Cinnamon Teal Handmade

Cabled Socks

2012-02-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

I've been on a sock kick lately. I think it's because this California girl isn't used Tennessee's cold winter weather. Even if it is unseasonably warm and in the 50s most days. So I've been making wool socks.

For the longest time, I never understood why so many knitters knit so many socks. But I get it now! They're quick! They're a little bit challenging (hello short rows!) And they're so warm and cozy.

Here's my most recent pair. They're made of some superwash fingering weight wool from knitpicks. I was very much inspired by slippedstitch's Boyfriend Socks but I wanted the cables to be more random.

PS. Have you ever tried to photograph your own feet? It's surprisingly difficult!

Without further ado, here are my gray cabled socks, modeled on my very pasty and stubbly winter legs. (Yay!)

Birds on Wood

2012-02-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

Black Bart

2012-01-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Breakfast Smoothie

2011-12-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

I've never been a big breakfast eater. I've just never been hungry first thing in the morning. But about a year ago I decided that I need to take better care of myself, gosh darn it! And thus began my quest for the perfect breakfast food. I tried a few different things like oatmeal, cereal, eggs, and peanut butter on toast. But none of them was everything I wanted in a breakfast.

Then I moved to Tennessee over the summer and I tried greek yogurt with local berries and local honey. Holy crap that stuff was awesome! It's like dessert for breakfast! But unfortunately berry season came to an end. So I turned to the grocery store freezer aisle, bought frozen berries instead and dumped all my usual ingredients into the blender. And that's how my breakfast smoothie was born.

I like greek yogurt in my smoothies because it has a ton of protein compared to normal yogurt. The whole milk variety is delicious and has a texture like cheesecake, but it's ridiculously high in saturated fat. So 2% it is. I use honey for a couple reasons. First, it has a low glycemic index which means that it won't effect your blood sugar level nearly as much as sugar does. Second, local honey is supposed to help with allergies. Plus it just tastes really good. The juice I've been using is some fancy acai stuff that someone left at my house. But you can use any juice you like.

Breakfast Smoothie:

- 2 ounces juice

- 1 heaping spoonful of honey (about 1 tablespoon)

- 3-4 heaping spoonfuls 2% greek yogurt (about 1/2 cup)

- about 1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen unsweetened berries

Blend together and enjoy!

Elephants

2011-10-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Ink on paper. 7" x 10"

Fishing Cove

2011-08-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here's another ATC. This one was fun to make. I ran some mulberry paper through my laser printer to print out the little fish. Then I mod-podged it onto a 30 year old map of a portion of the Rhode Island coast line. Then I finished it off with some sewing machine stitching along the edges.

Insects of East TN #3: Spicebush Swallowtail

2011-08-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

ATCs ::: New Series

2011-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've started a new series of ATCs. It's called Insects of East Tennessee in homage to my new home and the abundant wildlife herein.

Crab

2011-01-31T23:15:00.000-08:00

A water color shamefaced crab. I love his spots!

Mixed Media Farm Animals

2010-10-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

Kid's Paintings and Motorcycle

2010-08-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Monster of the Deep

2010-08-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

Acrylic on panel. Made for a swap.

Octopus in Ink

2010-07-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

Tawny Frogmouth

2010-07-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Recycled Pouf/Floor Cushion Thing

2010-05-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting some poufs for my living room only just forever. I love the look of these Urchin Poufs and this diy pattern is fantastic, but I decided not to spend anything on this project. So in a fit of stash busting and recycling, I made some tee shirt yarn (check out my tutorial!) and I grabbed a ton of old clothes and scraps for stuffing and I made myself a nice crocheted pouf. I'm usually more of a knitter, but this yarn is a bear to knit with - I broke 2 sets of circulars on a bath mat a couple years ago.

So anyway, here's my pouf. Along with my lovely assistant. :o) He worms his way into all my photos these days.

The finished pouf is about 8 inches tall and 21 inches in diameter. I used a size K crochet hook. To fill it, I lined it with an old sheet and filled it with lots and lots of fabric scraps and some old knit swatches.

Tee Shirt Yarn Tutorial

2010-05-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Here's how I make a single, continuous length of yarn from an old tee shirt.

You will need a ruler, a pair of fabric scissors and something to mark the fabric with. I'm using a soft drawing pencil.

Step 1:
Cut off the bottom hem and cut across from armpit to armpit. You won't be using the bottom hem or the top part.

Step 2:
Fold one of the folded edges until it's a couple inches away from the opposite folded edge.

Step 3:
Flip the fabric 90 degrees. Mark the bottom edge and the edge of the overlying chunk of fabric at 1 inch increments.

Step 4:
Draw parallel lines connecting your marks.

Step 5:
Cut along the lines. Make sure you cut all the way through the overlapping folded edge, but don't cut those couple inches at the top (the unmarked area). If you cut all the way up, you will have a bunch of loops.

Step 6:
Unfold the fabric and lay it out so the uncut area is flat. Now here comes the trickiest part. You're going to cut from the first slit at the bottom to the second slit on the top. See how I'm holding the ruler? That's the line you cut along. I don't mark this part because it's easiest to just hold it in your hand and eyeball it.

Step 7:
Push the loop you cut off aside. For the rest, you are going to cut from the first slit on the bottom to the first slit on the top. You're going to create a long, continuous strip of fabric. Keep going until you reach the end.

Step 8:
Now at the ends, you have a couple funny looking loops. To fix that, you just taper off from the slit to the outside edge. I like the tapered edge because I think it's nice when you transition from one ball of yarn to another. It also blends in nicely when you weave in the ends to finish your knitting.

Step 9:
The fun part! You now have a pile of what looks like jersey ribbon. To give it a rounded, yarn-like appearance, you just grab a section between your hands and pull! Keep going for the whole length of yarn and you're done!

Now take that pretty pile and wind it into a ball. (I like this center pull ball method (scroll down the the bottom of the page))

Please let me know if you like this tutorial, or if you have any problems with it!

Drawing: Heart II

2010-04-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Drawing: Heart

2010-04-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

Air

2010-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

8" x 10", acrylic and cut out on canvas

ASL - k

2010-03-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

ASL - i

2010-03-16T16:10:00.001-07:00

ASL - h

2010-03-15T17:00:00.001-07:00

ASL - g

2010-03-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

ASL - f

2010-03-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

Western Bluebird

2010-03-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

Old Photos From School

2010-02-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from a university class. New bird drawing coming soon.

ASL - d

2010-02-01T18:10:00.001-08:00

Little Paintings

2010-01-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

A couple little paintings. Each is 6" x 8", acrylic and paper on masonite. Words from "Be Thou My Vision", a traditional Christian hymn.

ASL - c

2010-01-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

ASL - b

2010-01-21T19:33:00.001-08:00

ASL - a

2010-01-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

Hand Spun Scarflet

2010-01-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Swatching

2010-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Zimmermann Socks

2010-01-13T22:55:00.000-08:00

Man Booties

2010-01-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

Construction Worker

2010-01-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

Schnoz

2010-01-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

McFluffums

2010-01-06T18:27:00.001-08:00

Blackrose Socks

2010-01-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

My first real pair of knit socks! Yay! You know, for years I've seen people knit socks and I just never got it. But I had some sock yarn and a little time, so I figured what the hey? And I gotta be honest with you, I really enjoyed it. There's something very satisfying about a quit knit project and the socks are actually really comfortable. I'm not about to throw away all my plain white socks, but I will probably knit more pairs, from time to time.

Pattern: Blackrose Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Multi in Lily Pad

Chullo For My Sister

2010-01-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

My sister lives in the frigid arctic of upstate New York. A place where it actually snows and the ground is frozen for months of the year. So when I asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said that she could use a cute, whimsical hat. I got the basic pattern from knitty.com and switched it up a bit.

It was a lot of fun to knit, but oh my goodness, so much color work! The great thing about all the colors is you can use up some of those fingering weight remnants that sock knitter are bound to have lying around. Most of the yarn for this one is superwash wool from knitpicks. A few are leftover yardage from gorgeous hand dyed skeins.

Cassin's Kingbird

2009-12-21T00:17:00.000-08:00

Black-Necked Stilt

2009-12-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Loggerhead Shrike

2009-12-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

This year's punkin

2009-10-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

My First Ever Upholstery Project

2009-10-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Farm Day

2009-10-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Terra Firma Farms annual Farm Day.

Picnic in the walnut orchard.

Yummy organic beer.

Strawberry picking in the fields.

Crochet Ripple Afghan

2009-10-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

My First Handspun!

2009-10-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

I made it with a drop spindle kit from Maine Woods Yarn & Fiber.

Leaves of Three: 15 minute sketch

2009-08-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

Tree

2009-07-13T00:50:00.000-07:00

Ink Drawing: Goldfish

2009-06-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

A couple quick drawings

2009-02-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Kusudama

2009-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

from Folding Trees's tutorial

Frogs

2009-01-02T19:00:00.001-08:00

My Latest Knits

2008-10-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Brea Bag for my mom:

pattern: Brea Bag
yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Cranberry
needles: US 9

This a bag I promised to make for my mom last year. It's fully lined with repurposed denim. I can't wait to finally give it to her this weekend!

Fern Lace Scarf
yarn: Spinning Bunny Merino/Tencel Hand Dyed Yarn, Blueberry Patch
needles: US 10, bamboo

I've made about a million scarves since I learned how to knit, but I've sold and given away almost all of them. I got this gorgeous yarn from freecycle and decided that it's finally time to make a wearable scarf for myself. The lace pattern comes from Vogue Stitchonary. I love it!

Stripy Gloves
yarn: Knit Picks Felici, Atmosphere
needles: US 3, bamboo DPNs

I started these back in January when a wind storm knocked out power to most of Davis. We were without power and heat for 3 days. While I was freezing my butt off, I decided that it was an absolute travesty that I didn't have a decent pair of (non-snowboard) gloves. So I picked up my needles and some sock yarn and started these. When the power came back on, I totally forgot about them and didn't pick them up again until this fall.

Fall Fingerless Mitts
yarn: Mystical Creation Yarns Wool Silk
needles: US 5, aluminum DPNs

Our chilly evening walks with the puppy inspired me to finally pick up this yarn and knit up a pair of fingerless mitts for the fall. I love this yarn. It has a really rustic look, but it's so soft and wearable.

Fancy Goldfish

2008-09-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Caleb at 5 1/2 months

2008-08-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics that I took back in June when Caleb was 5 1/2 months old and I was playing with the macro setting on my camera.

Caleb at the Park

2008-05-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a few cute pics of Caleb at the park today. He's 20 weeks old right now.

(I've been working on a couple crafty projects. Pics will be posted in a week or two!)

4 Months!

2008-05-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Caleb got his last set of vaccines and he's finally free to meet the world. We've been working on loose-leash walking and my goodness, does it take a lot of patience! He just gets so excited when he sees other dogs or people or even just leaves and twigs on the ground. But he's learning quickly and getting better everyday.

Chrysalis Project

2008-05-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

Here's an older project that I made for a class. I really liked the idea of the the light as a living thing that's incubated inside these chrysalis objects, connected to the electrical grid through the umbilical-like extension cord. Each one has a wire frame and knit skin. The largest is about 2 feet in length.

More Swap Goodies

2008-04-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a few things I made for a recent swap. My partner is really into gaming (like Dungeons and Dragons), she loves Indian imagery and she's learning how to knit. So I made her a dice bag, reusable shopping bag, some bookmarks and a knitting needle roll.

Getting Bigger Everyday

2008-04-14T21:49:00.001-07:00

New Art

2008-04-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

I just added these 2 collages to my shop. The one on the left is called "Rebirth" and the other is "Resurrection".

More Puppy Pictures

2008-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast he's growing!!

Recent Crafts

2008-03-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've been up to lately:

Caleb!

2008-03-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

We got a new puppy about a week ago. His name is Caleb, he's a golden retriever and he's 10 weeks old today.

Little Fishy

2008-02-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

Out For Coffee

2008-01-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

Plastic Bag Keeper

2008-01-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

The plastic bags were taking over the space under my kitchen sink. So I declared war on them and took a weekend and about a skien of yarn and corralled them into their new home. Check it out:

It's got an elasticy hair thingy at the bottom to keep the bags in.

I kinda like how it looks like a giant squash.

It was really easy to make. I used drop stitches, a la clapotis and really simple shaping for the top.

I'd love to hear what you think about it!

**************************************************
::::The Pattern::::

*note* I just wrote this up right now, so please let me know if you find any typos or if you have trouble following it or anything!

Knit Bag Keeper

yarn:
Schachenmayr Twostep (53% Acrylic Microfiber, 47% Cotton)

needles and things:
1 set US size 2 dpns
tapestry needle, to weave in the ends
1 5 inch elasticy hair thingy

Directions:

bottom part:
- cast on 36 stitches, leaving a ~12" tail distribute over three needles
- knit all until the work measures about 1.5 inches from the cast on
- from the start of the round, wrap the first stitch and place it back on the needle.
- now, flip the work inside out while still on the needles by pulling it through the triangular opening between the three needles, so that the purl side of the work is facing outward

drop stitch/middle part:
- next row: k1, *m1 by picking up the loop between the stitches, k3, repeat from * to end of row
- now begin drop stitch pattern, k1, *p1, k3, repeat from *
- continue in drop stitch pattern until this part of the work measures ~15"

top part:
- row 1: k all knit st, drop all p st. This will create the ladder effect when all the stitches in the column drop out. You may need to coax it along.
- row 2: flip the work over and purl, working it like a flat piece, instead of in the round.

- knit row: knit 2 together, knit til 2 st from end, knit 2 together through the back
- purl row: purl all
- repeat the knit row and purl row until you have 8 stitches left on the needle, ending on a purl row

- knit 4 stitches & leave remaining 4 stitches on the needle, flip and purl. continue working these 4 stitches in stockinette stitch for 12 rows
- using a three needle bind-off, connect the 4 worked stitches to remaining 4 stitches to form a loop.

finishing:
attaching the hair thingy - the reversed stockinette on the bottom should be curling under towards the inside. place the hair thingy inside the rolling part and stitch together on the inside of the bag keeper.
weave in all ends.
fill with bags, hang it up and enjoy!

More Swap Love

2008-01-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here's what I sent to my partner for the stocking swap.

I made these slippers by slightly modifying the Twinkletoes pattern from knitty.com

Biscuits for her pups.

Hand carved stamp.

Apple Cozy

Mini Stocking Ornament

Drawing of her hubby's vintage VW.

And, of course, the stocking. I sort of made up the pattern from a hodgepodge of sock patterns, stocking patterns and color patterns.

Swap Love

2007-11-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got my package from the Craftster stocking swap. I was partnered with a wonderful sewer from Pennsylvania. She made me some really fantastic things. Check it out:

Gnome Sketches

2007-11-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

Ornament

2007-11-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Jingle Bell

2007-11-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

Mini Stockings

2007-11-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

I made these little cuties for an ornament swap on craftster.

Details:
Pattern: Free Mini Christmas Stocking Pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits
Yarn: random scraps from my stash
Needles: US size 3 DPNs
Modifications: I used these instructions to create a pointy elf, style toe on them.

I love making these ornaments because I can use up some of those left over bits of yarn in my stash. Each finished stocking is about 5 inches from cuff to toe.

Little Shell

2007-11-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

Pomegranate

2007-11-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

Bell Pepper

2007-11-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Circus Elephant

2007-10-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

Tomate

2007-10-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Army Man

2007-10-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Puzzle

2007-10-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Persimmons

2007-10-24T14:47:00.001-07:00

Duckie

2007-09-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back home now. We've spent all week unpacking everything and getting settled back in. Since I've been busy, I don't have anything new to post, so here's an old project I made for a sculpture class a few years ago.

It's made from paper, glue and a little bit of thread. The assignment was to create a scale replica of an object using almost entirely paper.

Here's a couple more pics of it.

A Few Daily Drawings

2007-09-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a few 15 minute drawings:

Catching Up.

2007-08-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long absence. I've been up to my ears for the last couple months. Matt's family had a reunion at the end of July up at the Russian River. Then, I finished up summer school at the beginning of August and had about a week before I went to visit my relatives on the east coast for ten days. But now I'm back with the rest of the summer off. Woo-hoo!

The reunion was a lot of fun. My Mother-in-law's cousin owns vacation rental properties up at the Russian River (northeast of San Francisco) and let us all stay there for a few days. Andrew, my brother-in-law, has some pics up on his blog here.

Summer school was great. As always it was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. The kids made some really excellent projects but of course I forgot to bring my camera to school to take pics before they all got taken home. But I do have a few pics of my sample projects for y'all.

Here's my fishy bank.

I had the 4-6th graders make animal banks this year. They're a great project and not too difficult. You start by making the basic shape of the body and/or head out of wadded up newspaper. Then you cover it with clay slabs and shape it a bit until you have the general form. Then you add the other parts (ie. arms, legs or in this case, fins). Finally you add the details (eyes, mouth, etc.) and coin slot on top. When you fire it, the newspaper burns down to ash and you can just shake it right out of the coin slot. The kids made some fabulous ones, such as dogs, clams and even a toucan.

My younger kids made wind chimes. They made the base and all the leaves and I strung them together. I'm really happy with the way that theirs' turned out.

On July fourth, a fire was started over near Zaca Lake (northwest and on the other side of the mountains from Santa Barbara). It's been burning ever since. When I last checked, it had burned over 220,000 acres and it's still going. It's been a concern to all of us, especially as evacuation warnings and orders have been made for areas to the north of Santa Barbara, but it seems as though they'll be able to have it contained and extinguished without loosing any lives or (I think) structures. (Yay, firefighters!) The most noticeable effects here, have been the days of smoke covered skies and ash raining all over the city.

Matt had his very first conference presentation a couple weeks ago in Boston. He and his advisor and another researcher published a paper on computer security and worm detection. It was a crazy whirlwind for him because he left here on Sunday, presented Monday, flew out of Boston that same evening, missed his connecting flight in Vegas and flew back Tuesday morning. Don't you just love the airlines?

Later that week, on Friday, my family and I left for Rhode Island for about ten days. It was really great to see everyone. I met a cousin whom I had never met before and we spent a good deal of time chatting with my Grandma and Aunt Robin. We also saw almost all of my mother's brothers, whom I almost never get to see.

We also went to the beach/park, the RISD art museum and the zoo. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

On the downside, Friday night (2 days before we came back to SB) I got a message on my cell phone from Matt's dad saying that he got hit by a car riding his Vespa home from work. He seemed ok, but the paramedics wanted to take him to the hospital for tests anyways. So a few hours later I finally got a call from my rather shaky husband. He was sore and scraped up but otherwise fine, thank God. So at this point we're just trying to figure out all the insurance stuff and what to do since the other guy has no license or insurance and doesn't speak english. :-\

So that's been the last couple months of my life. Now I'm settling in to my last month in SB before heading back up to Davis. I'm hoping to spend a lot more time drawing and crafting and possibly reading some art theory.

I'm a busy bee.

2007-07-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

So about 2 weeks ago I moved back to Santa Barbara and in with my in-laws for the summer. (Yes, I know. It's definitely not my first choice for a living situation but they are really sweet wonderful people and you can't beat the rent.) So anyways, on Saturday - a week after I got here - I accepted a position teaching summer school ceramics. Between ceramics and the usual web design, I have been too pooped to really make anything blog worthy lately. But to celebrate my summer job, here are some pics of elementary ceramics projects from a few years back. Enjoy!

Workin' 'n Movin'

2007-06-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Things in my arts and crafts world have been put on a bit of a hold for the last couple of week. Matt and I have been slowly preparing to move back to Santa Barbara and I've trying to get as much work as possible done on a client's site before we go. Matt got an internship with a great company in SB and we'll be staying with Matt's parents and sister. It'll be a bit of an adjustment, but it should be fun nonetheless.

So anyways, for the next couple weeks I'll be posting some older stuff, like this print made by my friend, Jenny Day (who, btw, is getting hitched this August. Congratulations, Jenny!!).

Cabled Fingerless Gloves

2007-06-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of my latest fingerless gloves.
Photography by Tanza

A Week in Santa Barbara

2007-05-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

Last week, Matt went to the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in Berekely, so I took the train down to Santa Barbara to visit with family for a few days. On Wednesday, Matt drove down and met me there for the rest of the week. We also took the opportunity to exchange birthday and Mother's Day gifts. We gave James this Threadless tee that he could not stop staring at.

The mom's both got clapotises made by yours truly. Here's my Mom modeling hers.

While I was there, I made a couple of swap items. Tanya got a pair of cabled fingerless gloves that I forgot to take pics of before I sent them off. (Oops! I hope she can send me pics when they get to her!) And I sent this Common Raven off to Elizabeth. It's my first celtic style border. What do you think? (Sorry for the image quality. I didn't have my scanner and I couldn't get the lighting right.)

Image size = approx. 8" x 10"

On Friday, I went to the zoo with my brother, sister, nephew and my husband. We got there just before closing and almost didn't stay. But it turned out great because most of the animals were out and moving around, waiting to be fed and put away for the night.

The Santa Barbara Zoo recently got a bunch of penguins. They're adorable! I just love penguins.

We also spent a little time on the playground before leaving.

Dog Resources

2007-05-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have been wanting to get a dog, only just forever. We rented our current place specifically because they allow dogs of any size. We've been doing a lot of research on the subject of choosing, raising and training a puppy. A couple months ago we decided that we really want a golden retriever; for a lot of reasons, not the least being that we want a friendly dog who will be good with our kids - when we have them :o). Since then, we've been talking to some serious breeders and I think we're finally going to get a puppy sometime in the fall.

Anyways, the point of all of this is that I've decided to make take the info that we've gathered and organize it into an html page for anyone else who is thinking of adding a dog to their family.

If I've left out any great resources, or if you think something I've listed is total trash, leave me a comment.

And the link: Dog Resources and Information

I'm back!

2007-05-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! Sorry for the lapse. I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post. I've been busy lately making birthday and mother's day gifts (I'll have pics up in a couple weeks) and revamping a site for a family rights advocacy company. Oh yeah, and doing a couple swaps through Craftster.

Here's some of the things I received:

Some sweet handspun yarn (wool/silk blend - yummy!) that I plan to knit into a pair of lovely autumn arm warmers for yours truly:

And a crap load of buttons, that will be playing an integral role in said arm warmers:

Matt's Mitts

2007-04-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest FO:

Details:
Pattern: Matt's Mitts - my own design! (With a bit of inspiration from Elizabeth Zimmerman and Kitty's Broadstreet Mittens)
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss (70% Merino Wool, 30% Silk), Black and Dusk
Needles: US size 3 DPNs and US size 2 DPNs

For Christmas I promised Matt a pair of gloves and I just finished these today - just in time for summer. Well, at least his hands will be toasty next winter.

He asked for a pair of convertible mitts, so I looked around for patterns that would suit his tastes. But most of the "glittens" that I found either lacked half fingers on the inside, or look like the pop top was an after thought. To try to make the mitten top appear more streamlined and integrated, I made the whole outer-part in one piece (with a giant button hole for the opening) and added the black finger portion afterwards.

There's still a little bit of a bump - from the difference in thickness there - but I think it's not too noticeable.

Daily Drawing ::: Onion Sketch

2007-04-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

Daily Drawings ::: Royal Terns ATC

2007-04-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I've added a "listening" section to my sidebar over there
<------------- I'll be posting links to my favorite albums and cool new finds here. Today I've got David Gray and Hayward Williams. They both incredibly talented musicians and both are pretty mellow. Great rainy day music.

Daily Drawing ::: Brewer's Blackbird ATC

2007-04-17T01:08:00.000-07:00

Daily Drawing ::: Semipalmated Plover

2007-04-16T00:31:00.000-07:00

Another little bird ATC:

Daily Drawings ::: ATC

2007-04-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today's drawing is inspired by Dashboard Confessional's Vindicated. I think I'm going to do a whole series based on these lyrics. (Is that too corny?)

Daily Drawing ::: 15 minute shell

2007-04-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

Daily Drawing ::: Mussel

2007-04-11T14:13:00.000-07:00