Snow... Puppies

Last week we had our first real snowfall, with just the right amount for good winter fun! Enough to make sledding easy, but not so deep that J couldn't walk in it! Our borrowed pets, Lily and Daisy enjoyed the fun as much as we did. C was convinced that Daisy wanted to sled, but I think she was just too dumb to get out of the way. :)

Little Elves

Here are my two happy kids getting toasty by the chimney. Below is the doll I made for my son's birthday last month. He has become very attached to it already and won't go to bed without it! I hope to make a tutorial of how to make this doll and post it on the blog. If you are interested in the tutorial let me know, and I will definitely get it done sooner!

Cozy Winter Treats

Much to my delight, my father-in-law's spinning wheel is now in working order, and I am spinning up piles of wool. Between bouts of spinning, I have continued in my pursuit of bread perfection. Discovered last week that the Country White recipe from La Brea Breads makes fantastic baguettes! Had to bake them again. Baguettes, brie and red wine-- makes me think I'm not in Michigan!

Fall Felting

It seems we skipped directly from summer to winter here. We spent the day without jackets on Monday, and woke up to snow and very cold temperatures on Tuesday. The cold weather has put me in a holiday crafting mood. Yesterday we began felting ball ornaments for sale at our local Farmer's Market's Holiday Fair. Along with our felt ball ornaments, I plan to make more of the needle-felted angels I made last year. This time I would like to try some that are top-of-the-tree size. I have also been busy making and selling! (locally) crochet necklaces and earrings. I sent some to my sister for her birthday. Need to call and see if she liked them!

The Colinette Conclusion

This is the third and final attempt to not waste my lovely Colinette One Zero on an unwear-

able project! I wish I had photos to show you of the first two bizarre-looking things I attempted with it (a long tubular tank, and a misguided mini capelet). Or maybe I don't wish I had those photos! In any case, this one is a keeper, I think. Cute but not too cute? I used the Matador pattern from last year's fall Knitscene from Interweave.

More Fall Fun

Ahhh, Fall! We had fun yesterday making snickerdoodles and a slightly scary Jack-O-Lantern. C decided she was ready for one that was "a little bit scary, but not too scary!" So we settled on three teeth instead of five. J had to look for a long time at that unreachable candle.

Autumn in the Air

After a few abnormally warm days, it's nice to finally feel a chill in the air. Time to bake bread! I spent two weeks growing sourdough culture from wild yeast, courtesy of the instructions in Breads from La Brea Bakery. Fortunately, all that work (and flour) produced delicious results. I was particularly pleased with the oatmeal version I concocted on my own.

The beautiful fall colors inspired me to create a new crochet beaded necklace, which I just put up in my Etsy shop.

Birthday Treats

Summer is the time for the girl-birthdays in our family. My daughter and I are both Cancers, and our sensitive feelings and bossiness can attest to that. (Even though I'm not a big astrology fan, I cannot deny that my family members are all true-to-type!) Here are our birthday treats, all homemade, of course! My daughter's cake was based on her request for a Lemon Meringue cake, and it is basic yellow lemon cake filled with lemon custard buttercream and iced with snowy mounds of lemon boiled icing. Wow that was good. For my birthday I kicked the kids and husband out of the house and invited all my girlfriends to my 30th birthday party. We had tea, and I baked five of my favorite pastries. That was good too!

Life is a bowl of...

The summer flew past, but it's not too late to post the photos, right? Cherry pie is my absolute favorite, and here are the fruits of our friend's tree. Lucky for us she doesn't like sour cherries!

New Handspun

After a few months of distraction while (while moving) finally I have a new post: my first attempts at real yarn, all created on my drop-spindle. The blue-purple mix includes mohair, the green is wool and the blue is wool mixed with angora.

Le Belle Purse Epic

A little sparkle to spice up my knitting life! I designed a beaded, knitted purse for carrying my ball of yarn while I knit. It has been occupying my mind and hands for about 3 months now, but it is finally perfected (I think.) I'm finishing up the pattern, and then I will be teaching a class on it at my LYS. It's knit in Tahki Cotton Classic, with Miyuki 6/0 beads.

Sleeping Beauty

My daughter is in love with all things princessy, so we have been enjoying needle-felted princess dolls. This is one I made over the winter. She is a Waldorf-style Standing Puppet doll, "Sleeping Beauty," according to my daughter.

May Day Tea Party

We had our First Annual May Day Tea Party on the first of May, complete with flower-decorated tea cakes (Vanilla 1-2-3-4 Cake from The Perfect Cake filled with vanilla Buttercream icing.) Five little girls came for tea, and ate everything on the table!

Waldorf Nature Table Flower Doll

Here is the first Flower Doll for our nature table-- The Snowdrop. I am working on several others including a crocus and daffodil. A few may find their way to my Etsy shop.