Here's one of the monkeys:
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
my summer so far...
...has consisted of mass amounts of knitting! I don't know why, but I've become obsessed with it. So far I've made a sweater and two monkeys. (I've included a picture of one of the monkeys below) I'm well on my way to finishing a second sweater and a hat. I've picked up two new knitting books, Classic Knits by Erika Knight and Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin. In May, my grandmother gave me two enormous boxes of yarn, her needles and all of her patterns. In her patterns, I also found a vintage 1950's book of knitting patterns, which is what I knit the sweater from. I also bought myself a book about knitting sock monkeys, which is where the monkeys came from! Right now, I'm lusting after The Knitted Odd-Bod Bunch by Donna Wilson because it's full of ugly-but-cute creatures to knit...my favorite kind!
Here's one of the monkeys:
Here's one of the monkeys:
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Street and Nye
Hi everyone!
Sunday before last, Kris and I decided to attempt our first trailless together. I had done some trailless peaks before, but this was Kris's first. We read countless trip reports just to make sure we weren't going to be over our heads with this one, and we also studied Kris's adk club book and topo map. It was one of the easier hikes we've done, but I really loved it. The summits didn't provide much of a view. In fact, we couldn't even tell that we were on the summit of street for a while! We also stumbled across the remains of an old logging camp on the side of the trail. Here are some photos!
Sunday before last, Kris and I decided to attempt our first trailless together. I had done some trailless peaks before, but this was Kris's first. We read countless trip reports just to make sure we weren't going to be over our heads with this one, and we also studied Kris's adk club book and topo map. It was one of the easier hikes we've done, but I really loved it. The summits didn't provide much of a view. In fact, we couldn't even tell that we were on the summit of street for a while! We also stumbled across the remains of an old logging camp on the side of the trail. Here are some photos!
Thursday, 3 June 2010
And, I'm back
Sorry I took a hiatus from blogging, but things have been fairly crazy. Grad school is done for the summer, so I now have some free time! Here's a brief update on the latest happenings...
First, Kris and our friend Jeff and I took a short road trip to Boston to see the Yankees play the Red Sox at Fenway Park. It was Kris's first trip to Fenway and my first time seeing a Sox-Yankees game. Unfortunately, the Red Sox lost 10-3, but I still had a fabulous time.
Unfortunately, the week after my trip to Fenway, my grandmother passed away from cancer. Above is a picture of her when she was in her early 20's.
Last Thursday I dusted off my hiking boots, and Kris and I finally did our first hike of the summer. It felt great to get back on the trails even though I'm sad to say that I'm very, very, VERY out of shape. My friend Bonnie joined us for the hike, and we climbed Wright Peak. The wildlife count for the day: 1 snowshoe hare, 1 frog, 1 beaver, and 43 toads.
At the summit of Wright is wreckage from a plane crash that happened in 1962. A B-47 bomber lost in a storm ran into one side of the summit, scattering parts and pieces all over the place. Above, I'm sitting next to one of the melted, twisted up engines.
So that's the latest news! I'll be back blogging once a week now that things have slowed down here.
So that's the latest news! I'll be back blogging once a week now that things have slowed down here.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
ladies and gentlemen of the jury...
...I give you the FRANKEN-DRESS!
Kris had some sheets with multi-colored polka dots in shades of green and blue that I was in love with! He didn't like them much because he thought they were too feminine, so he gave them to me and I decided to make a dress out of them. I chose to use a Simplicity pattern I have from the 1940's that has adorable little peplums on the hips. The pattern itself was about a size and a half too small for me, but I felt optimistic.
I call this the Franken-Dress because I wound up loosely basing the dress on the pattern I had. In fact, I pieced it together kind of randomly and sort of from other patterns I have to make it my size. The neck hole was WAY, way too small. I went to try on the top of the dress when I thought I had finished it to discover I couldn't get it over my head. I didn't have any hook and eye or snap closures, so I made my own hook and eye style closures out of fabric and some vintage buttons I found in my grandmother's house that are bright red. You can see what I did with them in the very last photo in this post. I also wound up taking out most of the darts I sewed in the bodice because the fit was really strange. I sewed the panels on the skirt together and then measured the waist. It was too small by about four inches, so I cut out some extra panels and tore out the seams on the skirt and sewed the extra panels in back. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the back of the dress now has a little bitty bustle to it. When I sewed the skirt to the top, I couldn't get it over my chest because the zipper opening called for in the pattern was way too short. Luckily, I had a spare white 22-incher laying around in my box of notions, so I trimmed it down a little, tore out the side seam on the skirt and re-sewed it with the longer zipper in a longer opening. Now, obviously, it's wearable, but oh my gosh! This dress was a lot of work! I'd love to make this pattern again, and I think it'll go more smoothly next time...after all of my ripping apart and piecing together. It probably took me twice as long to sew in the long run!
I still have a ton of this fabric left. Kris gave me a top sheet, fitted sheet and pillow case. I have most of the top sheet left, all of the fitted sheet and all of the pillow case. I am trying to figure out if I have enough of this fabric to sew one of the other patterns I have that is for a summer dress with a big flow-y circle skirt. Anyway...I'm pretty pleased with this little number, even if it is a Franken-Dress and a bit loud. :)
Kris had some sheets with multi-colored polka dots in shades of green and blue that I was in love with! He didn't like them much because he thought they were too feminine, so he gave them to me and I decided to make a dress out of them. I chose to use a Simplicity pattern I have from the 1940's that has adorable little peplums on the hips. The pattern itself was about a size and a half too small for me, but I felt optimistic.
I call this the Franken-Dress because I wound up loosely basing the dress on the pattern I had. In fact, I pieced it together kind of randomly and sort of from other patterns I have to make it my size. The neck hole was WAY, way too small. I went to try on the top of the dress when I thought I had finished it to discover I couldn't get it over my head. I didn't have any hook and eye or snap closures, so I made my own hook and eye style closures out of fabric and some vintage buttons I found in my grandmother's house that are bright red. You can see what I did with them in the very last photo in this post. I also wound up taking out most of the darts I sewed in the bodice because the fit was really strange. I sewed the panels on the skirt together and then measured the waist. It was too small by about four inches, so I cut out some extra panels and tore out the seams on the skirt and sewed the extra panels in back. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the back of the dress now has a little bitty bustle to it. When I sewed the skirt to the top, I couldn't get it over my chest because the zipper opening called for in the pattern was way too short. Luckily, I had a spare white 22-incher laying around in my box of notions, so I trimmed it down a little, tore out the side seam on the skirt and re-sewed it with the longer zipper in a longer opening. Now, obviously, it's wearable, but oh my gosh! This dress was a lot of work! I'd love to make this pattern again, and I think it'll go more smoothly next time...after all of my ripping apart and piecing together. It probably took me twice as long to sew in the long run!
I still have a ton of this fabric left. Kris gave me a top sheet, fitted sheet and pillow case. I have most of the top sheet left, all of the fitted sheet and all of the pillow case. I am trying to figure out if I have enough of this fabric to sew one of the other patterns I have that is for a summer dress with a big flow-y circle skirt. Anyway...I'm pretty pleased with this little number, even if it is a Franken-Dress and a bit loud. :)
Monday, 29 March 2010
a very belated st patrick's day post
I love soda bread. It's delicious and super easy to make, so I'm not sure why I only make it once a year! This year I made soda bread, and while I usually use wheat flour to make it, I only had all-purpose so my bread came out a little more like a quick sour dough.
Here's the recipe!
3 cups of flour (either wheat, all-purpose, or half of each! you choose...it tastes delicious no matter what)
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of milk with one Tbsp of vinegar mixed in to sour it
oats or grains for added texture (a nice touch, but not necessary)
Preheat oven to 375. Grease a baking sheet.
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and oats. Once these are incorporated, slowly add in the soured milk. Mix until the dough is soft and a bit sticky. Roll into a large, flat ball six or seven inches in diameter. Place the dough on the baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes.
Here's my soda bread:
And here's a very happy beer:
Happy (late) St. Patrick's day!
Here's the recipe!
3 cups of flour (either wheat, all-purpose, or half of each! you choose...it tastes delicious no matter what)
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of milk with one Tbsp of vinegar mixed in to sour it
oats or grains for added texture (a nice touch, but not necessary)
Preheat oven to 375. Grease a baking sheet.
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and oats. Once these are incorporated, slowly add in the soured milk. Mix until the dough is soft and a bit sticky. Roll into a large, flat ball six or seven inches in diameter. Place the dough on the baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes.
Here's my soda bread:
And here's a very happy beer:
Happy (late) St. Patrick's day!
Thursday, 25 March 2010
an update on the latest happenings
Well...I haven't posted much lately because I have been in the process of moving! It's been a busy time, but now I'm mostly settled in. I still have a few last things to move in, like a desk, and I haven't hung up any of my framed art stuff from home. All in all, though, I'm happy and comfortable! :)
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
new pattern!
I have been trying to avoid buying sewing patterns because I still have a few that I haven't made yet, but I really couldn't resist this beauty. I debated over buying it for a while, but I kept going back to the same website it was being sold on to "visit" it, finally deciding to just break down and buy it. After all, it's almost impossible for me to find sewing patterns for bottoms that fit my waist, and this one is my exact size. So...I have this lovely pattern for 1940's culottes!! I can't wait to make them!
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