lazy days of summer

As you can tell by the post title, we are in total summertime mode around these parts. There has been a string of gorgeous sunshiny days here lately, which we took full advantage of on our beach vacation. Lots of great food and even some new foodie adventures for the little guy while on our trip. He tried sashimi for the first time and really enjoyed it, which utterly thrilled my husband who is a Japanese cuisine enthusiast. Wish I thought to take a picture of the moment! In fact, we pretty much went unplugged the entire time. As for the beach knitting, the only thing I managed to finish was this:

I also started on a new cardigan, the lovely and popular Hitofude, using Quince & co. Sparrow. Really enjoying the cool & crisp feeling of the linen yarn in combination with the easy to memorize lace pattern. Planning on taking my time with this one.

Also taking my lazy time with the finishing bits on Uniform. Hoping to get the neckband knitted soon so I can wear it with this fun top. Is it sad that I require pretty buttons or a hula halter top to motivate me to finish my knits?

Lastly, here are a couple of new books that I am enjoying.

I want to knit pretty much everything in Sweater Girls. If, like me, you adore vintage and retro sweaters, then this book is a must-have. Lots of beautiful pictures and styling, too. I can tell already that Up, Down, All-Around is going to be my go-to stitch dictionary. In fact, I couldn't resist casting on a new project using this stitch pattern from the book:

Of course, there's no rush on this one, too. It is summertime after all ☼ ⛵ ☼

100% fun

 

1 & 1/2 hexipuffs = total amount of vacation knitting accomplished

Gosh, I could so easily see myself living happily as a beach bum :) Playing in the waves, making sand castles just to see them knocked down a few minutes later, lazily soaking up the sun all day long. And eating boardwalk fries & gyros for dinner almost every night. We had 100% fun on our too brief getaway to the ocean. Already making plans to go back at the end of August for the little guy's birthday. Can't wait!

colorplay

♥ Drawing flower doodles in the sketchbook

♥ Knitting some springtime hexipuffs 

cherry blossoms

♥ Having fun with color this week

slipped stitch shawl (halfway done)

(linking up with WIP Wednesday)

clutch knitting

Because it would be unthinkable to leave the house without some type of knitting to fill up those expected and unexpected moments of waiting, I always have a well-stocked knitting clutch on hand and ready to go. Here's a peek at what's inside:

all the tools necessary for some hexipuff knitting

Still in love with this easy and oh-so-portable project. Still getting odd looks from strangers wondering what in the world I am knitting. But that just adds to the fun! Some people have asked about how I eventually plan on laying out the puffs for my beekeeper's quilt. Maybe by color?

Or just random?

Not sure yet, but I am still a looooong ways off from having to decide! What portable project do you like to grab as you head out the door?



(linking up with WIP Wednesday)

World Traveler

Do you have a bucket list of things that you want to do in life? One of mine is to travel the world and learn new languages and cultures. Not too ambitious, right? Traveling was a spontaneous and easy thing to achieve in my twenties, but now money and time constraints make international travel more difficult. Sadly, it has been over six years since I last used my passport. Thank goodness for the wonders of the Internet which has allowed me to connect with people from all over the world and see little glimpses into their everyday life. There are so many amazing blogs spanning this little world of ours. Here are just a handful of craft blogs that I love to visit that are non-English speaking or use a combination of English and the blogger's native language. 

Please Don't Eat the Daisies!
Hand Knit Life
I brake 4 yarn
Peke-peke
In Stitches 2
the sewer cat
itty bitty blog
50 villapeikkoa
wool & cotton
See you at five
Shabby Roses Cottage

sashiko inspired hexipuffs

We are heading to the ocean to play in the sun for the rest of the week. A last farewell to summer before school starts next Monday. I am taking along my favorite beach knitting project...hexipuffs!


(joining in with all the fun at WIP Wednesday at Tami's blog)

The Poison and the Puff

Another summer, another case of poison ivy for the hubby and the little guy. So instead of going to the shore, we are spending a quiet Fourth of July at home. Which means that I can hopefully sneak in a bit of crafting time in between repeat applications of calamine lotion. My knitting has been sporadic at best since finishing the Color Affection shawl. Summertime laziness is mostly to blame. It has been so hot here that all I want to do is eat away at my stock supply of Strawberry Shortcake Icecream Bars and read. And dream about my current obsession, beach huts. I am on a campaign to convince the hubby to paint his tool shed a bright robin's egg blue and convert it into a beach hut. Never mind that the beach is a few miles away. So far, no luck. But I did end up with a beach hut inspired hexipuff.

beach huts

Thank goodness for an easy ongoing project that is well suited to summertime knitting. Here are a few more to add to the basket.

ombre stripes

heat wave

Happy Fourth of July to those who are celebrating. As always, check out the weekly WIP party going on at Tami's blog.

NYC

My mom and I had a fantastic time in NYC! We are already making plans to go back (hint hint to the hubby). It was so great to just wander around with no agenda in mind, admiring the gorgeous architecture and neighborhoods.

The Flatiron Building

We decided to skip the restaurants and just browse the different shops in Chinatown, sampling a little bit of this and that. We had banh mi sandwiches from here, then mango rice balls and sesame balls from here, then washed it all down with Vietnamese iced coffee. Sorry for the lack of food pictures, but we were ravenous after all that walking! The only things that we didn't manage to eat right away were the mangoes that seemed to be everywhere. If I hadn't forgotten to pack my utility knife, I am sure that those would have been quickly devoured, too!

As for the shopping, the variety of stores was amazing, although I mainly stuck to window shopping since most of my month's pin money was set aside for Maryland Sheep and Wool (more on that later). However, a few crafty finds still managed to jump into my shopping bag.

These embroidered silk shoe bags were a steal at $4.50 each. They are just too pretty for shoes but will make great project bags.

 I couldn't resist this silk scarf in my favorite color.

I used to have a pin cushion just like this when I was little and was sad when it was lost. The pretty flowered pouch will make a nice home for my current favorite on-the-go project. I managed to knit a few during the train ride to and from NYC.

 

Something New

In my New Year's wishes post, I deliberately kept "learn something new" open ended and vague. Why? Because in the past, when I resolved to learn how to play the guitar, learn how to quilt, learn how to bake a pie, etc, etc...my procrastination tendencies kicked in and by the end of the year, I was left with a failed resolution and disappointment in myself for not taking even the smallest steps towards completing my goal. So this year, the pressure is off and I have given myself complete freedom to learn SOMETHING! ANYTHING! How can I possibly fail, right?

Yesterday, I taught myself something that has made me ridiculously happy: how to cross stitch on knitted stockinette fabric! Dramatic and life changing it's not, but my hexipuffs will never be the same for it.

redwork heart hexipuff

The hardest part will be choosing from among the motifs in this book. Lots of wonderful embroidery and cross stitch ideas with charts for all of the motifs can be found within its pages.

In other WIP news, I am almost finished with my youngest niece's fingerless mitts. These were meant to be one of her Christmas presents, but now will make a nice little handmade Valentine's Day gift. Can't wait to get this final holiday gift project off the needles!

As always, check out all the great knitting and crochet on display at WIP Wednesday with TAMI'S AMIS.

Family Recipes

Growing up in a large family consisting of strong personalities, food was often the glue that kept us all together. I can remember many sibling arguments being resolved over bowls of pho noodle soup. My mom's philosophy was sneakily simple: keep the peace by keeping our mouths full of food. And what food! My mom is one of those natural cooks that can make a feast out of humble ingredients, adding a pinch of this or a palm full of that to a pot and having it turn out delicious. One of my goals in life is to be more of an intuitive cook like her. I know that this will take years of practice and experimentation. There will be some hits and lots of misses. But I am slowly gaining confidence every day, even creating a personal collection of recipes of my own. Some are all mine, but most are modifications of recipes collected over the years from treasured cookbooks and more recently, talented food bloggers. To make it easier to reference these recipes, I have started writing them down in a series of notebooks.

I hope to one day hand these over to my son so that he can recreate the foods of his childhood. And when my mom comes back from her annual six months vacation in Vietnam, I am going to ask her to write down what a pinch of this and a palm full of that means.

Spooky Knits

Come in if you dare...

Care for a pumpkin hex? Better be quick...

'cause Boo and Boo are on the loose...

...and they are masked and dangerous!

(come join us for the FO Friday party at Tami's Amis, halloween costumes are optional)

Missoni and Motorcycles

Just as I predicted. There were visions of hand knits floating around in my husband's head after all. But thankfully no mention of the dreaded socks. Instead, he has requested a neck warmer to wear on his daily motorcycle commute to work. It has to be (in his words) not frilly or floppy. Preferably something in a dark color and most importantly, be cool looking. So of course I had to turn to the coolest knitwear designer I know, my number one knitting crush Mr. Stephen West.

I am really loving the look of the slanted twisted rib in the Windschief pattern. Such a cool looking hat and cowl combination.

As for myself, the only visions floating around in my head this week have all had the trademark Missoni zigzags on them. Oh why oh why am I always late to the party? By the time I knew that Missoni was coming to Target, everything had been sold out! So in shopper's desperation, I went on eBay and Amazon to scour their offerings. That is how I came to find myself THIS CLOSE to bidding on a $30 coffee mug last night. Then sanity returned and I turned off the computer and made these instead:

Missoni inspired puff

(For the coolest WIP's around, head on over to TAMI'S blog)

WIP Roundup

My knitting needles have been clicking busily away this week. And no wonder! How did I go from three WIP's to six in just two weeks?

Let's see, there is the Spoked Cardigan, which is progressing at a reasonable pace. I have the right front, right sleeve and half the back knitted up. I am still enchanted with the colors, but not so much with all those darn yarn ends to weave in. I have had to resort to spit splicing (ewww!). I love hearing the grossed out reaction from the little guy whenever he sees me do this.

Next is a new cardigan that I am knitting as part of the fall KAL sponsored by my LYS. It is called Vodka Gimlet and is designed by Thea Colman. So happy to be knitting this as I am a big fan of her blog, BabyCocktails. She has a fun laid-back style. Nestled in the picture is a pin cushion made by my twelve year old niece. She actually embroidered it freehand without a template. Love it!

pot of violets

And lastly, here are two new hexipuffs to add to the basket. This is the perfect project to work on after coming home from a long twelve hour shift. Mindless and fun.

There is one other project that I had started and finished this week which will have to wait until Friday.

In the meantime, I am going to take a break from the needles, make some tea and go check out the lovely blogs participating in WIP Wednesday with TAMI'S AMIS.

"...and I blame her and her and her..."

Yes, I caved in and bought The Pattern. You know the one. No? Well, here's a hint: what has six sides and has been spotted all over the knitting blogosphere and ravelry?

autumn trees

The reason for holding out as long as I did was my embarrassingly small sock yarn stash. I knit an average of one sock every two years. Not enough to make a quilt.

But what I do have is a basketful of Tahki Cotton Classic left over from the little guy's log cabin blanket just waiting to be turned into something useful. This project will definitely be a long and ongoing one. However, there is a fun sense of accomplishment after finishing a hexipuff and throwing it into the basket. Plus, embellishing them will be a great way to practice my embroidery and duplicate stitching skills. There are loads of cool charts available here.


(check out WIP Wednesday with TAMI'S AMIS for creative ideas in knitting and crochet. I blame my new hexipuff obsession on many of my fellow WIPW bloggers)