by Jessica | Jan 24, 2016 | crafty, knitting
When I received this lovely lump of fiber from Fiber Stash, it nearly took my breath away. Absolutely dreamy, the colors are just so perfectly me, with just a hint of sparkle throughout the fiber. Instant Love. This was a true joy to spin, honestly I didn’t want it to end! I used my Ashford Traditional, and once I was finished with the singles, I decided to ply it with an iridescent thread- Sulky Sliver in 8040, the perfect opalescent. Seriously, I didn’t realize I could fall more in love with something, but damn, I want to ply everything with this thread now! But as a quick note to myself- when I try thread wrapping in the future, I want to try spinning a bit more twist into the singles~ It took me about two months to decide on a pattern for this special yarn. I am very wishy-washy when picking out patterns for yarn, you know? It has to be just right. In the end, I decided on Sylvia Bo Bilvia’s Lonely Tree Shawl! The leafy lace pattern gets a bit lost in the shifts of color, and honestly I knew going in this would happen, but I still wouldn’t change it for the world (and also because it would probably take me another three months to pick out a different pattern)! I really freaking love that sparkle!...
by Jessica | Sep 20, 2015 | beach, cemeteries, nature, travel
Every year, my husband and I try to take a mini-vacation for our wedding anniversary, and the past few have been great, so this year we opted for a week-long oceanfront stay down in Florida, at Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island… Really, what else can I say about it then it was perfect. I love Florida (except the mosquitoes, ugh), and I especially love coastal areas ♥ Fernandina has some great parks, including Fort Clinch. We spent a lot of time here, exploring the wooded trails and checking out the insane, half-mile long pier! We tried walking down it, but it was super hot and sunny out that day, and I might have gotten a little freaked out by the whole thing. But while I find long piers reaching into the ocean pretty freaky, cemeteries are another story- I love them! We enjoy visiting old, historic cemeteries, and came across Bosque Bello Cemetery one day while aimlessly wandering. It was fascinating, tremendously beautiful and well maintained, and had some serious history, with graves dating back to the (very late) 1700’s, and Josh even spied a Revolutionary soldier’s tombstone while we explored. We had a really fantastic time, I think Fernandina had just the right amount of stuff for us to do, see, and explore without ever feeling like ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’, especially since we stayed for nearly a week. Sometimes being away from home can be a little too much, you know? I was missing all our furry children the first night even, but you know, I survived. Maybe Poe can come with us next time...
by Jessica | Aug 23, 2015 | crafty, sewing
This past weekend was full of crafting! I wanted to do it all- spinning, knitting, weaving, gardening, you name it, it was on my bucket list, but with a limited amount of time, I decide to go with some sewing 🙂 I had this cute top (Simplicity 1426) in my pattern box, and figured I’d give it a try using some stash fabric. I tried out tailor tacks for the first time, and they’re totally perfect for handling darts and pleats! I do wonder who patterns (made by the big pattern companies) are supposed to fit, though- the bust fit fine, but the band itself was far too short! I ended up adding on a few extra inches to close the gap. I also find the pattern instructions are usually a bit more frustrating then they need to be, for this one it was the halter straps… I ended up foregoing the instructions for sewing them up partially and attaching them. I made a few yards of double fold non-bias tape, and attached them from the back edge and around the front. In the end it was a fun project with a wonderful result! This will be a fun top to wear to summer events, and I’m looking forward to making more of these, hopefully with a partially-elastic back in the future...
