Red hearts and pies

There is no reason on earth I should love Valentine's day as much as I do. (Really. It's like this.) I've decided that it has a little bit to do with the fact that I never got over the excitement of elementary school and stuffing construction paper valentines in the handmade (from milk cartons) mailboxes on each of my classmates desks. It also has a lot to do with the fact that I love an excuse to craft and I love gift giving. Apart from Christmas, there aren't any other holidays where you give gifts to lots of people. I can make crafty stuff for Halloween, but I don't (always...) give out gifts. Add to all this the tiny girl in me who secretly still loves hearts and pink (and ribbons and doilies and pretty packages) and come the first couple of weeks of February, I tend to go a little bit nuts.

This year I made lavender sachets using two of my new most favorite crafting supplies: my giant cone of bakers twine (which I ADORE and will last me for the rest of my life) and Stiffy (which I cannot discuss with out hearing a chorus of 'That's What She Saids' in my head). The latter is pretty amazing stuff - paint it on fabric, let it dry and you can cut and applique to your heart's content. No hems or fraying and it makes things, um, nice and stiff.

And, because those weren't enough... I decided to make whoopie pies for the first time in my life. And not just plain old chocolate whoopie pies (not that there's anything wrong with them...), but red velvet ones.

(sorry about the crappy phone picture, but I'd eaten way too much sugar at this point and couldn't be bothered to find my real camera...)

Owls

(Look at me blogging!)

A while back a friend mentioned that her 18 month old had outgrown the hats I made for her last year and they'd lost a few others, so were currently short on hats. I promptly took needles to yarn (because baby hats are cathartic - quick and satisfying). I had some bright pink Classic Elite Duchess (currently on closeout at Webs) and planned to make a basic hat with the little one's current favorite animal embroidered on it. Working on it late one evening, after a glass of wine or two, I had the brilliant idea to try to give it ears. A little short-row shaping and the owl hat was born.

The original pink one is there on the right with the owl embroidered on as planned. When realized Valley Yarn's Northampton Bulky was the perfect yarn for these (both pricewise and yardagewise), the hats quickly became an obsession. They knit up super quickly. I tried embroidering on a face on the dark blue one, but wasn't completely thrilled with how it looked or how long it took. The felt face with button eyes is much easier.

I love how each one takes on its own personality.

I whipped these two up very quickly for my old friend Heidi's daughters.

A coworker asked if I could do a tiger version of it for his son. No problem, the hat can easily be converted to any sort of cat face. But then he asked if I could do his daughter's favorite animal - a zebra.

It was a bit of a challenge figuring out how to make it look horse-like. Anisa suggested the mane (which runs all the way down the backside) and then the rest of it took shape.

I've written up the pattern and included templates for the felt face pieces. There are 4 sizes ranging from toddler to adult. Some wonderful friends have tested it for me (thanks Tina, Robyn, Donna and Melissa!). It's available for $3 on Ravelry at: Owls and Tigers and Zebras, Oh My!

I'm completely obsessed and cannot stop making these. I have a big bag of Northampton Bulky sitting next to me right now (I think I bought almost every color available) and plan to spend much of my Christmas break cranking out owls.

Nasty little trees

Oh yeah, I have a blog!

Hi!!!

My brother recently sent me some videos from his new job as the River Restoration Director for the Southwest Conservation Corps in Colorado. I was going to just post the videos here and say a few words (yes, again) about his awesomeness. Just so I didn't say anything stupid and wrong, I checked the SCC website to make sure I had my facts straight first. While there I discovered my brother's bio and was totally impressed. Of course, I knew all of this was going on in his life, but it sounds so much better when it's all put together in one paragraph like this:

Mike grew up in rural Vermont where he grew to love the snow, the mountains and rivers. In the years following high school, he began to explore the varied Southwest and pursue a degree in Ecology and Natural History /Photography at Prescott College in Arizona. Over the summers he labored away, soon leading a trail crew, firefighting and as a lookout in the most remote tower in the lower forty-eight states. Mike finished his formal education by conducting Wild and Scenic river research in the Grand Canyon where his love for rivers really began. Mike was then hired by the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Steamboat Springs, CO, as Project Coordinator where he trained crew leaders and facilitated conservation projects in many stunning locations. Throughout the next few years Mike worked to hone his rafting skills on numerous private trips and worked as head sawyer for a fire mitigation company. Mike has also been carpenter, a snowboard instructor, and an Outward Bound River Instructor. In 2002, he moved to Nederland, CO where he directed the Mountain Youth Corps in Invasive Species inventory, monitoring and treatment. He soon was the Academic Director at the local alternative high school filling the roles of counselor, registrar, disciplinarian, records monitor, independent study facilitator, substitute, and district liaison for Chinook West, a program that serves at-risk youth. He also directed fundraising, coordinated and lead school excursions backpacking in Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, exploring the four corners area, rafting the San Juan River and more. Mike realized that his heart truly lies with conservation work, especially within the canyons of the Southwest, and jumped at the opportunity to reconnect with conservation corps as River Restoration Director.

Doesn't he sound impressive? (I still say the most impressive thing he ever did was to convince Julie to marry him, but that's just my opinion...)

Anyway, here's a couple of videos about the work he's doing on the Durango River. The goal is to remove the invasive species Tamarisk from the river. Tamarisk is a small tree-like plant that grows in dense thickets and has roots that grow 100 feet long and consume a huge amount of water (more than 200 gallons a day). Not only does it choke out native plant species, but the thickets block wildlife (and human) access to the river.

Here's a video that explains the project a bit more:


But this one has my brother narrating at the beginning and he's in it quite a bit - and it includes some of the kids from one of the youth crews:


If you know any young adults who might be interested in joining a crew, info is here.

Full disclosure: I don't knit socks

But if I did knit socks, I would knit them two at a time . I would knit them toe-up (so I could use up all of my yarn and never worry about running out of yarn). I would buy this book. If you knit socks, you should buy it.

Also Melissa is a good teacher and you should take classes with her. You should ask your local yarn store to contact her about teaching. She taught me to knit two-at-a-time and I've done countless mittens and sleeves that way and it is a good thing.

Another disclosure: I am employed as a marketing and sales manager at a publishing company. But not the company that published this book. I'm just plugging the book out of the goodness of my own heart. (And the fact that Melissa delivers me the best fresh eggs - from happy chickens - on a weekly basis and I'm counting on a big jar of honey from her bees later this year has nothing to do with it.)

Soda can stars

In keeping with my family's non-commercial gift-giving which we started at Christmas this year, and inspired by this amazing tin can star mural, I made a soda can garland for my mother's birthday.

I followed Anna's tutorial for making the stars. I made a slightly smaller star template and managed to get 3 stars from each can. I used a metal knitting needle to make the scores and punched small holes on opposite points with an awl. Knowing the garland would spin, I decided to put two stars together so there was no right or wrong side. I matched up the colors/patterns on each pair of stars and made some of the stars with the silver side showing.

I had the idea to use fishing spinners as connectors (they looked at me funny in the sporting goods store when I bought 6 packets of them), but realized quickly that, while one end of the spinner opens like a safety pin, the other end is a closed loop. I thought about adding jump rings between each, but ended up snipping the loop close to the join, attaching a second spinner and closing the loop back up with round nosed pliers. Since the garland doesn't have to hold up to any tension or weight (the stars are almost featherweight), this works fine.


I like the muted colors that come from the organic soda and seltzers that I tend to drink. If you look close you can see one star made from a Pork Slap Pale Ale can (left over from my Lost Season Premier party. Because there are boars on the island. Get it?).

Someone asked if it is very 'owie' and someone else predicted I was going to be covered in blood while making it, but I finished without even a scratch. It's a little prickly and stuck to the cloth bag I wrapped it in and I would keep it out of reach of babies, but otherwise it's fine.

Her feet are no longer big

Happy Birthday Mom!On the back of this photo is written, in my grandfather's handwriting, "Tammy. 7 1/2 weeks. She has big feet."

Nor'easter Hat & Mittens

I have a new pattern for sale on Ravelry - Nor'easter Hat & Mitten set. For those of you who don't live in New England, a Nor’easter is a type of storm common during the winter in the Northeastern US that occurs when cold air coming from the Arctic Air Mass converges with warmer air from the Gulf Stream. These cosy mittens and hat will keep you warm even in the worst snowy weather.

They are a quick knit in chunky yarn and a perfect blank slate for simple embellishments. My embroidery skills leave a lot to be desired, but I learned quite a bit from this book.

100% of the proceeds from Nor'easter patterns sold between now and February 28th will be donated to Doctors Without Borders to assist with their work in Haiti. You can find other patterns for sale on Ravelry whose designers have pledged to donate proceeds to Haitian Relief funds here.

How cute is my colleague Alexandra (Editorial Assistant Extraordinaire) who graciously agreed to model for me?

The white set is done in Valley Yarn's Northampton Bulky which is a nice soft bulky wool (at a bargain price). The dark green set is done in Malabrigo Chunky which is extremely soft (but I have some fears that it will pill up with wear).

Of course the day I finished these, we're having a January thaw and it is too warm and soggy outside for thick woolies. But this is New England and the Nor'easters will come...