Puppies!!

This weekend, Laura and Thomas drove down for a visit and to introduce us to the newest members of their family, Ella and Sam. We were so excited to meet this little brother and sister pair, and it went amazingly well! And, of course, they are SO cute!

This is not a great picture, but it accurately depicts the pups! This weekend went by in a blur of fur, with everyone getting along swimmingly. My 2, but especially Teddy (the big black one in the picture), were especially fond of the little guys. You really want to see them, though don't you?!

Meet Ella (in the new green sweater that I just finished this afternoon) and Sam, chi-weenies (a chihuahua/dachshund hybrid):

The sweater is actually for Sam, and I added sleeves after the photo shoot here. Ella's will be pink with green trim.

Even cuter than the sweater on the kitchen counter, is a video of Sam doing a bit of modeling!

Finally, can it get any better than this?

Finished Object Friday -- Week One

Well, it was only on Wednesday that I declared that I would finish one sewing and one non-sewing UFO that is cluttering up my life, so you'll have to cut me some slack. I picked 2 really easy projects. Not to say that these hadn't been hanging around awhile. Oh no. For instance, my non-sewing UFO.

Looks innocent enough doesn't it. A smallish grocery bag with some stuff in it. I think hope you've all done this. Company is coming and your kitchen desk is a mess. You stuff everything in a bag, and stash it in the laundry room. I distinctly remember that this bag was filled before the dinner party we had in December 2009. Let's hope there were no unpaid bills in there!

Luckily, no. As you can see, I ended up with 3 piles, the biggest of which was the trash. Next came stuff to file (some was already in folders), and the quilting calendar that has some good pattern ideas. I'll cull through those at a later date. Yeah, you heard me. I'm moving it to another place. For now. The 3rd is that great UGA banner that we hung up for Laura's graduation party, held in August 2009. I'll see if she wants it for those football watching parties she and Thomas like to host and if she doesn't want it I'll tuck it in the Goodwill box I've started. Someone here in Atlanta can make good use of that great decoration.

For the first sewing UFO I tackled, this falls more into the mending category, but it has been haunting me for awhile.

Poor Snoopy! Somehow his ear became separated from his head, and no live dogs were involved in this mishap. The good news is:

Week One of my UFO challenge can be declared a success! Next week, I'll try to have a little more to show for my efforts, lol!

Ruh Roh

So our fabulous rescue dogs are not so well behaved after all. One of them, in fact, is a chewer. One of the first victims is pictured above. I was going to just chuck it, and then thought that perhaps I'll just remake it. How hard can it be? So, let's call it a WIP right now.

Now that the raincoat is finished, I'm feeling a bit unorganized, but finally just impulsively bought a new sewing toy. Something I've been wanting for awhile. I'll reveal it later, but it has prompted a massive reorganization and clean out of what I call the "basement" part of our basement. It's the part with the cement floor and the storage shelves, but also the part that houses my cutting table and fabric stash among other things. It's been 3 years since the last big purge, and you know how these kinds of areas get. Well, let's just say that I'm not quite a candidate for Hoarders Anonymous, but it's pretty cluttered.

So furniture is being pushed around, garbage bags are being filled, the shredder could possibly be working overtime, and the Goodwill pile is growing. And while this is happening I've decided to tackle my UFO's, both sewing and non-sewing. My challenge to my self, that I'm putting out here in cyberspace, is to finish one a week in each category. Friday is going to become Finished Friday. Embarrassingly, more than a handful of my sewing UFOs are items destined for my Etsy shops. Non-sewing UFOs will mostly include some organizational projects, but right now I'm calling the basement studio a WIP. Good thing I'm allowed to make up my own rules!!

Look! Someone ate the painter's tape! It wasn't me!

Yep, I realize that now Friday is the day after tomorrow, so I'll cut myself some slack and pick a couple of super easy projects. Sadly, there are a few of those that just need a teeny bit of finishing and they'll be ready. Sheesh *slapping my forehead*! This, of course, does not mean that I won't be starting new projects, too. In fact, a new knitting project will be cast on tonight. Dog related, though not for one of my dogs. That's all I'm saying about that right now.

GUILTY!

 

 Teddy, surrounded by his stash of approved toys. He's quite the hoarder.

The Raincoat, Finally

And just in time for a forecast of rain! So sorry to have gone MIA, but life feels so complicated these days. The raincoat took about a week longer than I had wanted it to, but that must have been because I could only get up the energy to sew about 30 minutes at a time.

Flat covered buttons, denim blue topstitching. I made the large and altered the sleeves just a bit to make them bigger, and dropped the armhole. I also shortened the sleeves. More than necessary it turn out. Oh, sure, they look ok, but I wish I had made them a bit longer so I could turn them up. As it is, I like this next look for when it's warmer.

I made the hood less gigantic. I always hate when the hood is so big you can't really see where you're going. So that's good. Besides the sleeve length, I'm not in love with the pocket placement, and the belt loops are just a hair low. That's just being nitpicky though.

Finally, my friend, Denise, is hosting a fabulous giveaway over at her Blue Gardenia blog. Do you love vintage patterns? Silk? Red fingernail polish? If the answer is yes, you must check it out!

We Have Giveaway Winners!

This will be short and sweet.

Winner of the Vogue Pattern is Sophie Miriam.

Winner of the rick rack is Mrs. Chronic-Shock.
{Shameless plug here: if any of you that didn't win the rick rack are interested in a great deal, contact me through my Etsy shop Down the Street Creations with which color or colors you're interested in and I'll give you a great deal! Let's talk!}

Winner of the suede bird purse is Stevie.

Looks like I have contact info for all 3 of you, so look for an email shortly.

 

CONGRATULATIONS!! And thanks to everyone for following!

  

Raincoat Sneak Peek

Do you remember this pattern that I previously made for Laura?

Well, I've been working on mine all week with finally something to show for it.

I'm using the same black raincoating fabric that I used for Laura's, so this, obviously, is the lining. Originally, I had purchased this Amy Butler twill for a vintage shirtdress, but the reality is that the color is all wrong for me, and actually, I kinda don't like it. However, I do kinda like it for a lining. I wanted the sleeves to be slippery (lesson learned after I made Laura's), and had this silvery silk (poly?) charmeuse in my stash.

For the exterior topstitching, this is what I'm going with (ignore any wonky topstitching that you might see... I'm goin' with it):

And one final, nagging reminder to comment on the giveaway. I'll announce the winner(s) tomorrow!

The Sweater

Feeling a bit better this morning, I dug around and found my yarn needle and finished all the little "finishing" bits that you have to do to knitting. I even managed to take some pics, but they are headless, lest you run scared from your computer after seeing the dark undereye circles, red nose and cracking lips.

The button was originally chosen for the Lady Grey project, but I really like how the blue grey goes with the blackberry yarn.

There's a glaring flaw across the middle of the back. Do you see it?

Some other knitting skill disclaimers: there were definitely times when I was just "making it up". My pattern reading skills are extremely suspect, and I have a heavy reliance on the tutorials on KnitPicks . This pattern reading deficit is hampering the choosing of my next project. The patterns in Knits Men Want, for example, are written in some kind of cryptic graph form filled with numbers. Then there is the subject of gauge. I know what it is, and why it's important, but am I checking it correctly? Undoubtedly, I'm not.

Anyway, this sweater was knit from a free pattern found on Ravelry. the Shalom cardigan. Scroll down and you'll see the model and pattern on the right hand side.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway. Commenting ends tomorrow night at midnight, Eastern Standard Time.