Moving Day...

I won't be in this space any longer. 
(Explained)

But.... I AM over here.  

So...follow me over to my new pretty digs. It's calm, cool and collected.

It feels as good as the blog equivalent of....

Washed windows, fresh coffee, boxes of chocolate, little boy snuggles, and turned down flannel sheets.
All rolled into one. 

Fresh starts = BIG love. 


Come on over.

Knitting along...

 The lovely Ginny of Small Things has come up with a weekly Yarn Along and I have been playing along.

Any excuse to knit and read, I tell ya.

Reading~ 

I think that I have mentioned this before (or maybe I haven't) but I listen to books on tape in my car on the way to... 
well...anywhere.

I can honestly tell you that 3/4 of the books I have "read" have been listened to.  Dropping the boys off at school, going to the grocery store, driving to work.  No commute is too short to get a bit of "reading" in.
And Chick lit...I looooooove chick lit.  The funnier the better.

Right now I am "reading" two Sophie Kinsella books.  Now, I have not always been a fan of her's.  I never quite got the appeal of the Shopaholic series (I guess because I am not much of a shopper), but after I read The Undomestic Goddess, I was hooked.  Her wit is impeccable.

~In the car I am listening to "Can you keep a secret?".  I have to say that this is THE funniest book that I have heard in a long time.  The narrator is this English girl with the most perfect narrative timing that I have ever heard.  AND FUNNY!  Oh my Lord is it good.  I literally laugh at least 3 times a day thanks to this book.   

~In the house/bath/bed I am reading "Sleeping Arrangements" by Sophie's other name in writing...Madeleine Wickham.  This one has taken a bit to get into, and maybe it's just because I am enjoying the other one so completely, but it is still quite good. 

On the needles~ 

Homespun yarn in a color called Mixed Berries...yummy.

A little sleep sack for my friend Bre's baby girl who is due in a few weeks.  I will let you know how it turns out.  I am cautiously optimistic about it's creation.  It is basically just knitting in the round.  Not exactly rocket science, but it's my knitting project of the moment and the yarn is so pretty to see as each new row knits up.

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So, I encourage you all to take a photo of whatever it is that you are knitting and reading... and stop by Ginny's space to share.


XO, Julia

Necessity of craft...

Just shy of a year to the date, I am reflective yet again. Last year it was my friend Christina with her inspirational words. 

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"  Don't you know we can do anything we put our mind to?? ; ) Even if I fail, I still give it a try." 

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This year it was Heather's words which brought about my realizations.


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"  We are determined to not live quietly in the shadows, but to express ourselves in every way possible, to say that life as women, as mothers, as artists, as dreamers, is fulfilling and joyful."
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The importance of following dreams and our hearts. It made me realize that we are all responsible for our own happiness and I am no different.

January is always a month of renewed interest in living for me. Not so much in a resolution type of renewal, but a time of focusing on what it is that I enjoy. What it is that I NEED. What it is that I want to give to others.

This January is no exception. 

After the past 6 months I have become acutely aware of the creative necessities in my life.

2010 was not an easy year for me, nor for many other women in this community.
Yet one of the common threads that pull each and every one of us through these hard times is the ability to call upon our artistic selves. To pull up and push out the beauty that we have with-in.  To share it with others in our goods, our blogs, or shops.

I honestly have no clue what I would have done without my ability to create throughout this past year. So many moments spent in solitude, so many sad or bad thoughts pushed out of my consciousness by my excitement over a certain knitting project, wooden doll set, embroidery project, clay play, or other project. This combined with my job as Associate editor for Rhythm of The Home has fed my artistic self with so much nourishment that I feel full up. Bursting at the seams with contentment that no psychologist could fulfill.

I have tried so very many crafting avenues as evidenced by my bursting closet of crafting supplies, finished projects, and craft heavy posting here at Adirondack Mama.  And even though I feel confident in my ability at doing many of them, there are still plenty of crafts to try.  What I have explored is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. 

The world of craft is just brimming with inspiration and creative outlets.

2011 is a year that I plan on following many new roads. 
I can't wait.

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Now, will you share with me something that you want to try this year.  Be it Big/small/exciting/scary.  Share it here, lets compare dreams, shall we?

Sorry

I am sorry if you recieved a lacking post in an email notice.  It was a post that I published prematurely.  I have deleted the post and will be re posting it once I have it the way I wanted it.

XO, Julia

Long lost love...

After my post for This Moment went up, I got several emails asking me where I got the silver bird nest charm that I was wearing in the photo.  It actually surprised me that it was assumed by some of you that I had bought it.  I though for sure that the wonky hoop at the top (connecting it to the chain) was a sure giveaway of it's handmade-ness.

By me.

I actually was very flattered by the inquiries and as I reflected on their words, I was inspired to write this post.  A post that divulges a bit of the background into my love of bead wiring. 

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Back when I was young and single and had a disposable income...I lived a life of the fancy free....A time when I did not knit, or sew, or paint, or play with clay, or embroider, or even blog.  All of my creativity was harnessed and released in one form of artistry.

I enjoyed making jewelry.  

I used to ride my bike around the lake at the heart of our small town (another treat I enjoyed of being unfettered).  One day while riding down the main street, I noticed a new store with an "opening soon" sign called "Just Bead It".  We had nothing like it in town and a few days after it opened I went there with my sister to see what it was all about.  There were tables scattered all around the store covered in large compartmented trays of beads, gems, silver and gold findings, etc.  There was a beading bar with a bunch of stools and the owner of the store could sit behind the bar and help the customers sitting at the stools put their jewelry together.

All we did was sit at the bar and make one set of earrings...and we were hooked.  There were many days that Laura and I would sit on the floor of her apartment or poached at the bar in the bead store sorting through beads and combining them to form the perfect pair of earrings.  In our prime, we were beading fiends and even made 30 pairs of earrings to give to guests at Laura's wedding shower .  We tucked them into Easter eggs and gave them as favors. (She was married in the Spring).

Last week I bought 20 small tupperwares are the dollar store and set about organizing my sewing room into bins of goodness according to uses.  On the top shelf, at the back of the closet I found a plastic shopping bag filled with ziplock bags of beads, my needle nose pliers, wire, headpins, and earring hoops.
My jewelry making stash!  I literally hadn't even thought of it since I put it on that shelf 6 years ago when we moved in.  That evening, I went back to the bead store that I haven't been in since that same time.  As soon as I set foot inside I was greeted by the owner like an old friend.  She couldn't believe that I had a 6 year old now and was very kind in helping me to find just the supplies that I needed to get back into the swing of things. I had a ton of beads left over at home, but I was lacking in the pins, crimping beads and earring hoops.  She helped me to find them all.

She even let Eben make a necklace with some beads and charms of his choosing...I tell you...it is so nice to live in a small town.

When I left, I went straight home and organized the beads into little wooden trays that I had.  I separating all of the findings into types and got ready to get back to work.  Given my rustiness- I searched around on Etsy for inspiration for a design of what I wanted to attempt.

I began by making a few sets of earrings.  I then got involved in the nest making.  I made 4 in total and gave all but one away. It's kind of like riding a bike.  The twisting of the wire, the threading of the beads.  It all came back to me in a flash.

I don't know what I will be doing with all of this jewelry that I am making, I mean I only JUST started wearing earrings again.   Luckily I have a bunch of sterling silver ear wires to make some for myself.  All that I do know is that I found a little piece of myself in that bag of supplies.


And my love of wire beading was renewed.

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If you are looking for something similar to the nests that I made follow this link to Etsy where there are many talented artisans who make them.

This Moment...

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Soule Mama 

A belated birthday gift to myself. 
My single boy, all green and perfect. 
Sitting in his nest.

A sweet gift and the day that pine needles took over my house...

 The year is in full swing and I feel like I am a million steps behind.  Normally my house is de-Christmas-ed by New Year's Day.  It helps me to start the year with a clean surface to live in.  I have been in a bit of a funk this past week and this morning while I read my sister's post from yesterday on De-Christmas-ing...the light bulb went off. 

Get to work.

 

I packed up the ornaments in layers of fabric.

Extracted the tree from it's stand and pretended the the birds under foot were singing me a song.

Tracked all of the needles through the living room so that I could set the tree on the porch for our visiting birds to make a home of.

I did leave up my window decorations because they are more winter than Christmas and we have a good 3+ months of winter left to enjoy.

I spent a good hour sweeping up the needles, packing away anything Santa related, cleaning the house, straightening my sewing room.  Then I set out my crafting for the morning, and I sat on the couch with a fresh cup of coffee and a cat in my lap.


It honestly feels so much better already.

And then I took some pictures of my newest gift.  A gift that took me by surprise...not because I didn't know that Heather was sending me something (I did), but surprising by how thoughtful it was.  I had mentioned how much that I wanted a berry bowl when I posted about my honey pot from Melissa.  Well, Heather just happened to pick the most precious, adorable, well-made berry bowl that I could have wished for. 

The design is perfect and the glaze colors are just yummy. 

I just know that I will be gathering and washing many handfuls of berries in the summer to come. 

So thank you sweet friend. January just got a whole lot sweeter.

Simple soft baby booties

I am sick sick sick and haven't really gotten off of the couch, let alone take photos.  And I have nothing really thrilling to say... so I am posting my pattern for booties that I made.  They are my own pattern and I made them to go with my first baby hat pattern that I came up with.

They are very easy and fun to knit up.  Although this yarn is a real chameleon.  I had a really hard time capturing the actual color with my camera. I made both of them in a few hours while I was at the hospital with my Father in Law.

Needles: Size 8 DPNS




Yarn: Bulky ( I used Bernat Roving)

Pattern:
CO 5 stitches
knit 20 rows of garter stitch (this will be the bottom of the bootie)

pick up 10 sts on each long side edge
pick up 5 stitches on the heel edge
join in round
knit up 5 rows(this will be the body of the bootie)

To shape the toe at one of the 5-st ends, knit short rows of garter stitch back and forth.
To join the top of the toe of the bootie to the sides of the bootie, simply slip the last stitch of each of the short rows onto the 10stitch needle closest to the end of the row. Knit this stitch together with the closest stitch on the 10 stitch needle.
Work back across the 5 toe stitch needle to the 10 stitch needle on the other side.
Do this back and forth, decreasing the number of stitches on the 10 stitch needles until that every one of the 4 needles is left with 5 stitches.

 

For the cuff of the bootie, knit or purl (your choice of pattern) in the round upwards 13 rows.
Cast off and weave in ends.

You can either leave the booties with a high cuff for a boot effect, or you can fold it over to reveal the inner pattern.

These booties are very stretchy and fit approximately a 0-6 month old babies foot.  Lightly stuffed with tissue paper, the body of the bootie measures 3 inches long by 1/2 inch wide at full height, the bootie is 3 1/2 inches high.

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OK, well I hope to be back in a day or so for real.  I hope that the new year is going well for you all.