Mister e's Birthday

The birthdays of the E's are three weeks apart. So things get a bit busy around here. After the fairy cake, I needed something a bit easier to execute. So Mister e had a caterpillar for his First Birthday.

I made a big batch of Seven Minute Frosting because it is so light and fluffy and has a beautiful sheen. It also takes color well.


The caterpillar sections were baked in my glass mixing bowls and then carved to fit one another.


Then I started to tint the frosting a little bit green and frosted the head and tail.


Adding some more green, I then frosted the next sections...


Finally I added more green and frosted the middle and added chocolate stick legs and miniature oreo spots.

After all the spun sugar challenges, I wasn't up to creating legs or anything else.



Mister e thought it was very good and ate the entire head.

Estate Sale Goodies

I love a good estate sale, and there was a packed one about 6 blocks from our house. AND it had reasonable prices on EVERYTHING! Here are some of the highlights!

This lovely wastebasket for Miss E's room...


These refrigerator dishes with lids. I love to use these in my studio for holding things.


A couple of mid-50's issues of Redbook...


A pink chenille bedspread with silver "yarns" woven through it.

All the stains came out, so it was installed immediately on Miss E's bed... who is thrilled to have more pink in her room.

This is a double sided baby blanket...

It looked like they had dusted the house with it, but after a few trips through the washing machine, everything came out and it is soft and beautiful. So Mister e gets a little something too.

We went back two more times for other goodies. There was so much stuff! It was hard not to just back the car up and start loading!

Goodies and Projects

I love to knit in the fall. I don't know why... but it must be more pleasant to hold wool yarns in the cooler weather. I've been working on a luscious wrap for myself out of mohair/angora from the girls at Camano Made.



Of course, I was running out of yarn, so I desperately emailed them hoping they had more and... they did!!! When my package arrived, these goodies also came:



... three balls of beautiful novelty yarns and some samples of other yarns they spin. The front one is incredible! It is a robins egg blue wool twisted with a rust colored chenille. The combination looks so modern... I'm going to have to think about that one.

And then Fabric Depot was having it's monthly 40% off fabric sale. I couldn't miss that! So Miss E and I went and picked out some new fabrics.



The dark yellow one is from Heather Ross's new collection. It will be a button down shirt for Mister e. The others will eventually be skirts and dresses for Miss E.... hopefully in a timely manner.

Backpack with legs

Miss E started Kindergarten on Monday. She is thrilled to pieces and loves it. The school requested a full-size backpack as one of her supplies. Since she is such a little thing, she is all backpack...



She is so proud to wear it and tote it back and forth to school.

Squirrel Update

I checked on the box at 7pm, and the box was empty. The spouse saw the mother squirrel several hours earlier and heard some peeping at about the same time. We are assuming the two are reunited, since I couldn't find the little guy anywhere.

New Pyjamas for Miss E

Since it is fall and Miss E has outgrown much of her clothing, we thought we would make some new pyjamas. Here she is with the daunting task of selecting a fabric:



She finally decided on this pink (big surprise there) and purple Valorie Wells print that I bought a couple of years ago.



We added some purple trim to finish it off.

Squirrel 911

This little guy fell out of his tree early this morning...



Apparently the spouse and offspring heard some peeping this morning, and he was mis-identified as a bird. Around lunch time, we heard the peeping again, and I went out to take a look and found this little guy on the patio under the cedar tree- tired and dehydrated. We brought him in, gave him 1/2 cc of water, and warmed him up on a heating pad. He rested for a bit while I made a call to the Audubon Society and checked the web for some squirrel tips. Since he is a red squirrel and non-native he is not eligible for rehab. We were advised to put him in a box in the tree from which he fell and hope the mother squirrel comes back for him. So we installed a box in the tree, gave him 1cc of water, and I tucked him in my shirt and climbed up the ladder. When he was in my shirt, he burrowed in and got all comfy... boy those nails are sharp! He peeped a bit when I put him in the box. We will check in the morning. If he is still in the box, then we will finish raising him and release him when he is older. We are estimating that he is 6 weeks old and still nursing.

Pirate Sweater

The little Pirate Sweater is finished and fits the little wearer with some room to grow.



It turned out really well... I may have to make a pink and green or pink and black version for Miss E.



The yarns are so soft. It is 100% wool from Ami Ami.



I'm always a little nervous to order yarns online, but they sent me a set of sample cards. Their yarns are just gorgeous!