cozy love

Here's the knitted and cross stitched project I mentioned in the last post: a hot water bottle cozy! This pattern has become a go-to gift for me to make; I made a couple cabled ones last year, and I know that I'll return to the pattern again, making modifications to keep things interesting.

This year I wanted a project that I could knit on for long stretches without even glancing at a pattern. Give me those relaxing swaths of stockinette! So I knitted the pattern without the cable and then cross stitched a simple heart at the end. I really love how the plump red wool pops against the cream yarn. The result is a decidedly homemade-looking hot water bottle cozy, but I love that too. You can tell someone took time to create each stitch.

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We are finished with shopping, making, wrapping, decorating, and baking. Thank goodness! Now I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with family and eating all those holiday foods that I wait for all year. Happy holidays to you! 

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See more notes on my cross stitched hot water bottle cozy here.

Grandparents' gifts

I've been crafting up a storm! This morning I finished up a present for my mom, which I'll share after Christmas, and I made a present for K's grandpa. We're visiting his grandparents this weekend, so I needed to get gifts for them pronto.

I think it's really hard to come up with handmade gifts for men. However, I remembered that my grandpa uses handkerchiefs, an old-fashioned (and eco-friendly) habit. So I figured some personalized handkerchiefs were in order for our grandfathers this year.

My original plan was to purchase handkerchiefs and then cross-stitch initials on them, but I forgot to get some at the store the other day. It turned out to be easier to make the handkerchiefs than to get back out to the store and buy them.

So I cut up an old pillowcase, hemmed the edges and sewed on a C for Charles. My grandpa will also get a C on his handkerchief, but his is for Conrad. (I love grandparents' names). I'll show you my grandpa's gift when I finish it.

I just had to show you the back because it's so much neater than the backs of my first cross-stitched pieces. I'm a little bit proud of my progress.

I hope our grandpas will use these! Actually, I'd like to start using handkerchiefs myself because it'd waste less paper and be softer on my nose, which is currently roughed up from too many tissues. I have a few vintage hankies, but they're just too pretty to use. Maybe I'll have to sew up a few from thrifted cloth.

Last night I crocheted up another stone, this time in pink. It was nice to spend some quiet time huddled near the heater.

Are you making any presents this year?

Linkin' Tunnel

*Links I'm loving lately*

RagamuffinDesign has got some awesome knitted and crocheted goods. I adore this gnome hat, this slouchy hat made from sari silk, and these wrist warmers.

My favorite DJ ever, Berk Bryant aka The Country Gentleman, was in the local newspaper yesterday. He hosts a 3-hour bluegrass show every Sunday night on Louisville's public radio station, 91.9 WFPK. In addition to playing bluegrass and old-time country, he is such a character. Part of his charm is that his show isn't polished. It makes it feel like you're just hanging out at his house and he's playing you his favorite records. If you live in Louisville, listen to him Sundays from 8-11 PM and if you're farther away, you can catch him at the same time via live streaming on wfpk.org.

Seriously, this doily sweater is my dream come true. Comfy cardigan + ultra-girly details? I've got to make one of these.

The 2009 Asian Film Festival at Village 8 Theatres is going on right now. Last night K and I saw Departures, which totally blew me away. It gives a fascinating view of Japanese death rituals, something foreigners don't usually get to see or hear about. I also enjoyed hearing Japanese spoken again. Listening was probably my best Japanese language skill, and it was exciting to realize that I haven't forgotten everything. Oh, and a bonus for this movie is that it's set in Yamagata, which is where K and I lived in Japan. I'd definitely recommend seeing it! It's playing until Thursday at Village 8.

The Saturday Night Girls cross stitches offer lots of inspiration. I love the simple silhouettes, especially the teapot. Beautiful stitching.

This Caesar Salad looks amazing! I'd like to eat a giant bowl of it right now.

I hope you're all enjoying the holiday! Happy Labor Day!

Crafty Works in Progress

I've amassed quite a few unfinished objects, but can't stop myself from starting more. It's that beginning part of crafting that I love the most, though finally finishing things is indeed the most satisfying. I'm posting these works-in-progress here in hopes that it will motivate me to finish them.

These are wrist warmers that are so very close to completion. I just need to crochet the little thumb parts and sew them on. The goldenrod color is so perfect for fall!

Here's a cross-stitched napkin I'm working on. I love the pattern and color--it's pink thread on a navy blue napkin. It'll go with this one that I've already made, and I hope to eventually make a set of four.

This project I just started yesterday. You see, my favorite polo got a bleach spot on the front of it a few months ago and since then has been languishing my craft drawer, waiting to gussied up. I finally decided to applique some fabric droplets onto it. I can't wait to wear this shirt again!

I got a ton of inspiration for this applique from flickr.

I hope this Saturday is treating you well. The sun is shining and the breezes are cool here. I've got to get out and enjoy it!

A Little Bit of Lovely

Here's a small blue cross stitch that I finished a while back. It's in a 3-inch hoop, so it's pretty little. Hope you're having a good weekend!

Sandwich Bread + Cross stitch

First of all, let me just say, that these projects were from a couple of weeks ago. I wish I could say I've been creative this week, but there hasn't been much time. Let's be real about this, I haven't had much energy for it, either. Putting on a wedding takes a lot out of you. So, instead of creative pursuits, this week has been dedicated to taking care of business (changing health insurance, registering for classes) and cleaning up the aftermath of the wedding. There's been a lot of laundry and dishes, making of thank you cards and envelopes, and general tidying up. Hopefully by the end of the week our house will be back to it's pre-wedding shape.

Now about this bread! It's the light wheat bread from Smitten Kitchen, originally from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Now, I've heard talk around the internet about how some people are afraid of making yeasted breads--too many opportunities for something to go wrong or some such nonsense. I say, charge ahead, leave your fears behind, and bake this bread already. It's delicious and holds together perfectly for sandwiches. We slice it and keep it in the freezer, per Deb of Smitten Kitchen's recommendation. That way we always have fresh homemade bread on hand.

All you need (you know, besides the ingredients) is a little time and a warm spot in your kitchen. The actual amount of time you'll spend working on this bread is very small, a matter of a few minutes here and there and then hours of rest time during which you can clean, go for a walk, or make a craft.* As for a warm spot in the kitchen, Kentucky in the summer is a wonderful place for making bread. All of the humidity here makes for some excellent, super-fast rising loaves of bread. You can find the recipe here.

As for the napkin, I was inspired by Heart of Light's embroidered "Eat" napkins. I wanted to make something pretty and also useful, plus I'm interested in reducing my garbage output. Cutting down on paper towel use seems like a good idea. K and I don't generally use too many paper towels, but when we have people over for a meal, I feel like I should put something out for them to wipe their hands on. So, cloth napkins make perfect sense. I picked up four of these navy blue ones for 25 cents total at a yard sale. What a deal! Also, my mom made a lot of colorful cloth napkins for the wedding, so we've got those now, too.

I really like the how the cross stitch turned out. Kind of folksy and old-fashioned. I'm planning on cross stitching the other three blue napkins with similar (but different) corner patterns in various colors. I can't wait until we have people over to use them!

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*These are just my go-to options. I'm sure you can come up with your own ideas to occupy a few hours.

Cross stitch pattern from here.

Dear Kristie

A bookmark for a letter-writing friend

I recently cross stitched this bookmark for my friend Kristie and since she's received it, I can share it here. I love the way the deer turned out and the pun! Goodness me, so corny, but I couldn't help myself.

Kristie and I have known each other for 8 years now. We met at a summer program during high school and have been writing ever since. We started off exchanging emails, but at some point we switched to writing letters. I do love sending and receiving letters. It's much more personal than emails. We've sent letters from different Kentucky colleges, from the Netherlands and France, from Japan and Michigan. I hope we continue for our whole lives.

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Deer and script patterns are from the book Potter Needlework Library: Cross-Stitch: Techniques, Projects, Patterns, Motifs.

But how does K feel?

Look! It's my very first cross stitch. I'm really excited by how sweet this is.

Making this also got me completely addicted to cross stitching. Since I made this I've been working on 2 bookmarks and completed a cross stitch for my dad and one for myself. It's ridiculous how much I want to cross stitch.

I really like how old-fashioned cross stitch looks. It's very simple, but pleasant. I picked up a couple of books of patterns, so I'm well on my way to making more. I am surprised by how time-consuming this hobby is. I thought because the stitch was easy that I could just fly through a pattern in no time. In actuality, those little x's add up.

K likes my little cross stitch. We've got it in our kitchen, next to our washer and dryer (lovely set-up we've got!). Here it is in its natural habitat:

The print next to it is from The Black Apple. Such a cute tea party!

what did my hands do before crafting?

I'm pretty sure my hands must have been bored for years because once I started crafting all of this pent up creative energy burst out and shows no signs of stopping. Seriously, I got to the point where I couldn't sit down and read a book because my hands always wanted to be doing something. Holding a book and occasionally turning pages just wasn't enough.

So I took a jewelry making class and spent many nights bent over my beads, stringing necklaces and looping earwires. Then my mom taught me how to crochet, and I finally got it. I had tried to learn to crochet at least 3 times before and just could not figure it out. I was seriously opposed to counting, which it turns out is integral to the art of crochet. After my mom took the time to teach me, I crocheted at least seven scarves in no time, all in a modified single crochet (because I didn't know I was doing it just a little wrong!). After scarves I discovered blankets and baby hats.

 My crafting thirst still unquenched, I checked out lots of embroidery books from the library and am working on that. And I carried a big box of cross stitch stuff up from my mom's basement (a place not unlike Mary Poppins' bag). Jackpot! I made my first cross stitch the other day, which is turning out quite lovely!

In just a few short weeks I'll be getting hitched to my guy of over 6 years, K. We're over the moon about the being married part, but the wedding we're both just wanting to get over. The highlight of the wedding for me (apart from, you know, declaring my intention of spending my whole dang life with a great man) is the decorating. It's a low-key, diy, vintage-feel type of deal. There'll be lots of bunting, the ubiquitous (but always sweet) Martha Stewart Pom-poms, board games, punch cups, hula hoops and more. Here are the envelopes for the invitations we sent out. I made them from recycled catalogs:

Look how many!
  My goal for each day is to make something, whether it be crocheted, embroidered, cross stitched, painted, cooked, baked, etc. I hope to share many of these makings here.