elliemoon

AMIGURUMI GIRL, DONE AND DONE

this one's ready to be wrapped! whether she will fit with that other project i mentioned remains to be seen. chances are she's a little too big but that's okay, she's still cute. i followed this free pattern, but when i got to the wig cap i started getting nervous. i had a bad feeling about doing the hair, especially considering how big her head was already. the wig cap looked a lot like a hat though, so i made another in gray, added a few extra rows of single crochet and made a pom pom. i embroidered a french knot and half of a lazy daisy for decoration. then i used the hair yarn to sew in some bangs and ran 9 strands through the base of her head for braids::

add some limbs and there you go::

now, who gets this one? and will i finish another one for the other in time? we'll see. 

 

BIRDIE SLING, TAKE TWO

i finished up some of my procrastination crafting. it's another, much brighter, birdie sling::

that's right, polka dots on the inside too. why not?

i love this "oh deer" collection from moda. i've purchased a bunch of it. maybe one day i'll get around to a couple of simple twin quilts for the girls. the colors would match their bedroom perfectly. i'll put it on my "after the holidays" crafting list. (that's fair warning willie). i think i'm ready for some quilting! maybe.

 

 

 

HOMEMADE SAMOAS

yes, as in, the girl scout cookies. also known as caramel delites. these are my all time favorite girl scout cookies and although i was never a girl scout, i have always been and will forever remain a huge supporter of their cookies. especially when it comes to samoas. they really are the best. and yes, i hide them in my crafting cabinet to insure they will last as long as i need them to. so you can imagine my surprise when my friend meghann pinned a recipe for a homemade version. oh thank you thanksgiving for being today and thus giving me the perfect excuse to make a batch. i always do the desserts::

all together, not very difficult to make. and the flavor is there, it is definitely there. my only disappointment was that i used the semi sweet chips, knowing all the while that i really prefer milk chocolate. i think the dark chocolate overpowers the other flavors. but i could be wrong. i'll let them hang out and marinate until after the feast and see what everyone at the thanksgiving table thinks. and now i'll be forced to make another batch with the milk to compare. you can find the recipe here.

hope you all have a lovely thanksgiving! see you after the food coma wears off.

 

 

THE BEEKEEPER'S QUILT

this project appeals to me on many levels. the beauty and uniqueness of it alone are enough to set you digging through your sock yarn. not to mention the honeycomb design which will leave any avid beekeeper swooning. i'm in. the pattern is by stephanie dosen of tiny owl knits. stephanie is hysterical and is now living in boulder, colorado! only one of my favorite places on earth, as you know. and she's not just a talented designer, she sings too! i have a few of her patterns and i'm so happy to say that this, my favorite of hers, is currently in the works::

i mentioned before that i had made the bunny bags and the buckets in preparation for this knit. as it turned out, the bunny bag was a bit too small to accommodate my need to have two different colors available at a time for the honeycombs. and sadly, i have barely enough to justify using a big bucket right now. but that will change people. that will change. for now this bag (thank you jennifer) goes with me everywhere. and i mean everywhere::

see? it holds everything i need. i dove into this project over the summer and it is a perfect warm weather pattern. very portable. not bulky and won't make you sweat. ready at a moments notice to be grabbed and taken to the beach or lake. perfecto::

and now in the new season, it comes with me to swimming lessons, karate, and any other appointment that involves a waiting room, a waiting hallway, or any type of waiting area, period::

slowly but surely now. don't get too excited yet. this project is supposed to take a year! if you average about one honeycomb a day. of course, i'm going for a larger quilt and what with the holiday and procrastination crafting, i am by no means averaging one a day anymore. so really, it'll be a while. i did think it would be fun to share my progress though, and you know how the blogging of things leads to the motivation for the finishing of things! so its all good and its kind of nice knowing that this amazing quilt in the works, with its little squishy honeycombs of goodness, is always in the sidelines for downtime and extracurriculars!

 

 

TAKE THAT, ROBERT REDFORD!

though i mean no offense to the man. i'm sure he is sweet and cuddly and all that. he seems like a good guy, from what i can tell. here's the story, if you don't already know, robert redford has a catalog called sundance. it premiered in the eighties for people who visited the general store at his sundance resort in utah and still wanted to buy goodies after returning home.

the jewelry in this catalog is typically beautiful and sometimes drool inducing, but it ranges from reasonably priced to outrageously expensive. over the summer (or maybe before) he started selling very beautiful wrap bracelets by chan luu. the price tag was a little much (a lot much actually) and so i decided to make my own. remember the tinkering? i found a lot of tutorials on youtube. this one in particular is nice. it has a clear overview of the beading. i have a friend that owns the real thing and she was nice enough to send me pics of the closure, so i started and finished mine according to the one from the catalog. the beading technique is the same as what is in the youtube video though::

i got the basic idea and list of supplies from youtube, but if you are lucky enough to have a bead shop near you, chances are you can find all the goods and even get some live advice at the same time. that's what i did.

this bracelet is a five wrap and is made with sea glass beads. it can be adjusted for just the right fit. it will eventually land in my etsy shop. now that i have the hang of it i'm hoping to start another for my own "under the tree" experience. yes, i sometimes craft presents for myself. it might not be normal, but its fun. because i'm a crafting geek. 

 

 

STORYTIME WITH MAKO

happy weekend everyone!

 

PROCRASTINATION

my best friend and my worst enemy. i get so much accomplished, just not the right stuff::

i'm just going to finish this up and then get to what i'm really supposed to be working on. i promise. if it makes me feel any better, i'll wrap this up and stick it under the tree for myself. besides, about a year ago i was a little further off track. at least i'm crafting for humans this time around.

 

THE NEW GIRLS

we've been very busy loving, snuggling and welcoming to the family two new little kitties::

these two could quite possibly be the most loved kittens on the planet at the moment. they never nap without an afghan and they are the topic of every story, serious discussion and work of art as of late::

i hadn't realized what was missing until they were here. i don't know how we made it this far without them. 

 

HOLIDAY SOCKS, ONE YEAR LATER

remember my brilliant idea to knit four pairs of socks at once last year? well, things were going smoothly until they weren't. more pressing projects threatened to go unfinished for the big day and i had to put the socks aside. i don't think they would have had quite the same effect as the angry birds. luckily i hadn't gotten down to the sizing, so when i unearthed the sock bag in october all i needed were some updated foot measurements and i was on my way::

i guess that's one holiday craft accomplished. although it's hard to think of it that way when they've been shoved in a closet for a year and i did most of the tricky parts 13 months ago. but they are wrappable right? and that's more than i can say for anything else at the moment. also, i will never again need to purchase size 2 dpns::

that's a healthy pile.

happy weekend!

 

 

BANANA BONDA

this is a recipe i found on indu's blog, a great foodie site. it's banana bonda. it looked so delicious i had to try it....instead of working on my holiday crafts. those three overripe bananas needed attention too, you know:: 

yes, i tossed some in a bag of cinnamon and sugar. don't tell indu. i'm sure this is just about the furthest thing from tradition and i apologize. but it looked like i was making donuts, it smelled like i was making donuts, it felt like i was making donuts. i couldn't stop myself. the funny part is, they tasted much better without it.

these were quite an improvement over the usual banana bread solution. it was a good day to be coming home from school! five stars from each of the four of them. thanks for the recipe indu!