Last Year

This past week, my mom came for a visit.

She hasn't flown in about 15 years -- not since she crossed an ocean to visit me in England while I lived in a house with no heat. 

Thankfully, the temperatures here were warm enough for shorts most of the week -- and when they do finally drop (hopefully not soon) my apartment is well-equipped with heat. 

As I mentioned in my last post though, there has been a morning and evening chill in the air. It was the kind of chill that warranted wearing slippers while we sat on the porch drinking our beverage of choice, depending on the time of day. 

I loved that my mom managed to only take hand luggage on the plane with her and she still found room to bring her slippers. Apparently she's picked up a thing or two from me while watching me pack for trips throughout the years. (Always bring your own slippers. Always.) 

I made her those maroon slippers 'last year' right before Christmas. During my years working in Ukraine, my colleagues and I had a running joke about 'last year'. Every time an event didn't go as planned, or we experienced unexpected glitches, we'd say something like 'Well, LAST year we did this instead...' or 'LAST year so and so did it that way...'  

We were so goofy with our comparisons, but over the years, a lot DID change in the country. One thing was pretty consistent though -- we still wore slippers whenever we visited a Ukrainian home. 

I found myself thinking a lot about last year while my mom was here, because really, so much HAS changed. Last year the Sailor and I knew we'd be moving, but we didn't know where. Last year I became serious about writing a book. Last year, my brother was still alive. 

Last year seems like a lifetime ago and yet last year feels like yesterday. 

I felt a little funny dropping my mom off at the airport. So often, it has been my mom driving me to and from an airport and waving me off as I stumble through security. This time, I watched as she expertly made her way through security, as if she's flown more than me. 

Last year changed a lot. 

I am super proud of my mom for getting on a plane to come and see me only three months after we've moved. I'm also proud of her for keeping up with my whirlwind tourist tendencies this week (We did a lot. I mean A LOT. We may need another holiday to recover from our 'vacation'.) And I'm incredibly proud of how she has pushed through what was undeniably one of the hardest years of her life. Mother's Day looked a lot different for her this past year. 

One thing remains the same, though. She's the most amazing mom I know. Slippers and all.  

Sock Season

Sock season is nearly upon us. There is a slight morning chill in the air, and even though I'm refusing to give up my sandals at the moment, I know the closed-toed-footwear day is right around the corner. 

And when it arrives, I want to make sure I have enough warm socks to wear. 

Like these. 

 
You may already know that I adore slippers, from this post and this one. Despite my love of slippers, for years I shunned socks (even with non-sandal footwear). Now that I'm making my own, I can't get enough of letting my feet feel fancy in homemade footwear. 

I used the same Patons booklet that I used for these socks and also these. These pink wool socks were knit with the worsted weight pattern.

If you're scared of knitting socks, this booklet is a great step-by-step guide and well worth the few dollars it costs. I purchased mine at a local Michaels store when I first learn to knit socks. 

I'm thinking though, it's time to branch out from the standard, simple pattern. I have some lovely squishy perfect fall sock yarn that is awaiting my attention. I may need to try these Calendula Cable Socks next. What do you think?

#7vignettes Part I

I've mentioned before how much fun I have on Instagram. Ever since I joined the online photo community, it's challenged me to take creative pictures using only my phone. I love seeing what other people around the world creatively post! 

I don't really participate in a ton of hashtag projects (yet!) but I do love playing along with #7vignettes. There are some amazing interior designers taking part mainly in Australia, but people submit their photos from around the world. 

I'm not an interior designer, nor do I live in Australia, but I truly enjoying seeing how other people interpret a one word theme in photos. I tried to not only create and take photos that matched the words, but I also created my own 'travel' theme throughout each of the photos in the seven day series.

I'm a little late in showing you all my first round of pics from August, but here they are:

Of course every photo has a story that's also part of the vignette. You can read Day 1's tea/coffee one here, if you missed it. 

The rest of the vignettes are as follows: 

BEDSIDE:  Bride's-eye-view from the cake topper that never made it to my wedding in South Africa, but arrived months later in the post in America. (The bride and groom still haven't clued me in on where they were all that time...) Also at my bedside: a frame holding an anniversary photo of the Sailor and me, at least one book, and always, without a fail, a glass of water at bedtime. 

WINDOW: Travel offers a window of opportunity to experience other cultures. I often feel as though I'm reflecting on past trips abroad at the same time that I'm planning new adventures. 

ELEGANT: For me, elegance is found somewhere between a train trip on the Orient Express from Budapest, coffee in the dining car, watching the snowfall while writing in my journal, and an African safari, sipping sundowners with the zebras. It's hard to choose... 

MONOCHROME: Vintage lovelies that have both traveled through and stood the test of time. Green is glorious. 

EMOTIONAL: The gamut of emotions I've experienced since the age of 10 have all been recorded in my journals... When words fail sometimes the emotions are simply a tear stain, a ticket stub, a sketch or a photo -- even the crumbling petals of a rose. Even in this age of mobile gadgetry, I still travel with my journal -- 61 journals now line my bookshelf. I'm working my way through number 62. 

HANDMADE: I have my mother to thank for instilling in me a sense of creativity and wonder in everyday objects. She taught me to sew and crochet and she showed me the amazing things you can do with paper and scissors (her pinking shears made the photo cut). Years later, my mother-in-law taught me to knit. She told me to keep the practice square as a memento of that first lesson. (It's in the upper right corner.) I knit the blue sweater soon after. The color reminded me of the Sailor's and my handmade wedding invitations and the oceans that separate two of the most amazing women I know. Handmade with love. 

Pretty Piles of Pyrex

Pyrex doesn't seem to be coming out with new patterns anytime soon. I think they're sticking with plain old clear glass, and letting the rest of us find our fun patterns in the thrift and antique stores as well as online on eBay and Etsy.

Etsy offers a plethora of fun Pyrex-related products. You can find notecards, posters, prints, jewelry and mosaics (made out of broken Pyrex!) and even lamp shades made out of Pyrex bowls. 

Not long ago, I came across Fresh Pastry Stand. The owner make all kinds of fun things, but her Pyrex screen-printed tea towels caught my eye. What's not to love about a tea towel? Useful, pretty and c'mon... they match my Butterprint Pyrex collection. I finally ordered a few towels tonight, because I know that with Fall around the corner, I'll be baking more and let's face it, washing more dishes. I may as well use pretty towels to wipe them dry.

Recently, the shop owner held a little Facebook competition to come up with new tea towel pattern ideas. Of course I entered. While I didn't win, I had fun coming up with new color combos and seeing the other entries.

Here are a few of my favorites from my own thrifted collection: 

And even though I mentioned in this post that I've never had a dishwasher, I do now, but it doesn't get much action. Vintage Pyrex should always be hand-washed and dried, preferably with a fun tea towel.

(Disclaimer: While I did receive a 25% off coupon for the Fresh Pastry Stand Etsy shop, for entering the Facebook contest, I received no compensation for this post.) 

Blocking on the Cheap

{blocking} *
v.
Definition 1. The thing we knitters sometimes forget to to do at the end of making a sweater. 

Definition 2. The thing we knitters remember to do at the of making a sweater, except we don't have that expensive blocking thingy in order to complete the task, so we still don't bother with it. 

If Definition #1 resonates with you, it's time you learned to block. It really can help to shape your garment at the end of the process. 

If you are in the Definition #2 category, and you don't want to spend oodles of money on a giant blocking pad (or you don't have space for something that large), I have an easy and fairly cheap solution for you. Simply purchase an interlocking child's puzzle play mat and save your money to purchase more yarn. Save your space to store that yarn. 

I purchased mine through an online children's retailer. Their website seems to be totally outdated at the moment, and I couldn't find the actual product any more. However, I did find this one from Overstock, available on Sears website. And if you're a pureist and want an actual knitter's product, KnitPicks sells these. 

You can search yourself for 'puzzle foam mats' or look in stores that sell children's' products. Be cautious of exercise quality and gym mats -- some of them are way overpriced. I certainly didn't pay anymore than $20 for my set, including shipping. The set I got has a total of nine squares that are one square foot each. It's just enough to block one sweater. You may need more than one set if you're going to block a larger garment or a shawl.

No excuses knitters. Start blocking.

* (Craftsy has a great tutorial here if you're wondering what 'blocking' really is...) 

PS: Want more cardigan details? Go here, for the previous post with links to the pattern.