Belle Progress

I made some really good progress on Ruby's sweater yesterday.  You'll have to forgive the photos.  I just snapped them with my cell phone. 

Prior to winding...

Ready for knitting!

The Yoke

Switched to the main color for the body of the sweater!

Sleeves pulled off, and 1" into the front/back!

I'll show more photos of the progress tomorrow  (assuming I have time to knit today)!

Handspun Goodness and Test Knitting

I recently signed up to do some test knitting for Cosy.  She's releasing a new E-book of her patterns soon, and I was completely honored to be able to help.  She asked me to test knit Belle, and I thought it would make the most adorable sweater for my little Ru.

So today I went to the yarn store and picked up some handspun...



..and even though I have a thousand and one things to do this weekend, and a million and one craft projects all calling my name, I'm going to sit down and start this sweater today anyway!  Hehehe...

I feel so naughty!

I'll share my progress as the rest of the week transpires.

BTW - thank you all for the prayers for my Grandma.  She is doing better and will hopefully get to go home from the rehabilitation center tomorrow.  We had a great visit last weekend, and she loved seeing my girls.

Gloves, gloves, gloves

Lest you think my knitting has been neglected of late, here are a few photos of what I've been working on for my upcoming markets.  I had planned to be at the Edmonds market this Saturday, but will be going to Spokane instead to visit my grandma who is quite ill.  :(

These are long and short versions of my Skyscraper fingerless gloves.  Pattern available here and here.  Yarn from left to right: Berroco Comfort, Berroco Vintage, Berroco Vintage, and Mission Falls Superwash Merino.  All are in worsted weight.


I also started a pair of Lilly gloves last night.  This is my latest pattern, and I will post when I get it typed up and posted in my store.  :)  This is also done in Mission Falls Superwash.  I'm hoping I have enough on the skein to do a second glove!!!



Will post more upon my return from the Eastern side of the great state of WA!  Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Road Trip - last days

Thursday morning found us in Redding, California.  We had a long boring drive for the better part of the day, but did make a quick stop for photos at the foot of Mount Shasta...

Then I got back to knitting, and Dave got back to driving.  We stopped for lunch and shopping in Grants Pass, Oregon!  (I made Dave stop here because this is the hometown of my blogging idol Karen Russell.)

We found some great antique stores, and I picked up a few things I couldn't live without (for decorating my booth at the market).

I found some old bobbins - these make great hat displays.


I also found this awesome suitcase.  It had a tea set in it, but they were for sale separately!  The store owner was a little sad that I discovered this, because she had been eyeing it as well, but thought that it was sold as a collection.  YAY FOR ME!  :)



Here's the inside.  The lining is in great condition - as are the clasps and the case itself.  Just the perfect amount of "wear"...



Poor Dave... Those antique stores have low ceilings!



After all this shopping, Dave hurried us back to the car.  This time it was my turn to drive.  Good thing I'd already finished this hat!



We made it to Lebanon, Oregon by early evening, and stayed the night with Dave's Aunt Diana and Uncle Jon (and cousin Tristan).  We are very close with them, and really enjoyed the visit!  Jon and Diana adopted Tristan just a few weeks before we adopted Ruby, so it was great to see the little guy.

I knit him this hat as a belated birthday gift.  So glad it fits!

Our visit was too short, and after a yummy breakfast on Friday morning, we were on the road again - this time on the home stretch - literally!  We got caught in some wicked traffic due to a car fire, so unfortunately we weren't able to stop in Portland.  :(  Booo!  (That is where my all-time favorite knitting store, "Twisted" is.)  But Dave promised me that we would go back another time.

Besides, we were quite anxious to get home and see our girls!  We had an amazing trip, but it's true what Dorothy says, "there's no place like home".

Road Trip part 3!

Wednesday morning started just as early as Tuesday - but this time we found Starbucks RIGHT away.  We got on the road reluctantly - wishing we could have spent more time in Monterey.  We decided that it was the perfect town for an extended family vacation.  So maybe we'll head back there with the girls next summer.

Our first destination of the day was San Francisco.  SF is one of my favorite towns.  I've visited at least a dozen times, but every time I go it still feels fresh and exciting.  Dave had never seen the Golden Gate Bridge, so that was stop #1.



It was a beautiful day - just a hint of smog.  The view of the bridge was spectacular!





Our next stop was Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39...  We did a bit of walking, some window shopping, and of course EATING!

Too bad the sushi restaurant wasn't open yet...last I checked it IS "summer 2010".  Sigh.



We did get a yummy lunch though.  Can't go to San Fran without getting chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.



 Well, I actually had the tomato soup - but it was still yummy.



Then we found the mecca of all yarn stores - Imagiknit .  I was pretty miffed that Dave didn't get a photo inside this place but you can click the link to see images.  I've never seen so much yarn in one place.  It is a knitter's paradise!  The ceilings are at least 12 feet high and every wall is floor to ceiling yarn.  I'm guessing the shop was at least 1800 sq ft, and it was yarn galore, but it didn't feel stuffy or cluttered.  I wished I could have stayed for several hours, just soaking it all in.  But we were on a budget, so Dave gave me about 20 minutes.  LOL...



Whatever.... I did find some great new yarns!  And I can wind anywhere...



And I can KNIT anywhere...



We left San Fran in the afternoon and worked our way north to Sacramento.  My dad and my step mom Lucy, and step-sister Katie used to live there when I was younger, and I'd go visit them in the summer.  They aren't married any more, and my dad has since moved to Chicago, but while we were in Sacramento, Dave and I went out to dinner with Lu, Katie, and Lucy's sister Laura, her husband Brian and their daughter Shelley.  We had an awesome time, and it was so great to catch up.

After dinner we drove north to Redding - getting in at about 11.  We decided that by driving those few extra (hundred) miles, we could sleep in the next day.  :)

Road Trip part 2!

The second leg of our trip began early Tuesday morning.  We got up at 5 am, and were on the road by 6.  We then spent an hour driving to a "nearby" Starbucks (sadly there was one 30 seconds from our hotel, but it was "inconvenient" to drive to according to our GPS unit.  Sigh...  We got caffeinated though, and that's all that really matters, right?

We worked our way from downtown L.A. to the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1).  This is a photo when we made it to Santa Monica and got our first glimpse of the ocean.

(quick note - i wasn't able to bring my fancy camera on this trip, so all of our photos were taken on our cell phones.  sorry for the crummy images!)



The drive north was gorgeous!  Normally I get carsick, but thankfully I was just fine the whole day of driving (8+ hours) and even knit in the car!

We drove through several fun towns, and our intention was to stop in Santa Cruz for the evening, but when we got to Monterey, we decided to stop for the night.  We found the yarn store - Monarch - and thankfully it was open!

Then using priceline, we got an amazing hotel room for the night at 1/2 price!  It was so cozy and comfortable.  It felt quite luxurious for the price too.  :)



This was taken the next morning...



This is me in front of the yarn store - you can see the tiny sign under the 529 on the building.  It was a great store, and the owner was friendly and helpful.

At the yarn store, we asked the the owner if she had any favorite restaurants.  We are so glad we did!  She recommended Max's Grill - a place that served "California French" food cooked by a Japanese chef.  Since I love sushi, and Dave loves French food, it seemed like a match made in Heaven.



We had the set dinner of Salmon and Scallops, and it was AMAZING!!!  We also ordered the Tempura Tuna Sushi rolls and they were so unique and delicious.  Instead of the tuna being battered and tempura fried, the whole outside of the roll was, but the tuna was just delicately seared.  It was melt in your mouth delicous.  YUM!

ps... Dave's salad was equally delicious.  Spinach with blue cheese, walnuts, and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.





Then we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night.  We were SOOOO tired!

Road Trip!

To make up for the fact that I was at convention on my 10th anniversary, Dave and I planned a little road trip (sans children!) for this past week.

I left D.C. on Sunday, and flew to SeaTac.  It was so weird to be in my "home" airport, and yet not leave and actually go home!  I had a 2 hour layover, and in that time Dave showed up and we got lunch at Qdoba.  Yum!  We then boarded a flight to L.A. for the first leg of our trip.  Here we are just after arriving in Sunny CALIFORNIA!



Originally, we had planned to spend a day at Disneyland.  But after examining our pocketbook, we decided it might be better to skip Disney in favor of actually eating and having a place to sleep while on the trip.  :)  So we made it into downtown L.A. and just crashed in the hotel.  The first night was just beer and pizza, nothing fantastic, and nothing worth documenting in pictures.

Okay, okay... here's a picture.



Here is the spectacular view from our room at the Westin.  (We did priceline - it rocks!)



After a great night of rest, we got up refreshed and ready to explore!



Our first stop was at a little French knitting shop.  We drove all the way out there, just to discover that it was closed!  ARGH!  We did find a cool antique store though.  Then we had a super yummy lunch at a little Indian Restaurant.



After lunch we had some time, so we looked up another knitting store that sounded promising.  It was in Burbank, which was our next stop on the agenda anyway.  Sadly, it too was closed.  BOOOO!

We did make it here though:



We got tickets to The Tonight Show, so our next stop was at the NBC studios for the recording.  The tickets suggested we arrive before 2:45, and we decided to try and get there by 1:30 (just to be safe).  It's a good thing we did!  We waited in line for over an hour, and we were the last group of people seated for the show! If we'd been any later, we would have missed it.

I don't have any pictures of Leno, or the studio, or anything cool from our time because photography was strictly prohibited, and we didn't want to get kicked out.  But it was an amazing experience - super fun!  Seth Myers (from SNL) was the headlining guest, along with 2 of the guys from "The Deadliest Catch" and a musical guest I'd never heard of (but enjoyed her music).

We spent the rest of our Monday afternoon/evening exploring L.A.   We drove up into the hills and found the Hollywood sign.



Then, we went to Philippe's for dinner.  This is the restaurant where the French Dip sandwich originated.  The food was amazing and the prices great!  Where else in American can you get a $.09 cup of coffee?



For $20 we got a beef sandwich, lamb sandwich, lemonade, coffee, ice tea, fruit cup, pickle, and a slice of apple pie!  It was uber tasty!






Then it was back to the hotel for another well deserved rest.  Tomorrow I'll fill you in on the next leg of our trip.  :)

My Extravaganza Boards

Here are all of the boards I made for my Extravaganza Classes.  You can see some of the techniques I've described over the past few days, and a few others as well.  If you click on the photos you will be able to see each image larger.  The empty black space is where the title went on each board.

This first board features a new paper packet called Magnifique - with two new colors: Pacifica and Lagoon.  My favorite project was the 9x9 wall hanging with Ruby's feet!  I really did dip her little feet in embossing ink and clear embossed them!  I then used the paint resist technique (with blue paint).  It turned out SO cute.  I can't wait to hang it in her room.  (PS... remember that my Kit of the Month for July is for a 9x9 Wall Hanging.  See the details here about how you can get the template for this kit for FREE!)

For this board, I combined CTMH colors: Pacifica, Creme Brulee, Cocoa and Topiary.  I love the result!  The 12x12 two paged layout features the emerging colors technique I talked about on day 1 of my Extravaganza posts.  The cow card features the rub-on resist technique I talked about on day 2.

This 3rd board also uses a new color: Gypsy (the purple).  I paired it with Blush, Tulip, and Sweet Leaf.  My main focus on this board was traditional embossing resist, and using the Pizzazz embellishments with markers, chalks, and inks.

Extravaganza Technique 3

Today I'll show my favorite of the resist techniques that I taught at my Extravaganza class.  It is called paint resist, and it is SO fun!

You'll need clear embossing powder, dark colored cardstock, a bold stamp, and acrylic paint.  I don't recommend using glazes, paint tinted with dye based reinkers, or paints other than acrylic.  They won't produce the same results.

1.  Emboss dark cardstock with your desired image.  I used the CTMH flower stamp from the upcoming August Stamp of the Month, "Something Splendid" on Cocoa CS.  Remember that whatever is embossed will stay the color of your cardstock.  The embossing will resist the paint.

2. Cover your image with paint.  I only paint in one direction and I like to use a wide, flat bristle brush so that the brush  marks are visible.  I only use a small amount of paint and reapply paint to the brush often.  It produces a smoother finished look - as opposed to using a large glob of paint.

3.  Allow paint to dry completely.  Use this time to clean your brushes and paint materials.  :)

4. Use a thick dry paper towel or baby wipe that is not overly wet (wring out excess water first).  Textured cloths work better for this step than smooth cloths.  Rub the paint away from the embossed areas.  You may need to use firm pressure or even rub with your fingernail under through the cloth.  Experiment with what works best for you.  The paint will stay on the cardstock, but will rub away from the embossed areas.

Here is a card I made using my paint embossed flower.  I used a colored marker to color the flower center yellow.

Extravaganza Technique 2

I hope you enjoyed the blog hop for Sparkle Creations Rubber stamps yesterday!  Did you post comments on all the blogs?  Be sure to check and see if you are a winner of the prizes!

Okay - now back to Extravaganza Techniques!

Today I'm going to show you Rub-On Resist.  This technique is fun, and a great way to use up rub-on borders,  letters and flowers.  You don't have to worry about matching rub-on colors with this technique so go ahead and mix and match brown, white, cream, and all those "weird" colors that somehow showed up in your scrappy stash.  You know you have them!

I'm using the CTMH rub ons Nature's Ambiance for this project (which, btw are on sale on my website!  www.nonapearl.myctmh.com).  I'm also using a new CTMH color - Pacifica - and some fun new papers and a new embellishment.

1. Adhere Rub-on to cardstock.  For a bold look, use white or cream cardstock.  For a more subtle "tone on tone" look, use colored cardstock with the same color ink.  Rub-ons that are shapes or have details (flowers, snowflakes, borders) work best.  Bold rub-ons will not work as well for this technique.

2.  Use a sponge or brayer and cover the rub on with ink.  A sponge is best for small areas, a brayer best for larger areas.  (Note that for this sample, I've switched to the white rub-ons so they can be seen better.  The brown will produce the same results, as the actual rub on will be removed in the next step.)

3.  Cut a piece of scotch tape and rub the tape over the rub on.  Gently peel away and the rub-on will come right off!  Repeat until you've removed all of the rub-ons from your card.  You may need several pieces of tape.  What is left is the resist image.  The rub-on protected the cardstock from the ink, so there will be no ink where the rub-on is removed. 

Here is a card I made using this technique.  Aren't our new silver glitter brads AWESOME!?!?