All The Trimmings

I love when attention is paid to the tiniest of details. I also love quality notions that have a wonderful craftsmanship to them....velvets, wools, flannels. There's something about ribbon and trimmings that I just adore. I recently discovered TinTiaraTrimmings on Etsy. They have so many lovely offerings sold by the yard. 

Decadent green velvet ribbon.....

 

Love this silk & flannel.....

New Season

With school starting next week I have been in an all autumn mode! I love the rich hues, all the wonderful harvest of fruits & veggies and most of all the cool, lovely evenings.

Yummy afternoon snacking....addicted to these seedless grapes...

 I just came across an amazing knitting site. You can also follow them on facebook. Great yarn supplies, project ideas and creative inspiration! Check out We Are Knitters.....it's beyond addicting! 

In my search for unique fall yarns, I also found a terrific Etsy shop. Beautiful creations! HookaholicHandspun has such fantastic merino wools.....I love this pink & brown combination called Electric Neapolitan.
Happy Knitting! xo

Love this great thick/thin yarn!

Wrapping Up

I feel like summer is coming to a close. Today the girls both got back to school haircuts...and all new uniforms have been ordered. Hair ties are all freshly chosen, shoes just need to be picked out. We are having a girls weekend so it's time for some yummy snacks...like ice cream with fresh strawberries. I sliced the strawberries and then marinated them in a bit sugar with sliced vanilla bean....

Our favorite back to school accessories....these super pretty & preppy hair ties by Emi-Jay! Love them. They are by far the best hair ties we've ever used. They leave no dent mark in the girls hair, they offer tons of colors to select from and they have the perfect amount of shimmer. Take a peek here!

Perfect Afternoon

Yesterday was a perfect afternoon. My youngest daughter is nine and as we had an entire breezy day with no urgent plans...I decided it would be great to spend the afternoon at home & teach Lily how to knit. I was not at all certain if this yarn adventure would be successful or not. Lily, like an 5th grader on a sunny summer day, might be easily lured away by some distraction or another. She's also left handed and I am not.  I appealed to the shopper in her and told her to go look through my vast collection of yarn and pick out a few balls that she would like. Who isn't mesmerized by yarn and all the endless possibilities.....

She started with a grey and purple blended yarn that she selected because it's fuzzy....

Lily caught on so quickly....both to casting on and a simple knit stitch. Just three hours later...she was so proud of her finished work! Next up on her list...this pretty berry colored Lamb's Pride yarn from Brown Sheep.

Perfectly perfect!

Lamb's Pride: Great teaching yarn....soft blend of wool & mohair.

An Early Start to Autumn

Fingerless gloves are my favorite late summer project. I so look forward to the breezy, cooler days ahead....and fingerless gloves are so cute on a cool autumn evening. I love the yarn that arrived from the UK. I ordered a beautiful skein from The Fibre Tree on Etsy and it may be the softest yarn I've ever worked with. This past weekend, I combined it with one of my favorites, a beautiful mohair from Shibui. The result....fingerless gloves that are super cozy and exactly the texture I hoped!

Pattern: For these gloves, working both yarns together, I cast on 25 stitches on size 10.5 US needles. I knit 5 rows in knit stitch to give the gloves a bit of edging. I then alternated knit one row/purl one row until I reached approx. 9 inches in total length. I then finished with 5 rows of knit stitch to complete the glove. I seamed up the side leaving a thumb opening. I knit very slow....each glove took me about 3 hours. Perfect weekend project idea....happy knitting!

Yummy Ideas

Since I was little my favorite ice cream has been mint chocolate chip. Shown here paired with chocolate sugar cookies....it looks even yummier! Readers Digest highlights a whole bunch of delicious ideas in this article! Take a peek to find some great weekend treat inspiration!

Saturday Morning Coffee

My quiet mornings with coffee may be my favorite part of the day. I like the stillness and calm. I received super soft hand spun yarn in the mail yesterday from the UK....a beautiful butterscotch-y thick/thin I purchased from The Fibre Tree on Etsy. Just got done winding it....it has the such a warm hue to it. I'm going to add in a mohair skein I bought in Lake Placid last month. Cannot wait to get started to started on fingerless gloves.

How great is this drawstring knitting bag I came across!? Terrific Dicken's quote from "A Tale of Two Cities." Knitting, wine.....add in a little Ray LaMontagne on my iPad and it's a perfect! Happy Weekend! xo

Perfectly Wrapped

I've had a reflective week where all I've wanted is a bit of quiet time with my daughters. Sometimes things are so rushed and hectic and you need to step back a bit and reprioritize. The girls nibbled on hot dogs and strawberries on the porch this afternoon and I searched a bit for an autumn wrap idea. I love this free pattern I came across titled "Sonia's Shawl" on Ravelry. The texture and workmanship is amazing! Knit with Aran weight yarn.....this looks ideal for kicking off autumn projects! Happy Knitting! xo

 

This is just so cozy & beautiful!

Two Loves

Years ago, I made jewelry for a few very hip and lovely downtown boutiques. I loved this experience....designing, creating and sharing ideas. I found the art of knitting to be equally as rewarding and it fit easier into my lifestyle once I had children. I could take my work with me everywhere, projects could be left out with no choking danger that was my constant jewelry worry and I still sold pieces both online and in boutiques. 

Whatever I was creating, the constant was that I loved hearing from customers regarding who they were buying my pieces for...hats for triplets for a holiday card, jewelry for a boyfriend traveling to see his girlfriend (and placing his order two days before he needed it!) as well as my work being used on a few episodes of The Young and The Restless.

Today I came across a wonderful Etsy shop called Yarn Yoda, located in California, that sells great stitch markers. The artist created this set of  markers using labradorite....my very favorite stone to create jewelry with. I love labradorite's luminosity...it's just magical.  Happy Knitting! xo

 

Simply Perfect

I just came across the greatest free knitting pattern on Coco Knits. This wrap is beautiful and I love the clean lines and simple detailing. Knit with Rowan Kidsilk Haze. This seems to be a perfect autumn project for knitters of all levels. I cannot wait to get started.... Happy Knitting! xo

Stuck On This

I can't believe that back to school, for my daughters, is a mere three weeks away. This summer has flown by faster than any other I recall. We've been super busy and the weather has been breezy and perfect. Both my daughters enjoy decorating the inside of their lockers at school. I recently purchased these unique, pretty glass magnets on Etsy at this great shop! The square magnets come in a set of four....each having a different, but coordinated, print. So cute, too, for use in a home office!

In Full Bloom

I have a tendency to find a favorite and stick with it. I do it with perfumes, a great pair of jeans, a perfect lipstick. I do it with nail color, too. I love OPI and I nearly always pick "Every day is Oktoberfest" as my favorite manicure color. This time I changed it up a bit. Here's why....when I gave birth to my second daughter, I called my parents and my dad immediately asked "Well, is it a boy or a girl??" And I answered "It's a Lily!" So, I couldn't resist....that's my new color. "It's A Lily"...a perfect summery pink!

A Great Mystery

I'm in the middle of reading The Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling....such a great read! Terrific mystery....I am completely enjoying this book. Next up, I may read Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper....or possibly The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro.

I'm still in search of great yarns for autumn and I found this really pretty hand spun yarn from an Etsy shop in Wales. The color is amazing... like a perfect blend of deep blue, pink and purple tones. At 124 yards...this bulky weight yarn would be another great choice for fingerless gloves. It looks so soft and I love the subtle thick/thin running throughout. Happy Knitting! xo

Gearing Up For Fall

Yesterday, I had a long lunch on the patio of my favorite afternoon spot with both my daughters. It was great to relax, nibble a bit and there was fantastic jazz playing. With summer days being a bit busy....this was an ideal break in our schedule. Later in the day, I grabbed the canvas tennis sneakers I had been constantly looking at. I went with Superga in Grey Sage (which looks like a great dark dove grey)....

I have been looking at fingerless glove ideas and came across an Etsy artist who offers terrific cable knit  patterns. Her work is inspiring.... I'm thinking that I'm ready to purchase a pattern & give cable knit a try! Take a peek at her shop, called The Blue Brick, I just  love these!

Needles Ready....

Started today with a dark roast coffee and a yearning for new yarn. My knitting classes are kicking off the autumn season soon and I am craving a great project. The weather turns cool here early so fingerless gloves are a great way to get ready for September!

I found a great Etsy shop. Located in the UK, The Fibre Tree offers amazing handspun skeins. I purchased this thick/thin merino. The warm brown hues are beautiful and it's a generous 157 yards! Cannot wait for it to arrive! Happy Knitting! xo

Thundering Morning

I love sitting outside with my coffee in the morning. Today, surprisingly, the skies turned quickly black and thunder set in....it was perfect! I'm reading The Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling. After reading lots of historical fiction this summer it's nice to go in a different direction. The Cuckoo's Calling is proving to be a great mystery novel...very fun! 

I've been in search all summer for new tennis sneakers. I love Tretorn but wanted to grab something different. I've decided on Superga. From Italy....these are such a great classic. Zillions of colors to pick from.....I love a bunch of them. Think I'm going with the navy or a birch colored brown.

love all the colors choices! take a peek here!