Knitting Sandwich

granny stripes for hattie

my niece hattie's granny stripe blanket (rav link) is finished!

-melissa

prizes are surprises winner

thanks to everyone who played along with my prizes are surprises giveaway!  i had a lot of fun deciding what to make and then, obviously, making the prize!

surprise!  it's a happy flower decoration (pattern by lucy at attic24)!

and the winner?  oh yes!  and the winner is:

the lovely charlotte over at elephant knits!  yay charlotte!!

turns out i really fell in love with these flowers, so i made one for myself too!

i found this entire surprise prize giveaway to be a very fun time!  don't be surprised if i have another one in the future!!

-melissa

Butterfly Birthday Sweatshop

We took Sabrina and some of her friends to the Butterfly Center for her birthday.  It was the perfect low stress solution after returning home from vacation (and not having enough time to really clean house). 

That is, until my mom had a brilliant idea.

"Why don't we make butterfly wings for all the girls?"

This was Thursday night.  The outing was Saturday morning. 

But the idea was inspired.  And my mom is an artist.  She made us homemade costumes every halloween and would obviously be up for a sweatshop. 

So I drew up a sketch and took measurements.

Then I went to JoAnne's fabric during lunch break on friday to see if anything struck my fancy.

I found the perfect wing fabric and supplies.

Then I remembered I had some black corduroy that would be perfect for the thorax. 

So Friday night we had a good old fashioned sweatshop.

I sewed the wings.

Mom painted them.

And did a late night model session. 

It really was a brilliant idea, and the girls loved them.

Sabrina has worn her wings all over the neighbourhood.

My little butterfly had a very happy birthday. 

-Lindsey

 

squares of joy - may edition

my may square for my square a month project for bundles of joy is finished!

five down, four to go!

-melissa

prizes are surprises!!

i seem to be on the lucky receiving end of the prize train this past week!  up first is a set of key chains that both claire and i won (claire, if you respond quickly i'll let you pick which one i send you) after we solved a thrifty mystery over at my friend blair's blog mcmaven haven.

then just today my mailman delivered me a package from canada!  imagine my joy at discovering that i won kate's 1000th post giveaway over at her blog rocks, waves, beach!

the photo of the blue heron was taken by kate's 13 year old son, and the dishcloth (which is a new to me pattern that i'm going to have to add to my queue) was knit up by kate herself!

i'm feeling quite inspired by everyone else's generosity and i want to play along!  SO...if you too want to win a prize leave a comment on this post and in one week i'll draw a winner.

what will you win?  i have no idea!  that's part of the fun!!  prizes are surprises!!  yay!

-melissa

mother's day

to our dearest friend, who has always made a point of wishing us a happy mother's day we would like to say, "happy first mother's day claire!"  

we love you more than words can say!

-lindsey and melissa

A change of pace

We escaped to paradise last week.  Cancun, Mexico.

We spent time on the beach.

Explored Mayan pyramids.

Made new friends.

And I experienced my personal knitting nirvana.  I'm making a bib for my niece and my sister could not have picked a more perfect yarn.  The yarn complimented the view, and I even had a margarita beside me.

It got me thinking, what is your knitting nirvana?

-Lindsey

a baby gift for wiggle

the completely amazing kathy over at work in progress is going to have a baby very very soon!  lily and i joined crafty forces to make a "welcome to the world" gift:

i knit up a seamless baby shrug (rav link).  i wasn't sure what a baby in hawaii would need as far as handknits go... so i settled on cotton shrug, figuring there would be cool ocean/mountain breezes or overly enthusiastic air conditioning to contend with at some point this summer.

and miss lillian decorated the onesie.  kathy calls baby "wiggle," so a wiggle worm seemed the obvious choice.  

sending so much love and best wishes to kathy, partner, and sweet baby wiggle!!

-melissa

let's talk dishcloths

i participated in the april dishcloth swap over at dishcloths r us and here's the cloth i sent:

it's a bind stitch cloth (rav link) and i really like this pattern - i highly recommend it!

this is the cloth i received:

i also knit up a few dishcloths for my friend's wedding gift:

from left to right we have: another bind stitch (see, i told you i liked this pattern!), an aunt may (rav link), and a playful plaid (rav link).

i also finished the dishcloth turned kitchen towel just in time for the wedding (about 45 min before leaving for the ceremony, but hey, who's counting?)

-melissa

yarn along 05.01.13

joining up with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

reading: a murder at rosamund's gate by susanna calkins.  while i am a fan of historical fiction, i am not normally a reader of murder mystery novels.  that said, this book was written by a friend of a friend, and my friend was so excited that her friend's novel was being published i got swept up in the excitement and decided to give it a read.  i have to say i'm not sorry i did.  i don't think it will make me a fan of murder mystery novels in general, but i am definitely enjoying myself as i follow lucy through 17th century london on the trail of her friend's killer.  

crocheting: i'm working away on my granny stripe afghan (pattern link) for my niece hattie.  i love this project.  every single thing about it - the colors, the treble clusters, the zen inducing calm that come from crocheting all those mesmerizing rows... love i tell you, love!

it's been a while since i yarn alonged - tell me what y'all are reading these days!

-melissa