colleensimply

little pink shoe

2012-01-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

who knew a little pink shoe could be so much fun.

lately from my iphone

2012-01-17T15:43:00.001-08:00

lunch at ikea while Oliver was at school. the light there was sooo gorgeous!

I turned 30!

we are currently enjoying a couple snow days and spent the afternoon yesterday sledding

hope you all had a great weekend as well. I think this has been one of my best birthdays yet!

today she is three

2012-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

getting to (briefly) hold Lilly before they whisked her to the NICU

Today my spunky little Lilly Wren turns 3. THREE. I'm loving how chatty she's become in the last few months. Curious and silly, charming and determined. SUCH a fun age.

Happy Birthday, Lil!

wrapping it up

2011-12-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

catching up from the last video and wrapping up this year.

and so it continues from colleensimply on Vimeo.

I'm thankful for this year and everything it's brought but so soooo ready for 2012. Hoping 2012 is a year full of change for us. I usually find change an overwhelmingly scary thing. You know, change almost always requires making a decision and well, making decisions often lead to mistakes. Mistakes are scary, especially for someone with perfectionist tendencies. I think change has been a long time coming for us though and I'm excited at the possibilities that change could mean.

from us to you

2011-12-25T06:09:00.000-08:00

wishing you all a very merry Christmas

merry & bright

2011-12-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

our house is full of excitement. the countdown is on. loving how similar this years tree hunting picture is to the one from a couple of years ago

2011-12-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

Friday is Oliver's last day of school before Christmas break and I think we are all excited about this for different reasons. Lilly is going to be glad to have Oliver all to herself for a few weeks though, that's one thing I'm sure of. It's been 3 months of school so far and she still misses him every day he's gone. Who new the hardest adjustment to kindergarten would be hers?

i heart faces: weekly challenge | feet

2011-12-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

my childhood memories are a seemingly endless hazy summer day dripping in all the golden light and warmth of my nearly 30 years. The heat of the pavement warming my feet, always relieved to find the coolness of grass. Raising my own children has reminded me to slow down, to find delight in the simple things.

hello december

2011-12-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

scenes from a forgotten summer ~ a photo from our first snowfall a few weeks back

I'm always so surprised by the changing months. I don't really know why but they always seem to sneak up on me. Like waking up on the first of a new month is some monumental feat. It's silly but true.

So hello December, I'm looking forward to your cozy evening, to all the glitter and wonder and JOY that you bring....

....Oh and little more of that white stuff would be great.

room ideas

2011-11-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

source: one. two. three. four. five. six. seven.

these things are floating around in my daydreams and trying to compel me to give our room a face lift. **all images found via pintrest

playing

2011-11-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

I goofed off a little this afternoon. It's so easy to take things too seriously and so I decided to give something a try that I hadn't done before in editing. Generally I'm in the "less is more" camp but I find double exposure photography so hauntingly beautiful that I had to try it. I love how the flowers look like a crown on her head in the first one.

off the needles

2011-11-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a lot of knitting over the last few months. Well realistically I don't think I picked up my needles from sometime in May until September and even then I've really done very little knitting. But I'm finding now that the evenings are longer and the weather is a little more dreary that my thoughts are returning to knitting. There is something so homey and comforting about the sound of my needles softly clicking together.

I've had the idea of this hat in my mind for a while. I fell in LOVE with this colourway the moment I saw it. It's a perfect creamy, greyish neutral and while it is absolutely beautiful I think the name sealed the deal for me. It's called paper birch and it's a merino worsted from Sweet Fiber Yarns. It's amazingly dreamy to knit with! so so soft.

So anyways back to the hat. This is my first attempt at knitting on the fly, sans pattern. I have to say that overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. I wouldn't have minded if it was slightly slouchier and I'm still a little unsure about the crown decreases but, I need to block it still which may fix the slouchiness and I had planned to add a pompom to the top which would make the top irrelevant. All in all I'll consider it a success and try to put my perfectionist criticisms aside.

snow fun

2011-11-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

we went to bed last night while the world was softly being covered in a blanket of white and awoke to find that blanket had lasted long enough for us to get out and enjoy it.

and then moments later

2011-11-16T12:08:00.001-08:00

Shortly after my post this morning we were surprised with this

It's slowly starting to stick in some places. What a happy sight!

signs of fall

2011-11-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

There is a bite to the air and a greyness to the sky this morning that makes me feel as though winter is just around the corner. Fall is the fastest moving season I think. One especially windy day or a really good frost can completely change the landscape. A week ago our maple tree was covered in the most glorious ruby leaves and then yesterday I noticed that only the last few stragglers remain. I think it's the constant change and anticipation that give fall all of it's beauty.

2011-11-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

there is just something so enticing about a water fountain, especially when you're a kid

catching up on summer

2011-11-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

Our end of summer/beginning of fall was a little turbulent to say the least. Needless to say I'm just now going through photos and looking back at some fun memories. I love photographs for their ability to stop time when life feels like its swirling faster and faster around you.

late afternoon sun

2011-11-10T09:35:00.001-08:00

I love the light this time of year. It's just starting to loose all the warmth of summer but isn't quite the pale silvery light of winter yet either. There's something magical about that.

i heart faces: weekly challenge | black

2011-11-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

splashing in puddles at the fish hatchery back at the end of September

One of my favourite fall outings is to visit a fish hatchery that is close by. It seems I'm inevitably overcome with this great idea to go there on especially grey, rainy weekend. This year was no different. We drove through pockets of rain to get there and in fact it was still spitting rain at us as we got out of the car. I love this photo because it was a rare pocket of sunshine that seemed to be shining right on my daughter. She of course was just happy to be splashing.

on the needles

2011-11-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I posted anything knitting related and so I thought I'd share a quick peek at what I'm currently working on. It's a hat and my very first project without a pattern. very exciting. I'll share more details once I finish it up. The kids were sick with fevers over the weekend so we enjoyed the sunny weather from indoors. Our lovely red tree seems to be extra bright and cheerful this fall as if it knows we are in need of a little extra cheer.

a couple weekends ago...

2011-10-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

We've settled into our damp, autumn weather rather nicely around here. We're more than used to it after all. I've found myself, however, watching the weather forecast in hopes of squeaking in some fun outings on our dryer days. One of these outings was a late afternoon hike. we had hopes of making it out to the falls and back but with autumn comes earlier lock-up times for local parks. No matter though it was still beautiful and the kiddos still got thoroughly muddy even if we couldn't reach our destination.

I'm so SO thankful to live in this part of the world. Our rainy weather is a trade off for some of the most beautiful scenery.

still here

2011-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

feeling a little like life has chewed us up and spit us out but still here.

dappled sunlight

2011-07-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

We are lucky enough to have a beautiful Japanese maple tree in our back yard which I love. I have to be honest, it had a lot of swing in the decision to rent this place, or at least it did on my part. We had a big Japanese maple in our front yard growing up and they just always feel like home to me. Oliver spends hours climbing in it's branches or playing in it's shade. I love watching the leaves change all different shades of crimson, but what I love best is the sparkly, dappled sunlight it lets through in the mornings.

enjoying the sun

2011-07-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

While it's been an unusually grey, damp summer these last few days have been brilliantly sunny. We have plans to get out and enjoy it today, hope you all are enjoying summer as well.

and then he turned 5

2011-07-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Oliver in his new bed, complete with ladder and canopy and space to play underneath

Watching your child grow older is such a strange thing. On one hand I can hardly remember life before him. I know him so well it feels like he's always been here. But, on the other hand I remember the day he was born as if it was yesterday. As if, were I to go upstairs right this minute, I'd find a tiny baby boy asleep in his crib instead of the 5 year old boy fervently drawing dinosaur skeletons under his bed that I would actually find. I love the today him, the curious, bright, creative him. I'm so excited to watch him grow into who God plans him to be. My Oliver, my sweet boy.

just a few days old

kicking off berry season

2011-07-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

There's nothing better then fresh local berries. We wait with eager anticipation for the local farms to open for the season and boy is it worth the wait! Their berries always make the imported strawberries taste like water in comparison. One particularly sunny afternoon a few weeks back, we headed over with Gramma and Papa for a little treat. Strawberry milkshakes to kick off the season!

Mmm were those milkshakes ever good!!

many faces of Lilly

2011-07-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

my sweet, sweet girl.
you can also check it out in black and white here. I'd love to hear which you like better.

jumping fun

2011-07-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

a good cure for a restless afternoon

playing catch-up

2011-07-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

has almost a month really gone by since my last post? Life has been so busy, full of kindergarten teacher meetings, birthdays and parties, long-weekends and fireworks, afternoons in the backyard, melting ice-cream cones and everything summer brings. I have oodles and oodles of photos to share and so many thoughts and dreams swirling around my head and sometimes it's easier to just be silent but hopefully I can catch up at some point and share a little bit of our fun.

snippets of life

2011-06-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

A little peak at our last few months....

this is life from colleensimply on Vimeo.

It's actually very bittersweet for me to watch this. On one hand it makes me so happy to see our life documented in a tangible way but on the other hand it just amplifies how quickly it is all slipping past. Being a parent is an amazing, overwhelming, terrifying, WONDERFUL thing.

2011-06-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

I woke to the sound of rain splattering against the window this morning. It was in the forecast and so it really shouldn't have surprised me except that the sky had been so clear and beautiful yesterday evening. I was up with my husband as he headed off to work but everything seemed darker, and quiet. So quiet. My little early risers were sleeping unusually late, no doubt tired from all the sun and play of yesterday. I always enjoy when I can sneak in a few solitude moments before anyone else is up. A little bit of peace before resuming our usual chaos. Minutes later the littles were awake and our regular routine ensued. The rain has now stopped and I even see patches of light through the clouds that were so thick and grey just a few short hours ago. While I enjoy the peace that a summer rain brings I'm ready for the sun to shine.

summer

2011-06-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the perfect summer day and so we decided to kick it off with an afternoon of splashing in the pool until our fingers were pruney and our teeth were chattering. Have I mentioned yet how stoked I am for this summer? Bring on long days in the sun and warm towels to snuggle in after getting soaked through from a day at the water park or an afternoon in the pool. Bring on dinners out doors, popsicles to cool you off and cool breezes in the mornings before the sun can get hot. YES! I love this time of year.

lately

2011-05-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

we've been enjoying little tastes of summer in between all this rain. I'm so thankful for these moments.

spring

2011-05-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

We've been "enjoying" plenty of spring showers around here lately and it can seem awefully dreary at times. This is just a little reminder that when it's sunny
OH when it's sunny
spring can be so so lovely.

what i'm reading, what's on the needles

2011-05-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

I took this photo last week as part of the yarn along posts I've been (sporadically) taking part in but one thing lead to another and then the weekend happened and now here I am. I thought I'd still share though since the knitting part of this blog has been lacking as of late.

I've been ogling Jamie Oliver's cookbook Jamie at Home the past week or so. Wow is it ever inspiring. Not only is it full of amazing recipes it has tons of info about gardening and using local foods and such, the photography is amazing and the graphing design is just beautiful. All of Jamie's books that I own or have seen are inspiring but this is my favourite by far.

I decided to cast on for a new hat, a nice quick project to get the knitting juices flowing again. Or so I thought. I've since frogged it and so I have to re-evaluate my gauge before I start again.

To be perfectly honest my heart wasn't really in it. I've been spending all my creative energy trying to absorb as much info about photography and trying to better learn my camera over the past few weeks. Last weekend I caught most of Zack Arias' course on creativeLIVE and all I can really say is WOW. So motivating and crammed FULL of so much info. My head is swimming with all kinds of daydreams. But then that's not really news, I'm always dreaming about something. There is a course on food photography coming up this weekend that looks ah.MAZ.ing. I'm definitely going to watch as much of it as I can. if you haven't heard of creativeLIVE you really should check it out.

happy mother's day

2011-05-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

My Grandma and my Mom reading to my kids.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

~a loving gift from my sweet boy~

I'm {hopefully} recovering from a killer cold that left me voiceless for about a week. In spite of that we had a lovely long weekend. I hope yours was lovely as well.

sunshine coast

2011-04-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my sister and I took a little trip up the sunshine coast for a couple days. It was laid back and relaxing and just a great time as usual. We are great travel companions. We enjoy seeing and doing the same things which makes for a lot of fun.

We arrived in the rain but that didn't slow us down. We're west coast girls after all, rain is kinda the norm around here

Warming up with some green tea and Japanese food. It was possibly the best Japanese food I've ever had. If you ever find yourself in Gibsons on the sunshine coast of BC Ichiban Sushi is a definite must.

A boathouse garden

rocky shoreline

Our second day was unbelievably sunny and beautiful. A perfect day to get in on the first market of the season.

my pretty sister

Hi!

Pretty, vibrant orange door to our cabin. each cabin door was painted a different colour. So charming.

Lunch in Gibsons again on our last day. Again, excellent food.

See? this was my crab and shrimp sandwich on toasted sourdough. Yum!

street art

headed home on the ferry

All in all a fabulous weekend!

yarn along

2011-04-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Spring always leaves me restless for new, fresh recipes and so I've been drooling over the pages of this book for the last few days. whenever I'm in a dinner rut the photos in this cookbook are a guarantee of inspiration. It's broken up by season which I think is brilliant!

some colour for a spring yarn along

I'm working on finishing up another shawl that I started last spring. I had hoped to have it finished in time to wear on my little getaway this past weekend but that just didn't happen so I brought it along to work on in our downtime. the pattern is a little monotonous but the yarn is the most stunning shades of deep teal and bright aqua that it's spurring me on to get it finished.

During my little break from knitting a few weeks back I finished up Pride & Prejudice and read Mansfield Park for the first time. I went into blindly, knowing nothing about the plot or characters and I really enjoyed it! I couldn't put it down. It may be one of my favourite books I've read and to be perfectly honest I'm not much of a reader so it takes a lot for me to say that.

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have some more knitting to share as I've got a bunch of projects in the wings.

ETA: for those of you wondering the yarn is by Sweet Fiber Yarns and is even more stunning in person and the pattern is lacy baktus

this weekend with instagram

2011-04-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

spring weekend

2011-03-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

This time of year is always so exciting to me. The sun starts to have some warmth to it despite the crispness that still lingers in the air. The days stretch out enticingly and you start to remember summer. I find this season so inspiring and refreshing. I feel like a can finally breathe again after a long winter cooped up.

Last weekend our local nursery opened for the season and we rushed to get a dose of some spring colours and some animals. I think I was even more excited then the kids about the whole thing. I love the goats there and this time of year brings sweet baby ones.

...and that is our weekend in a nut shell.
(I also attended Fibres West but I'll leave that for another post)

hiatus

2011-03-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

My recent knitting is catching up with me. I'm having a little bout of tendinitis in my thumb and so I'm having to take a break. It's very hard! I think I've had to tell myself about a dozen times a day that picking up this or that project really isn't as good an idea as it sounds. The last thing I want is for this to become a chronic problem...YIKES...and so I've been thinking about knitting instead, planning out designs I want to try knitting up and possibly writing out. I've noticed a slight improvement today. Here's hoping that continues.

We had some glorious sunshine over the weekend and I was suddenly hit with the urge to go by the alpaca farm we used to live down the street from when my first sweet baby was born. He was a summer baby and we enjoyed many sunny walks (and grey, rainy ones too) over to visit the alpacas. Such strange beautiful animals. They are always so curious and watch us so intently.

That was pretty much it for our weekend here. It seemed to go too fast, as it usually does. Fibres West is coming up in a couple weeks which I'm really looking forward to and then my sister and I are fleeing up the sunshine coast for a weekend which I'm a little giddy about. So much to look forward to. March is shaping up nicely.

yarn along

2011-03-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

some cozy felted slippers and the lovely EZ for this weeks yarn along

I'm a procrastinator so in that spirit I started some birthday slippers for my dad yesterday in hopes of having them off the needles and felted for friday. No problem right? Thank goodness it's my LYS sit and stitch tonight! This will be the perfect mindless knit to bring along. I've been sort of sporadically knitting on a few different projects this week finishing nothing but making progress. I'm also still reading Pride & Prejudice slowly but surely and browsing through Elizabeth Zimmermann's The Opinionated Knitter. We found out that my son got a spot in the school we wanted and so I feel a Tomten sweater is in order. What better way to start out school that in a cozy garter stitch hoodie.

snowday

2011-02-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

We woke up to a blanket of white and the enticing calls of mittens and boots. Fearing the rising temperatures we wasted no time and ventured out to enjoy a little winter fun...

...and then we headed inside to enjoy some hot coco and popcorn.

yarn along

2011-02-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

a pair of cozy mittens and a magazine I'd forgotten I'd picked up on our weekend away
~ joining in for this weeks yarn along

Hello Wednesday. It's been a little grey here lately, in weather and knitting and spirit. Still recovering from the flu and although I've miraculously escaped any sickness, I can't say the same for the other members in my family. Go away flu!

We actually had a surprising little snowfall on monday and while it was beautiful to watch and actually perked me up a bit, it's always so grey after. Magazines are always cheerful and inspiring and so I've been scouring the pages and dreaming of spring. We did some beautiful sunshine over the weekend. I mean clear blue sky, sun in your eyes kind of weather. I'm holding my breath for more of that.

Until then I'm in hibernation mode. Enjoying cozy socks and lots of tea, scrabble with the husband, knitting on more projects than I can keep up with and lots of snuggles with my kiddos.

swatching for my first sweater ~ Coraline

where you go I'll follow

2011-02-22T19:20:00.000-08:00

my sweet boy and his Gramma

purple

2011-02-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

I've never thought I was one to be drawn to purple but I've recently finished two shawls both of which are different shades of purple. I really couldn't be more pleased with them...ok to be perfectly honest I'm completely stoked about them and totally get why others love shawls. I always lumped shawls into the category of matronly, prim, old-fashion, you get the jest.

I was so so wrong. They may just be the perfect accessory and I'm glad to live in somewhere where the dampness often requires a little extra warmth.

Anyways, my most recent FO (finished object) is Ysolda Teagues lovely Damson shawl that I started last spring. I always thoroughly enjoy knitting Ysolda's patterns and this was no different. I won't lie the garter section seemed to go on forever but once I got into the border pattern I just couldn't put it down. the only modification I made was to do a garter stitch border in place of the loopy trim the pattern called for. While I really liked the pattern exactly as it was written I thought the garter border made it a little more streamline and casual. Just a little more Me.

damson knit in malabrigo sock in eggplant

The other shawl I finished up in January just before (like I was up until about 1:30 the night before) our little trip to Seattle. The colour reminds me of the sky in the winter and I just knew the minute I saw the yarn what it had to be. I've had Mara by Madelinetosh in my knitting queue for an embarrassingly long time and I actually love it so much that I plan to knit a second one only slightly larger.

mara knit in malabrigo twist in zinc

I know I've briefly shared about both of these so thanks for baring with me. I wanted to share some photos that showed them better then my quick phone shots. hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

yarn along

2011-02-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

I was suppose to be at sit and stitch at my LYS this evening but my husband is recovering (and I say that loosely because he's had it for over a week and hasn't started to feel even a little better yet) from pneumonia and now both my kids have run fevers in the last couple days. Add a crashing headache on my part and leaving the house just isn't happening. This extended hibernation has been good for my knitting habit though. I've finished a project and started another and even perused a stitch dictionary for some design ideas. I can't complain.

I stumbed upon this neat idea for a yarn along today and so I thought I'd join in the fun and share a photo of what's currently on the needles and what I'm reading.

a cozy red scarf for my sweet, sweet boy ~ Vogue Knitting Stitchionary, volume one
~ Pride & Prejudice on my kobo app

off the needles

2011-02-14T14:15:00.000-08:00

A couple new shawls. One in time for our Seattle trip and the other one was started last spring and was just finished up this weekend. it's always so satisfying to finish a project.

Seattle Escape

2011-02-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends back my husband and I escaped down to Seattle for the night. We had such a great, relaxing time. It was such a treat to sneak away without the kids although I have to admit I missed them like crazy and plan to go back again with kids in tow. Anyways I've been planning to blog about this since we got back but was daunted by the length and so I've decided to just leave it as a photo post. Hope you all are enjoying time with the ones you love today.

on the needles

2011-01-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

A new squishy shawl out of Malabrigo Twist. It's like a hand-knit hug. seriously.
I'm not exaggerating.

2010-12-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

I've done a lot of gift knitting over the last few weeks. it's my favourite kind of knitting to be honest, but I pulled out a pair of mittens I started this summer and it was nice to do a little knitting for myself. Maybe I'll finish them in time for spring like this pair.

what begins with C

2010-12-29T11:46:00.000-08:00

I've always been a huge fan of "Laverne & Shirley" especially the outfits! oh the oufits! I love that Laverne had an L on all of her tops and dresses. love love LOVE. I may have briefly considered monogramming all my clothes with C's at some point. I've recently started following a few vintage lovin' blogs and have consequently caught the thrifting bug. I used to shop at thrift and vintage shops all the time as a teenager but haven't done much of it over the last few(ok more then a few) years. ANYways. all this blabbering on just to say "look LOOK at this awesome find"

Yes that's a "C" brooch! And better yet it was only a buck. I love a good deal.

Fix-it Friday- [iheartfaces]

2010-09-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy new things especially when it involves photography and/or playing around on the computer so I'm pretty excited to have found this weekly challenge over at iheartfaces. if your intersted in taking part in the fun head on over and check out Fix-it Fridays. So here is the original we were given to work from. Gorgeous isn't it?

sooc contributed by Rachel Durik

And here are my edits. I had a little fun with textures, something I'd like to get better at. Hopefully I'll get a little more adventurous as I get more experience but it was still a tone of fun and something I'm already looking forward to next week.

don't forget to check out iheartfaces if you love photography and/or are interested in learning more

i want to live on a farm

2010-07-26T12:33:00.001-07:00

i want to live on a farm, originally uploaded by colleensimply.

there is something so relaxing about watching the summer breeze ripple across a field of corn like waves on the ocean

in which i look back

2010-03-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

well march is plodding along. we've all enjoyed having Jeff {husband} at home for a few days at the beginning of the month even if the circumstances weren't ideal. but he's back to work now and things settling back into their usual routine. i've got a few projects on the needles and a few more waiting in the wings.

on the needles- damson by Ysolda

i'm just realizing that i've never blogged about how the olympic challenge i entered panned out......I won silver! soooooooo exciting as i rarely, if ever, win things. it was a totally random draw for the prizes so i feel pretty lucky to have won. i was so excited in fact that as i was busy jumping around the living room in glee i stepped on one of my sons toys which caused me to knock the coffee table over onto my foot. if you knew me this wouldn't really be surprising. it reminds me of my first presentation in fashion school. we had to design and create an outfit from found objects and only 10% of the garment could be out of fabric. anyways, i designed a full , gathered skirt out of a road map and a bustier out of the inner-tubing of a tire. pretty cool but as you can imagine not exactly comfortable or sturdy. so there i am actually wearing this get-up and standing in front of my classmates whom i'd only met a few weeks prior. i go to take a step to the side while pointing to my inspiration board and turn my ankle lurching myself over and threatening to toss me, paper skirt and all to the ground. i can still hear the gasps of everyone and see the looks of horror on their faces. no doubt they were all glad it was me and not them. somehow i managed to straighten myself out and continue on with the presentation but it was not one of my finer moments let me tell you. thankfully the complete mortification i felt was quickly outweighed by the humor.

the illustration from the design board.
boy can i tell that i was just beginning to learn fashion illustration!

march!

2010-03-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

can you believe it's march? i feel like i was just typing up my post about being in disbelief that it was february and here we are at the start of a whole new month again. march is an exciting month. the mornings are a little brighter, flowers and trees start to poke there heads out from a long winters slumber. i swear i heard frogs croaking in the creek by our house as i laid in bed last night. we are making plans for our little veggie garden we are planting this year. my 3{almost 4} year old son has been helping brainstorm the different things he'd like to grow. the neighborhood kids have started to migrate out into the streets to play hockey and ride bikes and all the other games that the short winter days have hindered. so far i'm liking march.

something else that is fun about march is that it's malabrigo madness month on ravelry. that means that we are all trying to knit as many projects as we can with malabrigo yarns. the only catch is that we had to wait to cast on til march first. this was fine except i finished up my olympic challenge socks a day early and then found myself at odds without a knitting project to work on. something i've learned in the past few months is that i need to knit. knitting seems to have a very soothing, almost therapeutic, effect. i've always loved to create and dream about things i could make but i've never really enjoyed the making process as much as the dreaming-up process until i took up knitting.

{scroll lace scarf in malabrigo silky merino, "cloudy sky"}

i just recently treated myself to a copy of Ysolda Teague's Whimsical Little Knits 2. i'm completely charmed by everything about this collection. very inspiring! I've already started my first project from the booklet {the scroll lace scarf} and plan to make, well, basically everything else eventually. I especially love the sweet little hedgehog named smith, the peaks island hood and the snap dragon mitts.

so what's inspiring you lately? i'd love to hear about it.

done

2010-02-27T13:21:00.001-08:00

2010 olympics.

2010-02-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

we are having some AMAZING weather. my husband decided he really wanted to go downtown to take in some of the olympic hub-bub, just to say we had been. some parts of the city were not as crowded as i'd expected, others made up for it. i'm feeling all the walking (just over 10,000 steps according to my pedometer) a bit today. i really love where we live. we have access to sooo much here and we really don't take advantage of that as much as we should. my little guy really really loved the park so we will definitely try to get down there again.

progress

2010-02-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

one week of the Olympics down, one to go: one sock down, one to go

finally got a picture of my cowl: this picture does not do justice to the colour of this yarn which is actually a very dark almost gray blue with hints of turquoise and pinks

hope you all had a good weekend. we took a spontaneous trip down to Vancouver to take in some of the Olympic festivities. it was alot of walking but a great day over all.

my morning

2010-02-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

out the window

on the plate

ack!

2010-02-17T12:30:00.000-08:00

so sorry for the recent lack of posting. i've been very busy so hopefully you can forgive me. i think winter has decided to completely skip over us this year, and while i'm not complaining (who could complain about the glorious sunshine we've been enjoying?!) it is a little sad that lovely little hand knit goodies like cowls and mittens and hats have not been entirely useful this year. that said, i have some recent FO's (finished objects) to share with you and some current projects on the needles.

i finally finished a project i started at the beginning of the new year...turns out they are mittens!

i also used one skein of my malabrigo chunky for a Doroles Park Cowl although i haven't managed to get a picture of me wearing it. it is soooo cozy and warm! i wore it to watch the Olympic torch relay come through town. what an amazing experience! i found it surprisingly moving.

speaking of the Olympics, i've entered a challenge through my LYS and cast on for my first pair of socks during the opening ceremonies. the challenge is trying to finish the project by the closing ceremonies. i'm using cookie a.'s monkey pattern and am really loving it so far. i've made a few changes like making the height a couple repeats shorter and changed the heel flap to eye of partridge. the fact that i actually know what i'm talking about makes me a little giddy. i think i say to my husband "can you believe i'm knitting socks!?" oh about every 5 minutes while i'm knitting. i think it's getting a little old haha.

in non-knitting related news i've acquired a new toy of sorts...my dad's old SLR. i used it some during high school and college but i've basically forgotten everything since then. i'm super stoked to get some film and play around with it a bit.

i think that's all the news from over here. spring is definitely in the air and i find myself making garden plans. i'm hoping to do a little vegetable garden this year with the help of my son. i know it's something he'll enjoy all aspects of it right down to the eating. anyways until next time...

february already

2010-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

i can hardly believe it!! another thing i can hardly believe? this cold is still kicking my butt. i'm starting to get a little stir-crazy, but on the plus side i'm feeling very inspired from all the down time i've had to work on projects, ready knitting magazines and so on. we had a nice quiet weekend at home which was such a change for us. normally weekends around here are spent running errands that we can't do during the week (we are a one car household so the kids and i are without a car while my husband is at work).

i was given a gift certificate to our local yarn shop for my birthday a couple weeks back so last saturday my sister and i had a girls day out to ooooh and ahhhh and pet all the fantastic yarns. after going back and forth....and back....and forth i finally settled on...

you guessed it.

some more malabrigo. (big surprise eh?)

i did branch out and try the chunky this time and it is just as squishy and buttery soft as the worsted and silky merino i already have. it's time, i think, to start turning these into projects. my problem there is that i am a very indecisive person and the longer i have to pet these velvety skeins the more project ideas i have and the harder it is to decide. but, i have come to a decision for a few things.

my new chunky malabrigo will be used for the Dolores Park Cowl by Parikha Mehta and possibly some kind of fingerless mitt if I have enough

i've had these mitts in mind even before i was really hooked on knitting, when the only knitty site i really new about was knitty so as of right now i'll be using my worsted merino in "paris night" to make a pair for myself. i've also considered making a pair of mittens inspired by these or a variety of different cowls...you get my point about being indecisive...

all i know for my silky merino is that i'm making a shawl of some kind.

i'm really intrigued by sock knitting. i'm also scared of it. i don't know why. my favourite thing to knit is mittens which are really not much different from socks. in fact, they have thumbs which you would think would make them a little more complicated. the only think i can think about socks is that the yarn is alot thinner then any yarn i've worked with. it's good to do things that scare you though right? i think i'll have to add a sock pattern to my(growing) list of must-knits.

sorry about my rambling on about knitting. it's one of the first hobbies i've found that i find relaxing rather then frustrating so i'm a bit inlove with it at the moment.

on that note i'll leave you with a pic of the hat that i knit for my son last week. i used the Thorpe pattern but had to improvise a bit as my yarn was much bulkier, and my gauge was consequently much larger. it turned out though and he is stoked with it (which was the whole point) so i'm happy. I still need to stitch a red maple leaf onto the front and i have added long ties to the earflaps since the picture was taken but you get the gist.

2010-01-29T08:41:00.000-08:00

i had intended to do a few posts this week but i was hit with a killer cold saturday night that has left me with a crashing headache, a cough and sinus pressure. fun times! so i've had a little more down time then usual which means i've had a little more time for knitting. hooray! i also just discovered the wonderful world of podcasts. i know i'm probably a little late on this but oh my! they are my new favourite thing. i've been listening to a couple knitting podcasts in the evenings. one is the KnitPicks podcast and the other is nevernotknitting's podcast. i feel like podcasts are to blogging what audio books are to reading. i'm a fan. anyways i feel a coughing fit coming on so i'm gonna go for now but i'll be back soon with a post about what i've been working on. hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

2010-01-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

so i just discovered a site that has the potential to suck all of my free time. it's an amazing fashion site that lets you create collages. it's like a giant digital inspiration board. i've always saved pages from magazines that i found inspiring and during fashion design school one of my fave parts of the projects was to put together a storyboard to set the mood for my designs. anyways if you haven't heard of polyvore you should definitely check it out. here are o couple of collages i did during nap time today:

the beginning by colleensimply featuring Lucky Brand

anticipation by colleensimply featuring 1928 jewelry

hello sunshine, hello 28

2010-01-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

i can not get over the beautiful sunshine we are getting today. GORGEOUS. it renews my hope that spring is around the corner. so far life as a 28-yr-old has treated me very well. i celebrated my 28th birthday on friday, just 9 days after my sweet daughter celebrated her first birthday, and i admit that at first 28 seemed very old to me but then i realized that in 2 short years i get to be at the beginning of a decade again instead of the end, like turning 30 will be like turning 20 all over again, and then i felt better.

a little excited maybe.

and so i've made a decision to make changes to improve myself so that i can head into my thirties the best version of ME yet. one of the biggest changes i'm making is to finally loose this "baby" weight once and for all and to be in amazing shape. i'll be blogging more about this journey here if you want to follow that part of my journey more (and i can always appreciate some incouragement) i've got some crafty aspirations as well such as knitting without a pattern and eventually designing my own patterns. the thought of that has got me more excited and inspired then i have been in far too long. i used to eat.sleep.breathe anything fashion or design. somehow in the business of motherhood i've lost that part of me but the glimmer of it has given me hope and a little refreshment.

coming along

2010-01-07T12:10:00.001-08:00

coming along, originally uploaded by colleensimply.

i'm completely enjoying this knit. fave project so far i think. i love jumping into a project that seems a little beyond my experience and forcing myself to learn. things learned so far:

cable knitting is not as complicated as it looks but is very satisfying to knit. a lot of "bang for your buck"
i really enjoy knitting for other people. i have yet to knit (or at least finish) anything for myself and i'm totally fine with that.
i gave the magic-loop method a go rather then fiddling with dpn (double pointed needles) and while i found it mildly frustrating at first i've really gotten into the swing of it and i'm hooked. so far my best crafty investment has been my knit picks options. i know i've said this before but i love circular needles. they really are so versatile.

so there's my little update. it was also my sweet baby girls first birthday yesterday. where did the year go. i'm hoping to post about her party after the weekend so stay tuned for that.

in need of a little help

2010-01-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

i'm super stoked about the immersion blender i got for Christmas. SUPER stoked. i already have a long list queued up of soups i'm dying to make. but i'm sure there are other things i can use it for that i'm not even fathoming. so i'm wondering, what are some of your fave recipes using an immersion blender?

on to a new year

2009-12-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

i hope everyone had a merry Christmas full of warmth and family. i'm happy to report we've survived the cram-packed hustle and bustle that surrounded the holidays this year. it was completely exhausting but totally worth it. i even managed to finish up my christmas knitting and such minus a few snowflakes that need to be starched, and squeezed in a day of Christmas baking with my sister. so.much.fun. we both hope to make it a yearly tradition.

as the holidays wind down all i really feel like doing is curling up at home with a few new creative endeavors, something new to read maybe and a cup of tea (or ten). i'm on a real knitting binge right now. it's my hobby-of-choice at the moment and i'm really enjoying how relaxing i find it.

some new yarn-malabrigo silky merino in "cloudy sky" i just couldn't resist this dusky blue colour

my first knitting project of 2010-a gift for a good friend

a little indulgence- flannel pj pants, a new knitting magazine, and a copy of "Twilight". i can hardly believe i've jumped on the Twilight bandwagon, something i swore i'd never do, but i've really enjoyed the first book and the first 2 movies.

some inspiration from my knitting magazine-i plan on making all the projects on the right page

a quick knit

2009-12-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

onto the next project. i started my mom's christmas gift last night. a festive Christmas mobius in the most delectably soft, squishy yarn i've ever worked with. i am, from here on forward, the biggest fan of malabrigo merino worsted. i love the subtle colour variations and the softness Oh the SOFTNESS. the pattern i'm using is great too. just enough challenge to keep me interested but still simple enough that it's knitting up very quickly. perfect for a gift started fashionably late.

of snowflakes and six feet of i-cord

2009-12-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

i've been a knitting fool lately, or at least, as much of one as i can squeeze into my spare time. some of you may remember the bag that was knitting last year for a christmas present for my mom. well after running out of yarn half way through and searching high and low for anything that would work with it i managed to finish the last stitches christmas eve, tossed it in the washing machine to felt and waited with anticipation to see the finished result.

i was not prepared for the outcome. the first problem was that the original yarn did not felt.at.ALL while the new yarn I got as a contrast did felt beautifully. this is really the lesser of evils as the unfelted yarn also had a giant hole *sob* right in the front and the strap had so many holes it was virtually unusable. you can imagine my horror when i opened the pillowcase i had washed it in and found the mess. needless to say i spent probably a half an hour sobbing and then i called my mom to explain what had happened to her gift. i never blogged about it last year because it was such an aweful experience and i couldn't bring myself to type it out (i'll admit even a year later it still made me cry a little). my mom, of course, was totally awesome about it and helped prop me up a little. christmas has always been more about celebrating Christ's birth and spending time as a family and less about the gifts, something i've always been grateful for. regardless, i have been wanting to redo the bag for her.

fast forward to the past month i've been feverishly knitting away at this bag and am at the point where i seem to be endlessly knitting i-cord. 6 feet to be exact. i've done about 4.5 so only 18 inches left to go. i'll be relieved to finish the knitting but that means time for felting and i would be lying if i didn't say that i was very, very nervous to wash it up this time.

i've also been trying to teach myself to crochet snowflakes on the side. after three failed attempts (the first one was unravelled mid-way by my 3-yr-old and the other two were scrapped because i just wasn't loving how they were turning out) i think i've got a winner.....time will tell.

christmas is literally around the corner and promises to be very busy this year, with lots of visiting and coming-and-going, but it will be a good busy i'm sure. not quite as busy as one of the first years we were married where it felt like we were just the pinballs in a pinball machine bouncing around in a whirlwind of stops never really staying long enough to enjoy any of it. one of the great things about having kids is it forces you to slow down a bit and see the season through their eyes. it's nice to have that wonder and excitement again.

hello december

2009-12-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

we've been enjoying the most beautifully sunny december so far and i for one feel completely spoiled by it. from what i hear the sunshine is sticking around for the next week as well so i'm sure that'll mean some more outdoor fun for us.

stay tuned for posts later this week about some of the projects i'm currently working on. oh, before i forget my baby girl is 11 months old today....that's right, only one month until her first birthday....where has the time gone.

hang on

2009-11-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

i'm still alive i promise. i'm working on a loooooong over-due update post but until that's up i thought i'd share a little piece of my space with all of you.

i feel like one minute it was the last few hazy days of an indian summer and then BAM fall was almost over. one day 'the tree' was covered in vibrant ruby leaves, dancing in the breeze ,and the next only a few dry, wizened ones were left clingy to the branches. i've been watching leaves sail through the billowy, grey skies all morning and am suddenly aware that before long it will be snowflakes rather then leaves twirling about.

2009-07-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

beautiful african fabric given to me as a "thank-you"

not alot to blog about lately. were still settling in and getting back into the swing of things but I can feel my fingers itching to do some watercolour painting or some sewing. my house is crying out for some art on the walls and some colour and texture. i was given a very generous thank-you giftcard to chapters {along with the fabric pictured above} for some design work i did so i've been oogling and making a wishlist. one thing i've decided is that with books it's a never ending list. in the meantime i've got a birthday party tomorrow to plan {my name is colleen and i'm a procrastinator} numerous knitting projects on the go or on my mind, cupcakes to bake, a house to clean and a teething baby so my hands are, needless to say, full. hope you all have a wonderful weekend

suburban paradise

2009-07-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

well we survived our move and are trying to settle into our new home. i have to say that so far i am loving it here and i really think we'll be very happy while we are here. one thing that i am particularly excited about is our japanese maple tree in the backyard {ie small cement patio=tiny piece of concrete heaven} growing up we always had one of these trees in our front yard so they always feel like "home" to me.

stay tuned for posts on our little herb garden and a gimp tutorial for a friend

2009-06-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

ahhh strawberry season. i love this time of year when yummy fruit are in season, and days are warm and seemingly endless. these berries were imported from california and while tasty enough they are nothing compared to the tart, flavourful local berries just coming into season. i got my first sampling of local fruit yesterday and boy, there is nothing better. takes me back to my childhood of sunfilled summer days in the country at my grandparents home scavenging for wild strawberries amoungst the brush. they were hard to come by but soooooo worth the hunt.

count down is on

2009-06-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

in one week from today we pick up the truck and begin our move. i'm sooo excited to settle into a new place and start to build a home for the four of us. some things i'm looking forward to about our new space are:

having a backyard that is ours! i've already been imagining early morning coffees out on the patio, wathcing my son playing various things.
living so close to a playground, outdoor pool and waterpark.
being within walking distance of family, especially because we are a one car family so I'm without a vehicle on weekdays.
our kitchen is very nice. i can't wait to do some baking in there. first up on the list is some sourdough bread. i've been dying to start a sourdough starter but have been holding off until after we move.
having space to garden, even if it is not a lot of space or mostly container gardening.

these are just a few things. i can't even tell you how stoked i am. stay tuned for picks of the new place.

something I'll miss

2009-06-15T08:56:00.001-07:00

something I'll miss, originally uploaded by colleensimply.

on to #7

2009-06-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

i may be a little scarce around here for the next couple of weeks. we are moving. again. in the (almost) 6 years since we've been married we've lived in 6 places. moving used to be sort of thrilling. my husband and i both enjoyed the fresh start in a new place but now two kids later {one of which is still very much a baby} it is dreaded a little more then anticipated. anyways just wanted to give a heads up that i may not be blogging much in the next few weeks. then again i may actually blog a little more what with all the time i'll be enjoying while procrastinating packing things up

posies and toesies

2009-05-31T22:05:00.001-07:00

posies and toesies, originally uploaded by colleensimply.

a little bowl of sunshine

2009-05-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

{frozen mangos & peaches}
a staple around here and a favourite breakfast treat or afternoon snack. my son eats it like it's going out of style.

i.heart.gimp

2009-05-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

lately i've spent a little of my spare time playing around on gimp and using tutorials to learn some new photo editing techniques. for being a free software i'm super impressed. i'm just breaking the ice in curves and presets and all those fun things. ok, so here is the photo i started with:

and here's what i ended up with:

{for anyone interested here are the tutes i used. a. b. c. d. }

coming soon

2009-05-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

i've been busy cutting out some diapers for my daughter. i've had some of these fabrics stashed for quite a while, just waiting for the perfect project for them so i'm excited to be using them. i admittedly have a very hard time making that first cut into a beautiful fabric. to me fabric feels like art so i always feel a little guilty to just ruthlessly chop it up. i'm really excited to see the finished product of these though. stay tuned. hopefully i'll find a few moments to myself over the weekend to sew.

more fun with felt

2009-05-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

i was in the mood to create something this morning but needed a quick fix while my 4.5 month old was napping. so out came the felt and my handy snap press {which hasn't been used as much as it should be} and minutes later i had a couple finished objects to satisfy my creative itch.they are v e r y s i m p l e . just 2 layers of felt cut into a square and a pair of snaps for each corner and presto! a box to store loose change, cellphones, sunglasses, keys...pretty much anything you want.

photo

2009-05-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

i've been busy uploading some pics to my flickr and just had to share this pic.
{i'm completely in love with that vibrant chartreuse}

nostalgia

2009-05-20T10:27:00.001-07:00

, originally uploaded by Tаnya-B.

a good friend posted this photo of her sweet son splashing in a puddle and i was instantly transported back about 20 years. growing up in the pacific northwest, i spent many many hours happily playing in the rain. there is something comforting and magical about a rainy afternoon. her photo inspired me to make a mosaic of some of my fav rain inspired pics on flickr

1. after the storm, 2. Storm, 3. Rainy day, 4. Raindrops: Poetry in Motion, 5. Like an instrument for a song, 6. A Raindrop in a Suburb, a Suburb in a Raindrop, 7. Splash!!, 8. Red Shoes Liberty Dance, 9. Calm after the Storm, 10. A common sight..., 11. Let the FUN begin!, 12. a summer rain, 13. puddle jumper, 14. English Summer, 15. Rain drops keep falling on my head..., 16. shelter in the rain, 17. Rain, rain go away..., 18. Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain., 19. Memory of Rain, 20. 365x3.104 • they say rain

oh where could it be...and a new project

2009-05-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

we move. a LOT. somewhere during our last move my iron disappeared. now, i'm almost certain i've used it while we've been here (we have been here for just over a year after all.) but for the life of me i can't seem to find it. i started sewing a cute little boxy bag over the weekend but I really need my iron. a good pressing makes all the difference i feel and i can't tell you how frustrating it is not to have my iron. we are moving again at the end of next month so maybe the mysterious vanishing iron will resurface during all the packing and unpacking.

we had a long weekend here and i was inspired to start a sewing project that has been on the back burner for a few months. i've wanted a boxy little bag for quite a while to store knitting projects or DPN (double pointed needles) or whatever i need to tote from one place to another. i recently came across this tute and thought i'd give it a whirl. I've made a few modifications (like measurements, strap placement and the finishing of the lining, but i'll go more into that in another post. for now here's a little sneak peak at how the bag is shaping up.

new header

2009-05-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

i felt like it was time for a little more colour on the blog so i made a new header this morning. whatcha think? in case you forgot what my previous banners have been they started as this:

and then i had this one:

i just needed something a little more cheerful i think and i'm a bit restless when it comes to layout (as i'm sure you've noticed.) a fresh change is always a good source of inspiration.

2009-05-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

my son is ALL boy. he's noisy and rambunctious and constantly playing some form of hockey. oh the hockey. he eat, sleeps and breathes hockey. he's been that way since he learned to walk. it's not an uncommon thing to find him dead asleep with his stick or a puck grasped tightly in his little fingers.

i tell you this only to come out with this truth....my son LOVES pink. if given the choice he will always pick pink, whether it's the pink straw or the pink juice or the pink cup. i like to think that it is because he was suddenly surrounded by PINK everything when his little sister arrive at the beginning of january (that's when he first started to show his preference) and that his love for the colour is a reflection of his love for her. in all honesty i have absolutely no problem with it. i mean, who wouldn't love pink. it's a very cheerful colour.

anyways, i've been working on his sweater (which he is super excited about, sweet boy) and yesterday afternoon we were chatting about it, i asked him what colour buttons he wanted on it. he paused for a moment and then brightly replied "PINK!"

woot woot

2009-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

aahhh finally!!! my much anticipated, much awaited parcel made it's way to my doorstep this morning. and what might it be you wonder? here's a little peek.ok so that's a pretty big clue ;) but if you're not sure it's a set of knitpicks options. oh the possibilities! first up...a cardigan for my sweet big boy who will be 3 at the end of june *gasp* and a tamarind cowl in that delicious malabrigo i snagged up a couple weekends ago. ok and before i leave here's a pic of the complete set.

things I love about being a mom

2009-05-13T09:23:00.001-07:00

most days i can hardly believe i'm a mom let alone a mom of two but when i really stop and reflect on it i feel very blessed by my kiddos. they are, by far, what i am most proud of. anyways as mother's day is just behind us i thought i would share a few of my favourite things about motherhood.

i love seeing the relationship between my son and his little sister develop. he truely loves her and regularly showers her with kisses and affection. i think the feeling is pretty mutual. she has her eyes glued on him whenever he is around her and he was the first person she smiled at. i can imagine there friendship in the years to come and am just so excited to see how it grows.
my son who is almost 3 is a little spitfire. he has a quick temper and very strong ideas on how he wants things but he is also one of the most affectionate little boys i know. he just feels things a little stronger then most i think and expresses exactly what he is feeling. one of my favourite things is when he wraps his arms tightly around my neck and says "i love you soooo much mommy" *melt*
i love that my daughter (4 months) is so smiley in the morning. nothing better then a big gummy grin.
being able to wear my babies not only allows me to have my hands free it lets me snuggle them those few extra moments. one thing if come to realize is that my kids will be little for such a short time and the time is going faster everyday. babywearing lets me forget that for a little while.

my family, may 9th 2009, mother's day weekend

viva...

2009-05-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

my husband was away this past weekend on a trip with some hockey buddies down to vegas for a hockey tournament. besides the gold medal he came home with, he also brought me back this kitschy mug. now i should have prefaced this by saying that i love a good mug and the tackier the better. i {heart} this new addition to my collection though. all other previously loved mugs have been shamefully neglected. my vegas mug is just the perfect size and shape and it was bought for me with a lot of thought which makes it even better. i can't get enough!

trying something new

2009-05-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

i stumbled upon this tutorial on how to change your blog from the standard 2-column layout to 3 columns. just trying it out and playing around a bit so my blog may be switching up a bit until i get it just right. let me know what you think. i'd love the feedback.

and while you wait here's a recent pic of the promise of summer fruit

yummy

2009-05-03T20:47:00.001-07:00

this yarn is sooooo soft and dreamy. can't wait to knit it up. i'm still trying to pick the perfect project though....any suggestions?

*oops i just realized i completely forgot to spill the beans on what exactly this yarn is so incase you were wondering it's malabrigo yarn merino worsted in paris night. a perfectly dreamy colourway name for an equally dreamy yarn.

darling buds of may

2009-05-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year!

shipping notice

2009-04-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

i have something very exciting on its way. i just received the email that it shipped today and i can hardly wait the 5-10 days shipping for it to get here.....but you'll just have to wait and wonder what it could be ;)

all things girl

2009-04-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

confession: the fact that i have a little girl to sew things for completely thrills me. i have visions of ruffles and whimsy and perpetual golden summer afternoons. i came across this tute for a sweet ruffled skirt that i'm definitely adding to my "must-make" list

saturday morning fun

2009-04-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

a little bit of elastic + some scraps of felt + an old bandana = pirate fun

a little taste

2009-04-15T09:18:00.001-07:00

beginnings of a bog jacket

on the needles

2009-04-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

i've just started knitting my first sweater. it's not the modular tomten by EZ that i talked about in this post but it is a Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. it's the bog jacket from her book "knitting around." i'm making it for my 3 month old daughter out of leftover yarn from my sister's christmas mittens and some latte coloured yarn from my stash. i thought it would be good practice for the tomten i'm going to make for my ds and i had the stuff to whip it up. so far so good although it's a bit like knitting a giant scarf but i just keep telling myself the finished product will be so much more rewarding. sorry no pics yet but check back soon.