Snow Update

ITS SNOWED!!!!
Looking East
Looking West

Our little home is placed directly on wonderful PA 132. And today at 11:30am the street was completely empty, except for one crazy person who just had to get a photograph.

Its been about a foot so far and is still falling. Its been 2 snow shovelings and probably many more through out today.

One trek to 7-11 for necessities to supply coffee and now were safe and cozy in front of the tv.

Have a Happy Snow Day!

now I just have to find the sleds....

Ribbon Organization

Are you confused about how to best organize your ribbon selection? Or are you just annoyed that your cat keeps knocking them over and spraying the ribbon all over the room? Try using a shoe box. Here I've covered a shoe box (the side open is the best because it means less work - this is a Sperry Topsider showbox). If you can't find a side opening shoebox, you'll just have to take an extra step and cut a slit in the side of the box at the same height of the dowel, or slightly higher to allow for ease of the ribbon off the spool. Place a dowel rod 1/2" higher than the radius of your largest spool of ribbon (ie: ribbon has 2.5" radius, place dowel 3" from bottom). I found it easiest to slash an X into the box on either side. A hot guled on button is the stopper on one end, the other end has no stopper to allow you to remove the dowel and change the spools of ribbon.

Fun and cute way to display your ribbon while having ease of use!
Enjoy!

Christmas Cheer - Holiday Windows

Its Christmas time again and time to get creative with our decorating strategies.

This year try a new spin on the old window decorations. I've done it to the back door that already has the division lines. Here's what you need:

I've used vellum sheets, found in the scrapbooking section of your craft store, and a grosgrain ribbon for added interest. You can personalize your window with any motif you like, just print a graphic holiday image from online, trace, and cut. Repeat for five designs. To adhere your vellum sheets to the window, try double sided tape and try to hide in the corners. To connect the 5 squares add ribbon. I used a 1 inch wide ribbon, but using a wider ribbon will help to hide any adhesive that shows through the vellum.

This is a quick and fun way to dress up your windows and still let light shine through.

There is Hope out there

For a creative person, having to play the game hurts, really hurts. You hate having to go with the flow, keep your head down, and put in your time. But there is hope out there for us. Etsy's blog posted this great interview with Michelle of cicadastudio about just the topic. And for me it was the perfect timing.
I got in an accident with the curb this morning 20 min into my 2.5 hour commute into lovely Soho New York. So needless to say, I didn't make it to Soho. But I called into work and was able to arrange my work to be sent home to me, so instead of missing a whole day and leaving people hanging, I was about to get something done at least. It sucks to have to do it, but you have to just pick up the pieces and put your best foot forward even when you want to crawl under the covers again b/c you didn't go into work. I have to consistently motivate myself to keep moving forward.

There is Hope out there.

Pain for Charity Knitting

This year I'm doing charity knitting. Check with your LYS for groups that they know of for a project that fits your style. I took this scarf as a challenge. I've challenged myself to learn a new skill.

I'm a proud thrower. Not a picker. I was taught to throw, my mother threw, my grandmother threw. BUT.... after working at my LYS, I've realized I need to learn how to pick, especially for ribbing. The connection between your knit and purl stitches is often shorter than between your purl and knit stitches leaving a ladder between every rib. But with continental ribbing you have more control of the ladders. So... after about 45 min of swearing under my breath and watching YouTube videos over and over again, my hands hurt and I only have 4 rows done.

I'm not thrilled about the speed I'm going at. At least I'm learning.

BONUS! Charity Knitting is a great way to use of stash yarn. Organizations often want 100% acrylic for washability. So break out that yarn you only let your kids use.

BONUS DEUX! A great way to use more than one color for fear that your main color choice will not last, try a cable cast on and work the main portion of the scarf. When you feel that you're running down you can start to add stripes to one end. To balance out the stripes on the other end, undo your crochet cast on, pick up and repeat the stripe in the same way!

Happy Thanksgiving '09

Happy Turkey Weekend! I hope everyone ate a lot of stuffing and wore their protective hats to scare off hunters during small game hunting season!

Cheers!

New Furniture

Successful trip to Goodwill resulted in this wonderful dry sink now in our kitchen in place of an old folding table that became the place where everything without a place went. Now it all has a place. The top drawer has become our wonderful utility drawer. Below is for extra baking goods, tupperware, batteries, light bulbs, and extra kitty food. Its a great piece right now with tons of potential to add color... we just don't have a color scheme yet. You'd expect Paz to be interested in the extra kitty food inside and the open bag outside the chest... but no... shes just upset that there's something new in the house. How dare we.