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From crafts

Sister let me borrow her sewing machine for the weekend since mine still isn't here so I whipped out this little ditty.

From crafts

Handbag sized this time. I do a lot of totes and shoulder bags, so it was kind of fun to do a hand bag. It went pretty quick too. Canvas and interfacing between the outer layers again. Not only does it make it sturdier, but it helps it hold its shape.

From crafts

Stripes on the inside and a pocket. Wallet and library book not included. The wallet is non negotiable this time since it's Husband's.

Oh and a preview of the wristwarmers:

From crafts

Holy wow the sun is out!

I feel like winter is never going to end. I had somebody tell me once that they didn't mind the holidays but they hated January because it always seemed to go on forever. It feels like that was 2 months ago, but really it was about 2 weeks ago. Weeks have turned into months and I blame the lack of sun.

I know I said I'd have those wrist warmers finished, but then I messed one up and had to tear it out. So hopefully I will finish it today, take some photos and send them off tomorrow.

From crafts

I did take some new photos of the Ani bag that I love. I'm seriously considering keeping this if it doesn't sell. It's actually a great size even though the dimensions seem small. It would be great for some vegetables that shouldn't be smooshed at the Farmer's market, a couple library books, or just a purse. You could fit the book you're reading plus keys, wallet, and phone. And some necessities like lip gloss.

From crafts

Thanks to Kristin for the new banner.

Am super tired today and afraid I might be getting the cold the kids seem to have caught. Oh and pink eye is going around Daughter's preschool class. Lovely thing to hear this morning after dealing with a cranky overtired Son.

So not much of an update today. I hope to finish the wrist warmers while watching a lot of tv wrapped in a blanket (I've seriously considered getting a snuggie). Only 1 and a half pairs left and then I'll hopefully get photos. I know you're excited so you can go ahead and squee if you want.

Still waiting for the new sewing machine. I got an email saying it's been shipped to the store. Hopefully it won't take the estimated week to get there that they think it will.

short

I'm kind of pimping out Threadless lately, but I'm okay with it. I love this t-shirt. Which I know is also Star Wars related, so I'm not sure if the blog is pimping Threadless or Star Wars (I felt like that needed a link so it will take you to Wikipedia).

It's a light saver. Get it? If I have to explain it, it's not funny.

Daughter is watching this dinosaur show on PBS right now. They have a real live paleontologist on it. It reminds me a little of Ross from Friends. That was really the perfect occupation for that character. I watch too much tv. I limit Daughter's in the hopes that she won't be like me.

My head is constantly playing Wicked, the soundtrack

From crafts

A new bag and not a band this time. I'd like to think that Liz Lemon would love this tote. Does that make me a stalker? Can you even be a stalker of a fictional character? I would never stalk anyone even if they are adorable. I don't want to go to jail. I would not make a good bitch for anyone.

From crafts

Look, it's big enough to hold notebooks. It would also be really good for a farmer's market. Perhaps one where you're trying to pick up a Star Wars fan. Or perhaps you go to Star Wars conventions. I don't judge. It had better be super sturdy since in between the outer layers are interfacing and canvas. It's how I made my diaper bag back years ago and I've never had a problem with it (and I shove that sucker full). (Full disclosure: I used the diaper bag for two years, but with Son bought one because Husband hated that there were so many pockets on the one I made.)

From crafts

The inside has three pockets that go the whole width of the bag. My wallet does not come with it. Actually, it's negotiable, but I warn you it's empty. Completely empty.

Help for Haiti

A few things in between my knitting wristwarmers like crazy.

• I ordered the wrong yarn color for my Liz Lemon hat. So I made wristwarmers from it instead. It's super soft and I'm not afraid to say I want to cuddle with it.
• You can friend Cerlandia on Facebook now. I kind of did it as a joke because Sister told me I should, but it's gotten quite a few fans.
• Ravelry has made it easy for designers to donate profits to Haiti. (They got hit with another strong earthquake...just wait until O'Reilly talks about this one). Go here to browse patterns tagged with "Help for Haiti."
• I've had to start wearing an arthritis glove while knitting so that my hand doesn't hurt as much. I'm getting old.

I'm starting to not remember what I've blogged about. How sad is that?

I've been busy making arm/wrist warmers for The White Rabbit Gallery in Iowa City. If you happen to live in Iowa City you will soon have a place where you can buy my stuff in person. You'll also be able to see how well made it is that way.

I even designed two of the wristwarmers myself, but I totally didn't take photos. Boo on me. I did write the patterns down though so I should be able to replicate them if I ever desire. The next pair I'll get a photo of. Hopefully.

I also gave Tony his hat and got a ring from Jillian. She had an art opening at the Quad City Arts in Rock Island, IL. I highly recommend it, it's a great show and we were able to bring the kids. Daughter had a ton of fun and Son was just angry he couldn't be on the floor. I'll have to remember to take a photo of the ring, but it won't do it justice. You can't see the depth or vibrancy that her art has from photos.

Bag for sale

From crafts

New Tori bag. I haven't made a smaller bag in quite some time, so it was nice. It's like her eyes are boring into your soul. If you feel like being dramatic.

From crafts

The back; it's from the Strange Little Tour that she did for her Strange Little Girls album. I remember the Scarlet's Walk tour because I was always blinded by the spot light for "I Can't See New York." It ruined any chance of liking that song that I had. I do like the bag though.

She chose to wear it all on her own. In fact, she actually asked for it. In our house, this is huge. She's wearing pants and a sweater I made her all without a fight. Woo! We celebrate the little victories here.

Son wears his sweater a lot too, but I haven't gotten photos yet. I'm thinking about doing some baby stuff for the shop. If it doesn't sell I know that someone will eventually have babies I can give it too.

My yarn for the Liz Lemon hat comes tomorrow! I'm so excited. And perhaps you'll be happy when I'm done knitting the thing so that you don't have to hear about it anymore. Or maybe you're just thinking which Liz Lemon hat, 30 Rock has been on for quite a while. So, here is the Liz Lemon hat I am making. (I blatantly stole these pictures from the internet).

How much do I adore Liz Lemon by the way? I'm not afraid to admit I have a girl crush on her and that she kind of makes me want to see the Star Wars trilogy.

That's right, I have not seen the Star Wars trilogy. Judge me later. I did start knitting up a sample of the hat in worsted weight yarn just to see what I wanted to do differently with the pattern. It would have turned out even better had I not run out of yarn.

updates

I ordered yarn for the Liz Lemon hat and I'm trying to knit it in some of that orange I have. Just for practice. Because sometimes you need to practice before using the expensive yarn that you can't afford to mess up on. Not that that orange yarn is super cheap or anything, just that I have a lot of extra I'm not sure what to do with anyways. That orange yarn is actually very awesome. Just also very orange.

We also had a birthday last sunday. Daughter turned 4, so don't believe the cake. I really want to know what 14 year old loves Cinderella so much they would want a cake with her on it, but I digress.

So I'm really late on the bandwagon, but I'm finally watching 30 Rock. There's this hat that Liz Lemon wears in the first season that I love. And guess what, somebody knit it! That means I don't have to hope there's a pattern out there and then never knit it. I love the googles.

I don't want to steal the person's photos, so here's a link to her flickr page of the hat. The only sad thing is her blog doesn't work. I think I may have to figure out the decreases on my own, but I'm sure I can handle it.

And today I posted

I finished another beret. This one out of a self striping double knit weight yarn and wait for it...it turned out adult sized. I used the same pattern that I used for the other beret I knitted way back in 2009 that turned out way too small. This one makes me feel like my head is normal sized and not extremely large. It also makes Marge's head look a bit on the smaller side, which I think is a good thing.

Enough babbling, picture time.

From Crafts 2010

The front of the hat which Marge is so nice to model for us. It would look even better on a real live person, but I don't live close enough to any of my friends to force ask them to model for me on a regular basis.

From Crafts 2010

The back of the hat. This photo also shows off the pattern of the yarn really well.

From Crafts 2010

And the side view. Slouchy without being obnoxious.

space

I thought I blogged about these, but apparently I haven't. No wonder why Jeni was so confused when Daniel and I started talking about the stockings. I posted these in my photo album of 2009 crafts, but it's on my other picassa web album and it's all so confusing. I'll have to move my 2010 album over here. So many email addresses.

So, in all their glory, these are the stockings that I made for the kids. I did embroider names on them, just on the side I didn't take photos of.

This is Son's. I had the fabric from way back because I was going to make a bag for Daughter one Christmas but then I got really sick and never got around to making the bag. She never knew about it so she didn't care and now she's scared of bugs.

Daughter's is made out of a pillowcase that used to be her aunt's. I'm not sure which Aunt, one of the ones on her dad's side. It turned out really cute and it was the perfect amount of fabric.

Marge went hunting

Happy New Year and all that jazz. Husband's had off this week so we've been extremely busy playing Lego Star Wars: the Complete Saga. It's so incredibly great I don't even have the words to tell you about it.

I did however make this hat because Marge got cold. Also because I'm doing a swap with my (soon to be) very famous artist friend.

It does look like she could go hunting. Not even Dick Cheney could mistake her for a deer with this orange.

The only thing I didn't like about this pattern is that the thrumming does occasionally show in between the stitches on the right side. According to a Ravelry search I'm not the only one that's had this problem. Oh, and the thrumming doesn't look so great when you're actually knitting the piece up, but when it's trimmed it looks a million times better. Now what to do with all the extra wool roving.

The details:

yarn- Cascade 220 2 strands held together (2 skeins needed)

needles- size 10.5 straight, 16" circular, and double pointed

pattern- Fleeced Earflap Hat from Coco Knits

roving- Natural Creamy White Merino Top from Marvelous Merino