Baby steps with the new camera

March of the knitting needles

Orchid roots and terracotta pot

Typewriter typebars
(Which would fit in with the current colors for PS 2.0)

Brown and Blue Tank Top WIP

There is so much to learn with my new camera. I am very excited and I feel very dedicated to decoding the lingo and testing out the different settings etc. So far, so good. I'm inching away and slowly gathering knowledge. I am considering taking a few courses, which I will have to save up for... (Read:Yarn Diet!) But until then lucky for me I have a friend (my Fella's co-worker) who has the same camera as I do and he has offered to answer any questions I might have. Check out his stuff here! As you'll see, he's got the skills to pay the bills.

Speechless

At first glance, you would not think this to be a gift to a girl from a boy that loves her very much. Unless of course, you happen to be the girl with whom the boy is in love with.

I had no idea what it could be but I went off in my usual way of taking pictures to mark the non-occasion. My Fella thought that was pretty funny considering what the gift was.

I bawled for a good 10 minutes.

My Fella tells me the sales guy said, "She's gonna have the best Father's Day ever!" Am I ever.

What I'm Weaving

Hand Maiden Sea Silk & Fiddlesticks Knitting Zephyr Wool-Silk

Don't you just love the sheen that you get from silk yarns? *sigh* I bought the Sea Silk when I was in Calgary last year. This stuff is so pretty the photos just don't do it justice. And the other thing about silk? I can't stop sniffing it. Yes, I sniff yarn and silk is a good yarn to sniff. What?

New rug & new shirt

New crocheted rug for the bathroom!

This rug has been a long time WIP. Ever since we'd painted our bathroom I'd been meaning to make a new rug to match. Now, finally it is done. I'd scrapped the original idea I'd had because seriously, who wants to do many laborious bullion stitches for plumpness when you can do easy, sexy little single crochets with 3 strands of yarn for sturdiness? Much more practical I think!

~Specs~

Pattern:
I made it up. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Basically I made a chain to the length I wanted and single crocheted until I'd reached the desired width. Then I single crocheted around the entire thing for edging, finished by threading through around the entire edge to help the rug keep it's shape. Voila!

Yarn:
Bernat Handicrafter Cotton - 100% cotton /2.5 balls @ 340g

Needles:
10.00mm plastic crochet hook

Pros:
Easy and quick.

Cons:
The rug does not fit under the door when it swings open or close. Doh! Also, the edges of the rug were all rippled and loosey goosey until I threaded through the edge with leftover yarn.

My new tank top!

Love, love, love this shirt! In a frenzy of inspiration I whipped this baby up. I used one of my Fella's old shirts and a pair of lacy underwear that I had never worn but had kept around... which I can now justify!

Here is the how-to:

1) Using one of my well-fitting tank tops as a template I pinned the outline on the old shirt.
2)I cut following the outline, (though I free-handed the neckline, eek!) unpinned, turned the cut shirt inside out and pinned sides to be sewn.
3)Sewed up sides with a straight stitch then went over again with a zigzag for reinforcement.
4)Cut up lacy underwear and pinned around neckline on wrong side. Sewed on lace with straight stitch.
5)Went around back of neck line with straight stitch for reinforcement.
6)Sewed on ties at top of shoulder with zigzag stitch. Gathered fabric at shoulder and tied ties.

Honestly, this is one of the most comfortable shirts I own now.

What I meant to post

Purple Calabash Tomato Plant

I am growing two tomato plants on my deck. This is my first time ever growing anything edible aside from herbs. So far, so good. For a girl that used to work in a flower shop I have a pretty bad track record for keeping plants alive. But I think with the added motivation of an edible end product I've been keeping up with all the watering and whatnot. Anyway, looks like Blogger has fixed that glitch I had. Yay!