Thursday, October 29, 2009

Prepping for Trick of Treat

Tomorrow is my work's Halloween Open House and I decided to make some ghostly strawberries. They are dipped in white chocolate and then the eyes and mouths are made with black gel icing. Boo!!!



While I was bringing the strawberries' inner ghosts, these delicious Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones were baking in the over to go with our chicken taco soup that had worked all day in the crockpot.  Thank you Smitten Kitchen! They were so flaky and yummy!



I promised a picture of these awhile ago, but my swap buddy has received her package so now I can share the stitch markers I made her.  I think I like the pumpkins a little more than the witch hats, but both are fun and were fun to make out of polymer clay.



Pictures coming soon of vampires and 80's chic....

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Bead Still My Heart

Today was the second (and final) part of my knitting with beads class. Can I say Laura Col is an amazing teacher and her and her husband are incredibly generous people?! At both class sessions we were treated to wonderful treats including a nummy food, a wooden bead spinner and other beading paraphernalia to get those rascally beads in line (and on the yarn), and today a needle holder hand made by Laura's husband. It is gorgeous and will hold a crochet hook or shorter dpns.  Check it out!




Here are the beaded fingerless gloves that I started in the class.  I am using Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette Fingering in Hydrangea (it is a light purple gray) and I am using and iridescent gray bead.  Here is my beginning:



While I was at it, I thought I would give an update on a couple other WIPs.  First is my new winter hat. The pattern is called Rose Red (rav link), but I am calling it my Blue Pine Rose.  It is a pretty quick knit and I have only worked on it here and there over the past week and I am already about half way done.



I also have almost 3 hanks of 10 finished on the Lace Cable Shawl I am making for a sample at Paradise Fibers. This is a close-up so you can see the lace and cables.



I also have another project in the works for an upcoming swap that I will not share because I do not want to spoil the surprise.  We will also ignore more currently hibernating projects because I don't want to talk about it and my inability to find the incentive to complete them.

I also want to share this picture I snapped from our backdoor this morning. Every morning I let Charlie outside when I wake up and get on with my morning rituals.  Typically, Charlie lets me know when he is ready to come back it by getting a little scratch on the back door.  This morning it was seeming to take longer than normal for him to let me know it was time for him to come back in so I checked on him and caught him sunbathing with no intention of coming in any time soon.




I love this picture with the carpet of leaves that dropped during our rain storm yesterday and the glow of the sun on everything.



Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Discovering Dahlia

Technically I discovered Dahlia this past summer when I visited Amy Sanchez's (the jewelry artist behind Dahlia) booth at one of the local art festivals in Spokane.  She is vintage with an edge.  She says she designs "nostalgic adornments for the modern girl." However you want to say it, I love it.  I bought a pair of earrings and this necklace at the festival.



I was digging through my purse today and came across her business card and a 10% off coupon that I might just have to use on these earrings.



Even though I fell in love with just about everything in her booth I had never gotten around to looking at her website.  Good thing I did too because it looks like she will be having a display at one of the local boutiques downtown in December for their open house.  Can someone let Mark know that any of her jewelry would make excellent Christmas presents?  Please.....

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Treats For All

Mark's favorite treat is apple pie to the point that he would much rather I bake him an apple pie for his birthday than a cake.  Well, it is not his birthday for another month, but I decided to give him a little treat anyway.  I used my Grandma's crust recipe and my sister's canned pie filling.  It turned out delish!



As long as Mark was getting a treat, I thought maybe I should too.  I am taking a class at Paradise Fibers to learn how to knit with beads.  We are learning by making these lovelies (rav link).  On the day of classes you get 10% off just about anything in the store.  So I splurged and got this beautiful Lantern Moon basket for a new project "bag." 


Saturday, October 17, 2009

Burning Ring of Fire

We inaugurated our fire pit last night.  It was a perfect night, with a touch of crispness that made the fire welcoming.  I love a nice fire. It is my favorite part of camping, to the point if there is a burn ban there is a part of me that doesn't even want to bother with the camping bit and just go for a pleasant hike somewhere to get my nature time.  We have only used it the once so far, but I know I am going to be thankful for every penny I spent to add it to our home.  Here are a few pictures of us enjoying the first fire of the season.




Thursday, October 15, 2009

Halloween Sneak Peek

I thought I would share a little sneak peek into Halloween at my work.  We all LOVE Halloween and really get into the spirit of things.  Notice the Handi-man's coffin front and center with its new occupant.  Can you guess what we are all dressing up as?


Saturday, October 10, 2009

Fitted Knits

I just have to share.  I have discovered a fabulous new (to me) knitting book. Fitted Knits: 25 Projects for the Fashionable Knitter.  I use the term new loosely as I realize that I am a little behind in the game and this puppy has been out since 2007, but I seriously want to cast on nearly every single item.  That never happens.  All of patterns are modern with a little vintage whimsy. I LOVE them!  While you are at it, check out the designer's website: http://www.glampyre.com/ and prepare to be inspired.


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Don't Tell Mark But.....

… I secretly like the fact that we keep our house a little on the cool side during the chilly months. It makes it possible for me to still bundle up comfortably under a quilt or afghan. I can hold a warm cup of tea (or hot-buttered rum) and feel its warmth work up my fingers. If my nose is cold I can lean into Mark and press the tip of nose in the soft part under his chin and feel it warm me down to my toes. It also means that my little furnace of a sweetie doesn’t mind it when I want to fall asleep at night curved against him. Charlie Bear spends every moment he can get on one of our laps because he didn’t get enough lap time in the summer when it was too warm to cuddle with us. It means I get to be cozy in any manner that I want and be warmed from my fingertips to my toes inside and out.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Go Broncos!

Here is Charlie enjoying his new BSU outfit courtesy of Michelle. Go Broncos!















Here is the rest of the swap package she sent.  It had some of the most amazing little finds and do you notice I now have my very own Hedgwig owl.
















This weekend I also got some quality time with the girls.  We ate lunch, did a little shopping, and discovered a great new martini at Twigs.  Yum!