Behold my new Sewing Cabinet!



My mom gave me this beautiful new sewing cabinet for Christmas--definitely my favorite gift this holiday season! It is a Koala Sew Mate II, and an absolute dream come true.

Up until this past Christmas, I did my sewing where most young people living in apartments with no extra space do--on the dining room table. And I use dining room loosely, as our dining room/living room is just one long space. It's not so easy to sew when you are trying not to knock over pepper grinders and cups of coffee. I found it hard to get into a groove when I kept having to hunt for scissors, bobbins, and other paraphernalia when there is no designated place to set them down.

I have been wanting a sewing cabinet for quite a while, but couldn't find what I wanted out there. All of the ones I found were either white or light oak in color--too "country" for me. I wanted something a little more modern. I had complained about it to my mom, and she hatched a plan to find me one for Christmas. She enlisted Mike's help, getting him to measure spaces, and figure out what I needed. Whenever I brought up my desperate need for a sewing cabinet, and how we should go look for one immediately, Mike sneakily would say, "Why don't we look after Christmas when most furniture places have big sales?" So, I huffed and puffed, but eventually agreed.

Then, lo and behold, I received this beautiful cabinet for Christmas! And it is everything a girl could want! It fits perfectly into this goofy little corner we have in our living room, which I like to call a nook. It used to have a swivel chair in it, but nobody really sat there because it is too far removed from the couch and conversation. The cabinet feels just right there, and gives me a special, designated spot for crafting.

Oh, and the features! I know it's hard to see in the pictures, but it has a pull out cabinet with two drawers and a shelf on the left hand side. One of the drawers has a built-in notions organizer--my life is complete! The other door of the cabinet reveals the spot for the sewing machine, which raises and lowers, as well as more built-in storage on the door. It also has a fold-out table leaf on the back, which doubles the surface area again.

My first time to sew using the cabinet was a dream. I had a spot for everything, and had plenty of surface area to work on. I repurposed my dining room table for a cutting table (still don't have room for one of those). I made a checkbook cover and two out of a set of four place mats. I will post pictures of those soon.

To further cement my craft corner, I want to make some wall hangings for the empty space above my desk. Like the ones made by Sally here. And here. Aren't they cute?

The possibilities are endless with my new sewing cabinet!!

Last of my handmade Christmas gifts!

Here are the twenty journal covers that I made for my friends for Christmas gifts! I used a stretchy cotton fabric, which made it easy to create a snug fit on the journal. I embroidered them using my mom's Janome embroidery machine, which took quite a while! Once we got the design figured it out, it took about 15 minutes to embroider each one (15 minutes X 20 journal covers = 5 hours!). I used a different color embroidery thread for each one too, and tried to use each person's favorite color. On a different day, I sewed them together. Actually on two different days. I think they turned out really well! (By the way, this picture shows the covers before I sewed them together and put journals in them.)

Now, here are some gratuitous dog pictures! Here is a sleepy Sadie:


















And here is another sleepy Sadie on Christmas Eve:













And here is Sadie in her most prissy pose!

Christmas Gift-Giving with Granny









For Christmas this year, my Granny gave me this beautiful needlepoint of irises in varying shades of blue and white. My Granny is one the two major creative and crafty influences in my life (the other is my Mom). She taught me how to crochet, paint, scrapbook, hot glue, sew--basically anything and everything she knew how to do. Except knitting--I actually showed her how to knit on Christmas!! It was definite role reversal.

The needlepoint work measures about 15" X 15", and she had it framed for me. This is a pretty large size for needlepointing, so I know it took her quite a while. That detail is just amazing!


Here is my Granny wearing the red shawl that I made this past summer. It was a perfect Christmas gift for her!

More Handmade Gifts and Holiday Goodies

I realize that the holidays are but a distant memory now, but I still have more gifts and pictures to share. This is a scarf that I made for my cousin, who is living in Paris right now. She is there for six months teaching English, and as far as I know, this is the first time she hasn't been home for Christmas. I sent her a box of goodies, including the scarf. I thought the yarn was such an interesting combination of colors: gray, pink, orange, yellow, and blue.

This is a purse that I made for my sister-in-law. I used a linen fabric that I bought at Ikea for the outside, and cute frog fabric that I got on Superbuzzy. It is a linen/cotton mix of a similar color, with green frogs and brown numbers printed all over it.



















Can you see the little frogs?













Finally, here is another grocery bag dispenser that I made for my mother-in-law. (The free pattern is here, written by the Crochet Dude.) It ended up being quite a bit fatter than the other one I made--I think I added lots of extra stitches when I wasn't paying enough attention! I think this is a good thing though, because she will have more room for grocery bags.



















Right after Christmas, I made the Bisquick Applesauce Muffins recipe shared by Alicia from Posie Gets Cozy. I have to say, they were absolutely delicious! You dip the tops of the muffins in butter and cinnamon sugar once they get out of the oven--mmmm! Mike and I kept dipping them as we ate them too!


















I'll leave you with a picture of the Christmas tree at my mom's house--it was just beautiful!!

Happy New Year!

This year has started with me being very busy, but also with me having hope and looking forward to the changes that the year will bring. At work, I am currently swamped with new projects and changes to old ones, but they are all for the better. I think 2007 is promising so far!

I have been holding back on posting--I have been busy as a bee with crafting projects, but I had to wait until I gave them all away to show them to you! I'll start with my fleece blankets. I got the idea for these from Crochet Today, which is my new favorite magazine. I highly recommend it--the issues so far have been stocked with good ideas. In the October/November 2006 issue, the magazine was full of gift ideas, but I especially liked the Ruffled Fleece Blanket. It is shown as a baby blanket, but can be made any size.

I made these 3 blankets for some of the babies in my life--Riley, Logan, and Grant. To make these blankets, you do a blanket stitch by hand around the perimeter first. This gives you a place to crochet into. The Crochet Today magazine had a nice pattern for the crochet part, but I just did 1 row of single crochet and 2 rows of double crochet. I cut the fleece to 36" by 45" for the baby blankets, so they ended up a little larger with the edging. The yarn that I used around the blue and green blankets has the cutest name--Baby Bubbles! I couldn't get over that!

I also made 3 more blankets for adults. This is a great project because you can drastically change the look by changing the fleece and yarn, and still use the same method. I made these slightly larger, about 40" by 50" for a small lap blanket size. The two red ones were for some of my family member in wheel chairs, so they needed blankets that were a little smaller than a standard 50" by 50" lap blanket, so that it wouldn't get caught up in the chair.

The last one is one that I made for my dad and stepmom. They live out in the country in a log cabin, which is decorated in maroons and forest greens. I made them this maroon fleece blanket with a brown edging. It's difficult to see in this picture, but that yarn actually has maroons and greens mixed in with the brown.

Learn How to Knit: Check!







Two weeks ago, I finally learned how to knit. I have been saying that I need to learn how for quite a while, but never managed to schedule it in. I have picked up a couple of knitting books, but I knew that I needed a live human to teach me. I would look at those books and at online magazines like Knitty--K2, p2, BO--and I would go sort of cross-eyed. Certain things you just need to be shown how to do.





My friend Marcy signed me, Monica, and Christina up for a knitting class, and then informed us later. That's the type of gal she is. She is also the type of gal to interrupt you while you're talking and comment on your eyelashes!! We love her! Anyway, she signed us up for a class at Passion Knit, which is located in Snider Plaza here in Dallas. We arrived at Passion Knit after eating lunch and gossiping for a while. First we had to pick out our yarns. I chose the Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran in Ruby. After we chose our yarns, we got to see how those yarn winder twirly things worked--I need one of those!

We had a lovely teacher who showed us how to do the garter stitch, or basic knitting stitch. I wasn't sure if my knowledge of crochet was going to help or hinder me in this knitting process. I think it helped in the end. It was very strange to use 2 needles, but I already had a concept of how to hold yarn and work with my hands. I kept exclaiming "This is weird to use 2 needles!" or "Oh my god, this is so weird!" I'm sure they were sick of it by the end of the class. We all had our quirks though: Marcy was planning increasingly elaborate knitting projects, Monica got angry when things weren't ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, Christina somehow kept tangling her yarn, and I kept repeating, "This is weird!" and my inner know-it-all kept rearing its ugly head. We had a great time though!! We will definitely be taking another class together.

Now that I know how to knit, I want to make these slippers, and this bear, and this Harry Potter Dark Mark bag, and basically everything from Knitty, and .... uh-oh. I probably need practice and need to learn some more stitches first!

Our teacher did show us how to purl too. For some reason, purling was a great big enigma to me--"what on earth could a purl be?" It was really bothering me! I come to find out that it's just the mirror image of knitting (Instead of putting your needle in one side of the stitch, you put it in the other side. It's the same motions though). The mystery of purling is finally solved!

In case you are wondering, the scarf I started in this class measures only 4 inches. I haven't had any time to work on it due to the long list of Christmas presents that I'm making. I will be picking it up again January 1st!

Decorating for Christmas

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I pulled out all of the the Christmas decorations, turned on some Christmas music, poured a glass of wine, and got in the holiday spirit. Here is a picture of my tree:


It is a four-foot artificial tree that we bought a couple of years ago. It is in two pieces, each with a colored light strand on it. This year (and last year too), the top section's lights were out. Mike went through each light patiently, (patient is the same as annoyed, right?), changing out the bulb to see which one was broken. Well, he went through all of them and it still wasn't working. So we had to replace the whole thing! By the way, all of that stuff in the background to the left is a chair filled with items I am using to make Christmas presents with. Can't wait to show you pictures of those, but I have to wait until they are all given away! Here's a hint though: I made 20 of one something, and I am in the process of making 9 of something else!


Here is one of the crochet ornaments that my mom and my Granny made when I was in middle school or so. They both made zillions of them that year, and I can remember watching my mom sitting on the couch crocheting by lamp light with her glasses on. I credit these two women for all of the creative and crafty talent that I have!


Here is an ornament that I had since I was very young, less than five years old. It is piece of wood with Kermit painted on it, who was my all-time favorite Muppet.

And here is one of my newer ornaments. It is plush Santa that I got at Target (I think) the same year I got the tree. It is perfect for putting on the very top, since I'm not partial to angels.

Happy Holidays everyone!

A Cold Day in November

Last Thursday, which was also the last day in November, was a cold one here in Texas. It actually snowed all day long. When the temperatures drop and it snows, people start getting anxious and freaking out here. It usually only snows once or twice a year here, although this year seems to be much colder than usual, so we may have more. When it does snow, it will melt, freeze and become ice. The roads and traffic are horrendous when this happens. I remember a few years ago when I was still in college, it took me 4 hours to get from school to home when this happened--a drive that took 20 minutes normally.








So, last Thursday, a bunch of school districts closed for the day, and many people went home early. My work and my husband's work both closed early, so I got to go home at 2:00 pm. We decided to make mulled wine, using Jennifer's recipe, and it was delicious!



Do you see that ball with rubberbands around it in that picture? That was Mike's rather ingenious idea for the mulled wine. He wrapped the mulling spices in two coffee filters, and used the rubber bands to hold it together. Before that, being a little bit of a germ-ophobe, he put the rubberbands in a glass of water, and microwaved it for a minute or two. I laughed at him for that!


My brother-in-law came over, and we cooked a winter vegetable feast for dinner. The menu was:



















Winter Vegetable Stew (Rachael Ray's recipe)
Roasted Winter Vegetables (purple potatoes, fingerling potatoes, butternut squash, fennel, and parsnips mixed with rosemary and olive oil)
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Roasted Eggplant with a chipotle-honey marinade
Tofu Stir-fry with a Roasted Chile Pepper sauce
It was a veritable winter vegetable feast! It got us all in the mood for the holidays and colder weather.

Best Cheese Ball Recipe Ever!

8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Worcestershire sauce
Cholula, Tabasco or other hot sauce
chopped pecans
paprika

Mix the cream cheese, garlic, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce together. (Use the sauces to taste, as hot as you like it!). Scoop out the mixture onto Saran wrap, and roll into a ball. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or longer--the flavors will develop and mix, and the garlic will mellow a little bit. When you are ready to serve, roll the ball in the chopped pecans and paprika. Serve with crackers.

I made this cheese ball at the Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, and we devoured it! We were hovering by the table, barely pausing between bites to breathe and talk to each other. It's really that good. I served it with two types of crackers: Wheat Thins, which were crunchy and salty, and some new Honey Wheat Ritz cracker stick things, which were sweeter and softer. They were both delicious! This is the sort of recipe that I like--quick, easy, and made up of mostly cheese. Yum!

Thanks to Joel and his family for this recipe!

Crochet Cozies




Inspired by Simple Sparrow, I made these two cozies in less than an hour. I used single crochet to make them nice and sturdy, and used a row of (double crochet, chain 2) to make space for the ribbon. Both ribbons are from Superbuzzy, one with apples, and one with hedgehogs and acorns. (They are out of these two trims now, but they have lots of other cute ones). The ribbons are fairly thick, made out of a linen/cotton blend, I think. The yarns are both from Shabby Sheep in Uptown Dallas--the black one is Rowan Cotton Rope, and the green is Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran. I am currently using the apple one for my digital camera, and the green for my cell phone.

Speaking of Kathmandu Aran, I finally learned how to knit this past weekend! (I used the Aran yarn in a cranberry color to make the scarf for my class.) I will have a post and pictures soon. I will not, however, have my knitted scarf done soon--I am not quite as fast with the knitting as I am with crochet, which I have over 10 years of practice!!

Stitch Austin Report

I am playing catch up on my blog recently (I realized I only posted once in November!). A group of friends and I went to Stitch Austin on Saturday, November 11th. Three of us got there right at 5:00, and were able to snag the goodie bags! We got some nice sturdy tote bags, that were navy blue with rainbow trim. Inside the goodie bags were all sorts of items, including a couple of free magazines, some fabric paint, 1 inch buttons, patches, candy, etc, and the usual flyers and coupons.




With our goodie bags taken care of, we did a lap around the Austin Music Hall, looking at all of the booths. There were lots of vendors there, and my favorites were Anne Marie, Supermaggie, and My Imaginary Boyfriend. It was also fun to see Coco Couture and Handmade Julz, who are from my part of Texas.

We left Stitch for awhile to get some drinks and snacks at the Cork & Co. Wine Bar, and came back in time to buy some goodies and watch the fashion show. The fashion show was really long, and my feet and back were killing me by the end of an hour and a half, but the show was very fun. They did a clever parody of corporate America and buying handmade at the beginning, which was hilarious. Click here to see the list of all of the designers in the fashion show and vendors at Stitch.

Thanks again to Andy, whose guest bed is warm and cozy, whose coffee and biscuits were delicious, and whose patience with me about getting those damn goodie bags was neverending!!

Hiking in Pennsylvania














During October, Mike and I went to Pennsylvania to visit his family and friends for a long weekend. He did some research on the internet, and found out the best weekend for us to go for the fall foliage. So, we were able to go in the peak season for all of the beautiful fall colors.















Our friends Craig and Allison took us for a hike at the Cowan's Gap State Park. We hiked to the top of one of the hiking trails, and saw this beautiful vista:



It was awe-inspiring in person. You could see for miles and miles, throughout the whole valley. It took us about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to hike to this spot, and it was well worth it.


Here are some of the gigantic leaves we found on the ground:















Here is another look-out point that we went to:











Here is Mike standing in front of a place where there was a huge landslide:



















And here are some apples at a roadside stand. This is where we bought delicious homemade apple butter from a local farm. Yum! Happy Fall everyone!