Sweater Project

I've finally picked up my needles again and and trying to finish a sweater for Mister e before he outgrows it. Nothing like a growing child to force you to finish a project!



I finally found a great knitting magazine: Knit 1. Vogue Knitting magazine publishes it, and apparently this is where they put all their good patterns.



I improved upon their black and white combination by changing it to brown and green... a little more unexpected.

More photos

Here are few photos from the farm. Mom's gorgeous peonies...



They really are luscious with their color and curving petals. And they smell amazing. I had four of them in a vase on my desk at the university and it scented the entire second floor hallway of the building.

I spent a lot of time on the hill tops in the evenings taking pictures of the setting sun.



I'm still not sure if I like sunset pictures or not. I think I like the clouds better. But I could get cel phone reception up there and could talk to a friend while I was waiting for the sun to set.

I posted the rest out on Flickr.

Last week...

I have been at the University of Idaho the last week teaching an Illustrator class. You know you have arrived when you get an office with your name on the door..



I am required to keep office hours, so I'm in an available space. It's pretty sparse.

Note the red painted toes... that always makes me happy.

Miss E's Room

I have come to the realization that Miss E's room will not be done soon, nor will it stay clean. So I'm posting pictures of it now. It is on the north side of the house, so the light is not really good.



The carpet is mohair and belonged to the spouse's grandparents.
This is the Hidey Hole. We had an extra full size mattress set and didn't know where to put it. Fortunately the eave closets are really deep. Sometimes Miss E sleeps in here.





Mirror, mirror on the wall...



The princess alcove...



How cool are these lights from Ikea? They have the most clever solutions to things. Look at the green cord that is the stem.



This dresser was built by my Great Great Uncle. We still need to put up a shelf above it for Miss E's assorted things.



And here Mr e enjoying some time with his sister's things. You can see the cradle and crib that have the blanket and quilt in them.



There are still a few things to do... shorten the green drapes and add some eyelet to the bottom. Hang pictures, a corner shelf, and a shadow box for all these little tiny toys that she is starting to aquire. It will get done this summer.

New cabinets

Yay! I finally have some cabinets...



We went to Ikea on Saturday and bought these three beauties. Let me tell you, going to Ikea with a spouse that doesn't really like shopping there and a 4 year old wanting to touch everything and pose as a mannequin was a lot of work. I like to putter along and look at everything and remark "How clever is that!" and "What a great solution to that problem!". Which, needless to say, did not happen this trip. Fortunately this is the last time we have to make the drive to Seattle... and the last time we have to hear 2 hours of Miss E's song stylings. It was funny for the first 20 minutes.

I am now in the process of sorting and folding all my fabric...



which will be a lengthy project, I'm afraid. Once it is done, I will be able to see exactly what I have and hopefully do more sewing.

Roses...

I love that first blast of heat in the spring. It brings the roses on...



The yellow are the English Rose Jude the Obscure... one of David Austin's and a PROLIFIC BLOOMER.



The pink roses are Edens. Again another prolific one. The first blooming is incredible and then it tapers off a bit. I'll try and get a picture of the bush.



Tucked in there are a couple Sarah Bernhardt peonies- a classic beauty.

Treasures

The spouse and Miss Elsie go yard sale-ing and flea market-ing often. Elsie picked out this treasure for me a few weeks ago.



She knows what I like. She picked out a good one. I love the little jeweled bug.

I'm ready for summer....

I have washed off the porch and moved my christmas cacti out...



summer can start now. And since I was outside with my camera, I thought I would wander around and see what's blooming, since I really haven't spent much time outside for the last two weeks.
This is a David Austin English Rose... Alexander Hamilton.. I think... although it might be the Pat Austin, but since it is the first blooming, it is not blooming true to color... still it is lovely...



... and these lovely iris...



I bought them soley for the name "Caesar's Brother". Who knew Caesar had a brother? (I'm sure it was the iris plant brother of in iris called Caesar... but it does make you wonder.) It was on Portland Nursery's discount dying plant table... just add water.

Babies and Body Functions

I was standing in the kitchen today and heard some furious grunting. When I peeked around the corner, I was confronted with a very red little man deep in concentration. I captured the moment via an illustration rather than intrude on the moment with my camera.



Babies are so not shy about their functions

Warm fuzzies...

What is it about cats in a sunbeam...



it just makes you want to nap...



I've been sick all week, and I'm still sick. At least my ears aren't stuffy anymore. The spouse is sick too. The kids were sick for about three days and didn't feel that bad. I think the germs mutated when they infected Dave and me. We have some super bug that has really hit us hard. Maybe after the weekend, I'll be feeling better.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful, dedicated Moms out there. It's hard work, and you all deserve a big "thank you" today, so you know you are appreciated. I was treated to a little sleeping in, breakfast in bed, and some lovely gifts: some chocolate from a local chocolatier, flowers from a local independent florist, and a belly dancing set! The set had a CD, cymbals, and a book. I had mentioned a while ago that I wanted to go try it with a friend. It looks like such fun.... anyway, Miss Elsie, who is totally Nutcracker obessesed and LOVES Arabian Coffee couldn't wait to try out those finger cymbals. So I got her all dressed up to match the book, and she treated us to an hour long performance and then posed for a few pictures.




She takes it very seriously. I love it that she wants to wear the costumes and accessories. We have a good time dressing up and having dance parties.
Tonight, they are all cooking dinner for me... noodles of some kind!

Morning Projects

I bought a doll cradle at Goodwill last year for $7.00 with an additional 30% off. Pretty good score. However, I have not had a chance to outfit it with bedding. I knitted a little doll blanket last week out of some leftover yarn. This morning I made a mattress and pillow.

Here is Miss Elsie stuffing the pillow...


The finished project...


It turned out pretty well. Elsie is pleased with it.

I'm getting into a spring cleaning/decorating mood. I want to make some new pillows for the living room and take down the velvet drapes. I came across these cool mobiles this morning. One of these would be so cool in the house... just what I need... another project. We still need to finish the basement. Although I did get the following things done:
chimney cleaned
carpets cleaned
oven cleaned
ice maker fixed
sent out area rugs to be cleaned
... so I'm off to a good start with the spring cleaning.

Good Mail Day!

Look at all the goodies that arrived in the mail today!




I love days like this. All these lovely things offset the large package I received from Taiwan for a freelance client which means more fittings and comments... ah well... back to the goodies...
These magazines are from Strikkelise. We've been swapping magazines. How cool are the sewing ones?



Why don't American pattern magazines have current, trendy fashions? I love these..



Then... I ordered some gorgeous hand-spun yarns from Camano Made. One of my internet gaming friends raises goats and dyes and spins. Look at these beautiful creations!



This one is 95% cashgora kid and is the softest, loftiest yarn I have ever owned. Just wonderful!



Black with a metallic eyelash...



Then 3 skeins of mohair/angora with beads!



I'm thinking for some kind of lacey wrap. The girls at Camano Made said it is a very hot yarn (apparently they have a sleeveless sweater that is so warm it cannot be worn). I hope my knitting skills do it justice.

A big thank you to Strikkelise for the magazines and to Laurie and Bec for the extra yarn goodies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty Flowers

I've been playing with the macro setting on my camera after being greatly inspired by Bec's photos.



These are some of the better ones...









I put the rest out on my Flickr account. Now I just need to get the yard cleaned up and everything weeded, and I'll be ready for summer. Mmmmmm... gin and tonics in the backyard!

AHHHHH!!!!Allergies!!!

Soft palette is itching... nose is running.... ears are itching.... throat is scratchy... itching in places that I can't scratch!!! It is spring and the tree pollen is killing me! It's a bummer because I love to garden, and I can't even be outside without a box of tissues. My Claritin no longer seems to be working well. I've got a call into the doctor's. Hopefully they can give me something else.

I'm trying to think of better things to keep my mind off this general itching feeling coming from my head. Here's a picture of Miss Elsie and me at the luau in Hawaii... right before it started to dump rain... at least there were no allergies.

I love Target!!!!

Look at this great tote I picked up for the summer....



Just the perfect size to stuff with a picnic lunch!

The spouse's birthday

Miss Elsie was so excited to bake her daddy a birthday cake. She asked him "Do you want a pink cake for your birthday? or a strawberry cake for your birthday?" Putting aside all personal preference, my darling husband told her that a pink cake was just what he wanted. So off to the store we went, so Elsie could select the pink cake mix. I normally bake cake from scratch, but being pressed for time Mr. Duncan Hines was there to bail me out.



Elsie wanted to decorate the cake herself with her various toys. It sounded much simpler than mixing different colors of frosting and getting out the decorating tips. She selected the toys she wanted to use, and I washed them up.



Of course, we were out of birthday candles, so had to make do with a tea light. Probably better and safer than 44 candles anyway.



The inside is princess pink. As Elsie started to fill to capacity she focused on eating the pink cake rather than the cream cheese frosting... which is the opposite of most kids... and some adults. Typically you eat the frosting as you start to fill up...



These were some delicate bouquets she picked for Daddy over the weekend to decorate his office space...





She loves to pick flowers. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her this summer.