• Knitting,  Photography

    Fiona’s Pixie Hood (part 2)

    So I have made quite a bit of progress on Fiona’s new hat. I am following the pattern Zozo Pixie Cables by Amanda Keeys. I made it half way through knitting the hat and realized that I had mis read the pattern. I had to rip it out and start all over again…sigh. However, this is such a quick gratifying knit. I have made it almost back to half way. Here are a few pictures. I love the construction of this hood. The edging is beautiful. I was so anxious to see if it would fit Fiona that I rigged it to stay on even though it is only half…

  • Photography

    Knit Bow Tie

    I have had the idea for a while to make a pattern for knit bow ties. All three of my children were asked to be in a friend’s wedding. She had found the most amazing newsie hats at the Gap. I asked how she felt about the boys wearing knit bow ties and she loved the idea. Here are some photos of the bow ties. I will post more of the wedding photos when the photographer posts them. BOW TIES ARE COOL! Need I say more? He  is obviously thrilled to be dressed up. I matched the color-way (MadelineTosh DK Robin’s Egg) to the invites and the bridesmaid dresses. The…

  • Knitting,  Photography

    Fiona’s Pixie Hood

    I have been meaning, for a while, to knit a hat for my two year old daughter Fiona. I finally found the perfect pixie hood to knit up for her. The designer of this pattern is a friend and briliant photographer/Mom/pattern designer Amanda Keeys. Amanda gave me this pattern a while back and I have been waiting for the opportunity and inspiration to start the project. I found it! This last weekend my children were in a friends wedding. I made knitted bow ties off of a pattern I have been working on for the boys and crocheted lacy headbands for the flower girls. I will be doing a post…

  • Latte Art,  Photography

    Inspiring Coffee

    I personally love achieving the highest quality…one might even say art…in every part of my every day life. Having kids has not allowed me to be as creative in my cooking but I make up for that with my latte art. Before I got married I was a barista for several years. No, I did not learn to do the above latte art at Starbucks. It would be safe to say I am self taught, which I am sure means I am not doing things technically right. Though I am self taught I have definitely been inspired by outside sources. I discovered a few years back Third Wave Coffee  which is…

  • Photography

    Bag o’ Yarn

    I have been on vacation in Portland OR for the last week. It has been a fantastic trip. Spending time with loved ones, drinking cappuccinos, and having access to stores I don’t normally have the ability to go to. I visited one of my favorites a few days ago and purchased a bag of yarn. It was not a pre-made bag of yarn but I purchased enough yarn to fill a bag…thus the title. Yarn is such a source of inspiration for my pattern designing. I always find inspiration in high quality yarns with beautiful color to them. Just processing these pictures I have been imagining what projects I am…

  • Photography

    Spider Mums

    Not having the money to spend on fresh flowers it is a special treat to have them in my home. I purchased some Spider Mums at Costco, 10 for 8 dollars which seemed like a good deal. They are AMAZING flowers. I am so inspired by the intricacy of nature. I find these blooms especially inspiring. Canning jars make the best vases!

  • DIY,  Photography

    Tips For Making Flower Crowns

    My favorite thing to do while hiking is to make a flower crown. They are fairly simple in construction if you know what you are doing. Here are a few tips. When constructing a flower crown you want to find flowers with long supple stems. You will want to shy away from the flowers with stems that break easily or the kind that are very stiff. Those you can use later. Once you have tracked down the perfect base flower pick a bunch and set them in front of you. Or maybe they are along your path and you can collect them as you go. Starting with three strands begin…

  • Photography

    Mountain Lily

    My favorite days are the ones when we can take our whole family on an adventure. Living in the mountains there are many places close to home that allow our kids to get out and give my husband and I a chance to take in nature. Today while on our family hike I found some Wild Mountain Lilies. I snapped a few photos and experimented with some color treatments in Adobe Lightroom. If you have a chance to purchase a photography editing software I would highly recommend Lightroom. You can try the program for free. It is where I do all my photo editing, it is intuitive to use and…

  • Photography

    Perspective and Framing

    While I am testing my Lacy Fingerless Glove pattern I am doing a little photography. For whatever reason photography is a constant inspiration for me. It probably has to do with how beautiful the simplest things can look if you cut out their surroundings. In photography there are many important aspects but one I put a lot of value on is framing…with careful framing you can take a beautiful object out of its mundane or ugly surroundings and allow it to be singular. For example…the foxglove. Beautiful…perfect…especially when viewed without its surroundings. Here is a photo with slightly wider framing. A friend who was watching me take these photos commented…