Today we had my birthday celebration. Whenever anyone has a birthday we do a pot luck lunch, cake and super snarky cards. Both the food and the cards were really good today. Cyd made these great little tarts with blueberries from her own bushes.

Susan brought a great quinoa salad with butternut squash, pears and pine nuts set on a bed of greens.

And Jennifer brought this beautiful, delicious champagne cake.

The card on the right was made by Heather. She chose a Parisianne theme because Rick got me a ticket to Paris for my birthday. My friend Kristy and I are going at the end of this month and we are so excited about it.

But I’ve got to brag about Jennifer today. This is what she’s been knitting this week. Yes I did say this week. She is making this as an auction item. I hope it sells for thousands. A knitted nativity. Unbelievable!

I am so lucky to be blessed with such good friends and family.

As soon as I got the mitts off my size 1 needles, I cast on some socks for Rick. The yarn is by Mountain Colors and is hand dyed. The yarn is great to work with and I’m loving how the color is striping up.

I was going to power through and finish them quickly but I got distracted by my upcoming trip to Paris with my friend Kristy. If you’re going to Paris, you want to look stylish, right? So I’ve started these wristlets for myself. I loved the pair I made for Liza for Christmas and have been gathering the yarns for another pair.  The variegated yarn is leftover from another project, so I just had to buy the one skein of plum cashmerino for the base. The plum color matches my new boots. I’d love to finish a matching scarf but I don’t know if I can knit that fast!

I think I got this embroidery kit when I was 6 – 8 years old. The kit was to embroider the doll blanket and the pillow. The design was stamped on the fabric and the kit came with embroidery thread, hoop, scissors, a needle and a thimble.

It’s totally amazing to me that I still have this especially considering how many times I moved growing up and how many times I’ve moved since I’ve been married. If I made this when I was 6, I’ve held onto it for 44 years. Wow. I guess that just goes to show how important sewing has been in my life.

My mother is an amazing seamtress and she made lots of our clothes when we were kids. I always loved hanging out in the sewing room, watching and “helping”. She taught me many lessons then that I tell my own students today. Little pearls of wisdom like “the ironing is just as important as the sewing.” I hear her voice in my head every time I say that. Mom loved sewing and I’m so thankful that she passed that love along to me.

I have no idea what to do with this little piece. I would love to find a way to display it or use it. If anyone has any ideas, please post a comment, I’m open to anything.

I’ve also finished one of the mitts I cast on for the Olympics. I still need to finish the thumb but it’s mostly done. I should be able to finish the other one by the end of the week.

And I’ve been working on a quilt project. I can’t show the whole thing because it’s a surprise for someone and I know they read this blog. But here is a sneak peak.

The other project I finished was the Thorpe hat for Rick. The pattern is available free on Ravelry. I used a chunky Malabrago and it worked up easily. Rick says it’s super warm and he’s been wearing it all the time.

Here’s a close up of the top. I love the color.

I cast on a new project to work on during the Olympics. I wanted to make the Zigzag Mitts by Jen Hurley but the pattern is really funky and I was hating it. She has you make the thumb separately. You work the mitt from the top down instead of starting at the cuff and then you have to graft the thumb to the mitt.  I was not having fun.

So I ripped it out and started “Mitt Envy” instead. This pattern starts at the cuffs, you increase to create the gusset for the thumb, put those stitches on some waste yarn and then finish the thumb after you’re done. It’s much easier. The mitt has a nice cable on the front to give it some flair. It’s only day two of the Olympics and I’m already half way done with the first mitt.

I think I’ll start a new pair of socks for Rick after I finish these mitts. Pictures to come.

I agitated them  too long when I was felting them and they came out a bit small.  I had to put them on my feet and walked around a bit in them before taking them off to dry. Believe me, it was not fun having cold, wet, felted shoes on my feet, but one must suffer sometimes to achieve that perfect accessory. And they were just perfect for my outfit. The theme for the party this year was Dr. Seuss, can you tell?

Last Thursday at knitting, Lynda brought her new felted slippers to show off. The pattern is called “French Press Felted Slippers” and is available through ravelry. I think they’re adorable. But look at that beautiful bag! Lynda made that too. She took a class at A Common Thread with Victoria Jones called “It’s a Wrap: Bowls, Baskets and Bags.

It looks like great fun but I’m going to have to tie my hands behind my back and say NO, NO, NO. No more projects until I finish some of those unfinished ones. I haven’t forgotten them.

This is a small guild and the members brought 32 quilts for donation. And they weren’t just any old thing thrown together, these were nice quilts. There are going to be some very happy recipients out there. Here are just a few of them.

One of the members, Carrie Shields, had taken my Cascade class at Quilt Camp back in October and brought her finished quilt to show at the meeting. I always feel like a proud parent when I see finished quilts from classes. I love teaching this class and Carrie did a great job.

That being said, I have been working on this UFO and have managed to finish the top and piece the backing. So now it can officially get crossed off the UFO list and move over to the unquilted list.  I do love my lists.

This pattern is called Building Blocks and I made it up when I made this baby quilt for Adrienne and Paul when Ingrid was born. I cut this all out so I would have blocks to make when I taught the class. Since I probably won’t be teaching this anymore, I decided to go ahead and finish it. I think I’ll just hang on to it until it’s needed. There are always babies coming along.

Jasper didn’t come to craft day with me but he’s just so handsome I had to put his picture here. Like many other people, I take way too many pictures of my pet. How can I resist?

But I digress. Every so often I get together with my good friends Meara and Therese. They are super crafty and do completely different kinds of crafts than what I usually do. We get together at Meara’s house, throw a lot of stuff on the table and just have at it. There is also wine to help get one’s juices flowing. Here’s the table. It’s hard not to be inspired by all the antique papers, stamps, inks, transparencies, different size slides, it’s just amazing.

Yesterday, we made pendants using glass slides. We created a collage the size of the slide, put  a slide on the top and bottom, and then soldered around the edges. The little collages were fun to make, mine is three layers with paper, transparency and some stamping. We added a ring to the top to put the chain through. I really enjoyed the soldering and am ready to rush right out and buy all the tools. Somebody please restrain me!