I made this t-shirt for an 8 year-old's birthday last week.  I finished at the last minute (of course) and gave it to her with the blue water-soluble marks showing behind the embroidery.  Her mom is in my craft swap and she laughed when I told her not to worry, the blue marks would come out in the wash.  See, my friends know me.  And so does my family.  They accept me for who I am, faults and all.  For this, I am thankful.

That is just one of my many blessings.   I am lucky to have many.  And so here I sit, the day after Thanksgiving with my pants a bit tighter than they were yesterday, grateful for everything that enriches my life and even some of the things that don't.  Because without those unfortunate events and unkind people, I really would never have grown to be the person I am right now.  Life's lessons are something for which to be thankful.  At least, I think so.  And so is the constant personal growth that comes from them.  I am growing and I like it.  Which makes me think that I am a happy camper indeed.

My coffee buddies both have birthdays this week - Suzanne's was yesterday and Geron's is tomorrow.  Yesterday, I bought the coffees and brought the presents.

For Suzanne, a green and brown number

and a pink and brown one for Geron.

Daria, I caught your disease.  I have pillowitis.  In a big way.  In fact, I think I might just have an affair with my walking foot.

Birthday shout out to my brother Nolan!

I'll be back sometime after Thursday.  Happy Thanksgiving!

So here are the details on Fatty's newest sweater.  A photo of the finished object is in the post below.

Pattern:  Cobblestone by Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed) from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn:  Cascade 220 Heathers (color 2438), 6 skeins for the 43 1/2" with about 1/2 of a skein left over.
Needles:  Size 8, addi turbos in 16", 32" and double points
Modifications:  I added 1 inch to the length of the body
Notes:  I started November 3rd and finished on the 16th - this was the only knitting project I was working on at the time.  I even took it in the car with me which I rarely do with a sweater.  I had gauge issues at the beginning - you can read about that here.  Suffice it to say, it worked out in the end.  I owe huge thanks to Sarah and Leslie for their words of wisdom.   You ladies always come through for me and I really appreciate it.  Also, garter stitch is not that forgiving - I made some mistakes and I can see every single one.  Ugh.  Overall though, I am happy.  And Fatty likes is so that says something.

Also, that kitchener stitch gets me every time.  I have found I am much better reading about how to do it than looking at a drawing.  This book has become my crutch.

Back tomorrow with some sewn things.  Enjoy your Monday!

I am so in love with this good-looking, bike-riding, beer-selling, book-reading, music-loving, wine-drinking, soccer-watching, foot-rubbing, pun-making, sunday-cooking, old blue pickup-driving, good-parenting, wife-supporting, hand knit sweater-wearing, kind, patient, smart, funny, loyal, considerate man.

He's pretty damn great.  But I am the lucky one - he chose me.

Happy Birthday Fatty.

More on the sweater at a later date.

Friday.  Yeah!  I am so happy.

This week has been crazy - the birthday, work, volunteer at school type of crazy.  The kind of crazy that leaves me with little time to myself and very cranky.  I started the week with nothing on the calendar for today, but have already volunteered at school and am going back in about an hour to have lunch with my kindergartener.  (Why do they eat so early?)  I am going to squeeze some sewing time in there somewhere.  Yes, I am.

The most frequently asked question on the blog:  Where are the labels from?  So, let me tell you.  I bought these labels from Namemaker.  I like them a lot.  They come in sew on or iron on and in many different sizes and colors.  The downside is that they take about 4 weeks to arrive.  Linda just got hers and she wasn't very happy.  Go read what she has to say.  But, for me, they work well and when these are gone, I will most likely re-order.

There is so much good inspiration out in blog land and on flickr.  I want to make:

Lounge pants out of vintage sheets - that brilliant Amanda has done it again.

The gum drop pillow - I love the fabric Blair chose.

A patchwork blanket out of old sweaters like Leslie's - got any discards to give me, Dad?

P.J. pants for the girls and matching appliqued shirts like the ones Jen made.

Gnomes - maybe for the nephews?  Any thoughts Heather, Georgia, Rosanna?

Quilt squares with Amanda Jean

Christmas cards on my print gocco (which kind of scares me).  Did you see Jen's?

How is that for a random post?  Off to sew....later, folks!

This is the prettiest fall we've had in years.  Really pretty.  The colors are rich and stunning, especially against gray skies.  I am trying to take pictures because I want to remember.

Enjoy your Thursday.

I have been sewing when I have big blocks of time at home

and knitting when there are just a few minutes or when I am on the go.

Barnyard waffles for breakfast

The birthday shirt

Favors for the pool party - my sewing machine has an embroidery unit.

And birthday cake, of course.