A Baby Shower

My sister's baby shower finally took place, after several months of planning. This was the first time I hosted an event like this myself, although, of course and as always, it was definitely a group effort. I made cupcakes, complete with molded-cany baby booties that involved painstakingly painting on blue details with frosting. The cupcakes were from a mix and the icing was store-bought. My sister has a sever dairy allergy, and, ironically enough, it is easier to find processed food items that contain no dairy than it is to make things from scratch sometimes. I also fixed the vegetable tray and a tray with pickles (of course, the pregnant girl's request), crackers, cheese, and hummus (this was my family's first introduction to hummus, and I don't think they were impressed). My mom (with my sister and myself acting as sous chefs) made chicken salad in filo cups, a spinach dip in Hawaiian bread bowl (yum), a cheese ball, cocktail sausages, and a cranberry punch. My aunt made bead salad (yum) and fruit salsa with cream cheese dip and cinammon-sugar tortilla chips (super yum).

Altogether, there was plenty of food (although, I'll remember to buy more cheese next time) and every one seemed to enjoy it. I was especially pleased with the decorations. I found kits by Martha Stewart at T.J. Maxx for $5 each to make the tissue paper bouquet and the yellow pom-poms (the kit had eight, but I only did two). I had also found a banner that spelled out "Congratulations" and one that said "It's a boy!" I even used a bit from the bouquet kit to make Rox a corsage.

Everything went smoothly and we all had a great time oohing and ahhing over the bitty baby clothes. We really can't wait for Lucas to get here. And there is, of course, no chance that he will be spoiled rotten ;)

Easter Goodness

I had a great Easter this year. The drawback was not going home to be with my family - we were singing in the choir at church and felt that we should be there. But we still had a great time with friends who joined us for church and then came over for lunch.

We didn't make it to the Sunrise Service and Easter Breakfast at church this year. Instead, we slept in a bit, and got ready. The 10:00 service was great, though. The choir sang four songs and our soloists were amazing, and our pastor delivered an impassioned message about the different responses of Mary, Peter, and John when they saw the empty tomb, asking us to consider our own response. I want to be like John, who saw the empty tomb and believed immediately that Christ was Lord and risen. Peter was fearful and skeptical, and Mary Magdalene, who desparately wanted Jesus to be alive, was so distraught that at first she couldn't recognize Christ. Like John, of course, I have believed and trusted in Christ for salvation, but I am often like Mary, fearful and unable to see Christ at work or recognize the fulfilment of His promises.

Lunch was great - I am afraid the ham got a little dry, but it had a tasty pineapple-brown sugar glaze, and we had roasted veggies (asparagus, carrots, and onions), deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, and cheesy bread (my friend brought the last two). For dessert, I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, all from scratch. I am always amazed (though I shouldn't be) how much better things made from scratch taste than things out of the can). I ate an embarassing number of cupcakes myself. We dyed Easter Eggs, and then I nursed a migraine (the only other drawback of the day) from the couch, watching Mary Poppins and all but the very end of The Sound of Music. I hadn't seen Mary Poppins in years, although I watched it constantly as a kid, and I had forgotten how good it was. I had never seen The Sound of Music, and I loved it, although I am still going to have to watch it again, so I can see how they escape the Nazis.

All in all, it was a good day.

The Best Notebooks Ever

Moleskine Cahiers, purchased at Barnes and Noble, they come three in a pack. I use one for writing ideas, one for craft ideas, one for Bible-study notes, and one will be my travel journal in England. I like the plain, paper-bag-colored covers, but wanted to personalize them a bit. I founf acrylic stamps on clearance at Target and splurged on stamp markers at Michaels. Et, voila! Personalized, monogrammed journals. A fun project while I watched Chocolat the other night. (By the way, TJ Maxx has good deals on movies - I got Chocolat and Gosford Park for $5 each.

What I've Been Working On

More baby crochet! This was my first attempt at amigurumi, and I think it turned out so cute. Jordan and I have been joking about adopting this little fox as a pet instead of giving him to the nephew. He wasn't too hard to make, and I liked that I could use scrap yarn instead of buying new.

I think the tail is the cutest! I embroidered baby's initials for a special touch. You know, I love a monogram - apparently on pretty much anything!

Lucas also needed a hat to wear home from the hospital, so I made this, my first attempt at cabling. I love cable-knit (almost as much a monograms) and this was actually pretty easy. I don't knit as much as I crochet because knitting is harder and slower, but baby items are so small that it's quite gratifying to do something tricky because you can be done fairly quickly. I am afraid that this may be a bit too big at first (Jordan has joked that it's so long he'll be able to keep his eye warm), but hopefully I'm underestimating newborn baby heads =) Anyway, I think this will be the last baby crochet for a while. There are a couple more amigurumi I want to try, and then all the little sweaters are actually for 6-12 months, so I'll wait a bit on those.

Monet Sweater

Here is my latest crochet project completed. I am beginning to feel pretty good about how quickly I can get a sweater done now. What once would have taken several months, I can now do in a couple of weeks. I am rather pleased with the results, although I thought about scrapping the project in the beginning. The pattern would not come out to the right measurements, so I had to adjust to make it work. However, once I figured out what adjustments to make, things went pretty well.

I really, really, really love the colors. They remind me of the colors in Monet's waterlilly paintings, which is why I am calling this the Monet Sweater. The main color is that pretty jade and it is shot through with purple and pink and white and yellow and blue. So, so pretty. Thanks a ton to Natalie for gifting me her stash.

I'm not sure about these buttons. I like the kind of Art Nouveau style (my latest obsession), but I think the buttons should be bigger (these were in my stash). The pattern calls for 1.5 inch buttons, and these are on 7/8.

Anyway, I am very happy with my latest creation, and hope to later make a dress to match. I haven't done any large-scale sewing in a few years, so that will be an interesting endeavor.

Good Things About Winter

February is almost over, but I know that winter will hang around for several more weeks. I have never been a big fan of the cold, but this winter seems to have been especially hard on me, not just physically, but mentally as well. Cold dreary days have really gotten me down.

I have been longing for spring in the worst way, for sunshine and warmth, sandals and flowers and leaves, reading on the patio, morning runs, (conveniently fogetting about the layer of yellow pollen that will soon cover everything).

However, I know that this kind of anticipation will only make me bitter about the current conditions. Winter is what I have and what I will have for a few more weeks. So, I am focusing on what I like about winter. For example:

1) Hot chocolate: I like mine strong and rich. I got a cup from McDonald's yesterday (I am embarassed to admit that I ate there, but it was a low blood sugar situation), and it was actually quite good, with an underlying coffee taste to it (whether intentional or not, I liked it).

2) Curling up with a blanket and book: preferably in front of a roaring fire, but I'll just have to pretend. My favorite reading blanket is a beige throw, lined in a fur-like fleece, very soft and warm. My current read is definitely a winter curl-up: The Alienist by Caleb Carr, a historical mystery.

3) Sweaters, scarves, corduroys, and boots: each fall, I look forward to breaking out winter clothes, but by late February, they have lost their lustre. However, these are my favorite clothes. I am still on the look-out for the perfect cashmere sweater, but right now I make do with lambswool and cotton.

4) Soup: I have fallen in love with homemade soup. The current favorite is broccoli cream, but other contenders are tomato and potato cauliflower. I made minestrone for the first and last time. It was good, but involved too much work and literal bloodshed when I cut my finger.

5) Snowfall: living in NC, snow is always exciting, even when it is ruining your plans. The local news devotes round-the-clock coverage to the accumulating inches, school kids go insane, the entire county turns out en-masse at the grocery store. I love watching the snow coming down and then walking around in the transformed world once it has covered everything. The big snow in January (see picture above) created a heavy silence in our neighborhood that was beautiful.

6) Winter Olympics: This has been the first year that I have actually really watched the Olympics (winter or summer) and I have been fascinated. Every event has been intriguing from down-hill skiing to bobsledding to figure skating. I have never watched sports in my life, but this has been very interesting, and I also like the sense of unity as the whole country (and a lot of the world) watches and experiences it together.

These are a few of the things that I will try to keep in mind as I am faced with the prospect of several more frozen days. Do you have any good things to add to the list?

Baby Things

I feel like I have been hibernating for the month of February, at least in the blogosphere. In real life, I have not been able to hunker down and wait for the return of spring (it's coming soon, right?) Instead, I have been working and reading (for the diss, more than for fun) and crocheting! With the new nephew arriving in June, I have gotten a few items done.

The first is this afghan, which is bigger than pictured. The pattern is from a Vanna White book, and incredibly easy. The only complaint I have is that after about seven rounds, it started warping and pulling in a dozen different directions. Even after blocking it, it still isn't perfectly straight, but I think it will do.

I am also very happy with these booties. They are the essence of cute. The pattern was a free project sheet picked up at Michaels, with a few aesthetic alterations. They look like small loafers, and baby will be able to wear them at 3-6 months. My only complaint about this project is the stitching up the back. I did it in the blue yarn and so it looks a bit sloppy, but maybe that's just home-made charm, right?

I have a few more baby related projects planned, but I am currently indulging in some selfish crochet in the form of a cropped tweed cardigan in a beautiful jade green color. The combination of an off-guage pattern and a tricky yarn has caused me to frog and start over at least six times with much mental cursing, but I am determined to see it through.

If you are a fellow crocheter/knitter, be sure to check out Ravelry.com and consider friending me there (Stephanie728). Happy stitching.