close knit

I've been knitting pretty much constantly lately. Thanks in part to this.

Close Knit is a knitting and crocheting group that my sister and I started at our church. We wanted a fun, relaxing place to meet people in our church and knit with them or teach them how to knit. (And yes, a logo was very necessary!) We have had a blast! We've been meeting weekly for about a month now and have been surprised and blessed by how much interest we've had in the group. We are focusing our knitting efforts on items to donate to a local homeless shelter. This is one of my contributions.

A scarf/neck warmer with coordinating hat.

Not only are we knitting for a good cause, but I'm cleaning out my yarn stash too!

I want you all to know that starting a group like this is completely out of my comfort zone. Meeting new people and leading a group are not exactly my strong points. But it's amazing what you can accomplish when you use your passion in a way that can help others. God has strengthened my confidence and stretched me as a person and I am very thankful for this opportunity. I'm not telling you this for a pat on the back, but to encourage you to step outside your comfort zone, try something new, volunteer. You'll never regret it.

enjoying the season

Hope you are doing the same.

ready to go...

I've got my knitting all packed up for our trip to the funeral. I could probably be gone for 2 months and not knit all that yarn...but you just never know!

A couple things that have caught my eye recently:

Why not to sew your kid's costume (yes NOT!) Personally I'm looking for any excuse I can find!

Transferring images from your inkjet printer to wood. Using supplies you already have on hand. Seriously. Haven't tried it yet, but my brain is spinning a little from the possibilities.

Hope you have a great weekend!

In Loving Memory

Great Aunt Nellie

August 12, 1909 - October 12, 2009

A very special lady who will be greatly missed. We love you Nellie!

the simple things...

For some reason I find Lego sorting strangely satisfying.

(Cute stackables courtesy of Ikea.)

book making

Okay. Time to get back to blogging. Don't even ask where I've been, or what I've been doing. Couldn't tell you, just wasn't feeling it I guess. But time to jump back in. And just in time for Christmas projects. I love to make gifts for my family and friends but it makes blogging so hard! So there will probably be lots of tiny sneek peeks around here for a while. But rest assured I am taking lots of pictures and will have a big Christmas roundup at the end of the year.

Here's a bit of what I've been working on. Books made from recylced kid's books. I've been on a kick with these for a couple weeks. And last week I hit the book sale at the thrift store - a grocery bag full for $2. Should keep me busy for a while! Sydney constantly scolds me for taking books apart (I've taught her well I guess!) But I am careful to buy the grossest worst books they have, the ones that are practically falling apart already that no one else in their right mind would buy. So, I don't feel too bad about it.

I'm no pro at book binding but I enjoy faking my way through it. I recently ran out of PVA glue and tried to subsitute everything else I had with no success. So that's one thing I do know...glue matters. I think I offered to do a tutorial on this once, but realized I didn't know what I was talking about then. Still not sure if I do but I would be happy to give some guidelines to anyone that's interested. It doesn't have to be quite as technical as you might think.