wooly pulley - part II.

knitting in the round! i'm knitting in the round folks!

or shall i say, i was knitting in the round. i finished the wooly pulley! 

many thanks to the very talented women that i work with who guided me throughout this knitting project. tomorrow i will add it to the collection of helmet liners that will be shipped off to the troops!

beyond acquiring new knitting skills through this project, i've also been able to donate my time and energy to a good cause, which at the end of the day truly feels so wonderful.

knitting this hat (if you want to call it that) has made me think even more about the "travels" of all of our knitting projects. dedicated knitters (and i know of a few of you out there that knit while they are in line at the bank :-) - eh em D.I.!!) know what it's like to take your knitting with you everywhere! this wooly pulley has been on trains, in cars, with me on my couch, at work, and next to my kitty izzy to name just a few places...

so i'm very delighted that it will one day soon be worn with lots of pride and joy...and appreciation for our country!

my schedule is jam packed over these next several weeks with work, school, yoga, family, friends, and, of course, the million other little projects i have committed to. but i'm excited for all that this next season (and semester!) holds.

so with that said, i will need to put down my knitting needles for a little while...so i can focus on finishing my master's program (five months and counting!). i will, however, have more yoga girl updates and designs that i will be posting soon. so check back often! 

homemade valentine.

homemade valentines are by far the best type of valentine to receive. some of my best memories from when i was a child was crafting with my mom. she would always have us making things at the kitchen table, especially homemade greeting cards.

i came across this homemade valentine that i made for my great aunt when i was a little girl. it's nothing but a simple piece of construction paper, and pieces of fabric cut into heart shapes. i must have picked out the fabric but let my mom do the cutting. :-)

even though valentine's day is just a two days away, you still have time to make your loved one a homemade card. here are a few last-minute ideas for you:

block print valentines
hand-stitched valentines
necktie valentines
yes, it's true, a homemade valentine made from onions!
and my favorite...a pop-up valentine's day card

also, if you would prefer to not make a card, check out this adorable tutorial on a jar of hearts. such an easy and unique way to express your love!

 photo credit :: craftzine blog

wooly pulleys.

before i explain what a wooly pulley is (for those of you who don't already know), i want to say how tickled i am by the number of responses that i have received for the yoga girl giveaway! you all sent in so many great sayings. i want to use them all!

for those of you who haven't submitted a response yet, you still have time. the giveaway will end midnight tonight. i'll post the winning quotes/sayings on monday night.

so you ask, "what is a wooly pulley??" well, it's obviously a knitted item as you can tell from the one i'm making below.

it's also something that is worn underneath a helmet, a helmet liner if you will. i've joined up with a few women to take part in operation helmet liner. we are knitting a bunch of these liners for the troops overseas who are subjected to sub-zero temperatures. it's actually been a pretty easy knit so far. and it's gotten me back into the knitting thing again. with school and all, i haven't had time to pick up needles in so long. it's also great to be knitting for a good cause!

i'm nearly done with the neck portion of the liner. then i'll be starting the head portion. if you are a knitter and want to make one, too, feel free to visit the operation helmet liner site to download the pattern and learn more about the project.

sew-a-long, week one.

after a week away in the sunshine state visiting the 'rents for the holiday, i'm back home settling in and trying to focus on all of the things that need my attention over these next few weeks before classes end and christmas arrives, one of which is the sew-a-long that i'm taking part in via one pearl button.

our first assignment was to download the pattern of the item we're making, which is a fabulous reusable grocery bag from burdastyle, and then tape the pattern pieces together.

we also had to find a 3/4 yard of fabric for our bag (this was the fun part!) that would be durable enough yet flexible enough so this bag can easily be stashed in one's purse. so in line with this whole reuse/recycle kick i've been on lately, i decided to use fabric from some large old pillowcases that i had saved from my grandmother's house. i don't remember exactly where the fabric was originally purchased. i think it was a williamsburg print. but when we were moving her out of her house a few years ago, i couldn't bear to see these go. so i saved them.

luckily, i have three large pillowcases...enough fabric for this project in case i should need more. :-) i'm excited to see how this bag turns out. but what i'm even more excited about is to get reacquainted with my sewing machine. more soon...

a sew-a-long!

for the past few years now, i have been itching to learn how to sew. well, the time has finally come! i'll soon be pulling out my sewing machine from the closet to put it to use!

one of my very favorite bloggers, alli, over at one pearl button, has so graciously offered to her readers a sew-a-long! that's right! she's going to teach us how to sew via her blog! i'm so thrilled, yet a little nervous as to how i'm going to fit this into my already hectic schedule that is filled with work, grad school, yoga, and of course spending time with my loved ones.

but as one of my favorite manifestos states, "that which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least." so i'll have to prioritize here to carve out the time to learn this new skill.

stay tuned for updates on my progress!

also, there are some changes a-comin' to cafe taber in the very near future. so check back soon...

my diversion.

i should be doing work for grad school. but, i diverted to creating, yet another, decoupage bracelet, for a dear friend of mine who is moving to arizona this week.

i caught myself staring at the HUGE stack of magazines that i save for these bracelets that i love making so much in my kitchen. so i was forced :-) to take a break from my studies to be crafty for a bit.

(notice the beginning of a new collection of mine in the background...oil lanterns. i love them!)

now, that i've mastered the art of making these fabulous, eco-friendly items, it was a quick, and easy thing to create.


the bracelet in the picture above is one i made recently for myself. if i had it my way, i'd have a million of these to wear! i just think they are so stylish and such a great way to reuse/recycle old magazines that you have laying around.

i hope my girlfriend likes the one i made for her...i'll post pictures when it's done...and dry!

bangles. berries. beer.

:: more decoupage bracelet making with my lady friends. ::


:: the one with the peace sign was made for a very dear friend of mine. ::


:: then off to burlington, vermont to visit the sister for some beer tastin' and berry pickin'. ::


:: burlington brew fest 2009 ::

:: organic raspberries and blueberries are what i was pickin' at adam's berry farm. ::

bracelets.

i got creative recently. i had a bunch of chunky...and not so chunky bracelets that i never wore, mainly because they were hidden in my dresser. so i put to use a black wrought iron paper towel holder. it lives on top of my dresser and now displays all of my bracelets.

just today, i added another one to the stack... a beautiful handmade mala bracelet from a dear friend and yogini of mine. well, actually, it was made by her sons. so thoughtful!

buttons.

there's been a button frenzy lately on several of the blogs and websites i visit daily that i can't quite understand. this button tutorial on craftstylish and this new button book that soulemama mentioned on her blog gave me inspiration to check out my own collection of buttons.

so i pulled down from the closet my sewing kit that, i must note, was given to me by my father. yup! instead of tool kit, my papa gave to my sister and me each our own sewing kits filled with items that my grandmother used years ago.



beautiful spools of thread, old vintage metal scissors, and the best part, her very own labels (pictured above) is what he filled our kits with.

among all of these treasures, i found my collection of buttons scattered everywhere inside. several of them were in those small little white bags that are attached to new clothing (yikes! is that a sign?). the others were miscellaneous ones that i found and collected over the years.

after i gathered all of my buttons, i plopped them into a jar and decided to display them, along with all of the vintage spools of bright color thread from my grandmother. they all seemed too pretty to put right back into the closet.

so their new home resides on a shelf in my bedroom where i can admire them every morning and every evening.


now for those of you who are feeling left out because you don't have any buttons (and, truthfully, i think you have a collection stashed somewhere in your drawers), have no fear, you can get a scoopful of buttons here for just a few dollars.

and in celebration of buttons, i've added a new blog to my blogroll over there to the right, 3 buttons! check her blog out!

more dollhouse.

i spent most of last sunday afternoon working on my dollhouse with my aunt. i'm finally done stripping all of the wallpaper that i had glued on haphazardly when i was younger.


here i am cleaning up my mess. next i have to pick out the wallpaper. i need some guidance with this because there are sooooo many options out there. i've been looking through a ton of magazines and to get ideas.


this really is so fun! especially since it allows me to spend time with my aunt/godmother (pictured below). she's been such a guiding force in my life. it's so wonderful to spend this time with her and learn from her.


so stay tuned for more updates...

dollhouse.

i began the renovation process of my childhood dollhouse yesterday. i've been wanting to do this for some time now. my aunt (and godmother) has been my inspiration. she has created the most beautiful dollhouses you could ever imagine. she made one for herself, which is a replica of monet's house. when i say not one detail was missed, i mean it! my aunt has a knack for this and she's going to help me and teach me how to bring my dollhouse to life. with electricity and all!


it's important to understand the backstory of this dollhouse. you see, it was actually given to me and my sister in the early eighties at christmas time by all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents on my dad's side of the family. each family member gave us a piece of furniture for the house. as we opened each gift, we were so confused why we were getting all this miniature furniture. it wasn't until my two cousins walked into the room carrying the dollhouse with a sheet over it that we realized we were given a house to put all of the furniture in. honestly, it was a dream come true for me. probably less for my sister, because she was more of the tomboy. but over the years, i've preserved the furniture as best i could and made my own attempts, when i was younger, to wallpaper and paint it (i didn't do a very good job).


now, after 25 years, i'm ready to transform it into a "shabby chic" miniature place! i'll be sure to share pictures along the way. the ones in this post are of the house before i stripped the wallpaper from a couple rooms yesterday. can you believe i used elmer's glue? i was 10 years old. what did i know?