Poll the Audience

So I am going to be entering a few things in the County Fair again this year. I am putting in the Grow Like a Weed Jacket I made for Eli last winter, and probably something crocheted. I also thought I'd try my hand at submitting a photo or two. I'm sure there's stiffer competition in the photography department than needle arts, but I thought it would be fun anyway. I thought I'd poll all my esteemed readers and see which you like best to help me decide which (if any) I should submit. Keep in mind, I'm only allowed to submit one per category, and the categories I could enter are:

• Portrait - Posed
• Nature - Scenic (animals or people in photo are minor elements)
• Animals, Insects
• Human Interests - people being active
• Flowers
• Unclassified - Architecture, Still Life, etc.

So, the following photos are the ones I'm thinking of entering - tell me your opinion!

A:


B:


C:


D:


E:


F:


G:


H:


I:


J:


K:

Whiteout

If I were an artist, I would be in my White Period. I have been having an itch to knit and do so exclusively with white/undyed yarn! I completed a modified feather and fan cloth last week to add to my growing collection of items to sell at an upcoming community event.




I also have been working on a Falling Water scarf. I just love the simplicity of the pattern (only an 8 row repeat) and how it is interesting and lacy without being girly. If you aren't a Ravelry member, you'll have to wait and see what I mean when I post some finished, blocked photos - un-blocked, this scarf is not that impressive as you can see below.

Goldilocks' Debut

You may remember way back when I shared that I was working on a dress and doll on commission from my mom as a gift for my daughter's birthday. My mom had found an old Goldilocks and the Thee Bears doll that was mine as a girl and asked me to replace the clothing. Its a flip doll - one way is Goldilocks, the other is the Three Bears.






She also asked me to make a dress in matching fabric that Anna could wear. I went with a pillowcase style dress which was super easy and quick. Its been done for some time, and I had a hard time waiting to give it to Anna, because I just wanted to see how it looked on her!

Last week Anna turned four, and my mom presented her with the dress and matching doll. It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but once Anna put on the dress and got compliments and then noticed that the doll looked just like her (blond hair, blue eyes, piggie tails) she was smitten! So much so, that she almost refused to take the dress off that night.









Goldilocks even won a most coveted place in her bed - she's only allowed two stuffed animals and each night its a tough choice! It certainly made this crafty mama feel good to see my hard work so appreciated!

Harvest

The garden is growing like gangbusters. I'm finally getting to eat some of the fruits (or vegetables) of my labor.

carrot, dill, green beans, sugar snap peas, cilantro, and chives

I turned a handful of veggies and herbs into a delicious meal for friends. While I did purchase the main ingredients, something from the garden made it into each dish! Like my teeny tiny carrot? I'll have to till the soil deeper if I grow them again - they hit the clay and stopped growing down, just got fat.

I'm also have a nice crop of knit and crochet items these days :) I bought a whole bunch of worsted weight cotton yarn and have enjoyed making a few kitchen items. I plan to sell these and a lot more in September in a community event my friend's non-profit is putting together.

Super Simple Flower tawashi

another Vineyard Washcloth

Scrubbie Dots

Fishie Washie

What are you harvesting this summer?

The Garden Experiment

So far my garden is coming along nicely. Everything I've planted has had at least some, if limited, success. There are:

sugar snap peas (the first blossom!)

green beans

carrots

grape tomatoes

chives

broccoli
(in the background you can see some cilantro and dill donated by a friend who had excess... still not sure if they're gonna make it!)

and cantelope

Don't mind all the weeds. I'll get to them in good time :)

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

I found these to be an easy, quick and inexpensive gift for the kids' teachers this year. A handmade washcloth with some goodies wrapped inside!

Birthday Bolero

I finally finished Anna's birthday bolero. I used Sirdar's pattern 1676 but altered it significantly. I much prefer top-down patterns to bottom-up, and since I wanted this to be shorter than the pattern intended I decided top-down would be the way to go. I also hate seaming, and this pattern was written to make 5 pieces, sew them all together, then do the border. I figured it would be fairly simple to re-write as a raglan instead.


I didn't have enough yarn to make the long sleeves, so I went for short sleeves since this is for summer dresses. After working the body and going back to work on the sleeves I did some pleating and decreases before working on the cuff.


I am really happy with how it turned out, and my daughter liked it too! Last night was my son's preschool graduation, and since I finished the bolero yesterday I simply couldn't wait till her birthday to have Anna wear it :)

(you'll have to take my word for it that she liked it... she was in a bad mood in this photo!)