casserole)

As you can see, there was some pretty stiff competition:

Not only is that a baked tower of mac, it was also set on fire. That's right. Fire. Every entry was fantastic, though. I pretty much could have eaten all night long. Altogether, I think there were nine entrys, including one plate of bacon. Just bacon. It took fourth place.

Unfortunately, neither Chris nor I were any match for Doug's prowess in both the Table Tennis and Pellet Shooting arenas... Congrats, Doug, on winning Master of Arts!

The lovely and amazing Gina took these pictures... thanks to her for that and the use of her oven for reheating the mac I carted from Sacramento. Speaking of, there were some recipe requests, so I've posted it below... The original recipe came from Kathryn (thanks Kathryn!), but I modified the hizzy out of it. Here's my version:

Serious Mac & Cheese
16 oz. pasta (I like mini penne) - cooked al dente
2 cups cottage cheese (whole) - creamed
8 oz. sour cream (whole)
3 eggs - slightly beaten
1/2 of a whole nutmeg - freshly grated
salt & pepper - to taste
6 cups cheese (I like 1/2 & 1/2 sharp cheddar and
gruyere) - freshly grated*
*I avoid pre-grated cheese in general because
of the extra additives and weird texture...

Preheat your oven to 350°. Mix the cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, nutmeg, salt & pepper in a large bowl until well blended. Mix in the grated cheese (reserving 1/2 to 1 cup for the topping), then the cooked pasta. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour - until top is nicely browned. Eat, eat, eat.

That's it! You don't even have to make a roux! Yaaaaaay!

For Olivia!

Our good friends Beth & Jim are due in 4 weeks!

Beth's shower was yesterday and these were part of her present:

Mossy Jacket (modified to make newborn sized)

Seed Stitch Baby Jacket

I winged it for the matching hat pattern. Beth choose the patterns from a stack I gave her, and the colors, for the most part... the Mossy Jacket was supposed to be green & orange, but the orange just wasn't working with the green I had started with. The bunny buttons are all me- I hope they don't mind! They're very minimalist in style and are going pretty unisex for baby stuff... an idea I love, but unfortunately bunnies + pink = irresistable for me.

Fair Trade.

I commissioned this painting:

by Doug & Kathryn's lovely daughter Hailee.

I loooooove foxes, and the painting!

We traded for a custom Totoro hat… she wanted one like this one, but the knitter had unfortunately not taken any notes or anything, so I had to try to figure it out.

I think it turned out pretty well…

These pics of Hailee (& Trixie!) were taken by Doug.

This the most complicated colorwork I’ve done,

mostly because I’m not usually a fan.

But I am a fan of Totoro! And Hailee! So there you go...

It was meant to be.

Lovely gift from Kathryn & Doug:

I knew she had to come to me someday... Or maybe K&D just read the title of this post...

Old School

I made this a few years ago for a class.

It’s a wire armature with handmade felt and needle felted roving for covering.

It’s about 2 1/2 feet tall and has a hollow cavity in the stomach area.

It was inspired by the Venus of Willendorf.

White Pumpkins

More for Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'en!

Knit with Patons Classic Merino. Pattern here.

I had some major problems with the pattern... for the life of me, I have no idea why I had to knit all of the seperate sections of the pumpkin (and then seam them!) when the pumpkin shaping is made entirely in the felting process. Bah.

It’s a very cute pattern, though… just go ahead and knit it in the round!

Mods: I altered the smaller pumpkin to make it even smaller & altered the stem piece on the larger one to make it bigger. I added a leaf to the top of the larger pumpkin.

Beverly's Pincushion Contest

I won!

For this:

Thanks Beverly's!