Leap Day Wordless Wed

Things I've finished today in a frantic February is for Finishing wrap-up blitz.  Details on these projects coming but for now some quick 'n dirty instagram fun.  Also don't forget that while Feb may be over the last Feb is for Finishing contest runs until Friday!




 Happy Leap Day!!!

February is for Finishing - Contest #4

Gah!  So I meant to post this on Friday as per usual but a combo of out of town guests and head colds pretty much ended that plan.  Better late than never, though, right!  And since I'm late posting it I'm going to extend the contest until this Friday.  So a couple of days into March as a bonus to finish everything up.

Anyways on to the last week of fabulous prizes!

Lake Michigan Treats Prize Package 

This package of delicious treats was put together by Lori - a fellow Great Lakes Enthusiast:


The photographs are mine but this wonderful package of deliciousness includes:
A loose Tea set, tea mesh ball, and honey from Light of Day Organic Teas
Grocer's Daughter Chocolates (Holy, yum, batman)
Cherry Berry Nut Mix, Chocolate Covered Dried Red Tart Cherries from American Spoon
Cherry Berry Spoon Fruit, Black and Blue Spoon Fruit from American Spoon
Tart Cherry and Wild Blueberry Nibblers from Just Good Chocolate

Seriously amazing package.  All of it is local to Michigan - specifically Little Traverse Bay.  I'm such a sucker for local food.  Also Chocolate.  Thanks so much, Lori!!!

Crafty Goodness Class
The second prize is from the store Crafty Goodness in Lakewood, Ohio.  I love this store and I love what it's doing for the crafting community so I"m thrilled that they wanted to play along:

This prize includes a beautiful fused glass necklace and a voucher for a buy one get one free class.  Here's there class list so you can see their many offerings.  Lots to choose from in lots of different mediums! Anyways because obviously this prize is only applicable for people who live nearby if you want to be entered into the drawing for this one please put CLE after your name.  You will still be entered in to win the Lake Michigan Prize Package as well!

Once again this linky is open until midnight on Friday, March 2!

Full rules listed below.  Yay for our last contest!

Full Entry info and Contest Rules:

Every project that you finish in the month of February can be a new entry into one of these contests!  It doesn't have to be knitting or sewing related.  Anything creative that you started before February will count.

To enter post a picture of something you finished in February to the linky in this post.    It doesn't have to be on a blog - flickr, facebook (hint you can find a link to share a gallery if you go to that gallery page), ravelry, will all work.  If you leave the url portion of the linky blank it will give you an option to upload an image from your own computer.  That's fine, too.  You must also include an email address so that I know where to contact you if you win.

If you finish something made out of Destination Yarn you receive an additional entry per project.

To receive an additional entry per project:  Link back to this site wherever you post your picture.  (again blog, facebook, flickr, ravelry, wherever.)

To receive another entry per project:  Tweet the project and a link back to this page.  Include @Sourire11 so that I know that you tweeted it.

So for every project that you finish you can earn up to 4 entries into a contest! 

The linky will be live until next Thursday at midnight when I will close it out and pick a winner.  Then the next day I will post the contest for the next week with it's own linky.

Happy Finishing!!! 

Yarn, a Hat, and Mobility

So first of all this:


Yay!  I had such a blast at my show with Yarn Cravin' last year we decided to try it again.  Should be funtimes.  Plus I have a couple of new colorways in the works that should make this show extra special.  Hope to see you there!

Until then I did list a few skeins of the Frozen Great Lake colorway due to popular demand...

In other news I finished a hat:


It's the Queenie pattern by Woolly Wormhead on Ravelry here.

Honestly I'm pretty meh on the whole thing.  The yarn was picked by my daughter.  I took her to River Colors awhile ago where she immediately went to their pile of Destination Yarn and told me she wanted it.  Um... no.  Sorry, kid.  You can get that at home.  Anyways she then had a great time telling me she wanted all of the yarn.  No, really.  All of it.  I understood how she felt.  But eventually she zeroed in on this sequined white cotton and some bright, BRIGHT pink Cascade 220.


Wouldn't have been my first pick.  At all.  So I started this hat for her and then quickly abandoned it for the kitty hat that she had no creative input into.  But since this is Feb is for Finishing I dusted it off and finished it for her:


The pattern was very well written but I'm just not a huge fan of the proportions of the finished hat.

She looks a bit... odd.  Perhaps it's just too big for her still.



Finally, the dude is MOBILE.  I mean I know his name means "Man of the World" and we wanted him to be up for adventure and all of that but I didn't really think that would apply LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER HE STARTED CRAWLING.  Seriously, this kid has no fear, is speedy-quick, and just wants to go exploring.  It's amazing how far he can get / what he can get into the second my back is turned or my hands are occupied.  I'm pretty sure this development as derailed the rest of my Feb is Finishing goals.  GAH.

February is For Finishing Week 2 Winner

So you guys blew me away last week with your finished projects!  Quilts!  And Sweaters!  And so. much. pretty!  I was proud to finish a dress but... man you guys have stepped up your game.  One of my favorites was this beautiful shawl knit out of Destination Yarn Copenhagen:

Knit by the fabulous AndiRN

So pretty!  Although I might be a little bit biased... and of course now I want to knit one of these out of every. single. colorway which kindof defeats the purpose of this whole finishing thing.  D'oh.

Anways! drumroll please... this week's winner thanks to Random.org is....Stephanie over at Sometime She Knits!  Stephanie won with this lovely pair of mittens:

 

 Yay Stephanie!  I'll be contacting you soon to get your your prize.

And if you didn't win last week there's still plenty of time to enter this week's contest - it's the one with the yarn so you really don't want to miss out!

In other news my kid is completely mobile:

and therefore into everything.  His first action as a completely mobile kid?  Scoot on over to the dog bowl and have himself a snack.  Greeeeat.

February is for Finishing - Contest #3

Hey All!  So this contest post is a bit late in publishing... I've been fighting a migraine all week so I'm basically behind on everything...  But!  There are still fabulous prizes to be had!

February is for Finishing Prize Package #3: Collaborating is Cool.


So this week's Prize theme came about because all of these prizes were donated through collaborating on something unrelated to February is Finishing.  All of these lovely ladies wanted to play along with me on this, too.  Yay!  Also this is the package with the yarn.


First up, in honor of our new Warm Up Your Wellies Boot Liner pattern, is a sewing pattern from Clever Charlotte:

The Raven Hoodie and Pants is stylish on either a girl or a boy plus the Hoodie is reversible!  I can picture it in all sorts of adorable fabric combinations.

And since Destination Yarn and Clever Charlotte seem to go so well together I am adding a skein of Frozen Great Lake to this prize package:

This colorway has thus far only been available at trunk shows or through sock clubs so not many people have it.  Also seems fitting considering this is a February contest and all (even if there's no way the lake is going to freeze this year).  Stay tuned, though.  I will be adding some of this to the etsy site soon!

Next up is is this fantastic mug cozy from my blog buddy Kisha:
Her Etsy store Little Crafts and Other Things is filled with beautiful handknits like this. Really beautiful, high quality pieces - I especially like the lace scarves.

Finally is a $10 gift card from Kristan's shop Polished Design (and on Facebook Here):

Her printable digital artwork would look fantastic in any home.  Plus they can be printed as many times you want in whatever size you want!  She also she does custom announcements and invitations which are also completely adorable and modern.

Here's the linky to enter (full list of rules and additional ways to enter are at the bottom of the post):

Happy Finishing!!!


Full Entry info and Contest Rules:

Every project that you finish in the month of February can be a new entry into one of these contests!  It doesn't have to be knitting or sewing related.  Anything creative that you started before February will count.

To enter post a picture of something you finished in February to the linky in this post.    It doesn't have to be on a blog - flickr, facebook (hint you can find a link to share a gallery if you go to that gallery page), ravelry, will all work.  If you leave the url portion of the linky blank it will give you an option to upload an image from your own computer.  That's fine, too.  You must also include an email address so that I know where to contact you if you win.

If you finish something made out of Destination Yarn you receive an additional entry per project.

To receive an additional entry per project:  Link back to this site wherever you post your picture.  (again blog, facebook, flickr, ravelry, wherever.)

To receive another entry per project:  Tweet the project and a link back to this page.  Include @Sourire11 so that I know that you tweeted it.

So for every project that you finish you can earn up to 4 entries into a contest! 

The linky will be live until next Thursday at midnight when I will close it out and pick a winner.  Then the next day I will post the contest for the next week with it's own linky.

Happy Finishing!!!

Warm Up Your Wellies Boot Liner Pattern

So my friends over at Clever Charlotte asked me to collaborate with them on a pattern for their Winter Wool Series.  They have a fantastic line of sewing patterns for children that have a modern yet ready to wear feel.  Super cute stuff - and a small business run by Cleveland women.  Always a good thing!  Anyways I had a blast working with Erin on this pattern:

A fleece boot liner with a knit cuff.  Perfect for making the plastic wellington boots warm enough for the cold of winter:

The pattern is free and downloadable through Ravelry.  The instructions include the knitting pattern for the cuff - both a flat and a knit in the round options - along with instructions and printable pattern pieces for sewing the fleece liner.  The cuff is then sewn to the liner and folded over the top of the boot.  Stylish and functional!

The pattern requires 1/2 yard of fleece fabric and approximately 200 yards of DK weight yarn.  It is shown in Destination Yarn Souvenir in the colorway "Spring Break" (currently sold out but more will be available soon!).  

If you're worried about the sewing part fleece is a super forgiving material to work with.  Plus Erin has put together a fantastic photo tutorial breaking down all of the steps here:  Warm Up Your Wellies Tutorial.

I hope you enjoy this new, free pattern!

Download the FREE Warm Up Your Wellies Boot Liner Pattern Here.

Note:  All of the photographs in this post are courtesy of Erin Wagner at Clever Charlotte.

A Warhol Dress for Valentine's Day

So first of all the very first winner in the February is for Finishing contest is Emily!  She won for this lovely entry:

The pattern is called the Straightforward Mitts.  Love!  I may need to make a pair of these myself once Feb is over...

I will be contacting you soon to get you your prize package!  There is still plenty of time to enter this week's contest.  I was thrilled to come home from Florida and see all of your entries.  Can't wait to see what you guys finish next!

Anyways!  On to something that I finished... A Warhol Dress:


I actually started this dress for my daughter to wear for last Valentines Day.  It's up-cycled from two of my old stained t shirts.  Unfortunately last year the day before V-day she broke her leg.  And then so many other things flew off the rails.  And then I had a baby.  Needless to say I never finished this dress.  Never even wanted to look at it again, actually.  I even associated the dress with all of the bad juju of that time. 

That's silly, mommy.  You know what's not silly?  Wearing a Valentine's Day dress with a Halloween Neck-a-lace.

As part of this whole Feb is for Finishing deal I wanted to get rid of any of these bad vibes projects.  Even if that meant scrapping them. But this one seemed to still fit her so I finished it up and actually kindof love the result:

I told her to strike a pose and this is what she did.

 The pattern is the Warhol Dress from the Made Blog.  I seem to be going through a phase with the made projects.... huh.  Anyways from what I remember it was super simple.  I used the same ruffles from this skirt and think it's a super cute bottom for the dress:



I'd love to make one of these again in a slightly bigger size... i think I have a striped shirt that needs upcycled somewhere.  Hmmmm....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

I am one lucky girl, btw.

February is for Finishing - Contest #2

So this Feb is for Finishing is going great so far!  I"m loving seeing all of the projects you guys have been finishing!  Totally inspired by your work.  Now if only I could get it together to finish something more substantial than some paper flowers.... Anyways I"m actually in Florida right now so I'm going to announce last Friday's winner on Monday when I get back.

On to this week's Awesome:


February is for Finishing Fabulous Prize Package #2:  Cleveland Craft Coalition.

So this week's theme is the Cleveland Craft Coalition.  I was inadvertently a part of one of their events once and think that what they are doing is just fantastic.  So I reached out to a few of their members and they donated some truly fabulous prizes for this giveaway.  And if you want to check out their wares in person they will be in Lakewood tomorrow for their  Valentines Day Show.

First up is Enola's Enchanted Grove:

Liz donated a gift set of herbal soaps.  They are handmade with a gentle base, botanical and essential oils, no dyes, no artificial coloring no 'fragrance' oils. They sound like a great way to pamper yourself!

Next is from Jenbuza Bags:

Her tagline is fun. funky. fabulous.  And I think that about sums it up!  I'm not sure what specifically she's donating just yet  (will update after I pick up the prize) but I love both of her styles of bags... the up-cycled man's suit into bag is crazy cool. 

Finally is the Bonsai Tree from fOUR fISH iNK:

This is a hand-pulled linoleum print, meaning that every part of the process: drawing, carving, inking and printing were all done by hand!  I don't know much about that process but wow do I love the end result!

Here's the linky to enter (full list of rules and additional ways to enter are at the bottom of the post):

Happy Finishing!!!



Full Entry info and Contest Rules:

Every project that you finish in the month of February can be a new entry into one of these contests!  It doesn't have to be knitting or sewing related.  Anything creative that you started before February will count.

To enter post a picture of something you finished in February to the linky in this post.    It doesn't have to be on a blog - flickr, facebook (hint you can find a link to share a gallery if you go to that gallery page), ravelry, will all work.  If you leave the url portion of the linky blank it will give you an option to upload an image from your own computer.  That's fine, too.  You must also include an email address so that I know where to contact you if you win.

If you finish something made out of Destination Yarn you receive an additional entry per project.

To receive an additional entry per project:  Link back to this site wherever you post your picture.  (again blog, facebook, flickr, ravelry, wherever.)

To receive another entry per project:  Tweet the project and a link back to this page.  Include @Sourire11 so that I know that you tweeted it.

So for every project that you finish you can earn up to 4 entries into a contest! 

The linky will be live until next Thursday at midnight when I will close it out and pick a winner.  Then the next day I will post the contest for the next week with it's own linky.

Happy Finishing!!!

My kid's thoughts on Project Runway Plus a Story.

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter the first February is for Finishing contest!  There's not too many people entered yet so your chances to win some fabulous prizes are pretty good!

So.  I have NO choice in my daughter's clothing.  Haven't for a long time.  Every morning I tell her to go pick out what she wants to wear.  And she goes to her room and lays out an outfit complete with underpants and socks just like a stylist would do.  Sometimes she even adds accessories - sunglasses b/c it's pretty bright out.  Or a neck-a-lace b/c it's very sparkly.  And if I leave her to her own devices for long enough she'll head into her brother's room and do the same for him.



If I really get distracted by something this happens:

Dressing her kitty.  I can't make this stuff up.

Anyways tomorrow we leave for our annual trip to Florida (don't worry I have my prize post for this week ready to go up tomorrow!).  And my kid has been... hesitant.  And by that I mean saying things like I'M NOT GOING TO GO.  I finally got it out of her that she's afraid of the plane.  Well then.  Makes sense.  So today I got out a giant bag of summer clothes that Michelle gave us hand-me-down.  I told her that it was too cold out for them here but she could wear them in Florida.  And that her Nonni would probably love to see her new clothes.

She then spent the morning doing this:

Running commentary:  "It's warm in Florida so maybe you could wear this?  Or maybe that looks better.  That looks so good on you!  It matches.  Oh that's too many things.  We have to try something different.  That looks much better.  I think you need a neck-a-lace.  That's so cute!"

And she told me "I want to go to Florida NOW and maybe we could just leave so that I could wear My sparkly flamingo shirt."

I guess all she needs to get over a bit of anxiety about a new situation is some new clothes.  Got it.

Anyways!  On to what you're really here for.  Her views on Project Runway:

I'm trying to decide if she has pants or a skirt.  Ooooh she has a ball on her head.

Oh I like that because it has sparkly parts.

I don't see a shirt.  Mommy, why she doesn't have a shirt on?  Maybe her daddy didn't tell her that she has to wear a shirt.

What's that?  Is that a cape?  Why she wants to wear a cape?  Oh it has pockets.

 WOW.  She has ALOT of chapstick on.  

I can see her panties!  It kindof looks like a Sleeping Beauty dress but she forgot the skirt part.  Maybe she'll put it on later.

She looks pretty neat.

....  She had nothing to say about this look until it was shown side by side with the dress that inspired it.  Then she said:  Oooh I like that dress much better.

I don't like those shorts because them don't have flowers on.  I have shorts with flowers on.

 And her overall thoughts on this week's Runway:  Why didn't they make any pretty dresses?  They should make some more dresses.  With lots of sparkles.

Agreed.

Valentine Flowers

First of all let me say that I am loving your February is for Finishing submissions!  I'm super excited that everyone is as into this as I am.  And just a reminder - this week's contest closes tomorrow so get your projects in if you want to win those fabulous prizes!

So waaaay back in December the Girl and I made these awesome flowers from the Made Tutorial:


I loooved them.  They were simple and cute and she had so much fun helping me make them:


she loves a good craft project:



So we hung them up as Christmas decorations.


or for the full perspective including a sleeping dog and a humidifier in the background b/c when I took these everyone in our house had a cold:

I especially liked the side view:



But!  I didn't really like them as Christmas decor so much.  Yeah they were the right colors... but... they seemed more like Valentines Day to me.  I pictured them as a bunch of carnations.  Perfect for V-day.  So way back when I made a few plain red and white ones and bought a bunch of random napkins with the intention of filling our house with paper flowers:

And then Life happened.  And I never got any further than that.  But!  It's February is for Finishing!  So the other day my girl and I did this:



We didn't quite get a house full of flowers but oh do I love the finished bouquet:



Again the full shot - no dog this time b/c she was napping with the Girl in her room.



I especially like the polka dot and stripey flowers:



And the view from my spot on the couch makes me happy:



Yay for finishing something I started!  And double yay for decorating that is seasonally appropriate and crazy cheap!