Cyber Monday

Are you done with your Christmas shopping?  Maybe you're just starting to think about Christmas knitting.  Maybe you're just a sucker for good deals. :-)

I've decided to gift a little Christmas knitters cheer to you all.  On Cyber Monday (that's November 28, 2011, this year), I'm activating a coupon code that will get you all 30% off the Striped Earflap Hat pattern.

Go to Ravelry and to the pattern page and enter in code "cybermonday30" for your 30% off.

Or go to Etsy and to my shop and enter in code "cybermonday30" for 30% off there as well.

Merry (early) Christmas!

Experimenting with food

I discovered a handy little tip on Pinterest the other day that sent me running straight for the grocery store to buy a bunch of green onions.  They had been marked down to $0.50 a bunch!  They sat in the fridge for nearly a week before I cut them up and threw the greens in the crock pot in lieu of a yellow onion.  I quickly sunk the white tips (with a bit of green left on them) in a baby food jar and covered them in water.

Two days later, and they're sprouting!  It works!

You'll notice that I've left off on my 30 Day Photo Challenge.  I'll come back to it.  I've learned a lot about taking pictures, but I've learned even more that I'm incredibly busy between the kids, the house, and work, and even moreso that I dislike my point and shoot camera very much.

Taking a break

I'm took a quick break from the 30 Day Photo Challenge.  My husband is leaving in the dead of tonight to drive to Bloomington, Indiana, in order to meet with a trombone professor and scout out a potential DMA (Doctor of Music) program.  We have friends from college who live in that area, so he contacted them to determine if they would like to get together.  That's when we learned that our friends are expecting their second baby to be born any day now!

Of course, that meant I had some emergency baby knitting to be done.  I couldn't send my husband to their home, potentially a home with a newborn, without a gift in hand for the little one.  As I have no such newborn in my house anymore (big sad!!), I requested that one of Miriam's dolls be the model.  The hat is made to fit a 14" newborn head, whereas the doll only has a 12.5" head, so it looks a bit too large for her.

The hat is yet another version, knit from my Striped Earflap Hat pattern.

The yarn is leftovers from a sweater that I knit for Miriam.  It is Sirdar's Snuggly Baby Crofter DK and is a "fake" fair isle striping yarn.  It is SO soft!  There's a good amount of acrylic in it (no wool at all), but it doesn't feel like acrylic at all.  I still struggle with the "perfect number" for this yarn to make all the stripes and fair isle effect line up exactly, but I would definitely use it again, just to find this number!

Day 7: Something New

I don't do much for myself, as I really don't need much.  The kids are growing and learning and experiencing; it's much easier and nicer to do things for them.  But, for Miriam's birthday in September, a wonderful yarnie friend from Ravelry gifted me a handspun skein of yarn that she created herself.  I instantly knew what I wanted it to become.  A hat.  For me.  There was only 90 yards, but it is a gorgeous 90 yards.  I found a simple hat pattern, but as I was knitting, I realized that no way was 90 yards enough for a hat on my head.  I started contemplating finding a coordinating yarn to add stripes to the hat, give it a little interest and extend the use of the special yarn.

Then, this past weekend, my mother took me to a small Llama farm/fiber studio that was having a great sale.  I found this amazingly soft, cuddly, and perfect Merino and Mulberry Silk blended top in a perfect white color to go with the pops of white bamboo spun in the special yarn.  I cannot wait to spin this up so I can finish my hat!!

Taken on the Manual setting (F/2.8 and 1/6 shutter speed) and edited in Picasa with Saturation.

Day 6: Childhood Memory

So many things happened today that could have fallen under the "childhood memory" category.  It's amazing to see my children play and learn like I did!  This picture, taken earlier in the day, captures Miriam wearing a hard hat and reading stories.  I used to go to work with my father when I was a bit older than her (maybe just a bit older than Benjamin, actually).  He worked in a factory at the time, and my brother and I would ride our tricycles around the large open spaces not too far from the machines.  I can't remember if I had to wear a hard hat.  Likely not, as there wasn't a problem with toddlers being in a factory "back in the day," but I remember wanting so much to be like my father.  Alas, I turned out much more like my mother, and I never could put down a good book!

Photo taken on the Auto setting with flash.  Edited in Picasa with Saturation, then further edited in Picnik with Lomo-ish and Vignette effects.

Day 5: Someone I Love

I almost thought it would be cheating to pick my kids as subject matters today.  (Plus, I didn't want to have to pick a favorite.)  I decided to showcase my husband, Chris, but there was never a moment to get him alone.  And this photo says a lot about that.  Chris is an amazing father who our children adore.  So today, instead of getting "someone," you get to see the "someones" I love, namely, my favorite boys!

Taken on Auto setting with no flash.  Edited in Picnik using "1960's Effect."

Day 4: Favorite Color

This is a closeup of a sweater that I knit.  Not only do I love the color green, but the texture really speaks to me too.

This was SO HARD!  I have a little point and shoot (Samsung L200 10.2 MegaPixel), so truing colors in the original photo was very difficult.

Photo was taken on the Manual Setting (F2.8, Exposure time 1/15 seconds), and edited in Picasa using Saturation.

Day 3: Clouds

It's been grey and cloudy lately.  It was raining this morning, but it cleared up enough for me to run outside and snap this photo.

Taken on the Scene setting, with flash.  No editing done.

Day 2: What I wore

Nothing too special about what I wore.  It was a chilly and rainy day, so I had on my favorite jeans, a t-shirt, and my husband's high school track sweatshirt.  The kids were also very cuddly, and this photo was taken while Benjamin was falling asleep for his nap.

Taken on the portrait setting with a 10 second timer.  Edited in Picasa using Black & White and Warmify effects. 

Day 1: Self- Portrait

Portrait taken with 10 second timer on the "portrait" setting using flash and facial detection.  Edited in Picasa using Soft Focus and Warmify.

Gathered inspiration from this blog post.