I'm traveling with a new scarf::
This is another scarf from Bolt's line of shot cotton scarfs. So easy to make, so hard to photograph. I'll work on some better pics so that you can see the different colored threads woven together to make the fabric for these scarfs. The tanish fabric in this one unravels into beautiful greens and browns.

It's come in handy on this trip, when all you need is a light scarf to fight off any chills in the bay area... particularly when taking silly tourist pictures::

While in San Francisco, we stopped at the new Museum of Natural History... I love science, and I love natural history, but I don't think that this experience lives up to its pricey entrance fee.

We're now in the Tahoe area, where knitted items are key. I've been working on a 'hat-trick cowl' which I'll share with you in the next post.

In the mean time, we're taking advantage of the mostly ice-free lake to get in a bit of canoeing::
And every good ride in the canoe leads to an adventure::

*a happy thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night

WTF Fridays

Here's a little segment we're calling What the F*ck Fridays {all in good fun!}.

WTF #1 ~ Cold weather? It sure knocked me on my ass. Good thing I did a little knitting while burrowed under my mountain of covers::

WTF #2 ~ My right leg? It's shorter than my left. Check out this close-up of my pants bottoms::
Notice that the cuffs of my right legs have taken a trip through the wood chipper... ok, some have just taken a whirl through the paper shredder, but the wood chipper is next, I feel it coming with each step. You can click on that picture if you need a close-up of the damage.

WTF #3 ~ Same pattern, four times, FOUR DIFFERENT SIZES!WTF?

WTF #4 ~ It's Saturday.

Well now that that's taken care of, I'm off for a week in California! I'm sure there will be a couple of fun in the sun posts coming your way*

Caution {WEATHER ADVISORY}

Notice: This blog is suffering from a period of uncooperative weather.

It's been downright overcast, foggy, gloomy, misty, rainy; should I go on? It's making all pictures hazy and not blog-worthy. But do not fear, spirits are high ~ the upside of this weather pattern is that it encourages cozy evenings inside crafting, and there's been plenty of that!

Here you have the shot cotton scarf::
The scarf is made from Spool's kit. This is the simplest scarf to make, and I love the rough edges that show off the different colored fibers used to weave the shot cotton.

And I have the inspiration for my next stenciled shirt::
This is a picture I took of an Alexander Calder mobile that was in Philadelphia's Calder Park a few years ago {I think the mobile is gone now, but other Calder's remain}. Once the weather advisory has been lifted, pictures of the shirt will follow... stay tuned.

Enjoy your Sunday*

ya give sum, ya get sum

A post of gifts given and received.

From Emily some amazing gifts from Africa. I'm so touched by her package, which included such a fun mix of goodies. I feel bad that I haven't captured them all for this post, but that just leaves more fun for another time* Check out this amazingly large bag:: I filled it with all of the projects I wanted to photograph today while on my walk in the woods.

Included in her package were these amazing buttons and the beautiful bracelet:: Wow, the pressure is on to make some special projects for those buttons...{EMILY ~ did you get my emails!?}

I'm working on some new crafts for this holiday season, including the famous freezer paper stencils. This is my first creation (yes, the shirt is very wrinkled, but you'll get a better shot soon, sorry!)::

The stencil is based upon this picture that I took on the west coast::

And finally, a belated gift::New socks for your birthday mom!

Oh, just one more thing ~ some mushrooms from my walk today, a little gift from the mushroom gods::

More Winter Preparations

Wow, the past two weeks passed in a flash.

This past weekend, my sister, mom, and Nik got together for a canning fest. In a short 48 hours, we whipped up a couple batches of apple butter, pumpkin butter, marmalade, and tomato sauce. The stockings will definitely be stuffed with some tasty treats this year!

Between the stirring, tasting, and canning, the last Schu girl learned to knit. And while we had less time for crafting than we anticipated, I was able to experiment with freezer paper stencils for the first time {more on that soon}.


Oh, and we ate. First it was the black bean soup from Pepperknit's post. We dressed the soup up even more with a dollop of the roasted red pepper spread from Trader Joe's. yum. Then it was the harvest cake recipe shared on Apartment Therapy. Another yum. I just had a slice before writing this post, and I have to say that even three days old the cake is just right.


I noticed that throughout the weekend I would end up interjecting a blog reference into almost every conversation. How could I not when you guys are full of such great ideas? It would be a craft idea here, a recipe there, on and on. I love it that the introduction of blogs has created such a rich community full of creative people. fun fun

And while I'm at it, here are a couple more blog posts to check out::

January One has an awesome contest going on ~ Danskos anyone?

And have you checked out Mamie's new products? great for the holiday giving!

And finally, between the Christmas knitting, I finished something that I can actually talk about. This was just a fun cowl made from a combination of Malabrigo, Blue Sky Alpacas Chunky, and some buttons. I knit until I ran out of Blue Sky, and I was worried that it was a little tight around my neck at first, but with some wearing things have loosened up!


This pictures were taken in the bathroom at school. It has large, southern facing windows, and I realized that it provides all of the light I need to take pictures on dreary fall/winter days... you may see a whole series of bathroom shots this winter. Consider yourself warned.


I'll share more soon, have a great day!