dontcallmebecky

Hello Koko!

2011-11-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

Lest you think the past few months have been entirely dreary around here, we'd like to introduce you to our newest family member, Koko the pug. After wanting a pug for more than 10 years, I am so glad that things finally aligned and we were able to bring this sweet little one into our family.

We got her from a rescue (after filling out the longest application ever) in August. She was 11 months old at the time and is now fitting in with our lives wonderfully. Nuku nuku is not as thrilled with her as we are, but they are slowly starting to tolerate each other.

As you can see, she is ridiculously cute! Whenever we take her out on the town, we can't go more than a few steps without people stopping to coo over her. She's the little instigator at the dog park and tries to initiate play with every dog that she meets, big or small. She plays tag with huge labs and weimeraners and is always the last one running. It's hilarious to see!

When she's not running around like a crazy girl, she can be found at my side 90% of the time. She's the the best cuddler in the world and I love it when she falls asleep and starts snoring away.

She's got the best sense of humor and a face that makes me melt! What a darling!

Goodbye Shinji

2011-11-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

We lost our dear, sweet Shinji to a brain tumor on Friday, July 22. It was a tough summer between the two weeks leading up to his death and the grieving afterward. I never realized exactly how much I cared about him or how big of a hole he would leave in our lives until he was gone. To this day, it's hard to walk around the house and not get choked up as I pass one of his favorite spots or remember that he's not around to greet me at the door anymore.

He was the nicest cat and always loved greeting visitors and making them feel welcome. He had the smoothest, silkiest fur and was always ready to be cuddled or petted. His love for eating Cheez-its and licking plastic bags was unmeasured.

Whenever I want to feel even more depressed, you can count on me to be looking at senior, special needs cats up for adoption on petfinder.com. Jon has pretty much banned me from looking at the site because of how emotional I get. I'm not sure when or if we'll get another cat. Shinji was just the best.

My library did the sweetest thing for me in honor of Shinji! They plated a picture book in his memory for our bookmobile collection. I was so touched! The book perfectly describes him and is a darling book if you are in search of a sweet cat book.

Balloon Fest

2011-06-26T18:14:00.001-04:00

We headed over to Howell, MI last night for the Michigan Challenge Balloon Festival. This is our second time attending and the weather was much better last night than at our previous visit.

I don't think watching ballons take off and examining their interesting color combinations and designs will ever get old! Hopefully I will overcome my fear of heights one day and take a ride without getting queasy!

See the rest of the balloon photos here.

Jon's bonsai tool wrap

2011-06-26T18:13:00.001-04:00

One of Jon's most favorite hobbies is bonsai. He is always fiddling with plants and acquiring new specimens. It's the perfect hobby for him because he is such a patient guy!

He had been begging me to make him a wrap for all of his tools for ages. I knew he was serious when he sent me links to wraps he found online that he liked and dimensions for his dream wrap!

I made this wrap for him for Christmas and it went together quickly (in 30 minutes!). This project requires:
Twill tape
Backing fabric
Sturdy canvas
Doublefold bias tape

I cut out 2 rectangles of fabric in his desired dimensions (one piece of canvas, one piece of printed cotton). Then I cut out a half rectangle of canvas and lined the top edge with bias tape.
I also cut a smaller rectangle in canvas and lined 3 sides in bias tape for the top flap.
I placed the half piece of canvas over the full piece of canvas and sewed pockets for each tool.
Then I sandwiched the canvas with the fabric and edged it with the bias tape.
To finish it off, I attached a piece of twill tape folded in half on one side of the wrap.

It was a super easy project and I should have made it sooner!

Milford, CT

2011-06-26T18:10:00.001-04:00

Our final stop on our trip was to Milford, CT. Our newly transplanted friends, Ben and Hannah, are from Milford, so they told us what to check out while we were in town. First we had dinner at Rainbow Gardens and then we headed over to the duck pond to check out the birds.

See the rest of the pictures here.

Gilette's Castle

2011-06-26T18:09:00.002-04:00

We traveled to East Haddam, CT to visit the home of Sherlock Holmes actor and director, William Gilette. I've visited the castle a few times before and knew that Jon would love it. He did and now would like to take a castle tour of Ireland, naturally.

William Gilette was an eccentric man and filled his home with lots of beautiful carvings, glass, and tricks for his guests.

Upstairs hallway

Gilette's bedroom

View of the Connecticut River

The sumptuous library!

A guest bedroom

The conservatory and wishing well

The great hall

View the rest of the castle pictures here.

Middletown, CT

2011-06-26T18:08:00.003-04:00

I grew up in Middletwon, CT, so I took Jon on a little tour of my old town. Our first stop was at the waterfall just down the street from my old house.

My dad used to take lot of pictures of us in front of here when we were growing up. I remember waiting in agony for him to get the settings right so we could just be done taking pictures already. Little did I know that I would inherit his annoying photographer gene years later!

The highlight of my visit to the city was seeing my old public library. My mom used to take us here all the time and I loved exploring the place! It was fun to see where the first seeds of my career as a librarian were planted.

The adult reading room.

The youth room. The picture book shelves are such a great way for kids to browse books. I wish my library could afford to install shelves like these.

My sister, Ruth, and I hung out on this rainbow sculpture all the time!

We had a lovely lunch at this fantastic vegetarian restaurant, It's Only Natural, before heading to our next destination.

View the rest of the photos here.

Portland, ME

2011-06-26T18:07:00.001-04:00

After Vermont, we drove through New Hampshire to Portland, ME. We had a fun time exploring the cute shops in the city, eating at delicious restaurants (Yosaku and The Green Elephant), and soaking up the bay.

We drove around looking for a good spot to watch the sunset and found ourselves on a tour of luxury oceanfront property before we ended up at this public beach. After shooting this photo, we were promptly eaten alive by tons of little black gnats and got the heck out of there!

The Portland Head Light has to be the most beautiful lighhouse I've ever seen in my life!

I loved these Portland banners.

We took a schooner ride in the Casco Bay. It was my first time on a sailboat and it was amazing. We were clipping along at a great speed and there was no pesky engine noise to spoil the atmosphere. We were able to bring along our own food and drinks and enjoy a picnic on the boat.

Jon loved it so much that he's looking into starting sailing lessons soon!

We headed up to Freeport, ME to the headquarters of LL Bean, which is open 24 hours a day. This is what happens when we shop while we're tired...Jon lays down to test out travel pillows and gets up minutes later.

View the rest of the Portland photos here.

Woodstock, VT

2011-06-26T18:06:00.001-04:00

We headed to Woodstock, VT after we finished hiking the trail and made a quick stop to buy maple syrup and check out the town. It was the quintessential New England town...so incredibly adorable!

Vermont is slowing making its way toward the top of our "let's move here someday" list. Perhaps it's just the nostalgia of the time spent on our honeymoon (we look so young in those pictures!).

View the rest of the Woodstock photos here.

Backpacking the Appalachian Trail

2011-06-26T18:05:00.001-04:00

We spent last week on a New England road trip - 10 states in 10 days!

Our first stop was in Killington, Vermont where we stayed at the Inn at Long Trail before and after hiking the Appalachian Trail. Thoughts of being able to eat their delicious French toast helped us get through our last day on the trail! (see more photos of the Inn here)

Ever the overachievers, we picked the "strenuous" hike and overdid ourselves a bit. In the span of three days, it took us 18 hours to hike 22 miles and climb and descend seven different 2500+ foot peaks. We were exhausted!

The trail was gorgeous and all of our pain and agony brought us many wonderful views and nature-y smells (mmm...pine needles!).

The trail was really steep at this point. Steep enough to warrant an extension ladder...such a funny moment to encounter this!

We saw lots of moss covered quartz - so pretty!

No foot bridges here...

I don't think I've ever been more excited to see a mileage sign...4.2 miles to go until the end of our hike!

On top of the last hill.

This is what 3 days of sweat and rain does to us!

Check out the rest of the trail pictures here.

If you're interested in backpacking the trail, here are the three resources we'd recommend:

A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson's narrative of the 6 months he spent backpacking the AT (get the audiobook if you can!)
Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in South New England - Lists a handful of segment hikes that can be done on the trail and outlines parking, lodging, and water options along the way
Appalachian Trail Official Maps - lightweitght, waterproof map with elevations

Backpacking in Manistee

2011-06-26T18:04:00.001-04:00

Jon has finally turned me into a backpacking lover! He started backpacking a few years ago, but I didn't have any time to join him on his trips because of my busy work and school schedule.

Jon, always up for a trip to REI, set me up with a new pack and some other random gear and we had our first adventure together over Memorial Day weekend. We drove up to Manistee and did a fairly easy 12 mile round trip, overnight hike along the Manistee River trail.

Now that I've gone backpacking, I'm pretty sure that I never want to go regular State Park camping again. Being so close to nature and so far away from technology is such a nice break from day to day life. And, setting up the tent in the middle of the forest away from other backpackers makes the trip much more peaceful! I'm pretty bummed that I didn't get into backpacking sooner but super excited to have a new hobby to enjoy with Jon!

Pillows!

2011-06-26T18:02:00.001-04:00

I've been in a sewing rut much of this year, but I always seem to find inspiration for another project when I attend Brighton Modern Quilters meetings in the Creative Quilt Kits store in Brighton, MI.

I loved this Tanis Keefe fabric and had to make two kitty pillow for our basement couch.

And, I combined some fun prints to make two pillow for our living room couch. It feels nice to freshen up the place with some simple projects like these!

Mail Sack

2011-06-26T18:01:00.001-04:00

I've had the Pink Chalk Studie Mail Sack pattern sitting around in my stash for at least a year now. In an attempt to use what I have, I decided to finally put this together a few months ago.

The pattern was extremely well written and I was able to put this together in a few hours. I'd definitely recommend it!

Now, if only I could walk around the neighborhood with a kitty in tow and not get strange looks!

Branden's Grad Quilt

2011-06-26T18:00:00.001-04:00

My aunt commissioned me to make this t-shirt quilt for my cousin. He's headed off to SUNY Geneseo this fall, so I used his school colors for this quilt. I know the colors are blue and white, but I couldn't tell if they are royal blue or navy blue, so I used both. Branden's super tall, so this quilt is huge! I used interfacing for the t-shirts, kona solids and stippled it with white thread.

Now I've got to finish making the college t-shirt quilt that's been sitting in my stash since 2003!

Kensington Metropark

2011-06-26T17:59:00.001-04:00

My dad had been trying to get Jon and I to join him on another photo/nature walk at Kensington Metropark for a few summers, but our schedules never matched up. Fortunately, we were able to check out the park in mid-May.

We didn't see as much wildlife this time as we had last time (probably because we actually had our good cameras with us), but we had a beautiful day for a hike.

The funniest part of the day was when we ran into an older man who is a nature walk regular. He looked at us with all of our long lenses and said,

"You guys are proving my theory wrong."
"I've always said the bigger the lens, the bigger the paunch."

I guess he's run into lots of bird photographers with large beer bellies?!

Happy June!

2011-06-26T17:58:00.001-04:00

I'm alive! And I'm dutifully following my mama's orders to "update your blog" so everyone in the family can see what I'm up to.

Lots of good stuff has been going on around here...

The 2011 garden is doing wonderfully! I am trying out a new biodegradable paper weed barrier and it is really keeping the weeds at bay. Now I have more time to play with and stare at the plants.

Here's what I planted this year:
2 types of heirloom tomato plants (cherry and large size)
4 cucumber (1 climbing and 3 picklebushes)
8 pepper plants (red, purple, orange, banana, green...)
8 basil plants (yay for pesto)
4 parsley plants
lots of lettuce, swiss chard, and kale
8 squash (acorn, butternut, crookneck, zucchini, spaghetti)
6 snap pea plants (which I will never grow again because they just don't do well here) replaced by
6 climbing bean plants
2 Rhubarb plants
7 Asparagus crowns (I will be so happy if these actually grow correctly!)

I have finally decided that I will no longer be growing seeds inside in the winter months. It has been too much hassle for me and a big waste of money because the plants just don't grow well. It's nice to finally free myself from that obligation. And it fits my instant gratification personality well, too!

I am also trying out black plastic in our squash bed. It's supposed to warm the ground and keep weeds away, so it should work out really well with these heat loving plants.

I've been aided by these 3 books that I would highly recommend:

Week-By-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook - This workbook will tell you what to do in your garden each week based on your calculated frost date. It's great help for getting second and third cycles of plants in the garden.
Grow Great Grub - Lots of great tips for growing food in small spaces.
The Kitchen Garden Cookbook - Answers the perennial question of "what do I do with all of this X." It's got lots great preserving tips and techniques and wonderful recipes (mostly vegetarian/vegan friendly)

Margaret's Hope Chest

2011-01-26T04:37:00.001-05:00

I was connected to Margaret's Hope Chest through Amanda Jean's retreat last summer. I am so impressed with the mission of the organization and the two women who run it. Carin and Carol are just the sweetest people ever and it is so inspiring to see how they have turned a family tragedy into an organization that helps so many people in need.

Here are the two quilts that I've donated. This is the second year of their Wrapped in Hope campaign, which gives personalized birthday quilts to children who have parents who are in prison. I made this quilt for Alexia who likes black, white, blue, purple and music. I used this pattern from a quilt I made a few years ago in the color scheme she requested and added some Alexander Henry music fabric for the binding.

I finished up this quilt in November after having completed the top at the summer retreat. The pattern I used is the Fair and Square pattern that Amanda Jean designed for Margaret's Hope Chest.

If you're looking for a great charity to donate to and have extra time to make a quilt, please consider making a quilt for MHC. You can find a list of children who have requested birthday quilts here.

Icelandic Knitting

2011-01-26T04:36:00.001-05:00

I went on a bit of an Icelandic colorwork knitting kick last year. I am now a huge fan of fair isle colorwork because it combines the ease of the knit stitch with the excitement of watching a pattern emerge every row.

I made these two cardigans before we left for Iceland so that we would have them along for photo ops, of course!

(ah, the joy of steeking!)

Jon's cardigan is pretty much my most favorite knit project ever. He picked out the yarn and pattern when we were in Toronto last spring for our anniversary. I love the chunky yoke pattern and the extra detail of the cables on the arms and body. Jon wears this cardigan all the time, so it warms my heart to see my knitting project getting lots of use. It has also insured that I will make him lots more knit sweaters because he is so appreciative! (ravelry link: craftr's Stapi)

I really like the yarn and pattern I chose for my cardigan...but I am so mad at myself for putting a white zipper in instead of a black zipper. Hopefully, one day, I will get up the nerve to rip out the white zipper and sew in a black one. (ravelry link: craftr's Hela cardigan)

I made these two sweaters with the yarn that I bought while we were in Iceland.

This vest more than makes up with my disappointment with the Hela cardigan. I wear this all the time now. Because it is short-sleeved, I never overheat while wearing it. And, I bought a brown turtleneck to wear with it to reduce the neck itchiness (Lopi is so itchy for wool to skin contact). (ravelry link: craftr's Vormorgun Vest)

Jon picked out the yarn for this pullover and it's another sweater that he wears frequently. (I guess wool really helps now that we've been turning down the heat this winter to save money). I'm so glad that Jon likes wearing sweaters that are interesting to knit and is somewhat brave with his color choices and patterns, too. Lopi patterns are so easy and enjoyable to knit! (ravelry link: craftr's Riddari)

2010 Projects in Review

2011-01-26T04:34:00.001-05:00

Umm...I really don't think I can top 2010's productivity ever again (nor do I want to). This is definitely proof that shopping for craft supplies and engrossing myself in projects are major stress relievers for me. I'm hoping to remedy this by working with only my stash (for real!) this year.

So, here's to a 2011 filled with relaxation, great books, and a handful of knitting and quilting projects!

For other year end recaps see: 2007 2008 2009

career change!

2011-01-09T12:16:00.004-05:00

I've been quiet on this blog lately because of a big change in my life. In November, I started my first official paid(!) job as a librarian. For the first time in my post-college working career, I can say that I actually love going to work! Every day at the library is new and different and my job really keeps me on my toes. I'm surrounded by books and people all day and it's the perfect combination of interests for me.

To top it off, I got a job at my childhood library, which is the library that inspired me to become a librarian in the first place. I'm so honored to have been chosen for the position at such a great library in the area!

Three years ago around this time, I was just starting my library school journey. I stuck with my unfulfilling day job long enough to get my master's degree (debt free!) and make a career change. While the last few years at my job were grueling and stressful, I'm glad that I made a new goal for myself and accomplished what I set out to do. Yay for much needed life changes!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T06:20:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas! I'll be back soon with some updates...sorry for the long silence!

ornaments

2010-11-07T18:08:00.001-05:00

I attended the SE Michigan Crafters Meetup, hosted by Rae of Made-By-Rae last Thursday night. It was so much fun to meet up with other local crafters and work on things with company, rather than in solidtude (I miss my weekly craft nights with Catherine now that she's living in Germany).

Photo by Rae (more photos can be found on her post here)

Every year, around November, I find myself signing up for some sort of holiday ornament/craft swap (2006, 2007, 2009). I always imagine myself having tons of free time to make cute little gifts to swap and it always turns into a time crunch to get everything completed in time. This year, I was determined to have things turn out differently and give myself extra time to prepare.

I brought an ornament project with me to work on for the evening and I spent lots of time with my trusty seam ripper because I could not get sew the ornaments perfectly in line with the template. Trust me...there were lots of very oddly shaped skate boot attempts. Fortunately, I finally got into the groove of things, though, by the end of the night.

After making a trip to Joann to get Pearl Cotton and pom pom trim, I was able to put the finishing touches on these ornaments (pattern and directions here). These little skates are finished ahead of time (yay!) and I'm hoping they reach their destination of the Second Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap safely.

Accessories Roundup & Jon's former hobby

2010-11-07T17:41:00.002-05:00

I've been knitting like crazy lately (if you couldn't already tell)! I'm so glad the cool weather has arrived because it's finally the perfect weather for knitting.

Here's what I've been making these past few months.

If I had to pick one favorite yarn, it would definitely be Berocco Pure Alpaca (used previously for my End of May hat and Zig Zag afghan). My favorite yarn store always has tons of beautiful colors in stock and I came up with this color combination during my last visit (mostly chosen to match my rain coat).

I finished the hat before the trip and finished the scarf mid way through our trip. I knit the scarf from side to side and, quite honestly, I think this is the only way I'll knit scarves from now on. Knitting lengthwise goes much faster than knitting short rows back and forth (at least in my head it does!)

Jon picked out the yarn and pattern for this hat last fall and started knitting the band of this hat. The hat sat around for many months before Jon declared that knitting was no longer for him. I don't really blame him because K2P2 brims are fairly tedious to get started with. He decided that I should be the sole knitter in our house and asked me to finish this hat for him to wear in Iceland. This is a replacement for the Koolhaas hat I made him a few years ago that is too big and "too nice" to wear hiking.

you can sort of see my new scarf peeking through my jacket here.

I've been lusting after The Fibre Company Terra yarn after seeing their beautiful ads in Interweave Knits and I finally got around to making a colorwork hat with it a few weeks ago. This is supposed to be an oversized beret, but I didn't do a gauge swatch and used the wrong sized needles so it ended up on the smaller side...now it's just a plain old hat.

Rav link: craftr's opus spicatum

Lapis Yoke Pullover

2010-11-07T17:35:00.001-05:00

This was my intended to be my official Iceland knitting project. I had lofty dreams of knitting every day in the car, but I was too enamored with the scenery to bother casting on. Because I didn't get started on it until the very end of our trip, it ended up being my airplane/jet lag recovery project instead.

I was able to finish the yoke, separate for the sleeves and start the body by the time we landed in Detroit. It kept me awake through some very cheesy airplane movies (Chipmunks: The Squeakuel anyone?)

This was such and enjoyable sweater to knit and now I'm totally sold on knitting from the top down. The yarn, Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran, was a dream to use and I was fortunate enough to find a half off sale last winter to acquire it because it's on the pricey side. This sweater is so soft and silky and squishy and I think it will get a lot of use this winter.

Jon says that it's the most normal, store bought looking sweater that I've made so far and I agree. I guess I should make sweaters in this style more often.

Project notes and more info can be seen here: craftr's Lapis Yoke

sewing room update

2010-10-08T11:45:00.001-04:00

As soon as we were back from vacation, I started fall cleaning the house. (anything to conquer jet lag, right?)

It feels so good to clean each room from top to bottom and get rid of clutter. And, I finally paid someone to clean our wooden blinds for us (best *investment* ever!).

I also got around to cleaning out my craft room (see the original post about this room here). It was fun to go through my old treasures and find some long forgotten purchases. It was also a great reminder that I don't need to buy more craft supplies any time soon!

I rearranged my bookshelf to fit more fabric and more yarn and hung up the two doll quilts from DQS7 and DQS9.

Here is my room again going counterclockwise around from the door.

I added these pegs a few years ago and they have been great for organizing my bags of projects. I couldn't find a long board, so I bought two and painted them white (from Michaels). I like having the bins of yarn out in the open now so I have a visible reminder not to buy more yarn! The quilt hanging on the door was made by Jessica for DQS7 - I love the bright, citrusy colors she used! I love having something not made by me hanging in here for inspiration.

I painted this dresser green to add some color to the room. If I had to do it over again, I would probably go with teal instead, but it's too late now. I store office supplies, computer supplies and random cables and chargers in here.

I rearranged the cubes in my expedit shelf and got rid of the wooden storage boxes on top leftover from my scrapbooking ephemera days. Now I've dedicated a few more cubes in the shelf to yarn and fabric. Above the bookshelf is my new doll quilt from Emma. It matches my room perfectly and I just love it. You can read more about her process here.

Here's my sewing/computer desk area. If I had more space in here, I would have added a taller cutting table for rotary cutting, but there's just no room for another table so I will have to make due by hunching over while I rotary cut. The mini bookshelf came from our kitchen after we added the pantry shelf and stores my stationery collection, pen collection and more books.

On the final wall I hung a set of pictures from Iceland and an Icelandic sheep poster above my weaving loom. Jon thought I was crazy for wanting to hang a picture of sheep butts on my wall, but the sheep butts crack me up, so they're on the wall to stay!