A stitch in time, A day at a time: 2010

Enlisting my blog friends and readers

I need to get hold of two of these, one if two were not available, and its driving me nuts cause I can't find them online! Has anyone seen them? My brother wants to give them as Christmas presents

Please please, if you find them let me know!

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Craft update!

Hello peeps! How are you?Tomorrow is the first Advent Sunday, and that means a bit less than a month is left until Christmas. I'm only making a few presents this year, and here's a quick craft update:

Far left: knitted scarf for Dad. No frills, no fringe, four-ish feet long. Its meant to be worn under his jacket. Made in a gorgeous natural colored Blue Sky Alpacas bulky yarn, that I must say I loved working with! 50% wool, 50% alpaca. Progress: 99% done. Weaving in ends to do.

Center, down: crocheted scarf for mom. Yesterday she admired a scarf I had made for my SIL so I decided to add two scarves (if I manage to finish them in time!), one in melons and one in caramels (center, up) this is a pattern that I enjoy very much. 100% cotton, sport weight. Progress: about 5% of the first scarf.

Right: commissioned knitted scarf. Told you about it before ;D made in Vanna's Baby. Progress: 40%. I really like how this one looks!

How are your projects going?

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Fourth time's the charm

That's how many times I've started this scarf and frogged it. Four different patterns, two different crafts but now I'm really liking it now!

Its commissioned, and the only parameters I was given was that

a) it had to be long (the recipient is TALL)
b) it had to be white

Since I know the really nice lady who will receive the scarf, I didn't want to make a plain one, so I tried two different crochet patterns (none convinced me) and a previous knit pattern (too blah) before settling for this: I think it's texture is nice, it's not too fussy or frilly (think of a Marilla-like lady and you'll see why it must be a sensible one). What do you think? Do you have a go-to pattern for when you want to make an interesting scarf that's not too fussy?

What presents are you crafting this Christmas?

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Making bows...

Turns out I'm not too shabby with a needle and thread! Found out today that the girls needed ribbons in their hair for tomorrows celebrations - early for Nov. 20th, our Revolution anniversary. The girls will dance and dress like "rieleras" and "adelitas" . Not only ribbons, but their teachers wanted bows. Big ones. Christmas-present-big.

A "rielera" could be translated as "railroad woman". They followed their men and traveled in their train during the revolution. It wasn't unusual for them to follow them into battle carrying their ammunition, sometimes with a baby tightly wrapped in their rebozo (shawl). An "adelita", which comes from the name Adela, was similar, but the reference usually is for those who followed the officers - or were their sweethearts, almost always single women who traveled with the army to be safe, and that's how they ended up socializing with the officers, apart from the rest of the army.

Well, one day, when I'm feeling brave, I'll sing the songs related to these women and record them... And maybe one day, I'll post them here.

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Some progress made

I love to knit and crochet, but embroidery is much nearer meditation than any other craft for me! I remember I used to embroider to wind down after exam week while in college!

Now I'm relaxed (crazy weekend and week so far) and going to bed. But first, how many of you embroider? How many of you do smock?

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Not entirely idle

I'm having fun and trying to relax in the rare idle moments I have. It's been a while since I did some cross stitch, but I love it just as much as I did. I'm aiming to finish this some time next decade, as it's a tablecloth and I have but five minutes here and there to work on it. But some day, God willing, it will get done and grace our table. :D

What's your favorite embroidery technique?

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Making scones for breakfast

Care to join me?

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Call me farmer CT

My three hens have all started to lay, and we get three eggs a day as of today! Yay!

Now where can I get pygmy goats, shipped to Mexico? Mmmm

Lol!

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Love the weather!

Moreover, love the clothes you can wear! I've been receiving compliments on my scarf all day long, and I thought I'd show it to you!

I'm not a ghost, I swear! Even if I look like one!

I got even asked to teach several people how to do the ripple stitch! Lol!

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On the knitting front...

I needed a bit of mind rest and so I switched to knitting. Remember the scarf I was making? I've knit that one and FOUR others since, and have another one on the needles, plus this little beauty.

Some of you might recognize it. It's Versatility, from Knitty. It is such a fun pattern to knit, and this yarn is such a delight to work with! A half pound skein at $18 a skein, its going to be a present for my mom this Christmas. Although since my knitting is a little rusty and I have to work on it at night after the girls are asleep so I can pay attention to the pattern, that means I'm already really tired by the time I grab my needles, and I can only knit about 20 rows, tops! And that's rows with less than 50 stitches and a not very complicated mesh pattern plus some cables!

Still, I'm eager to knit a little bit every night. I love the feel of the yarn, because it's kind of... Buttery. It feels the way buttered sour cream biscuits fresh out of the oven for breakfast taste like, if you know what I mean. The pattern is the hot cup of coffee that goes with it.

It's a turkish acrylic and the color way reminded me of the Noro yarns! I think she's gonna love it, and I really like working with it.

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to start saving and buy more of this yarn in the future!

See you around, friends!

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Warm and cozy

Hey friends! Just want to say hi and show you these cute balls of yarn. What are you making for your loved ones for this Christmas?
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Let me tell you something....

Once upon a time, there was a brown eyed girl who wanted to know everything there was to know in the world. Well, not everything. She's a bit slow for math, so those fields that require intense use of obscure formulas would give her headaches.

She did find she was good at arts. Or at least reasonably good. Ok, passably. She was good at charades and some other useful stuff like that. She found she was terrified of close spaces and at ease in great heights, had no problem with spiders but scorpions, snakes and the such inspired terror. She met and fell in love with a black eyed boy and suddenly she found herself turned into a mommy with two little firecracker princesses.

That girl had a blog. She wrote in it with regularity and she loved it. She met loads of amazing women and became friends with some of them. She found her points of view broadened and her knowledge of the world challenged and nurtured at the same time. She learned many things, tried to unlearn many more and generally had a good time.

This girl has to aknowledge all this and thank you all before admiting that she cannot keep up properly with the blog. And she knows it's ok.

And while she will blog whenever she can, that, sadly is all she can promise. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made and this blog is the one that will not be spared. She will visit you all, and every other month she will post a bit of her life and maybe a bit of her crochet/knit/sewing. I love you all, and I mean it.

um... I might have learned my posies wrong...

But aren't Forget-me-nots supposed to be blue?

Yeah, sort of like this... super blue.

Or even sweet little bunches of light blue...

Shy, sweet little blue things...

oh.... they ARE? blue??? all of them???

Can you tell me then, why did I sow some seeds of Forget-me-nots and instead of the blue little snips of heaven I got .....

PINK?

ORANGE?

and WHITE????

LOL!!!!!!

LOL! they are cute! and kind of exotic, and I don't have a clue what they are, but they are NOT forgetmenots and I am a bit -kind -of-sad-but-i -like-them-anyway. I went to the store and they said the company that makes the seed packets sometimes has commited those blunders... They offered another package, but it only would yield more pink and orange and white flowers, since it is the same batch. I thanked them and went home to my pretty little impostors instead.

Does it happen to you too????? or is it only me that manages to get into this kind of situations????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALE!!!!

It is fabulous Alessandra's birthday today! so hop on to her blog, Just be Happy and show her some love

(you could also drop by her Etsy shop!! she has some GREAT stuff there, I'm telling ya!)

Many Happy Returns of the day, girl! sending you hugs!!!!!

The Stuff Dreams are made of

Lately I've been daydreaming more than usual about my dream house. Over the years, my ideal home has changed. In the eighties it HAD to have a big trampouline in the middle of the living room (ok, I was under 10 years old!) and a pool and a basketball court. All glistening marble, and everything would have to be white, black or silver. And leather. Lots of leather.

Nineties? Hands down, I HAD to have Green Gables. Gilbert Blythe included. Or THE house of Dreams... Or Rainbow Valley.

I blame Jane Austen for the next decade of longing for huge mansions like the Darcy's Pemberley Manor. Grand piano, big estate, statues, paintings, heavy brocade curtains and big furniture included. Mr. Darcy was NOT optional. It was a requirement.

And then I married. And I had two kids. And there's NO WAY I'm doing all the cleaning up in a huge mansion, thank you very much! While the thought of having oodles of servants is appealing (no toilet scrubbing! yaaay!), since I have to deal with so many people on a daily basis, in my home I'm rather inclined to our privacy. I'm uncomfortable with having someone else not of my family or friends in my home. Am I weird?

Well, let me tell you about my dream home, as it is in my mind in these days.

My dream house is

SMALL

(yes, I realize I'm back to Green Gables! No need for Gilbert to apply, though. I'm keeping my hubby, thank you very much! image from dornob)

Well, not THIS small, but it is a good ilustration of what I like (by the way, check out the amazing interior! go visit the blog and see all the cute little things -and the amount of details!!!!!- that can fit into a small , small house like this one!) I want a small house that I can clean up in little time, but with enough rooms for all the things I need (ie, craft room, family room, sleeping quarters for everyone, a good size kitchen)

And I love the quaint look of these victorian houses! aren't they just adorable!?!?!?!

I mean, look at this cutie! check out that front porch! perfect for afternoon crocheting/knitting/embroidering/tea with the girls!

(via The Esparzas on the road.)

wish I had the floor plan for that little house! It is so delicious!

This one is SUPER! just the perfect little house for little old me!

(via The Esparzas on the road.)

Can you blame me for swooning? look at that front porch! I bet there's another one in the back! and that upstairs window is just screaming "craft room!" to me ( if this house was mine, though, I bet my girls would get that room as their bedroom). Actually, this just might be a tough competitor for THE house. It is almost too perfect!

That is the second requirement, as you might have imagined : a porch. I love sitting in porches. I'd put a rocking chair. Or a small swing seat. I'd dring lemonade and bring my basket of yarn to the front porch. Or my book and my cup of coffee. I'd have a bird feeder on the other end of the porch.

The third requirement... I need space

Not inside the house. I'd just be content if it had plenty closets and cupboards (I just love the name of it! cupboard!) wouldn't THIS look just right in my home!

(via Antiques-Atlas)

While we are at it, I want the wicker basket AND the plates AND the hen and rooster... well, EVERYTHING!!!

I want space... for my garden

(via Gardening Coaches)

And for my veggies

( via Home Design Decorating)

And for my hens and critters!

(via Gordon Whistance Design blog)

See, I live in a little house. And it has sort of kind of a porch. And I have some plants. And a balcony (that I love).

But my girls have no room for a closet in their tiny tiny bedroom (one bed, that's it and they share it). And I wish poor little hubby had a room where he could do all the stuff he likes to do without having to stop and put everything away because of the girls and lack of space (he LOVES puzzles... so you see why that is an inconvenient). We have nothing close to a living room, it is more of a living hallway. The kitchen could use some cupboards but since it is such an old house we cannot put them up because they would come right down. And bring the wall with them.

I love my little house and while I wish we had more storage it's the lack of space that mortifies me. The girls have no room to run and play and have fun and just be... children.

And I'm not complaining (ha!) REALLY. I am happy I have something to look forward to, something to dream about. A nice small house with a garden where our family can receive our friends and loved ones. And share a cup of tea.

Snip snip!

It's fun to draw a pattern and cut the pieces! Now on to the sewing machine!
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The little director

Before Mass this Sunday, getting ready to direct the choir. I love this girl of mine! She jumps in with both feet and explodes with joy every single day. The world is not big enough for this fierce little warrior woman. She's fighting since the day she was born and is decided to make an impression in this world. God Bless you and keep your, my little girl!

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Been very busy

I have neglected this blog horribly. And during the girls' vacation, I will be around a computer even less! So this is about to become a "photoblog" for a while!

These are my hens. I would love if someone could tell me the names of the breeds in english! I've been researching and I think the black ones are Plymouth Rocks and the red ones are Rhode Island Reds. They are just fifteen weeks old! the one on the far left is the rooster. :D

See you around, friends!

Drowning our sorrows in bean soup

Our team lost to Uruguay, 1-0. We passed to the next round, but we go against Argentina. Oy!

Better have my bean soup

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VIVA MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reprising our triumph over France on that May 5th,1862, Mexico wins, 2-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

That sound is so relaxing... To me at least. I didn't plan it, I didn't even dream of it! But now we have a jolly set of four roosters and three little hens. Those in the photo are the hens and the smallest of the roosters.

They are all pretty young, so maybe in three months I'll have all I need for an omelette in my patio! Eggs, bell peppers, parsley, basil, aurugula, tomatoes, onion, you name it!

Care to join me then?

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Ale is having a GIVEAWAY!!!!!

The absolutely fabulous Ale from Just Be Happy is having a giveaway!!!!! Adorable woman that she is, she's willing to part with one of her super cute crocheted toys, for a lucky winner who fulfills the terms (quite easy, to be true) of the giveaway. If you want another shortcut to her store, check the top of my right side bar.

Here I leave you with some eye candy from Ale's creations!

Like what you see? well, head to her store and show her some love!

Too hot to sleep

Its supposed to be the rainy season here and it has yet to rain. Since I woke up drenched in sweat and am having trouble going back to sleep, I'm sharing with you my latest attempt: bunny slippers for my girls. In the making!

Sleep's washing over me. I see another of it's multihued waves coming towards me. Its a pink one, wouldn't you know? Good night, sweet souls.

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I need me some blue pots!

Seen on a Side Street in Bakewell, Derbyshire, originally uploaded by UGArdener.

Isn't this image lovely!? what a view!