Rambling Roses Design

… the crafting kind, that is!

Scraped knees are a common thing with 5-year-olds. Miss. Kiki is always skinning her knees and as a result almost all of her jeans and leggings have holes in them near the knees. I mostly just ignore the holes until they start going right across the front. Moms, you know what I’m talking about, right? Right??

This particular pair of jeans are her favorite and so she was really teary and apologetic that they were torn totally ignoring the fact that her knees were scraped up pretty bad and I was frantically looking for the usual suspects :: Polysporin and BandAids!

She kept imploring me to, “Fix them, Mama! Can you fix them? Mama, I love these jeans!! Fix them, Mama!!! They’re my bestest favoritest jeans ever in the whole wide world!”

Patchwork to the rescue!

I drew out a heart template using a cereal box. I ironed a piece of fusible web onto some bits of fabric to make the fabric a bit stiffer and then I traced and cut the heart shapes out. To attach them on to the jeans I just used a simple running stitch with some embroidery floss all around the hearts.

Crafting surgery accomplished.

These bestest, favoritest jeans have been saved and those knees, they’ve healed up pretty good too!

Posted by Preeti & filed under Kids, Sewing. This post has 7 comments.

All of the school districts in the Vancouver area have a “West Coast Recess” policy which means the kids go outside during recess and lunch to play outside despite the rain. If you’ve lived in Vancouver or the Pacific Northwest for any length of time you’ll know that what we call rain is a heavy drizzle for everyone else. So, no torrential downpour, thunder, lightning or any of those cool things associated with rain.

Today, however, things are different.

It has been raining steadily since early this morning (sadly, no thunder and lightning). I’m sure it’s going to be “an inside day” for the kids and I don’t envy the teachers one bit!

Our feathery friends are busy doing their thing though and we love watching their antics as they peck at their favorite seeds and discard the ones they don’t like. This bird seed comes pre-mixed with bits of dried fruit and that is what gets eaten first, every time! We filled this feeder three days ago… sweet, hungry little friends 🙂

I’m perfectly content to stay inside and watch the rain and do some crafting. I’ve decided that today is going to be an inside day for me too 🙂

Posted by Preeti & filed under Rambling. This post has 3 comments.

I love a spontaneous plan. We made last minute reservations to take the ferry across to the Sunshine Coast and boy was it a spectacular few days! It’s a good thing we reserved because this is what was in store for us and the thousands of other vacationers over on the other side…

We did lots of hiking, kayaking, late night movie watching, board game playing and plenty of lazing around… every minute was perfect.

Even the bald eagles were out having a great time. We saw so many of them… at first it was like “eeeeeagle!!!” and by the last day the kids would say, “oh, eagle”.

It’s back to reality and school now and my Elia sweater has been steadily growing. The cables provide the perfect rhythm making this knit interesting without being too overwhelming.

I think I may have overdone it yesterday with my just-one-more-row mantra. I keep forgetting to take frequent breaks while I’m knitting and just do some finger/hand exercises. I promise I’ll be good today because this is a highly addictive pattern (ooh, squishy cables!) and I really want to get it finished.

Posted by Preeti & filed under Canada, Sweaters, Vacation. This post has 8 comments.

Sprrrring!

With the weather being so crazy gorgeous and the kids on Spring Break, every day has been packed with hikes and picnics and bike rides. We even managed to spend some time at the beach. Ok, we didn’t dare get our feet wet what with the water still being freezing cold and all! We did do some pretty decent beach combing, though.

I’ve been crafting a bit here and there. On my needles is a lovely cabled sweater, Elia, designed by Julia Trice. This picture was taken a while ago, I’m almost done with the waist increases now. Don’t the cables look gorgeous in this yarn?

And I’ve been sewing, of course.

Inspired by Amy’s amazing work of art, I finished this mini quilt and I feel all smiley when I see it hanging on the wall even though the points are not very pointy 🙂 I had so much fun working on this project, I will definitely try squares on point again.

We’re off to the Sunshine Coast this weekend for a last bit of frolic before life returns to normal on Tuesday.

Posted by Preeti & filed under Quilting, Rambling, Sweaters. This post has one comment.

The socks I was knitting for my son’s ginormous feet are done! Happy dance!!

He said that they fit perfectly and are super soft and hinted that he would like another pair. Um… maybe after I knit a few sweaters first 😉

I knit these socks as a part of the knit-along hosted by Kelly of CelticCastOn. There have been so many lovely finished pairs of Business Casuals that have been popping up on the knit-along thread. This pattern was designed by Tanis Lavellee, the genius dyer and designer behind Tanis Fiber Arts. The argyle pattern works up really fast and is fun too. I knit the mini cables without dropping the stitches or using cable needles and this video explains it much better than I would.

Of course, Miss. Kiki wanted to be in the picture but it’s not likely that she will ever ask for a pair of handknit socks in the near future since she thinks everyday is flip-flops weather!

Business Casual (Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Business Casual by Tanis Lavellee
Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy in “Romeo Blue”
Needles: Size US 1.5 / 2.5 mm

Posted by Preeti & filed under Finished Knits, KAL, Kids, Socks. This post has 6 comments.

When it comes to yarn (or fabric), color is my friend. I’m always drawn to saturated, vibrant shades.

Never one to shy away from wearing color, it’s always a challenge to pair my handknits with my clothes.

I recently purchased a blouse in the loveliest shade of “seafoam” and when I looked for a sweater to wear with it, as expected, there was nothing. All those handknit sweaters and I came up empty. Then I spied the first ever cardigan I knit – the February Lady Sweater.

It’s knit in this sort of coral shade of Malabrigo. And just like that, the coral and the pale green work together perfectly. The above picture was ganked 0ff my Ravelry page from 2009, I’m glad to report that I’m done with the knitting, I’ve only got to weave in the ends and add buttons. I guess the reason for me dragging my heels with this one was because I wasn’t digging this colorway. Suddenly, I’m obsessed with getting this finished so that I can wear it, pronto!

I’m going to try being more daring like this with my other handknit sweaters and experiment, because it’s all about embracing color.

What color have you been drawn to lately?

Posted by Preeti & filed under Cardigans, Rambling. This post has 3 comments.

Suddenly, it’s the last day of February! I don’t have much crafting progress for show-and-tell since I’m sort of stuck with the dreaded SSS (second sock syndrome). However, I’m determined to be monogamous with this project and see it through to completion. The socks I’m talking about is this pair of Business Casuals.

If you’ve been reading this blog for sometime, you will notice that I’m not much of a sock knitter. That being said, when Kelly announced that she was going to host a KAL for this pattern, I decided to sign up to join in on the fun. I pulled out a skein of Dream In Color Smooshy (love that name!) that has been marinating in my stash bin for far too long and cast on. I’m knitting this pair of socks for my firstborn, Prithvi, who has ginormous size 12 feet. I figure that it’s the large-size knitting that’s been tripping me up and the fact that once I was done with numero uno, I have to do it all over again!

That second sock will get finished though, because he’s asked me everyday without fail, if his socks are done. No pressure, haha!!

I also finished my table topper.

Turned out super soft and crinkly when I washed and dried it. I love handmade 🙂

Now, all it needs is a vase full of tulips set on top. Ah, Spring!

Posted by Preeti & filed under KAL, Quilting, Sewing, Socks, Stashbusting. This post has 3 comments.

I know, I know… hat-wearing days are almost zero now that it’s warming up, but I wanted to squeeze this post in because I really want to gush about this pattern. I picked up Jane Richmond’s book Island, at Knit City and so far I’ve knit two patterns out of 5 in the book! That’s saying a lot! I love Jane’s pattern writing style and her designs are 100% wearable. They don’t just get stashed in my shelf of handknits never to see the light of day again.

This hat was a great project to knit and I love how it turned out. When I first looked at the pattern I saw all of those purl bumps and almost didn’t want to begin even though I had my yarn wound and ready. Like most knitters, I’m no exception in the knit stitch loving camp. Purl stitch… meh! Then I skimmed through the pattern and get this, you knit this hat inside out which means no miles of purl bumps. Just knit, knit, knit round and around, oh yeah, with the panel of decorative stitches to pretty things up! Then you turn it inside out and voila, you’ve got a fabulous Renfrew! I was all over this baby and I knit this hat in a day. Me, the world’s slowest knitter, knit this hat in ONE day!!!

The yarn I used for it was the perfect choice – SweetGeorgia Worsted – the same yarn I used for my hat design, Courtenay. The next pattern I’ve got lined up from this book is the Grace cardigan for which I will be using SweetGeorgia yarn again, Tough Love Sock this time. I’ve got a couple other things on the needles that need to be finished first, cough Business Casual cough 😉

Renfrew (Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Renfrew by Jane Richmond
Yarn: SweetGeorgia Superwash Worsted in “Boysenberry”
Needles: Size US 7 / 4.5 mm

Posted by Preeti & filed under Finished Knits, Hats. This post has 4 comments.

Warm muffins for breakfast using this recipe ♥ ♥ ♥

Posted by Preeti & filed under Food, Rambling. This post has one comment.

We had an awesome time on our trip and we’re back home now. I packed a knitting project with me, nothing big just a hat, thinking that I’ll have time to finish it. Um… didn’t quite get around to pulling my knitting out of my suitcase! However, between the loads of laundry that I had to tackle yesterday, I managed to cast on for my Renfrew hat and I’m pleased to say that I’m close to the crown decreases. Yeah!!

Now… you’re not going to believe these next couple pictures. Ta-da…

That’s right, I can’t believe it either! Let me back up a bit. I have this lovely friend who also has a huge crafting habit like me. She’s mainly into sewing and quilting (her quilts are outstanding!) and dabbles in a bit of jewelry making and get this… building handcrafted furniture. She has been wanting me to teach her how to knit and promised to teach me how to quilt in return. So late last year we began swapping crafting lessons and we’ve had success. She has begun knitting a scarf and she taught me how to make this Christmassy table topper complete with embellished tree and mitt and even some fun stitches.

Lots of incorrect seams yet, so much fun and so quick too. But, what I enjoyed most about this topper was the hand stitching. I love the tactile aspect of crafting, I guess.

Next, we’ve been working on this “mini quilty thing” (another table topper perhaps?)

She’s making one in aquas and mine is made using a pack of pre-cut fabric squares from Moda called Marmalade. Perfect for welcoming spring 🙂 I have to say that I’m hooked and there will be lots more quilting in my future. Of course, knitting will always have first dibs 😉

Posted by Preeti & filed under Accessories, Hats, Quilting, Sewing. This post has 5 comments.

Surgery

A Doozy

Spontaneous

Spring Fever

Business Casual

Embracing Color

Slowly, Surely

Renfrew

♥

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