I love (Sunday edition) ...

A thrifty ten dollar find

Beautiful quilt fabric on sale

I love ...

Wooden toys

This pose

Her independence

A knitting first (for me that is)

I always start by saying it will be a short/quick post and then I end up writing a novel. But this time I mean it. I'm so tired but I just had to show you my latest finished project. Last time I mentioned that I was going to try making my first ever knitted garment. The Soulful Hues cap sleeved shirt for Ayla. I ran out to Wal-Mart to get some yarn and the right needles. I hate Wal-Mart but they're good for when you're in a pinch. Their yarn sucks but I didn't trust myself to make this top without messing up horribly so I wanted to try it on crap (ie. acrylic) yarn before turning to something else. In any case I found one that I thought would knit up quite nicely because I was really liking the color tones. I only changed the pattern slightly because I was sure it would be too big by casting on less stiches and shortening some rows. I also made the JCasa non-roll cap sleeve (picture above) and I added a 2x2 ribbing at the bottom. I can't help myself I always have to change patterns even when I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

Unfortunately, after it was all said and done it looks like an army print! Ugh, definitely not what I was expecting at all. I'll have to go check out my local yarn shop that is sadly closing down because the owner passed away and her family is selling it. It's the only yarn shop in all of Red Deer so I'm quite saddened by it. I'll be stuck with Wal-Mart and Michael's but thankfully there's always the internet. I just hate waiting on shipping. I actually found a great online vegan yarn store called Knit for Brains. That's where I bought my bamboo yarn from a few months back. I still haven't knit anything with that because I don't want to ruin it. It's so lovely just to hold. I'll have to buy more soon. I noticed that they've got a great selection on hemp, banana, corn, soy and cotton fibered yarns in addition to the bamboo so check it out if you're interested in that sorta thing.

Oh, and there's one thing I've discovered about acrylic yarn that I really don't like besides the feel of it. It leaves the wearer feeling quite hot! After taking those few quick snaps of Ayla when I went to take it off she was all hot and sweaty from just running around for a minute in the top. I know I shouldn't diss acrylic yarn because it really is good in a pinch which I'm sure I'll find myself in quite often.

Last thing in this quick novel I'm writing. I went to Chapter's today... well we really went to Starbucks for Alex to get a coffee but I got called out to the knitting section of the store, I swear. So while I was shopping, er browsing, I saw this book, Essential Kids by Debbie Bliss. I've never heard of her but it's 20 patterns for children ages 2 to 5. Right up my alley! I can't wait to get started. Did I mention that I really love knitting in the round, very addictive. I see some hats in my future. Now why couldn't I have discovered this love when it was still technically winter?

Happy Birthday Lucas and other sewing projects

A quick update on the birthday gifts I made for Ayla's friend, Lucas. His mom admired the tote bag I made for Abigail last weekend so I promised to make a similar one for him. I decided to make him pyjama pants to go with it. I couldn't decide on what to make as a toy so I went the 'buy' route. Very bad I know, but in my defense I do only try to buy toys that are wooden and quality. So I headed to Toys R Us. Usually the last place to look for quality wooden toys to be honest but I didn't have the time to wait for shipping. I had been there months back and I knew they had come out with a line of wooden toys that I had admired for Ayla but never bought. So I headed straight for that section and found exactly what I wanted (the wooden racecar and drivern in case you're wondering). I must say it didn't disappoint. It was even better looking out of the box.

I also threw together another outfit for Ayla because I just couldn't help myself. The cargo pants are the same pattern I used for the pyjama pants for Lucas but just with pockets and a flap added. The top was again another ad lib creation. I just had a vague idea in my head of what I wanted and tried it out. I actually looked at the fabric and tried to picture something jumping out at me if that makes sense. And so this is what it turned into. It was a little large across the chest so I put that dart in the middle and I actually really like it more with the dart.

On to the confession part of the blog. So I went fabric shopping. Well in my defense I didn't have the right fabric to make all of Lucas's gift so I had to buy some of it. But I swear going into the fabric store is probably similar to an alcholic in a liquor store. Maybe not as bad but you get the picture. It's a sad state that any fabric crazed person can attest to. In any case I got some really great stuff in the bargain bins and the sale aisles (see I wasn't that bad afterall). One of which was this really great workout wear fabric that I made Ayla some lounge pants in. She really is low on proper fitting pants so you'll probably be seeing more of them. It's pretty much just elastic waisted easy peasy stuff. Maybe I might throw in a pocket or two here and there but I doubt I'll get much more fancier than that (I'm sure I'll be eating my words in a couple of weeks on this one). By the way, sorry for the horrible pictures of these pants but Ayla refused to stand still. The black and white picture is the only one I have of her standing sort of properly in them.

I'm going to try casting on the cap sleeved spring top for Ayla. I saw it on SouleMama the other day and I fell in love. It's actually from the Soulful Hues blog. So wish me luck because the only thing I've ever finished knitting was that scarf I made for Ayla. I even had to go out and buy some circular needles so we'll see how long this takes me with Ayla and Mia pulling at my yarn.

Party Skirt

As promised here is a picture of the skirt I made for Ayla for the birthday party on Sunday. When I went shopping for fabric to make Abigail's gift I couldn't help myself and bought half a yard of a nice Amy Butler fabric my quilt shop had on display. I had exactly the skirt I wanted drafted up in my mind when I bought it so it was just a matter of cutting it out and sewing it up. As you can probably guess there was no pattern for this. Completely ad lib. That's what I love about making clothing. Sometimes you can do that and not screw up too badly. Take this skirt for instance. I measured Ayla's waist and waist to knee length before making the skirt. Then put it all together and sewed it all up and voila! Too big! Ugh! For some reason I measured her waist as being 2 inches, yes 2 inches, bigger than it really is. I think it was that slightly pudgy belly she's still carrying around.

In any case as you can see at the back of the skirt I had to add 2 darts and take in the waist. I guess this way I can always take them out when she does actually grow those extra 2 inches in the waist. The only drawback about this skirt is that I didn't finish the inside seams with my serger. It was late and I really wanted to finish it in time so I skipped that part. But now it's all unravelly and I hate that. So I'll have to think of something before I lose the hem. I also made a bib to go with it at the last minute.

Unfortunately, this is the only sorry picture I have of her in the skirt at the party! Shameful, I know, but you get the picture. (PS. She's calling Nana.)

Happy Birthday Abigail

I made a very involved gift for a friend's daughter who's having a birthday party tomorrow. She's turning 1. I pulled out my never fail Olive doll from Wee Wonderfuls but I decided to use yarn for her hair to change it up. I also made a little skirt out of some lovely fabric I found at the quilt store here in town (pictured above). I made the dress for the doll out of the same fabric since I had a yard of it. Then I decided to either make a bib or a doll quilt with the rest. Of course I settled on the doll quilt. It's so beautiful I really wish I had made one for Ayla. At the last minute I decided to make a bag to put all of it in and appliquéd an 'A' on the front of it. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out. I've promised myself that I'll make something for Ayla next. Well there is a little boy who's also having a birthday in the next week or so. So maybe she'll be after that, we'll see!

I made some seitan kebabs the other night from a recipe I got online from I don't know where. My recipes are all printed out and thrown about haphazardly unfortunately. I slathered on some bbq sauce and threw them on the grill. I paired it with Vegan Dad's famous creamy mac and cheeze recipe except I decided to bake it at the last minute and threw on some Panko bread crumbs on the top.

On the grill...

A few random things

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and got a bag of organic apples for cheap because they were seriously over ripe. They smelled really sweet and so I immediately thought 'apple sauce'. I brought them home cored and peeled them then tossed them in the oven with a sprinkling of cinnamon. When they were done 10 mins later I tossed it all in the food processor and it was done. If you've never had homemade applesauce then you just don't know what you're missing. I didn't have to sweeten it at all because the apples were so ripe. That was the key. And the cinnamon just hit the spot. You could also put ground ginger, nutmeg, all spice, or whatever spice suits your fancy with apples. I tried to take a picture but the lighting in this house is beyond horrible. Not even my wonderful Canon can cope with it and I'm not at the phase where I set up elaborate lighting and mirror schemes for my blog pictures.

I made the mushroom risotto from Everyday Vegan paired with the Seitan Ribz from Fat-Free Vegan and a side of steamed green beans. Very good dinner indeed. And of course I had the applesauce for dessert.

I started getting back into the sewing mood lately as you know. I'm making a gift for a friend's daughter that is turning one next week Sunday so look for that in the next few days. I made a new cover for my ironing board because the old one was badly stained and gross looking. I followed the directions from the U-handbag blog that I stumbled upon yesterday. I also decided to make a cover for my sewing machine while I was at it. I still have to do the one for the Serger when I get another spare moment. I know it's a bit bold in pattern but it was the only fabric I had enough of to make a cover for both the ironing board and the sewing machines. It's actually growing on me every time I look at it.

I'm really itching to make another quilt. I'm thinking another lap quilt. Something that I can use upstairs when I'm snuggling down to a good book on the sofa. I've been eying some of the postage stamp quilts out there in blog land so I think that's where I'm headed. Something no brainer and easy.

Doll quilting

As promised I have the lovely doll quilts I made for Ayla a few days ago. I had a fun time putting them together as they're so small and quick to assemble. I bought a darning foot to try out stippling and figured the size of this project was perfect for it. I must say I'm horrible at it. My stitches are either to short or too long, they jump all over the place and basically not something to be running home about. But Ayla doesn't care and like I said it's good practice for me. I've been wanting to make a queen sized quilt for our bed with my Amy Butler blocks for some time now but I want to quilt the top myself. So this is a very necessary step. I have no idea how many doll quilts I'll have to make before I'm fairly confident I'll be able to do it. We'll see. I'm thinking of doing another lap quilt just to shake things up a bit. I guess it will be a lead up to the real big thing. I'm enjoying the quilting because there are no curves to it (as opposed to sewing clothing). Just straight lines easy peasy. I supposed it could get more difficult it I were to try a more involved pattern but I'm only just getting back into my sewing groove. I saved these pictures for when I'd have better lighting but of course when I thought about taking them it was night time again and so the lighting is still off.

And here are images of my stippling up close. Like I said it's a bit of a mess but I think once they're washed it won't make a bit of difference.

And here is the newest member of our little family. Her name is Mia and we've had her for a little while now. She's 4mths old. We've had her since she was 5 weeks. We can't keep her and Ayla apart. Actually Ayla has all the lovely scratches to prove it. I must say kittens are a lot more work than most people realize. Especially if you get them as young as we did. Next time I'll definitely get an older one. If there is a next time. Big IF.

I should be ashamed

I should be ashamed of myself for leaving you all in the lurch like that. I've just been preoccupied I guess you could say. A part of me was so certain no one would continue looking. But apparently I was wrong as my blogger counter assures me. Not many but a few are still interested. So it's for those few that I write these words. It's pretty late and I'm terribly tired but somehow I just felt like typing.

I actually did a bit of sewing in the last couple of days that I'm very proud of. I made Ayla two doll quilts. I'll have to post the pictures tomorrow because the lighting in here is very poor and I don't want it to take away from the quilts. I have an addiction. I love making doll quilts. They're so small and you can really work out your skills while you do them. Takes a couple of hours and they're all done. Probably a 'less than 4 hours' kind of sewing project. But I'll write more about that tomorrow when I post them.

Today I felt so proud of myself for actually finding a multi-vitamin that was all vegan in a health food store here. I've been looking everywhere because I'm trying to cut down on my online purchasing (trying to save and all that). The only thing is that they're actually marketed to men. It actually says 'Adam' on the bottle! Well you can't win them all. Alex said he doesn't want me to start growing a beard. Silly man... I checked the label and compared it to a 'woman's' multi-vitamin and it was basically the same thing. Some things less some things more. I'm not picky. Except about the taste! Blech! Worst thing I've ever tasted in my life and HUGE!

Anyway, I'll wrap this up. Here are some pics we took on an unplanned very spontaneous trip to Jasper two weeks ago. I think we should do more things like that.

PS. I knitted that scarf for Ayla and it took more forever! I wish I was a faster knitter but I lose patience so quickly. Probably why I prefer sewing.