Welcome Maggie

So my new niece Maggie arrived yesterday and last night I got to meet her in all her glory.  She is perfect.  Her mom (my sister) was such a trooper and managed to give birth and maintain perfectly coiffed hair (a newly discovered talent.)  Maggie’s birth has been a much anticipated event which was only heightened by the fact that Bri’s doctor told us it could happen about 3 weeks ago. So we have been waiting.  And waiting.

In the end though it was worth it.  I mean, how can you not love this face?

Meeting Maggie makes me want to quit my job and move in with Adam and Bri full time.  I wonder how much they’d pay for a nanny…?

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MS Walk Winner!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to get my act together and post the winner of the MS donation drawing I had.  First off though, I have to give a huge thank you to everyone that donated.  I know money is tight and there are so many good causes to support and I am just so grateful for your kindness and generosity.  I will do my best to pay it forward.

So onto the winner.  I wrote out all the names and drew one out of a hat and the winner is…

Jacey!

Jacey is a girl after my own heart who loves knitting, sewing, cooking…basically we are BFFs waiting to happen.  I don’t know Jacey in real life which makes her contribution that much more impressive.  Thank you Jacey.  (Jacey: I have an email in to you so please send me your address and I will send you your fun prize.)

As for the walk, Kara did a perfect job recapping the day and since she shared the same pictures I would have I’ll just send you here to check it out.

And for those who want an update on the “contest” between my sister and I…technically, Kara won by $20.  Although I would argue that by throwing the gauntlet down in the first place, I encouraged Kara to seek more donations and thus I feel I can take some credit for both our success.  🙂  Next year though…just you wait.

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I love my brother and want to beat my sister (oh yeah, and you could win a prize!)

You hear me talk a lot about my sisters on this blog and many are surprised when I mention I have an older brother.  Well I do.  And he is a great one.  Brett loves chocolate and Star Wars, cooking and laughing at Kara’s jokes.  He loves his family more than anything and has raised 3 of my favorite people on the planet.

Brett was diagnosed with MS about 4 years ago.  His body is dealing with the disease as best as it can.  It is rough because when you have MS you really don’t know how it will affect you.  Every day you deal with what you are given and how your body will function on that day.  I suspect one of the hardest parts to handle is your mind which is forced to think about the uncertainty of a future under the shadow of a potentially debilitating disease.  There is no cure for MS.  At least not yet.

My bro in the Cobblestone I knit for him.

My family and I are participating in the local MS Walk a week from Saturday and I am humbly asking for your support to a really great cause…and an opportunity to win a awesome prize in the process.  All money donated is used to find a cure and support families who live with the devastating effects of the disease. Obviously this is a no pressure situation.  We all have a lot of good causes to support and our own personal financial situations to deal with.  I will still love everyone who comes to my blog whether you donate or not–although I think we all know who I will love more.  kidding 🙂

$5, $20…any dollars helps.  So this is what I am going to do.  If you are kind enough to donate (and you can do so here)–any amount, no matter the size–please let me know either by email (girlwhoknits@gmail.com) or in the comments of this post by Thursday, April 22 at midnight (MST) and I will enter you into a drawing for a super fun prize package.  I will cater the prize to your interests so knitters, sewists, and non-crafty types are all covered and I promise you will love it.  This is not a bribe, merely something I want to do to thank those who are able to help a sister (and her brother) out.

Final plea: If the chance at winning a super awesome package or just simple altruistic giving doesn’t do it for you then maybe you will be motivated to help me earn bragging rights in my family?  I would LOVE to be the one that earned the most (and actually reached her fundraising goal.)  And let’s be honest, really I just want to beat Kara.  🙂

So please donate.  If you can.  Thanks.

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Report on my “Weekend in CO” project progress

I have been home for a couple of days but hadn’t yet gotten around to posting the progress I made on the carp.  Just as a reminder, here is where I started:

and after 1 and a half days of knitting, hanging out, late night conversations, and eating copious amounts of snack food with some great friends I am now here:

Yes, these are cell phone pics and each taken at different times of day/night so not great but you should be able to see the progress…please tell me you can see progress.

I basically got about two rows done.  I am over half way finished with the top now, so that is something.  I have figured out that each square averages 45 minutes to an hour for me to complete.  There are around 160 squares total.  Do the math.  Yeah.  I never thought of myself as a slow knitter before but man this is taking me some time.  All I am hoping for is that I will be able to finish the top before the Spring/Summer season is over.  And that it will fit…please say it will fit.

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Weekend in CO begins

I am at a cabin in Colorado this weekend with some of my most favorite people in the world. Most of them are scrapbooking, I am knitting. I have picked up the spring top I started about a year ago but put aside for way too long: the carp from Japanese Inspired Knits. I am including a picture of where I started below and will post a picture of how much I get done by the end of the weekend. I am kind of excited to see how far I get.

Like I have said before, this sweater is the most interestingly constructed garment I have ever knit. Who knows how it will turn out. But check out where I am starting and I’ll show you how much I get done. (Hopefully a lot.) I am thinking of it as a challenge. Wish me luck!

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My own, special, custom living room chairs

Many months ago, right around the time I was under contract for my new condome (condo + home, not sure if it works but I am trying it out for now), and while driving by a consignment store downtown, I spied two well-loved chairs placed in the lawn by the store front.  The chairs were perfect…at least they had the makings of perfect.  Upon closer inspection the chairs needed a little love but I felt confident that I could give them the help they needed and the price was right so I bought them.

Visions of me stripping and staining the wood and then learning how to re-upholster filled my mind and my google searches.  I was excited to take the project on until I started looking at the chairs more closely and realized the chairs needed a LOT more work than I thought.  They needed to be completely taken apart and put back together again with wood glue and using clamps and let’s not even talk about the state I found the seat padding in when I peeled off the first layer.  I quickly became overwhelmed.  The project would be labor intensive and require either expertise or a LOT of learning on my part.  I am all for learning, but the truth is, I am not in a position right now to learn how to completely restore furniture.  So what to do?  Pay someone else to do it of course.

So, I kept the chairs in my parent’s garage for several months while I saved some money and in the mean time I have been hunting for the perfect fabric.  Picking fabric was a real trial.  There are tons of fabrics out there but I was trying to find something that really worked in the decor and with the colors I had already established in my front room AND something that didn’t cost $50 a yard.   The style of what I was looking for was such that I had to focus my efforts online as the local places that sell home dec weight fabric are either too traditional for my taste or way too expensive.  Finally, about a month ago I stumbled upon the perfect fabric and finally took my chairs in to a local shop anxiously waiting to see if my vision of the chairs would become a reality.

Perhaps you should judge for yourself.

Before:

After:

So although these chairs are not at all a result of my craftsman skills, I still take credit for having a vision and my style choices.  I am so, so happy with them.

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