The Crud Brings Productivity

The crud that has been going around has reached our house! First, it started with my 15 month old, then my three year old, then my adorable husband, and now me. Needless to say, our Valentines day was pretty low key. My husband took me out to a nice dinner on Sunday night before the blahness hit, but last night our romantic evening consisted of snotty kids, a chicken casserole, and an early bedtime. Darling hubby and kids seem to be feeling much better today, me, however... that's a different story.
 It's hard for me to sit still and rest normally, but when I'm sick, I have to make myself sit still. That's partly the reason I did take up knitting over six years ago. All of this resting and sitting still would not be happening without my knitting to keep my hands busy and generate the feeling of productivity.
Since I've been sofa bound for the last couple of days, I took the opportunity to finish up this little scarf. The pattern is Peacock Tail and Lace Scarf from Nancy Bush's incredible book Knitted Lace of Estonia. The yarn is Malabrigo Lace in the "Molly" colorway, and is available from Eat Sleep Knit. In the pics it looks more like a red, but in reality it is a rosy, bubble gum pink.


I apologize for the poor picture quality. I took these with my iPhone because it's easier to load them onto Facebook and then slurp from there for my blog. Blogger has issues with my computer for some reason.

I have also finished the first of these socks. The pattern is Eunice and is one of many totally cool patterns in Cookie A's Sock Innovation. The yarn is Cascade Heritage in "Green Opal"

Valentines Dress Top

I've had this cut out and machine appliqued forever! I finally sewed it together this morning while my kids were watching Nick Jr and eating PBJ and fruit snacks. It is extremely quick and easy to put together since there are only four pieces to the pattern and no buttonholes to do. The fabric is from Hobby Lobby and the pattern is called Whimsical A Line Tunic from Whimsy Couture. The machine embroidery applique is available at Swak Embroidery and the curlz font was purchased at Embroitique.

You've Got Wings, Baby

Last week I finally finished my first ever lace weight project. Let's just say I'm officially hooked! I think I've found my knitting niche. Of course, I also said that about socks, but after the intense sock knitting I did over the Christmas season I need a sock sabatical! I started this shawl a couple of days before Christmas right after I casted off the very last Christmas sock, and finished early last week. The pattern is called Winged Shawl and is printed in Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2010. The yarn is Knit Picks Shadow in Basalt Heather.




And, finally, a little recipe that I promised to post for some of my facebook friends:

Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake

2 cups of rigatoni noodles cooked as directed on package
4 oz of cream cheese cubed and softened
1/2 onion chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 red or yellow pepper chopped
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken cooked and cut into large chunks or 1 large can of chunk chicken breast
2 heaping tbsp of pesto sauce
1/2 cup of mozarella cheese
Grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In microwave safe mixing bowl, place onion, zucchini, and pepper and microwave on high for 3 minutes to soften. After you remove from microwave, add garlic and mix with spoon. Stir in cream cheese until even distributed. Then stir in spaghetti sauce and pesto sauce. Add chicken. Place cooked pasta in greased casserole dish. Stir in chicken and veggie mixture. Top with mozarella and sprinkle with grated parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite garlic bread. Makes about 8 servings.

Baby Girl Giftset

Christmas kinda snuck up on me this year, so I have been absent from the blog but very very busy. Mostly doing knitting, but also a little sewing. I had a baby shower this past Saturday for my sweet friend, Erin Robbins and her baby girl, London Eliza Robbins. I did a little knitting, a little sewing, and a little bow making. Here's what I came up with:


Baby Surprise Jacket made with Elizabeth Zimmerman's classic pattern. The yarn is Berroco Comfort DK in Birthday Party.




Close up view of the Baby Surprise Jacket




Three inch boutique and 2 inch pinwheel bows from my Etsy shop.




Emboidered burp cloths. The pattern for these is free from You Can Make This and the fabric is available from Hancock's. The appliques and fonts for machine embroidery can be found at Swak Embroidery.




Paci clip with 2 inch pinwheel bow




Monogrammed blanket with blanket binding. Fabric available from Hancock's and font can be found at Embroitique. The pattern is my own.



Christmas Knot Dress

I have finally got little miss Katie's Christmas knot dress done... just in time for the anticipated photo with Santa that I am planning early next week. For this dress, I used a combination of three different knot dress patterns. Basically, I just picked what I liked best from each one and it became this combination:

The fabric for most of the dress is Christmas Groove by Caleb Gray available from Fabric Shoppe on Etsy. The cute little print that makes up the apron is from the Colorful Christmas Collection for Riley Blake and is also available from Fabric Shoppe. It was the 1.00 fat quarter special the week I ordered the Caleb Gray fabric for this dress and for the knot overalls I did for my cousin's girls. Jodi at Fabric Shoppe always has a 1.00 fat quarter special with any purchase every week and it is always super cute. I did the monogram using the Storybook Alphabet from Bunnycup Embroidery which was a steal at only 5.00 for the whole set! I used a combination of knot dress patterns from Whimsy Couture, Little Lizard King, and Lori Lynn Designs.

I knitting news, check out this tiny sweater ornament I made for an ornament exchange I am going to tomorrow night. The pattern is the Mini Einstein Coat by Sally Melville and is published in her book,  Warm Knits, Cool Gifts. The yarn is Plymouth Encore Worsted. Isn't is the cutest!

Christmas Cards

I finally ordered our Christmas Cards! You can look at them here at Shutterfly.com Aren't the adorable?
Here are some of the pics I took of the kids Sunday afternoon at Cracker Barrel. We went out to brunch after attending early service at Highpoint Church and I snapped these pics with my iPhone on the way out. They turned out so cute that I am using them for my Christmas cards!

Sweet Baby Gifts

I have spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks working on gifts. Tis the season!

Note: If your name is Bethany Davis, do not scroll down or your baby shower gift will be spoiled!

I spent yesterday and today on a gift for my precious friend, Bethany who is pregnant with her first baby. She and her husband, Louis are neighbors of ours as well as friends. They had a hard time getting pregnant, and when they finally announced it there was much rejoicing and celebration. We are so excited for them and for their sweet baby boy, Luke, who is due on Valentines Day; the same day I was due with Katie. Last Saturday, I hit up my local quilt fabric shop, Klassy Kats and found some super soft baby flannel in a beautiful aqua blue and a couple of really cute blue, green, and yellow polka print cottons to match. Bethany's mom informed me that she is doing greens and blues and I know she loves cute little owls, so I came up with this blanket and set of burp cloths. The burp cloths are from a free pattern I found on You Can Make This and I love them. I wish I had found this pattern when I was sewing things for Caleb because they fit very comfortably over your shoulder, yet give you a lot of coverage for spit ups and other various baby emissions.



I also knitted this little hat (sorry the pic is upside down but Blogger would not let me upload the right side up pic for some reason). The yarn is the same as what I'm planning for a Baby Surprise Jacket that I should be finishing up in time for little Luke to wear it home from the hospital.