Off to a slow start

We had a wonder-full presidents day weekend. Full full.
Saturday, the whole family went to the BMAC in Philly. Daddy walked around with the wee one, who happened to be the star of the show, I think.   Only babies under 6 months were allowed in, and I only saw one other baby in there. Since everyone was looking at her anyway, we decided to throw a strand of pearls on her and try to get people to our booth.
Low, I know, but fun and worth it!
I later decided that strand should come home with us, after all, they were the first pearls she had worn! (Call me sentimental, I'll accept that.)
Then Sunday was my first real day away from our cutie. It was tough, but I was kept busy, and knew she was happy hanging out with Pop.

The great thing about long weekends is that they keep going- So Monday, we took a little field trip to New Columbia, PA. Brushy Mountain Bees!!
We picked up two hives and all the tools and goodies to go with them. The bees are scheduled to arrive May 11. Bzzzzzz. So this will be exciting- so I think!

Along with the honey, I am pretty excited about the beeswax, and sense some candlemaking in my somewhat near future. *big grin*


But, after the long weekend, I feel like I got nothing done. The studio is a, um, well, it's a mess. Everything goes up there as a staging ground or something! So in order to work at the bench, sometimes it needs more than just a quick tidy up to get to an empty surface. Well, this endeavor got worse, and will continue to get worse, before it gets better! I bet it would have been cleaned up, you know, if I didn't have to learn all of the ins and outs of our furnace. We ran out of fuel overnight on Thursday.  I was up and about for over an hour before I even became slightly suspicious. Clearly the "cold" doesn't bother me. (61 is wonderfully comfortable, if you ask me.) Rather, it was the surprising lack of noise, I think.
So fuel was delivered but the heat wouldn't come on. 3.5 hours later, with a whole new set of skills, (and a call to my dad, and the help of a good friend and the heating guy) the heat was back on.
Finally, Saturday allowed me to finish cleaning the studio!  (unfortunately for me, fly tying materials all ended back on my bench, so the fly tying table could be used to saw some knife steel...  It's all still there.)

As for making stuff:
I bought some tapioca- it's a first step...

And I used up some stuff that was just taking up space in my life:
Banana chips (stupid inpulse buy in the bulk aisle one day)
&
Peach schnapps (horrifyingly sweet)

I must say, the combo made for some pretty decent banana bread :)

Up next (I hope):
More earrings

Well, that didn't go like I planned.

No new earrings.
No second sweater.
No desserts.

Ok, that's a little exaggerated.
* There really are no new earrings. Though I did manage to fully finish the pairs I had started.

(big thanks to mom for the new needle set!)

* The second sweater is not made. I started it... Then tore out more than half of what I did. Apparently I neglected to look back at what I had done, and one of the button bands was stockinette, the other was, correctly, garter. Riiiiiiiiip, riiiiip, riiiiip... I started to knit it again, but I'm still on the krimpy yarn.



* Desserts. I didn't make anything great, that's for sure.
I saw a recipe for chia almond coconut pudding.
Eh. It was ok, but I'm not sure I'd make it again.it seemed like a waste of perfectly good chia seeds. A LOT of perfectly good chia seeds. I've had the same bag for over a year now, I'm sure (they're dry, and haven't gone bad!) Now, granted, I don't eat or drink them that often, I had barely made a dent in them. This *just ok* pudding put a huge dent in the bag!

just what I was looking for

And by the way, I think chia seeds are what had me running in the summer heat, 7 months pregnant- so yeah, I think they are pretty awesome.



I DID take a little field trip to the public library, though. Picked up a nice little book on bookbinding.
Color me happy, but for the fact that I haven't even gotten to look at it yet. The day after I got it, I felt pretty pathetic with a headache, and a hurting back. (Carrying around 11lbs in front of you isn't the easiest on your back, you know.) And it may have had something to do with the (blizzard?) Nemo/Charlotte with the pressure changes, and the irritatingly disappointing lack of predicted snow.


Either way, I even missed the baby shower because I hadn't returned to feeling normal yet.
So this is what I am sending out soon!

baby gifts.
blue sweater & burp cloths.

Coming up:
Who knows. I just hope I make something decent this week!

Exciting Stuff!

Well, aside from changing schedules, we are starting to really get into a groove. There are many days when the wee one lets me get a lot done.

New baby sweater.
"Puerperium"

Over the past week I strang (strung?) some pearls, finished a whole bunch of my tiny earrings, knitted a sweater, made some other baby gifts, baked bread... You know, the usual.


(I must say, it is fun to have a model for my knitting!)

Of course, I didn't really get to the specifically Valentine's inspired jewelry, but hey.
Pearls and earrings are good!

On another note:

A few years ago, I got my husband (at the time boyfriend) a sheet of stainless steel for his birthday to make a knife with. Well, that hasn't been done yet- not even started.  But drawings were just being done by him within the past two weeks. :D
Along with this idea, he decided he wants to learn to do blacksmithing. That reminded me, for my freshman orientation to college, I attended Haystack Mountain School for a long weekend - where I learned blacksmithing. Clearly not all of the ins and outs and what-have-yous, but I got to try my hand at it.
It was Great.
So now I have a hankering to hammer some hot metal on an anvil, along with my many other, more docile hobbies.


Baby shower this weekend.
I never really enjoyed any kind of shower (except the kind in a tub), but I must admit that having a baby around, I am pretty excited to go to this shower. It's more fun, I guess, knowing what they are getting themselves into!

Up next:
More earrings
Another baby sweater- same pattern, different baby.

Desserts? (I'm really hungry right now!)

Hats and...

A week or so ago, I made yet another baby hat.  

i know, the photo is kinda pathetic.

I tried to take a photo of it on my little one, but she wasn't having it!  (I think she knew it's not for her.  And, besides, she seems to HATE having a hat on in the house.  I can't say I blame her.  It's too hot!)

This was another *Catherine-isn't-using-a-pattern* kinda deal. 

Patterns, recipes... Guidelines, I say!

Usually very loosely followed guidelines, at best...

Also, we got a Free Baby Photo Book card from Shutterfly.com  Why not give them a free plug, right?  

So the better half and I sat at the computer and reminisced over photos from the past *nearly* 3 months, choosing which ones to have printed and bound.  I then went in and did what I could to tell a story.   I like to think I did a pretty fine job, but we will see when the book arrives.

Either way, I am pretty excited about it.

So this book thing, though...

Pretty neat!

With the red studio book I just made,

Designing the photo book,

And looking at an old college friend's work: http://dskidesign.com 

I started to think that I really would like to get into book binding...  Doing it right, and really well.

Yet another skill, necessary for me to acquire!

Maybe I will get a book about it.

Coming up:

°Valentine's Inspired Jewelry and Shawl Pins  (I better hurry!)

°Baby Sweater #3, but not for me!

Organizational Extravaganza

With this little baby around now, and my self-diagnosed OCD, I decided that maybe I should get a little more organized about my life, you know, to make sure I get something done... (Because I wasn't organized before?!) So I made myself some lists, got some dry erase markers, and then I made a book.
I thought, "Hey, I haven't made a book in a while, and I always want to use something to write my lists in, but I never like the planners that you can get in the store..." (Partly because they are always lined, and I have no love for lined paper- unless it's graph paper- then it's ok.)




So.  Book it is.

Complete with dates and checkboxes.

Nice.

Also, some more ornaments I made over Christmas.
No pattern, just some cotton, and size 0, stainless, square needles that I got to try!







Next up:
*Yellow baby hat
*Some more ornaments to try out a new pair of square wooden needles. (Exciting gift!!)

Christmas Cheer

I must admit, I've been really excited about Christmas this year.  Maybe it's the new baby, I don't know...  But we got to pick out a tree this year with our little darling.  (So she slept the whole time, so what?)  She wore her daddy hat while we searched for the tree.  This is the first knitting her daddy has ever done- and he did a great job!  Very even and everything :)  (A small fiasco after that trip: the hat was almost lost for good.  It was safely returned, though!)

Sleepyhead was hiding, but showing off her hat.

Mini Stocking Ornament

For our first Christmas with a wee one,  I thought I would try to make some wee ornaments.  (Miniature stuff shows up a lot in what I make, now that I'm thinking of it again...)  A stocking and a santa hat were the only two things I got to with all of the free time I have.  (The santa hat still needs the pom-pom attached though.)

And then...

My new santa hat!

Her pumpkin hat was getting to look a little out of season, so I decided to make a santa hat for the baby.  

I looked up patterns, and then, of course, just made one up.  

I can't complain, though.  I am quite pleased with it!

                                 *           *           *

Now maybe, just maybe, I will get around to making some Christmas cookies.  Amaretti and chocolate crackle.  YUM. 

Im constantly working on something..

For the past 4 weeks, I've been a little too busy with this one "project", to be able to work on any other big projects.
And I'm pretty ok with that ;)
My little hurricane baby is growing (I hope!)
It is amazing how many things come with babies.
I never thought we would have so many blankets in our house (or that I would find myself using her blankets- they're all REALLY NICE! Not to mention handmade.)


I plan to get to making more jewelry soon, but we haven't quite gotten to that part of our groove yet! In the meantime, I am learning to be a mommy.