Speak Softly....

and carry a big stick....or, at least, a kinda sorta big stick.




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Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

Oh yea. The Designer Diamond. I can't wait to unpack it and set it up. This was my other big purchase besides the Huskylock 936. I had a Designer SE Limited Edition and decided to upgrade to the Diamond. Truth be told, this is more machine than I'm ready for (as was the Designer SE), but I HAD to have it. Especially since my dealer gave me the purchase price of my Designer SE to put towards the price of the Diamond. I'm working on a few embroideries...hopefully I'll get to them before Christmas.

Costume Patterns? I'm SET!

Its safe to say I'll never need another kid's costume pattern.

Thanks to Kris at Quilted Simple, I am the proud owner of 11 new-to-me kid's costume patterns. She was also kind enough to include some fabrics. THANKS KRIS!!

While we're on the subject of costumes, I'll give you a peek at Luke's Super Why! costume. I'm loving my coverstitch machine. Nice waistband, huh?

Too bad this is the only section that turned out well. lol! I had it looking really good but had to rip out a section because somehow I didn't measure Luke's waist accurately and it was too big. Or the elastic stretched WAY more than I had allowed for. When I went to re-stitch the section I ripped out it all went to heck. But the nasty looking part is on the inside, so I'm not going to worry about it!

Here's the leg hem. Looks pretty nice, doesn't it? It isn't perfect, but I'm not very experienced with knits yet. I'm starting to get the hang of them, though. They're kind of fun to work with.


I also cut out and traced out the next piece of the costume:

Its a girl's shirt pattern, but kid's t-shirts are interchangeable sometimes. Instead of making a one-piece costume I'm making separates because he's going to a costume party this weekend and there's a party at school and then there's trick-or-treating....and potty time can be tricky with a one-piece costume. So its separates for Luke. I don't want any accidents!

I need to get this done by Sunday because that's when Luke has a costume party to go to. Oh, the pressure! This is what Super Why! looks like for those of you who don't know who he is...

Super Why! is the guy on the right in the green and blue superman costume. Luke is so excited about his costume and I have a feeling he's going to want to wear the costume to school throughout November. He still doesn't quite get that Halloween is only one day a year!

Wordful Wednesday

This may seem like an inconsequential photo, but for me it isn't.



Its Elle with a barrette in her hair. The funny thing is she wanted it in her hair. She likes girly things. Hallelujah. I've been known to bitch about mention the fact that I grew up with 4 brothers and all boy cousins. Not a girl in the bunch. Needless to say I didn't wear barrettes or cute dresses or anything girly. If I did, all it did was give my brothers ammunition. Its tough being different sometimes, so I was a tomboy. Now that I have daughters I realize I was a tomboy only because it made my life easier at the time. So this photo was eye opening to me and taught me something about myself. It may be a small, insignificant thing, but its still something that made me say, "Hmmmm." So, with this photo I embrace everything girly. Every single thing: barrettes, nail polish, dolls, dress-up, and cute little pink toy doggies that fit in the palm of your hand. Amen.

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The 5 Minutes That Changed The World

Ok, maybe not the world, but it changed my vocabulary. Yesterday morning I left Sunny alone in the kitchen for 5 minutes to finish her pancake...5 short minutes...while I went to get Luke dressed for school. When I got back to the kitchen I found her sitting ON the table. She had opened the bottle of maple syrup, dumped half the bottle onto her pancake and was eating it like she was a doggie (a behavior she learned from her goofy brother). So she had sticky maple syrup all over her shirt, her legs, her face, and her hair. And I had to leave in 10 minutes to take Luke to school. She looked up at me with a huge grin. At that moment I exclaimed, "Oh you are totally getting blogged for this one!" And at that moment the word blog made the jump from noun to verb in my vocabulary. So there you have it. The 5 minutes that changed my world vocabulary.

The Huskylock 936

Here's one of the purchases that I tried to get my husband to talk me out of. Not that I didn't want it because I've been wanting one of these for a L O N G time.


Its set up for coverstitching right now (and Robin, it only took me 15 minutes! Not too bad!). It does a nice coverstitch, too.


The woman I bought it from lives nearby so I didn't have to have it shipped. That's always a plus! She's a great sewist and an awesome knitter. She has a blog, Yarncrawl, where she blogs all her creations. Check her out! As for me, I'm off to make a Super Why! costume for Luke and two cowgirl costumes. I hope my OTHER BIG PURCHASE comes in soon because I need it to finish the cowgirl costumes. As soon as its here I'll show y'all what it is. How'd you like that cowgirl speak? Y'all...that's a word I could get used to. Maybe.

Oops, I Did It Again.

Bought something else I shouldn't have. Its my husband's fault. He says we're doing our part to save the economy....

Nuts

I just bought something I shouldn't have. But I love it. I asked my husband to talk me out of it, but he encouraged me to buy it. Darn him! Photo soon.

About That Husband Of Mine....

Proof that my husband is not in the corporate world...

We were at a Preschool Parents meeting at my kid's preschool and on the way home my husband says, "What's with the parents tonight? They were all on their Blueberries."

Uh, babe, that's Blackberry.

Old Habits Die Hard

Socks with sandals...my favorite fashion faux pas.


More WW at

Tuesday Tidbits

I've got sick twins. That sounds like a great name for a band, doesn't it? The Sick Twins. Sounds like a punk band. Anyway, lots of puke here and not much else. Both are on the mend and I'm hoping to get some sleep tonight. I went to the eye doctor today to get a new pair of glasses (since the twins broke BOTH pairs of glasses I had) and the doctor was concerned about how red my eyes are...that is, until I told her I've been up for two days. lol!

Here's the progress on my fluffy-pink-matted-dog-yarn vest I'm making for Elle. It isn't horrible for an almost two year old, I suppose.


And gifts in the mail...I love them. It isn't really a gift since I paid for the darn thing, but it feels like a gift. And that's what counts, right?

A New-To-Me Old Singer

I went to an estate sale last weekend and couldn't resist buying this old lady:

I certainly don't need another sewing machine and our apartment is really limited on space, but something about this machine said, "Buy me!" So I did. For $25.

Luckily, its a lot like my mom's first Singer so I knew that this thing is the bobbin winder.


This is awesome. A guide for seam allowances. My machine has lines, but it doesn't have the measurements printed on the plate. This is nice.

And it came with a briefcase full of attachments. Bonus. If only I knew how to use them.

Lots of feet, too. There are a few I have no idea what they do.

I sewed a few seams with it and it has an awesome straight stitch. In fact, I could see myself sewing all my quilts with it. It'd make me feel so....vintage.

I love that all the attachments came with instruction manuals. If only the machine did! I know I have to oil it, but I have no idea where and don't know how to take the cover off. Anyone have an owner's manual for a Singer 3101A???

Edited to add: I have since purchased another 301A (this one for $40, but it came with a table). To see it, click here.

On The Needles...

A vest for Luke. This is the back piece. I'm at the point where I need to start shaping the arm holes.

I'm using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool doubled up on size 10.5 needles. Its knitting up pretty quickly. I'm nervous about the size, but my mom says blocking will make a big difference. I suppose if I'd knit a little looser it would be a bit bigger, too. But I'm a tight knitter. I'm trying to loosen up, but I guess I'm a type A.

I also have a vest in progress for Elle. I'm using yarn from my stash. Its fluffy yarn that I must've liked at one point. I look at it now and wonder what was I thinking?! I'll post a photo soon because it is also knitting up quickly. I'm all about quick when it comes to knitting because I get bored too quickly. When the knitting becomes monotonous it becomes a UFO (an unfinished object). The vest is on 24" circular size 10.5 needles. The yarn is pink and fluffy. And when its knitted or crocheted, the feel of it reminds me of a matted dog. Ugh. But I think it'll look cute on the girls. They'll look like fluffy, pink, matted dogs. Real cute. I may actually make two so each girl has one. The pattern is a free pattern from Berroco. Its the Mavis vest for toddlers. I'm not using the Berroco yarn specified, though. I should because the yarn they suggest is really cute and I love the pattern on the front of the vest. But I've got my matted dog yarn and darn it, I'm gonna use it. Berroco has some very cute free patterns for children's knits. There are a few crochet patterns, too, but I haven't had time to look at them in detail.

Wordful Wednesday

Don't you love when this happens? Click on the photo if you can't read it.

Looks like I'll be checking my credit report every few months to make sure I don't become a victim of identity theft. Although, I have no idea why anyone would want to be me. I haven't had a steady job in 4 years so I doubt my credit will get them far!
You can read more WW's at Seven Clown Circus.