NYC Marathon Trip

Julie Babcock & Luanna, some super nice policeman, and the 45,000 runners coming over the bridge on the far right...

The difference b/w phone camera (apple in NY) and above (my Dean camera) is clearly obvious...

Cake celebrating Alzheimer team running.  David kindly inlucded us (and our spouses, just in case) on the list for the swanky reception after the race.

One of my favorite things I saw on the subway, super crowded, older Latino couple, her hand in his pocket.

Luanna is a lot of fun to hang out with!  Giggly sister making me laugh. Julie is calm and good at navigating and full of complements and kind words.

Eating out day before race, teryaki burgers...

Beautiful, smart doctor-in-training daughter of my cousin was super kind and has a great single's ward we went to Sunday early.  In our jeans and "Knit & Run" t-shirts.  We were made to feel very welcomed.

View from Kellie's place.

enJOY burgers (north of Kellie) gave us playing cards with our receipts, called out the card when our food was ready (and we turned in cards to be reused, clever, clever and good food).

Sunday after Church we subway-ed to Queens to catch the racers at the half-way point.  David went by so fast that we went north on the subway to chase him, caught him with minutes to spare at Duke Ellington memorial.

Picture below is in Queens, roof of an LDS celebrity...

Famous person spotting:  When David was teaching people to finger knit in the park with Lion Brand yarn (lovely, lovely yarn.  David is a spokesman for them, official promoter) Julie met Kristy Glass and worked out an invite to her apartment to watch the race.  This is her rocking chair.  She calls it "Yarn Bombing" and I was delighted! She is an amazing person, has a sweet family, and a home that is filled with the Spirit and lots of love & cool color!  We helped make a sign for her friend SHAY running right near David.  Sam has been a big fan of Shay for years, and was impressed with the networking.

Kristy has 3 children now, works as an actress, runs, and so does her husband.

David finished under 4 hours, which met his goal.  AND he finished knitting this scarf early in the race WITH LETTERS!  I am so proud of him and it was wonderful to be there and be supportive of his achievement!

Good At Somethings, Not Everything Turns Out

I can deal with defeat. Not everything I do works well. I have to be brave enough to try and nice enough to myself to not freak out when things don't turn out the way I thought they would. Not that I always really even have a plan. More often it is a concept, and things change as I work, depending on how the materials work together. It is not that I "see" it and re-create that vision. I FEEL something, and work to make it "feel" right. Knowing when to stop is a big part of that. Sometimes things are ruined by 5 minutes too long with the brush, or sewing machine, etc.
Roxie went to a party yesterday. She said she had to explain what the rice bag was for. We found an elegant hand towel that matches the birthday girl's bedroom. I did the sewing, but Roxie filled up the rice and wrote instructions. 2-3 minutes in the microwave heats it up for a great foot warmer, or neck or sore leg warmer. I use two every night to help me relax to sleep. The grey present bag was a thrifted sweater earlier that morning. The bead work reminded me of the birthday girl's mom.

Blue rice bag, sweater-bag, and white retro summer bed spread turned into a journal cover.


Roxie's hairdo. Idea from the Princess & Her Hair blog. Love her video tutorials.

And my sweater merge: damask v-neck $1.50 from thrift store. Cut it down front, but it didn't meet around my tummy so I filled in by adding a men's merino wool sweater cut up and ruffled. But the weight hanging on the front distorted the sweater. The buttons didn't solve the closure like I wanted. It was not a flattering look. Too much attention on the wrong body feature. (I AM NOT EXPECTING A BABY, NO!)
You win some, you lose some. Just keep creating! Be brave to try something wild, even if it doesn't work. If it is not salvageable for another project, we can swap our experiments!

Sweater Day 6

This is my favorite make-over. Apple green cotton cardigan sewn to thirfted silk cream short-sleeved too small sweater. Lace added to transition bumpy/ripply seams.

Merry Christmas!




If you ever see these baking molds in a thrift store, grab them! I had doubts, looking at the intricacies of the detail, but they made perfect little bundt banana cakes to give away. "Nordic Ware" is on the bottom of the pan. $1, thrifted treasure!

Sweater Day 5

Lace at shoulders and snowflake doilies added along button edges. Easy, white thread, zig zag stitch.

Sweater Day 4

This bright yellow-green sweater started as a crew neck. Cutting up center line creates cardigan. Added ruffles to finish edges. Needs a belt or ribbon tie to hold shape...Who gets this one?

Sweater Day 3

Blue thick cotton sweater started out as a turtleneck. Cut that off first (Roxie hates turtlenecks, doesn't like how they feel or fit). Added apple green cotton stretch jersey band (from another sweater) and sewed on a hot pad flower.
Crocheted hot pads as corsages!
More hot pads=possibilities!

Sweater Day 2

I wore the sweater at Cranberry the day after Thanksgiving this year. Black high-contrast paisley (Persian Pickle!) on cream print.

I've thought of over-dyeing it. Soften the contrast, mute it some. But I love the orange in it, and the pokes of turquoise scattered. Almost made the arms longer than the 3/4 length (but that is one of my sad altering mistakes, can't control the stretch/rippling without adding distracting trims).

Here I am exploring neck altering options. So this is more sweater-in-process, not finished yet. It helps me to try things on the mannequin (Mandy) that rests on my sewing table. Every time I see it with fresh eyes, I try to evaluate my reaction.

"Does this work?"
"Does it draw the eyes UP?"
"Is it too _____?" freakish, gaudy, crazy, artsy, edgy, Bohemian, attention-grabbing, boring, tacky, inappropriate, or just right? What style am I striving to emulate? What image? Who am I, anyway?

Sweater Day 1

I like this softened, romantic-photo version of this creation. Camera was not working well last week, so you don't get a before photo. Imagine this lovely silk coral cardigan $2.48 at thrift store, and four old t-shirts in various colors of salmon, faded florescent pink, orange, and pink. Ruffles made with 1.5 inch strips, no hemming sewn in like this lace version.

Truer colors for the real me. This sweater is so comfortable. Not all my experiments have been sucessful. Some flopped sadly. Must be honest and show them this week, too.

Fabric is My Friend!

No pictures of recent gift-making, until the big reveal next Saturday...It has been fun to be creative, using what we have, using stashed supplies and thrifted sweaters. I have illusions of grandeur being a fashion designer...Suzu was a patient model for something that will fit a sister...no peeking!

What to Do With Sweater Parts

My daughter is coming home in two days. Her bed is transmogrified into a project holding tank. Must. Clean. Sewing. Room.

I start early in the day with great intentions, but I keep getting distracted with projects...fun things to make. A whole pile of potential gifts and time running out...

Throw nothing away, when altering sweaters! You can create your own cowl!

Pretty cool/warm cowl scarf inspiration that I had to try!

Altering Sweater Finds

Tis the season-for sweaters!

The blue 100% silk sweater ($2.48 at my favorite thrift store) used to be a turtleneck. Now it is a crew neck, very wearable. It was easy to cut off the offending neck and sew with matching thread.

I tried Day 13 from this blog inspiration, and Suzanna liked it! Take a white/off white sweater and sew couplets of lace on the shoulders. This is my favorite alteration, so far.


Imagine this without the silver turtleneck (the bottom half of the silver sweater turned into a bolero for a dance jacket---must get a picture of that on the beautiful model to show you!

I tried Day 15 with a nice ocher polar fleece sewn to the hem and neck of a yellow bolero and left longer piece to wrap around neck-super cute-and then made another ochre scarf, loving the organic leaf-look.