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I have good reasons for not posting lately. Really, I do.
One reason is that I have been really rushing to meet the deadline for the apron swap. My swap buddy won't find out who she is until she receives her package tomorrow, but I hope she likes this! Here's just a little sample from some point before it was finished. I don't want to give the whole thing away just yet.
Here's the other reason I haven't been posting.
More details later!
Still feeling a little bit quiet.
Thought I'd share these recent pictures of Matthew "farming" in the sand at the park. These diggers were each gifts from his grandparents, and, let me tell you, there is no better way to become the most popular kid in the sandbox! Both Ryan's and my parents are farm people, and though we are nowhere near the farms anymore, it still clearly runs in Matthew's blood.
OK, I am not capable of deciding anything on my own.
I've got the sewing bug, and I want to make a quilt. (This has nothing to do with the fact that I recently had to frog 78 rows of the back of a sweater, which is a story that I'm just too bitter to get into today!) More specifically, I want to make the "Decorative Patchwork Throw" (which you can see here)from Amy Butler's newish book, In Stitches. I love this book. I flip through it and think of all the things I'd like to make. And then I never make anything. You know why?
There are just too many fabrics. And I can't decide. I'm not one of those people who can see 10 different fabrics and visualize how they will all look in the end. And so, to help me make the decision, I turn to Photoshop, proving to the world that either A) I should have become a graphic designer or B) I spend a good portion of the day with too much time on my hands. Maybe both.
The throw in the book is made with Amy Butler fabrics. EXPENSIVE Amy Butler Sunbloom fabrics. It's beautiful. And expensive. But here's what a throw in the Belle line might look like (It's less pricey and less likely to give Ryan a heart attack). Patterns are not even whatsoever in scale, but you still get the general idea...
On the other hand, I've been eyeing Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy fabrics for much longer than I've even known about Amy Butler. I think Denyse Schmidt is brilliant.
This is Ryan's pick. I'm not sure about the green, and might switch it out for something else, but it could be fun.
Heather Bailey is one of my favorite craft bloggers, and her new Freshcut fabric line is scheduled to be released any day! I've liked it since the moment I first saw it on her blog, even though I'm not typically drawn to this color combo.
Also, I've really been enjoying the blog of Anna Maria Horner (Speaking of great fabric, you should see the quilted jackets she just made for her little girls--so cute!!!), and her Bohemian fabric line is also a lot of fun. I'm tempted to go with this one, even though it matches absolutely nothing in my house!
What do you think? Which one would you make?
Many of you know that back in August, I made a deal with Ryan, which would restrict all craft purchases until the end of November. Ryan usually isn't one to make any demands about household spending because he is aware that I make all the money in this house he knows that I cannot be controlled can be trusted to be completely responsible with my our money. This deal, however, was not presented as a demand, but as a challenge, as in, "I don't really believe that you can go all the way to the end of November without buying craft supplies." Anyone that knows me well knows that the exact way to force me to do something is to tell me that I can't do it. (My mother wishes she would have figured this out much earlier in life.)
Since it is the first of November, and I am three months into the challenge, here is an update on how I am doing.
Scrapbook supplies purchased: 0
Since I don't scrapbook anymore, this probably doesn't really mean much of anything, but still, there it is.
Fabric purchased: None
There was one near-miss in September, when I found navy T-shirt ribbing that perfectly matched the fabric that I already had to make Matthew a shirt from Ottobre Design. Luckily my mom stepped in and forked up the $0.84 so that I could finish out the month without even one instance of cheating. The fact that I have not made this T-shirt and probably won't make it before the end of November is so beside the point.
Speaking of cheating...
Knitting Patterns: In which two gifts cancel each other out.
OK, so I've accumulated one new knitting pattern since the beginning of the bargain, Mim's Hidcote Shawl Pattern. But see, here's why it totally does not count:
A) This pattern was purchased for yarn that is already in my stash! Thus, it helps me to use what is in my stash instead of going out and buying more yarn. So, it's practically SAVING money!
B) Miriam is a good friend of mine, and friends often give each other gifts. Here's how it worked. I gave Miriam a gift of $6.50. And then Miriam gave me a gift of the Hidcote Shawl Pattern. Craft purchase??? What craft purchase? No craft purchases here, no, sir. Only nice gifts between friends.
The fact that I have yet to even cast on for this pattern? Also completely beside the point. Moving on...
Knitting/Craft Books: 1-1=0
Amazon's used book section is evil. EVIL, I tell you! I caved and bought one craft book for $3.50. And then I ended up not even really liking the book. BUT I am planning on selling it on E-Bay for $4.00, so this one completely doesn't count either, since in the end I will make money! Doesn't count!
Yarn: In which it all goes downhill...
I don't need yarn. I have yarn enough for projects for at least 6 months, maybe longer if I keep exercising instead of knitting (which has yet to improve much of anything, but I digress...). To be honest, I don't even really like buying yarn unless I have a really specific project planned out.
So why did I have to buy yarn? Well, see, I had a really good reason. And let me preface this by saying that in the bargain, there is a clause for gift-crafting! Anything that is purchased for the purpose of making a gift does NOT count, and with that in mind, I have really been quite restrained! I could rationalize all kinds of purchases for the purpose of gift-making if I really wanted to. (Hmm, this would make a nice gift for me. This also. And this. And this. I could go on.)
First there was the yarn for Toddle, which doesn't count because A) it was for Matthew's birthday gift, and B) I exchanged yarn to buy it, and I paid only the difference in the cost, and that cost isn't even really important because it was FOR A GIFT! So, the Toddle Yarn? Doesn't count.
And then there was the DeStash yarn. Darned DeStash website. It gets me into so much trouble! I can restrain myself in any yarn store, as long as they don't have clearance bins. And DeStash is like the neverending clearance bin of the internets. What can I say, I am a bargain-ho. It is a curse.
BUT, this yarn is also for a gift. And it was cheap. Doesn't count!!!
(Very bright orange Manos Cotton Stria, no? Someone who shall remain nameless will never, ever be hit by a car at night.)
So there you have it, folks. 3 months down and 1 month to go, and not one little bit of cheating, fudging, or otherwise breaking the rules of the bargain.
Before everyone pesters me to death about posting pictures of the baby chicken (you know who you are, pesterers), I give you this.
All together now: "Aaaaaawwwwwww......"
Something still seems kindof wrong about this, but I decided, yet again, not to make Matthew's costume this year. We are trying to simplify. No fancy handmade costumes. No designer pumpkin carvings. No Martha-esque decorated treat bags. Just good old traditional Halloween fun! I'm saving up my stress for Christmas, which is when the real over-the-top, overly-complicated fun is supposed to begin!
Halloween is really my favorite time in Lexington. There is absolutely nothing better than walking past all of the old houses on Jackson Avenue at night. People really go all out here--lots of spiderwebs, pumpkins, candles, headstones.... It is really great fun, and a perfect compliment to the gorgeous fall colors, which are disappearing a lot more quickly than I would like them to! This is the time of year when I start saying things to Ryan like, "Maybe you should reconsider becoming a prosecuting attorney--I bet you could get THAT job here in Lexington!" or, "You know, I bet you could go to night school at UVA or Tech and get your Master's degree, and then you could probably get a really great job as a professor at VMI!" The reality is that we will most likely not stay in Lexington, but I will always look back on this town as one of my favorite places in the world and feel lucky that I got to spend some time living here.
One of the highlights of Halloween in Lexington is trick-or-treating downtown. All of the shop owners dress up in full regalia and hand out candy to swarms and swarms of kids in costume. Traffic backs up. Sidewalks jam. Kids get high on sugar fumes. It's fantastic. It's a good time for all, for as long as you can stand it, anyway!
Matthew was pretty tired by the end of the afternoon, and we had somehow lost all of the other law-babies that had met up with us in the crowd after about 30 minutes, but it really is an event not to miss!
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!
**ETA: Because of Spam, comments on this post have now been closed.
