A Little Red Riding Hood

This would be my most ambitious knitting project yet, and I actually started and ended in time for the Knitting Olympics. Unfortunately, I never officially joined. Knowing that I was making something for Emily encouraged me to Really Get To It. The jacket doesn't fit her now--it's definitely too big. Especially the hood. I'm hoping that next Fall it will fit properly. I also learned a thing or two about deceptive photography. Okay. I love the pictures in every Debbie Bliss book I've ever flipped through. Notwithstanding is the above picture of a genderless sweet baby in Hooded Jacket. But notice how the top of the hood is not visible. Know this: it was not visible in any picture of Hooded Jacket. All I had to help me visualize this appendage was the directions, which meant little to me because I am a Novice. All of this to say that I was not particularly happy with the outcome of the hood and would have done it differently if I suspected that it would look huge and strange or actually knew how to make it better. It looks okay in the above picture of Emily, but I had to do some arranging and took several shots before I had a fine presentation of Hooded Jacket. Alas, it may look quite fetching next Fall. Perhaps.

On the up-side, I finallly learned how to do the mattress stitch, which is simply amazing. I had no idea I could make invisible seams! It felt like magic. I showed it to Evan, and even he was impressed. I love the light-catching button too. It's hard to see in the pictures, but it looks like a giant, plastic diamond.

A Quick Update

It's been a while... I have these great hopes of posting pictures of all these things I've made and all my accomplishments over the last two weeks. But the reality is that I've knitted two things, and that's about it. I made a "red riding hood" for Emily and a beret for her to wear next winter. I will post pictures, so please don't give up on me yet! I still need to finish the seams on her jacket. I used the pattern from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby, which I really love for all of its simplicity (hence the name). However, since I can't afford fine yarn at present, I must confess to using very, very cheap stuff for this project.

A Valentine or Two

I expected nothing for Valentine's Day. It's so close to our anniversary that I figured we would eventually combine the two holidays and then have a separate celebration or getaway in the Fall. It all made sense in my little mind. But Evan is the King of Trickery, and he surprised me last night with a delicious meal, a babysitter, chai, and this most hilarious book from which he read. It may not have been a candlelit dinner with a dozen roses, but who wants that boring-ness anyway? I much prefer his creative deceit. Someday I'll share how he proposed to me in Annapolis, MD when I was quite certain he was in Dunnellon, FL about to die in a hurricane. Perhaps I'll save that for the anniversary of said proposal.

The main dish that Evan prepared for our dinner last night was brie-stuffed chicken. He found it online in a search for "Valentine meal ideas." Whaddya know? The kitchen is still a mess since we high-tailed it to the coffee shop as soon as the babysitter arrived. I so dread cleaning it, but perhaps memories of the lovely dinner that destroyed kitchen will lighten the load. Or at least lighten my spirit.

A Rainy Day in Tulsa

What better pick-me-up than watching Singin' in the Rain on a rainy day? Emily and I have had a lovely day of watching my favorite movie, listening to classical music, and reading the B-I-B-L-E. I was amazed that she sat quietly in my lap as I read several chapters in Exodus. At the beginning of the year, I set a resolution to read through the Bible in a year. After about 25 days of staying basically on track, I suddenly just stopped. So now I'm so far behind that I might as well change my goal to reading it in two years. I guess the goal is not the point. Anyway, Emily seems to be soothed by classical music. I had NPR classical radio streaming from my laptop as I read, and she just played with her toes.

A Fresh Introduction

So I barely got started on here before I completely abandoned the craft blogging world. I forgot my login, my password, and my url. I guess you could say that I was a bit busy and distracted. In the mean time, I had this little girl. This picture is actually a few months old now, seeing as how Emily just had her 4 month birthday on Saturday and was quite new when this was taken. Needless to say, my life has changed a bit. I have been crafting like crazy, but I've hardly snapped any pictures of my work, and I certainly haven't blogged about it. I would like for that to change, so Today I Am Starting Afresh. I might not blog every day, but I will do my best!

To start things off, I'll share a little more about myself. I, Kristena:

• wanted to be an artist from the age of 6.
• have been married for almost 2 years to my college sweetheart, Evan.
• used to work for a big corporation as a proposal editor but have happily moved on to my life's calling- motherhood and its creative accompaniment!
• started looking... err... lurking last summer and am recovering (as you can see).
• really like Nesquik chocolate milk, though it does not like me.
• have a newfound appreciation for acrylic yarn.
• am from South Carolina.
• procrastinate.