Antics | Love Is All You Knit

Dec 18 2011

Antics, knitting, Quilts, The Beekeeper's Quilt, Yarn

Long-Term Project Alert: The Beekeeper’s Quilt

You’ve probably heard of the Beekeeper’s Quilt by now, so forgive me if I’m telling you something you already know. The Beekeeper’s Quilt is one of those patterns that has spread like wildfire across the knitting world these past few months. It’s a long-term, stash-busting project that is immensely customizable to your own tastes. Hundreds of soft, fuzzy, cushy hexipuffs sewn together into a cozy, floppy quilt? Yes, please!

This project has an added bonus of being charming even while laying around the house in its in-progress state, which is a good thing because this is going to be a very long-term project for me. I started exactly three months ago and I’m only up to 27 puffs, which is yielding about one square foot of quilty goodness.

Its so much fun pulling all the hexipuffs out of their bowl and laying them out to get just a glimpse of what the finished quilt might look like. It also gives you a chance to consider adding additional colors to the mix, which I’ll be doing very soon.

Tagged beekeeper, cushy

Dec 04 2011

The Crafts of Others

Being back in Texas, I am around lots of crafty ladies that I haven’t seen in a while. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the craftiness of others around me.

First up is my mother in law. She recently started making wreaths and centerpieces that are just stunning. I was the lucky recipient of this wreath. She let me pick out the baubles and then she whipped this up in an afternoon:

Next up is my sister in law, who started knitting not too long after I did and has also found her place in the crochet world. One of her specialties is customized amigurumi, and I once challenged her to make a basset hound (Henry, specifically) and she knocked my socks off with this:

And then there’s my Nana, who inspired the beginning all of my crafty endeavors. After reading my blog post where I talked about her teaching me to embroider when I was young, she was inspired to pick up her embroidery needle again. She very sweetly gifted me a set of pillowcases that I will treasure always:

My mom was also inspired by that same blog post– she found the piece of embroidery that was my first foray into all things crafty. The piece of embroidery that I wasn’t sure still existed. I’m sure glad she saved this for me.

I love having inspiration everywhere, and inspiring others in turn.

Oct 08 2011

2 Comments

Antics, designing, Family, Hats, knitting

St Joseph Hat

I wanted to knit Joey something special for our anniversary. It was supposed to be a surprise but here we are, still a couple of weeks before the actual anniversary, taking pictures for the blog. I was never very good at keeping surprises. In fact, I spilled the beans and told him I was knitting it the day after I cast on.

I was just so excited to tell him about it because he had found a hat he liked at Allsaints and I told him I could knit him one just like it. Then I sat down and charted out a pattern and gave it a go. It came out pretty great.

The brim can be folded up for a less slouchy look, but this is his favorite way to wear it. The alpaca in the yarn I used (Blue Sky’s Techno) makes it super soft and warm.

Warmth and love for our ten year anniversary for my dear Joseph. A saint if I ever knew one.

Sep 17 2011

2 Comments

Antics, Dogs, knitting

Fairy Castle

When I was in the UK, I was introduced to fellow knitter Stephanie, aka Tiny Owl Knits. After checking out her patterns, I instantly needed to cast on for a Fairy Castle.

Not only are Fairy Castles completely adorable, they also hide a magical little secret:

They’re the cutest needle storage around! The pattern includes instructions for three fairy castles- one sized to hold DPNS as shown above, one sized for crochet hooks, and a tiny little castle for darning needles. You can bet I’ll have a few more fairy castles sprouting up in the coming weeks.

And because Henry was lying around while I was taking pics, I couldn’t resist:

He’s quite the grumpy gnome today.

Sep 10 2011

3 Comments

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery

Daisychain ABC Sampler

The Daisychain ABC Sampler is finished. I had so much making this, that when I was midway through working on it I kept envisioning all the other things in the apartment I could be putting tiny little crewel-work flowers on. Poor Joey is going to wake up one day with little daisies all over his pillowcase and not know what happened.

I was so excited when I finished framing it that I hung it up on the nearest nail in the wall. Its definitely not a permanent home, but that will take a little more planning and moving things around. For now, I just wanted to be able to share it with you.

Sep 08 2011

2 Comments

Antics, Family

The Trip

I landed early morning in Dublin

and visited the Book of Kells at Trinity College.

Then just meandered around the town

and enjoyed the beautiful sights

and some of Ireland’s other pleasures.

I was picked up by Joey and the band in the TOUR BUS

and we arrived at the festival grounds in County Laois

And enjoyed all the backstage amenities for the bands.

And I enjoyed a fabulous show.

We travelled by night across the Irish Sea and into morning across the stunning English countryside.

I spotted the black sheep amongst a bunch. (Can you see him on the far right?)

Then I enjoyed another fabulous show

and we hopped back on the tour bus and travelled overnight to wake up in London.

We enjoyed the sights in London for the next two days.

It was the trip of a lifetime to get to see my husband play some fabulous music in front of thousands upon thousands of people in two amazing countries. Now we’re home, spending lots of time snuggling with our Henry who we missed dearly, and getting back into the swing of life in NYC. I picked up some framing supplies for my ABC sampler and some yarn for a new project today. Fall is in the air and I’m ready to get some wool on the needles.

Aug 28 2011

1 Comment

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery, Family, Music

Sneak Peek

Every last stitch has been stitched, and the frame has been purchased. All that’s left is to acquire some additional framing supplies and my Daisychain ABC’s sampler will be complete!

Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait to see the finished product for just a little while. You see, I just don’t have time to pick up those additional supplies and frame this puppy because later this week I am flying to Dublin and then traveling by TOUR BUS (!!) with Joey as he plays guitar with Midlake at festivals in both Ireland and England. I am so excited to finally get to join him during some of his travels. I guarantee there will be lots of pictures when I get back and a fully-framed ABC sampler. Until then, please enjoy a little sneak peek:

Jul 17 2011

3 Comments

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery, Family

Charmed

I continue to be charmed by my latest project, a crewel-work sampler. After I complete every line, color or petal, I hold it out and admire how sweet it looks. I’m also enjoying the forgotten memories that this project is bringing forth as I stitch each letter.

When I was a kid in daycare during summer months, they would step up the activities since we were there all day long. I remember that on Wednesdays we would go to the city pool and swim and eat cherry sours and hot fries. (That was probably my favorite day of the week back then.) On other days we would do craft projects. We had this one teacher, Miss Patti that was really into cross stitch. I still remember learning how to cross-stitch on a square of orange gingham fabric. I wonder if I ever finished stitching that sailboat, and what has happened to it over the years.

I also remember my Nana showing me how to embroider a sparrow on a pillowcase a few years after that. She always had pretty embroidered pillowcases and I think I asked her to show me how on a whim one day, and she did. Just like the time I asked her on a whim to show me how to knit. My Nana, she’s a wonderful lady. I’m starting to realize as I get older how much she and I are alike, and I’m so happy when I come across something new about myself and then look back and see that it was inspired by her. I wonder whatever happened to that sparrow pillowcase. I bet my mom has it somewhere in her linen closet. I’ll have to ask her about it next time I’m there because it’s something I would love to have again.

Jul 10 2011

1 Comment

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery

Crewel World

When I saw Alicia’s Daisychain ABCs sampler, I fell in love with it. Never mind that I’ve never done crewel-work of any sort and my most recent attempt at embroidery was elementary at best; I instantly decided I had to make one myself. It just seems like it would be the perfect project to work on while sitting in a hammock under a shady tree, sipping iced tea. (Note to self: must find a private shade tree in Brooklyn for hammock-lounging and iced tea-sipping.)

My handmade kit arrived last Friday and I’ve been admiring its sweet contents all week, just waiting for a bit of free time to jump in and get started. Alicia included the cutest hand-drawn instruction sheet of each stitch used, but I’m also finding youtube videos an invaluable source for exactly how to execute each stitch.

Now I’m just wondering if I should continue alphabetically, or just jump around and do whichever letter catches my fancy next?

Jul 04 2011

1 Comment

Antics, Dogs, Music

Weekend Getaway

Joey and I were invited up to a friend’s place in East Burke, Vermont for the holiday weekend and we had an absolutely wonderful time. It was so relaxing to enjoy the beautiful mountains, fresh air, and a sunny day around the pool with good friends.