slateblu

happy halloween

Happy Halloween!  Here's my son's rendition of a pumpkin.  He wanted a lot of eyes!

On the crafty front- I made more zippered pouches:

Have a safe Halloween!

work in progress | cookies

I'm working on the Odessa hat.  It's very interesting and fun to knit.

...And more goodies from Hawaii...my aunt, uncle & cousin brought this for us fom the Honolulu Cookie Co.

Anne brought me a couple to try on her last visit to Hawaii.  They're very very good!

zippered hobo bag | strawberry

My sister and I took another sewing class from Muse.  We made the hobo bag. 

Look: we used an "o" ring.

If you have extra red and green yarn, you can knit this strawberry:

You can find the pattern here.

I also joined the Phildar Swing Jacket Knitalong. My attempt to actually knit something for myself.  It looks like a very big project so we'll see how long it takes me to finish.

gifts from the mail

I received goodies from My Little Mochi.  I asked if she would be kind enough to translate a sewing pattern for me and she agreed.  She gave the translation and extra goodies for the kids and me. 

I must say that her craftmanship is exquisite!  Such detail to her work. The bunny and bib are for Ava...

Remeber this fruit? 

Here are goodies for Jason:

Thanks so much Myra!  Everything is great.  I will post a picture of the shirt I make once I attempt it.

swaps

I participated in the International Scarf Exchange and the One Yard Swap. I got both my packages.  I'll be sending mine out in the mail today.

Here are pictures:

This is from Zonda.  (She was my secret pal for the one yard swap).

The fabric is Yoshiko Jinzenji.

Look at all the goodies she gave me too.  Thanks Zonda!

This is what I got for my scarf exchange...

It's so uniquely knitted.  It came all the way from New York  from Joni. Since it was a secret pal swap, I don't have her link yet.  I'll post when she sends it to me. She also sent me some tea, chocolate, soap, a tape measure and some buttons. Thanks Joni!

You've seen the scarf I've knitted.  Here is the package that I'm sending out to my one yard swap pal:

shopping at bloomingdales

They recently opened a Bloomingdales here in San Francisco. Today my sister, my son and I took a little shopping trip.  Here are some pictures of the newly added shopping mall.  I bought a Tokidoki lesport sac mini bag and a new belt. Bloomingdales gives you these big bags when you make any kind of purchase.

Riding home on BART - a picture of my sister & son:

Oh -- look at this family lounge - see pictures here.  You can nurse privately and change diapers in this very clean environment.  Next time I can take Ava with me.

crafty weekend

I did a lot this weekend.  I finished my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. We drove to Sacramento on Saturday for a party and I was able to finish it in that two-hour long drive.

On Sunday, my sister and I made these envelope clutch bags.  We got the pattern from here.  It was very easy to do.  They're good for weddings or dinners...something you just need to keep keys, id and lipstick in.  This is our first time using magnetic snaps...not hard at all.

I made this one:

My sister made this one:

work in progress friday

Fabric is cut, now the bobbins just need to be wound and the needle to be threaded...

The person I learned to sew from is selling some of her patterns here.  Take a look.

more cupcakes and fabric

More cupcakes...My sister and I made the strawberry cupakes from this book.  It's not exactly from scratch but the strawberry cream cheese frosting was. They were very good.

Look at what I received from Caitlyn of Knot Without My Knitting.  It's Amy Butler and Junko Onishi fabric.  I love it.  I plan to make her something in return.  Thanks Caitlyn!

cupcakes

For my cousin's baby shower I made the Billy Reece cupcakes.  You can find the recipe here.  I'm not much of a buttercream frosting person but I did make it for these cupcakes.  FYI: it's the exact same buttercream frosting that Magnolia makes except they add one more teaspoon of vanilla.  I wish I had used the cream cheese frosting from Martha Stewart.  I may have overbeaten the mixture.  I think the Magnolia recipe to me does taste a little better but I haven't made them for awhile so I can't be quite sure. Anyway here are some photos. I also got a new toy... the Williams Sonoma Mechanical Pastry Bag.  I was still getting the hang of it so my cupcake decorating wasn't too creative.

BTW: The Gymboree gift boxes make great cupcake transporters.