Toddler vest and bonnet

Growing up, my sister and I were very close to our cousin. The 3 of us were inseparable. Perhaps because we have such a strong link we remained close when life separated us. We have been living on different continents for 17 years now and have been plotting reunion for a while. In one week, we are meeting halfway, in Spain.

We all have kids now, and I cannot wait to see them play together and interact. Getting to know each other through Skype conversations is great, but certainly not enough. I really hope that one day they can share the same bond that our cousin shares with us.

In one of the lovely care-packages my cousin sent for Easter, she also included some lovely yarn, asking me to knit a vest and a hat for her adorable 2 year-old daughter. I was more then happy to oblige. After researching patterns for a bit, I decided to adapt this Joelle Hoverson design. Nothing too fancy, as it is the first time i am veering off a pattern, but it's a start. I incorporated a little heart into the pattern, and I am happy with how it turned out. I have added the detailed notes to Ravelry, if anyone would like to try it as well. It can be easily incorporated into any pattern.

As for the hat, I chose a pattern from the same book, "More Last Minute Knitted Gifts"and I really like the design. It only took 2 evenings to finish. I had trouble with the photos this time around, I am not sure why, this is the best I got.

Mother's Day

I have attempted writing this post several times, and I have to admit I have found it hard. I was planning on writing about my own relationship with my mom, which is certainly not picture-perfect and about my own experience of motherhood, but it turned into more of a rant, a string of thoughts that is more appropriate for my journal then for my blog. So I decided to take a different approach.

Mother's day is about me! I hope that all you mommies out there are treated like royalty and spoiled by the men in your lives! I know you deserve it!

To celebrate, I treated myself to some scrumptious yarn. Now, it has not yet arrived, it is in transit, so I can only show you a picture of the listing, but look at it, is it not the most amazing color palette?

I really hope it will arrive on time for me to take on vacation, because I have some grand plans for it. To me, it looks like the perfect yarn to knit with on the beach.

Before I go off and enjoy the mother's day festivities I thought I'd share my son's theory on how he ended up in this world. He told me recently that he believes his dad and I went to a cave with babies and simply chose him. He keeps asking us why we picked him, and not a girl, why we liked him and not some other child. Maybe it's me, but I think it's adorable.

Another adorable thing is this bouquet of wildflowers he picked for me today. I really could not have picked better in that cave....

The brief appearance of Betsy (White)

In my crafty adventures I've repeatedly come across really interesting and cute DIY's that require you to know how to use a sewing machine. Learning this skill has been on my list of resolutions for a couple of years now.
I am happy to be able to say that I have finally taken my first steps into the sewing world.

An acquaintance was kind enough to give me and old sewing machine, a family heirloom really. It was and old "white" machine from the 60's, very "Mad Men", she is pink!. As soon as I saw her, I decided to name her Betsy (White). As I mentioned, I know nothing of sewing, so I took her to Sonia, my sister's sister-in-law, who's a sewing machine guru (she used to give sewing lessons). Her verdict? Betsy's motor is in great shape, she is however missing some essential pieces, which make her in essence, unusable!

Imagine my disappointment! My dear sister however, came to the rescue and let me borrow her own (largely unused) sewing machine for an extended period of time.

A three hour session, during which I filmed (thank you IPod), and took copious notes, has made me feel confident enough to attempt making a place mat. Here's a glimpse of it, and the somewhat wonky details, but please keep in mind that this is the first thing I have ever sewn.

And I am also missing some basic tools, such as a rotary cutter, properly sharpened scissors, a cutting mat and even a ruler. I had no idea that cutting straight is such a difficult thing to accomplish.

My source of inspiration was this post from Design Sponge, it's incredibly well explained.

And because I was on a roll, I also "whipped up" this little beauty, inspired by a tutorial I found on the "Purl Bee".

And I will be honest, this one isn't perfect either, without realizing I closed the drawstring channel on one side, so it's an absolute pain to close, but hey, that's easily fixed.

Now that I am armed with a sewing machine and have been bitten by the sewing bug, any suggestions on what to try next? Any book suggestions? Any supplies I absolutely have to get?