Nate's Retro-inspired Hat

Sometimes you get lucky and get an inspired-one-of-a-kind-only-for-you knit hat from me. . . This winter, that was my friend Nate. While visiting him one night, we discovered that he has a late 80s/early 90s-era Patagonia fleece that has a pretty fantastic pattern in teal, grey, reddish, and black. The minute I saw the fleece I knew he needed a matching hat. It helped that he had seen the hats I had knit for Gala back in the fall (the big scholarship fundraiser at the ski academy where I work) and indicated he'd like one. The time had come to make that wish come true.

The fleece that started it all; it CLEARLY needs a matching hat.
Challenge accepted.
(not the best picture quality, but you get the idea)

On my needles: Braided cowl

Three orphan/leftover balls of yarn, three different stitch patterns, one braided cowl. Stay tuned for the finished piece!

Because I need the challenge: three different stitches, simultaneously knit.

Oh, and I resurrected the Christmas light garland that I started a while ago (okay, okay, it was last summer's knitting project). It only has a few lights left - surely I can get it done for this holiday season?

Barely three lights left. Man, sometimes I'm such a procrastinator when it
comes to finishing projects!

(And no, I haven't quite finished the sunshine socks from the CO trip with the school - just a few rows to go on those!)

Crafted Exchange & Another Crafty Pay-it-forward

I love making/crafting things for other people, and as a crafty gift-giver, I also appreciate receiving crafted things from others. I bet Billy through some friends in town he was visiting earlier this winter and discovered he crochet's. I think we are kindred fiber-crafting spirits. Out at the bar one evening, he decided he really liked my argyle headband, and I decided I liked the bright pom-pomed hats that he's been making like crazy. So we decided on a craft exchange!

Summer Project #2: 30 Days of Photographs - Recap & Favorites

And done! 45 days later, the 30-day photo challenge is complete. A few of my favorites are posted below. Click on the "30 Days of Photographs" tab above (or click through here) for the entire challenge with narratives of each photo.

day 2.

Slow day (month) at the office . . .

Not much crafting going on these days, unless you count packing to move, which it could be argued is a craft in itself.

"pantry" waiting to be packed.

Summer Project #2: 30 Days of Photographs.

from:
http://littlebennet.com/
 

This idea came across pinterest a while ago: a month of taking photographs. The pin linked to a blogger who found their inspiration on the 'net and came up with a list of things to photograph each day. My plan is to use from now (starting July 1) until school starts in mid-August to complete the challenge. It won't necessarily happen over 30 consecutive days, but over 30 days total. And I'll go off the list here, which I've also printed off so I can keep track. I'm pretty sure I can get through all 30 by giving myself this 45-day(ish) window!

Another bonus to this? You'll get pictures from a few different states. I have a trip to CO planned mid-month, a friend I plan to visit in NY one weekend, and a trip to ME planned sometime between now and school starting.

I'll collect the photos on one page, which you can find in the menu above (or by clicking through here). I debated doing this with film photography, as I do have a great 35mm SLR that I got for college graduation, but that may have to wait for next time as I need to make sure I have film for it.

And before the challenge starts, a little glimpse at the incoming storm from earlier this evening; don't worry, you'll get the "real" cloud picture on day 3.

Year of the Pie: In Review

Well, I didn't quite make it through the entire Pie compendium. But given the busy second half of the year I've had, I'm fairly pleased with twelve new pies in the course of eight months of 2011 - seems pretty good to me!

To review:

Year of the Pie? Oh, my!

According to Weekend Edition Sunday from January 2nd, pie just might be a trendy food this year - surpassing the ever-popular cupcake. Granted, it was a short story, it still made me happy. I'm a little nervous about the whole trendy "thing" but I loved pie before it was trendy and I will stay true no matter its status.



While I am a huge fan of cupcakes (and have been known to vacation in cities that have shops devoted to the cupcake) I am a much greater fan of pie. I love the entire process, from crust to filling to assembling to enjoying the first slice. Pie for breakfast the next morning can't be beat. A dream of mine is to open a pie shop possibly with my friend R from CO who is a much better pie crafter than I. Perhaps someday.

 

wedding pies!

Prior to that, I plan to steal an idea from friends who were married several years ago; rather than the traditional cake, or the now-trendy cupcake (both of my siblings went with this option so I figure I need to mix things up a bit), they opted for wedding pies. I arrived in Durango late the night before the wedding and helped R finish off the fleet of pies. The variety was enough to satisfy all the guests, and the bride & groom wore aprons to cut their pies. It was fantastic.