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.

Back on the Granny Wagon

Dishcloth knitting season has been replaced this year.  This year, it's Granny Square season.

Remember these?

August 2011

 I gave in to the Granny urge late last summer.  I was going to use up all those bits (and skeins) of leftover yarn.  I made about 27 squares before this project was shelved.


May 2012--now up to 36 squares

A couple of weeks ago, I whipped out my WEBS gift card that I'd been saving since Christmas and started choosing some Cascade 220 colors.  (I'm sure you remember that WEBS has its annual sale in April and May.  If not--what are you waiting for?)  To be honest, I'm not sure where I put my bag (or two) of yarn that I'd been working with, but I knew that I would need some fresh yarn to help see me through.



Cascade 220--now on sale at WEBS!

 I'm going to work exclusively with the new stuff for a while.  Then I'll go find the other yarn and start mixing it all up.  My original plan was for a blanket with 81 squares with at least one border around the whole thing.  Now I think I'm going to make it larger--maybe 121 squares. 

Realistically, I'm going to keep making squares throughout the summer without getting bogged down by "how many more?"  Granny squares are portable (and that's part of their charm), so I should be able to find lots of time to sneak in a square or two.  I think it would be great to be stitching the whole thing together as the weather turns cool.

London: Shopping

Did you know that you can check one bag for free for transatlantic flights?  This was a huge relief for me.  I checked one bag and carried on another.  I made sure my carry-on had a couple of days' worth of clothing and my toiletries, just in case my checked bag got on the wrong plane.  Inside my checked bag I stashed an empty duffle bag.  An empty bag--clearly I was planning on coming home with more than I brought.

The London Eye and Westminster Abbey as viewed from St. Paul's Cathedral.

That duffle bag went home just as it came over--stuffed into the bottom of my suitcase. 

Passing under the Tower Bridge.

It's not that I didn't buy any souvenirs--I just didn't come home with a truckload of stuff.  And really, even if money were no object, I probably wouldn't have gone completely overboard (though it is fun to dream about). 

I wanted to bring home things that I would enjoy, things that I could only get in England, and/or things that I would use.  I definitely wanted to go to a Cath Kidston store, and I wanted to go to Liberty, and I wanted to go to a bookstore.  An oddly specific list, I know, but specificity is good!

We try to make a point to purchase a coffee mug (or two) and a Christmas tree ornament whenever we go on a trip.  Sometimes the coffee mugs don't make it home in one piece, but we are willing to assume the risk.  We each (safely) brought home a mug, and our Christmas ornament is hanging from a knob on one of our kitchen cabinets right now.  Eventually I'll put it with the others.

I had a brief internal debate over whether to purchase a new purse from Cath Kidston, but since I had walked in there without a specific bag in mind, I decided that I needed to refrain from the impulse purchase.  I did come out with some lovely tea towels--and they have been in the rotation since returning home. 

Liberty...oh, Liberty.  If only I had won the lottery.  There is a yarn section, there is a huge fabric section--so much Tana Lawn fabric.  It's all so gorgeous, and it's all so very expensive.  I didn't see anything that I could live without, so I just treated this as a visual feast. 

And the bookstore?  A five-story Waterstone's.  I love bookstores, and if I hadn't had a companion to consider, I might well have spent most of an afternoon in there.  My goal here was to bring home at least one Harry Potter book.  I bought the first one for the kids.  I also purchased a mystery novel that I had read in college and is now out of print in the U.S., and I threw in an Agatha Christie for good measure.  This was not the only time on the trip that I had to fight the urge to load up on books.  The gift shop at the Globe Theatre was also full of interesting-looking books.

I have been taking great pleasure in drinking coffee from my London mug--it has a portion of the Underground map on it, and I love looking at all the stations that we went through.  I am glad I decided not to load up the duffle bag with trinkets that would collect dust.