wednesday webshare

i found the most adorable patterns for dishcloths ever! kris patay, of kris knits has designed some serious cute. i bought one set and went back the next day and bought four more! i mentioned it to a friend and she said she just couldn't pay for dishcloth patterns. the next day i got a text that read, "i just spent eight dollars on dishcloth patterns!" serious cute.

with inexpensive cotton and just a few hours you can easily create a whole set of cloths to keep for yourself, or gift to someone special.

i made all of these in the last week or so, all available in her free pattern section:

picture courtesy of kris knits.

this is the first one i did as a blanket square. it ended up a little small, but with some tweaking, i think many of her patterns would be usable for blanket squares.
this is the one i did in blue for the schuyler blanket project:

 

they knit up in a jiffy. go on and buy yourself some cute.

so much more than just a blog share

you might have noticed my new badge over on the sidebar. about loving with my whole heart?

i've been spending some time with dr. brené brown. well, her blog anyway. and i love what this woman has to say! she's got some great articles on treating each other with basic respect and dignity, facebooking our fears (so good!) and living without shame and fear. she writes about living in authenticity.

what is authenticity you might ask?

brené offers this:

both of these badges are available as downloads to print from her blog, ordinary courage.

"mindfully practicing authenticity during our most soul-searching struggles is how we invite grace, joy and gratitude into our lives."

now i don't know about you, but i'm all for inviting more joy into my life.

"cultivating the courage to be imperfect." i. love. this.

today i will live and love with my whole heart, will you?

blog find

haute*nature

"Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle........an eco guide blending high style with sustainability."

and very, very cool. check it.

smarter than me

i'm sitting here cleaning off my desk when i come across the metal knitting needles my sister gave me. as i looked at them i thought, i bet you could bend these around to make a bracelet. and i was sure the clever crafty folk on the internet were already on top of this one.

you should SEE some of the crazy things crafty folk are doing with knitting needles! go look, i'll wait. check this one too.

etsy is one of my favorite rabbit holes. type in something you love and see what comes up. by artisans. you know, those folk who make things. with their hands. people like me only way cooler. ;)

friday's blog finds

today it's all about the food!

• first time reading baking bites today. they've posted girl-scout cookie recipes. hells yeah. thin mints here i come! ironic name, no?
• i'd forgotten how great the cupcake bakeshop was. and now it's closed. :( for some of the strangest but best flavor combinations in cupcake form, check out chockylit.
• robin sue over at the big red kitchen shares some fantastic recipes. do try her mini ham and chesse rolls. they rock. seriously. i can eat about a million.
• cathy at noble pig is busy moving but she still manages to share beautiful, step-by-step photography with her recipes. rivaled only by ree over at pioneer woman cooks.

mmm remember these?

blog find sunday

i -so- want to make a quilt!

there are some really great quilters out in blog land inspiring the heck out of me!

check out rachel of p.s. i quilt. her work is stunning! she does a disappearing 9-patch tutorial that made me want to start sewing TODAY.

another is ashley of film in the fridge. her use of color amazes me.

and don't forget the ever lovely thimbleanna. she's my quilty hero. i hope to hang with her and her quilty peeps soon and draw in all their quilty mojo.

these are just a few of my favorites. you can get lost for hours by clicking on any of these blogs and then their blogrolls. so many talented folks out there!

have fun!

blog find

omg. check out roman sock and her amazing craftiness! free patterns, tutorials and cute-ness!

look what she created using her own brushed crochet technique:

squeee!

latest rabbit hole

Dollar Store Crafts. Because money doesn't grow on trees.

Look at the cool stuff:

this candle tutorial rocked my world!

I'm -so- doing this for our summer bash this year!

blog o' the day

decor8

holly becker, interior design consultant and writer created decor8 to inspire those of us who missed out on the decorating gene. that's me at the front of the line.

this chick ROCKS.

check it.

incredible find!

Found the best rabbit hole site ever! While it's more website than blog, I still had to post it as my blog o' the day. I guess my tag should be website of the day, rather than just blog shares. What a find! From the site:

"One Pretty Thing is a daily website dedicated to bringing you inspiring projects for a handmade life.

Weekday mornings One Pretty Thing will showcase a different holiday, seasonal or project-specific Roundup compiled with projects from across the internet.

Our evening post, The Daily DIY, is a compilation of the day’s DIY projects and inspiration from around the blogosphere. And on the weekends we’ll take a look at YOUR projects via our Flick community, friends of the site, contests, crafty inspiration and an additional Weekend Roundup!"

Doesn't that sound fun? You know where I'll be weekday mornings!

*******

We got our tree up last night. It was good family time. Both kids were here and Ken was medicated. ;) He set up a video camera and the kids didn't know we were recording at first. They were in rare form, laughing and tormenting each other. The festivities even included the first stanza of "Who Put the Dick on the Snowman" brought to us by Ashley. We were laughing so hard even if we were a little worried she knows the whole song. To those of you with small children reading in shock, this is what those sweet Christmas memories morph into - your sweet little girl singing of the phallic state of snowmen. Merry Christmas!

To continue the holiday merriment, here's a photo share of an advent calendar my mom made quite a few years ago. My kids still fight over who is going to be first. They have it all figured out who does which day till we get to the star that goes on top of the "tree". Each numbered pocket has either a crochet ornament or a snowflake to hang above. I asked the kids last night if one of them wanted to take it home (This is our last Christmas with kids living with us). Before the words were even out of my mouth, Ashley jumped up with her hand in the air shouting, "ME!" :)

Thanks, mom. Merry, merry.

overheard in the hallway

(whispered)"Where's mom?"
(louder whisper)"I don't know!"

Maybe you had to be here to get the humor in this but hearing this out of the mouths of two very young boys you know some serious mischievousness is underway. Made me laugh.

And for the blog o' the day, check out a print a day Yasmine has some seriously cute stuff - free printables to download and other crafty bits.

Not much happening around here. It was a pajama day - chilly outside, warm, knitting in front of a fire, cozy inside.

How about starting the christmas cheer? I'll share some of my very favorite bits of the holiday: traditions, recipes, decorations and other jolly bits.
Starting with a favorite tree ornament:

No, I haven't set up my tree yet. This is from a few years ago but my tree looks pretty much the same every year so let's pretend, ok? This is a cinnamon ornament boy-child made in pre-school, circa 1990. Some years later, girl-child thought she'd found a christmas treat and took a bite. See the little crescent missing from the bottom? Ashley teeth. Probably even her baby teeth. I can almost hear you saying, "Awwwww." :) You can't buy that kind of holiday cheer. My tree is full of those kinds of stories or, it will be once it's up. Soon! I promise!

Blog o' the day

Check out How About Orange

You never know what you'll find there: a crafty, how-to link (such as the Martha craft pictured above - click to go directly to marthastewart.com), a freebie offer, decorating ideas or some other sort of cuteness. Jessica has it all.
Check it.

Has anyone seen November?

Wasn't Halloween just yesterday? November flew by in a flash. I'm expecting Christmas tomorrow. And how fun is Christmas going to be this year with three little ones in the house? I'm trying hard not to think about my own kids not being here this year. Boy-child is moving back to Toledo soon and won't be here at all. Girl-child should be here for dinner as they went to her future in-laws for Thanksgiving but it's just not the same as having them wake us up Christmas morning. I miss them. Little them. These boys came just in time.

We had friends over for Thanksgiving and this year I perfected the art of delegating. I made only the turkey, the ham, stuffing, corn casserole, pies, deviled eggs and ham roll ups. You may be laughing but seriously, last year I did everything and nearly had a nervous breakdown. This year getting dinner on the table was a breeze with others handling their own dishes. We had 16 bodies around the table this year. Good group of folks.

Since nothing too exciting is happening with me, I thought I'd share Ken's follies with you. After 23 years he finally built himself a fort in the back yard. A fully vulcanized structure, awaiting siding in the spring. The man is incredible. Dude built this on his own in about three days. Then he took a nap. It's a woodshop. He's pretty stoked about it and I couldn't be happier for him. I may never see him again once the electricity goes in.

We worked and played out in the yard this weekend before the snow fell. We got all the feeders up, ready for any squirrels and birds that wander over for a snack. We built a tree swing for the boys and laughed for nearly an hour straight watching the bigger boys try to figure it out.

Fall clean up in the yard always makes me a little sad. While Fall is a beautiful season here in central Indiana, the long winter that follows is like watching the world die around you. Summer's splendor is long gone and the beautiful hostas in my shade garden are withered and resting now. It's sad yet hopeful, knowing once again next year in the spring, they'll rise from the ground, strong and green to be lovely again. And do we have plans for our yard next year! I suppose that's the fun of a long winter - using that time to look through gardening catalogs, dreaming of dirt. Listen to me getting all poetic about the weather. How about a picture? The winter garden:

Can't really share pictures of my knitting with Christmas coming but here's a little teaser. :)

And I want to start sharing some of my better blog finds. I have my regulars over in the sidebar but there are tons more I stumble across and want to share. Take a gander at Carla over at Four by 40 for quick little snippets of humor. (thanks, Angela!)

That's about it from the nut house. Christmas pictures coming soon. The tree should go up sometime in the next week. Stay tuned for some holiday cheer.