Happy Summer!

Happy Summer Everyone!

It was a hot, hot weekend here and we celebrated Father's Day and summer with Mr. E, his daddy and two of his grandpas yesterday.

He arrived looking very fashionable and ready to party.

But the real fun started when we introduced him to the sprinkler.
Mmmmmm . . . what is this?

Yeah, this is fun!

Can you see the little rainbow?

Mmmmm . . . up close it's still fun.

Ahh . . . a wonderful way to keep cool.

Would you like to join Mr. E in the sprinkler?

Sweet P

Time for Food and Goodies

Mr. E started walking yesterday! Just a few steps at a time, but definitely walking. Yesterday he was in a "hold me" mood and sat in my lap between games of Banagrams with mommy. Mommy was being silly and spelled his name out for him.

It's been a while since I posted photos of my food explorations. This past Saturday we invited mommy and Mr. E over for breakfast before Grampa left for Asia.

I made a sausage, egg and cheese pizza. I used a Pillsbury pizza crust, browned and diced sausage links, scrambled eggs and cheese. It was on OK pizza, but would have been better with onions and peppers on it.

I also made Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from the Big Red Kitchen.
These were a delightful change from regular pancakes and everyone enjoyed them.

I received my swap package from my Cookbook Lovers Swap on Ravelry. My partner sent me two skeins of hand spun yarn, a pound of locally roasted coffee, hand made buttons, a cookbook of Canadian recipes and a gorgeous plate. Thanks, Mimi.

I've started a quick and fun to crochet scarf using the Mochi Plus yarn I bought in April. I should have photos in a day or two.

What are you up to this week?

Sweet P

My Creative Nest

This is where I sit and do handwork, my creative nest, if you will. Come along while I take you on a brief tour.

Let's start on the sofa table on the left. If you look close you can see a few milk stains from Mr. E. I haven't scrubbed the front of the sofa and it's due. On the table is the stack of crochet somethings I'm working on, a drink and Wally, the Red Sox mascot. Under the table you can see my laptop peeking out. It's never far away from me.

My Ott light is there and I couldn't create without it. The shades are nearly always down. The parking lot is right outside the window and I'd rather not have everyone looking into my living room.
The bookcase on the right is my bookcase. There are four baskets on it right now, two filled with crochet projects, one with embroidery patterns and a general catch-all basket. My ball winder is attached in the front. The middle shelf has various patterns and miscellaneous papers along with a couple of doodle books. There is another basket of crochet projects behind my bookcase.

In the back right is Mr. E's bookcase. This is for his toys, diapers and books. In front of it is my keyboard that he loves to play. He has learned to leave my bookcase alone and play with anything on his bookcase. Peeking out from the love seat on the right is Mr. E's toy bucket.

What does your creative nest look like?

Sweet P

Condo Buildings

A great photographer I'm not. I try though. Earlier tonight we had thunderstorms roll through town. When DH and I were outside I was struck by how white the peaks on the condo buildings looked against the dark sky.
Someday I would love to take a photography class. Maybe, someday . . .

Sweet P

Current Projects Around Coffee Time

Believe it or not, I do still sew!

Here is a Sleepover Bag made from a pattern by Melly & Me.
It's on its way to Treasured Threads to be a show sample.

Mr. E needs new bedding for his new room that is fit for a little boy.
He is getting two quilts: an emergency vehicle quilt . . .

And a road construction quilt.

And curtains.
The colors don't match in the photos,
but the stripe fabric is the same fabric in all the pieces.

I changed my fabrics for em ay kay ee's {Make} A Bag Sew Along.
I have a package of Moda's Summer in the City charms.
Right now these fabrics are speaking to me more than my previous fabric choices.

I started working on the bag today and I'm up to the quilting step. I'm trying to decide what color to use for the quilting. I'm going to outline quilt the seams so I don't want the color to jump off the fabric. I'm thinking of using white thread. I tried pink, brown and turquoise, but none of them seemed to work.

The crochet hooks are still flying around here too.
I crocheted a journal cover for a swap gift and it's on its way to my partner.

And here is a stack of crocheted items waiting to become something.
Cryptic, I know. They are for a swap gift and the partners are not secret.

I guess that's all the news for today. The weather has been gorgeous. Mr. E is delightful as ever. Life is good.

What's happening in your studio these days?

Sweet P

I'm Going to {Make} A Bag

I'm going to join em ay kay ee's {Make} A Bag Sew Along. The bag and accessories look like a fun summer project and gives me a reason to use these fabrics that have been aging in my stash. I don't remember whose blog I led me to this project, whoever it was, I send a rousing, "Thank You!"
On the yarn front, I must send kudos WEBS Yarn. I need yarn for my upcoming adventure to the Knit and Crochet Show in July and WEBS is having a great sale through May 31st. I bought 10 hanks of Cascade yarn for $4.99 each. What a great deal. The best part is I placed the order at 10 pm on Tuesday night and the yarn was in my mailbox this afternoon! How cool! If you need yarn you better check out their sale before it ends.
The temps have cooled off here. It is a gorgeous May day and will be a great weekend. Do you have any special plans for the holiday weekend?

Sweet P

A Quick Project On A Hot Day

It was hot and humid here today. The first hot and humid day of the summer. I wanted to work on Mr. E's bedroom set, but it was too hot to be in the studio.

I had to create something. So what did I make? I made an Itty Bitty Anything Bag from Mary Grace of Hooked on Needles. It took me all of an hour to make one. I used Cascade wool yarn leftover from my socks.

And for what am I going to use my Itty Bitty Anything Bag? It's the perfect size for holding my stitch holders and little scissors.

It is a fun little project and I plan on making a few more in different sizes. Thanks for a great tutorial Mary Grace!

Sweet P

Design Wall Monday

Take these three fabrics. . . .

And the construction fabric on the right . . .

Plus a coordinating stripe fabric . . .

And what do you get? A new bedroom set for Mr. E!

Photos soon.

Sweet P

Friday Night Sew-In

I've had a successful 48 hours of creative time since Thursday afternoon and here are my results.

Thursday night I worked on this sweater for Mr. E.
It is a sweater vest from The Little Box of Crochet for Baby.
The pattern is working up fairly quickly and I love the colors.

Thursday night and again last night I worked on a new cross stitch project.
It's a biscornu pattern showcasing ice cream cones and treats.

Oh yeah, a couple hours with Mr. E slipped in yesterday afternoon.

Here is the project I've been working on since February. I started one of these bags and was two-thirds done with it when I realized I had cut the bottom pieces too big. I had to scrap that entire bag and start over with new fabrics. It's a Melly and Me Sleepover Overnight Bag. This bag challenged me with a zipper, curved bias binding and a boxy top. But I persevered and finished it. This morning I added the final touches including cloth covered buttons to match the bindings. I'm happy with the bag and may make another one.

Mr. E and mommy just stopped by on the way to their new apartment. Did I mention they are moving across the street from us? I'm going to get some Ethan hugs and kisses and then it's off to work this afternoon.

What did you work on during the Friday Night Sew-In?

Sweet P

I'm In . . . Are You?

I have 48 hours off and I'm home alone. I had already planned a mini creative retreat and now I can join in with others. Will you join in too?

Come on and join the fun!

Sweet P

Getting Happy

When I last left you, I was having a crappy Friday morning. I'm happy to say I'm feeling much better today. Here are a few reasons why:

What's better than being to able crochet and sip iced coffee while riding in the car?

And where were we going?
To my son's graduation from Southern New Hampshire University.

A larger basket to match my other baskets.
All of them are holding crochet projects right now.

Using a gift card to go shopping: new canisters, a glass shaker bottle, a tea infuser, tomato saver and onion saver (not shown: 9 x 13 inch pan).
Thanks, MIL!

And today, Mr. E is here. Right now he's napping, but when he wakes up we have errands to run and photos to take.

I hope you're having a great day today!

Sweet P

How Do You Make Yourself Happy?

I'm trying to make me happy.
I had a bad start to my morning.
This was my first attempt - a bright, cheery yarn cake.

I'm not happy yet. Now I'm off to work in my studio. Maybe that will help me.

How do you make yourself happy when you've had a bad start to your day?

Sweet P

Half of Ten on Tuesday

I don't have 10 crochet projects, but today I have 5 (or half of 10) projects on my hooks.

Today I worked on my Ribbons & Bows Socks from the May issue of Crochet! magazine. I'm using the yarn I received in my All Things Local swap. I couldn't get a good photo of the cables and bows. I must take some photography lessons.

This morning I started a secret project for another swap. Just for fun, I'm leaving the yarn on the winder while working on the project. I'm using Plymouth Encore DK Yarn for this surprise.

On Sunday night I started a Textured Purse. Instead of using Caron Yarns, I'm using Winter Buster Yarn in red, white and black from New Hampshire Knitting Mama and Stitch Nation's Full O-Sheep yarn in white and later, with black. This pattern is different in that it's stitched using two strands of yarn.

I'm still plugging away on my Marseilles Jacket. I'm a little frustrated with the project. The instructions call for 43 rows for the body. However, I have stitched 50 rows and it's still too short. The instructions do say to add or subtract rows as necessary. I'm stumped how my sweater isn't coming close to the right size even though my gauge was right.

My Crochenit Patches are still there. Two patches are done and I've started a third one, in blue. Now that I have my yarn winder I'll be able to wind the rest of the yarn for this project so I can keep working on it.

Mr. E is so close to walking. He is standing without holding on to anything for several seconds. Today I even saw him dancing while standing and not holding on to anything. Look out world. soon nothing will be stopping him.

Sweet P

Need to Start Saving Money

I was a data geek in my former career and a few of those skills carry over to Coffee Time Stitching. In January 2007 I created a spreadsheet to track how much I spend for the items I need to create and another spreadsheet on how many hours I spend creating each day. The sheets are set up to calculate monthly, quarterly and yearly totals and averages. The one stat I like to keep handy is that amount of money spent per every hour of creating. In 2007 I spent $5.64 for every hour creating. In 2008 that number was $3.96. For 2009 it was $4.02. Through April 30 of this year that stat is down to $3.37. The way I look at it, spending less than $4 an hour for my sanity is a great deal!

Anyway, I spent a lot of money in April, the most I've spent in several months. But, what I bought will keep me busy for quite a while. I need to start saving my pennies, nickels and dimes for the Knit and Crochet Show in July. I have one more package arriving later this week from my April spending spree and then I'm done.

Some of my readers may be wondering if I ever play with fabric any more. The answer is yes, but not as often as I have in the past. One of the perks of my job is Employee Double Discount Days. Most of the time I can resist buying anything. This time I couldn't resist and came home with a few pieces of fabric. The truck fabric was a steal at $2.23 per yard. I've been collecting truck and car fabrics for an I Spy quilt for Mr. E and this piece will make a great quilt backing. The flip flop and purse fabrics are new fabrics for the store. I paid $2.79 a yard and bought one yard of each. The green stripe fabric was in the remnant bin and looks great with the flip flops and purses. I think I'm going to make a tote bag with those three fabrics.
Yesterday I found these baskets in the damage pile because each of them lost a handle. They were a steal at 75% off. I'm going to use them for my crochet and embroidery WIPs. I love the bright, cheery fabric on the inside.
On the crochet front I finished a second crochenit block in red. I have two more color combos, one in yellow and one in green, to work up. I hope those colors look as good as these colors do.
What are you up to today?

Sweet P

Makes Me Happy Monday #5

My May Towel arrived from my swap group.

A new 2010 Honda Civic EX-L in my driveway.

This doesn't make me happy.
Wally has to stand on his head until the Red Sox win several more games.

All Things Local Swap Goodies

The mail man was good to me again yesterday. I received my Ravelry All Things Local box from Contrary Rose from Emmitsburg, MD.

Mr. E was here and helped me open it. He really loves opening and closing boxes these days. It's a good thing he was helping me because at the top of the box was this adorable knitted crab. Rose made him for Mr. E. He was sitting on a silver platter which I will use on my craft table. I tried hard to get a photo of Mr. E with Mr Crabby (that's what we've named him), but had no luck. I'll keep trying to get that photo!
Here are the local goodies she included: a package of Apple Fritter mix, local coffee, crab-flavored popcorn, Old Bay Seasoning, a novel by a local author, a copy of her local paper (what a great idea!) and a local travel magazine.
The yarn she sent is heavenly! It's a superwash merino sock yarn from Knits With Sticks. The color is Lipstick on Your Collar. It is so soft and gorgeous.
Since I hadn't used my new yarn winder yet and I couldn't wait to start working with the yarn, I decided to make my first yarn cake. I don't have a yarn swift and DH was playing with Mr. E so I improvised and set up the winder and yarn like this:
It took me a while to wind the yarn set up this way, but I had fun doing it. I was rewarded with this cake:
Now I can start crocheting a pair of socks!

Thanks, Contrary Rose, for a wonderful package!

Sweet P