My Mom's Garden

It’s been half a year since the Bearded One and I last visited our families. At the end of June, we changed that and spent a week and half catching up with family, hanging out with friends, and eating as much barbecue as humanly possible (didn’t realize how spoiled I was with good barbecue until we moved to LA). The thick blanket of humidity aside, it was a good trip. I got to annoy my parents in person which is so much easier and fun than doing it over the phone. The Bearded One and I got to watch 4th of July fireworks from a boat on Logan Martin Lake. Somehow, I squeezed in 2 visits to my favorite yarn shop. Plus, I was able to spend time with all my friends in the area. 

Before we got on the plane, a week and a half seemed like a long time but the trip seemed to fly by. Wish I’d been able to spend more time there which means I’m already looking forward to the next trip.

The neighbor’s cat is a frequent visitor and never one to turn down attention. 

Wander the Web 46

Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links to round out the week and jumpstart your brain.

 Take a peak into a 1950’s sewing cabinet

How to wind yarn into a center pull ball; a handy trick when you don’t have a winder handy

Love this textured summer braid

The 3-Dimensional Weaving Machine

These stitched leaves by Hillary Fayle are amazing. 

Wander the Web 44

 Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links to round out the week and jumpstart your brain.

Blueberry Molasses Muffins

Love these sketches done at the MTL Botanical Garden.

DIY Yarn Tapestry

I would wear this shirt all the time. 

A rare burst of wildflowers in the Badlands.

A sneak peak at the editing phase of a craft book.

Wander the Web 14

My bobbins have been empty for long enough. Time to fill them up again and try something new. I’m going to try my hand at an intentional slub yarn. Well, that’s my weekend plan. What are you up to?

Knit, Purl, Sow - A wonderful exhibit of knitted flowers and plants going on through January 2014 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I’d love to see this in person. 

Abandoned: Mark Twain Public Library in Detroit

Drawings of Dustin Harbin

DIY Watermelon and Pineapple pom-poms! - Would it be weird or awesome to cover a tree entirely in pineapple pom-pom ornaments?

Knitted Fungi by Brome Leighad Martin - I’d love to walk across these mushrooms in the woods.

Still Spring

Spring continues unabated outside the windows. Only the weather has gone from warm and sunny to cold and windy with occasional rain. I’m sure the pollen will return any day now. In the mean time, I want nothing more than to snuggle up with my knitting and a cup of something hot to drink. Not much luck on snuggling part but I still get to knit. The top project right now is a black ribbed hat, Slick by Alexandra Tinsley. Much of that ribbing is twisted which isn’t as annoying as it sounds. Plus, I get to work a few cables every now and then so the knitting is actually fun. Feels good to be a process and a product knitter at the same time.  

Do you knit for the joy of knitting or do you knit for the final product? 

To balance out the  dark ribbing, here’s a bright spring flower. Maybe the color will help hold us over until the sun comes out again. 

March is for Photography: Recap

Every month I’m picking one skill to practice everyday for a month and updating my progress every Monday. I call it Project Incremental. Read up on how it all got started. 

| - | - | - |

Hundreds of photos. Untold megabytes of hard drive space filled. Hours spent reviewing photos. Even more hours spent editing. A few dozen photos that I’m proud to show. My incremental project studying photography in March went pretty much how I thought it would. Except that it didn’t. I thought I’d read up on photography terms, learn about ISO and f-Stops, peruse photography blogs, and study lots of technical details. I didn’t even crack open the manual for my camera. Shame on me. I thought I was going to do all all those things because I thought they were what I really needed to become a better photographer. 

Almost a month later, I’m sure that I still need to learn more about the technical side of photography. I just skipped over an important first step during my planning - becoming comfortable with my camera. I was fine taking photos on the back deck or the porch during the day, areas that I had decent control over, but I was really self conscious outside of those spaces. So, I started hauling my camera around everywhere I went. Didn’t always bring it out but I got used to the idea that I could snap a photo if I wanted to. 

Always having my camera at hand has led to some of my favorite shots. During spare moments, I’d look around for the small details, the Everyday Magic as Tammy Strobel calls it, and try to capture the moment. I started to document my days like going to knit night or doing late night cross stitch. I’m seeing things that were passed over before, like this tiny and therefore adorable pinecone, because I wasn’t paying attention.

There’s still a lot for me to learn about photography but I’m happy with the first step I’ve taken. Maybe I’ll finally get around to studying some of the technical details in these last few days of March.

Previous March is For Photography Posts

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Nice Weather We're Having

Earlier this week, everything on my to-do list seemed to be coming up all at once. So, I did what any sensible person would do and completely ignored everything for the next hour and a half. I grabbed a book and headed outside to enjoy weather and last weekend’s handiwork. After all, who wants to be stuck inside when it’s a sunny, breezy 70 degree day?

Last Sunday involved lots of putting plants into dirt. The Bearded One and I planted herbs, flowers, and vegetables. I can’t wait for the first crop of cucumbers and bell peppers. Right now though, I love dragging my fingers through the chocolate mint. Just can’t resist.

Also planted was a rose bush given to us by a friend who moved north. It only has a few blossoms on it so far but they’re so pretty.

Eventually, I ended up on the newly hung swing and finished my current read. The Codex turned out to be a pretty fun book and Shadow proved himself to be good company. Taking an hour and a half off turned out to be the best decision of the day. 

-------

In other news, I’m going to Stitches South on April 15th. It’s my first time going and I’m so excited. Maybe I’ll see you there?