Seams of Life

yarn along :: granny stripes and selfish reading

 I recently finished Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner and loved it. I don't read novels very often but this summer called for some completely selfish, sitting on the porch, ignoring the chaos inside, reality-escaping reading. Jennifer Weiner's stories always suck me in and Best Friends Forever was no exception.

 

A few days ago I re-organized my yarn stash and found 4 skeins of LionBrand's Baby's First yarn. I have no idea what project this yarn was originally purchased for, most likely I fell in love with its yummy colors and plush-ness at the store and had to bring it home with me. So, with softy-soft yarn in hand, I decided it was time to start a new blanket for our new arrival. And my project of choice was Attic24's granny stripes. I've already used up all 4 skeins and need to make another trip to store very soon. I don't want to lose my granny stripe momentum.

 

Yay for getting back into the swing of things, reading, crocheting and joining Ginny's Yarn Along!

The cutest thing I've ever made...

 ...is the MerMae Doll from Bit of Whimsy Dolls. Isn't she just darling! I made this little lady for another darling girl's (my great-niece) third birthday. This was the first doll I've made and, I must say, I enjoyed the process much more than I thought I would. The cute-ness grew with each step, from cutting out to embroidering her sweet face. The felt and yarn for her hair came from stash and the fabric for her tail is from the Noah's Ark line from M'Liss (available at Hancock Fabrics).

It was so refreshing to get behind my sewing machine and create again. After a few hectic months of change and adjusting to said changes, our home life is finally settling into a good rhythm and my creative juices, along with my energy level, is returning. Life is good and creating smiling faces (on dolls or on darling girls) makes it even better.

makin' donuts

Oh my, what a lazy summer I've been having. Hardly any making has been done around these parts, unless you count messes. I blame it on pregnancy fatigue but now that I'm entering the second trimester my energy level is picking up and I'm starting to feel the urge to sew or crochet something.

My girls are taking part in our local library's summer reading program. They earn 'library bucks' (which are used to buy prizes) by reading books and doing book-themed projects. The Donut Chef was one of the books on their list and after reading it, the girls really wanted to make donuts to take back to the librarian. Well, being that I'm no donut chef (I'd much rather buy donuts that make them) I suggested that we make felt donuts. We used Skip to my Lou's tutorial as a guide.

I macine stitched the donuts together and the girls were in charge of stitching on the sprinkles and stuffing the donut. This was my girls' first time sewing and I was pleasantly surprised at how easily stitching came to them.

Sarah stayed focused on stitching correctly all the way around her donut.

 

 

While Carlee, my perfectionist, wanted to make sure that her sprinkles stayed completely random just like on a real donut.

 

 They both were very proud of their creations and couldn't wait to show the librarian. They earned 3 library bucks each.