Craft Book Love

I LOVE my library. Anybody who knows me well, knows that I think my library is the best library in the country....because it is. One of my favorite things to do is watch the "what's new" list and check out the latest craft books that the library has purchased. And all the wonderful hand-crafters out there are cranking out some pretty fantastic stuff. Here are some of the incredible books I have found lately.

Crochet Adorned by Linda Permann is not really new (published in 2009) but is new to me and wowsa! So many cute, fresh ideas. Linda has a blog at http://www.lindamade.com/wordpress/

                                                                                                                                                                    

Signature Styles by Jenny Doh takes an in depth look at 20 stitchers and what defines their look. Lots to look at and inspire...Find it at www.larkcrafts.com

 

Amy Barickman's Vintage Notions is chock full of vintage fun...I may have to own this book! Or at least check it out often to get it all read and accomplish some of the ideas inside. This book is full of vintage reprints of publications from The Women's Institue of Domestic Arts and Sciences published between 1916 and 1934Amy's blog is http://amybarickman.com/blog/

And the last book on my coffee table that I have checked out several times already because I love it...I really should just buy it...is Threads Sewing Guide. This is now my favorite sewing book. Great photos, clear instructions. This book is sold everywhere. 

Now for a book my library doesn't have but I check often, hoping they get it soon! Spud and Chloe at the Farm by Susan B. Anderson. Susan has another book which I have checked out many times, Itty-Bitty Toys, and I am anxious to see her new book. And here is Susan's blog http://susanbanderson.blogspot.com/

 

What new books have you discovered lately?

Friendship Friday

     "Putting your friend’s welfare before your own: that was Austen’s idea of true friendship. That means admitting when you’re wrong, but even more importantly, it means being willing to tell your friend when they are. It took me a long time to wrap my head around that notion, because it flew so strongly in the face of what we believe about friendship today. True friendship, we think, means unconditional acceptance and support. The true friend validates your feelings, takes your side in every argument, helps you feel good about yourself at all times, and never, ever judges you. But Austen didn’t believe that. For her being happy means becoming a better person, and becoming a better person means having your mistakes pointed out to you in a way that you can’t ignore. Yes, the true friend wants you to be happy, but being happy and feeling good about yourself are not the same things. In fact, they can sometimes be diametrically opposed. True friends do not shield you from your mistakes, they tell you about them: even at the risk of losing your friendship—which means, even at the risk of being unhappy themselves."

 A Jane Austen Education – William Deresiewicz

     (This was supposed to be Friday's food-for-thought post. Oops! ~Noble)

 

A quiet song for a snowy day

We had a little snow last night, and now there is a perfectly blue sky over my perfectly white little yard. It's very beautiful, and if I could find the camera, I would show it to you. But this song is kind of what it feels like. :)

C'est La Mort by The Civil Wars

Much love to you all!

Granny Square for Adelaide

          My hands have been on a journey with a little afghan for Adelaide. For my birthday 11 months ago I received two skeins of pretty multi-colored yarn. I wasn't in need of a hat or scarf so I racked my brain for an idea to use these two skeins and I hit upon the idea to make an afghan for my first granddaughter-to-be, Adelaide. I scoured ravelry.com for an afghan pattern that only used two skeins of yarn and found a pretty one. So I knitted away on it all fall (I am a slow knitter ;-) and got to the end of my pattern (which was turning out lovely, by the way) but strangely I wasn't to the end of my yarn...HUH. I had no idea what calculation I had wrong...but I knew my brain wasn't big enough to figure out how to expand the pattern. So I took a little hiatus from the project and baby Adelaide was born. And after the holiday flurry, I picked that afghan back up again and set to ripping it out. I searched my stash for some more yarn to go with it and picked out a super easy granny square pattern. And set to work again. When I got to the end of my pretty yarn and the extra purple I had picked out to go with it I was surprised to find it wasn't big enough! It was about this time that I paid attention to the label on my two skeins and discovered the they were DK weight, not worsted weight like I had assumed. (In my defense I did think they were a little thin for worsted weight....duh) What to do now...rip it out again...start over....add yarn? So I sought counsel and asked Courtney, Noble and Kait what they all thought. And they all thought it would be ok to just add some more colors...very avant garde of them. So I did and here it is...the first finished project of 2012.

A Grateful Saturday

1. Adelaide's morning-person-ness. It is so much easier to get up at ridiculous hours when she smiles when she sees me.

2. Noel's superb husbanding. Seriously y'all, I got the best one. (He does stuff like, all the dishes, grocery shopping, and letting me run out for a few minutes to get some fresh air!)

3. Nursing and bouncing Adelaide; I am getting in such good shape! (My shoulders are especially nifty right now.)

4. My sisters. Kaitlin runs errands for me all the time and comes over to keep me company, and Courtney has been invaluable with her knowledge of all things baby!

5. My Dad. He just had his 51st birthday today!

Phew

We have been in our new house for over a week! I almost have everything unpacked, so we have gone from looking like the aftermath of a hurricane to looking like the aftermath of a small windstorm. Blaze is very glad. :) I'm still not sure where everything is, including the camera. But when I find it, you can bet that I will have lots of great pictures! We love this house so much, even in its craziness. Blaze has a little playroom, with a twin mattress in it for nap times (and for me to lounge on while he plays -- trying to ward off sickness by getting a little extra rest!). We bravely carried out our master-bedroom-as-study plan, which means that I have a permanently claimed sewing table for when I finish unpacking and have time to sew! Love it! Especially considering how many boxes of fabric I tucked into the closet. I have a lot of material to work with here!

We are also hunting around for a couch, since our current living room furniture will seat 3 people. It feels like a couch is kind of a commitment as far as decorating style, though, so it is taking a while to make up our minds about what we want. Something like this (haha, maybe without the price tag and the octopus)? Or maybe this? I was really considering that last one, except then they went and put it on a billboard in the middle of town....everyone will recognize it! :)

A Day Late And A Dollar Short

Sorry about the no-post yesterday, we had a very busy (and tired) day. Of course the night before I've scheduled to spend the day out of town Addie decides to not sleep two hours together so she was *super* tired and cranky all day. Which was such a shame since she'd been sleeping through the night and being an absolute doll for the whole last week!

Let's see... well, yesterday (the out of town day) Mom was a sweetheart and drove Addie and myself to Olympia to run some errands. We stopped by Babies'R'Us to get a baby monitor (I had a gift card, woo!), I got a very nice new nursing bra (it's much easier to feel put together with a nice starting layer) and Costco, which, thankfully, Addie was asleep for so Mom and I got to browse through the aisles and discuss the marvels of warehouse stores. I cannot tell you how much I love Costco; my grocery budget would look a *lot* different if I couldn't get to a Costco once a month. (Back in AZ my apartment was only a five minute drive away from Costco. Amazing!) Some of the basics I always get at Costco are stuff like:

 Frozen Chicken/Ground Beef 
 Peanut Butter (have you seen how expensive this stuff is at regular stores?!)
 Chicken/Beef Base (their price on the Better Than Bouillon brand is awesome)
 Cold Cereal (Noel's breakfast of choice right now, as I'm still sleeping when/where I can)
 Lunch Meat (for Noel's lunches)
 Anything Dairy Related - Milk, Butter, Cream, Cheese, etc. I can get a pint of Half-and-Half for 3 or 4 dollars here in town and get a quart of it for the same price at Costco.
 Olive Oil 
 Coffee Beans (sadly, coffee is getting really expensive but it's still cheaper to make your own than to buy itfrom a coffee shop)

Basically, if I can get it at Costco I usually do. I can't actually remember finding something there that I could get at a better price somewhere else. (And their coupons are nice for the occasional splurge on something yummy!) What about you, do you like warehouse stores? 

 (Oh, and by-the-by, I finished another book and have already started a new one, so yay for that 2012 goal! I think muffins are next on the list.)