Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! 

Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I have been caught up in the celebrations and neglected my crafts! I've also been organizing like a mad woman.  I have been working on the simplicity dress to wear on Christmas Eve, but just couldn't finish the final details in time. Just the hem to finish now, pictures to come in 2011. Hope everyone has a wonderful night, farewell 2010, and hello to 2011!

Merry Christmas!

Sugar cookies with crushed life savor center

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you are enjoying the holiday.

Love, Erika

Santa's Suprise!

Christmas stocking are a special family tradition around here. My Mom's Godmother made hers, my Mom made mine from the same pattern and she made my brothers. They are our favorite thing to take out every Christmas. But somehow my Dad never had his own, he had a store bought one which made him feel like an orphan! (It didn't help the situation that we always put a lump of coal in his stocking). So this year I decided to make him his very own stocking.

A local yarn store The Blue Purl in Madison, NJ, happened to have a Elegant Heirlooms trunk show. They have the most beautiful Christmas stockings, and they even have some for Hanukkah! The kit comes with all the yarn, and all you need is a size 5 needle. It is knit flat, and cannot be done in the round because the intarsia is only done on the front. This pattern is different than the traditional ones I have seen, the Santa is more complex, with many more colors and the design is only on the front, not the back, so the color changes are more frequent. It is a pretty long stocking, we will have to fill it with lots of goodies. Merry Christmas!



The family Christmas stockings



5 Minute Christmas Craft

 It's Christmas cruch time, T-minus 8 days! I made this simple pin to decorate my plain white beret. All you need is green and red felt, and a pin back. I traced the leaf shape from a holly leaf from outside onto the green felt, cut it out, along with 2 red circles and hot glued it to a pin. So easy, and really cute. I was planning on adding glitter and a jingle bell, but sometimes things are better when they are simple. I made one for my aunt too and she LOVED it. This is a perfect last minute craft.

Beatnik Babe Pullover

This is the beatnik babe sweater from The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book, which I reviewed in a blog post a few weeks ago. I started working on it a few days ago and I LOVE IT. I've been in a bit of a knitting slump, and just a general crafty slump. I have been knitting with mohair for too long and needed a break. I did say I was going to work on a Christmas dress but I'm waiting for lining fabric to come in the mail. So I decided to start something new!

I'm using what the pattern called for, three colors of Manos del Uruguay classica in Citric and Calypso, but instead of black I decided to lighten it up with a lighter grey color. The patten also calls for facings in a regular worsted weight yarn, which I did in a pink color, to add an extra level of fun. I'm also working on a Christmas stocking right now, but can't show because it might ruin the surprise!



Thank you Mood!

I went to Mood this week to get some fabric for the projects I've been scheming. The bottom is a white with blue squares shirting cotton. It will be perfect for a summer blouse, it looks really cute and retro.

The second is some kind of silk crepe I will be making this blouse with. I bought really cute buttons which you can't really see and all I need is some piping and it will look just like a top from Anthropologie.

The third is a cotton/silk blend that I'm going to make into a dress, possibly for Christmas. I'm going to make the dress with the stand up collar, which is just screaming for a pin. Hopefully i have enough fabric to make the version with sleeves. Hopefully. I also went to pacific trimming and bought a riri zipper to use with it. I'm very excited about it. Is it strange to be excited about a zipper? Riri zippers are made in Italy, and I've noticed its the kind of zipper they use in some of my fancier purses. I'm going to make muslin for the dress and see how it fits, this is the first time I've really used a pattern from the big pattern brands.