New Developments

Turns out that somebody really was having trouble reading things at long distances.  Both of them picked up their new glasses today. You'd have thought it was Christmas the way they were so excited.

And in the sidebar, you may notice my Twitter feed.  I figure it's a way to make "cheater posts" when I can't get to the computer.  I'm megevans2 on there if you want to follow me!

Blog love

One of my newer favorite blogs is the small things blog.  Kate is an adorable young newlywed who has great taste in clothes, accessories, and just about everything girly. She's also a hairstylist, and she loves to share her secrets.  Her blog is full of tutorials and suggestions for products.

I think I found her blog via pinterest back in late November or December.  While my morning routine has defnitely gotten longer (great hair doesn't just happen--it requires some work!), I am pretty thrilled with the results.

Of course, now when we go the pool, I'm all freaked out, thinking "my hair!"  Such is life.

Anyway, one of Kate's greatest tips is about hairspray.  She recommends Kenra Volume Spray 25.  It's nothing short of a miracle spray.  My hair is fine and lifeless. When there is even a chance of humidity, it goes limp.

Here I am around 10 o'clock this morning. 

Not any more.

And at 5:30 this afternoon.  (There was no swimming.)

It is sold at Ulta.  I just purchased my second can (the first one lasted me about 7 months).  It also comes in a handy travel size.

Tomorrow we're off to the eye doctor.  Both girls have been complaining about their eyes.  I imagine that after their pupils are dilated, they're going to want to spend the afternoon in a dark room.  Maybe with some popcorn.  And some escaped zoo animals running across Europe...

Little Squares

It's a quiet Monday.  Our oldest returned from a two-day sleepover/trip to the beach.  Now she is dying of boredom.  I have been indulging a few obsessions, namely reading numerous books at a time, playing multiple games of Words with Friends (and losing quite spectacularly, I might add), and playing around with all these little squares.

Sometime last week I decided to deviate from my plan of a traditional granny square blanket.  I wanted to combine the small squares into larger blocks of four.  Lucy at Attic 24 inspired this change--her blog is full of colorful crochet eye candy!  She also has a tutorial for joining grannies.  I wish I had reviewed her tute before I started joining. 

Here is my square.  I used what I thought I remembered was Lucy's technique.

It's not bad, but look at the next picture.

See how you can see the edges of the squares--how they're all lined up nicely and lying flat?  Much better.  Fortunately for me (because I really don't want to unravel), the squares I've already done are still the same size as this one, and I'm okay with an imperfect look.

So that's what we're up to today.  This week, we'll probably be at the pool again.  We'll certainly be at the library again, and try my hardest to drop back by here again!

More Making

Finishing the Sparkle Plenty quilt felt so good that it led to more Making.  It's been busy around here.

I've been sewing:

A new case for my Kindle.

 and baking:

Molly Wizenburg's Winning Hearts and Minds Cake, or as we know it, Four o'clock Cake.

And there has been some crocheting (I just crack up when people call it "hooking"):

And all of those squares led to some playing around and planning:

A new idea for the grannies--one that will use up more yarn than the original plan.

These last two pictures were taken with my phone.  I have a smartphone now, and while I may not be smart enough to figure out why it randomly makes noises (like the text notification tune when there is no new text), I'm enjoying the heck out of it. And I added the Instagram app, so let's share, shall we?  I'm megevans2.

Sparkle Plenty

Meet Sparkle Plenty.

 It's my latest quilt.  Based on the Sparkle Punch quilt by Elizabeth Hartman.  I started this back in January.  By February, all it lacked was the binding.  And it lingered in the dining room for months.

 I decided that yesterday was as good a day as any to finish a quilt.  And now it's done.  Ready to be added to the fort-making materials.

 When I started quilting, I tried to match it up to how Elizabeth had quilted hers.

 But it morphed into something a little more me.

 It's a large quilt--large enough for an eight-year-old boy to relax on.  Blogger rotated the picture without asking me.

 Here's a close-up of the boy.  Yes, he has a picture of bacon on his shirt.

Now back to our regularly scheduled activities.