I just found out that this apron

is on the cover of this book.  I have two other apron projects in there, too.

Eeeee!  What a way to start the weekend!  Hope yours is great.

The sewing room is still a mess.  I never got to it yesterday.  I had a repairman here and it didn't feel right to leave him traipsing through my house while I was upstairs in the walk-in closet that is my little space.  So I hung out in the kitchen, cooked some and took pictures of vegetables. Yeah, the repair man thought I was weird.

I thought this might brighten up your day.

I bought these on Saturday and they are still going strong on the kitchen table.  I love having fresh flowers in the house.  They do wonders for my spirits.

Lots of things are making me twitchy to sew:
this quilt daria made
the thought of vintage linens
all the yellow in this one
the best button haul ever
and this bag.  I love this bag.

Enough of my random thoughts.  I really do have to clean that room.  Enjoy your Thursday.

I really like blogging in the morning.  I'm not sure why, but that is when it feels right to me.  Today I didn't have time - Tuesday is the Iactuallygotomyparttimefivehouraweekjob day.  And in reality, I don't have too much to report.

The light is nice this afternoon - finally!  I took this photo of myself in the carpool line.  I didn't even have to crop it - nice, huh?  The necklace was made by the ever so talented Kristen. It was a gift to me from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.  Heather bought it from Kristen in person without knowing that I already have some of her jewelry.  Serendipity?  I think so.  Anyhow, I love it.  You can check out Kristen's other baubles at her own little web store, Mood Swing Studios.  I bet you like what you see.

I squeezed some knitting in, too.  Maybe about five minutes worth.  Better than nothing.  Tomorrow is the day I conquer the sewing room.  I left it a huge, gigantic, really horribly bad mess after my bout of Christmas crafting.  I think the twill from Fatty's apron is sitting on the floor next to leftover patchwork strips from the blanket.  When will I ever learn?  Apparently, um, never.  I must get it spiffed up, though.  I've got something in the works.

Jane requested a hat with ear flaps this year.  Her flapper hat disappeared some time over the summer.  I really wonder where it could have gone.  And as I am typing this, I think I should probably check the camping bag we took to Telluride last July.  That may be the only place I haven't looked.

Back to the hat....Leslie pointed me towards Through the Loops and the Thorpe hat.  Perfect.  I bought the yarn right before Christmas, thinking that I might actually have time to knit it up before gift giving started.  I did finish it with time to spare, but since it fit me, I frogged it.  I threw the yarn and needles in my suitcase for some vacation knitting.

Pattern:  Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn:  ggh Savanna, 1 ball in turquoie, 1 ball in green (I don't have the numbers - sorry)
Needles:  size 8 double points
Modifications:  I added pom poms to the braids and the top of the hat.  You know we are all about the pom poms here.
Notes:  Fast and easy - just the way I like hats to knit up.  The hardest part for me was casting on the four stitches and joining them without my addis flying to the floor.  I think it took about five tries to get it right - both times.  Also, like Leslie, I learned how to half double crochet.  Cool.  Thank you You Tube.

Here's Kate's version - sorry for the bad photo.  For hers, I switched to pink yarn for the garter stitch portion.  Mostly because I wanted to see if I could get by with the remaining green from Jane's hat.  I wasn't so lucky.  Oh well.  Also, Kate did not want the braids.  Despite my best efforts, I could not get her to change her mind.  Fatty thought the pom poms would look like giant earrings hanging off her hat.  In reality, it is super cute on her.  And she loves it - that is what matters, right?

And they are finished right in time.  It's snowing!

Thanks for all the handmade Christmas love.  I really appreciated all your thoughtful comments.  We will be repeating it again come December and I have something up my sleeve to get most of my family involved, too.  And just to be clear, the handmade Christmas was only part of our gift giving.  I wish I could make more, but 2006 nearly did me in.  So from now on, a good mix of bought and made.  It works for me.

We are eleven days into 2008 already.  Eek!  It's going fast.  Before I lose the courage, I am going to throw out my goals for the year.  Here goes nothing....

Personal Goals:
1. Get back to my pre-Kate weight.
2. Run a half marathon
3. Cut out the crap food.
4. Write more.
5. Say yes to my kids more.
6. Practice patience.
7. Have a positive attitude.
8. Don't over-commit.

House Goals:
1. Make bed skirt and pillow shams for master bedroom.
2. Finish master bedroom duvet.
3. Finish guest room curtains and pillow shams.
4. Clean out all of the closets.
5. De-clutter.
6. Work on sunroom.
7. Paint hallways.
8. Carve out office space for myself.
9. Hang Kate's window treatments.
10. Make a shower curtain.
11. Order and install new blinds for the girls.
12. Hang kids' art and family photos.

Craft goals:
1. Make a quilt.
2. Finish the granny square afghan.
3. Knit the tangled yoke cardigan.
4. Sew some clothes for myself.
5. Finish swap projects on time.
6. Finish embroidery and get it framed.
7. Take a photo a day & learn how to really use my fancy pants camera.

I think these are all reachable.  I have a tendency to be unrealistic at times so I have edited this down in a big way.  Many of these projects are already started so I just need to finish them up.

By the way, these photos have nothing to do with this post.  I just like them and I really don't like posting without photos.  Just thought you should know.

Now, what was I saying?  Oh yeah, resolutions and stuff.  I did clean up the blog a bit - kind of a spruce up for the new year.  There's a new banner and new info on the about page.  You can find answers to lots of your questions over there.  Really.  Go look.  While you're at it, look down a bit and see my new link list.  I was really torn about how to handle the 100+ blogs I enjoy.  There is no way I can link to all of them and actually keep up with the list.  So I listed a few for now.  In a month or six weeks, I will change the list.  If your blog is not on the list now, don't fret.  Your time will come.  I'm spreading the love and not overwhelming myself at the same time.  I also added a little blurb about comments.  I love your comments.  I really really do.  Thank you for taking the time to make them.  I appreciate it so much.  Here comes the bad news...I am finding that I have less and less time to answer them, though.   My inbox runneth over so to speak.  So if you have a specific question, just email me.  I will do my best to answer it.  And please don't be mad at me, okay?  I really couldn't handle that.

Allright-y then...back to our regularly scheduled crafting next week.  I have some knits to share, a new sewing machine to unbox (!) and, if all goes well, a free pattern for you knitters.  Have a great weekend.

Oh yeah - I am looking for a good slow cooker cook book with kid friendly meals (we eat meat, but do vegetarian fare, too).  If you have a suggestion, email me - hillroad at bellsouth dot net.  Gracias!

Jane and Kate love to draw.  In our house, we go through paper and crayons and markers and pencils at a very fast rate.  And it is just not possible to keep all those masterpieces.  We keep a pile of artwork and edit it down from time to time, keeping the ones that tug at my heart the heart and the ones they absolutely cannot bear to let go.  Some have been embroidered - the tree shirt that Kate made last year being my favorite.  My idea for Fatty's gifts from the girls was to transform something that they drew into a shirt for him.  I was thinking freezer paper stencils like Hannah did for her husband's birthday.  But then we had a change of plan.  Enter the print gocco.

The first time I used the gocco, the girls were mesmerized.  After I had printed about 10 cards, Kate said, "Can I use it, please?"  I looked at her and a light bulb went off over my head.  I said, "Another time" and thought, "Oh yeah - she can make something for Fatty with the gocco."  A week or so later, she was home sick from school and in a matter of 15 minutes, we had the drawing.  Ten minutes later we had the shirt.

Not to be left out, Jane wanted in on the action.

Jane came up with her idea on her own.  That's a bowl of cashews next to the frothy beer, in case you were wondering.  Perfect gifts for the beer-selling (and drinking), bike-riding dad who happens to like t-shirts very much.  He loved them and has worn them both - in public!

Something else that Fatty enjoys is cooking.  He does grill duty on a regular basis and often cooks one-pot meals on Sunday.  So you can probably guess what I made him.....his very own apron.

He had made a comment about how much he liked that blue and green fabric when I was making Finn's elephant.  I already had bought the blue twill for his apron and was going to use a different print, but this one really is perfect.  The straps are a bit long - I need to fix that sometime.  My favorite part was using the print to hold the d-rings up by the neck.  I am pretty sure he was surprised.  I don't think he had any idea what I was making - in fact, if I would bet he thought whatever it was would be knitted.  He really likes it - he's told me so many times.  And I am sure he will wear it.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for Sunday.  I am counting on a nice one pot meal.

Get your cup of coffee and settle in.  This is a long one.

Let's start with Fatty's gifts for the girls.  Remember how I told him that he could burn me a CD and I would be happy?  Well, that is what he did for the girls.  Jane and Kate both have CD players in their rooms and are constantly asking us to make them copies of our CDs.  So Fatty spent the better part of a Sunday creating playlists for each of them on itunes.  He burned the CDs and put them in a CD case of their own.  They loved this.

Jane's disc:
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
Way Back When - Donna the Buffalo
Shine - Dolly Parton
Lakes of Pontchartain - The Be Good Tanyas
Penny Lane - The Beatles
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me - The Jayhawks
My Right Versus Yours - The New Pornographers
Laughing - R.E.M.
Singular Girl - Rhett Miller
Children of December - The Slip
6 String Belief - Son Volt
Mysterious Ways - U2
The Long Cut - Uncle Tupelo
Everything I Do - Whiskeytown

Kate's disc:
Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley
Walking On The Moon - The Police
Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles
Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Waiting for the Sun - The Jayhawks
Blankets - The Gourds
Life Is Just A Tire Swing - Jimmy Buffett
Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
Catapult - R.E.M.
Get Off My Cloud - The Rolling Stones
Windfall - Son Volt
One - U2
We've Been Had - Uncle Tupelo
Either Way - Wilco

And me....well, I knitted ponchos for the girls.  Completely inspired by the one Kristin made for her daughter, I started with Kate's.

This is the back so you can see the hood.  Kristin told me that she wished she could make the hood bigger - I am so glad she did.  Kate has a big noggin, so I made some adjustments to accommodate it.

I also added pom poms to the drawsting for a little whimsy.  I would be lying if I told you that I didn't think they would add to the appeal.  My kids are all about the pom poms.

When it came time to knit Jane's, my plan was to make it the same, but just in a different color.  When it came time to pick up the stitches for the hood, I hesitated.  Given her pickiness in clothing, I wasn't sure if the hood was such a good idea.  I knew she would like the pom poms, but I wasn't convinced that she would want the hood.  I asked Fatty what he thought and he agreed with me.  I decided to leave the hood off and if she really wanted it, I could always add it on later.

Without the hood, it needed something.  I added a sweet flower pin, in her favorite color turquoise.  I actually showed her 5 fabrics and asked if I were to make her something out of one or two of them, which would she want.  She chose two Denyse Schmidt prints and I pulled out my copy of Blair's great pattern and whipped this up in less than fifteen minutes.  I took the Sarah route and cut circles with my pinking sheers instead of the scallops because time was not on my side.

For you knitters out there, here is the scoop:
Pattern:  Knitting Pure and Simple, Children's Ponch (#243)
Yarn:  Nashua, Creative Focus Worsted, 3 skeins of hot pink for Kate and brown for Jane (I probably could have done Jane's with two if I had made it about 1/2" shorter)
Needles:  16" and 32" circulars, size 8
Modifications:  I added 1" of length to Kate's hood and made 3 sets of increases along the center back of the hood to allow more room for her big head.  I added pom poms to the i-cord drawstring on Kate's also.  Jane's didn't get a hood.
Notes:  This pattern runs small.  My girls wear about a size 8 - I knit the size 10 to 12.

Kate loves hers - she wore it all Christmas day!  I was standing in my brother's kitchen and saw her running in the back yard, hood on, pom poms flying with a huge smile one her face.  I wish I could have captured it on film.

And Jane....well, at first I think she was disappointed she didn't have pom poms.  But I knew that was a gamble.  In the end, I think it paid off.   She has decided against the hood which is fine by me.  She wears her poncho all the time - sometimes with the pin, sometimes without.  She would sleep in it if she could.  Well, if I would let her.

Little does she know that by loving something I made her, she gave me the best Christmas present of all.

Jane and Kate jumped aboard my handmade plan from the start.  We had a lot of fun discussing what they would make each other.  Jane knew right away that she wanted to make Kate some jewelry.  She had received a huge bead kit for her birthday (thank you Auntie Heather and Uncle Tiger!) and some extremely coveted shrinky dinks from one of her friends.  The Saturday before Christmas, Fatty and I split up.  He took Jane to my brother Ryan's house where she crafted while the men bottled their home brewed beer.  I sent her with a bag of supplies, some loose direction (i.e., make sure you punch the holes right so the charm will fit!) and she came home with her gift to Kate held in her balled up hand.  She insisted on making a fabric bag to hold her creation.

And inside was this:

A very pink bracelet with two heart charms and one that says princess.  Kate was over the moon!

Kate's gift for Jane was guided a bit by me.  She had all kinds of grandiose ideas that were not feasible, especially a jewelry box that she wanted to make, not just decorate.  I told her that we would take a trip to the craft store together and that I thought a picture frame might be nice for Jane.  The great thing about Kate is that she is flexible so she was fine with my suggestion right away.

One trip to Michael's later we came home with a $1 frame, paint, glue and that irresistible Martha Stewart glitter (it's so sparkly!).  Kate also picked out a small cutout to put on the frame because she knows Jane has a thing for monkeys.  Thank goodness I had some extra photos on hand from our Christmas cards.  Not only did it fit the frame, but it actually matches!

Jane loves it - it is her favorite color with her favorite animal with lots of sparkle allure.  She has it sitting next to her bed so she can see it first thing in the morning.  And Kate wants to make more - I think that may have something to do with the glitter.

As for me, I think they outdid themselves again.  They both made something that their sister would like, not necessarily something that they would want.  They worked hard to get them finished on time and then wrapped them up, too.  And they were gracious recipients.  I am proud of them.  I know in my heart that they not only appreciate handmade, but they might actually enjoy giving and receiving it too.