Sweet Baby Blanket

It's finally done! I have been holding off on sharing any photos of this particular project, but I honestly don't know why. I just finished blocking and weaving in the ends, and it looks gorgeous! My cousin is having a baby shower on Saturday and I can hardly wait to give this to her. The pattern is another one by the lovely Joanna Johnson called Freddie's Blanket. I opted for Caron One Pound yarn because 1) It's a WHOLE LOT cheaper than using the Brown Sheep Company yarn, and 2) It's machine washable and the called-for yarn is not. It took quite a while but I really loved the repeat pattern to keep my mind and fingers going, and it's such an unusual pattern that it had several peoples' jaws drop wondering how I did it. It was also simple enough to do while watching a show or kids at the park. I hope to do another one in boy colors sometime, but I definitely will be making the baby size instead of the child size, 200 stitches across is just too many for my patience level! Enjoy, I'm off to work on another project!

I've Been Published!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! I've been published for the very first time! I made a set of cards that reminded me of my grandparents' Hawaiin shirts in their closet from when we were kids, and on a whim I sent them to CardMaker Magazine. I never in a million years thought I would get published, I used to submit to magazines all the time and never once got picked. This time, though, they emailed me asking to publish 3 of the 6 I had sent them, and I was ecstatic! It's been a hard wait for this to come out, and I let a couple of close friends and my immediate family know, but nobody else. Today my friend Martha (who was one of the few who knew) posted a picture of the cover of the latest issue, and THERE WERE MY CARDS. ON THE COVER. OF THE FLIPPIN' MAGAZINE! I had no idea they chose them for the cover! I'm so excited right now, and I really want to pull out some more supplies and get to card making! The only problem is that shortly after I made these we put all of my papercrafting supplies in storage until the basement is done. Oh well, now I know what I am capable of, and I hope to have lots more designs show up in magazines someday! In case you were wondering,  here are the other 3 cards that didn't get chosen:

I can't wait to get my copy of the actual magazine in hand! The digital copy is now available for download, and the newsstand copy will be available June 4th. Blessings everyone!

Newborn Photo Shoot

My sister's sister-in-law (or what we like to call each other, sister-in-law-in-law!) had a baby girl yesterday! I was very blessed and got to visit her and take some pictures today. What a sweetie pie!

I was actually much happier with the color on these than the black and white, which is rare because I love black and white little babies! The family is incredibly sweet and I hope I get to take more pictures of this wonderful girl as she grows up :)

Sweet Nephew 3 Month Photo Shoot

Geez I love my nephew!!! My sister and I had so much fun doing this shoot for her little man.  I can hardly believe how big he has gotten! What a cutie pie! (PS I always send people two copies of each picture, one normal color and one "stylized," and in this case the style was black and white. I just loved the B&W so much I had to pick those for the post!)

Drywall is DONE!!

Hooray! We are 100% finished with the drywall! Here are some pics of the living room for you:

Here's where you walk down the stairs, we have a fun "art nook" for some artwork to go later.

Here's a good view of the "living area," where the couches and TV will go.

On the right is a spot for a built-in bookshelf, then to the left of that is where the TV will go. We are SO EXCITED that we wired ahead of time for surround sound, even though we don't have a system and probably won't for awhile. To the left of that is where the fireplace will be, trimmed in stone. It's going to be SO PRETTY!

Next to the fireplace there will be a bench that opens up to put blankets in and pillows on top of, and then to the left of that is another bookshelf. This half of the room will be like the "gaming" area, where a table and chairs will go for puzzles and board games (so they don't have to take up my dining room table any more!) Hooray!

Here is the back wall of the living room, where a desk will go with a built in bookshelf above it.

And finally, the finished hallway! We are so thrilled to have this part of the build done, and now I can actually help out with the next step of mudding and taping!  

Since we finished this HUGE step, I decided to do another tour of where we are at. Enjoy!

(Halfway) Finished Object - Cross-Eyed Socks

I got to do my first test knit! Hooray! Someone wrote a pattern and needed someone to try it out, check it for clarity and size, and give feedback. I was super excited to help someone with their pattern, writing patterns is a long time goal for me and I like to see the process. I only did one of the socks though, I need a bit of a break from this uber-bright yarn before I keep going. Here is the single sock:

I'm sure I'll do the other one someday, it doesn't make much sense to have a single sock lying around. In the meantime, I still am searching for blocking wires to block the falling water scarf, I'm farther on the entrelac blanket, and I finished the turquoise and green socks for my bestie. Already new yarns and projects are calling to me, I have a baby shower coming up in June and of course I have a babe of my own coming that same month! Best get back to the needles....

Falling Water Scarf - On the Needles

I might have made a mistake a few weeks ago. I ordered what I thought was some lovely worsted weight yarn for a baby blanket, and it turned out to be sock yarn. Sad day. Plus, the colorway wasn't quite what I expected, and I had absolutely no idea what to do with this particular yarn. When I found this pattern, though, I knew it would be a good shot at using the weird, and it has turned out to be even better than I pictured! Here is the progress I have so far, although it won't look right until I block it.

I have about another 2-3 hours left to finish it, and I can hardly wait to block it! It actually looks like flames to me, my hubby and I joke that it would be fun to wear it to the Hunger Games premiere in November as a "Girl on Fire" tribute, but I'm planning on giving it away soon. I'm hoping to post pics of it finished next week!