valentine's day

here is a pic of our valentine's day breakfast. if you look closely, you can see the heart-shaped biscuits that 10yo dd made. 8yo ds bought me a heart-shaped box of lindt truffles. yum! dh gave me the lovely bouquet that graces the table.

look out the window. that's our ice storm. not a day to venture forth! ah, but homeschoolers never get the day off, much to their chagrin. :-)

may i say a word in praise of my babylock coverstitch only machine? yes, i may, 'cause it's my blog. i love that machine! it's so easy to use, adds a professional touch to my work. i am so glad i took debbie cook's ( http://stitchesandseams.blogspot.com/ ) advice and bought the c/s only machine. thanks, debbie!

cross over shirt

it's a goofy picture, i know. 10yodd took it. this was made from ks3307. the pattern is actually a dress and designed for wovens, but i wanted to try it in a knit. i used a size smaller than i'd normally use and did a muslin out of an old tshirt before cutting one out of this fabric. i only had to do a couple of small alterations to the muslin, and off i went! it's a good feeling to be cutting out your pattern knowing that it will basically fit when you're done. :-)

i got the fabric when visiting my friend michele. it's very soft and stretchy and of unknown fibers. i enjoyed putting the foe on the neckline. it's a little low; i may have to add a piece there, but mostly i'm happy with it. i really like paisley.

now all i have to do is hem the shirt and sleeves.

first socks of the year

these are for my friend d, who is going hiking next month in the west.

they were done on sz 7 needles and went very fast. i love self-striping yarns. this one is called "big mexico" by staller and stahl. it's a superwash. very fun to make.

a needle roll

this is something i've wanted to make for ever so long. my dpns--short 5" for socks--have never had a nice home. they've spend their lives in a vase which was too tall for them. as a result, i always have to fumble for sock needles.

someone had shared this link http://www.kissyourshadow.com/images/crafts/needle_case_pattern.jpg . i made some adjustments to the pattern, most notably using a layer of cotton batting inside. although i wanted to take a trip to the lqs to get some "really kewl" novelty print, i decided to buckle down and use some stash. surprisingly, it was hard to find enough stash fabric that looked good together. i finally settled on the grapes. i am absolutely thrilled with this needle case. don't my dpns look happy in it, all snuggled down in their pockets?

nautical rb skirt and the first pie

i liked mk's ruffle back skirt so much, i went back into the stash and made one for diana. the khaki and navy blue struck me as being nautical, so diana chose a sailboat applique, which i put on the pocket.








as a bonus, here are a couple of pics of diana's first pie. it's apple. :-) she did it all by herself, using freshly ground whole wheat *and* seven grain flour. the recipe for the crust came from a booklet published by keepers at home. we loved it!

a ruffle back skirt

sheila from nmsl sent me this pattern to test. it is too cute. i used fabrics from the stash and came up with this. miss m really likes it, too! as a side benefit, i learned how to gather on my cs machine. this works very well, esp. when you have to gather lots of ruffles.

new projects

even though i've been a lame blogger lately, i've still been sewing.

here are some dresses i made for my dd's. the pink ones were inspired by rowena http://rowena.typepad.com/rostitchery/2006/12/almost_christma.html . after i made the dresses for dd1 and dd2, dd1 went and made one for her american girl doll, kirstin, and also one for the mini-kirstin that dd2 is holding.

the green dress was designed on cp. diana really likes the puffy sleeves. i love this about cp: you can do what *you* want.

the fabric is a nice cotton/lycra with great recovery. this dress is supposed to be like the one land's end sells. it's a casual play dress.

i think i put too much fabric in the skirt, but diana likes the twirl factor. peeking out from behind her is our toddler, wearing longies that i knitted, as well as a tshirt i made her (from kssft). it's so gratifying to see one's creations on one's loved ones. :-)