*

Jun 26, 2012

Third try posting this from the iPhone! It better work... A little bag I made by hand while finch was in the bath or playing with cars. Sloppy English paper piecing and meant for summer trips to the park when I can't leave my wallet anywhere but don't want my big bag to fall into the wading pool. There ! Now I will see if it will post....

hello!
here is a terrible picture- weird lighting/ photoshopping- of a school bus I made for Finch the other day in a mad fit of crafting. I think it took me half an hour with Finch milling about next to me and then another 15 minutes in front of the TV sewing on the wheels. He likes it ok, but is more into his real toy school bus. He is passionate about any and all vehicles, it's what we talk about all day long. "tow truck- LOUD- GOING! run run run! mailman! truck! going! loud!" That about covers my conversational spectrum for the day! Its pretty cute.

omg - craft

 

This is a big deal- the first thing of any kind what so ever that I have made since the baby was born.  He napped yesterday with dada and I had blissful time alone and just whipped out the scissors and started blindly.  It's just a little brooch- no biggie- but for me it is a turning point.   Right now he is in bed and I am blogging! Another biggie for me! He is not the best sleeper, so for months I have gone to bed at the same time as him, just to get as much sleep as I can.  He still wakes every fracking hour or two, but I am starting to feel able to stay up a little later than him and do grown up things, which is good for my mental health.  Maybe soon I can knit again...oh dare to dream.  I have started baking again, which I never thought would happen!  I can usually get him to stay in his bouncy toy thing long enough to whip up some yummy oatmeal cookies or muffins. 

Oh- in sad news- girl cat is no longer.  Ths really should be it's own post...She finally had to be put down after that episode of having fluid in her lungs and a heart issue.  She did go on on for a few more months after the first episode though and had some quality time at my mums.  Poor girl cat- she was such a sweetie.  I miss kissing her little nose. She must have been over 12 though, a good long pussy cat life.

 

This is just a little pallette I made while working on a map project last week- I really liked the way it looks!

Paper hearts!  My cute co-worker made these and I found them in a box at work.  She says she will teach me how!  I had to draw on one of them.  They were meant to be posted for a valentines day post, but alas, that did not happen on time!

I went away over the weekend to my mums, while Paul painted the baby's room!  We (well, he) has been clearing out all the junk that had accumulated in there over the years since we moved into the house and now its empty, pale blue and full of promise.  I found the cutest little drawer pulls for the chest of drawers he repainted, will post pics!  Also we have two amazing vintage kids encyclopedia book carts a nearby school was tossing a few years ago.  We had snatched them up, waiting for the day we could use them.  One already has a full shelf, since I have been collecting kids books for so long!  Will post pics of that too, once my camera battery  charges up.

I have heard babies go nuts for these taggie toys so I decided to make one with a pile of ribbons we had left at work.  Looking at the other ones online now, I may have overdone the tag portion... oh well.  The more the merrier!  It's only about 10 x 8 " with a quilty interior, and I am finally using some of the gorgeous Japanese fabric I got from L for my birthday last year!  I also got a great visit in with L this weekend- so great to see you guys!

ps- oh typepad, why oh why must you cut images off on the right in this template?

happy 2010!

Well my goodness- did my two weeks off really go by that fast? Sigh! Work tommorow!

 

I did get a bit crafty and made this stamp for another scarf.  I am a big red and white polka dot fan...

It was a lovely holiday spent with my family.  Lots of eating, laughing and loafing around. perfect.

I love these knitted tree ornaments I spotted on one of our walks!  How clever!

A good omen!  We had a whitey sighting in the park-

Happy new year from the albino squirrel! ( and from me!)

ennnngghh!

That's the noise I made while breaking through the finish line of the fall race!  I am officially off for two whole blissful weeks for Christmas holidays and I couldn't be more pleased.  It's a bonus as somehow, miraculously, I had a few more vacation days to use up than I had previously thought!  When in life does that ever happen?  I'd say nearly never.

Lookit!  I arrived to my desk yesterday to find this on it!  A gift from my supervisor!  Such kindness! I was all gushy and silly and thanked her profusely.  If you live in Toronto, you will know the lovely- ness that is the Americo shop.  I am far too mean to ever buy myself something there, which made this a double yummy treat!  Of course, I had not gotten her, or anyone anything and felt rather sheepish.  Ahh Christmas!  :)
That coupled with a perfectly delightful Christmas party last night and I'd say my season is off to a great start.

I even got crafty this afternoon, a rare ocurrance these days.  Last week, after visiting and being inspired by, City of Craft with my mum, (who is now back home, yay!) we wanted to make something.  So we stopped by
 Designer Fabrics and bought each three, half yards of red, pink and green jersey to make into scarves.  (the lighting is terrible today- ignore the crappy pics!)  Today I freezer paper stencilled one of mine with the tree found in Lena Corwin's book, Printing by Hand.  I wanted fast results and figured I would ease back into being crafty by using someone else's design.  I did some trawling for inspiration before hand too and found some yummy stuff.

This pretty design found on over on ETSY, at Red Prairie Press

This downright awesome print at Analogue People.

This one is awfully pretty too.  Again at Analogue People.

***

I also was planning on getting a teensy bit of work done this afternoon too.  Something that has been sadly neglected over the last few busy months.  Luckily I have had no freelance work while adjusting to my new job.  I don't think I could have handled the extra stress!  But I do have a loose deadline of January for the rough ideas on a POTENTIAL third book, this time all written and illustrated by MOI!  It may or may not happen, but exiting still.  shhh top secret.

a jelly bean dish of things

Oh Friday!  Best day of the week... I guess last Friday just disappeared on me and I blame it on an amazing pizza lunch at Terroni with Beta !  Afterwards I just wandered about in a cheesy state of bliss and spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch.  I have a vague memory of watching Dr.OZ and seeing something about spleens...

 

But enough of that!  Look at this!  It is the season of craft sales and preparing for Christmas which (un?) fortunately means I end up buying presents for myself.  Naughty.  The CBC craft sale was yesterday and I am usually in it, but this year? Oh, not this year.  Not a scrap to sell, plus the new job, you know.  My friend Grace was in town from CA and we had a look.  This pretty necklace is made by the talented Leila Cools - I love it and decided I deserved a little treat.

Also selling,  was my ex-co-worker and her great new line of printed items at Honey Roasted.

 

Lookee!  cute cute-  Check out her Etsy shop for lots more yumminess.

 

Also in the "one for you, two for me" department, are these wondeful zipper pulls from- I think she was called Space Cat?  I didn't get a card!  I broke out the old winter coat today and the lion looks so great on the zipper.  Considering giving my mum the Decole apple...or maybe not.

Grace came over on halloween to play Bubble Bobble, carve the pumpkin and have a lovely dinner.  We had a great time, she brought me a signed copy of A Homemade Life!!  There was an author signing in San Francisco - woot!  I am savoring it and saving it for weekend afternoons on the couch, when the sun is pouring in the front room windows.  Thanks so much Grace, so nice to see you again!

One more thing...

 

A quilt!  This I am pretty sure is vintage IKEA fabric, and its something my mum started for me when I was a little girl.  I found it again recently and I am going to attempt to finish it over the winter!  It is so stinking cute, to quote Amy, and I just love the happy little town feel of it all.  It reminds me of one of my favorite books, Lotta's Bike.  Click to see it bigger.

Oh dear and now it is 4:50pm and dusk is just descending. UGH darn daylight savings time!  Bleakness!  Time for some tea and a few nice candles.

Have a lovely weekend peeps!

pa -pa - print

On Saturday I printed with the  stamp I made a while ago.
My neighbor came over and worked on some amazing beaded bracelets and I did this.  It was altogether a lovely afternoon!



This is a light cotton I found thrifting a year or so ago and I had envisioned making this into a springy scarf, but with the ink it is a bit stiff.  It still might work though and I might double it over and sew it shut so you see the print on both sides.  It is back to wool scarves today because it is SNOWING again!
My poor tulips and crocuses- they are all frozen.  I do hope they recover...


And guess who's back!!  My best friend the mockingbird.  There he is tiny at the top of the post.
I have not heard him today though, he must be huddled up by the fire in his little cottage by the railway tracks.  It is so great to hear his endless warbling again.  He has added a new one to his repertoire, the clang, clang , clang sound the train makes when it is going slowly.  I have seen him and his wife hopping around  in a tree next to a woodpecker.  It made my day.

• I have added this new widget that links to related posts! So far I am not quite sure how any of these posts relate to the current one, but heck, it's kind of neat!  I often forget what I have done in the past so I like this to remind me of some of it!

faffing about

Friday I had a bit of time to make a stamp, inspired by Orla Keiley and the new Lena Corwin book.
I would like to stamp this in pale pink on natural linen perhaps...
I am attempting to take a picture a day in March, driven by being so grateful February is over.
I am starting to see a pattern.  No, not just in the image above, but in me.  Winter makes me depressed!  What a surprise!  Just a few degrees above zero is enough to make me get out the old tap shoes and start dancing, metaphorically speaking.  Lisa, I don't really have tap shoes though I have always wanted a pair.
It has helped having my brother here to stay for 10 days.  It feels great to have family in our house again.

I just finished The Knitting Circle by Anne Hood and while these books were a comforting distraction, this one I simply could not put down.
It was just so good.  Sad but in a cathartic and healing way.  Something about everyone having something, a reminder that we all have our own cross to bear but we can take comfort in each other ( and in knitting ofcourse!).  Thanks Christen for telling me about it.  I want to read it all over again.

mug for the camera

I made six mugs for the craft sales and sold them all!  I only managed to take a picture of the last two though.  I was pleased to have sold them as they seemd a bit shakey- it's hard to draw on a curve.  They are done with the magical porcelaine pen.




Here are some sketches of the possibilities.  The city of craft was awesome and a big thanks to Jen and Becky for wrangling it into shape! 
Sunday was also a fun little neighborhood sale in my knitting neighbors home. Tres bien!
And now all that is done I am starting work on a new picture book!! Yes, that is my special happy news- I got picked to do another one and I am so thrilled.  That might be all you will hear about it for a while as the publictation date is not until far far off into the future.  Lots of deadlines in between though, with thumbnails, then roughs, then revisions, then a mock cover and one final page and then finals, more revisions and all of it due in June.
I will be a busy duck, starting now. Yay!

treat

 

I recently treated myself to this awesome book.  I figured it would be simple enough for me and I just love the look of the outfits.  I ordered it from this etsy shop- Pomadors craft cafe.   Thank goodness for etsy!  I could never quite navigate amazon japan easily.  Maybe it was the not speaking or reading Japanese...

I am going to make the item on the left first.  I love the whole jeans and long tunic thing.  I am thinking of getting a nice brown linen to start off.  My inclination is always to get some crazy floral print, but I think I will start neutral and work from there.  That way I can wear my stripey long sleeved tees underneath and not look like a clown.

So cute!

I am playing around with some new silkscreen ideas!  It has been along time since I did this!  I am happy to pay now to have my screens exposed and I will be taking them to Kid Icarus to be done.   How nice to delegate!  They make beautiful things as well as sell lovely things made by other people.  I have decided I simply never create enough screens anymore to make buying a bottle of the stuff worth while as it expires within a short time once it is active.  I have a sad expired bottle in my fridge as we speak and its such a shame to just toss it but I have no other choice.

I thought the food one would be cute for a grocery tote bag and the house, well a house with a face is always cute.

the little things...

It really is the little things, like those times when I can putter at my leisure, over at the garden center for an hour.  Pick up plants and put them back until I settle on my new garden!  I even treated myelf to some perrennials, which I was too mean to buy last year since they are a bit more pricey.  They include: two Dahlias( - I hope they will survive in my partially shady yard, as I see them thrive is sunnier places), two more Lily of the Valley's to add to my one from last year(- I know they spread but it takes a while!), a scruffy pot of Forget Me Nots ( I was assured they woud be ok if I picked off the dry bits, they had them out in the sun!), and some periwinkles to hopefully spread.  The some Impatiens, Allyssum, Lobelia and Marigold to fill in the blanks.  BLISS - to spend a few hours digging and watering and moving things around.  A few weeks ago, I put in the tomaties, basil and chard in the back garden.  Testing a new theory I read about in the paper- To keep away slugs, I have put a loop of copper wire around each chard plant.  It apparently has a small electrical charge which slugs dislike.  Will keep you updated on results.

Some coasters I glammed up with a stamp I made a while ago.  I found these along with three cork circles for putting hot pots onto- what are those called? From the leftovers of a garage sale.

Also, on Friday after work , we popped over to check out this crazy race and Paul took this neat picture.
It seemed very Euro, to have a bike race right downtown!  It got a bit hairy when a couple of the guys crashed and got all mad at each other, instead of being concerned if anyone was hurt!  I realised then it was not for fun , but to WIN WIN WIN!  shudder.  We went home and watched Northern Exposure ( I just got the 6th season from ebay!) and ordered Thai food- perfect night after all.

Tecchie update- I find I can now post pics if i use firefox.  I guess typepad does not like safari.  So glad thats sorted out - back to our regularly scheduled program.

This post brought to you by a sneaked cup of coffee.  My brother is in town and we are in my studio working away and a coffee just seemed appropriate.

Sunday was a lovely day and I hung out the wash with these fantastic birdy clothes pegs mum got me at Christmas.
Mum was here for a day before going back to mexico, we had some breakfast.
Afterwards we went for a walk down to the trunk show at the workroom.
I got one of Dory's pennants, shown above. Mine says "LIVING ROOM" and I hung it in the living room, of course! I also got one of these adorable kittens from Lesley Ann Green. Cuteness! It was altogether so very inspiring! Looking at the most gorgeous fabric and checking out the selection of awesome books and patterns. I left feeling totally pumped. What a great space! YAY!

fruit basket

Here are my teensy fruit paintings I was working on last week. I listed them in my little etsy shop. There- I did something! It feels better to keep busy, but sometimes I slip into an apathetic TV induced coma, I don't deny it. In other news, it is May 1st! My favorite month. Some unexpected birthday gifts have even trickled in and I am such a lucky girl. I could not save them for my actual birthday though I tried, I really did!
Lookit, I found this great mug on Saturday at the Zen Buddist temple rummage sale! It is from Japan and is my new favorite.
Lo and behold, my local garden center opened up this week! It is at my grocery store and when I went on Monday for food, I almost hyperventilated seeing it had opened. I tired to figure out how to carry groceries and plants... In the end I talked myself off the ledge, but went back on my bike a few minutes early for work, loaded up the side baskets, and dropped the plants off home again before racing off. I had to get my mitts on the swiss chard before the eager grandpas did! So I got Swiss chard- LOTS of it ( girl cat has already chomped a bit of it- curses), baby tomatoes, basil and chives. Best $17 I ever spent. Now I dream about where and how to plant them. It is still just a bit too cold.
Also, latest pictue of the secret garden. The cillas are finished and now its all magnolias and forsythia! What will be next, I ask? The exitement never ends.

5 minute skirt

A few years ago, I traced a favorite a-line skirt and made about 4 new skirts out of that pattern. It had four panels and a zipper at the back. I realised last week that I could simplify it even further by combining the two front and two back panels into one piece and add a draw string waist to replace the fussy zipper which I never did very nicely anyway. Add in this great fabric Karina so kindly found for me at the VV, and voila! We had a perfectly lovely lunch last week while she was in town for her FAT show.
In other news - CAKES! Pound cakes to be exact, a chocolate one and a hazelnut one from my cake class- full of eggs and the like. To be decorated this coming thursday and - BONUS! We get to bring home slices to eat.

Also, a most delicious chicken pot pie I made on Sunday. I could have eaten it all actually, but I held back.
Recipe from a Chatelaine magazine a few years back.



Plus, look at my seedlings! They are coming along very nicely, and girl cat only snapped off one so far. I am hoping she didn't like the taste and gave up.



Finally, look at my favorite garden. I pass this on my bike to work and they have such an abundant, nicely timed garden. First , it is a carpet of cillas, next the forsythias and magnolia come out and I can't wait for the next shift of flowers! I forget what it will be!

I went for dim sum on the weekend with my school friend who I have reconnected with, M ( I never know if I should put peoples names up!:)) and Kim. I was delighted to find out M knew Kim outside of how I know her, mainly through blogging but also seeing hwer cute creations all around town and I was reminded how nice Toronto is that way- all the overlapping circles of friends. Anyway, that was not the point. We had such a lovely time chatting away for ages and something Kim mentioned reminded me of this book- The Uncommon Quilter. My mum had this book when we went to visit her in Mexico and I was so inspired by it. The author did one quilt a week for a year. They are mostly tiny and made out of all sorts stuff she finds around her- holey socks, mesh from a box of clementines, and they are all so pretty.

wip

I have a handful of grotty old tee shirts which I tell myself I will wear in winters, under sweaters and such. This winter though, I haven't really worn them , so I decided it's time to redirect them. I have plenty of rags (which I do not use nealry enough, if you know what I mean) and I have had these gorgeous scarves in my head since I saw them in the summer. James Fowler makes them out of squares of felted sweaters, and they are just amazing in person. I might try and sew these squares a bit like that, for a spring scarf for me. We will see though. I have a feeling such a project requires a lot of patience! Perhaps mine will just be three by three...

P.S. Hugo the cat of 1000 faces! Episode 2

I learned to serge

Here is the top we made at The Workroom class "Learn to Serge". Cute! It was from Burda easy pattern #7866. I added a silkscreen of these birds I have put on everything, but I still like them. Now if I want to serge again I can go there and book an hour or two.
I also made a little pincushion from some of my swap scraps.

P.S. My brothers crazy video made it onto CUTEOVERLOAD.COM!!! That is like being recognised by the gods of cuteness! I am beside myself. It almost makes up for the 20 cm of snow we got overnight and the 20cm more due on the weekend. Almost.

I did end up managing to make a tea cozy with my stitch directory book. These are great little excercises in learning new stitches! It's easy to do for a few rows. This guy is called the "eyelet insertion stitch" and was easy for a sunday afternoon. In the background is my dad's track and field trophy from the 1950's and some skate blades Paul says are from the 1800's, the time when his great grandfather was in the first Stanley cup game!

Have a look at this naughty pussycat. It so cute though that I merely pretend to be mad. A few months ago I organised all my wool in this old cd shelf thing I have. It took her a while, but she finally discovered the easy access to toys. She pulls out a ball and trots off with it in her mouth and then sets to creating havok. What you can't see here is that it winds back around the far end of the banister and into the living room, around the legs of two chairs. AW! I am glad she has a project to occupy herself.

scraps for tania

On Sunday my knitting neighbor (now to be know as KB) and I went down the street to the Workroom craft supplies swap! Here is the aftermath. It was so much fun! Here is a pile of scraps I weeded out for myself, many of which were off cuts from the groovy designs of Fresh Baked goods. I made a few buttons from my favorite bits just now, and Kb showed me the cutest baby smock she made from some of her haul. Woo! I felt a bit bad leaving and not helping to clean up!
On top of that, there was yarn some of which was donated by Knitomatic. I got a little bit of Koigu merino wool and some nice chunky blue stuff which I have a teensy ball of already and wanted more. The chunky purple was a turtleneck- just the neck- that I un-knitted because it was a nice texture- cottony I think.

Also I took a learn to serge class there on Saturday because KB decided she wouldn't be able to make it. I took her spot and it was great. How awesome to have this neat crafty space-which just opened in October I believe and seems to be doing great- so near home!! I love it.

Here is that thing I was sewing the other day. I am not super thrilled with it but perhaps that is lack of vitamin D and cabin fever. We are so snowed in around here. I was originally inspired by the wonderful mini quilts by Skyossa which are beyond lovely. The edging on mine got a bit annoying and messy.
I stuck squishy jewel-like hearts on the back door to cheer things up. I want to eat them they look so yummy.

nice things today

-A sudden desire to sew again! It's been ages and I am having fun. Will show you when its finished.
-Shiny heart garlands from the dollar store - because hearts make me happy.
-Coming across a really nice crafty book at the library that I had never even heard of before -Craftivity.
-A new lipbalm that smells like vacations and summer.
-Planning a haircut and maybe a pedicure for a special treat.

oot and aboot

Here is a little tote bag I made last week, on an evening we turned off the tv and I was looking through Lotta's simple sewing. I used leftovers from a chair I recovered, that would be in my flickr except I have to renew my pro account so right now it is taken out I guess...It is also made of the leftovers of a favorite jean skirt that got too small.

I saw this today- looks like something I would do. I am a kid, I re-paint a chest pf drawers and, high with the power of paint and a brush, I want to paint everything in sight but I know I would get in trouble if I did. Instead, I paint a heart on the back that no one will see. Until NOW...

wonderful Gift tags!

Kind and lovely ladies offering great gifty tags for you to use...

Camilla Engman

Natascha Rosenberg

Sugar*Loop

Angry Chicken

If I don't see you before Christmas, please have a lovely, happy, cozy, munchy, safe, sweet Christmas!!
You deserve it!
xoxox
t

multi-packet

A good Monday morning to you!

I finally re-vamped my coasters. They had teddy bears on them and while cute in a way, they just weren't me. I knew I had been saving groovy papers for years for some reason.

Snow! Boy did we get snow. This was only halfway through. I shovelled again at night and we have a huge mountain at the front and at the back. I lay back onto it after I finished and enjoyed the total quiet (apart from the neighbors radio, which is always on - OUTSIDE. yes.) and lovliness of a snow fall. Today it is bright and sparkley and wonderful.

Here are those mitts I started a while back. I have been wearing them for a few weeks now and forgot to take a picture. I also threw in a hat as well for good measure, which I made from my head.
I have had to sew a polar fleece lining in it since, to add extra warmth.

I got a picture of the awesome publicity that has happened for my favorite tv show ever, Intelligence. They are always so clever with this stuff. It is always a crazy ad campaign like this and I love it. It was on during my Monday knitting and I have missed a lot! I plan to get the DVD because it is really that good. I hope they put a DVD out...

slippers, tree, cake and bubbles.

It is a bit chilly in our house and I thought it would be nice to have slippers for guests- mainly my mom. These are made from a martha pattern and mine turned out a bit lumpy but that's ok. Next time I may use the machine - I of course did not read the instructions first. I am going to see if there is any of that puffy paint at the dollar store to put on the bottoms so they aren't such slippy slippers. I made them with one of the felted sweaters that my mum gave to me recently.

Our tree was decorated after sitting naked and shy for a week in the living room.

I ate a nice cake from the Portuguese bakery.

And after a voicing my craving to play tetris, Paul found the old nintendo in the basement and we played that and then Bubble Bobble, my all time favorite game ever which I have not played in ages and ages. We got to a really high level and then gave up to have tea.

little clutch

I made this for a friend's birthday- I hope she has received it or this will ruin the surprise!
Happy Friday!

city of craft

City of Craft was awesome. Big congrats to the organisers of the show- what a lot of work! I was all happy and exited to arrive and see how much was going on and how many people were there. I just got a couple of little things. The sweet barrettes by Matthea made, the irresistable apple earrings by I Love Heartbeat. The cute mushroom pin and the nutty "sausage" toy which I could not leave behind. I even ran into my friends and went out for coffee afterwards which made my day. Hi S and P!

This little pin I got at the sale in my work building which I did not participate in this year. It is a dish, cut out as a pin and I love it because it looks old fashioned and modern/digital all at the same time. It looks big but it about the size of a twoonie coin- soory thats a Canadianism, but I can't think of a better comparison! The people who made it were a husband and wife - retired school teachers! The had cut tea cups in half and used them as night lights that glowed beautifully. I got one for my mum. Really sweet, and I was somehow taken by it all.

We got our tree up but not decorated yet. It smells amazing. Yay for December!

it's finally fall!

Image taken from Knit simple .
There is a lovely chill in the air and it is really putting a skip in my step. It is making me FINALLY finally feel crafty again. I love this time of year with brilliant sunny days shining through golden leaves, wearing scarves and socks. I am all exited to rummage in the basement and find my bag of hats and mitts, and the box of winter things. Paul and I got whomped with the inaugeral cold of the season and though he has been home sick all week, I have been able to limp through my normal schedule, if not a bit dopily. So, I treated myself to the latest issuse of Knit simple because there is a great mitten section - see pics above. It is a nice chart for mitts of all sizes. I love the idea of a basic adaptable mitten pattern using a basic yarn, not some crazy expensive one I am too mean to buy.
I also finally feel rather exited about crafty happenings. Jen over at TCA has done a great job as usual, of rounding up all the cool stuff to do. I am exited about this because it is near my house. I would love a neat crafty place to hang out so close to home! Maybe it will be like the secret club I started in my basement as a kid...Maybe I will actually go OUT for a change...
I totally have to check this out!! It looks beyond exiting...
So I hope you all have a lovely weekend and get down to some creative crafty business. I hope I do too- :)

Check out my sweet new ride!!! I have never had a new bike and had been making do the last couple of years with borrowed bikes, but this baby- she's all mine. I had a bit of unexpected cash and when I took her for a test ride I knew we were made to be together. I ride to work almost every day when the weather is nice and this bike is super comfortable. Yay! What a treat. I hope to ride until at least Novemeber. Here is a measly shot of the only crafting happening around here- apart from knitting which is always happening. I made two drawstring bags for the rags I made from old tee shirts when we moved in. I can never quite remember which ones are clean or dirty so now these handy bags will tell me.