Things I’m grateful for this week ::

:: laundry on the line



:: simple box of freshly opened crayons put into a basket



:: morning blanket time outside



:: bedside table full of color from fresh flowers



:: my son’s desire to scrape paint off windows





:: harvesting basil



:: some new cooking in the kitchen – pesto, and some other great recipes from Desperation Dinners :: African Chicken Stew – yum!

Have a great weekend!!!

a new bag ~

I’ve been in a “bag” mode lately – seems like whenever I want to run out somewhere with my knitting, I can never find the right sized bag I need for the moment. So last week I whipped up this ticking stripe sling-tote from French General Home Sewn - fabulous book I must say. It is full of inspiring patterns to be made from hemp and linen fabrics, which I can't wait to try. Since I already had this ticking waiting for something to be made out of, this was my first chosen project from this book.



So this morning, I had just what I needed for an outing straight to the backyard to watch my kids play. It was an absolutely perfect morning, the air cool and fresh, with knitting on my needles, and a new bag in hand.

this week I'm grateful for ::

:: backyard soccer play





:: juggling



:: little tomatoes



:: train traps

Summer is starting to wind down, one more full week to go {and yet so much still to do!!}

back to the to-do list

:: Into the wash



:: on to the cutting board

I have been holding on to this stash of Anna Maria Horner Good Forks fabric all summer, waiting until I couldn't wait anymore to get into it. Yesterday was that day. With several hours of cutting and a tired pregnant back afterwards, I am one step closer on my to-do list . . .

this week I’m grateful for ::

:: my son beginning to study music, will be taking violin lessons this Fall





:: Lena practicing using her doll sling before new baby comes





:: water play outside; splashing down the slide into the pool; and reminiscing how as I child I did the very same thing with our swingset slide and pool!



:: tummy growth



:: cooking with fresh herbs cut from my garden {how I love walking outside late in the afternoon to snip fresh herbs!}



:: sewing space once again evolving back into a clean and neat dining room {and new sewing space still evolving elsewhere}

I would love to hear what you are grateful for this week!!!

Patchwork potholder ::

There are times as a crafter that I get an urgent need to make some-thing!! This urgent need hit me Friday night around 8:00!! I had this blue calico shirt lying around that I knew one day would be made into something . . . so out came the cutter wheel and cutting mat and this is what I made . . . a potholder, or hot mat, whatever you may call it, I love it!!!



Aligning these triangles and squares can be quite tricky!! But yet it reminded me of something quite familiar . . . oh yes, that red peppermint quilt I made many Christmases ago that seemed like the most massive quilting project to ever be made! With quilting, you learn little tricks, like how to align those pesky triangles up correctly and lo and behold, those tricks were put into practice once again this weekend for this calico potholder.



I think it’s sweet, useful, and resourceful, and I absolutely love the color combination. I see many more of these being made in my future!!!

This week I'm loving ::

Shopping for birth supplies ::

This time of year, you mostly hear talk of buying back to school supplies, but for our family, one of our evenings out this week was spent gathering a long list of birth supplies. It seemed oh so familiar and I enjoyed every minute of it!

I so love that there are some unusual items on the list like 3-4 oz ground cloves, box of sea salt, garden hose, bendable straws . . . that aren’t so . . . well personal. It makes the shopping trip fun and creative, and I was so grateful it was all led by my husband who is making sure our nest is built in plenty of time for this baby’s arrival. I have a long list of to-do’s but this much needed outing allowed us to check one more to-do off the list . . .





Mini-cable knitting ::



A new personally autographed book ::

Oh how I've waited for months for this to arrive!! And to my surprise it arrived on Saturday before the publishing date. I have been pouring over the pages ever since. It's full of so many ideas on repurposing, I hardly know where to begin . . .

A shawl for a midwife ~

For eight years I have been searching for something to make {by hand} for my midwife. When I saw the pattern and yarn for this shawl, I knew this was the perfect project.

It was just what I needed to sit quietly, I call it my "mindful" knitting project. I never worked on this while watching TV or riding in the car. I knit this at times when I could be alone and think about my midwife, the baby, hopes for the birth, to get centered on the near future and the love she has given me, and my family. She is a very dear soul, and I’m so blessed and grateful that she has been with me at each of my births, so blessed indeed.



Can I just say, that next to Koigu, Noro is my next favorite yarn. It made this knitting project so much fun, to see what visually was coming next. This yarn is self striping and the shawl pattern just walked me through how to get these great results! The colors are so magnificent and cheery, I thought this skein really shouted “fall” colors and since our baby will be here this fall, I thought, how appropriate!!