Feeling Crafty? Don't Mind If I Do!

A couple of days ago I received an email  from Tif  hoping I was 'doing fine and dandy these days' and that 'she would very muchly like to see my latest knitty creations!' (she has such a fun way with words) She suggested meeting that evening at the Tolt Yarn & Wool store's Tuesday knitting circle and so off I went...

It is true, I have become a bit of a recluse these last couple of months and the knitting clan can be a bit daunting, (and they were all so nice of course, why was I so worried???) so it took an encouraging email from Tif to get myself going again. I had such a good time, so much so, that I spent an hour and a half in the shop just now chatting both with her and her colleague Tara, plus helping out  a German/ Danish costumer with some color advise: what fun!  {smile}

I have mentioned before what a wonderful shop Tolt Y & W is and I will say it again. It feels like entering a haven, with like-minded souls and such loveliness everywhere and well ... just take a look:

I came home feeling all refreshed and re-energized. Let the crafting (knitting) commence!  <wink>

A most brilliant gift from Tif...
(how does she keep on coming up with these ideas?)

Let It Snow! (again...)

Oh boy, what a splendid surprise last night: Snow!!!!

This was not at all in the forecast, but the front decided to move up from Portland et voila, a white wintery scene over here as well! {smile}

I just love taking pictures of the little birdies through my office window so here you go...

And little Miss Olive, who turned 13 this week by the way, was as happy as ever!

We in the mean time, are nice and cozy inside...

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!!

What A Day!

Click! to enlarge...

Another glorious day here in the Pacific Northwest, albeit a cold one!

Today was the big welcoming parade for the Seattle Seahawks  team (American Football) who, for the first time ever, had won the Super Bowl last weekend! They estimate that  between 700.000 and 1 million people were out in this cold weather (for hours and hours!) to wave and cheer them on: unbelievably fun to watch on tv I must say... <wink>

So if that wasn't fun enough, I received a call with a wonderful offer from my dad and his wife to fly me over to The Netherlands for my step-sister's wedding later in the summer: Woot Woot!!!  I hadn't expected to be in Holland again for at least another 4 years or so (once the college costs hopefully will be lowered by one child at least), so this was a super duper surprise! 

Unfortunately it is right at the time where our schools begin the Fall semester so I will have to leave the rest of the family at home, but on the other hand I get to travel by myself and meet lots of fun friends and relatives. (something the kids don't always appreciate)

And then on our way home today we were greeted with this spectacular sight of the Cascade Mountains so all in all: What A Day!!!  {smile}

Club Tropicana...

Click! to enlarge...

A tropical dress in the middle of winter, why not?  <wink>

This truly was a quick sew-together project. 

I decided to go with the tighter skirt for a change and look, 

it has a vent in the back! (see arrow) 

I also added some little touches with the flower ribbon on the waist, front and vent 
and some piping around the arm openings. 

A perfect dress for Orlando! (if it is not too cold that is...)

Knitting Fool...

Yoke Sweater inspiration...

I've become a 'knitting fool' lately, I just can't stop! I've started an actual sweater pattern via Craftsy again. It is called "Sipsey's Folley" and the original pattern looks like this: 

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and I'm adding my own yoke pattern as well as a border pattern, since (to be honest) squirrels and Fall motives aren't really my thing... Did I mention that I've never knitted a sweater in my life? Yes, always jumping into the deep end over here... <wink>

Anyway, since this is my first try at a wearable pattern I didn't want to spend $80 or more on a project of which the outcome isn't clear, so I bought cheap acrylic yarn at Joann's. They only had very pastel-like colors unfortunately. The heather grey yarn will be my main color and then I will play around with the darker grey and a white in the actual color pattern on the yoke. I've already added a  small grey pattern band at the bottom of the front and back...

Do you see the pattern there? It is very subtle...

It is taking forever with so many stitches, but with my trusty tablet on my side with which I can watch tons of tacky sci-fi series in a row, time just flies by...

I have done a little bit of sewing in between as well though. Of course I had to make some proper knitting storage items to keep everything, well uhm..., organized!

And I'm also making a new dress for our upcoming trip to Orlando. 

(only a few days later in February, I will be accompanying my Mr. G. to a  big education conference over there in the big Disney Resort) 

I'm actually making the tighter skirt version and I'm not certain if that will be the right choice or not, so therefore I'm using a fabric that I am not quite certain about either... 
(so if it doesn't work out then not much is lost...)

So, that's what's going on over here! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We certainly will: the Seattle Seahawks will be in the Super Bowl tomorrow! (we're talking American Football here in the biggest game of the year,  for those of you not familiar with the terminology)  

Go Hawks!!!  {smile}